holy men

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Monday, 21 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 105 : 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44

They dared not destroy the pagans, as YHVH commanded; they mingled with these nations and learnt to do as they did.

In serving the idols of the pagans, they were trapped into sacrificing children to demons.

They defiled themselves by what they did, playing the harlot in their worship. The anger of YHVH grew intense and He abhorred His inheritance.

He delivered them many a time, but they went on defying Him and sinking deeper into their sin. But He heard their cry of affliction and looked on them with compassion.

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Monday, 21 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Judges 2 : 11-19

The Israelites treated YHVH badly for they served the Baals instead. They abandoned YHVH, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt, and served other gods, the gods of the neighbouring peoples. They bowed before those gods and offended YHVH.

When YHVH saw that they had abandoned Him to serve Baal and Ashtaroth, He became angry with His people and gave them into the hands of plunderers who left them in misery. He Himself sold them to their enemies who completely surrounded the Israelites, so that these Israelites could no longer withstand them. Whenever they felt strong for an offensive, YHVH would turn against them and send evil upon them, as He had warned them and sworn to do. And this caused much distress and anguish for the Israelites.

YHVH raised up “judges” (or liberators) who saved the Israelites from their exploiters. But neither did they obey those “judges” for they still prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. They soon left the way of their fathers who obeyed the commandments of YHVH; they did not follow the way of their fathers.

When YHVH made a judge appear among His people, YHVH was with him and saved them from their enemies. That lasted as long as the judge lived, for YHVH was moved to pity by the lament of His people who were oppressed and persecuted. But when the judge died, they again became worse than their ancestors – worshipping and serving other gods. They would not renounce their pagan practices and stubborn ways.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded again to remain true to our faith in God at all times, and each one of us are called to deepen our faith and knowledge of God and His ways, so that in all and every thing that we do, we will always do what He has taught and commanded us all to do in our daily lives. We should have faith that is strong and pure, unbridled by the many temptations of worldly glory and fame, and faith that is truly vibrant and alive, that can inspire many others to continue to be faithful and dedicated to God. This is what we have been called to do as Christians, and we are constantly being reminded so that we will always be exemplary in our every actions and deeds throughout life.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the Book of Joshua in which Joshua, the leader of the Israelites that succeeded Moses, continued to remind the Israelites of what they had to do in obeying God’s Law and commandments, in doing God’s will and in living their lives truly worthily of His cause. Each and every one of us ought to heed these reminders as well, because we are all have been called and chosen by God as His people too. Joshua told all the people of Israel that they all should not forget about the Lord, their God, and they must not establish or erect any altars or worship any pagan idols or gods in their midst, aside from the Lord only. This is because the Lord alone is the one true God Who is worthy of worship, and the people of God must not be easily swayed by the allures of their neighbours or other worldly temptations all around them.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord telling off His disciples for keeping young children from coming to Him, when many of them came to be with Him and to greet Him with joy. The Lord’s disciples tried to keep those children away from Him and scolded those who brought the children to the Lord, and this immediately brought about a stern rebuke from the Lord for all those disciples, because the Lord truly wanted all those children to come to Him, and presented of how faithful those children truly were, with faith that were really living and vibrant, true and pure, unadulterated and uncorrupted by the temptations and other forms of worldly vices and allures, and which all of us as Christians, all of God’s disciples and followers, should truly aspire to have in our own respective lives and faith.

What is the faith of a child, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is a pure faith where the child seeks the Lord and focuses their attention on Him alone, just as we can notice how innocent children really are. If they believe in something, or were told about something, they will really believe in it without any skepticism or doubt, and this kind of pure faith is what the Lord truly seeks from all of us, His beloved people and children. However, the reality is such that many of us did not truly have this kind of pure, unadulterated and uncorrupted life, faith and commitment to God, as many of us have been swayed and corrupted by the temptations of worldly glory and desires, all the things which had kept us away from truly being able to serve and follow the Lord wholeheartedly in all of our lives, as we all should have done.

