holy religious

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Wednesday, 23 November 2016 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)
Luke 21 : 12-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the synagogues and put in prison, and for My sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.”

“So keep this in mind : do not worry in advance about what to say, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.”

“But even though, because of My Name, you will be hated by everyone, not a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will save your souls.”

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Wednesday, 23 November 2016 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 7-8, 9

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all its peoples. Let rivers clap their hands, hills and mountains sing with joy.

Before the Lord, for He comes to rule the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Wednesday, 23 November 2016 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)
Revelations 15 : 1-4

Then I saw another great and marvellous sign in the heavens : seven Angels brought seven plagues which are the last, for with these the wrath of God will end. There was a sea of crystal mingled with fire, and the conquerors of the beast, of its name and the mark of its name stood by it.

They had been given the celestial harps and they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb : Great and marvellous are Your works, o Lord, God and Master of the universe. Justice and truth guide Your steps, o King of the nations.

Lord, who will not give honour and glory to Your Name? For You alone are holy. All the nations will come and bow before You, for they have now seen Your judgments.

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Thursday, 17 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we listened to the word of God in the Sacred Scriptures, listening to the words of hope given to us by the Lord, Who have triumphed and conquered, defeating the forces of evil and death, by His own death on the cross and then by His glorious resurrection from the dead and ascension in glory into heaven.

Through the readings today, we are reminded yet again that as Christians, persecutions and challenges will be part of our lives, as those who are in power in this world, all those who rely on this world, are against us who believe in the Lord, for the devil wants us all to be lost to the Lord, by disobeying Him and refusing to listen to His laws and commandments, and instead following his lies and temptations.

And that was why throughout history, for the past two millennia, the history of the Church, our Faith and its faithful had been filled with much grievances, sufferings, persecutions and all that had occurred when the faithful were oppressed by those who sought to destroy them and turn them away from the path towards salvation. That was why there were many martyrs and those who suffered and even laid down their lives for the Lord, in the early days of the Church, and even unto this very day.

During the early days of the Church, the faithful had to contend with many oppressions, oppositions to the Lord and to the Church, and they had to hide, hiding in the catacombs and sewers while celebrating the Lord and His Holy Sacrifice, the Holy Mass, or else they would be arrested, put into prison, tortured and even put to death for their faith in God.

If we wonder how they all persevered through all of that without losing hope, it was because of their firm faith in God. They staunchly remained true to their Lord and their faith in Him even when they were faced with the stark option of securing their lives by rejecting the Lord, or to keep their faith and suffer to the extent of painfully losing their lives.

This is a reality that many of our brethren even today, are still living its daily effects. In various parts of the world, from the Middle East, to regions of the Americas, Africa, and in many other parts, being a faithful Christian is increasingly a more and more difficult task for us. Challenges and temptations are abound, and not few of our brethren were tempted and gave up because of various reasons.

But many did not give up because they believe firmly in the Lord Who will be triumphant in the end, as foretold in the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, the content of which we heard today. God will succour all of His faithful ones and bring them into the comfort of His grace and salvation in the end of it all, and death and the forces of evil will not have any power over us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, many of us are able to help our brethren who are suffering in various ways. We should open our eyes, our ears, our senses, and love them in our heart. We must be generous with our charity and be generous with our love. And in this, perhaps, we should follow in the footsteps and examples of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the holy saint whose feast we celebrate today.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary is a Hungarian princess who was renowned for her piety and great works of charity. As is the custom of that time, she was married off at an early age to a nobleman, and had a family. But when her husband passed away, during the years of her widowhood, she devoted herself to God and to the poor people around her, contributing a lot to charitable works and helped the weak and those who are in need to meet their needs.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary showed us all what is meant by being a Christian. Being a Christian requires each and every one of us to follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, Who came into this world out of His love for us, and to find those who have lost their way and became stranded and separated from Him, that they may also have a hope of redemption and liberation from the curse of sin and death.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all strive that in this life we have, we may be able to commit ourselves fully to the Lord, renew our faith and commitment to Him, so that through our wholehearted devotion to Him, many others will also be inspired to do the same, and follow our footsteps to seek the Lord and be forgiven from their sins.

May all of us Christians be the bearers of God’s truth and salvation, never fearing what will happen to us if we stay faithful to Him, as we all know that, just as the saints and martyrs had known, that Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Lord, will triumph in the end and bring all those who remain faithful to Him to the glorious eternal life with Him forevermore. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 19 : 41-44

At that time, when Jesus had come in sight of the city of Jerusalem, He wept over it, and said, “If only today you knew the ways of peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Yet days will come upon you, when your enemies will surround you with barricades, and shut you in, and press on you from every side.”

“And they will dash you to the ground and your children with you, and not leave stone upon stone within you, for you did not recognise the time and the visitation of your God.”

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Thursday, 17 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 149 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise in the assembly of His saints. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let the people of Zion glory in their King!

Let them dance in praise of His Name and make music for Him with harp and timbrel. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the lowly with victory.

