holy religious

by

Saturday, 12 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 17 : 14-20

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples came to the crowd, a man approached Him, knelt before Him and said, "Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to Your disciples but they could not heal him."

Jesus replied, "O you people, faithless and misled! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed. Later, the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him privately, "Why could we not drive out the spirit?"

Jesus said to them, "Because you have little faith. I say to you : if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible for you."

by

Saturday, 12 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Psalm)

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

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab

I love You, o YHVH, my strength. YHVH is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on YHVH, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

YHVH lives! Praised be my Rock! Exalted be my Saviour God. He has given victories to His king; He has shown His love to His anointed ones.

by

Saturday, 12 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (First Reading)

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

Deuteronomy 6 : 4-13

Listen, Israel : YHVH, our God, is One YHVH. And you shall love YHVH, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Engrave on your heart the commandments that I pass on to you today.

Repeat them over and over to your children, speak to them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down and when you rise. Brand them on your hand as a sign and keep them always before your eyes. Engrave them on your doorposts and on your city gates.

Do not forget YHVH when He has led you into the land which He promised to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; for He will give you great and prosperous cities which you did not build, houses filled with everything good which you did not provide, wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.

So when you have eaten and have been satisfied, do not forget YHVH Who brought you out from Egypt where you were enslaved. Fear YHVH, your God, serve Him and call on His Name when you have to swear an oath.

by

Wednesday, 9 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how the people of Israel rebelled against the Lord at the time when they were about to enter into the Promised Land of Canaan after God had led them through the desert from their slavery in Egypt. The scouts who were sent forth to survey the land ahead of the people incited the people to turn against God and against Moses, His servant, charging that they have been led to a land of danger and harm, not trusting in the power and providence of God, which He surely would have given them.

Israel failed to understand that God was with them all the way throughout their journey, even though they have seen in many occasions the great wonders of God, His works and His efforts, from the ten plagues He sent to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh to pressure them to let the Israelites to go free, to the opening of the Red Sea and the destruction of the armies of the Egyptians, to the care and love which He showered them with through the desert, providing them with food and water, protection from their enemies and all others.

That is why God punished them all, by making them to wander through the desert for another forty years, in the process letting all those who have rejected His love to perish in the desert, except for Caleb, the only one among the scouts to remain faithful and trusting in God, as well as Joshua, the faithful right hand man to Moses and his successor as the leader over all of Israel.

They had faith in their own power, their own intellect and their own ways, instead of listening to the Lord and obeying His will. And this is linked to what we have heard in the Gospel passage today, in which we witnessed how our Lord Jesus interacted with a Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman, who was not considered to belong among the people of Israel.

We must have wondered why did the Lord Jesus said such things to the woman, who begged Him to heal her daughter who was possessed by an evil spirit. Why did He rebuke her and seemingly rejected her request to have her daughter healed? And He was even comparing her to the lowly and unworthy dogs begging for the food from the master of the table. Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ?

The truth is that, our Lord Jesus was merely displaying to all of us the reality of the situation at that time, the prejudice and the attitude which the people of Israel, the Jewish people showed against their non-Jewish or also known as Gentiles, neighbours. The Jews looked down on their neighbours because they took pride in their status as the chosen people of God, and looked at others with contempt as if they were unworthy of God's love.

That is why, literally, they treated the pagan nations and the Gentiles as if they were below par, as what Jesus had illustrated in His interaction with the Syro-Phoenician woman. But, the Lord Jesus showed just how faithful that woman had been, much more so than the people of Israel had been. The same case was evident from another part of the Gospels, where the army centurion who was likely to be a Gentile or non-Jew, was praised by the Lord for his faith which the Lord had not seen even among the Jews.

What is the lesson that all of us must learn from what we have heard in today's Scripture passages? It is that we must never have prejudice against others, but instead we must help each other on our journey towards the Lord. There has been plenty of sorrow and suffering caused throughout the history of this world when we mankind showed prejudice to our fellow men, and discriminate, just because we thought that it is right to do so.

The scouts were prejudiced against the inhabitants of Canaan, thinking that because they were all fearsome and powerful, they would rather trust in their own judgment instead of trusting in God's providence, therefore resulting in the people of God falling into sin. Yet, still others used prejudice as a method to achieve their own selfish agenda and objective, one of the worst of which is the Holocaust during the Second World War, a great atrocity against humanity by the NAZI German government.

