holy martyrs

by

Thursday, 31 December 2015 : Seventh Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are asked to reflect on the joy which we have and with which we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in this Christmas season. Each of us should reflect on today’s Scripture readings in order to understand in greater depth how significant this celebration of Christmas is for all of us.

This reading used to be read at the end of every Mass as what is known as the Last Gospel, for the very purpose that, the whole Mass itself, the entire celebration of our Faith and the whole purpose of the Church, and the very fact why we rejoice in this Christmas and have a hope in God and the eternal life which He promised us, is because of what had been written and revealed in that passage from the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour was not created by God, and neither should He be counted to be among the created ones of God. Even though He is fully and completely Man, but He was not created by God, as He is different. He has existed before everything was made, and indeed, He existed before the world and before the beginning of time, for He is God, and He was God, and He will be always God.

He is the Word of God, the Word of Creation, the one and inseparable aspect of the Lord, which in our understanding, exists as one and only God, but with Three distinct Godheads or Aspects, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, all of Whom are united in perfect love and harmony, such that although they are distinct from each other, but they cannot be separated from each other without diminishing the fullness of God’s greatness and glory.

The Word of God has made Himself into Flesh, the Flesh of Man. He was the Word that was with God, Who is God, and through Whom God created this world, all of creation, all of us mankind and everything that ever was, is, and will ever be. And it is the same Word, Who had come into this world, assuming the flesh of Man, and through the intermediary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, He was born into this world, an event we celebrate as Christmas.

This is very important as, before He came into this world, He is intangible, untouchable and distant, but God Who loves us all greatly and tenderly, desired for all of us to be reunited with Him and to be with Him in the union of perfect love, and therefore, through Jesus, He made Himself tangible, touchable, and now we can see in Him, the fullness of His love, and indeed, of our own future of happiness and eternal life together with Him.

Through Jesus our Lord, we have seen the very personification of God’s love and mercy. He has provided us this act of ultimate mercy, giving us the new and perfect opportunity to be reconciled with God. He has done everything for our sake, that all of us may be rescued from the abyss of darkness and damnation in hell. Shall we not therefore give our love and devotion to Him as well then?

Let us today reflect on the examples of the faithful servant of God, whose feast we are celebrating today, namely Pope St. Silvester I, the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Universal Church who lived and reigned as Pope during a time of great change in the Church and in the world. Pope St. Silvester I was among the first Popes to have led the Church after the official toleration of the Faith by the Edict of Milan in the year 313 AD, and he led the Church through a time of great renewal.

Pope St. Silvester I led the Church through a time of great building of many churches and basilicas, and many people flocked to the Church as never before. Many professed the faith and became believers, and Pope St. Silvester I and his good leadership and role model in faith helped ensure more and more souls being saved through the good works God had done through His Church.

As we all embark on this last day of the old year and as we rejoice in welcoming the beginning of the new year tomorrow, let us all also follow in the examples of Pope St. Silvester I and the other holy saints of God, so that we may usher in the beginning of a new year to be filled with the fullness of God’s love and our faith in Him. This is the time for us to make our new year’s resolution, that is to abandon our old ways of sin and wickedness, and embrace fully the ways of the Lord.

May Almighty God bless us all, and may He bless our coming new year, so that His blessings may fill that year with much grace, and all of us may look up to the coming of the new year of hope, and be ever more faithful and be more devoted to our Lord and God. God be with us all. Amen.

by

Thursday, 31 December 2015 : Seventh Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 1-18

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in Him; life, which for human beings, was also light, light that shines in darkness, light that darkness could not overcome.

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light; for the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone.

He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, the very world that did not know Him. He came to His own, yet His own people did not receive Him; but to all who received Him, He empowers to become children of God, for they believe in His Name.

These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man : they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father : fullness of truth and loving kindness.

John bore witness to Him openly, saying, “This is the One who comes after me, but He is already ahead of me, for He was before me.” From His fullness we have all received, favour upon favour. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving kindness came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made Him known : the One, Who is in and with the Father.

by

Thursday, 31 December 2015 : Seventh Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2, 11-12a, 12b-13

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day.

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

by

Thursday, 31 December 2015 : Seventh Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 18-21

My dear children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist would come : but several antichrists have already come, by which we know that it is now the last hour.

They went out from us though they did not really belong to us, they would have remained with us. So it became clear that not all of us were really ours. But you have the anointing from the Holy One, so that all of you have true wisdom.

