holy Popes

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Monday, 16 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord being spoken to us through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that the Lord has given us truly great grace and wonderful blessings through His Son, by which He has granted us all not just His love and kindness, manifested in the flesh and having become tangible and approachable to us, but He also gave us all none other than His own Most Precious Body and His Most Precious Blood, which He willingly and generously gave to us all from His Cross, as He laid there suffering and dying, nailed to the Cross, by which He would save and redeem each and every one of us. Through His love and ultimate sacrifice, all of us have received the assurance of salvation, and we should indeed respond to His love with our faith and trust.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth in which the Apostle spoke to them all about the moment of the Last Supper, which he himself had not attended or been present in, as he was then not yet a disciple of the Lord, but which the tradition of the Apostles and their witnessing of everything that had happened were passed down to the faithful, telling them all of everything that the Lord had said and done, and which He had commanded all of them to do, to commemorate His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, and giving them the power and authority, through the Apostles and their successors, our bishops and priests, to offer the same sacrifice of Calvary and through union to that supreme moment of selfless love and sacrifice, giving to each and every one of us, the very Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.

That is what our Holy Eucharist is all about, and our firm belief that God Himself has given His own Body and Blood for us all to partake, He Who called Himself as the Bread of Life and as the Lamb of God, Who has willingly allowed Himself to be persecuted and led to the slaughter, and by Whose suffering and death had opened for us all the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. He Himself has said that whoever partake of His Body and Blood will not perish but have eternal life with them, and that His Body is real food and His Blood is real drink, and the Eucharist that we have received from the hands of our bishops and priests are the exact same Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. This is our core tenet and faith in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine, that while both the bread and wine may still appear and seem to be bread and wine in appearance, in taste and senses, but we believe that what we partake is the Lord Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the account of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and an army centurion, also described as a Roman military officer. Regardless of the exact detail, it was certain that this officer was a high ranking and very well-respected man as at that time, being a Roman and a Roman military officer no less, was something of a very high stature and standing in the area. He did not just represent the powerful and mighty Roman Empire but he also led many of its soldiers, and he was rightly powerful and feared for his prowess, position and capabilities. And yet, this same Roman military officer came to the Lord humbly, seeking Him to help him with his very sick servant, and trusted in the Lord to heal that servant and make him whole again.

We heard how the Roman military officer had such great faith in the Lord that he told the Lord that he believed that his servant would be well again if the Lord just declared it to be, and he trusted and had faith in the Lord’s power in being able to heal his dear servant. He did not require the Lord to perform the miracle before His own eyes or for himself to witness everything in order for him to believe in the Lord. This is clearly a contrast with the attitudes of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who kept on doubting and questioning the Lord Jesus even after they had heard Him many times and saw the miracles that He performed before them on many occasions as well. The Roman military officer also had the humility to tell the Lord that he was not worthy to welcome Him into his house.

This was because at that time, among the Jewish people it was considered taboo for a Jew to come and enter into the house of a non-Jew or Gentile or pagan, and for the Pharisees who interpreted the Law of God very strictly, it would have made them to be ritually unclean and defiled. In fact, it was kind of taboo and looked down upon for one to interact with a non-Jew or pagan at that time. Yet, that was what the Lord precisely had done, and the Roman military officer, likely aware of this custom, told the Lord humbly that he was unworthy to receive Him at his house not only because he knew the Lord to be One greater than he was, but he also likely wanted to prevent any misfortunes or difficulties to fall upon the Lord should He come to visit his house.

And this is precisely the attitude that all of us as Christians ought to have, and we should be inspired to follow in the footsteps of the Roman military officer who believed so wholeheartedly in the Lord that he did not have to see the miracle to believe in Him. Linking this to what we have just discussed earlier in the first reading today on the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and our core belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation, of the bread and wine that truly became the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Mass, let us all therefore believe in Him and in His Real Presence in the Eucharist wholeheartedly as well. And when we are shown the Lamb of God, the One Who has taken away the sins of the world just before we are about to receive Him into ourselves, let us repeat what the Roman officer had spoken with great faith, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.’

