holy men

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Friday, 31 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 36 : 3-4, 5-6, 23-24, 39-40

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in Him and let Him act. Then will Your revenge come, beautiful as the dawn, and the justification of your cause, bright as the noonday sun.

The Lord is the One Who makes people stand, He gives firmness to those He likes. They may stumble, but they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

The Lord is the Salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.

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Friday, 31 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hebrews 10 : 32-39

Remember the first days when you were enlightened. You had to undergo a hard struggle in the face of suffering. Publicly you were exposed to humiliations and trials, and had to share the sufferings of others who were similarly treated.

You showed solidarity with those in prison; you were dispossessed of your goods and accepted it gladly for you knew you were acquiring a much better and more durable possession. Do not now throw away your confidence that will be handsomely rewarded.

Be patient in doing the will of God, and the promise will be yours : A little, a little longer – says Scripture – and He Who is coming will come; He will not delay. My righteous one will live if he believes: but if he distrusts, I will no longer look kindly on him. We are not among those who withdraw and perish, but among those who believe and win personal salvation.

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Tuesday, 28 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received today, we are all reminded that we are partakers of the same Covenant which our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour has formed and mediated for us, and which He has established and sealed through the breaking of His own Most Precious Body and the outpouring of His own Most Precious Blood, the Body and Blood of the Holy Lamb of God, the One Who takes away the sins of the whole world, of all mankind, past, present and future. And therefore, as we have been given this great gift from God, the outpouring and sharing of the most generous love of God, we should hence appreciate what the Lord has granted us and learn to obey Him wholeheartedly at all times, doing our best to walk in His Holy Presence and living our lives to the best of our abilities as faithful disciples and followers of God.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the discourse we have heard for the past few weeks from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard the author of the Epistle explaining to the intended audience, the Jewish community and people, likely both the believers among them and also those who have not yet believed in Christ, about the nature of the works of the Messiah, Who has offered Himself as a worthy sacrifice and offering to redeem all of us sinners. The context was that the requirement by the Law of God revealed to Moses obliged the people to offer sacrifices to the Lord regularly for the cleansing from their sins and debts, which they had to offer through the priests at the Temple and House of God.

And by the nature of those sacrificial offerings, they had to be offered regularly and periodically, as the offerings were animals and other earthly offerings that cannot be enough to be offered to atone for the multitudes of our innumerable sins. There is one and only one sacrifice and offering that is worthy and good enough for that purpose, and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus had offered for our sake. He has given freely the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the Immaculate, Perfect and Infinitely wonderful Body and Blood of the Paschal Lamb, the Divine Word Incarnate. There can be no greater offering than the offering of God made Man, God Who loves us all so much that He has willingly embraced us all with His most generous love and mercy, giving us all the assurance of hope and eternal life.

And because of this most wonderful and generous love of God, Christ has offered for us the one only necessary sacrifice and offering for the atonement of all of our multitudes of sins. There is no longer any need for us to bear the burden of sin, as long as we put ourselves, our lives and our faith in the Lord, and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, as we all should be doing. That is why the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews mentioned that the sacrifice and offerings which the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world has offered on the Altar of His Cross has nullified the need for the regular sacrifices and offerings at the Temple of God as prescribed by the old Law of God, and instead, everyone has been called to embrace God’s love and put their faith in Him.

In that same occasion, we also heard how the author mentioned that the Lord Jesus has obeyed His Father’s will perfectly, to do what He has been sent to do in this world, to show that if by our disobedience and disregard of God’s Law and will we have fallen into sin and destruction, the path to damnation and downfall, then by listening to God and obeying His will, all of us can be restored to grace and be reconciled with God, our most loving Father and Creator. We have been given the free will and the freedom to choose the path that we want to walk in our lives. If we choose to follow the Lord and obey Him, walking in the path that He has shown us, then He will guide us to the sure path towards everlasting life and eternity of happiness and joy with Him. But, if we choose to walk our own path, and allow the temptations of sin to mislead us into the wrong path, we may end up falling into eternal damnation and regret our choice later on.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the people told the Lord Jesus Who was busy teaching all of them that His mother and other family members were there waiting on Him. Then, the Lord immediately told all of them that all those who obey Him and the words and will of God are His mother, brothers and relatives. If we only read this remark from the face value and interpret it literally, then we may think that the Lord had been very rude towards His mother and relatives. However, what the Lord Jesus truly intended by mentioning those words was that everyone are welcome to come to Him and all are equally beloved to Him. There is no favouritism by the Lord, and it does not mean that one has privilege simply by being related to Him.