Today it also happened that we celebrate the feast of one of the many victims of that terrible Holocaust, namely St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also better known by her name, St. Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to the Christian faith, who then joined the religious order of the Discalced Carmelites. She was remembered for her great many works and writings, involvement in the Catholic education and dedication to the Lord.

As the NAZI government of Germany at that time played on the prejudice and racism against the Jewish population, firstly in Germany itself, and then later on, among the countries that they have conquered, gathering all of them to be put into concentration camps and then massacred without mercy, the same would eventually happen to St. Teresa Benedicta, who endured the suffering with grace and faith, believing that God has already planned everything for her, and entrusted everything to God.

We see how mankind could end up committing such cruel acts like murder and genocide, based on their human prejudice alone, when they abandoned God's laws and commandments, and instead putting their trust in their own human judgment and intellect. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross showed all of us how we should then act, against all these prejudices and wickedness, by our total and complete surrender to the Lord and His will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all as Christians be true disciples of the Lord through our every words, actions and deeds. Let us all put our faith in Him, rather than trusting in our own flawed human power, judgment and prejudices. Let us not follow in the footsteps of the Israelites who disobeyed God because of their fears and prejudices, and then, also, as we remember the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman, let us all never be prejudiced against others or look down on anyone just because we think that we are more faithful than them. After all, no matter what, all of us are still the same, brethren, as sinners still needing the healing and mercy from God.

Let us all therefore from now on, commit ourselves to be righteous and true in our every deeds. Let us all not be passive or be ignorant when others are being bullied because of their race, appearance, or any other things. Let us instead be active in helping one another to reach out to the Lord in faith. May the Lord bless us all, and may He empower us to become ever better disciples of His, always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 9 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 15 : 21-28

At that time, leaving that area, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon."

But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So His disciples approached Him and said, "Send her away! See how she is shouting after us." Then Jesus said to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel."

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, "Sir, help me!" Jesus answered, "It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies."

The woman replied, "That is true, Sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table." Then Jesus said, "Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish." And her daughter was healed at that moment.

by

Wednesday, 9 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 105 : 6-7a, 13-14, 21-22, 23

We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. When they were in Egypt, our ancestors had no regard for Your wondrous deeds.

But soon they forgot His works and did not wait for His counsel. They gave way to wanton craving and tempted God in the desert.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

by

Wednesday, 9 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Numbers 13 : 1-2, 25 – Numbers 14 : 1, 26-30, 34-35

YHVH then spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to explore the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites; send one man from each of the ancestral tribes, all of them leaders."

After forty days of exploration, they returned. They went and met Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They gave an account to them and the whole community and showed them the fruit of this land.

And they said, "We entered the land where you sent us, truly a land flowing with milk and honey and here is the fruit. But how strong are the people who inhabit the land! The cities are fortified with walls and bars, and we even saw there descendants of the Anakites. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; the Canaanites are by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan."

Caleb then quieted the people who rose up against Moses and said, "We should go up and take over the land, for we shall surely overcome it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We cannot advance against these people for they are stronger than we are."

And they spread an unfavourable report about the land that they had explored, saying to the Israelites, "The land we went through to explore is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people we saw there are men of great size. We even saw giants (these giants were the Anakites). We felt like grasshoppers before them, and to them we must have seemed the same."

Then all the community broke out in loud cries and wept during the night. Then YHVH spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, "How long will this wicked community grumble against Me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel against Me. Say to them : As truly as I live, it is YHVH Who speaks, I will do to you what you have said in My hearing."

"All of you of twenty years and more, numbered in the census, who grumbled against Me, your corpses will fall in the desert. You will not enter the land where I swore to settle you, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh and Joshua, son of Nun. According to the number of days spent in exploring the land – forty days, for every day a year – for forty years you shall bear the guilt of your sins and you shall know what it is to oppose Me."

"I, YHVH, have spoken. Surely this is what I will do to this wicked community that has conspired against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed and this is where they shall die."

by

Tuesday, 11 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard about the story of how Jacob struggled with God on his journey back towards the land of Canaan, after he had ended his exile in the land of his ancestors in Mesopotamia. And as he approached the land of Canaan, he heard how his brother Esau came towards him with many men and other people, and he was scared. That was why he sent his family and his servants in a separate group, fearing that his brother Esau was going to seek retribution against him.