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two of the Lord’s great saints, namely that of Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage. Both of them were great leaders of the Church, and as the important Church fathers and leaders, they had shown us all great examples of faith and dedication to God, that despite all the challenges and difficulties which they had to face, they continued to be exemplary in faith and trust in God. Pope St. Cornelius was the leader of the Universal Church during a turbulent time in its history in the middle of the third century, when both the Roman Empire was troubled with a lot of wars and conflicts, while the Church and Christian believers were persecuted heavily for their faith and belief in God. Meanwhile, St. Cyprian was the influential Bishop of Carthage in North Africa at around that same time.

Both of them had to face the various persecutions of the Church and Christian believers as well as the divisions within the Church caused by the followers of one Novatian, also known as Antipope Novatian, who was a popular preacher and priest that opposed the re-admittance of Christians who had lapsed from their faith through various reasons, but especially due to the intense persecutions which forced some of them to at least publicly offered sacrifices to the Roman pagan gods and idols. Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian both argued strongly against the Novatianists, and when the latter chose to elect Novatian as an Antipope, both of them worked hard to restore unity in the Church and to care and guide their flock at the same time. They were martyred for their faith under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors, but their faith and dedication to the Lord lived on in their veneration for long after their passing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples of our holy predecessors and do whatever we can so that our lives may truly be faithful to God, and that we may truly have faith in Him, believing wholeheartedly in Him and trusting in His guidance and help in all the things that we say and do in our respective lives. May all of us continue to walk faithfully in God’s Holy Presence, and do our very best so that we may always glorify Him by our exemplary lives, our every words, actions and deeds, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 16 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 7 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went to Capernaum. A Roman military officer lived there, whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade Him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged Him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of You, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”

Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house, when the Roman officer sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to welcome You under my roof. You see, I did not approach You myself. Just give the order, and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to the other, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people, sent by the captain, went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.

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Monday, 16 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17

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!”

As the scroll says of me. To do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your law is within my heart.

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

But may all those who seek You, rejoice, and be glad in You; and may all who love Your saving grace continually say, “YHVH is great.”

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Monday, 16 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 11 : 17-26, 33

To continue with my advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse. First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be different groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine.

Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, for each one eats at once, his own food, and, while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.

This is the tradition of the Lord that I received, and, that, in my turn, I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.” In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This cup is the new Covenant, in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.”

So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until He comes. So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should always put our trust in the Wisdom of God which He has imparted to us through His Holy Spirit, the Advocate, Whom He has sent to us to dwell within us and to empower us all, through His Church and Apostles, through their successors, our bishops and the priests whom He has called and chosen to serve Him and His people, that is all of us. Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord has sent His guidance to us all so that all of us may come towards Him, embracing Him and His love, His path and His truth, that we are no longer lost from Him, and are worthy to receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and glory. We should always allow ourselves to be guided and led by Him, and not by our earthly desires.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth, continuing the series of discourses by the Apostle to the Corinthians which we have heard in the past few days. We heard of how the Lord had sent His Spirit into our midst, revealing to us His Wisdom, and through this Wisdom, showing us all the things that we need to do in order to follow the Lord most faithfully and genuinely. However, many of the people chose to trust in their own power and judgment and hence, they remained oblivious and unwilling to accept the truth, the reality and the teachings which the Lord Himself has presented before each and every one of them. That is because they chose to depend on their own wisdom and power instead of trusting in God.

The Lord has shown us all His Wisdom, and passed them to us through His Church, and as Christians, each and every one of us as God’s holy and beloved people like that of the Corinthians are reminded again and again that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, by our pride and ego, especially if we think that we know it better than others. We must not let the temptations of our worldly knowledge and wisdom to lead us astray, bringing us down the wrong path in life as we choose to side with the flawed and mistaken ways of the world rather than to trust in the Lord and His ever patient guidance and help. All of us should strive to continue to be open-minded and to be willing to listen to the Lord speaking to us, giving us His Wisdom and guidance in all things.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord was teaching to the people in Capernaum in Galilee when a man possessed by evil spirits came to Him and disturbed His session, proclaiming loudly before everyone that he knew Who the Lord Jesus truly was, that is the Holy One of God, the Son of God and the Messiah. As manipulative and dangerous the evil spirits were in harming us and in possessing that man, and as malicious as the evil spirits’ intent might have been, they could not lie but speak the truth about the One Who was before them, the One Whom God Himself has sent into this world to save each and every one of us.