This is contrasted to the common attitude and actions of many people at the time, and even up to this day, where we tend to give special favours and treatment, over others who are not related to us. Meanwhile, the Lord gives this opportunity of reconciliation between us and Himself generously and equally regardless of our background and origin, and no one is to be excluded from the generous love of God, no matter what. And as we heard from our first reading today and discussed earlier, it was by the selfless and most loving sacrifice of Christ that we have been saved. That is why we are truly very fortunate to have received such great grace and opportunities from the Lord, and we have been reminded of this fact yet again today so that we will not squander these many opportunities and pathways that the Lord has offered generously, freely and willingly to us. It is now up to us to come to Him and to follow Him, to obey the Lord and His Law, to do what He has commanded us all to do.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, a renowned saint and man of God, a holy priest and theologian whose many works and contributions are still well-known even to this very day. St. Thomas Aquinas was born to a powerful noble and landed family in what is today part of Italy, where he was raised with excellent academic preparations and education, and his family definitely had wanted him to pursue a career in the world as was common for his family at the time. However, the young future St. Thomas Aquinas had a different calling, and he wanted to join religious life as a member of the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers. This was naturally opposed by his family, who attempted to stop him, and St. Thomas Aquinas even had to endure a year being imprisoned at that time, and he had to face seductions and efforts to dissuade him from pursuing religious life and calling.

But none of these eventually succeeded, and in the end, his family, especially his mother, Theodora, relented and allowed him to secretly escape his detention, after which St. Thomas Aquinas eventually went through the preparation and formation to become a member of the Dominicans. And as he went through his religious journey, he began working on many writings and works that would eventually be famous as theological masterpieces and compulsory reading materials for those studying theology centuries in the future, right up to the present day. While St. Thomas Aquinas was known to be relatively quiet as a person, but his understanding, appreciation and efforts in describing and explaining the Divine were truly legendary and amazing, and he dedicated the rest of his life to these theological pursuits and efforts, while ministering to the people of God around him with great love and dedication.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed and spent time discerning earlier on from the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and also from the discussion on the life, ministry and work of St. Thomas Aquinas, let us all therefore do our best in our own respective lives to live a most faithful, committed life to God, putting God at the centre of our lives, and focusing our attention on glorifying Him through our lives. Each and every one of us have been entrusted with the responsibility, mission and calling to carry out all that the Lord has entrusted to us, through the various opportunities He has provided to us. We should not squander these opportunities, and instead strive our best to commit ourselves with faith, and to remember always the great and most generous love that God has given us, and thus, commit ourselves to love Him with the same vigour and purpose.

May the Lord be with us all and may He empower each one of us to be the faithful bearers of His love, His truth and hope amongst our brethren in this world today. May each and every one of us continue to be strong and courageous in standing up for our faith, doing our best each day and at every moments to be good examplesand inspirations to everyone around us, much as St. Thomas Aquinas and many other saints had inspired us all through their exemplary lives and faith. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory, and may He continue to guide us in our journey in life towards Him, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 3 : 31-35

At that time, the mother and brothers of Jesus came. As they stood outside, they sent someone to call Him. The crowd sitting around Jesus told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”

He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And looking around at those who sat there, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to Me.”

