holy saints of God

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Thursday, 1 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Patroness of Missions (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the greatest saints of the Church, a holy and devoted woman whose name still inspires many of the faithful even unto this very day. She is St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as St. Therese Lisieux, a great religious and a great saint, Doctor of the Church for her many writings and contributions to the Faith, and she was made the Patroness of Christian missions throughout the world.

Who was St. Therese Lisieux? She was born from a family of devout Catholics, and Blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azelie Guerin were her parents, who themselves are now on the path to sainthood due to their own personal piety and great examples of faith. It was in such a pious environment that St. Therese Lisieux was raised up in faith, and she became a good daughter of the Lord, and naturally, she felt the call to serve God early in her life.

St. Therese Lisieux inherited the great piety and faith of her parents, both of whom wanted to serve the people of God and the Church in a greater way, by joining congregations and reaching out to the less fortunate, but they were barred and prevented from doing so by the numerous challenges and circumstances of that time. Instead, it was through St. Therese Lisieux that their wishes were fulfilled.

She was often sickly in her youth, and she had lost her mother at a young age because of cancer. But this did not dim her desire to serve the Lord in greater capacities, and after one of her older sisters decided to join religious life, she too wanted to do the same, but was prevented from doing so due to her very young age. Nevertheless, she continued to devote herself strongly to the Lord.

And she overcame her problems and challenges at one time in her life, when she became resolved to serve the Lord and join the religious life as one of the Carmelites. Eventually she managed to get her request to join the Carmelites early, and from then on, she devoted everything to the Lord and to His people. And throughout her life from then on, she became a great source of inspiration to many people, through her works and writings, through her prayers and devotions.

She discovered the ‘little way’ which would be famously attributed to her, as the way to reach out to the Lord. In this way, she focused on the frailty and how small human beings are as compared to the greatness of God, and therefore, rather than trying to reach up high and to stumble because we are unable to perform great things that we are unable to do, then she advocated us all to follow the way of simplicity and humility, of complete surrender to the will of God.

St. Therese Lisieux in her many contributions to the Church and to the faithful people of God had brought about much goodness and brought salvation closer to many countless people and souls. This example that she has showed all of us, we should take heed of, and then we should try our best to emulate her as best as we can, so that we too can take part in the effort to bring all people and all souls closer to God’s salvation.

And this is aptly recalled in the Gospel today, where the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples, who argued about who should be considered as the greater or the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus made it very clear that the path of the Lord is not that of pride and of hubris and boasting, but instead, those who lowered himself and kept his humility before the Lord would receive greatness in the presence of God.

This is exactly just as what St. Therese Lisieux proposed in her ‘little way’, that is, if we want to be greater servant of our Lord and receive greater blessing and grace from the Lord, then we should lower and humble ourselves, and not to become attached to worldly things and desires. The greater is our humility, the more we are able to realise what God wants to do with our lives, and the more we can recognise what we can contribute and do for the sake of the salvation of souls.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, by heeding the examples of St. Therese Lisieux, the Little Flower of Carmel, let us all devote ourselves ever more to the Lord our God, and let us all dedicate ourselves ever more to help all those around us who need our help, especially those who have lost their way and do not know the way to go to reach out to God and His salvation.

May Almighty God be with us always, and help us to be more like St. Therese Lisieux, in piety, devotion and deeds, so that in all the things we say and do, we may bring greater glory to God, and help mankind and more souls to attain the salvation of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 1 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Patroness of Missions (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 18 : 1-5

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you that, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in My Name receives Me.”

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Thursday, 1 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Patroness of Missions (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 131 : 1-3

Remember David, o Lord, and all his readiness, how he swore an oath to the Lord, to the Mighty One of Jacob.

I will not enter my house nor get into my bed.

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Thursday, 1 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Patroness of Missions (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 66 : 10-14

Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.

For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you.

At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish. For it shall be known that YHVH’s hand is with His servant, but His fury is upon His enemy.

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Sunday, 27 September 2015 : Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this holy day, we heard the readings from the Holy Scriptures about the importance of maintaining one’s purity and obedience to the Law of God, doing good and avoiding all sorts of wickedness and sin. And then it is also important that we help one another in the mission that God had given to us, that is to evangelise to the peoples of the nations, and bring to many the revelation of truth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is important that we heed what we heard in the first reading today from the Book of Numbers, where Moses chided Joshua fro protesting against two men who received the Holy Spirit of God even when they were not gathered among the other elders. And the way he spoke to Joshua made it clear to us that we should not see each other as rivals and enemies in our effort to spread the words of the Gospel to the nations.

