holy saints of God

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Wednesday, 23 September 2015 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 9 : 1-6

At that time, Jesus called His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to drive out all evil spirits and to heal diseases. And He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He instructed them, “Do not take anything for the journey, neither walking stick, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver coins; and do not even take a spare tunic.”

“Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. And wherever they do not welcome you, leave the town and shake the dust from your feet : it will be as a testimony against them.”

So they set out and went through the villages, proclaiming the Good News and healing people everywhere.

Alternative reading

Luke 8 : 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather he puts it on a lampstand, so that people coming in may see the light.”

“In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

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Wednesday, 23 September 2015 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Tobit 13 : 2, 3-4a, 4bcd, 5, 8

It is He who punishes and He who has mercy; who makes people go down to hell and rise up again. No one can escape His hand.

Give Him thanks, people of Israel, before all the nations. Though He has dispersed you among them, He now shows you His greatness.

Exalt Him before all the living, because He is our God and Lord, our Father forever.

He punishes us for our wrongdoing but again He will forgive us. He will bring us together again from amongst all the nations among whom we have been dispersed.

I, in the land of my captivity, will return Him thanks and show His strength and greatness to my sinful people. Be converted, you sinners, and live justly before Him, certain that He will be pleased with you and show you mercy.

Alternative reading

Psalm 126 : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

When the Lord brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream.

Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy. Among the nations it was said, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o Lord, like fresh streams in the desert.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Wednesday, 23 September 2015 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezra 9 : 5-9

I remained seated and dismayed until the evening sacrifice; and then, at the time for the evening offering, I rose from my fasting, and with my clothes and mantle torn, I knelt down, spreading out my hands to YHVH, my God.

I said, “My God! I am ashamed and confused, my God, I do not dare raise my eyes to You for our sins have increased over our heads and our crimes reach up to the heavens.”

“From the days of our ancestors to this day, our guilt has been great. We, our kings and priests have been given into the hands of foreign kings because of our crimes; we have been delivered to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and put to shame as on this day.”

“However, for a brief moment, the mercy of YHVH, our God, has been shown to us. He made a remnant of our people survive, and allowed the survivor to settle once again in His Holy Place; He has given us joy and life, though we are in bondage. We are no more than slaves, but in the midst of our slavery, God has not abandoned us, He has extended a merciful hand over us to support us before the kings of Persia. He has revived our life, enabled us to rebuild the House of our God, and to have walls in Jerusalem and in the other cities of Judah.”

Alternative reading

Ezra 1 : 1-6

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, YHVH willed to fulfil the word He had said through the prophet Jeremiah, so He moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom, “Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia : YHVH, the God of heavens, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah.”

“To everyone belonging to His people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and there build the House of YHVH, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. In every place where the rest of the people of YHVH live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the House of YHVH which is in Jerusalem.”

Then they rose up – the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up – and they decided to go and build the House of YHVH. And all their neighbours gave them all kinds of help : gold, silver, livestock and precious objects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

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Sunday, 20 September 2015 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture the difficulties and challenges that we all will encounter on our way as we live out our lives in faith in the Lord. It is important for us to take note that to have faith in the Lord, it is likely for us to encounter challenges, opposition, ridicule, rejection and bad treatment, even from those whom we considered to be good friends and relatives.

It will not be an easy life for us if we decide to walk the Lord’s path and follow Him to His salvation. Those who think that becoming the disciples of the Lord Jesus is easy will find that they are mistaken. This is because to become a member of God’s Church, as His disciples and children, it is necessary for us to make sacrifices and to let go of certain things that prevent us from achieving what God seeks from us to be saved

And this is the attitude of rejecting oneself, one’s own ego, needs, desires and all the temptations of the flesh, the temptation of worldly glory and fame, and the temptation to be ignorant and exclusive towards the sufferings of the world around us, our brethren who need our help. If we are able to accomplish all these, then we are indeed one step closer to be good and devoted disciples of our Lord.