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Tuesday, 28 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 39 : 2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11

With resolve I waited for the Lord; He listened and heard me beg. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

I have not locked up in my heart Your saving help, but have spoken about it – Your deliverance and Your faithfulness. I have made no secret of Your truth and of Your kindness in the great assembly.

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Tuesday, 28 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hebrews 10 : 1-10

The religion of the Law is only a shadow of the good things to come; it has the patterns but not the realities. So, year after year, the same sacrifices are offered without bringing the worshippers to what is the end. If they had been cleansed once and for all, they would no longer have felt guilt and would have stopped offering the same sacrifices.

But no, year after year their sacrifices witness to their sins and never will the blood of bulls and goats take away these sins. This is why on entering the world, Christ says : You did not desire sacrifice and offering; You were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said : “Here I am. It was written of Me in the scroll. I will do Your will, o God.”

First He says : “Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire nor were You pleased with them – although they were required by the Law. Then He says : Here I am to do Your will. This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified once and for all by the sacrifice of the Body of Christ Jesus.

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us are called to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the path that God has called us to walk through, following the examples of the Lord Himself, Our Saviour and High Priest Who has obeyed so perfectly the will of His Heavenly Father so that by His perfect obedience, He may show all of us mankind the path towards eternal life and salvation. He has become the perfect Man, the New Adam and the New Man that all of us as Christians are called to follow and embody in our own lives, embracing wholeheartedly our Christian faith in everything that we say and do at all times.

In our first reading today, the continuation from the discourse by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews on the nature and the works of the Messiah, in which the author continued to elaborate on the role which Christ as the Messiah had played in the story of our salvation. As the author was writing to the audience composed of the Jewish people, likely both those who have believed in the Lord and also those who have not yet believed, he explained in detail throughout this Epistle Who the true and real identity of Jesus Christ was, the One Whom the Jewish leaders and authorities had rejected, oppressed and then handed over to the Romans to be crucified. This Epistle to the Hebrews instead presented this crucifixion as part of the plan of the Lord in saving all of His people just as He has promised and prophesied through His prophets like the prophet Isaiah.

The account from this Epistle further highlighted the actions that Christ has done at the pinnacle of His salvific mission, in offering on our behalf the perfect offering for all of our multitudes of sins, in the manner how the priests of the Israelites offered sacrificial offerings for the people of God. Those priests had to first offer sacrifices for themselves first because they themselves were sinners and had to atone for their own sins first, before offering the sacrifices on behalf of the people who came to them seeking their help. But it is different for the case of the Lord Jesus, the One and only True High Priest of all because He is perfect and without any taint of sin, and hence had no need to offer sin offering for Himself.

And most amazingly, while He Himself is blameless and without any fault, He chose willingly to bear the blame and the punishment assigned to Him, imposed on Him by the Jewish leaders and authorities, who blamed on Him the fault of rebellion and blasphemy against God, that He was handed over to the Romans to be crucified. Yet, as those who were familiar with the Scriptures would realise, this persecution and suffering of the Messiah that God had sent to be with His people has been foretold by the prophets, and it was by this willing sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all, offered His own Most Precious Body and Blood on the Altar of His Cross, by which He has purchased all of us, once and for all, the redemption for all of our innumerable sins.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus against those people who questioned Him on why those Pharisees and the disciples of St. John the Baptist carried out fasting and other pious practices but His disciples did not do the same. This was because at that time the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were particularly strict in how they interpreted the Law of God, requiring all the people to follow the Law strictly, and one of them was the requirement for fasting, and how they ought to fast in the right manner. However, they placed so much emphasis and time focusing on how they observed and practiced the Law, that they ended up neglecting to follow the Lord faithfully and with God at the centre of all things.