Indeed, what the Lord is trying to warn us, as He once again repeated the same effort with His disciples, when they tried to stop someone else from healing and curing the sick, and casting out demons using the Name of Jesus, is that we should not give in to our own selfishness and the desire to preserve ourselves or to aggrandise ourselves over that of others, which is unfortunately our human nature.

It is in our tendency to fall into the trap of our own vanity and pride, thinking that we are better than others, and we have that tendency to defend our own actions and deeds, trying to explain the reason why what we have done were justifiable even though they were truly wrong and mistaken. And we all know that it is not easy for us to admit that we have been mistaken or made an error. No one would readily admit that he or she is wrong, before someone pointed it out to them plainly.

And how is it relevant to what we have heard in the Scripture readings today? That is because Joshua as well as the disciples of Jesus were affected by what we know as jealousy, by the desire to not be outshone by others, and therefore, they despised the fact that someone else got what they also desired, but did not get. This is the heart and the root of jealousy, when someone covets what another has, so that they may have it for themselves.

When Joshua saw the two men getting the glory and power of the Holy Spirit, deep down in his heart, he too desired such blessing and grace from God. Similarly, the disciples of Jesus also had in their hearts the desire for the power to heal the sick, and as they have it, they do not want anyone else to share in what they thought as their own prerogatives to give.

But Jesus reminded them, that all of these human frailties and human emotions were detrimental in their path to salvation, just as Moses chastised Joshua with words in similar meaning and purpose. That was why Jesus spoke about cutting one’s own hands if the hands had brought them to sin, and cutting off one’s eye out if these eyes had brought them to sin.

What Jesus meant is not that we literally have to do what He had mentioned. He did not mean that we should really literally cut off our hands and feet, or our eyes and our tongue, should any of these lead us into sin. He spoke figuratively, to show the people the true meaning which He tried to convey to them through parables. What He truly meant is that we have to really make the effort to carve out that part of ourselves which had hindered us on the path towards salvation.

And what are these parts that He was referring to? It is our ego, our pride, our desire, our selfishness, all those that had made us to be blind to our own faults, our own vulnerabilities, and to others’ needs and thoughts, and all these made us to look solely into ourselves, and trying to satisfy ourselves and our needs, becoming selfish and unloving in our actions and attitudes towards others.

It is all these that had brought about so much misery in the world through time and history. If we look back at history, then we certainly should realise how often it was that wars and conflicts were fought over the ambition and pride of men, when one or more people desire to have more of something, be it gold, wealth, land, praise, fame and many other worldly forms of pleasure and recognition.

We should realise how often it was too for oppression and injustice, for pain, suffering and sorrow to be born from the selfishness of men, where the rich and those who have more refused to share what they had and refused to help those who had little or none. And then, even greater misery were born out of the jealousy and the desire of those who have less to possess more, if need by force from those who have more.

This is the great obstacle that barred our path towards salvation in God. That is why Jesus said to His disciples, that unless we mankind die to ourselves and carry up our cross, then we would not have any part with Him, and we would not receive the everlasting grace of our Lord. It is important to take note that what Jesus meant was that we must first die to our pride, our ego, and our selfish desires, crush these and carve these out of our hearts and minds.

This was what Jesus meant when he said in the Gospel today when He said of cutting off the parts thar brought us to sin. What He meant is that we have to carve out those selfish things and thoughts from deep inside us, that the hindrance and obstacle to our salvation may be removed. Our limbs and our flesh did not bring us to sin, for all these are controlled by none other than our heart and our mind, the desires in them which lead us to either do good or to commit evil.

Yes, in fact, our limbs and body can be used for doing good things beneficial for others who are around us. If we cut them off hastily without understanding, then we would lose the potential that they have in bringing good things upon others. What we have to cut out is indeed instead all the dark things that lie inside our hearts, namely selfishness, pride and greed.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today shall we all reflect deep into ourselves and think of our own actions, words and deeds, all the things we have said and done in the past, remembering whether we have done what is right and just, helping others who are in need, helping and loving those who were unloved and lonely, or whether we have dwelled in our pride and arrogance, and in our reluctance to do anything for the benefit of others.

Let us all grow smaller and weaker in our pride and selfish attitudes, and grow more in our loving attitude and care upon one another. May the Lord help us and guide us on our way, so that we may know the way to seek Him is through humility and commitment to love, loving both the Lord and our brethren around us, and not to put ourselves above them.

Let us cast out our ego and pride, and with humility, let us approach the Lord, and love Him with all our might. Let us be charitable and loving in all our actions, helping especially those who are poor, sick and dying, those rejected by the society, that through us and our works, we may bring each other closer to God our Father. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 27 September 2015 : Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 9 : 38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.”

Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My Name can soon after speak evil of Me. For whoever is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear His Name, truly, I say to you, he will not go without reward.”

