Liturgical Colour : Red
Daniel 3 : 57, 58, 59, 60, 61
All the works of the Lord, bless Him, praise Him, exalt Him forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless Him, praise and glorify Him forever.
Heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
All the waters above the heavens, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
All the powers of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Daniel 2 : 31-45
Daniel said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “In your vision you saw a statue – very large, very bright, terrible to look at. Its head was of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
As you watched, a rock cut from a mountain but not by human hands, struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, smashing them. All at once the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold crumbled into pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind swept them off and not a trace was left. But the rock that struck the statue became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.
That was the dream. Now the interpretation. You, o king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given dominion, strength, power and glory, and into whose hand He has placed humankind, the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, making you ruler over them. You are that head of gold.
After you, another kingdom inferior to yours will rise. Then a third kingdom of bronze will rule the whole world. Last shall be a fourth kingdom strong as iron and just as iron breaks and crushes everything else, so will it break and smash all the others.
The partly clay and the partly iron feet and toes mean that it will be a divided kingdom, yet it will have some of the strength of the iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay. And as the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. Just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, the people will be a mixture but will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
In the time of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom never to be destroyed or delivered up to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and put an end to them. And it will endure forever. This is the meaning of your vision of a rock cut from a mountain not by human hands, the rock which struck the statue and broke into pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation reliable.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Scripture readings which highlighted the fact that giving should come from the heart, and that from a purity of heart, one can give enormously in terms of the righteousness and light that emanates from those who are righteous, just and good in the eyes of the Lord.
In the first reading, we heard the beginning of the narrative of the story of Daniel the prophet and servant of God, who was called and chosen from among the many exiles of Israel at the time of their Babylonian exile, and he was blessed by God, for his faith and devotion to God, through his never ending commitment to the ways of the Lord, and God blessed him to show an example to the nations that He is the one and only True God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the choice facing Daniel and his friends are the same choices which all of us are facing on daily basis. It is a choice between following the way of righteousness of our Lord, following His commandments and laws, and obeying all the tenets and precepts as taught by the Sacred Scriptures. The other option is for us to disobey the Lord and follow our own desires, living without the bounds of the Law.
It is a choice for us whether we lead a life filled with the purity of love, of care for others, commitment to peace and harmony between peoples and nations, and leading a life filled with faith and joy knowing that we have lived in accordance to God and His words, or we can choose to live a life filled with the worldly pleasures of gluttony and greed, of hatred and jealousy, of insatiable desire and selfishness.
And in this, we should heed the examples of the poor widow as shown and told by our Lord Jesus Himself, as He related the parable to His disciples, about a poor widow who even though gave only two pieces of small coins, but she sincerely gave them for the Lord, without even worrying about what she would do without these coins which would be essential for her own livelihood and survival.
Jesus did not mean to mark a difference or distinguish between the rich and the poor, between the privileged and those who have little or none. On the other hand, He wanted to point out that to have faith in the Lord require much effort and much devotion, commitment and hard work on our part, by giving of ourselves unconditionally and with complete confidence in God.
Many of us are often distracted by the many worldly goods and things that kept us away from truly being able to give ourselves fully to the Lord, and many of these things tempted us away from the true goal that is to reach out to salvation in our Lord. It is in our nature to be easily lured away and tempted by these pleasures and goods of the world, which the evil one is using to his full advantage to prevent us from being saved and fall into damnation.
Therefore, all of us ought to follow the examples of the two saints, faithful men whose lives are an inspiration to us all, namely the lives of St. Columban the Abbot, and Pope St. Clement I, one of the first Popes and a martyr of the Holy Church and a defender of his Faith in God. Both of these saints have lived through times both good and evil, and they have lived their lives faithfully and had had their faith tested through many trials.
Pope St. Clement I was one of the first Bishops of Rome, the successors of St. Peter the Apostle, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ. As the leader of both the growing local Church in the heart of the Roman Empire and as the leader of the whole Universal Church, Pope St. Clement I toiled and laboured hard for the sake of the Lord, and for the sake of His people.
He wrote extensively, and in His many writings, He encouraged the faithful of the Church all over the world to follow closely to the teachings of Christ found in the Church, and amidst persecutions of the faithful, he continued to inspire many of the people of God to walk courageously in faith, and he led by example, when he himself was arrested and imprisoned, he continued to defend his faith in God passionately. Yes, even unto death.
