Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 46 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Clap your hands, all you peoples; acclaim God with shouts of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King all over the earth.
God ascends amid joyful shouts, the Lord amid trumpet blasts. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
God is King of all the earth; sing to Him a hymn of praise. For God now rules over the nations. God reigns from His holy throne.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Hebrews 9 : 2-3, 11-14
A first tent was prepared with the lampstand, the table and the bread of the Presence, this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain, there is a second sanctuary called the Most Holy Place.
But now Christ has appeared as the High Priest with regard to the good things of these new times. He passed through a sanctuary more noble and perfect, not made by hands, that is, not created. He did not take with Himself the blood of goats and bulls but His own Blood, when He entered once and for all into the sanctuary after obtaining definitive redemption.
If the sprinkling of people defiled by sin with the blood of goats and bulls or with the ashes of a heifer provided them with exterior cleanliness and holiness, how much more will it be with the Blood of Christ? He, moved by the eternal Spirit, offered Himself as an unblemished victim to God and His Blood cleanses us from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that we have been called as the disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to help and be part of His mission and work, in leading more and more of the people of God back towards Him, just as He has called on those whom He called the Apostles, and entrusted to them specific missions and ministries, as well as to others whom had been tasked with the evangelisation of the true faith. Each and every one of us are part of this great ministry of the Church, as members of the same Body of Christ, the flock of God’s faithful and as partakers of the same Covenant that God has established anew for the sake of us all, His beloved ones. We are therefore reminded of what we are to do as part of this Covenant with God.
In our first reading today from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard from the author of that Epistle of the role which the Lord Jesus, Our Saviour has as the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and us. This follows after the past few days of readings in which the same author highlighted the role that Christ had in being our High Priest in offering Himself as the Paschal Lamb, the sacrificial Victim on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins. It was through this offering of the perfect and most loving gift of the Lamb of God, slain and sacrificed for us, that each one of us have received pardon from our sins, and have received a new hope through the Lord Himself, and also having this New Covenant being established between us and God, our most loving Father and Creator.
In the past, Covenant was made by a formal pact between both parties, and sealed by the sacrifice and offering to a deity, and in this case, God Himself was one of the parties, in the example of the Covenant made between God and Abraham, the father of nations and the Israelites. The same Covenant was renewed between God and His people at Mount Sinai, as Moses acted as the intermediary between God and the people of Israel, placing sacrificial offerings offered to God and also the blood of the lamb being slain was sprinkled on the entire people as a mark of the sealing and confirmation of that Covenant. Then the same had also happened as the Lord Jesus became a Mediator of the New Covenant between God and His people.
That is because He acted as the same intermediary, as the Mediator between His heavenly Father, and all of the people of God, mankind in this world, past, present and future. We have been sundered and separated from God due to our disobedience and sins, and unfortunately because of that, we could not have returned to the Lord our God, as there is no place for us in His Presence as long as we have been tainted and corrupted by sin. Yet, by His ever enduring love and desire to be reconciled with us, He has provided us with the sure path to deliverance through none other than His Son, Who as our High Priest and Mediator, chose to offer Himself, His own Most Precious Body and Blood to be broken and poured out for us.
Thus, on the Altar of His Cross, Jesus our Lord has made anew the Covenant between God and mankind, and by His Most Precious Blood outpoured upon us, He has marked us all as those whom He had chosen and called to be saved. He gave us this grace and gift through baptism, and then which we affirm further through the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist, as we partake in those very Precious Body and Blood of the Lord. During each time we partake of the Most Holy Eucharist, we are reminded of this same Covenant that the Lord Himself has established and renewed for us by His suffering and death on the Cross. We are truly blessed that the Lord Himself has willingly took upon Himself to reach out to us in this way, and to show us His love in the most amazing and tangible way possible.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the Lord calling and appointing His Apostles, the chief twelve among all of His disciples and followers. They were meant to be the leaders of the Lord’s followers, and together with the other disciples and followers, they were to do the will of God, and carry out whatever mission that the Lord has entrusted to them. Later on, after the Lord has already risen from the dead and then ascended into Heaven, it was the Apostles, leading the other disciples and followers of God, that established the foundations of the Church and carried out extensive and intensive works of evangelisation throughout the world. That same work is still being carried out today to even more places and touching more peoples, as the Church had done for the past two millennia and more.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on these words from the Sacred Scriptures today, let us all ponder upon what it means for us to be in Covenant with God. A Covenant is a solemn and formal pact between two parties, and in this case it is between God Himself and each and every one of us. God has always shown us just how faithful He has been to us, in remembering us, caring for us, in His constant reminders for us, and in His care for us, that He reached out even the last and the lost and the least among us. Through Christ, He has shown us His ever enduring love, and fulfils His own words, that there is no greater love than for one to lay down one’s life for a friend, and He laid down His own life for us, suffering for us most grievously so that we may not perish, but have eternal life.
