holy priests

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Saturday, 27 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (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 of the need for us all to continue to put our trust and faith in the Lord. Each and every one of us should always continue to do our best to keep our faith in Him regardless what challenges, trials and obstacles we may be facing in our respective paths in life. We should not allow ourselves to be distracted and persuaded by fear and uncertainties around us, that may lead us down the path which lead us further away from the Lord, because we did not have enough faith and trust in Him and because we think that there are others which we can depend on. It is by staying with the Lord that we can truly receive true happiness and satisfaction in life.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Zechariah, we heard the heavenly vision that the prophet of God received seeing the vision of an Angel of God whom he encountered, as the Angel was about to measure the city of Jerusalem, the Holy City of God’s people. The prophet Zechariah himself was sent to the people of God who had returned to their homeland from their exile in Babylon, a few centuries before the coming of Christ. Zechariah ministered during the reign of the Great King of Persia, Darius the Great, at a time when the people of Israel and their descendants were already well settled in their recently reclaimed lands, and as they were building again the Temple of God that had been destroyed many years before.

The Lord reassured His people that He would always be with them, providing them and giving them whatever they needed. He would always guide and strengthen them, and He would bless them once again with His great grace and blessings, restoring joy and happiness to them because He truly cared about them and wanted them all to be truly happy and blessed in all things, and no longer be separated from Him. That is why God reassured them all through the prophet Zechariah that if they were to continue to walk in His path and to do His will, obeying His Law and commandments, then they will all be truly joyful, and will walk ever in God’s favour and strength, and they will no longer face and endure the humiliations that they had once experienced before.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the ominous words from the Lord Jesus to His disciples, highlighting how He would soon be handed over to His enemies, betrayed, rejected and made to suffer the greatest and most terrible sufferings and challenges, all because the world itself refused to accept Him, with many of His enemies and detractors opposing Him because they were unable to accept the fact that they could be wrong or mistaken in their ways, deluding themselves with their pride, ego and arrogance that they knew it better than the Lord Himself. And yet, the Lord showed them all His patient love, the love which has been manifested perfectly in His own Person, the Incarnate Son of God made Man.

And in Christ our Lord, the Lord had made good of His many promises to His people, reminding them all that He has always been faithful to the Covenant that He had made with them, and also the promises that He would always love them and show His mercy and compassion on them. He came into our midst to show us all that His most generous love for us is always pure and genuine, patient and everlasting, and He has always loved us all through our uncertainties and lack of faith, our disobedience and our wayward living. He wants to restore us all to Himself, to be reunited with us and to bring us all together once again, His beloved and blessed flock, to be one and whole in Him, as a holy nation and as those God has gathered to be His own. He went through the worst sufferings through the Cross so that by His suffering and death, we may have eternal life.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, a renowned French missionary and priest who was especially remembered for his great care and dedication to the poor in the society. It was his inspiration that inspired the foundation of the today’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul which lived and strived to carry on the legacy of this great saint’s actions in ministering to the poor and the needy, the neglected and the less fortunate in the community. St. Vincent de Paul was born to a family of peasant farmers in France a few centuries ago, and was eventually sent to the seminary to further his education where he was then ordained as a priest at the young age of nineteen. He furthered his studies and then encountered an event that changed his life forever.

He was abducted by Barbary pirates that were rampant at the time and was enslaved for about two years in the region of Tunisia, and passed on from master to master, before eventually encountering a former priest that had apostasised to gain his own freedom from slavery. Eventually, St. Vincent de Paul and his last master resolved to escape back to France and found a way to secretly leave the place where both of them had been enslaved. After St. Vincent de Paul returned to his homeland, he was committed to a renewed zeal and desire to help others who were less fortunate, those who were poor and oppressed, remembering his own misfortune and hardships in life, which nonetheless did not make him lose his faith in the Lord. He founded the Vincentians and other charitable organisations that eventually led him to be made the patron of all charities, after he was canonised.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we have reflected from the words of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and works of St. Vincent de Paul, let us all continue to do our best therefore to show our trust and faith in God, in doing our very best to glorify God by our lives. Let us always strive to be good role models and worthy examples of our Christian faith to everyone around us, to each and every one of those whom we encounter in our daily lives. May the Lord continue to bless us in all of our endeavours, in everything that we say and do so that we may always draw ever closer to Him and may He strengthen us all in our conviction to glorify Him by our lives, as always, and evermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 27 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 9 : 43b-45

At that time, while all were amazed at everything Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Listen, and remember what I tell you now : The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men.” But the disciples did not understand this saying; something prevented them from grasping what He meant, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

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Saturday, 27 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 31 : 10, 11-12ab, 13

Hear the word of YHVH, o nations, proclaim it on distant coast lands : He Who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock.