“If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck. If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand, than with two hands to go into hell, to the fire that never goes out.”

“And if your foot makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot, than with both feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you fall into sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, keeping both eyes, to be thrown into hell, where the worms that eat them never die, and the fire never goes out.”

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Sunday, 27 September 2015 : Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 5 : 1-6

So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes that are coming upon you. Your riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths. Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up riches in these the last days.

You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers’ complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world thus fattening yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance.

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Sunday, 27 September 2015 : Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 18 : 8, 10, 12-13, 14

The Law of the Lord is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of the Lord is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The fear of the Lord is pure, it endures forever; the judgments the Lord are true, all of them just and right.

They are a light to Your servant, in keeping them they win a great reward. But who can discern one’s own errors? Forgive the failings of which I am unaware.

Preserve me from wilful sin; do not let it get the better of Your servant. Then shall I walk blameless and innocent of serious sin.

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Sunday, 27 September 2015 : Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Numbers 11 : 25-29

YHVH came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He took some of the Spirit that was upon him and put it on the seventy elders. Now when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But this they did not do again.

Two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad, the name of the other Medad. However, the Spirit came on them for they were among those who were registered though they had not gone out to the Tent. As they prophesied inside the camp, a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

Joshua, the son of Nun, who ministered to Moses from his youth said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous on my behalf? Would that all YHVH’s people were prophets and that YHVH would send His Spirit upon them!”

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Saturday, 26 September 2015 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of two saints who were renowned servants of God and martyrs of the faith. They are St. Cosmas and St. Damian, both of whom lived during the time of great persecution of the Church under the Roman Emperors, where the faithful had to hide and they could not openly declare and practice their faith, or else they would face almost certain suffering and death at the hands of the authorities.

St. Cosmas and St. Damian themselves were told to be twin brothers who worked as physicians and doctors in the Asian region of the Roman Empire, in what is today Syria. They travelled around healing the sick and the wounded, those who were down with illness and troubles, and they did these free of charge, especially helping the poor and the downtrodden who had none to help them.

Eventually however, during the climate of persecution of Christians at the time, they went about their work under constant threat of danger. And they were arrested by the authorities after they were found out to be Christians. Under the pain of suffering, torture and death, they were forced to abandon their faith in the Lord, but they refused to do so, and therefore they were martyred in the defence of their faith.

This is related again to how Jesus spoke of the betrayal that men would hand Him, the betrayal that was very despicable and evil, because they have betrayed the very One who had given His all in order to help them to get out of the pit and trouble that they were in. The actions and life of St. Cosmas and St. Damian truly reflected what Christ Himself had encountered in His life, and the same too could be expected from us.

Just like St. Cosmas and St. Damian who went about the many cities, towns and villages as physicians and doctors, healing countless people who suffered from various diseases and illnesses free of charge, then our Lord Jesus also went about healing and curing people from their sickness, and more importantly, lifting up people who have fallen into the darkness, that is into the sickness of sin, into the new light He brought them.

Yes, Jesus Himself told the people, and all those who criticised Him such as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, that He came not to seek the righteous and the just, who have already been saved, but those who have fallen along the way and need help. These were the ones who truly needed the help of our Lord, and it was to them that He came. Of course He still at the same time, loves all those who have been saved as well.

And He also suffered rejection, ridicule, curses, and even the lashes and the wounds inflicted upon His flesh, before He was dragged to carry the burden of the cross and be crucified on the hill of Calvary. He suffered on that day and died, so that all of us who shared in His death by our baptism, may also share in His glorious resurrection through the same baptism in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is a reminder for us that all of us also need to carry our own crosses if we are faithful to the Lord. Difficult times will be upon us and there will be rejection and temptations to leave behind this difficult path, for a shortcut of pleasure and enjoyment of worldly goods and accepting the wicked ways of this world. But then, we truly should ask ourselves, whether we want to have our souls to fall deep into the sickness of sin.

Let us all reflect on all these, and inspire ourselves to walk in the path of St. Cosmas and St. Damian. Let us all not be afraid to help each other and to love one another with the same love that the two saints and our Lord Himself had shown, the true and genuine love that brings about a new hope and life in all those who had been afflicted by the sickness, and particularly the sickness of sin, the disease of our soul.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has laboured out of love for us, so that we may be healed and be restored to full grace and be forgiven from all of our sins. Now, shall we also do the same and help those whom we know as still living in darkness and are still lost and do not know the way to go for them to seek the Lord their God. Let us all help each other, and extend a helping hand, modelling after the examples of St. Cosmas and St. Damian.

May Almighty God be with us all always, and may He plant in us a heart filled with love and grace, that we may be found worthy of the life and the glory He had prepared for us all. God bless us all. Amen.