holy saints of God

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Friday, 22 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr, and St. Thomas More, Martyr (First Reading)

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

2 Kings 11 : 1-4, 9-18, 20

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son had died, she was determined to wipe out all the descendants of the king. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, her nephew, and brought him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and put him with his wet nurse in the bedroom.

Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that the boy was saved. And Joash remained hidden in the house of YHVH for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. In the seventh year, Jehoiada the chief priest, summoned the officers of the royal guard and of the Carites to the house of YHVH. After concluding a pact with them under oath, he showed them the king’s son.

The commanders of the guards did what Jehoiada the priest had told them to do; and they showed up with all their men, those who were to go off duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were to come on duty on that day. Jehoiada entrusted to the officers the spears and shields of king David which were in the house of YHVH. And then the guards stood from the southern corner of the house to the north, surrounding the altar and the house of YHVH.

Then Jehoiada, the priest, brought out the king’s son, crowned him and put the bracelets on him, then proclaimed and consecrated him king. All clapped their hands, shouting and crying out, “Long live the king!” When Athaliah heard the noise of the people, she approached the crowd surrounding the house of YHVH.

The king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters were with him. The people were filled with joy and they were blowing trumpets. On seeing this, Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason, treason!”

Jehoiada the priest commanded the officers, “Surround her and bring her out to the courtyard, and kill anyone who tries to defend her.” He gave this order, because he thought, “She should not die in the house of YHVH.” They brought her out, and when they reached the palace of the king, by the horses’ entrance, there, they killed her.

Jehoiada made a Covenant between YHVH and the king and the people so they would be the people of YHVH. All the citizens went to the temple of Baal and destroyed it. They broke the altars and the images into pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before his altar. Then Jehoiada, the priest, posted guards over the house of YHVH.

All the citizens were happy and the city was at peace. Now regarding Athaliah, she had died by the sword in the king’s palace.

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Wednesday, 13 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scripture reminding us to be faithful and to have courage in the midst of difficulties and challenges that we may have encountered as we lived our lives filled with faith in God. In the first reading today, we heard of how the prophet Elijah stood up against the king of Israel, Ahab, and his four hundred and fifty priests, all serving and worshipping Baal, the pagan god of Canaan.

At the Mount Carmel, Elijah stood alone against those multitudes of people arrayed against him and against God, as the people of Israel have followed their kings and rulers into error and into worship of pagan idols. Only a handful remained in their faith in God, including the prophet Elijah, whom God had sent to call the people back to Him, and to reconcile those who had wandered away from His path.

Yet, despite all the persecution he had faced, having to flee many times for his life, and despite all the difficulties and the odds stacked against him, the prophet Elijah continued his ministry with zeal, and in a sense, it culminated in that great showdown at Mount Carmel, where before the people of Israel and their king, God showed His majesty and truth before them, against their false gods and idols.

Even though there were four hundred and fifty of them, none of the prayers of the priests of Baal were heard. There was no fire provided to them, to burn their offerings on the altar, showing to the people how false and useless their pagan worship had been. On the contrary, although Elijah was alone, but God was with him. And despite having poured a lot of water on the offerings and the altar, fire came down from heaven, so powerful and intense that it consumes everything including the water and the stones.

From this, we can see just how God is always faithful to His Covenant with us, and He will never abandon those who have always walked in His presence. He will always be with those who are faithful to Him, even during difficult and challenging times. In the end, despite all the sufferings, persecutions and difficulties, God will always triumph against those who have made themselves to be His enemies.

That is why, He sent us His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the fulfilment of His long promised salvation to us, to be the One to fulfil the entirety of the Law He had given to us mankind. Unfortunately, as we heard in the Gospel passage today, and as we can see throughout the entirety of the Gospels, we see how the Lord Jesus was treated much in the same manner as how the prophet Elijah and the other prophets had been treated.

