holy saints of God

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Wednesday, 7 August 2019 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures to remind us to keep our faith in Him strong, despite the challenges and difficulties we may encounter in life. In the Scripture passages we heard from both the Old Testament and the New Testament today we can see the contrast between what happened in the time of the Exodus and at the time of the Lord Jesus.

In the first reading today, we listened to the story of Caleb and his fellow men chosen to be those who would scout ahead of the whole nation of Israel to see the land promised to them and their ancestors, the land known as Canaan. They saw the whole land and saw the people who lived in them, and except for Caleb, the rest of the scouts came before the Israelites and made them to fear the Canaanites because they seemed to be so powerful and tough, and they made the whole nation to go against God and Moses.

And all these happened despite God having provided for them throughout the whole journey and guided them through the difficult moments, liberating them with great power from the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, and brought them out of the land of Egypt, providing for them and their needs along the way, giving them manna to eat and water to drink in the middle of the desert.

God has done so much for His people and yet, they refused to believe in Him and did not want to trust Him. They became fearful and refused to enter the land promised to them because they did not have strong and genuine faith in God. They thought rather in human and worldly terms, fearing that they were not powerful enough to overcome the many people living in Canaan at that time, some of whom were described as powerful and mighty, even like giants in appearance.

Then, we heard from our Gospel passage today, the irony of having one of the same Canaanite, or in another source, a Syro-Phoenician, which corresponded to the region of Canaan itself, who actually had such a strong and genuine faith in God, surpassing the faith of all those who have called themselves as the chosen people and the chosen race of God. And for this to come from a Canaanite and a woman was indeed special, to the point of being revolutionary and breaking prejudices held at that time.

The Canaanite woman begged the Lord to heal her daughter and cast out the demon that had been tormenting her. But the Lord’s response to her seemed to be not just cold and unfeeling, but in fact could be seen as rude and being condescending, if we do not understand the context and the purpose of why the Lord Jesus made such a reply to her. The Lord’s intention with such a remark was in fact to show all of His disciples the kind of prejudice that the people of Israel had against the Canaanites that kind of mirrored what they had exhibited all the way from the time of the Exodus.

The Israelites took great pride in the fact that they were a people chosen by God, and the remnants of that once great people by the time of Jesus, namely the Jewish people in Judea and Galilee often looked down and despised the foreigners living in and around them, from the Samaritans to the Syrians, Phoenicians and all other peoples whom they deemed to be outside of the exclusive group chosen by God.

It was in fact so bad that the Lord showed perfectly just how prejudiced and unbecoming their judgmental attitude against the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles. He used a comparison with dogs to refer to the non-Jewish people and how food from the table of the house should not be given to them, a reference to the blessings and the salvation found in God. But yet, the woman remained persistent and showed her genuine faith by humbling herself before the Lord.

It is an irony that the Canaanite woman had greater faith than the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, as the latter became fearful and panicked when they saw the people in the land promised to them by God and having seen all the wonders that God had done for them all those while. And those people thought that the Canaanites were godless and unworthy people when that Canaanite woman mentioned in the Gospel probably put all of them to shame in the matter of faith.

Today, all of us are called to follow the example of the faithful Canaanite woman who had faith in the Lord and devoted herself wholeheartedly to Him, despite of the rejection and refusal she seemed to be getting. She remained firm in her resolution to be faithful and to trust in God, unlike the Israelites who had wavered in their faith so easily just because of some challenges they were to face ahead of them.

On this day, perhaps we should also look upon the examples set by two saints whose feast we celebrate this day, namely that of Pope St. Sixtus II, a martyr of the early Church and also St. Cajetan, a holy priest and founder of the Theatines religious order. Their faith and dedication to the Lord through their lives should be inspirations for us to follow in how we should live out our own lives as well.

Pope St. Sixtus II was martyred together with several other martyrs during a harsh persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian in the early days of the Church, when many of the faithful suffered grievously just because they believed in God. And as their shepherd, Pope St. Sixtus II courageously stood by his faith in the Lord and committed himself totally to Him, that he did not budge from his faith even under the threat of suffering and death.

Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was a holy and dedicated priest, who followed the Lord’s call and ministered to the poor and the people who were less fortunate and troubled in the society, and co-founded the religious order later on known as the Theatines, with people who had similar calling and passion to help with the needs of those people who were often looked down by others in the community.

Now, having seen the faith present in all these people we have discussed about today, let us all be inspired by their examples and grow to have the same kind of faith in us, in our sincere and genuine belief and commitment towards God. Let us all put our trust in God and no longer doubt His providence and love from now on. May the Lord continue to guide us throughout this journey and may He continue to be with us and bless us all in our good many endeavours in life. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 August 2019 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 15 : 21-28

At that time, leaving that area, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So His disciples approached Him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.” Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.”

The woman replied, “That is true, Sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

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Wednesday, 7 August 2019 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Psalm 105 : 6-7a, 13-14, 21-22, 23

We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. When they were in Egypt, our ancestors had no regard for Your wondrous deeds.

