holy saints of God

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Saturday, 11 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of a renowned saint, that is of St. Benedict of Nursia, also known as St. Benedict the Abbot, the founder of the Benedictines religious order, one of the largest and earliest established religious orders in the world. He was one of the earliest pioneers of monasticism and religious life dedicated to God.

St. Benedict founded many communities of the religious and the faithful, but his life began as a Roman noble in the fifth century after the birth of our Lord, where he once had a great prospect in life, a quality education and a good company of friends and even those who professed their love for him. But, St. Benedict gradually saw how wicked the sins and actions which his companions had committed, and gradually withdrawing himself from worldliness, he found the true purpose of his life.

He sought true satisfaction in life by leading a life filled with prayer, sanctity and devotion to God. When the devil at one time tried to tempt him by filling his mind with the beautiful image of a woman he once loved in his youth, he resisted the temptation by purging it from the flesh by self-mortification, lying on a bed of thornbushes to remind himself of the sinfulness of such thoughts. By purifying his flesh, he gained the purification of his soul and being.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Scripture readings today, the first of which was taken from the last part of the Book of Genesis, talked about the passing of Jacob in Egypt, continuing from where we left off yesterday, and the begging of the sons of Israel, or Jacob, on their brother Joseph, whom they had once betrayed and sold to the slavemasters.

They feared his retribution for all the wrongs they had wrought on him in the past. But this is where they failed to see that whatever evil they had concocted and planned against Joseph, God had turned them into something good for the benefit of many people. The way of the Lord is truly far beyond our comprehension and understanding, and His ways is truly far beyond us and our ways.

What the Lord Jesus wanted to tell the disciples was in fact of the same nature as well. This is because He told them about not needing to worry about anything in life, as God who cares for His beloved ones would be with them and providing them with all the things that they need. And indeed, this was the case, and will always be for all of us who put our trust in Him.

Brethren, it is the fallibility of our human nature for us to have fear, worry and uncertainties inside each one of us. It is exactly because we do not have faith in the Lord, and because we put our hopes on worldly things and matters that we end up sinning before God and men, for we act in ways so as to preserve ourselves, our own prosperity, material goods, well-being, often at the expense of others around us.

The examples of St. Benedict and all that he had done should have inspired all of us. It does not mean that all of us ought to abandon everything and pursue religious life as he had done. Some of us indeed may follow in his footsteps, in the footsteps of the many holy priests and servants of God in giving their lives up for the service of the Lord and His people, but for the majority of us, what we need to do is to live faithfully and reject all of the temptations of the world, which Satan is offering us for the destruction of ourselves.

Can we indeed try to look away and detract ourselves from the temptations that is the worldliness all around us? Do not worry about these things, for truly what is more important is the salvation of our soul. There is no point for us to have a good life in this world, to have plenty of everything, and yet in the world that is to come, we have nothing, because in our striving for goodness in this world, we have brought suffering to others, we have not been obedient to God, and we have ended up sinning before His presence.

Let us all build for ourselves the richness and treasures of the world that is to come, by listening and obeying all that the Lord had shown us. May the examples of St. Benedict and that of other holy saints be inspiration for us, so that we may be forever true to our commitment to our Lord and God. May He bless us and keep us in His grace, and strengthen our faith in Him always. God be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 11 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 10 : 24-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.”

“There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

“For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. Do not be afraid : you are no less worthy than many sparrows!”

“Whoever acknowledges Me before others I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. Whoever rejects Me before others I will reject before My Father in heaven.”

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Saturday, 11 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, 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.

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.

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Saturday, 11 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 49 : 29-32 and Genesis 50 : 15-26a

Jacob then gave his children these instructions : “I am soon to be gathered to my people; bury me near my fathers, in the cave in the field of Ephron, the Hittite; in the cave in the field of Machpelah, to the east of Mamre in Canaan, the field that Abraham brought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. It was there that Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There they buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites.”

When Joseph’s brothers realised that their father was dead they said, “What if Joseph turned against us in hate because of the evil we did him?” So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Before he died your father told us to say this to you : Please forgive the crime and the sin of your brothers in doing evil to you. Forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.”

When he was given the message, Joseph wept. His brothers went and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph reassured them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? You intended to do me harm, but God intended to turn it to good in order to bring about what is happening today – the survival of many people. So have no fear! I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he touched their hearts and consoled them.

Joseph remained in Egypt together with all his father’s family. He lived for a hundred and ten years, long enough to see Ephraim’s great-grandchildren, and also to have the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, placed on his knees, after their birth.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am going to die, but God will surely remember you and take you from this country to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Joseph then made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God comes to bring you out from here, carry my bones with you.”

Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we heard about how Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth, and the people doubted Him and rejected Him, because they thought they knew who He was and where He came from, His background and family, that they refused to listen to Him. This defiance was indeed what the Lord had told His prophet Ezekiel in the first reading we has today.

