holy priests

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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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Tuesday, 7 January 2025 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, while we still continue celebrating the joyful time and season of Christmas, focusing our attention on the birth and coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, bearing the salvation for everyone, we now begin to focus more on the works and actions of Christ during His ministry as we are about to come to the end of this season and begin the first round of the Ordinary Time. Through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, we are reminded of God’s love which He has manifested before us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. We are reminded that by His coming into our world, the love of God and all has become real, tangible and approachable to us, which is what we celebrate in Christmas, that is the Love of God made Man.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which St. John reiterated the great and most generous love which God has for all of us mankind, and this love is shown to us through the giving of His Son, and He gave us this Son so that He might be able to bring us all from the brink of destruction, and through His suffering and death, which He obeyed perfectly and carried out willingly, all of us have received the assurance of salvation and eternal life, because He offered for us all, on our behalf, the one and only perfect offering and sacrifice for the atonement of our innumerable sins, as the Lamb of God, the Sacrificial Lamb offering His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the perfect unblemished sacrifice that can heal us from all of our sins.

That is why today as we continue to celebrate this joyous occasion of Christmas, at the same time we are also reminded that ultimately Christmas will not have its meaning, importance and relevance without what we will celebrate soon in Holy Week and Easter. For if Christmas is a celebration of the Lord’s coming into this world as a little Child, to be God Who dwells with His people, then it is in the Holy Week and Easter that everything He was about to do came into perfect fulfilment and completion. If Christ did not suffer and die on the Cross, and then rose in glory and triumph, conquering sin and death, then this birthday is just a celebration of the birthday of an ordinary person, not unlike any other person. But this is certainly not the case.

It is precisely because Christ has become Man at Christmas and then went on to fulfil all that the Lord has planned perfectly at Holy Week and Easter, that we rejoice even all the more because we know that by becoming a Man like us all, He has united our humanity to Himself and gathered us all as one united people and flock of the Lord, and made us all to share in His death and Resurrection. He became the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and all mankind, an everlasting Covenant sealed with the Precious Blood of the Son of God, the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice. Truly, as the Lord Himself had said in the Gospel according to St. John, that ‘God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life.’ And these are the concrete proofs of this love.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark, we heard the moment when the Lord Jesus performed a wonderful and well-known miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men and many others who were gathered to listen to the Lord and who were hungry after many days without having any food. The Lord showed His genuine and powerful love for His beloved ones, that He provided for them what they needed, not just the spiritual nourishment through His words and teachings, but also even in terms of physical needs and the fulfilment of the flesh and the body through food. He miraculously multiplied five loaves of bread and two fishes, that all those thousands of people had more than enough to eat, with plenty of leftovers.

Through what the Lord had done and shown us, again we are all reminded that truly Jesus Christ is Our Lord and Saviour, the One Whom God had sent into this world to be our Saviour and the Hope for all of us who have long awaited His salvation in the darkness of sin. His Light and Hope had dispelled this darkness and overcome the power of sin, and broke free the chains that had kept us down and dominated by the forces of darkness, bringing us all through the reconciliation with God, and by His direct contact with us, showing us that the Lord truly cares for us, and wants us all to be sharing in His love, and to be the ones enjoying the fullness of our inheritance as He has always intended for us all.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, also known as St. Raymond of Penafort, a famous Dominican preacher and missionary who was well-known for his great piety and charisma, his many great works and efforts for the sake of the Church, all the theological works he created and prepared, as well as his miracles and signs. He was known for his efforts to codify the Canon Law as well as outreach towards sinners, including his efforts to bring King James I of Aragon into the right path, as St. Raymond was the king’s confessor. At that time, the king was living in sin with a mistress, and when the king kept on refusing to change his ways, St. Raymond told the king that he would leave him behind for having not listened to his advice so many times.

And when the king forbade St. Raymond of Penyafort from leaving the island where he was living in, the island of Majorca, according to tradition St. Raymond and a Dominican companion went to the seashore and taking off his long black Dominican cloak, spreading it on the water, and then rode on it on the water, sailing towards Barcelona at the court of the king, witnessed by many people who thereafter became proof of this amazing occasion. Having heard of this and witnessed the great sanctity of the man of God, the king eventually repented and changed his ways. There are many other great deeds that the Lord had done through St. Raymond of Penyafort, and we ought to be inspired by his exemplary faith and life in how we ought to live our own lives in faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and inspired by the life of St. Raymond of Penyafort, let us all therefore strive to love the Lord our God with all our heart and strength, and to be truly devoted to Him above all other things, doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives. Each and every one of us should be good examples and inspiration in how we live our lives with faith, much as how St. Raymond of Penyafort had done for us. May the Lord our loving God and Saviour continue to guide and strengthen us in our faith and path, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2025 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 6 : 34-44

At that time, as Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things. It was now getting late, so His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a lonely place and it is now late. You should send the people away and let them go to the farms and villages around here, to buy themselves something to eat.”

Jesus replied, “You, yourselves, give them something to eat.” They answered, “If we are to feed them, we need two hundred silver coins to go and buy enough bread.” But Jesus said, “You have some loaves; how many? Go and see.” The disciples found out and said, “There are five loaves and two fish.”