For YHVH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of his conqueror. They shall come shouting for joy, while ascending Zion; they will come streaming to YHVH’s blessings.

Maidens will make merry and dance, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy for sorrow.

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Saturday, 27 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Zechariah 2 : 5-9, 14-15a

Raising my eyes again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered, “I am going to measure Jerusalem, to find its width and its length.”

As the Angel who spoke to me came forward, another Angel met him and said, “Run and tell this to that young man : ‘Jerusalem will remain unwalled because of its multitude of people and livestock.’ For this is the word of YHVH : I, Myself, will be around her like a wall of fire, and also within her, in glory.”

“Sing and rejoice, o daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell among you,” says YHVH. “On that day, many nations will join YHVH and be My people.”

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Tuesday, 23 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (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 reminded that as Christians, that is as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us should always remember how beloved we have been by God at all times, and how He has given us all His providence and guidance, even through the most challenging and difficult moments, and if we are faithful to Him, in the end, God will lead us all into eternal and true happiness with Him, and we are all called to live our lives virtuously in the manner that all of us have been taught and shown by the Lord Himself through His Church. If we want to be true and genuine Christians, then we have to embody our faith and truly believe in Him wholeheartedly in all things.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezra, we heard of the moment when the people of God, the descendants of the Israelites gathered together under the leadership of the prophet and priest Ezra himself, whom the King of Persia had sent to be the leader of the people of God, who had once again dwelled in the lands which God had promised and granted to their ancestors. They had managed to rebuild their destroyed city in Jerusalem and its Temple, the House of God which had once been built by King Solomon, and destroyed by the Babylonians. The priest Ezra led the people in the ceremony and celebrations held to mark its consecration and dedication to God.

It was a moment of great triumph and rejoicing, considering how the people of God, the Israelites and their descendants had been facing a lot of tough and difficult moments in the past few centuries prior, which happened mostly because of their own lack of faith in God and their inability to commit themselves to the One Who has always cared for them and loved them, and their own preoccupation with worldly ambitions and desires that had distracted and kept them away from the path towards righteousness and virtue in their one Lord and Master. They had been brought low and humbled, cast from their prideful thrones, and made to endure sufferings and humiliations, but God was always with them throughout their journey, even in their most challenging and difficult moments.

This is why we are reminded through this passage of the need for us to continue to have faith in the Lord even through the most difficult and darkest moments in life. We must remember that we are never alone, because no matter how fallen and far we may have been from Him, God has always had a way to reach out to us and to show us all His Providence, even in the most unexpected way and manner. We have to trust in Him that He knows the path for us going forward, so that we will not be easily distracted or made astray by the many pressures, difficulties, obstacles and temptations in our lives. We should always stand firm in our trust in the Lord because eventually even though we may have to suffer for a while, but eventually, we will be vindicated by our faith in God.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard the very brief passage from the Gospel in which the Lord Jesus told those who were saying to Him that His mother and brothers were there looking for Him, that all those who obey the Lord and do His will were truly His brothers and His mother, this short passage is a reminder for all of us that each and every one of us are equally beloved by the Lord and we should always strive to do our best in following the Law and commandments of God, so that we will truly be worthy of being called to the Holy Presence of God, in accounting for our lives and actions before Him. We should always heed God’s call and make good use of all that He has provided to us.

And in highlighting His mother, it did not mean that the Lord Jesus was being disrespectful to her or to the relatives that had been there waiting for Him. In fact, the Lord was pointing indirectly at His own Beloved Mother, whose faith in God and dedication, all of her virtues and commitment are indeed great examples and inspirations for all of us as Christians, in how she has completely obeyed the Lord and trusted in Him, doing her very best to fulfil everything that God Himself has entrusted to her. That is why if we follow Mary’s good examples and faith, all of us can surely gain the inspiration and strength to live our own lives in the manner that is more appropriate, faithful and worthy of God, in showing love not only for the Lord, but also for our fellow brethren all around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, also much more commonly and famously known as St. Padre Pio, a Capuchin Franciscan saint, a holy and truly pious priest and servant of God who had been known well for his many miracles and wonders. St. Padre Pio was remembered for his great piety and commitment to God, for his humble dedication to the Lord despite the many challenges that he had to face throughout his life and ministry. St. Padre Pio did not have it easy early on in life as he had been born to a family of poor farmers, and they had faced a lot of challenges, and yet, they were all very devout and committed to God, spending a lot of time in devotion and prayer to God despite all the hardships that they had to endure in their lives.