Hence, each and every one of us are expected to do our part in this Covenant as well. We are part of God’s same Church and flock, and we ought to carry out the missions and the many opportunities that God had granted to us in proclaiming His truth and love in this world. What are we going to do about it, brothers and sisters? Are we going to remain idle and refusing to embrace the missions and opportunities provided to us, or are we going to listen to His call and promptings, and finally commit ourselves to the path that He has shown us? Let us all consider carefully our choices and paths in life, and do whatever we can in order to live our lives more faithfully as the ones who call ourselves as Christians, as members of His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Today we commemorate the feast of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, two great saints and martyrs whose lives hopefully can strengthen and encourage us as well in how we live our lives with faith. Pope St. Fabian lived at the time of great difficulty and challenges for the Church, at the height of persecutions against Christians. Similarly, St. Sebastian was a Roman soldier who lived during the harshest time to be a Christian, under persecution by the Roman state and the Emperors. Yet, each one of them persevered in faith and remained faithful to God all the time. Pope St. Fabian led the Church patiently and faithfully throughout those difficult moments while St. Sebastian carried on his faith even in secret. Eventually both were persecuted, arrested and martyred for their faith, and especially for the case of St. Sebastian, in refusing to abandon his faith in God or worship the Emperor and the pagan gods. They faced suffering and death with great courage, knowing that God was by their side throughout.
May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey throughout life, and may He empower each one of us that we may always strive to live worthily in the path that He has shown us, and resist the temptations to sin and to do whatever is against His teachings and truth. May we be reminded by the examples of the saints and martyrs, in particular that of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, among many others. May God be with us always, and may He bless us all in our every good efforts, works and endeavours, all for His greater glory, and also for the salvation of many more souls. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Mark 3 : 13-19
At that time, Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve to be with Him, and He called them ‘Apostles’. He wanted to send them out to preach, and He gave them authority to drive out demons.
These are the Twelve : Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 84 : 8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
Show us, o Lord, Your unfailing love and grant us Your saving help. Yet Your salvation is near to those who fear You, and Your Glory will dwell in our land.
Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.
The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Hebrews 8 : 6-13
Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises. If all had been perfect in the first covenant, there would have been no need for another one. Yet God sees defects when He says : The days are coming – it is the word of the Lord – when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not keep My covenant, and so I Myself have forsaken them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come : I will put My law into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people.
None of them will have to teach one another or say to each other : Know the Lord, for they will know Me from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and no longer remember their wrongs. Here we are being told of a new covenant; which means that the first one had become obsolete, and what is obsolete and ageing is soon to disappear.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the reason again why we celebrate in this Christmas season, of why we gather together to rejoice in the coming of the Lord, the Saviour of the whole world. God has come into this world to gather each and every one of us, so that we may come to reconciliation and reunification with Him, and receive from Him the assurance of everlasting life and glory. The Lord has come down upon us and appeared before us so that we may come to experience His love, His kindness and compassion in its fullness. We are reminded that the salvation has come to us through the Son of God born into this world and celebrated at Christmas, as we are doing now.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the time when the Child Jesus was brought to the Temple of Jerusalem, to be presented and offered to God just as the Law dictated it. Both St. Joseph and Mary brought Him to the Temple, and there, the man of God called Simeon came to them and beheld the One Whom he has been told to await, and the One Whose coming he would witness before he passed on from this world. Simeon told both St. Joseph and Mary about what the Child would do as He would grow and eventually become a Sign for all the people of God, the Sign and fulfilment of everything which God had promised to all of us mankind. Through Christ, the Child presented and offered to God at the Temple that time, God would liberate all of us mankind, His beloved ones from the bondage to sin, evil and death.
Then in our first reading today, we heard of the words of St. John the Apostle in his Epistle as he told the faithful people of God regarding what they are all called to do as Christians, in doing the will of God and in obeying His Law and commandments. The Lord has come into our midst bearing His light and love, revealing unto us His great compassion, in Christ, His only begotten and beloved Son. And it is by this action that the Lord revealed to us what it truly means for us to be His followers, and that, as St. John himself wrote in his Epistle, is that ‘we all ought to live our lives just as He has lived His life, full of obedience to the Lord and full of righteousness, love and commitment to the path that God has shown to each and every one of us. By becoming one like us, in assuming our human flesh and existence, Christ has led us by His hands, to enter into this new existence in God.