Then He told them to have the people sit down, together in groups, on the green grass. This they did, in groups of hundreds and fifties. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising His eyes to heaven, He pronounced a blessing, broke the loaves, and handed them to His disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them.

They all ate and everyone had enough. The disciples gathered up what was left, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces of bread and fish. Five thousand men had eaten there.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2025 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8

O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills justice. He will defend the cause of the poor, deliver the children of the needy.

Justice will flower in His days, and peace abound till the moon be no more. For He reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2025 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 4 : 7-10

My dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves, is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.

How did the love of God appear among us? God sent His only Son into this world, that we might have life, through Him. This is love : not that we loved God, but that, He first loved us and sent His Son, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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Monday, 23 December 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John of Kanty, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures and as we are about to come to the end of this Advent season, the time of preparation for Christmas, we heard of the prophecy and the fulfilment of the coming of God’s salvation which He has repeatedly promised and renewed to us through His prophets and messengers, everything came true beginning with the coming of the one to prepare the way for the Saviour, the one whom the prophet Malachi had spoken about in our first reading passage today, and which was fulfilled with the arrival of St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah into this world.

As mentioned, in that first reading passage from the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi spoke about the moment when the Lord was sending His salvation, heralded by the coming of the Envoy who would prepare the way, straightening His path, the one who would call on all the people of God and their leaders to turn away from their many sins and wickedness, from all the things that prevented them from returning towards the Lord their God. The prophet Malachi was sent to the people at the time after the return of the Israelites from their exile in the distant lands of Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylon during the reign and dominion of the Persians, who allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland and rebuild their cities and the Temple in Jerusalem.

At that time, the people of God had regained their lands and their cities had been reestablished, and God sent the prophet Malachi to reaffirm what He has always told them in the previous centuries, of everything that He would do for their sake, the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah or Saviour, the One Who would restore the greatness of the people of God, reconcile them all to Him, and reestablish the Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of God and His people. And as the prophet Malachi mentioned, the Envoy of the Messiah would be sent to precede His coming, and this Envoy would either be the prophet Elijah or the one like Elijah, who was taken from the world by the Lord in a flaming chariot.

Therefore, Elijah did not suffer from physical death, and was one of the few who was taken up to Heaven in this manner. The people believed that the prophet Elijah would come again to bring God’s salvation and promises to His people, and all of these would come true with the coming of St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah that was long awaited. A few centuries after the prophet Malachi, who was one of the last or the last among the long line of God’s prophets, the Hope and Light that God has promised to His people has finally arrived and dawned with the arrival of this servant of God into the world, and we are reminded of this today so that we may also realise that this same Hope has been given to us all as well.

From the Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard the account of the time when St. John the Baptist was born into this world. After a miraculous pregnancy that happened when Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist was already old and way beyond childbearing age, the servant of God was born and all his relatives and other people, neighbours and all came to celebrate his birth. At the moment of his circumcision, we heard how they all wanted to name him after his father, but Elizabeth intervened and said that he ought to be named as John or Yohanna as per what the Angel of God, likely the Archangel Gabriel had told Zechariah, his father. And the moment that Zechariah confirmed this fact, he was miraculously able to speak again.

The great events surrounding the birth of this Herald of the Messiah preceded all the great things that he would do for the people of God, in how he devoted himself thoroughly to God’s cause, living in the wilderness as one consecrated to God and then calling upon everyone to return to God with repentance and the genuine desire to be forgiven from their sins and wickedness. He baptised many people at the River Jordan, with that water baptism as the sign of commitment by those who went through it to do the necessary penance and to follow through the path of God’s forgiveness and mercy. He would also call on more and more to come back towards God, while also courageously rebuking the chief priests and the Pharisees for their wicked attitudes.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. John of Kanty, also known as St. John Cantius, who hailed from the region of Kanty near the city of Krakow in what is today part of Poland. He eventually became a priest and academic, teaching in the local university. He was well known for his generosity and love for the poor people throughout the city especially towards the poor students who were studying at the university. He lived humbly and without much glamour, while being generous and loving, caring and compassionate towards all of those who were in need. He also spent long hours doing many good works for the sake of the Lord and His Church, showing great charity and generosity in His interactions towards everyone around him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by great courage and faith showed by the holy servants of God, our predecessors, namely St. John of Kanty in his virtues and great faith, as well as by St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah in obeying the commandments of God and in committing himself to the mission which God has entrusted to him. Let us all as Christians strive to be the bearers of God’s hope, light, truth and love in our daily lives, and also in how we celebrate our upcoming Christian celebrations and festivities so that hopefully we may showcase the love and generosity of our ever loving God and Father in everything that we do, and share the generous love of God, our joy and blessings to everyone around us, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 23 December 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John of Kanty, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 57-66

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her. When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.”

They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they asked the father, by means of signs, for the name he wanted to give him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John,” and they were very surprised. Immediately Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighbourhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked about these events. All who heard of it pondered in their minds, and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.