Take for example the people of Israel themselves, whom God had rescued and led out of the land of Egypt, and whom He had loved and taken care of throughout that journey and beyond. There were many times and instances throughout that journey when the Lord were repeatedly angered and saddened by their stubborn refusal to listen to Him or to obey His ways, because all of them sought worldly satisfaction and pleasures, rather than to obey Him and His Law and commandments. Whenever the Israelites rebelled against God and disobeyed Him, or established pagan idols and false gods over them, it was because they were swayed by those temptations, of wickedness and evil, pride, ambition, ego, greed, pleasures of the world, and more, and all those things led them down the slippery path towards their downfall.

The same will likely happen to us as well, brothers and sisters in Christ, unless we take due precaution to avoid suffering the same fate by being ever vigilant in our lives and in how we live them. Unless we watch ourselves and our actions in life, we may all easily end up falling into the trap of sin and evil, and as a result, we may end up losing sight and focus on the Lord and His saving grace, His light and path. When we allow the corruptions and the temptations of this world to sway us, it will likely lead us astray, away from the Lord and His truth, and in the end, we may regret when it is already too late, and when we have to suffer the consequences for our sins and faults. But the Lord is forever always gracious and kind, and He has always given us many opportunities to turn away from the wicked paths and to embrace the path of His light and righteousness.

That is why, all of us should seek inspiration from the good examples of our holy predecessors, like that of St. John Eudes whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John Eudes was a French priest and the founder of the religious congregation, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. He had been devout and pious throughout his whole life, even from an early age, and developed an intense devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout his formative and priestly years and vocation. He dedicated much of his time and efforts to help those who were suffering and sick, and spent the time to evangelise and to let the Lord and His truth known amongst more and more of God’s people. St. John Eudes also cared for some prostitutes and others who had been ostracised by the community for their sinful way of life, developing what came to be known as the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge.

There were numerous other good deeds and actions which St. John Eudes had done for the greater glory of God and for the benefits of his fellow brothers and sisters, particularly those who had been abandoned and ostracised, and had none to welcome or care for them. Through his efforts in preaching and ministry, and by his establishments of institutions to help the people of God and to gather those who desire to serve the Lord more faithfully, St. John Eudes had touched countless people, and brought so many souls, much closer to God and to His salvation. His strong devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary helped many others to come to love the Lord and to know Him more through His blessed Mother as well, and also by the inspiration set by St. John Eudes himself in all of his works.

Let us all therefore do the same in our lives, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired and strengthened by the good examples and inspiration from St. John Eudes, so that we may also lead lives that are truly worthy of the Lord, free from sin and evil, and full of virtue and righteousness in God. Each and every one of us are expected and called to do God’s will, and to follow Him wholeheartedly, just as how Joshua had reminded the Israelites to be always ever faithful to God in all things. May all of us draw ever closer to God and His salvation, and do our best to remain truly faithful to Him, at all times. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 19 : 13-15

At that time, little children were brought to Jesus, that He might lay His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. Jesus then said, “Let the children be! Do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble, like these children.”

Jesus laid His hands on them and went away.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to YHVH, “O YHVH, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I praise YHVH Who counsels me; even at night, my inmost self instructs me. I keep YHVH always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence, the fullness of joy, at Your right hand, happiness forever.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Joshua 24 : 14-29

Joshua said to the people of Israel, “So fear YHVH, and be sincere and faithful in serving Him. Set aside those gods your ancestors worshipped in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Serve only YHVH. But if you do not want to serve YHVH, make known this very day whom you shall serve – whether they be the gods your ancestors served in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites who formerly occupied the land in which you now live. As for me, I and my household will serve YHVH.”

The people answered, “May God not permit that we ever abandon YHVH to serve other gods! For it was He Who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was He Who did those great wonders that we have seen; He protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed, driving away before us all the nations especially the Amorites who lived in this land. So we shall also serve YHVH : He is our God!”