The saints will exult in triumph; even at night on their couches. Let the praise of God be on their lips, this is the glory of all His saints. Alleluia!

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Thursday, 17 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 5 : 1-10

Then I saw in the right hand of Him Who was seated on the throne a scroll written on both sides, sealed with seven seals. A mighty Angel exclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open this and break the seals?”
But no one in heaven or on earth or in the netherworld was found able to open the book and read it. I wept much when I saw that no one was found worthy to open the book and read it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Shoot of David, has conquered; He will open the book of the seven seals.”

And I saw next to the throne with its four living creatures and the twenty-four elders a Lamb standing, although It had been slain. I saw Him with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out to all the earth. The Lamb moved forward and took the book from the right hand of Him Who was seated on the throne.

When He took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed before the Lamb. They all held in their hands harps and golden cups full of incense which are the prayers of the holy ones. This is the new song they sang : “You are worthy to take the book and open its seals, for You were slain and by Your Blood You purchased for God people of every race, language and nation; and You made them a kingdom and priests for our God and they shall reign over the land.”

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Thursday, 3 November 2016 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God speaking to us from the Sacred Scriptures, telling us about the conversion of sinners, and how we should not leave behind our brethren who are in trouble, sinners and delinquents who are in need of our help. There is a hope for everyone, and as Christians we should also help in this matter.

The Lord spoke of those who have lost a silver coin and another who lost a sheep from among his flock. And He told His disciples and the people the great extent and effort which they, as the owners of the respective lost items, would go in order to retrieve what was lost from them. Surely we ourselves have experienced this too, brothers and sisters in Christ? Surely we have known the feeling of how painful and discomforting it is for us to lose something that is precious to us?

Therefore, just imagine that if we can be so discomforted by losing our precious items, our own possessions, all the more God Who owns all of us will be distraught over the loss of even a single one of His beloved children, that is when even one of us disobey the Lord and does things that are contrary to His ways, meaning that he or she has sinned before the Lord.

And sin has been the main culprit of our sundering and separation from God. It has been the thorn on our side ever since Satan tempted our ancestors to disobey the Lord our God and His commandments. And throughout time, again and again, we mankind have fallen into his persuasions and lies, and committed sins which separated us further from the Lord and His salvation.

God loves us all very much brethren, and no one is beyond the scope of His love, unless we ourselves have turned our back of that love and defiantly rejecting His overtures of mercy and kindness. He is our loving Shepherd and we are His sheep, the sheep of His flock. We are His wonderful treasures, which He treasures and if any of us are lost from Him, He will look for us.

Unfortunately, it is we ourselves who often rejected Him, because we prefer to follow the ways of the devil rather than listening to the words of God. We continued to commit sin after sin, and the state of our souls are in great danger. And yet, God never gave up trying to bring us back into righteousness and grace, and He sent thus many prophets, messengers who brought the word of God to us all.

And one of them was St. Martin de Porres, whose feast day we celebrate today. He was a member of the Dominican order, working in the place he was born, in Peru in what was then Spanish Americas. He devoted himself to work for the poor and the less fortunate in his community, and he himself grew up in poverty and faced many challenges in his life.

He faced great discrimination due to his mixed heritage, having been an illegitimate son of a Spanish father and a freed slave mother. By the law at that time, he was counted among those who were barred from joining the religious life fully as a member, and were therefore consigned to be the lowest member of the Dominican order, enduring discrimination, difficulty and even rejection at times.

Yet, all these did not dampen the spirit of St. Martin de Porres, who devoted himself all the more to works and pursuits of mercy and compassion to the poor, the weak, the oppressed and those who suffer because of various reasons. He cared for them and helped them in various occasions, because of his genuine love and commitment for them, living out the Gospel which he was preaching to the people by his own dedications.

This is the kind of example which each and every one of us should also heed and follow, the example of how we should live our lives filled with faith from now on. We are called to show mercy to those who have sinned against us, allowing them to have a renewed faith in God and to repent from all of their sinful and wrong ways. But have we done these in our lives? Have our lives been actively devoted to such good works?

Many of us have thought only of ourselves, and it is often that we selfishly acted in order to preserve ourselves and fulfil our desires. As a result, our eyes, ears and senses are often dulled against the cry of those who are lost, who are struggling, suffering and encountering difficulties, whom we actually can save and help, but because we turned our backs to them, we often have left our brethren to fend for themselves.

Shall we from now on renew our commitment to our faith and that faith we have in the Lord by devoting ourselves anew to look for and help our brethren in need, the lost sheep, whom the Lord wants to save and reunite with Himself, just as He had done with us? Let us all help one another, that in the end, as many as possible can receive the salvation from the Lord our God.

May St. Martin de Porres be the source of our inspiration in living out our faith, and may he intercede for our sake, praying for us all, that our hearts may be stirred and our passion and desire to help others in need can be awakened within us. May the Lord help us and bless us on our way, and may He remain with us forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 November 2016 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Luke 15 : 1-10

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

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Thursday, 3 November 2016 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.