They had not been obedient to the true Law, and instead, twisted the Law to their own desires and to their advantage. They made use of the Law to serve their own selfish greed and pride, and as a result, they were no different from those priests of Baal who worshipped the devil and Baal, and not God, as they put their own selfish needs and desires ahead of their obligation to God, to the point that they opposed the Lord Jesus and made His works difficult.

But the Lord pointed out their errors and reemphasised how He came to fulfil the Law and complete what the Lord had promised His people, the salvation which He had vowed to give them. He still persevered regardless of the challenges He faced, just as the prophet Elijah had done. And today, another faithful servant of God is also remembered, that is St. Anthony of Padua, the renowned priest and Doctor of the Church.

St. Anthony of Padua was born into a wealthy and influential Portuguese family, but was attracted to the way of life of the consecrated religious orders, and eventually ordained to the priesthood and later on, joined the Franciscan order. He devoted his life to the service to God, and to a life of prayer and preaching the faith before the people. His sermons and preachings were so eloquent and inspired by the Holy Spirit, that many people came to hear him and were converted to the truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard the inspiring stories of faith from these faithful servants of God, and from the Lord Himself, in what they had done, let us all reevaluate our own lives, and seek to turn to the Lord with all of our hearts, and do our very best to be faithful to God in the same manner, by living our lives filled with love for God, as well as love for one another, even if we face challenges for who we are, as Christians, as God’s own people.

Let us all stand up together for our faith in God, and let us not let challenges and difficulties to hinder us or keep us away from loving God as we should. May the Lord be with us, and may He continue to watch over us, and bless all of our endeavours and good works of faith. Amen.

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Wednesday, 13 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 5 : 17-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to annul them but to fulfil them. I tell you this : as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change until all is fulfilled.”

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Wednesday, 13 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 15 : 1-2a, 4, 5 and 8, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to YHVH, “You are my Lord.”

Those who run after foreign gods only have their sorrows multiplied.

Let me not shed blood for them, nor their names be heard on my lips.

O YHVH, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot. I keep YHVH always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence, the fullness of joy, at Your right hand, happiness forever.

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Wednesday, 13 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Kings 18 : 20-39

So Ahab sent for all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah addressed the people and asked, “How long will you follow two ways at the same time? If YHVH is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God then follow him.” The people remained silent.

So Elijah continued, “I am the only prophet of YHVH left here to face Baal’s four hundred and fifty prophets. Get us two bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood; and I will do the same with the other bull. But we will not set it on fire. Then you shall call on the name of your gods while I shall call on the Name of YHVH. The God Who answers with fire is the true one.” Then the people answered, “That is right.”

Then Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many. Then call on the name of your god lest you are left without fire!” So they took the bull and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice; and no one answered them while they went on, dancing on one foot around the altar they had built.

By noontime, Elijah began to mock them, “Shout out louder. Baal is a busy god; or he may have gone out, or perhaps he has gone on a trip, or he is sleeping and must be wakened.” So they shouted louder gashing their skin with knives, as they are used to doing, until they bled. It was already past noon and they were still raving on, until the time of the evening offering. But still there was no voice. No one answered or gave a sign of life.

Then Elijah said to the people, “Draw closer to me,” and the people drew closer to him. He then repaired the altar of YHVH which had been thrown down. He took twelve stones corresponding to the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob whom YHVH had addressed saying, “Israel shall be your name.” With these stones, he built an altar to the Name of YHVH; and dug a trench around it that would contain about thirty litres.

He then arranged the firewood, cut the bull in pieces and laid them on the wood. Then, he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the firewood.” He said, “Do it again;” and they did it again; “one more time,” and they did it a third time. The water ran around the altar and filled the trench.

When the time of the evening offering came, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O YHVH, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel; and that I am Your servant, doing all these things at Your command. Answer me, o YHVH, answer me so that this people may know that You, o YHVH, are God; and that You are turning back their hearts to You.”