What we heard in today’s story from the Book of Genesis is a continuation of what we have heard in the past few days on the story of Jacob and his family, the descendants of Abraham, the faithful servant of God. Jacob tricked Esau his elder brother, into surrendering his inheritance and seized his blessings from him. And thus, he was driven into a self-imposed exile, fleeing from the wrath of Esau for a while. God was with Jacob, and He guided him along the way.

But Jacob doubted, and in his fear, he fell into his own human frailties. That was when God came unto him, and struggled with him. Through that struggle, God reminded Jacob that with Him, nothing can go wrong, and with Him as his source of strength, he would have no need to fear. He is the source of all our hope and our strength. And still, we often doubted Him and did not believe Him.

This was shown in the Gospel passage which we heard today. The Gospel spoke of how Jesus our Lord was slandered by the Pharisees who accused Him of wrongdoing, spreading lies and untruths, charging that He cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. And yet, despite all of these charges and lies they had made about Jesus, all of them did not deter Him from continuing His work and ministry among the people, caring for the sick and healing them, and bringing joy to God’s people.

The Pharisees did all that they had done because they were jealous of the Lord’s popularity and ability to teach with true authority. They refused to believe in Him because they were too confident and proud to acknowledge that their ways and thoughts had been mistaken, and that the Lord Jesus was right and delivering the truth to them. They have enjoyed many privileges due to their position in the society, and they saw Jesus as a threat to all that they had enjoyed thus while.

Thus they hardened their hearts, and trusted in their own human intellect and strength, refusing to listen to the word of God speaking to them, through what they have heard and witnessed. Even though they had seen all the miracles that Jesus had done in their midst, they still did not believe and continued to resist Him and working against Him and His disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what can happen to us all as well. When we are in the moments of difficulty, it is often that we fear, just as Jacob had had fear in his heart and mind. And when we fear, because our faith and commitment to the Lord is not strong, we end up turning to alternative sources of comfort, that is putting our trust instead in our own human abilities and strengths, preferring to trust our own plans, desires and thoughts instead of discerning what it is that God wants from us.

Yet, we have to realise that God is always with us, no matter how difficult the situation can be. He is always ever faithful and He will not abandon us, for He is always guiding us through various means, even when we do not realise it. We need to learn to put our trust in God, no matter what happens. We should not be quick to abandon the Lord when we are so concerned about ourselves and our own safety, for if it is He Who created us, it is also therefore He Who reigns over us and no lasting harm will come to us.

Perhaps all of us should heed the example of the holy and renowned saint, whose feast day we celebrate on this day. St. Benedict the Abbot, also known as St. Benedict of Nursia is also known better as the founder of the Benedictine Order, one of the largest religious congregations in the world today, and also as the one who came up with the strict regulations of the Rule of St. Benedict, a standard by which many of the religious brothers and sisters lived their lives.

St. Benedict of Nursia was renowned for his deep devotion and piety to the Lord, by his many good works among the people of God, calling them to serve the Lord and to devote themselves with sincere dedication and commitment. St. Benedict of Nursia through his Rule of St. Benedict encouraged all, especially those who have chosen to dedicate themselves in a religious life, on how to live their lives in accordance with the will of God.

St. Benedict of Nursia emphasised before anything else, the importance of obedience and humility in one’s actions, and indeed it is these two virtues which are often lacking among us mankind these days. He emphasised the importance of doing good works and prayer in tandem with each other, in one of his golden rules, Ora et Labora, prayer and work hand in hand, as what all the faithful people of God should do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Benedict of Nursia and today’s Scripture readings reminded us that all of us as Christians are called to be faithful to the Lord, to put our trust in the Lord our God. And we can do this by deepening our relationship with Him, through constant prayer and communication with God, remembering Him in everything we do, in every moment we have in life and indeed, in every breath that we take.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us seek to serve the Lord with ever greater zeal and love. May the Lord bless us with an ever greater faith and devotion, so that we will draw ever closer to Him and thus be worthy to receive His everlasting grace and love. St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us all. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 11 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 9 : 32-38

At that time, as the two blind men were going away, some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb, because he was possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees said, “He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom; and He cured every sickness and disease. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with pity; for they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send workers to gather His harvest.”

by

Tuesday, 11 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 16 : 1, 2-3, 6-7, 8 and 15

Hear a just cause, o YHVH, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer, for there is no deceit on my lips.

Let my defence come forth from You; Your eyes see what is right. You have probed my heart, searched me at night, tested me by fire, and You have seen no wickedness in me.

I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.

Keep me as the apple of Your eye; under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.