God Himself mentioned through the parable of the dishonest and wicked steward, who cheated his master of his possessions, and when he was discovered and fired from his position, he used his power to safeguard himself, by using his trickery to cheat out of his master’s debts owned by several people, where he gained favour by reducing those debts and so, while he lost his job, he hoped that those whom he had helped would help him in return.

That is the way of the world, the way of the wicked, the way of those who serve themselves and are servants of money and possessions, and not servants and followers of the Lord. This is what the Lord mentioned, when He said that those who follow one master will not be able to obey another master, for either he will despise one and love the other, or vice versa.

In that way therefore, to reinforce what I have mentioned earlier on, that all those who want to follow the Lord faithfully shall suffer and face numerous and various challenges and obstacles on their way, that is their lives. There are many differences between the way and customs of this world as compared to the ways taught to us by our Lord, that is faith, righteousness, justice and love. The world on the other hand, prioritises selfish desires, money and pleasures of the flesh.

It is not necessary that the two ways should clash with each other, but what is to be expected is that it is inevitable that conflicts between the two will arise in time, as we will be made to choose between our Lord and His ways, and with the world and its ways. There will be moment when the difficult choice will be presented to us, or it might even have happened to us in the past, when we have no choice but to choose between appeasing the world and displeasing the Lord, or appeasing the Lord but displeasing the world.

Do not be surprised that one day people will scold us, rebuke us, reject us and ostracise us because we decide to do what is right for the Lord but considered wrong in the eyes and perception of the world. For example, if we have been aware of the state of the world so far, we would already know how far the culture of death is spreading throughout the world and into all echelons of society. And it is worrying indeed how our faith and the Church are under increasing pressure to give up our struggle and fight in the defence of the faith.

For instance, many people around the world, and even regretfully even counting among those who are in the Church, who believe that committing something as heinous and unthinkable as abortion and euthanasia, and many other actions that trample on the sanctity and dignity of life is not wrong or considered morally acceptable to do so. And there are many of those who pushed and lobbied for the acceptance of such sinful things, and claim that they are representing and defending our human rights to be able to do as we please with our bodies and with ourselves.

But they did not realise that such abominations are wicked and evil in the sight of not only men, but in the sight of God as well. Life is sacred and holy, no matter under what circumstances it is. Instead of honouring and protecting life in all the means they are able to contribute, we mankind instead strive to destroy them, whenever we think of them as obstacles to our own selfish desires and wants.

Indeed, the pressure is great for many of us to accept and acknowledge the legality of such vileness, but as those who truly believe in the Lord, if we really are faithful to the Lord, then all of us should persist in our resistance against such injustice and wickedness committed against innocent lives. Let us all not ignore or shy away or be afraid from standing up for our faith, as it is better for us to suffer and be rejected, and yet receive God’s approval and salvation, rather than to be accepted by the world but we lose the grace and favour of our Lord.

Let us all then reflect on the lives of the holy saints and martyrs whose feast we are celebrating today, the martyr saints of Korea. There were many of them, and all of them had had different lives and came from different periods of time spanning about two centuries, but they all share one thing in common, that is they gave their lives up in the defence of their faith, or that they were martyred and killed on the frontline of their works as the servants of the Lord and His Church.

Today there are many Christians, our brethren in faith in Korea, and the numbers are continuing to increase rapidly over the years. But if we look at the current situation, in comparison with how it was in the past and what it meant to evangelise to the people of Korea about the Lord Jesus, then we certainly will find it difficult to understand the kind of challenges and sufferings these faithful servants of the Lord and the faithful encountered there.

St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon was the first indigenous Korean who was ordained a priest of the Church, and he and many of his other Korean brethren who have believed in the Lord encountered great persecutions by the government of Korea at the time, which was intensely against the Faith and persecuted these people whom they considered as traitors to their nation.