Then the fire of YHVH fell and consumed the burnt offering, together with the wood, the stones also, and the dust; the water also dried up in the trench. All the people witnessed this. Then they fell on their faces and said, “YHVH is God! YHVH is God!”

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Tuesday, 22 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Lord wants to remind us through the Sacred Scriptures, that the way for us to take if we want to be faithful and committed disciples of His, is for us to embrace humility, to be steeped in faith and love, and to be devoted wholeheartedly to God. We should not be tempted by the many temptations of power and worldly glory.

There are indeed numerous ways by which the devil is trying very hard, in order to bring about our downfall. One way is through the temptation of worldly riches, glory and power. In the first reading today, from the Epistle of St. James, we heard how we crave and desire for things, that even lead to us hurting one another, or even leading to murder and killing.

That is the extent in which we are ready to go, in order to satisfy what we want, to fulfil our desires and to please ourselves, our physical bodies in particular. We bicker without end and strive to gain more things and more pleasures for ourselves, as we cannot be satisfied easily, and our desires will only end up growing more and more, and our ego also end up getting more and more bloated.

And the more we are influenced by our desires, pride and ego, the more likely we will end up hurting and causing harm to others around us. The Lord Jesus rebuked His disciples for precisely this reason, as they were bickering and fighting among themselves for favour and influence in the Lord’s inner circle. They were fighting over who should be the greatest among His disciples, and hence, the greatest in the kingdom of God to come.

But they did not realise that all sorts of worldly power, grandeur, fame, greatness, influence and indulgences are nothing and meaningless in God’s sight. God does not seek or value all these fleeting things, which are merely temporary and which are perishable. None of those things will last forever, and we will not have them with us forever. Instead, the Lord called upon us all to follow His way, that is, to be like little children in our faith.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? The Lord Jesus alluded to the children and why we need to be like them in our faith, as those children, at that age, are still innocent, and they will believe with a pure heart, without the taint of ambition, ego, desire, pride and greed. Unlike many of us, we have been tempted with the temptations of power, of fame, of glory, of wealth and all sorts of things that distract us from our faith in God.

Thus, we are all called to resist the temptations of the world, and to believe in God wholeheartedly as a child would have. We should listen to the Lord and purge from ourselves, all sorts of pride and ambition, and all sorts of greed and desire, indulgement in which is unbecoming for us all as Christians. Instead, we are called to a holier life, based on active faith and devotion to God.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Rita of Cascia, a faithful and devout woman, and a dedicated religious, who have given her entire life to the service of the Lord in prayer. St. Rita of Cascia was a prayerful and dedicated woman and mother, who loved her family greatly, and having encountered tragedy in the family, as her husband was assassinated by a rival family, she remained resolute in her faith and commitment to her family.

Her sons wanted to have a revenge at those who have murdered their father. However, St. Rita of Cascia strongly dissuaded them from doing so, with words of love, care and compassion. And when they were at risk of committing sin because of their impulsiveness and desire for vengeance, she prayed to God, asking Him to take them away from this world, rather than to have them commit sin and then fall into hell. Her prayers were heard in the end.

After her family’s passing, she dedicated herself further to the Lord by joining a convent, as a religious woman dedicated to a life of prayer and service to God. St. Rita of Cascia showed such an exemplary life and faith, that she was eventually raised to the Altar as a saint after her passing, and she continued to inspire many generations of the faithful up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we should reflect on the examples that the faithful St. Rita of Cascia had shown us. Let us all then seek to live a good and devout Christian life, that we endeavour to gain for ourselves, not for the glories and the goodness of this world, that is wealth, fame, pleasures of the body, and all sorts of temptations we often encounter in life, but instead, know how to seek God, and place Him at the very centre of our lives. May the Lord be with us in this journey of faith. Amen.

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Tuesday, 22 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Mark 9 : 30-37

At that time, after leaving the place where He cast out evil spirit from a deaf and dumb 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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Tuesday, 22 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 54 : 7-8, 9-10a, 10b-11a, 23

I said, “If I had wings, like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest; I would seek a home in the desert.”