Joshua asked the people : “Will you be able to serve YHVH? He is a holy God, a jealous God Who does not tolerate wickedness or faults. If you abandon YHVH to serve other gods, He will turn against you and just as He has done you so much good, so shall He punish you and destroy you.”

The people replied, “No, may it not be as you say. We will serve YHVH.” Joshua said, “You yourselves are witnesses that you have chosen YHVH to serve Him.” They answered, “We are witnesses.” Joshua then said, “Remove now from your midst any other gods and serve YHVH, the God of Israel, with all your heart.” The people answered : “We will serve YHVH, our God, and obey His commands.”

On that day at Shechem, Joshua made a Covenant with the people and fixed laws and ordinances. He also wrote down everything expressed in the book of the Law of God; he chose a great stone and put it under the oak tree in the sacred place of YHVH. Then Joshua said to the people : “This stone shall be a witness to all that YHVH said to us, for it heard all these words. It shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with YHVH.”

Joshua immediately sent the people away and everyone returned to his land. After all these deeds, Joshua, son of Nun and servant of YHVH, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded and called to remember the Lord, obey His Law and commandments, celebrate the feasts and festivals that He had appointed and placed before us, and which His Church had stipulated for us to commemorate. We should remain active in the living of our faith and participate as much as possible in the life of the Church and in Christian actions and commitments. Those are our calling and our responsibilities as the ones whom God had called and chosen, as Christians, as the holy people of God. We cannot ignore these responsibilities and we cannot be idle and ignorant, in disregarding what we are expected and what we have been shown to do by the Lord Himself. As long as we remain idle in our faith and close ourselves against the truth of God, His words and love, then we will likely remain distant and away from Him and His grace.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the Lord speaking to His servant Moses, in which He told him to tell the people how they should celebrate their various events and celebrations of faith, and all those celebrations were meant to keep so that they would always put the Lord and His precepts and laws at the very centre and as the focus of the whole entire community. Those were not just merely celebrations and spectacles, but in truth, they helped to keep the Lord present in the hearts and minds of the people, who were often rebellious and delinquent in their activities and lives. They have often disobeyed the Lord and abandoned Him for pagan gods and false idols, and hence, that was why the Lord gave them His Law and commandments, and all those celebrations to remind them of the path that they all should follow, and the way that they should obey in their lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the time when the Lord Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. He was not well-received over there as many among the people doubted Him and ridiculed Him when they heard Him teaching before them, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God. The Lord has proclaimed the fulfilment of the prophecies and the words that the prophets had spoken, particularly that of the prophet Isaiah regarding the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour that God has promised to all of His beloved ones. That was because they presumed and thought that they knew Him better and that He could not have been the Messiah simply by Him being the mere Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, His forefather. The people thought that it was impossible for the Lord Jesus to be the Saviour and doubted and could not reconcile how His supposedly humble origins and background led to such great Wisdom and Authority.

Why was that so? It was because they did not have a strong and enduring faith in the Lord. They also did not see things through the eyes of faith, and instead, they saw things from the worldly perspectives, with their biases and prejudices. They thought that a carpenter, being then a job that no one wanted to do, and as a lowly profession could not have possibly been great and glorious, or educated and intellectual, and hence, they looked down on the Lord because of that, especially since many of them had seen and witnessed Him growing up in His youth as the Son of the local carpenter, and they refused to let their prejudices and biases to go away, and despite the great wisdom that the Lord had shown, and the news of all the miracles, wonders and signs that He had performed in the areas of Galilee, they refused to believe in Him.