It was indeed a great irony that while many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there and witnessed the many miracles and wonderful deeds that the Lord had done, and all the wisdom and words which He had spoken, and doubting Him and His truth, questioning His authority and authenticity, yet, it was the evil spirits that proclaimed the Lord and spoke the truth about Him, albeit with some malicious intents in doing so. Those evil spirits still tried to disturb the Lord’s works, as knowing that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were against the Lord and His claim to the Divinity of the Son of God, by doing so, they could disturb His works and made Him to face opposition from the Pharisees and the other enemies of the Lord.

But the fact remains that they acknowledged the Lord and spoke the truth about Him while those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who took great pride in their knowledge and sense of superiority over others around them, refused to listen to Him or to acknowledge His truth. Their pride and ego, their worldly knowledge and wisdom which they depended on very much prevented them from accepting the truth with humility and grace, and thus was why they continued to oppose the Lord despite having witnessed for themselves again and again, what wonders and miracles the Lord had done, and hearing all the wisdom and great teachings that the Lord had spoken and taught before all of them. This is what we must not do ourselves as Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church, who dedicated himself to the Lord and to His people, carrying out many great and wonderful works for the benefit of the people of God. Pope St. Gregory the Great was born as the son of a Roman senator during the years when the Roman Empire just restored their rule over Rome after several decades of rule by the Germanic kingdoms. He lived in a monastery that he established within his Roman estate and was quite involved in the Roman matters and governance, and his grandfather was also elected as an earlier Pope. He was well-educated and became a government official, and then ordained as a deacon and becoming the Roman ambassador to the Imperial court in Constantinople.

After his years of experience as the ambassador of Rome to the Imperial court, eventually Pope St. Gregory the Great was elected as the successor of St. Peter, and immediately he began to embark on a great campaign to reform the Roman Church and also participate in the leadership over the Universal Church. Pope St. Gregory the Great was deeply involved in many theological disputes and matters of that time, and he also actively contributed to the works of the evangelisation, as he was well-known for sending many missionaries to many parts of the world where there were still no established existence of Christianity and its beliefs, such as parts of Germania and also Britain and Ireland, where he sent St. Augustine of Canterbury and other saints and missionaries to work the rich vineyard of the Lord.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was also well-renowned for his contributions to the reform of the Church liturgy and worship practices, known well for the origins of the Gregorian liturgy and chants, among others. Through his tireless efforts and works, Western Christianity as we are all familiar with today began to come to be, uniting the various divided factions and diverse practices of the early Christian Church, and helping the faithful to overcome the temptations of worldly pride and glory, trusting completely in the Lord and following Him, as this truly great Pope and servant of God helped to lead so many people back towards the Lord, to His love and truth, to His salvation and eternal life that He has promised, committing himself thoroughly to the end of his life.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and hopefully been inspired by the great story and examples showed by Pope St. Gregory the Great and having discussed and discerned the message of the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all therefore do our best to live our lives with full trust in the Lord and His Wisdom just as Pope St. Gregory the Great and many other holy men and women, saints of God had done before us. Let our lives be truly faithful and committed to the Lord in all things, and let us continue to do God’s will as much as possible in our daily living and actions, now and always, being good and worthy inspiration to one another. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 4 : 31-37

At that time, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings. They were astonished at the way He taught them, for His word was spoken with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I recognise You : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm. Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”

And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 144 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14

Compassionate and gracious is YHVH, slow to anger and abounding in love. YHVH is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 2 : 10b-16

Because the Spirit probes everything, even the depth of God. Who, but his own spirit, knows the secrets of a person? Similarly, no one, but the Spirit of God, knows the secrets of God. We have not received the spirit of world, but the Spirit Who comes from God and, through Him, we understand what God, in His goodness, has given us.