And counted among these martyrs were also the missionaries from different countries, but many came from France as part of the missionaries to Asia. Among them were St. Laurent Imbert, the Vicar Apostolic of Korea, one of the first bishops of Korea, and St. Jacques Chastan with many other priests and missionaries who braved rejection, cultural and linguistic barriers, and even the threat and real risk of death to bring the Lord Jesus and His truth to the people who have yet to hear of Him.

And they did their works faithfully, carrying out all the missions which had been entrusted to them without worry or fear. And when many of the faithful were under the threat of death and suffering, and the government was offering an exchange, allowing the faithful to live and to go unpunished if the missionaries and the leaders gave themselves up, St. Laurent Imbert as the bishop of the faithful gave himself up willingly, saying in his now famous words, which he took from the words of Jesus, that ‘the good shepherd lay down his life for his sheep.’

He and the other missionaries could have continued to hide themselves or to run away and abandon their mission, and in the process saving their lives, but they did not do so, because they know that if they try to preserve themselves and to put themselves first before the needs of others, as the world advocated them to do, then they would not preserve their lives in the world that is to come.

Remember that Jesus Himself said that those who tried to preserve their lives on earth would lose them, and those who lost their lives for God’s sake, in the defence of their faith would gain eternal life? This is precisely what it meant, and all of us ought to heed it as well and learn our lesson from what we have talked about on this day, or else we risk falling into sin and darkness yet again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have to realise that suffering is a part of our faith, and rather than fearing it or running away from it, why not we embrace it with full faith and full trust in the Lord, that He will be with us through it all? Running away from the problem does not resolve it, and indeed made the matter even worse. Instead, we really should face it with faith and trust in the Lord, and make a solid stand for our faith and for what we truly believe in.

May Almighty God bless us all and keep us always in His grace, and may we all learn to put our trust in Him and know that He will be with us as long as we are faithful to Him, and He will not let harm that lasts to come to us. Let us all realise that at the end of the difficulties and the sufferings we are to endure as the followers of our God are our crosses that we carry together with us, that in the end, just as our Lord is risen in glory, we too may rise with Him together into the glory of eternal life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 20 September 2015 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 9 : 30-37

At that time, after leaving the place where He drove out demons from a young boy, Jesus and His disciples made their way through Galilee; but He did not want people to know where He was because He was teaching His disciples.

And He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, but three days after He has been killed, He will rise.” The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask Him what He meant.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they did not answer, because they had been arguing about who was the greatest. Then He sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, “If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.”

Then He took a little child, placed him in their midst, and putting His arms around him He said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but the One who sent Me.”

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Sunday, 20 September 2015 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 3 : 16 – James 4 : 3

Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find discord and all that is evil. Instead, the wisdom that comes from above is pure and peace-loving. Persons with this wisdom show understanding and listen to advice; they are full of compassion and good works; they are impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow peace reap a harvest of justice.

What causes these fights and quarrels among you? Is it not your cravings that make war within your own selves? When you long for something you cannot have, you kill for it and when you do not get what you desire, you squabble and fight. The fact is, you do not have what you want because you do not pray for it.

You pray for something and you do not get it because you pray with the wrong motive of indulging your pleasures.

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Sunday, 20 September 2015 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 53 : 3-4, 5, 6 and 8

By Your Name, o God, save me; You, the Valiant, uphold my cause. Hear my prayer, o God; listen to the words of my mouth.

Strangers are against me – the ruthless seek my life; they have no regard for God.

See, God is my Helper; the Lord upholds my life. Freely will I offer sacrifice to You and praise Your Name, o Lord, for it is good.

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Sunday, 20 September 2015 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Wisdom 2 : 12a, 17-20

Let us set a trap for the righteous, for He annoys us and opposes our way of life. Let us see the truth of what He says and find out what His end will be. If the Righteous is a Son of God, God will defend Him and deliver Him from His adversaries.

Let us humble and torture Him to prove His self-control and test His patience. When we have condemned Him to a shameful death, we may test His words.