The Lord sent many prophets and messengers to let the people know His will through many ages, when the people of God had walked astray from His path, and followed the ways of the world into their doom. God wanted to save them all and turn them all back to the faith, to salvation and liberation from all of the punishment that are due for their sins, but yet, in many cases, the people refused to believe.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because we mankind have been afflicted with what is called pride, and with what is called greed, desire, stubbornness, and many others. Because of all these, which we are all vulnerable from, we ended up acting like the people of Nazareth, who in their pride and refusal to acknowledge their sins, they have refused God’s salvation which He had freely offered through Jesus.

Many of us are by our nature selfish, and we like to think about ourselves first before that of others, and we like to judge others based on the standards that we set ourselves, including the standards of this world. It is in our nature to be judgmental and to criticise, and yet, while we are so concerned about others’ faults and shortcomings, we fail to see our own shortcomings and weaknesses.

Jesus rebuked all those who have acted as though they were so righteous and just, but in truth, they had no love in them. He rebuked all those who have been judging others for their little faults and yet failed to see the big flaws present in each one of them. This is the faith of the hypocrites, and the action of hypocrites do not gain much favour in the sight of God.

We ought to reflect on this, brothers and sisters, on the fact that we have also often walked in the same path as them. Look at the people of Nazareth, and why did Jesus say about them such things, such that the prophets are welcome except in their own home countries and towns? This is because of the same reason. We like to make assumptions and judgments to please our own purposes, and we are quick to get jealous when someone else have something that we do not have.

The people of Nazareth thought that it was preposterous to think of someone who apparently lived with them and walked among them for many years, the son of a mere humble carpenter could have been a great prophet and someone with such powers to heal and restore many peoples with illnesses and diseases. What do you think was it that happened inside of their hearts and minds?

Precisely, it was the devil who was at work, planting the seeds of distrust, jealousy and desire inside of them. He fanned the flames of jealousy in them, making them think that it was unfair for this mere carpenter’s Son to assume such power, and deep in their hearts, it was likely that they secretly desired the same power and authority as the one had by Jesus.

If we succumb to these wicked thoughts and behaviours, then this is where the root cause of all the sufferings and pains of this world came from. We live in a world where violence and struggle between members of families, friends, relations and peoples can happen because one covets what others possessed but not him or her. We should learn from the history of our race, to know from many occasions how mankind were willing to cause hurt to others just to satisfy their carnal desires, to possess more of this world’s goodness.

And it is our bad tendency and nature that we like to judge based on appearances. We always focus on how we appear before others, and we deem people worthy and suitable, even unto placing values on them based on how their appearances are. Unfortunately, this is reality and indeed, we often fail to realise what someone’s true worth is, as we focus on appearances but not what is inside the heart.

Does God look at appearances? No, such thing is superficial. What God sees is what lies inside each of our hearts and minds. And under His gaze, nothing even hidden deep inside men’s hearts and minds can escape His sight. What God values most is what is the contents of our hearts, whether they are filled with love, tenderness, care and concern for one another, and with love for Him, or whether they are filled with greed, desire, pride, arrogance and selfishness.

God created each one of us with our own strengths and weaknesses. No one is made perfect. Therefore, it is important for us to realise how we need to open up our eyes, and not just the physical eyes that we have to perceive the world and others as they appear around us, but even more importantly, we need to open up the eyes of our hearts, which allow us to see one another in a new light.

I assure you that if we do so, then we will be able to perceive the world around us in a different, and in a much better way. And we will then be able to see our true goal in life, that is to seek the Lord with all of our might and strength, and therefore carry out all of His will, which is for us to love each other, especially those who are least among us, the poor, the lonely, the downtrodden, the oppressed and many others who are not as fortunate as us.

Do we ignore the plight of these people when we look at them? Do we just focus on the appearances and externals, and fail to open our eyes, the eyes of our heart to see and understand the truth of what we can do to help them? Let us all reflect on what Jesus had told His disciples about what will happen at the last judgment of the living and the dead.

Jesus told them that those who have loved those who are least among them, helped them and gave them love, will be worthy of the kingdom of God, while those who have ignored those who need our love, will be rejected and cast out of God’s presence forever. Thus all of us ought to be aware that if we do not realise what we ought to do to vindicate our faith and devotion to God, then what awaits us will certainly be something that we do not desire.

Therefore, let us from now on learn how to live faithfully this life which we have received from God, and learn to open the eyes of our heart, to see the plight and suffering of others around us, that we may realise how earthly goods and possessions are not everything for us, and there is indeed a greater goal in our lives, namely to seek God our Lord, with all of our strength and might.