So we speak of this, not in terms inspired by human wisdom, but in a language taught by the Spirit, explaining a spiritual wisdom to spiritual persons. The one who remains on the psychological level does not understand the things of the Spirit. They are foolishness for him; and he does not understand, because they require a spiritual experience.

On the other hand, the spiritual person judges everything, but no one judges him. Who has known the mind of God so as to teach Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to embrace God’s call and listen to Him calling us to follow Him. And as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, we have also been tasked with the various missions, responsibilities and opportunities through which we are expected to do our part as members of the Church of God, to do our actions and deeds in accordance to what God Himself has shown and taught us to do. Each and every one of us have these responsibilities and duties that God has entrusted to us, and we should not ignore or neglect them, because then the Lord will ask us to account for everything that we have done, and what we have failed to do, in the end, at the time of Judgment.

In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the Lord issued strong rebuke and condemnation against those shepherds of Israel who have not done as they should in guiding and taking care of the people of God, the flock of Israel, God’s own beloved people. This was a reference to how the kings and the other leaders of the Israelites had not done what they were supposed to do in leading the people of God and shepherding them properly as they should have done. They instead misled them down the path of sin, by disobeying God’s Law and commandments, worshipping pagan gods and false idols that led the people away from the worship of God, the one and only True God Whom alone they ought to worship.

In their lack of faith and obedience to God, that was why the Lord warned all those wicked shepherds, leaders and guides, reminding them all how misfortune and sufferings would befall them as a just consequence for their lack of virtue and commitment to the missions entrusted to them. And to us all, this is a reminder that we ourselves are also entrusted with similar tasks, missions and responsibilities in our own paths and journeys in life. And if we do not make the necessary efforts to live our lives worthily of the Lord and be the good role models and inspirations for one another, then we shall also be held accountable by the Lord as well. We must not this happen to us, and we should always remind ourselves to be ever more committed and true to our faith in God at all times.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew in which we heard the words of the Lord to His disciples as He told them the parable of the workers in a vineyard, called and chosen by the master of the vineyard to be working in his field at different appointed times, right up to the very last moments. In that parable we heard how different people responded to the master’s call at different times, some earlier while some later, and in the end, they all received the same pay and compensation from the master of the vineyard, a silver coin each as he had agreed with each and every one of them. But as we heard, some of those people were unhappy because they had answered the master’s call earlier and worked for longer, and yet, they were not rewarded more. They had likely expected that they would be awarded more for their efforts.

This is an important reminder for each and every one of us that we should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by worldly desires, ambitions and the seeking of attainments and achievements in this world. God gives us all freely His love and salvation, assuring each and every one of us of His equal and most generous love, but He does not discriminate us by our efforts, nor that we can be more worthy or any better than our fellow brethren simply by us thinking that we have done more good things and deeds in our lives, or that we have observed more of God’s Law and commandments. This was in fact also a veiled criticism that the Lord directed towards the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of His time, many of whom had elitist attitudes and often looked down on those whom they viewed as inferior and unworthy of God’s salvation, love and grace.

Instead of being jealous of one another or thinking that we are in any way superior than one another, we should help each other in our path towards the Lord. And rather than comparing ourselves with others, thinking that we are superior and better, or by being endlessly preoccupied with finding out whether we are more worthy or not, we should instead focus our thoughts, efforts and attention to reorientate our lives towards the Lord and to do our best at every opportunities that have been given to us so that we may remember to do our works, our every actions, efforts and deeds all for the sake and glory of God instead of for our own glorification, fame, power or benefits instead. If we allow the temptations of our ego, pride and desire to corrupt and turn us away from the focus that we ought to have in God, then we may end up falling through the slippery slope of sin instead of coming closer to God and His salvation.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Pius X, a great and holy Pope well-remembered for his great piety and devotion to God, his many works and contributions to the Church, especially in championing the easier access to the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist to the children of a younger age, that he is now known as the Pope of the Eucharist. Pope St. Pius X was born into a poor Italian family as Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, the second of ten children. His parents, while poor, was very devout to the Lord and valued education and formation for their family, ensuring that the young Giuseppe was properly educated despite their poverty and situation. Eventually, Giuseppe Sarto continued to do well in his education and eventually received a scholarship to continue with his priestly formation in a seminary, eventually ordained as a priest.