Amidst all that background, the young St. Padre Pio has begun to discern the calling to serve God and become a priest, and at the same time, he has also begun experiencing various heavenly visions and mystical experiences that he would go on to experience through the rest of his life. Eventually, St. Padre Pio joined the Capuchin religious order and dedicated himself to the order’s way of life, but even in that he also faced struggles and hurdles, as he was not properly educated, and needed to further his studies first before he was allowed to join the order. He faced several bouts of ill health and problems during his formation years, and this problem still plagued him even after he was ordained a priest, an experience which was worsened by his mystical experience of being a stigmatist later on in life, bearing the wounds of the Lord Himself on his body.

The appearance of the stigmatq gradually made St. Padre Pio to be very famous later on in his life, but for many years and decades, he encountered a lot of doubts, opposition and also persecution from the Church hierarchy and others who cast doubts on the authenticity of the miracles and the stigmata which were associated with this holy man of God. He had to bear through periods in which he was banned from celebrating the Mass publicly and preaching to the people of God, all the while experiencing spiritual attacks from the devil. Yet, all these did not dampen his spirit, and he continued to live his life humbly, faithfully and devoutly in all things, spending a lot of time in prayer, and many more people were coming to him seeking for his help and guidance, and other occasions happened when miracles happened to those who have interacted with this man of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as reflect carefully upon the life of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, as well as on the messages delivered to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we should always be good role models and examples for everyone around us. Let us all continue to be ever more faithful in all things, and be the shining beacons of God’s Light, truth and love in our communities, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 8 : 19-21

At that time, the mother of Jesus and His relatives came to Him; but they could not get to Him because of the crowd. Someone told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet You.”

Then Jesus answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

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Tuesday, 23 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the House of YHVH!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There, the tribes go up, the tribes of YHVH, the assembly of Israel.

To give thanks to YHVH’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezra 6 : 7-8, 12b, 14-20

Let the governor of the Jews together with their leaders build the House of God on its former site. This is the command I give as to what you should do to help those Jewish leaders rebuild the House of God : pay the expenses in full and without delay, with the income from taxes of the province at the other side of the River which is allotted to the king. I, Darius, give this command. Let it be carried out at once.

And the leaders of the Jews continued to make progress in building, encouraged by what Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, had said; and they finished the work according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus and Darius. The House was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.

The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had returned from exile celebrated the consecration of this House of God with rejoicing, offering on this solemnity one hundred young bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs; and twelve he-goats as a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Then they installed the priests according to their ranks, and the Levites according to their classes, for the service of the House of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. Those who had returned from exile celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, and all of them were clean. So, they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all who had returned from exile, for their fellow-priests and for themselves.

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Saturday, 20 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that each and every one of us have been given and entrusted with many great and wonderful things by God Himself, all the talents, abilities, opportunities and the many other things which He has provided for us so that we may truly be fruitful and active in making good use of them for the benefit of all the people of God and all those whom we encounter in our paths and journeys as Christians, as the disciples and followers of the Lord. Each and every one of us should always do our best such that our every actions, words and deeds may inspire many more people to come to know the Lord, His love and truth.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to his protege and fellow missionary, St. Timothy, we heard of the Apostle reminding St. Timothy and all fellow Christians to always remember that they were all the servants and followers of Christ, the Lord and Saviour, God Himself Who has manifested His love and works through His Son, Whom He sent into our world in order to bring all of us, His beloved people into salvation and eternal life through Him. And because of this, each and every one of those who have professed their faith as Christians ought to continue to focus our lives on God and His teachings, to embody our faith in our everyday actions, in our every words and deeds, in everything that we say and do, at all times.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the famous parable that the Lord Jesus taught to His disciples, which I am sure we are all well aware of, that is the parable of the sower. In this parable of the sower, we heard of what happened to the different seeds that fell in different places, and how among all those seeds, only those that fell on rich and fertile soil managed to grow well and bear fruits, while all the other seeds, those that fell by the roadside, those that fell on the rocks and those that grew amongst the brambles and weeds, all those failed to grow. The Lord Himself had explained His parable and its meaning clearly to the disciples, highlighting how God has given to each and every one of us the gifts and opportunities, talents and abilities much like those seeds that were mentioned in the parable.