But soon they forgot His works and did not wait for His counsel. They gave way to wanton craving and tempted God in the desert.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

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Wednesday, 7 August 2019 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Numbers 13 : 1-2, 25 – Numbers 14 : 1, 26-29, 34-35

YHVH then spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to explore the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites; send one man from each of the ancestral tribes, all of them leaders.”

After forty days of exploration, they returned. They went and met Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They gave an account to them and the whole community and showed them the fruit of this land.

And they said, “We entered the land where you sent us, truly a land flowing with milk and honey and here is the fruit. But how strong are the people who inhabit the land! The cities are fortified with walls and bars, and we even saw there descendants of the Anakites. Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; the Canaanites are by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

Caleb then quieted the people who rose up against Moses and said, “We should go up and take over the land, for we shall surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot advance against these people for they are stronger than we are.”

And they spread an unfavourable report about the land that they had explored, saying to the Israelites, “The land we went through to explore is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people we saw there are men of great size. We even saw giants (these giants were the Anakites). We felt like grasshoppers before them, and to them we must have seemed the same.”

Then all the community broke out in loud cries and wept during the night. Then YHVH spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, “How long will this wicked community grumble against Me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel against Me. Say to them : As truly as I live, it is YHVH Who speaks, I will do to you what you have said in My hearing.”

“All of you of twenty years and more, numbered in the census, who grumbled against Me, your corpses will fall in the desert. You will not enter the land where I swore to settle you, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh and Joshua, son of Nun. According to the number of days spent in exploring the land – forty days, for every day a year – for forty years you shall bear the guilt of your sins and you shall know what it is to oppose Me.”

“I, YHVH, have spoken. Surely this is what I will do to this wicked community that has conspired against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed and this is where they shall die.”

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Friday, 26 July 2019 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, namely St. Joachim and St. Anne, her father and her mother respectively. They were remembered as those who were faithful and committed to obey the Lord and His laws, which they passed on to their daughter, Mary, preparing her well for the crucial role she would end up taking as the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour.

The parents of our blessed mother Mary taught her to be obedient to the Lord, to be righteous and just in accordance to the Law which God has revealed to His people through Moses, as we ourselves have also heard in our first reading passage today, which related to us the important Ten Commandments that God revealed to Israel at Mount Sinai, as the core and basis of the laws which He has provided for them.

And in the Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable of the sower which we all should be familiar with, as spoken by the Lord Jesus to His disciples and all the people who were listening to His teachings. In that parable we heard how the sower of the seeds spread the seeds that fell onto different kinds of soils and conditions, and as a result the seeds grew differently and ended up in various conditions.

The Lord also explained how all those seeds that fell by the roadside and got eaten up by the birds, or those that fell on the rocky ground and perished, and those seeds that fell among brambles and thistles and were choked to death, were symbolic of those who have received the seeds of faith from God, and yet, failed to allow those seeds to grow and germinate in them, therefore, they bore no fruits in them.

This has to be understood in the context of how the Law of God, which God has given to His people at Mount Sinai through Moses, had been neglected and abandoned by the very same people who have received them firsthand from God, and even those who have witnessed God’s miraculous wonders and works in the first place. They did not allow God’s laws and words to take roots in them, and as such, they ended up being unfaithful.

They refused to believe because they allowed the many concerns of the world, the temptations of worldly desires and the pressures of sin cause them to fall and to get further and further away from the Lord. But what if the opposite happen then, brothers and sisters in Christ? That was exactly what happened with Mary, who not only prepared especially for the role she was to undertake as the Mother of God, but she was also brought up well in faith.

It was her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne who brought her up well in faith, instructing her in the ways of the world and to be a righteous, just and obedient person, as a servant of God. In the traditions of the Church, St. Joachim and St. Anne were truly loving and caring parents who brought up Our Lady well, showing to us what it truly means to be parents to our children, and especially as Christian parents.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, through the faith and good examples shown by St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of our Blessed Mother Mary, we are all called to reflect on our own Christian lives, especially in our own Christian families, in how we live our lives together in our respective families, in our roles either as a father, or as a mother, or as a child, or as a son-in-law or as daughter-in-law, or as any other members of the family.

Christian family is a very important part of the Church, as without good and faithful Christian families, the foundations of the Church will crumble and collapse, and countless souls would have been lost to sin and to the devil’s machinations. And the devil and his allies know this perfectly well, and thus, they constantly assault our Christian families and the institution of marriage itself, wanting to destroy the fabric of our Christian faith.

Let us all remember that our families must stay together in faith and look upon the good examples set by St. Joachim and St. Anne, in their faith and dedication and in how they raised Mary up well in the faith. Let us all follow in their examples and do what we can to live up to the same kind of faith as they have. Let us all model our own Christian families after the example of Mary’s loving family from now on, praying together and striving to be united together in faith.

May the Lord continue to bless us and our families, and may He bless all parents, that they may continue to remain faithful to their calling as parents, in the responsibilities they have to one another as husband and wife and to their children. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 26 July 2019 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 18-23

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the kingdom, but does not take it seriously, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.”

“The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word, and accepts it at once with joy. But such a person has no roots, and endures only for a while. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.”