I write to you, not because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you already know it, and lies have nothing in common with the truth.

by

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Jesus Who was presented at the Temple of God at the time when He was just eight days old, as He was the Firstborn Son of Mary, which according to the Law and the commandments of God, all the firstborn sons of Israel and his descendants should be presented to the Lord after their birth as a sign of the renewed covenant between God and His people.

This can be linked to what had happened in the past during the time of Abraham, when God made a covenant with him, and established the promise which He had vowed to Abraham, the faithful servant of God, that He would make him and his descendants to be a great nation. But one day, God asked Abraham to bring the son God had promised him, Isaac, to a mountain and sacrifice him as an offering to Him.

We can just imagine what kind of thoughts and emotions that ran through Abraham’s mind at that time. Imagine that the Lord had given you such a great promise, and then suddenly it seemed as if He wanted to take that promise away from him by taking the one whom he had been expecting for a long time, that is a son to be his heir and to be the predecessor of the great nation promised to him.

Yet, if we see how Abraham reacted to the Lord’s request, we can immediately see how he was thoroughly committed to God and obeyed Him without question. He was ready to give up his son to the Lord, as his attitude was likely to be such as, whatever God has given me, God may take again from me. Yes, this is because He is the Lord and Master of all, and it is certainly within His power and authority to decide on the fate of all things.

And therefore, just as Abraham had been willing to give even his own beloved son, the promised son that would be his seed and a great nation, therefore, in this Christmas season, God also would not hold back Himself from giving His own Beloved Son, the Firstborn of all things, not created but Who was with Him since before the beginning of time.

Yes, God gave us none other than His own Beloved Son, the Divine Word of God Who was made Man, one of the Holy Trinity and inseparable part of the Lord, Who came down as a humble Man in Jesus, born of a carpenter and a young virgin, and consecrated to God as all other firstborns of Israel were, so that through Him, this world and all of God’s people might be saved.

This is the essence of Christmas, its true meaning, and which all of us should understand, that the love that God has for all of us is so great, His dedication and commitment to us is so great that He is willing to do all these just so that we may be reunited with Him in perfect love. This is the commitment that God has given to His part of the covenant that He had established with us. But a covenant is a two-way process, and thus we too need to give our part to the covenant.

How do we do this, brethren? Perhaps we should look at the examples of the saint whose life is a good barometer and example to follow in this regard, namely St. Thomas Becket, or St. Thomas of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury and therefore the Primate of England who lived and worked at about eight hundred years ago, at the time of the Medieval age Europe.

St. Thomas Becket was once the Chancellor of the Realm, the highest political office equivalent to that of today’s Prime Minister and also a good friend of the king of England at that time, king Henry. For a long time, St. Thomas Becket lived a life of privilege, of honour and worldly glory, with all the things that were made available to him because of his esteemed position.

All this changed when the king appointed him as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest position in the Church within the realm of the English king, with jurisdiction over the other English bishops, priests and also all of the laity. Such an esteemed position was bestowed on St. Thomas Becket by the king with the hope that he would be able to rein the Church that the king will gain better cooperation from a Church controlled by his own confidant.

Yet, St. Thomas Becket received the revelation of the Faith as he embarked on his new duty, and he wholeheartedly devoted himself to the mission he had been entrusted with. He took his new position of responsibility very seriously, and instead of championing the cause of the king as the king had intended when he appointed St. Thomas Becket as the Primate of England, the fact was completely contrary to the desires of the king.

He opposed the king and the nobles in many occasions, defending the rights of the Church and the faith, and also chastised certain nobles for their wicked ways and called for their repentance. Not even opposition and threats from the nobles and all those who had been negatively affected by St. Thomas Becket’s works could stop him from devoting himself completely to God’s works.

In the end, the nobles with the complicity from the king murdered him in a cold-blooded assassination when St. Thomas Becket celebrated the Mass in his own chapel. The assassination was immediately condemned by the Church and by the people, and those involved had to undergo painful penitential efforts before they were allowed to return to the Church, and St. Thomas Becket was universally recognised as a saint for his hard works and efforts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should be inspired by his examples, and we should redouble our efforts and commit ourselves anew to the Lord. May all of us be able to give ourselves more and more to God our Lord and Father, and may He bless us and keep us always in His love. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 22-35

When the day came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the Law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord.