“I would hurry to find a cave, for shelter from the tempest.” O YHVH, shatter their plans.

In the city, I see strife and violence; day and night, they prowl about its walls.

Place your burden on YHVH, and He will sustain you; for He never allows the upright to fall.

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Tuesday, 22 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

James 4 : 1-10

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. You adulterers! Do you not know, that making friends with the world makes you enemies of God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.

Can you not see the point of the saying in the Scripture : “The longing of the Spirit, He sent to dwell in us, is a jealous longing?” But God has something better to give, and Scripture also says, “God opposes the proud but He gives His favour to the humble.” Give in, then, to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw close to God and He will come close to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubters. Recognise your distress, be miserable and weep. Turn your laughter into tears and your joy into sadness. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will raise you up.

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Thursday, 3 May 2018 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast day of two of Christ’s great Apostles, counted among the Twelve. St. Philip was the Apostle renowned for his great intellect and wisdom even prior to being called by the Lord, and he was the one credited in the Acts of the Apostles for the baptism of the Ethiopian official. Meanwhile, St. James the Apostle, the one known as St. James the Lesser or St. James son of Alpheus, was relatively little mentioned in the Scriptures, but was credited with many evangelisation work in various places.

In today’s first reading, St. Paul, another Apostle spoke a testimony of his faith in the Lord, telling the faithful in the city of Corinth about how the Apostles were the beginning and the foundation of the Church, as they witnessed the events surrounding the life of Jesus, His ministry, His marvellous works and miracles, His suffering and Passion, His crucifixion and death, and then, His glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven.

In the Gospel today, the Lord also spoke to His disciples and the Twelve Apostles, about Himself, and the truth about Himself, as the Messiah and the Son of God, the One promised to all of mankind by God ever since the beginning of time. But at that time, as St. Philip uttered to the Lord, “Show us the Father”, the disciples were still unable to comprehend all the things that the Lord had shown them, despite all the deeds and miracles He had done before them.

The Lord taught them and opened their eyes, and later on, after His resurrection, He sent them the Holy Spirit, Who descended on them and dwelled in them, giving them the strength and the courage to go on with their appointed mission, preaching the Good News of the Gospel to the people all over the world. They carried on God’s truth upon the people living in ignorance and darkness, and despite the challenges they faced, they remained strong and faithful.

But as we have seen, the Apostles were not strong people at the start, and neither were they very firm in their faith. They were once also ignorant, and many of them were called by the Lord from the most undesirable of origins, at least according to the standards of the time. Some of them were uneducated fishermen of the lake of Galilee, while others were murderers and rebels, and one was a tax collector.

Yet, it was not mankind who decided what one would become, as man often looked only at the superficial matters and not at the heart and the mind. But God looked inside the heart and the mind, and He saw in the Apostles, a heart with the capacity for faith, for hope and for love. It was all these qualities which eventually allowed them to be open to God working His power and wonders through them.

Now, all of us have to realise that each and every one of us as Christians must also walk in the same path as those Apostles had walked. They dedicated their whole lives to the Lord, caring for the needs of the Church and all the faithful. All of us are also called to this same mission, as the works of the Apostles are still ongoing and not yet completed. There are still more people out there who have not yet heard of the Word of God and the Good News of His salvation.

And how do we carry on our lives from now on then? It is not by going to the streets and preach openly about God. Rather, we must be thoroughly transformed in our lives, just as the Apostles had been, in all of our words, actions and deeds, so that, others may see us and believe in God through us. We are all called to be active disciples of the Lord, living out our faith through our daily actions.

Let us all draw ever closer to the Lord, and be ever more faithful, day after day, inspired by the courage and the faith of the Apostles. Let us all seek to love the Lord ever more devoutly, and find our way to bring greater glory of God through all we do in our lives. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.