“The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then, the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word; and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil, it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this seed bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”

Alternative reading

Matthew 13 : 16-17

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them; and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.”

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Friday, 26 July 2019 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 11

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

The precepts of YHVH are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of YHVH are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

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

They are more precious than gold – pure gold of a jeweller; they are much sweeter than honey which drops from the honeycomb.

Alternative Psalm

Psalm 131 : 11, 13-14, 17-18

YHVH swore to David a promise, and He will remain true to it : “I will keep your descendants on your throne.”

For YHVH has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling : “This is My resting place forever; this I prefer; here, will I dwell.”

From here, a Saviour shall come forth, a Son of David; here, shall shine forever, the lamp of My Anointed. In shame will I clothe His enemies, but upon His head a crown shall shine.

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Friday, 26 July 2019 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 20 : 1-17

God spoke all these words. He said, “I am YHVH your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Do not have other gods before Me. Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.”

“For I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God; for the sin of the fathers, when they rebel against Me, I punish the sons, the grandsons and the great-grandsons; but I show steadfast love until the thousandth generation for those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

“Do not take the Name of YHVH your God in vain for YHVH will not leave unpunished anyone who takes His Name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you will labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for YHVH your God.”

“Do not work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals, nor the stranger who is staying with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested; that is why YHVH has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

“Honour your father and your mother that you may have a long life in the land that YHVH has given you. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false witness against your neighbour. Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”

Alternative reading

Sirach 44 : 1, 10-15

Let us now glorify illustrious men, the ancestors of our people. But now consider the godly men whose good deeds have not been forgotten. Those who came after them benefitted from the rich legacy they left; their race remained faithful to the Covenant, their children followed their example.

Their family will endure forever and never will its glory be tarnished. Their bodies will be buried in peace but their memory lives through generations. People will speak of their wisdom and the assembly will celebrate their praise.

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Saturday, 13 July 2019 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God in the Scriptures speaking to us about living faithfully in God’s loving care and providence. God will never abandon those who are faithful to Him, and in fact, as we all should know, God will seek out even those who have fallen away from Him and left Him. If only we mankind realise just how great is the love which God has for each and every one of us.

In the first reading today first of all we heard of the last instruction which Jacob, the father of all Israelites told his twelve sons just before he passed away, and then followed by the worries that the brothers of Joseph had, when they saw that their father had passed away. They were worried that Joseph would take revenge on them for the terrible treatment he had suffered in the days of his youth, when they plotted and almost killed him and abandoned him to the slavers of Midian.

But Joseph reassured his brothers that it was far from him from desiring any form of revenge on his brothers, as it has been the will of God that everything happened as it had happened. Joseph was meant to go before his brothers to Egypt, to prepare the way for his entire family and to save all of them when the time of the great famine came. If it was not for Joseph suffering all those years, the whole family of Israel might have perished.

Of course, it had been tough for Joseph, but Joseph remained faithful throughout those turbulent and difficult years. He did not forget the Lord’s hands guiding him through the difficult times, and by the gift which God gave him in interpreting dreams, he managed to get himself out of slavery and prison, and even became the Regent and second most powerful man in Egypt after the Pharaoh himself.

That was what happened when someone kept his faith and trust in God rather than resorting to using one’s own ways and powers. God will not abandon us to destruction, and even though it may seem at times that we have a lot of trials and challenges ahead of us, with little hope and light in our path, but God will give His aid to us in His own mysterious ways, through mysterious venues and people we meet along our journey.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the same reassurance that Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown to His disciples as He told them that they were truly beloved by God and has nothing to fear from those forces of the world that can bring about our destruction. For nothing in this world can destroy us completely and totally, except for the judgment of God. God alone has the power to judge us and our eternal soul into damnation.

And God does not willingly cast us out into the eternal darkness, unless it has been by our own conscious choice that we reject God’s love and kindness, compassion and mercy willingly without regretting and being ashamed of our sins and wickedness. Yet, are we aware of this love which God has for each and every one of us, or have we been so busy and preoccupied with ourselves and our worldly desires that we fail to recognise this?

On this day, we celebrate the feast of St. Henry, who was the Holy Roman Emperor and therefore the greatest ruler of Christendom approximately one thousand years ago. He was remembered for his great holiness and leadership, in his commitment to serve both God and His people, in his countless efforts to improve and grow the Church of God in supporting the expansion of dioceses and in building of many Church infrastructure, as well as in his commitment and service to His people.

He devoted his whole reign and life to the good of the Church and the people entrusted to him, and for his great love for God and for the trust that he has shown in the Lord and His Church, St. Henry, holy servant of God and Holy Roman Emperor should be our inspiration in how we ought to live our own lives in this world as well. We should be inspired by his zeal and piety, his dedication to God and for his love to his fellow men.

Let us all therefore also put our trust in God from now on, turning to Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strength, living our lives with a renewed purpose, that is to love Him and to serve Him ever more faithfully from now on. May God bless us all and our good endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 July 2019 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Gospel Reading)

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

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 content to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the household has been called Beelzebul, how much more, those of his household! So, do not be afraid of them!”

“There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered. There is 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 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 worth more 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.”