So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law. Simeon took the Child in his arms, and blessed God, saying, “Now, o Lord, You can dismiss Your servant in peace, for You have fulfilled Your word and my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You display for all the people to see. Here is the Light You will reveal to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

His father and mother wondered at what was said about the Child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother, “Know this : your Son is a Sign, a Sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

by

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

But YHVH is the One Who made the heavens. Splendour and majesty go before Him; power and glory fill His sanctuary.

by

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 3-11

How can we know that we know Him? If we fulfil His commands. If you say, “I know Him,” but do not fulfil His commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep His word, God’s love is made complete in you. This is how we know that we are in Him : he who claims to live in Him must live as He lived.

My dear friends, I am not writing you a new commandment, but reminding you of an old one, one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. But, in a way, I give it as a new commandment that is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light already shines.

If you claim to be in the light but hate your brother, you are still in darkness. If you love your brothers and sisters, you remain in the light and nothing in you will make you fall. But if you hate your brother you are in the dark and walk in darkness without knowing where you go, for the darkness has blinded you.

by

Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, the holy martyrs and amongst the first of those who were martyred for the sake of the Lord. The Holy Innocents were those infants of Bethlehem, who were those below the age of two, who were mercilessly slaughtered by Herod, the king of Judea at the time, because of his fear of the One Who was prophesied to be the King of the Jews.

We heard in the Gospels how the king Herod of Judea, upon hearing from the three Magi or the three wise men from the East that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, became jealous and refused to stand down and pay obeisance and honour the King of kings Who had come into the world. Instead, he plotted in his minds and in his heart, thinking of destroying the King in an act of jealousy, to conserve his own rule and authority, and to prevent his kingdom to be usurped.

We see in today’s Scripture readings the great danger of succumbing to vanity and personal desires, and to jealousy and hatred of others. We see the kind of things and atrocities that mankind was able to do to one another in order to selfishly preserve themselves and gain good things only for themselves. This is the ugly and real extent of our selfishness, the desire and the tendency to think only about ourselves.

We have seen what Herod was prepared to do in order to defend himself, in order to preserve himself and keep his position. He slaughtered innocent children and all those infants below the age of two without mercy and without hesitation in order to hopefully eliminate the King before He is to come to His glory and power. But while men try their best to preserve themselves, as we can see, God has His own plans.

Why do we call the martyrs today the Holy Innocents? That is because we believe that even though we mankind have been tainted by sin, but at a certain age before we are able to reason for ourselves and think for ourselves, and before we are tainted by the many concerns of the world, such as power, desires, jealousy and all of those things that had precisely afflicted Herod, the children of mankind are innocent and blameless.

And it was these pure and blameless beings, powerless and weak who were slaughtered by the king Herod in his futile quest to prevent the King of kings born into this world from claiming and getting His rightful throne, as the King over all of Israel, and as King over the whole world. In the end, the will of God will always triumph, and the proud man is left with none, as king Herod went to his death and certainly he is to be held accountable for all of his sinful deeds.

But one then may ask, that if God is so good, then why could He not have helped and prevented the children from being massacred in the first place? Was He not loving and merciful? If He is so, then how could He have allowed such an atrocity to take place? Surely these are the very questions that are likely to be in our minds as we heard the passages from the Scripture readings today.

In this we all have to realise that even though God indeed, as I have just mentioned, has His will and desire, but He does not oppress us by imposing upon us His will. We also have our free will granted to us by God, a free will to choose and to follow a path that we have chosen. Indeed, for Herod, he has a choice, either he should humbly accept the reality of his position, and give honour and glory to the one true King as the three Magi had, or he could choose to satisfy his own greed and pride, and try his best to remove his enemy.

Thus, all of us today are brought to reflect and to understand the importance of the implications of what we have heard and discussed today for our own sake, and for our own salvation. Should we follow Herod’s path? If we look at our own lives, I am sure we will realise that there are likely quite a few occasions in which we have acted in the same way as Herod had done, in how we interacted with our friends and even to those who are strangers to us.

Let us from now on, then, no longer be selfish and be too self-serving in our actions. On this feast of the Holy Innocents, let us all ask these holy martyrs to pray for our sake, that God will open our hearts and minds so that we will be better able to listen to Him and obey Him in all things, and so that we may grow lesser in our pride and desire, and stronger in our humility, for our own sake, and for our own salvation.

May God bless us and keep us, and may He strengthen us all in everything that we do, and empower us all to be ever more faithful children of God. O, Holy Innocents pray for us sinners and intercede for us before the Lord our God. Amen.

by

Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the Child in order to kill Him.”

Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled : I called My Son out of Egypt.

When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and under. This was done in line with what he had learnt from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.

In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled : A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation : Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.