And let us all grow stronger in our humility before the Lord knowing that we are sinners who ought to be forgiven despite the sins and faults which we have committed, and for that forgiveness to take place, we ourselves too must die to ourselves, to our pride and desire, to all of our earthly desires and wants. Let us all remind one another to live righteously and justly in the presence of God, and making ourselves available to help others who are in need of help. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 1-6

At that time, leaving that place, Jesus returned to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and most of those who heard Him were astonished.

But they said, “How did this come to Him? What kind of wisdom has been given to Him, that He also performs such miracles? Who is He but the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and the Brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here among us?” So they took offense at Him.

And Jesus said to them, “Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives, and in their own family.” And He could work no miracles there, but only healed a few sick people, by laying His hands on them. Jesus Himself was astounded at their unbelief. Jesus then went around the villages, teaching.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 12 : 7-10

However, I better give up lest somebody think more of me than what is seen in me or heard from me. Lest I become proud after so many and extraordinary revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a true messenger of Satan, to slap me in the face. Three times I prayed to the Lord that it leave me, but He answered, “My grace is enough for you; My great strength is revealed in weakness.”

Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness that the strength of Christ may be mine. So I rejoice when I suffer infirmities, humiliations, want, persecutions : all for Christ! For when I am weak, then I am strong.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 122 : 1-2a, 2bcd, 3-4

To You I lift up my eyes, to You whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master.

As the eyes of maids look to the hand of their mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He shows us His mercy.

Have mercy on us, o Lord, have mercy on us, for we have our fill of contempt. Too long have our souls been filled with the scorn of the arrogant, with the ridicule of the insolent.

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezekiel 2 : 2-5

A Spirit came upon me as He spoke and kept me standing and then I heard Him speak, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have sinned against Me to this day.”

“Now I am sending you to these defiant and stubborn people to tell them, ‘this is the Lord YHVH’s word.’ So, whether they listen or not this set of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.”

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Isaac blessed his younger son Jacob with the blessing which was intended for Esau, the eldest son. And in the Gospel we heard how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who criticised the way that the disciples of Jesus followed, not fasting and following what the norm of traditions at the time dictated.

It may be difficult to see the link and connection between the two readings, but the truth is that the two are indeed very related, considering what Jesus told them about how new wine ought to be placed in new wineskins, and how old wine ought to be placed in old wineskins. This is related to the two sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, each of whom represent the old ways of the world, and the new ways of the Lord and His salvation.

The triumph of Jacob over his brother Esau showed the incompatibility of the old ways with the new ways, and that we must indeed make a choice between the two of them. This also means that if we call ourselves followers and disciples of the Lord, then all of us cannot do what is contrary to what is expected of us as the followers of the Lord.

If we call ourselves the disciples of the Lord, and then we commit things wicked and evil in the sight of God and men, then we discredit and trample on our own faith. In this manner, we are exactly like the old wine being placed into new wineskins. The incompatibility between the two will tear apart the whole wineskin and wine inside it will be spilt and wasted. In the same manner, therefore, if we believe in God and yet did not do as is expected from us, then it created a scandal for us.

We have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that in order to be true disciples of our Lord, then all of us have to show it not just by mere words or proclamations of faith, but instead, we must also show it through work and devotion, which will vindicate our faith, that it is indeed real and genuine. This is what we ought to do, and what we must stand up for.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we have to wake up to the realisation that we have to listen to what the Lord had taught us. He had taught us about love, for He is love Himself, and by showing that love for us, He taught us that we need to love Him and love one another in the same manner. Yet, we know that even among us the faithful, we see so much discord and divisions, infighting and conflict among us.

We should know that faith is meaningless and dead without action and commitment. True faith requires us to go forth and do what the Lord had commanded us to do, to be righteous in all of our dealings, to defend the truth which He had revealed to us, and to stand up for the Lord. Indeed, the world will be hard on us and it will oppose us with all of its might.

But remember, they have also rejected the Lord when He came into the world, and they refused to listen to Him, and persecuted Him and His servants and disciples. This is why we have to have courage in our faith, and do not fear, for God is always with us, and He will guide us on the path, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will receive the fullness of the richness of God’s grace and blessings.

On this day, we commemorate the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, who was the Queen of Portugal in the middle ages, who was renowned for her great faith and piety, and who after her husband’s death, she left everything behind and chose to devote the rest of her life in a prayerful retreat in a monastery. She continued to do great works of charity, even in her old age, helping those who were less fortunate, poor, weak and ostracised.

The examples of St. Elizabeth of Portugal reminds us that while we live in this world, filled with much vices and evil, it does not mean that we have to succumb to it and to follow the way of this world. We can choose to be righteous and just, as St. Elizabeth of Portugal and the other holy men and women of God had done throughout the ages. Let us all go forth and show God’s love to one another, a concrete show of our faith.

May Almighty God be with all of us, strengthen our faith and devotion to Him, and empower us to be even more devoted disciple of His cause. God bless us all. Amen.