That is why there is a need for all of us as Christians to turn away from our many worldly attachments and prejudices, and we should purify ourselves and keep ourselves free from the corrupting influences of the world. Otherwise we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong path, the path of sin and evil, the path of disobedience and rebellion, lacking in faith just as our predecessors have shown in their actions, in how they rejected and abandoned the Lord, even after they had seen His wonders, His love and faithfulness to the Covenant that He had made and established with all of them. This is also why we should dedicate ourselves and our time and effort, our every actions, words and deeds to Him, following in the footsteps and examples of our holy predecessors, the holy men and women, saints of God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Vianney, also known as John Maria Vianney, a simple parish priest from the village or town of Ars in southern part of what is today France. St. John Vianney was born into a simple, devout and faithful family where he grew up in faith and dedication to God, and grew to love the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, which gradually made him to come to realisation of the calling to be a priest. Hence, he began his education with the intention of becoming a priest and answering his calling. He did not have an easy time with all the preparations as he struggled with all the academic requirements and especially with the learning of the Latin language, the official and liturgical language of the Church. While he failed that again and again, it was his determination and desire to serve the Lord as a priest which kept him going and he eventually succeeded in doing so after facing many challenges, including the disruptions due to the Napoleonic wars that happened at the time.

St. John Vianney was assigned to a small parish church in the small town of Ars, far from the great churches and parishes, the large religious institutions where the ambitious among the clergy tried to get into those days. However, St. John Vianney was in the priesthood not for the glory or achievement, ambition or worldly fame. Instead, it was his very intense love for the Lord and his love for his fellow brothers and sisters, who have been entrusted to his care that led him to a very deep and committed life as a parish priest, which soon began to earn him the fame of being a truly holy and devout man of God. He spent many hours in the confessional, waiting for many people, which crowd kept on growing, to confess their sins and to ask him for guidance in life, just as he patiently helped to guide the people back to the Lord, in his patient, compassionate and yet firm and persistent preaching and homilies, which were meant to help the people to resist the indifference to the Church and the faith.

More and more people came to know of this holy man and priest of Ars, and thousands came to flock upon the small town as pilgrims and as sinners seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. Miraculous tales, stories and events came in droves as many recounted how they received great graces from God through the words and actions of St. John Vianney, and how in one case, it was told that St. John Vianney could even communicate with the suffering souls in purgatory, and asking the living to pray for them. Throughout his life, St. John Vianney had done many great and wonderful works, by which he had brought countless souls back towards the Lord and to His salvation. He has inspired many generations priests and other faithful alike, in their renewed commitment to serve and follow the Lord in their lives and works. St. John Vianney might have been born to a simple family and had a simple, unassuming life and work, but in his love for God and in his commitment, his great efforts and dedication, he has been a great inspiration and role model to many others.

Now, the question is, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to follow the great examples showed by St. John Vianney and the many other holy men and women who had gone before us, and who have shown us how we should all live our lives before the Lord? Are we able to turn away from the corruptions of worldly attachments and greed, desires and glory, and return our focus and attention back to the Lord? Are we capable of committing ourselves more wholeheartedly to the Lord and develop an ever better relationship with Him? May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our path, and may He empower and ever encourage us always so that we can continue to strive to live our lives as faithful and devout Christians, as God’s beloved and holy people. Amen.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? Where did He get all these things?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 80 : 3-4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab

Start the music, strike the timbrel, play melodies on the harp and lyre. Sound the trumpet at the new moon, on our feast day, when the new moon is full.

This is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, a statute He wrote for Joseph when he went out of Egypt.

There shall be no strange god among you, you shall not worship any alien god, for I, YHVH, am your God.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 23 : 1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

YHVH spoke to Moses, “Then there are appointed feasts of YHVH at the times fixed for them, when you are to proclaim holy assemblies. At twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month is YHVH’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month it is YHVH’s feast of Unleavened Bread.”

For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day there will be a sacred assembly and no work of a worker shall be done. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH and on the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no work of a worker.”

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them : When you enter the land that I will give you and you reap its harvest, you will bring to the priest a sheaf, the first fruits of your harvest and he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“From the day after the Sabbath, on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. The day after the seventh Sabbath will be the fiftieth day and then you are to offer YHVH a new offering. The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH.”

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tents for YHVH, lasting seven days. The first day you shall hold an assembly; you must do no work of a worker. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. It is a day of solemn assembly in which you shall do no work of a worker.”

“These are the appointed feasts of YHVH in which you are to proclaim holy assemblies for the purpose of offering offerings by fire, burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings to YHVH, according to the ritual of each day.”