During his priestly ministry, he was well-known for his great holiness and care for his flock, and was very dedicated in one occasion as the Archpriest of Salzano, where he helped to restore the church that had been run down at the time and building expansion to the local hospital, which he managed to support from his efforts, including even begging and other things that he had done for his flock. He also cared greatly for the people under his care during an epidemic of cholera that struck the area. Eventually this gained the attention of the diocese, and he was trusted as a canon of the Cathedral and then as the Chancellor for the Diocese of Treviso in northern Italy. He continued to do his best to care for the needs of the people entrusted to him, placing a lot of emphasis on the youth, on their education and upbringing, which he would continue as the Pope many years later.

Then, the future Pope St. Pius X was appointed and ordained as the Bishop of Mantua, continuing with his many earlier good works and efforts. He was made a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and then soon after the Patriarch of Venice, entrusted with the care of one of the largest and the most prominent dioceses in the Church at the time. He continued to labour hard for the sake of his beloved flock, being a very pastoral shepherd to his people, reaching out to them and being concerned about their needs, both physical and spiritual. Then, he was eventually elected as Pope, taking the name of Pius, in the Year of Our Lord 1903, during whose Pontificate, he was truly well known as mentioned, for his championing of the cause of earlier age for the reception of the First Holy Communion by the young children as long as they have reached the age of reason and received proper catechesis and preparation.

He was also renowned for his hard work against the dangers of modernism that was then harming the Church and the Christian community. He continued to work hard to the very end, dying heartbroken over the terrible wars that began in Europe, which would become the First World War. To that very end, Pope St. Pius X showed us that he was truly a great and loving shepherd to all of God’s flock and people, whom he has always been concerned about, thinking about them at each and every moments, worrying about their well-being and salvation at all times. The courageous and faithful life, work and dedication of Pope St. Pius X, holy man of God should indeed be great inspirations for all of us to follow in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we remembered what we have just discussed from the Sacred Scriptures regarding the need for all of us as Christians to live our lives to the fullest and focus ourselves on the Lord instead of upon our own selfish desires and ambitions, and inspired by the great examples of Pope St. Pius X, his dedication and commitment to God, in everything that he had done throughout his life from his early years up to his Pontificate and leadership of the Universal Church, let us all hence do our part as holy and beloved people of God so that we may truly live our lives worthily of the Lord from now on if we have not done so. Each and every one of us have been called by the Lord to follow Him, to do what He has tasked and entrusted us to do, and let us all hence do our best to live up to what He has expected us to do in each and every moments of our lives henceforth.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us so that we may continue to draw ever closer to Him, and continue to focus our efforts and attention on Him, putting Him as the focus and centre of our whole lives and existence. May God be with us all His Church and His beloved disciples and followers, and may He empower us all to continue to be able to persevere and to be strong in our Christian faith and living, despite all the challenges and trials that we may have to face, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven : A landowner went out early in the morning, to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard.”

“He went out again, at about nine in the morning, and, seeing others idle in the town square, he said to them, ‘You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went. The owner went out at midday, and, again, at three in the afternoon, and he made the same offer.”

“Again he went out, at the last working hour – the eleventh – and he saw others standing around. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stand idle the whole day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said, ‘Go, and work in my vineyard.'”

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had gone to work at the eleventh hour came up, and were each given a silver coin. When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received one silver coin. On receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.”

“They said, ‘These last, hardly worked an hour; yet, you have treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.’ The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on one silver coin per day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you envious when I am kind?'”

“So will it be : the last will be first.”