Meanwhile, St. Columban was a religious monk whose life was truly exemplary, filled with prayers and great spiritual focus on the Lord. He advocated the faithful to be true to their faith, and seek to be forgiven from their sins and mistakes through the use of confession by priests. He was one of the first to encourage regular confession before priests to ensure that our souls are clean from the taints of sin.
These two holy men led an example through their own respective lives, and there are many things which they had done that we can also emulate for ourselves. Indeed, let us all heed their examples, and show the same actions in our own lives as well. It is time for us to commit ourselves more to the Lord and walk ever more faithfully in His ways. May God be with us all, and may through the intercession of Pope St. Clement I and St. Columban the Abbot, we may be brought closer to God’s holy presence. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the great celebration of the anniversary of the dedication of the two great Houses of God, two churches dedicated to the two greatest saints of Christendom, the patron saints of the very heart of Christendom, and God’s most esteemed servants, the chiefs of the Apostles.
St. Peter the Apostle and St. Paul the Apostle were two of Christ’s most important disciples, and they were the ones whose works and dedications resulted in the establishment of the Church as we know it today. They helped laid the foundations and the structure from which the Church of God would grow and enabled the faithful to assemble together in the Church of the Lord.
St. Peter the Apostle was the chief and the first among all of Christ’s Apostles and disciples, and he was given the direct command from the Lord Himself, to be the shepherd of shepherds, as the leader of leaders of the faithful, as none other than the very Vicar of Christ Himself on earth, the chief representative of our Lord and the head of the Universal Church, the Body of Christ, which Jesus our Lord is the true Head.
Meanwhile, St. Paul the Apostle was the Lord’s chief evangeliser and the bearer of the Word of God, the Good News to the many nations, the Apostle to the Gentiles. While many of the disciples of the Lord in the beginning preached only to the Jews and kept the word of salvation only to the sons and daughters of Israel, it was St. Paul who took one of the first steps of the Church’s outreach to the non-Jews, the Gentiles, especially to the Greeks.
These two faithful servants of the Lord were very important in their respective roles, St. Peter as the head and leader of the Church, uniting the many and diverse leaders and elders of the Church, establishing many of the churches himself as he went about his missions to many places, and while St. Paul preached to the many nations including the Greeks, and bravely stood up for the faith against the opposition of the Jews and the Roman authorities.
Both of them eventually ended up making the fateful journey to Rome, the centre and heart of the Roman Empire, the superpower at the time, which would eventually persecute the faithful and the Church for many, many years and brought martyrdom to countless faithful souls. The two great Apostles would lead the way in becoming the very first martyrs among them, standing up for their faith.
St. Peter the Apostle would be crucified for his faith, and opting to be crucified upside down for his great humility of not wanting to die in the same manner as his Lord and God had died. St. Paul the Apostle would be beheaded by the orders of the Emperor, both likely blamed for a great fire that occurred in Rome in the year AD 64, which became one of the first official great persecutions against Christians.
Their blood, the blood of their martyrdom became the seeds and inspiration for the future generations of the faithful, many of them also martyred in the same manner, defending their faith courageously against the world. But both of these holy men were not called holy and great, as these two Apostles were themselves once struggling with their faith and weak in their hearts.
If we remember the story of St. Paul, we would know how he used to be a great persecutor of Christians himself, as the champion and zealous defender of the Jewish traditions against the Christians whom he saw as heretics and their teachings as heresy and perversions of the Jewish faith in God. But God made him to see his errors when He showed Himself to him as he was on the way to Damascus, and from a persecutor of Christians, St. Paul, once known as Saul, became a great champion and defender of the Christian faith.
Meanwhile, St. Peter himself was a humble fisherman who plied daily along the lakeshore of the lake of Galilee, spending his time with St. Andrew his brother and the other fishermen catching fishes from the lake into the boats. He would never have dreamed on the task that he would carry out in the name of God. But Jesus did tell him that he would no longer be a fisher of fishes, but instead as a fisher of men from then on.
And we know that St. Peter was not very steady in terms of his faith, just as we saw in the Gospel today, as he was sinking out of fear because his faith in God was shaken up. And we know how St. Peter betrayed Jesus three times during the times of His Passion, when out of fear and self-preservation, He refused to acknowledge Jesus in front of His persecutors, refusing to admit that he was one of His disciples.
Yet, God forgave him and made him the greatest of His disciples, entrusting to him nothing else than His entire flock on earth, the Church itself, and he became the very first Pope. This is because of the love and dedication that St. Peter had shown, as if we notice, St. Peter was almost always the first to go forth and seek the Lord, as shown at the time when He made a miracle for them on the boat, making them catch so many fishes, and on another occasion when Jesus had risen from the dead.
