holy martyrs

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Sunday, 5 June 2016 : 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 7 : 11-17

At that time, a little later after Jesus healed the servant of a captain, He went to a town called Naim. He was accompanied by His disciples and a great number of people. As He reached the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; there followed a large crowd of townspeople.

On seeing her, the Lord had pity on her and said, “Do not cry.” Then He came up and touched the stretcher, and the men who carried it stopped. Jesus then said, “Young man, I say to you, wake up!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

A holy fear came over them all, and they praised God saying, “A great Prophet has appeared among us; God, has visited His people.” This news spread throughout Judea and the surrounding places.

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Sunday, 5 June 2016 : 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 1 : 11-19

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel we preached to you is not a human message, nor did I receive it from anyone, I was not taught of it but it came to me as a revelation from Christ Jesus. You have heard of my previous activity in the Jewish community; I furiously persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. For I was more devoted to the Jewish religion than many fellow Jews of my age, and I defended the traditions of my ancestors more fanatically.

But one day God called me out of His great love, He Who had chosen me from my mother’s womb; and He was pleased to reveal in me His Son, that I might make Him known among the pagan nations. Then I did not seek human advice nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me. I immediately went to Arabia, and from there I returned again to Damascus.

Later, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other Apostle except James, the Lord’s brother.

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Sunday, 5 June 2016 : 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 29 : 2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b

I extol You, o Lord, for You have rescued me; my enemies will not gloat over me. O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave, You gave me life when I was going to the pit.

Sing to the Lord, o you His saints, give thanks and praise to His holy Name. For His anger lasts but a little while, and His kindness all through life. Weeping may tarry for the night, but rejoicing comes with the dawn.

Hear, o Lord, and have mercy on me; o Lord, be my Protector. But now, You have turned my mourning into rejoicing; o Lord, my God, forever will I give You thanks.

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Sunday, 5 June 2016 : 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 17 : 17-24

After this, the son of this housewife became ill. And such was his illness that he stopped breathing. She then said to Elijah, “What did you do, o man of God? Have you come to uncover past sins and cause my son’s death?” He answered, “Give me your son.”

Taking him up from her lap, he carried him up to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. Then he called on YHVH, “O YHVH, my God, will You afflict even the widow with whom I am residing by letting her son die?”

Then he stretched himself on the child three times and called on YHVH, “O YHVH, my God, let this child’s breath return to him.” YHVH listened to the pleading of Elijah and the child’s breath returned to him, and he lived. Elijah then took the child and brought him down from the upper room. He gave him to his mother and said, “See, your son is alive.”

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I am certain that you are a man of God, and that your words really came from YHVH.”

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Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we all celebrate the great Solemnity and Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the moment when we celebrate the great and infinite love which God has for all of us which He had made apparent and true through His own Son, Jesus Christ, Whom He had sent into the world to become our Saviour.

Today’s chosen Scripture readings therefore match perfectly the theme we mentioned, as they all spoke about the Lord as our Shepherd, and all of us as God’s beloved sheep. And all the sheep of God ought to belong to the same flock tended to by the Shepherd of all mankind, our God Himself. None of the sheep should have been lost, but in reality, some sheep did get lost and wandered off into the foreign lands.

God in many occasions used the example of a shepherd to show the love which He has for us all, as the society of the people of God at that time were composed of mainly agricultural farmers and shepherds, tending the farmlands and the flock of sheep and goats. Thus, by relating to them through parables related to farming and to shepherding the sheep, God hoped to bring the message to His people in a clearer manner.

They would be able to relate to the fact how true and good shepherds would not abandon his sheep, but protect them and care for them with genuine love. He does not abandon the sheep when danger comes to the flock, but instead he would try to protect the flock as best as he could, even to the point of laying down his life and to suffer for the sake of the safety of the sheep.

And when a sheep is lost and wandered off on its own, the shepherd would go out all of his way to find the lost sheep and return it to the flock, as what Jesus had told the people. And in the same manner, God Who loves us all like a shepherd loves his sheep, will go forth and try to find us out in the darkness and in the wilderness where we are currently lost in.

And if shepherds know that one or more of their sheep are missing, then the Lord also definitely knows if we have erred and wandered off on our own, losing our way in this uncertain world. And He will definitely try to bring us back to His grace but ultimately, it is up to us whether we want to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness. The sheep can choose whether it wants to embrace the shepherd or to run away from him.

Today therefore, as we all celebrate this great solemnity of our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart, we all want to give thanks to our loving God, and glorify Him, as He has been so kind and compassionate to us, so gracious and so loving that even though we have committed sin and wickedness before Him and spurned His love, He was willing to forgive us and to welcome us back as long as we ourselves want to be forgiven and want to change our ways.

And not only that, God Himself has appointed His servants to be shepherds like Him, the Good Shepherd, modelled after Himself, to care for us all and to guide us all back to Him. And these are our devoted priests, all the men who had given themselves totally to serve the Lord and His people. The priests are those whom God had anointed to be His shepherds to lead the people whom He loves and cares for, so that they may find their path to Him.

So today is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, when we all devote our prayer to our priests, that God may keep them holy and stay devoted to Him and to the mission to which they have been called to serve with zeal. It is not easy to become a priest and remain faithful as one these days, even as it was difficult in the past, as challenges and new obstacles arose to hamper the works of our priests.

And we all certainly know that not all priests had remained faithful as the good and just shepherds of God’s people. Some of them gave up along the way, abandoning the call and the vocation to which they have devoted themselves. They left the service and their calling because they were unable to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the mission entrusted to them, or that they had a change of heart and mind.

And worst of all, some even perverted and abused the purpose of their office, and betrayed the trust which those who have been entrusted to them had accorded to them. As a result, the faith and the Church were scandalised by them, and in the end, it was the good Name of our God which has been tainted and ruined by their actions.