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Saturday, 19 September 2015 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (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 together the feast of a famous saint and martyr, St. Januarius, also commonly known today as San Gennaro in his native region of Naples in southern Italy, where he was Bishop during the time of the Roman Empire in the early days of the Church. St. Januarius was renowned especially for the miraculous appearance of his blood, which is his most precious relic housed in today’s Cathedral of Naples, which liquefy every year during his feast day, that is today and on other special occasions.

St. Januarius was a bishop of the Church supervising the area around Naples today in Italy, who died during the intense persecution of the faithful and the Church by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, in one of the most severe and terrible oppression against the Christians at that time. Many countless thousands, tens of thousands and even more of the faithful suffered grievously for refusing to betray their faith to the Lord.

But St. Januarius did not fear the persecution and opposition of the world. To him remaining faithful to the Lord was far more precious and worthy than to succumb to the demands and wishes of the world and to save one’s life. For him, he rather remained faithful and true to God and suffer, and he did his best to help the flock of the faithful which had been entrusted to him as their shepherd and guide.

He hid many Christians and helped them to get away from their pursuers and prosecutors. He did so even though doing that would mean risking his own life to help many others to escape from suffering and death. His actions represented true and genuine Christian love which many of us would do well to follow and emulate in our own lives. He eventually was arrested and tortured, put to great suffering and eventually dying for the sake of the Lord and His faithful.

The examples, the courage and the good works of St. Januarius continue to inspire many people throughout the ages, even until this very day. Many aspired to be like him in their faith and in their dedication and commitment to the Lord. St. Januarius showed us how to be a good follower and disciple of the Lord, that is not just through words and proclamation of faith, but also through deeds and actions anchored upon God’s love.

In today’s Scripture readings, we heard about the faith that Christ our Lord had shown and which He had testified before all the peoples, even before all those who had betrayed Him and considered Him their enemies. And in this, Jesus showed us how His great love and faith has brought upon so many good fruits that benefit all of us. This is related to the parable of the sower, which our Lord Himself revealed to His disciples to teach them about the faith and what we ought to do about it.

The seeds represent the word of God, the faith that had been given to us, planted in each one of us as a soil for the growth of that faith. But, as we heard in the parable, there were many different outcomes for the seeds that were sown. Some of the seeds fell on the roadside, and immediately many birds of the air picked them up. These represent the faithful who received the faith, and yet they did not internalise them, and therefore, when Satan came to tempt them, they easily fell into temptation and sinned.

Then, there were those seeds that fell on the rocky ground, where the seeds failed to grow roots and die, and also those seeds that fell on the ground and grew, but they grew with the weeds and thistles that choked the life out of them, and those seeds eventually died too. These represent those whose faith have not found great roots in their hearts, and the concerns and worries of this world, the temptations of wealth, possessions, fame and worldly glory overcome the faith they had, and they fell into sin and darkness once again.

Only those seeds that fell onto the rich and fertile soil that ended up growing healthily and generously, until they bore so many fruits, and produced many, many more times than what had been planted before. This is because, when the words of the Lord landed on the rich soil of someone’s faithful heart, it blossomed and went out with a great force, and we know how even a small ripple of water can trigger many other ripples of water, as a small action of love, by one who is faithful can result in so many people that can be touched and saved.

Such was indeed what St. Januarius had done. By his courage and bravery to stand up for his faith, and by his dedication to his flock of the faithful, through his martyrdom, even though he died for his faith, but through his examples and life, he inspired countless others to be righteous and just in their own way, abandoning sin and living righteously according to the will of God.

The saying is indeed true, that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. With the inspiration from the undying and strong faith of the martyrs of the faith, many were inspired to take up their own crosses and followed the Lord to their salvation. We too should walk in their footsteps and follow them on the path towards God and His salvation for us. May Almighty God be with us always, and may by the intercession of St. Januarius and his fellow saints and martyrs, all of us may be brought closer to God and to His grace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 September 2015 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

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

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 received 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.”