This tells us that, as we commemorate the dedication anniversary of the two great Basilicas dedicated to these two great saints and Apostles of our Lord, that Jesus did not come to call the great and the mighty to serve Him, but rather, He called the simple and the ordinary, sinners and weak people alike, to make them great and mighty, not in the force of might and strength, but in the force of word and faith.
Let us all follow in their footsteps and realise that we still have so much to do as the modern day Apostles and disciples of our Lord. Let us all commit ourselves to bring the Good News, the words of the Gospel to the nations. May all of us be able to share the joy of our faith with one another, and be the light to all the nations, that through our works, just as St. Peter and St. Paul had done, we may bring God’s salvation to many more souls. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)
Luke 19 : 11-28
At that time, Jesus was now near Jerusalem, and the people with Him thought that God’s reign was about to appear. So as they were listening to Him, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to assume regal authority, after which he planned to return home. Before he left, he summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver.”
“He said, ‘Put this money to work until I get back.’ But his compatriots, who disliked him, sent a delegation after him with this message, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.'”
“He returned, however, appointed as king. At once he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made. The first came in, and reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver has earned ten more pounds of silver.'”
‘The master replied, ‘Well done, my good servant! Since you have proved yourself faithful in a small matter, I can trust you to take charge of ten cities.’ The second reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver earned five more pounds of silver.’ The master replied, ‘And you, take charge of five cities!'”
“The third came in, and said, ‘Sir, here is your money, which I hid for safekeeping. I was afraid of you, for you are an exacting person : you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.'”
“The master replied, ‘You worthless servant, I will judge you by your own words! So you knew I was an exacting person, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Why, then, did you not put my money on loan, so that, when I got back, I could have collected it with interest?'”
“Then the master said to those standing by, ‘Take from him that pound and give it to the one with ten pounds.’ But they objected, ‘Sir, he already has ten pounds!’ The master replied, ‘I tell you, everyone who has will be given more; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for my enemies who did not want me to be their king, bring them in, and execute them right here in front of me!'”
So Jesus spoke, and then He passed on ahead of them, on His way to Jerusalem.
Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas)
Matthew 14 : 22-33
At that time, immediately Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it.
At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that It was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!” Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You walking on the water.”
Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)
Psalm 16 : 1, 5-6, 8 and 15
Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.
Hold firm my steps upon Your path, that my feet may not stumble. I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteousness in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.
Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas)
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
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.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.
With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)
2 Maccabees 7 : 1, 20-31
It happened also that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king had them scourged and flogged to force them to eat the flesh of a pig which was prohibited by the Law.
More than all of them, their mother ought to be admired and remembered. She saw her seven sons die in a single day. But she endured it even with joy for she had put her hope in the Lord. Full of a noble sense of honour, she encouraged each one of them in the language of their ancestors.
Her woman’s heart was moved by manly courage, so she told them : “I wonder how you were born of me; it was not I who gave you breath and life, nor I who ordered the matter of your body. The Creator of the world who formed man in the beginning and ordered the unfolding of all creation shall in His mercy, give you back breath and life, since you now despise them for love of His laws.”
Antiochus thought that she was making fun of him and suspected that she had insulted him. As the youngest was still alive, the king tried to win him over not only with his words, but even promised to make him rich and happy, if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors. He would make him his Friend and appoint him to a high position in the kingdom.
But as the young man did not pay him any attention, the king ordered the mother to be brought in. He urged her to advise her son in order to save his life. After being asked twice by the king, she agreed to persuade her son. She bent over him and fooled the cruel tyrant by saying in her ancestral language :
“My son, have pity on me. For nine months I carried you in my womb and suckled you for three years; I raised you up and educated you until this day. I ask you now, my son, that when you see the heavens, the earth and all that is in it, you know that God made all this from nothing, and the human race as well. Do not fear these executioners, but make yourself worthy of your brothers – accept death that you may again meet your brothers in the time of mercy.”
When she finished speaking, the young man said, “What are you waiting for? I do not obey the king’s order but the precepts of the Law given by Moses to our ancestors. And you who have devised such tortures against the Hebrews, shall not escape the hands of God.”
Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas)
Acts 28 : 11-16, 30-31
After three months, we boarded a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It belonged to an Alexandrian company and carried the figurehead of Castor and Pollux as insignia. We sailed for Syracuse, staying there for three days and, after circling the coast, we arrived at Rhegium.