I am speaking about those priests and servants of the Lord who had committed grievous sins by improper conduct and improper relationships even as they made their vow of chastity and purity, as well as improper desires and corrupt actions when they have already made the same vow to be pure and good role models. And this is the reality of our Church, how few of those who had been appointed as shepherds had erred and became bad shepherds and led the people into the wrong paths.

And because of these and other wicked and scandalous things that some of them did, it made the life and the work of the faithful priests and servants of God to be very difficult, and challenges continued to form in many varieties against our faithful and good shepherds. They are mocked, rejected and they were seen as those who had no future, and we can see even parents of those young men willing to join the priesthood actively discouraging them from entering the seminaries.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today pray for our priests, and let us all devote our prayers to them, asking God to bless them and keep them in His grace, and may He empower them and give them courage in order to persevere against all the challenges stacked against them. Let us all not be discouraged when we see our priests encounter many difficulties, but instead, let us be inspired by their examples, and those among us who have been called, let us consider carefully God’s calling.

May God bless us and our priests, that all of us, especially our priests may follow the example of Him Who is our Good Shepherd, showing love in all of our actions and devoting ourselves to the works of love, caring for all the flocks of the Lord, that all may be saved. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 15 : 3-7

At that time, Jesus told the tax collectors and the Pharisees this parable : “Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders?”

“Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

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Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Romans 5 : 5b-11

The Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.

But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us and we have become just through His Blood. With much more reason now He will save us from any condemnation. Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of His Son; with much more reason now we may be saved through His life.

Not only that; we even boast in God because of Christ Jesus, our Lord, through Whom we have been reconciled.

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Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me. Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezekiel 34 : 11-16

Indeed YHVH says this : I Myself will care for My sheep and watch over them. As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over My sheep and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog.

I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from other countries. I will lead them to their own land and pasture them on the mountains of Israel in all the valleys and inhabited regions of the land. I will take them to good pastures on the high mountains of Israel. They will rest where the grazing is good and feed in lush pastures on the heights of Israel.

I Myself will tend My sheep and let them rest, word of YHVH. I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd My flock with justice.

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Saturday, 21 May 2016 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Epistle of St. James about how we Christians should live our lives with good faith. And he told us that as Christians, all of us should pray, and make those prayers with genuine intention. The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous, and He will grant us what we have asked from Him, as long as these are in accordance to His will.

A good Christian knows how to pray to God, and true prayer which we offer to God, is a prayer of contemplation and of good conversation which we have with the Lord our God. It is a prayer through which we open our hearts to God, and let Him speak with us through our hearts and minds, and at the same time, we too open ourselves and show all of our hearts to God, baring everything before Him.

It was mentioned by St. James in his Epistle, how there would be much good if everyone can just learn to forgive one another and to be merciful, and to open themselves to God’s love. The problem with our society today is precisely that many of us are unable to forgive and let go, and we keep our angst and hatred inside us, welling up within ourselves and keeping those grudges, that when uncontrolled, can result in us committing great sins.

People hurt each other and cause angst and troubles among them because of reasons such as jealousy and selfish desires. They cannot give way even an inch to another when they came to be pitted against each other. The jealousy between men and each other had resulted in some of the greatest anguish and sorrow that had existed in our societies in the past, and even unto this very day.

And this is where the words of Jesus in the Gospel today came to our mind. Jesus spoke to His disciples about welcoming children to His presence, and how they should not stop those little children from seeking out the Lord. For the disciples did not quite like it when people brought children to Jesus, perhaps thinking of them as nuisance and as a hassle for them, as they might need to do more work to care for these little children.

And yet, Jesus opened their minds, and revealed that, rather than rejecting them and pushing them aside, they should welcome them and bring themselves to become more like those little children in the matter of their faith. Why is this so, brethren? That is because, children are innocent and pure, blameless and they have not yet had that taste of temptations and desires of the world, and their love for God is pure.

What the Lord Jesus is telling His disciples is that unless their faith can be as pure and true as the love which the little children showed Him, they would not go far in their journey towards Him, as inevitably, the pull and distractions of the many desires and temptations of the world would derail us on our journey towards God’s salvation. And if we do not take a concrete action regarding this, then I fear that many of us will fall into the darkness.

Let us all then follow the examples shown by one of the holy men of God, St. Christopher Magallanes, and his many companions, whose feasts we are celebrating today. St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, collectively known as the Martyr Saints of Mexico were the victims of the ruthless and vicious persecution campaign against the Church and the faithful people of God.

St. Christopher Magallanes lived during the early years of the twentieth century, just over a hundred years ago in Mexico, during a time of great troubles and difficulties for the Church of God. At that time, governments hostile to the Church and to the faith rose to power, and persecuted the people of God through various means, especially that of the clergy and the servants of God’s people.

St. Christopher Magallanes and his fellow compatriots, all the servants of God persecuted for their faith, remained calm and continued to minister to the people of God as much as they could, even in the face of suffering, torture and death. They faced martyrdom courageously, and not even the temptations of the world could shake their resolve, neither money, nor fame nor power nor worldly glory.

Their examples showed us all that we must devote ourselves wholly to God, and be like little children in their faith, true, pure, full and without blemish. And just like little children, whose love means true love, we should not be distracted and be turned away by all those things that keep us away from the love of God, and we should commit our hearts, minds and soul fully to God, in the same way that the holy martyrs and saints of God had done.

Let us all walk courageously in the footsteps of the holy martyrs and saints. Let us not be discouraged by the difficulties that we are to face as part of our lives as the faithful children of our Lord. But instead, let us all be more and more committed to God in all things, and renew our faith in Him. May God help us in our way and guide us all to Himself. God bless us all. Amen.