We are reminded that as Christ Himself has shown us, the love of God had been revealed and taught to us, that we too may know how to love Him and that we may also be filled with the same love that He has shown us. And that is also exactly what the Law and the commandments of the Lord is all about. As the Lord Jesus told His disciples in another occasion, the Law of God can be summarised in two parts, as ‘Love the Lord your God with all of your hearts, with all of your strength and abilities’ and also ‘Love one another, your fellow brothers and sisters in the same way, just as much as you love yourself.’ The Love of God has been manifested to us, and He has shown us His most generous love in the incarnation of His Son, by sending us the best of all gifts, because through Christ, He has willed to reach out to us and lift us up out of our dark fate of destruction because of our sins.
Because of that, all of us should heed what the Lord had told us to do, to be genuine, faithful and loving Christians, and as we celebrate this joyful season of Christmas, we are constantly being reminded of how God’s love had been manifested before us in Jesus Christ, His Son, born into this world and walking in our midst, extending to us the most generous offer of salvation and eternal life, if we truly can believe in Him and follow Him. We should thus follow Him wholeheartedly in our way of life and not be easily tempted by the many temptations of worldly pleasures and other things that often led man into their downfall because they could not resist the temptation of power and glory. And we also have the saints to help lead us down the right path, in showing us what is meant for us to be Christians.
Today, we remember one of those saints for his obedience to the Lord, to His commandments and Law, against the forces of the world that rallied up against him and the Church. St. Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury living and ministering to the people of God more than eight centuries ago, during the High Middle Ages England, and as the Archbishop of Canterbury was the most important member of the clergy in all of England, the spiritual leader of all the faithful in that kingdom. He was once an English nobleman who was a close confidant and friend of the King of England, King Henry II. The King appointed his good friend as his Chancellor, and therefore becoming a powerful right hand man of the King, managing many of his court affairs and finances among others.
Then, King Henry II tried to gain more influence and control over the Church, which at that time often acted independently of the King and his court, and therefore, when vacancy occurred to the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the King nominated St. Thomas Becket to the position, thinking that by having his friend in that role, he could control the Church and its finances and other institutions better. St. Thomas Becket also remained as the King’s Chancellor while he was concurrently the Archbishop of Canterbury. St. Thomas Becket however went through a thorough change of heart as he went through the ordinations that made him deacon, priest and finally bishop, and was anointed and enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury and thus Primate of England.
St. Thomas Becket began to act independently of the King and refusing his efforts and desires to bring the Church under the realm’s control, and insisted on maintaining the independence of the Church and its institutions from any royal or secular influences and control. This then earned St. Thomas Becket the King’s ire and anger, as the King grew more and more restless and disappointed as his efforts were thwarted and resisted again and again, even after he managed to pressure St. Thomas Becket into exile more than once. Nonetheless, St. Thomas Becket continued his resistance against the King’s efforts, excommunicating one of the nobles who abused his authority and who was supported by the King. This continued struggle between King and his Archbishop went on for quite a few years.
And after this long and protracted period of disagreement and conflict, it was there then that the King made a comment in a feast in which he lamented his powerlessness against this man of God and asked if anyone could get rid of him. This was taken as a royal order by four knights who were present there, who then went to find St. Thomas Becket. St. Thomas Becket was martyred when those knights struck at him with their swords at his own Cathedral just as he was doing his prayers. The murder of St. Thomas Becket shocked the whole entire Christendom, and the story of the courage and perseverance showed by St. Thomas Becket very soon inspired many others, and many more even right down to this day, of a man of God who chose to obey the Lord and walk down His path of righteousness rather than to follow the path of worldliness and sin.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as St. Thomas Becket himself has shown us, let us therefore remember to walk the path that the Lord has shown us, the path of His love and the path of righteousness, loving God and loving our fellow brethren as generously as we can, rather than indulging in our own desire for power and glory as King Henry II and many other men and women of the world had done in the past, which led them to commit great sins and wickedness. Let us all distance ourselves from all those temptations and strive to do in whatever way we can to seek the Lord with a renewed heart full of love and faith in Him. May we all draw ever closer to God through our faithful Christmas celebrations, and through the inspirations from the saints, especially from St. Thomas Becket. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.
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.”
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.
YHVH is the One Who made the heavens. Splendour and majesty go before Him; power and glory fill His sanctuary.
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 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.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 