On the following day, a south wind began to blow, and at the end of two days we arrived at Puteoli, where we found some of our brothers who invited us to stay with them for a week. And that was how we came to Rome. There the brothers and sisters had been informed of our arrival and came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forums and the Three Taverns.
When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and took courage. Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house with the soldier who guarded him.
Paul stayed for two whole years in a house he himself rented, where he received without any hindrance all those who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Virgins)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the beginning of the new chapter in our Scripture readings from the Book of the Maccabees, telling us the narrative of what happened during the time of the Maccabean rebellion or the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid Empire, or the Greek Empire that descended from the Empire of Alexander the Great of Greece who had brought much of the known world under his dominion.
At that time, the Greek culture was the high culture of the society, and many people aspired to learn the Greek language, culture and customs, and in various ways, many people from various nations and origins would try to implement Greek lifestyle and even religion into their own lifestyle, which is known as Hellenism. Many people even became completely Greek in their lifestyle and they incorporated completely the Hellenic culture as their own.
And the problem came when the same sentiment and practice came to the land of the faithful people of Israel, the direct descendants and heirs of Abraham, to whom God had shown His favour and with whom God had established an eternal covenant, a bond of promise between Himself and Abraham and his descendants, that they would commit to each other forever.
This means that the Lord God of all universe and of all creation would dedicate Himself and commit Himself to the people whom He had chosen and loved, and to whom He would give the entirety of His blessings and inheritance. But a covenant is a two-way process, and require both parties of the covenant to dedicate themselves to one another. This means that the people of Israel, and by extension, all of us, must devote ourselves and commit ourselves to the Lord as well.
Yet, the people of the time of Maccabees, the family of faithful people who eventually led the faithful in rebellion against the tyranny and the wickedness of the king Antiochus Epiphanes and his successors, who enforced the assimilation of the Jews into the pagan ways of the Greeks, and insisted on the adoption of the pagan gods and worship by the faithful, who worshipped only the one and only True God.
To follow the orders of the king would be tantamount to disobeying and breaking the covenant which the Lord had established with them, and the consequences would not be light. Indeed, only those who have remained true to the covenant of God would deserve the everlasting reward which God had promised, whereas to break away from the covenant would mean the nullification of such privileges, and therefore, separate from the Lord of all life, there will be nothing for them.
Many succumbed to the temptations of such pressure and many succumbed to the great pressures given by the king against the faithful. Many betrayed the Lord in exchange for safety and acceptance by the world. As such, many souls were lost and these went into damnation, unless they changed their ways and repented their sins. But there were also many of those who remained true to the Lord and to their faith despite the difficulties and the persecutions against them.
The examples of today’s saints also should remind us that it is not easy for us to remain faithful and to be devoted to our Lord, but it is possible if we put in enough effort in order to do so. St. Margaret of Scotland was the Queen of Scotland, whose life had been marked with many challenges and difficulties, and yet even though she attained great importance and preeminence, she remained devout, committed and faithful to her faith in God.
She spent much time in prayer and in performing numerous charities and loving acts to all the poor and the destitute of her kingdom. She also provided shelter and safe haven for many refugees and the oppressed peoples from the neighbouring countries. Through her works, the livelihood of many people were improved, and many were greatly inspired by her great piety.
Meanwhile, St. Gertrude was a great and devoted mystic, who received visions from the Lord and inspiration about her faith. St. Gertrude devoted her whole life to the Lord and to His people through prayer, and her many works and writings continued to inspire many people even until today, and called many to continue to be faithful to the teachings of the Faith.
In all of their examples, we can see how we ought to live as children of God and as followers of His way and truth. Let us all devote ourselves in the same way, and let us all commit ourselves anew to our faith and be no longer be ignorant or be against the ways that we should indeed follow and emulate in our own lives. May the Lord always bless us in all of our endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Virgins)
Luke 18 : 35-43
At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging. As he heard the crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening, and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by.
Then he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people in front of him scolded him, “Be quiet!” they said, bur he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped, and ordered the blind man to be brought to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man said, “Lord, that I may see!” Jesus said, “Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.”
At once the blind man was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving praise to God. And all the people who were there also praised God.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Virgins)
Psalm 118 : 53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158
I feel indignant at the wicked who have forsaken Your Law.
The wicked have me trapped in their snares, but I have not forgotten Your Laws.
Rescue me from human oppression, and help me keep Your precepts.
My persecutors close in with evil intent; they are far from Your Law.
Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek Your statutes.
I look upon the faithless with loathing, because they do not obey Your ruling.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 