However, they had to be nurtured and cultivated, meaning that we should do our best to give the best conditions possible in allowing this faith, all the gifts and things that God had provided to us. And how do we exactly do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by us spending more quality time with the Lord, doing our best to walk ever more faithfully in the Lord’s Presence at all times, in even the most ordinary things that we do. We must not underestimate the power of prayer and faith in our lives, and we should always strive to lead a life that is attuned to God’s will, doing our part such that we may grow ever closer to God and continue to glorify Him by our exemplary living, at all times. We should be good inspirations and role models for others around us, and that is one way how our faith can lead to so many more others finding their way to the Lord, and hence, bearing rich fruits for the Lord.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Korean Martyrs, or the Holy Martyrs of Korea, which are composed of many local Korean Christians and converts, both among the clergy and the laity alike, as well as the many missionaries who had come from distant lands, serving the Lord and His people, and all of whom endured great challenges, trials and sufferings amidst their ministry and living of their Christian faith. Today we remember all of these most courageous, faithful and loving people of God, who have borne the pains and struggles of being God’s faithful and beloved children and disciples, suffering prison, pains and sufferings, humiliations and hardships, and many of them even died as martyrs, choosing to die in faith rather than to give up their faith in God or to abandon Him and His Church.

At that time, the Korean state and government were very suspicious and hostile against the Christians and the missionaries who came to Korea to evangelise and proclaim the Lord and His Good News. They viewed the Christian faith and the missionaries as threat to their way of life and the authority of the state, as opposed to the strict Confucian nature of the society and the worldview of the time prevailing in Korea. And therefore, the state persecuted the Christians, both the foreign missionaries and also the local converts, oppressing and attacking them, forcing them to choose between their faith and suffering, or to obey the commands and demands of the state and abandoning their newfound faith and trust in the Lord.

St. Andrew Kim Taegon was particularly renowned among the saints and martyrs commemorated today as he was the first Korean Catholic priest, and he had a rough early life because his family, who had converted to the Christian faith were persecuted and he had his family members martyred for being followers of Christ. At a young age of fifteen, St. Andrew Kim Taegon chose to be baptised and then went to Macau to study as a seminarian and eventually was ordained as a priest in Shanghai in China. He later on returned to Korea to preach the Christian faith and Good News, evangelising to many of the people in his homeland. Eventually, he was persecuted with many other Christians, both missionaries, clergy and laity alike during intense persecutions against them, but he and the other faithful martyrs remained firmly faithful to the very end.

There was also the story of the faith of St. Laurent Imbert, the first Vicar Apostolic of Korea, the missionary which the Pope appointed to be the representative of the Church in Korea, laying down the important groundwork for the growth of Christianity in that area. St. Laurent Imbert dedicated himself to minister to the faithful people of God, the flock entrusted to his care by the Lord, despite the intensifying persecutions against him and many other missionaries. When he and the other missionaries had to go into hiding during those persecutions, St. Laurent Imbert voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities, and encouraged two other priests to do the same as he hoped that by doing so, he might spare many other Christians, his own flock, from suffering more for being followers of Christ. Before he was martyred, he was remembered for his great quote from the Gospel, ‘The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.’, showing the action that he and the Lord Himself had done in ensuring our salvation and liberation from sin and destruction.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the faith and examples shown to us by the Holy Martyrs of Korea, those whose lives and dedication to God have been most exemplary and strong, and who have inspired us all to continue to live our lives with genuine and strong faith in the Lord as we should have always done. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to commit ourselves thoroughly and wholeheartedly to the cause of the Lord, to be truly loving and generous with our compassion and mercy to one another, and to trust in the Lord’s providence and care, and in everything which He has reassured and promised us, the promise of everlasting life and true happiness, of glory everlasting with Him.

May the Lord our God continue to guide us all and strengthen us in faith as He has done to all those faithful servants, those Holy Martyrs in Korea who had dedicated their lives to Him and those who have done their best to remain faithful to Him despite the persecutions against them. May all of us continue to walk ever more faithfully and courageously in God’s Holy Presence and lead others to come ever closer to Him as well by our good examples and inspirations in life. Let us all be like the seeds that fell on the rich soil and bear wonderful fruits of our faith, that we may be found truly worthy by God. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 8 : 4-15

At that time, as a great crowd gathered, and people came to Jesus from every town, He began teaching them with a story : “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up.”

“Some seed fell on rocky ground; and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water. Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked Him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that, seeing, they may not perceive; and hearing, they may not understand.”

“Now, this is the point of the parable : The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it; but immediately, the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he does not want them to believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy; but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial.”

“Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it, in a gentle and generous mind, and, persevering patiently, they bear fruit.”