Holy Name of God

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(Holy Week) Sunday, 9 April 2017 : Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 21 : 8-9, 17-18a, 19-20, 23-24

All who see Me make a jest of Me; they sneer and shake their heads. “He put His trust in the Lord, let the Lord rescue Him! If the Lord is His friend, let Him help Him!”

Round about Me are vicious dogs, villainous rogues encircling Me. They have tied up My hands and feet. They can count all My bones.

Dividing My garments among them and casting lots for My raiment. O Lord, be not far from Me! O My strength, come quickly to My help.

I will proclaim Your Name to My brothers. I will praise You in the assembly. “All you who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him! All you sons of Israel, revere Him!

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Tuesday, 4 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 101 : 2-3, 16-18, 19-21

O Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me when I am in trouble. Turn Your ear to me; make haste to answer me when I call.

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
John 5 : 31-47

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.”

“John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness : The Father has sent Me. Thus He Who bears witness to Me is the Father Who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore, as long as you do not believe His messenger, His word is not in you.”

“You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe?”

“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

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Wednesday, 1 March 2017 : Ash Wednesday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
2 Corinthians 5 : 20 – 2 Corinthians 6 : 2

So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the Name of Christ, as if God Himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the Name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made Him bear our sin, so that in Him we might share the holiness of God.

Being God’s helpers we beg you : let it not be in vain that you received this grace of God. Scripture says : At the favourable time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you. This is the favourable time, this is the day of salvation.

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Thursday, 16 February 2017 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 101 : 16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.”

Your servants’ children will dwell secure; their posterity will endure without fail. Then the Name of the Lord will be declared in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship Him.

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Wednesday, 15 February 2017 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 115 : 12-13, 14-15, 18-19

How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord.

I will fulfil my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. It is painful to the Lord to see the death of His faithful.

I will carry out my vows to the Lord in the presence of His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, o Jerusalem.

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Saturday, 4 February 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Hebrews 13 : 15-17, 20-21

Let us, then, continually offer through Jesus a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips celebrating His Name. Do not neglect good works and common life, for these are sacrifices pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are concerned for your souls and are accountable for them. Let this be a joy for them rather than a burden, which would be of no advantage for you.

May God give you peace, He Who brought back from among the dead Jesus our Lord, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, Whose Blood seals the eternal covenant. He will train you in every good work, that you may do His will, for it is He Who works in us what pleases Him, through Jesus Christ, to Whom all glory be forever and ever. Amen!

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Thursday, 26 January 2017 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Timothy and St. Titus, Bishops (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10

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.

Give to the Lord, you families of nations, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His Name.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Tuesday, 17 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 110 : 1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c

Alleluia! I thank the Lord with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of the Lord are great and pondered by all who delight in them.

He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; the Lord is merciful and kind. Always mindful of His covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him.

He has sent His people deliverances and made with them a covenant forever. His holy Name is to be revered! To Him belongs everlasting praise.

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Tuesday, 3 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which we often have not used and mentioned properly. We have to remember first and foremost, the third commandment in the Ten Commandments which Moses had received from God Himself. It said, “Keep holy the Lord’s Name”.

In the prayer Pater Noster, or the Lord’s Prayer which our Lord Jesus Christ had taught us, we also heard the words, “Holy is Your Name”. Then we should ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ, in our daily lives, in the days past, have we mentioned or uttered the Holy Name of the Lord without thinking and with abandon? Have we desecrated the Holy Name of God by what we have done? If we have done so, remember that it is a great sin to do so.

The Name of the Lord was so holy that in the past, it was considered a great sin, indeed a blasphemy to even say it out, even in private, and less properly even so in public. The Most Holy Name of God was supposed to be unutterable, the Name YHVH, which many of us nowadays also used with abandon in our praise songs and celebrations. And the Lord’s Name, the Name above every other names, Jesus Christ, has been revealed to us, and yet some even used it when they uttered vulgarities and wicked words. Do we even realise what a sin it is that we have done?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is sad and indeed lamentable how we mankind have misused and mistreated the Holy Name of our Lord, when the devil and all of his wicked allies fear His holy Name, running and scattering when they heard someone utter it with proper and devout faith. They feared the Holy Name just as much as the evil spirits feared very much when Jesus cast them out from the bodies of the people whom they had possessed if we read through the Gospels.

It is exactly just like when we call our friends’ names and our family members’ names. When we call their names, they know they have been called and they will come. In the same way therefore, when we call on the Holy Name of the Lord, He will come upon us, and no evil spirit, even Satan himself, will be able to bear to be in the Holy Presence of our God. They will all run away in fear and leave us alone, if we call on Him with faith.

It is sad also to note how the venerable practice of bowing at the Holy Name of Jesus, and indeed genuflecting or kneeling during certain times of the year, including that of today, when we hear the Name of Jesus mentioned, had vanished from many of our churches and parishes around the world. This has contributed to the decrease in our respect and appreciation of the Holy Name. And that is why we disrespect and misuse and think lightly of uttering our Lord’s Name without care.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our own lives. Have we been truly worthy of the Lord to mention His holy Name? Are we all truly knowing of what we are doing in this world? Let us all contemplate on this as we embark through this new year. Shall we treat the Holy Name of God with respect, and indeed, utter it with pride and faith, knowing that all who hear it, will know that we belong to Him.

Let us all thank God for His love for us, He has willingly become Man for our sake, so that through Jesus Christ our Lord, we may receive salvation and the grace of eternal life from Him. Let us all give Him thanks and praise Him, bow down before Him and rejoice whenever we hear His holy and wonderful Name being mentioned. That is because His Name is not just like any other names, but through that Name, we have been saved.

May the Lord bless us all and keep us, and may He strengthen each and every one of us to become ever more devoted disciples and followers of His. Let us draw closer to Him and find our way to Him, and let us put our complete trust in Him from now on. May the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us, and may He answer when we call on Him in our times of need, to defend us from evil and darkness. Amen.