The Lord also presented to them all the parable of the new wine and wineskin, old wine and wineskin, as well as new cloth and old cloth. This parable is meant to highlight first of all the fact that the Lord’s coming revealed truths about the Lord and His Law, His intentions and desire for His people, all of us, to fulfil them all perfectly and to correct the erroneous ways that His will, His Law and commandments have been received by the people, particularly by those who interpreted the Law and practiced them. Secondly, it is also a reminder for us that if we truly want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and completely, then there is a need for us all to follow His path and reject the old path of worldliness that we may be familiar with. Otherwise, if we do not do so, we are no better than hypocrites.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but two amazing men of God whose faith and dedication to Him should be reminders for all of us to be truly faithful and committed as well in our own lives, in our obedience to God and His cause, and in doing whatever we can so that we may imitate their good and faithful lives, and realise how being good Christians may often require us to make sacrifices and to be ready and prepared to face challenges, trials and even oppressions for our faith in God. Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian both have suffered for their faith in God, being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. However, they remained firmly faithful even despite all those sufferings and becoming for us great inspirations and role models to follow.

Pope St. Fabian was born into a noble Roman family during the third century after the birth of Christ, at a time of great challenges and turmoil for the Church and the faithful as they often encountered harsh persecutions and oppressions from the Romans who treated Christians and their faith as those who deserved to be punished and killed, unless they abandoned their faith. His election as Pope was truly remarkable in the sense that when the previous Pope, his predecessor passed away and the election for the successor took place, the future Pope St. Fabian was actually just visiting, and amidst all the competition between all the influential candidates at that time, no one minded Pope St. Fabian at all until a dove miraculously descended upon him, and the whole assembly acclaimed him as the new Pope. He would go on to carry out many great deeds and works as Pope.

Meanwhile, not much was known about the early life of St. Sebastian, but according to Church tradition and his hagiography, he was a young man who joined the Roman military during the time of the reign of the then Emperor Carinus, and then under his successors, Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Those two Emperors were notorious for their very harsh and terrible persecution against Christians, but St. Sebastian managed to become one of the captains of the Praetorian Guards, the guards of the Emperor himself. In that capacity, he managed to help several of the captive and persecuted Christians, and even managed to convert some of those involved in the arrest and persecution of Christians.

Eventually, after the relatively long reign of about fourteen years for Pope St. Fabian and after the clandestine efforts in helping Christians and converting others for St. Sebastian, both of them were found out in their efforts and faith as Christians, with Pope St. Fabian being persecuted by the new Roman Emperor Decius, who unlike the previous Emperors that had been more tolerant of Christianity, he was a hardliner, arrested Pope St. Fabian and executed him for his faith as an example to all the other Christians. St. Sebastian meanwhile was persecuted by another harsh persecutor, the Emperor Diocletian, who was particularly displeased that one of his own Praetorian captains was a Christian. He was shot with many arrows, but miraculously survived and cared for by a Christian widow, before being martyred after he rebuked the Emperor publicly for his actions against Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of what we have heard in our Scripture passages today and the lives of those saints whose memory we commemorate is that we must appreciate the great love, compassion and kindness which God has given to us so generously through His Son, and therefore, just as He has suffered in doing so, being rejected by the world and all those who dwelled and remained in sin, and how Pope St. Fabian, St. Sebastian and many other saints and holy men and women of God had done, let us all realise the challenges, difficulties and sufferings that we may face amidst our lives as Christians in this world today. Let us also be ready to live lives that are truly worthy of God at all times so that we may be good role models and inspirations ourselves to one another. Amen.

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Mark 2 : 18-22

At that time, one day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but Yours do not?”

Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the day will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.”

“No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hebrews 5 : 1-10

Every High Priest is taken from among mortals and appointed to be their representative before God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. He is able to understand the ignorant and erring for he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he is bound to offer sacrifices for his sins as well as for the sins of the people.

Besides, one does not presume to take this dignity, but takes it only when called by God, as Aaron was. Nor did Christ become High Priest in taking upon Himself this dignity, but it was given to Him by the One Who says : You are My Son, I have begotten You today. And in another place : You are a Priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Christ, in the days of His mortal life, offered His sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to Him Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His humble submission. Although He was Son, He learnt through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey Him. This is how God proclaimed Him Priest in the order of Melchizedek.