holy saints of God

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Friday, 30 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 10 : 13-16

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! So many miracles have been worked in you! If the same miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would already be sitting in ashes and wearing the sackcloth of repentance.”

“Surely for Tyre and Sidon it will be better on the Day of Judgment than for you. And what of you, city of Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead. Whoever listens to you listens to Me, and whoever rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me, rejects the One Who sent Me.”

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Friday, 30 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 138 : 1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13, 14ab

O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

Where else could I go from Your Spirit? Where could I flee from Your presence? You are there if I ascend the heavens; You are there if I descend to the depths.

If I ride on the wings of the dawn and settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand shall guide me and Your right hand shall hold me safely.

It was You Who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You for Your marvellous deeds.

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Friday, 30 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Job 38 : 1, 12-21 and Job 40 : 3-5

Then YHVH answered Job out of the storm : “Have you ever commanded the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it, when it takes a clay colour and changes its tint like a garment; when the wicked are denied their own light, and their proud arm is shattered?”

“Have you journeyed to where the sea begins or walked in its deepest recesses? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of Shadow? Have you an idea of the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Where is the way to the home of light, and where does darkness dwell?”

“Can you take them to their own regions, and set them on their homeward paths? You know, for you were born before them, and great is the number of your years!”

Job said, “How can I reply, unworthy as I am! All I can do is put my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, now I will not answer; oh, yes, twice, but I will do no further.”

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Tuesday, 27 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we have listened to the words of God from the Holy Scriptures, when He spoke to us about the tale of Job the holy man of God, who was tormented and troubled by the acts of Satan who brought calamities and difficulties, one after another, crushing him under the cumulative sorrow and despair.

By nature, it is normal for someone to complain and grumble about that kind of state of life, as what Job had done, when in our first reading today he spoke of how he regretted having been born, and complained why he was allowed to live on and exist in the first place. But nowhere was it that he blasphemed or cursed God for His condition. He remained true and faithful to the Lord despite of his doubts and sufferings.

What we heard from the Gospel today will then show to us how God in fact does not desire our demise or destruction, but instead, He is willing to give us opportunities and chances, one after another, encouraging each and every one of us to repent and change our ways. In that Gospel passage, we saw how a Samaritan village refusing to welcome Jesus, and His disciples asked for His permission to destroy the people there with fires from heaven itself, but Jesus refused to do so.

What we heard from the Book of Job in the first reading today is just part of the overall story. If we read the entirety of the Book of Job from its beginning to the very end, and then understood the message behind what we heard in the Gospel today, we should realise that in the first place, God is a loving and caring God. He does not want us to suffer or to perish in the darkness, but instead, His intention has always been good for us.

He showed mercy and love for His beloved ones, caring for them and encouraging them to find their way back to Him, abandoning their sinfulness and leaving behind their past lives of sin. God Himself does not bring upon us our destruction, although He is perfectly capable of doing so. It is in fact we ourselves who brought upon our own beings, the destruction and harm which we inflict upon ourselves because of our sins.

Sin leads to death, and death brought about the separation between us and the Lord our God. And that is not the fate which God wants to happen to us. He has destined us all to live forever in joy and harmony with Him, that we who are His beloved ones may live in perfect harmony and joy together with Him in paradise. Rather, our disobedience and sins brought about that painful separation and the many sufferings we now endure.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all look at the example of St. Vincent de Paul, the renowned saint and holy man of God whose feast we celebrate today. Through his examples, we will be better able to understand how to live like people who belong to the Lord our God. He is a devoted priest of the Lord, serving the spiritual needs of the people, and at the same time, he also cared for their earthly well-being, caring and giving generously to them, that he was even known as the Great Apostle of Charity.

While we mankind tend to complain about our conditions and become bitter at our situation, St. Vincent showed us all that if we keep our faith in the Lord and remain firm in our ways, devoted to the Lord our God, then the way forward is opened for us. St. Vincent de Paul himself had suffered a lot during his life, enduring difficulties when he was abducted by pirates in his youth days, who sold him as a slave to be traded with from masters to masters, regarded as a mere commodity and not as a human being.

But he did not lose his resolve and his faith, and instead, through his faith and examples, even his last master would eventually come to his senses and repented from his sinful ways, and he came back to the faith after many years as a lapsed Christian. And St. Vincent de Paul was set free, and eventually devoted his life serving the Lord and His people as a priest.

He gave generously to the poor, encouraging others to do the same, caring for the needs of the poor farmers and workers who had little or none with them to sustain themselves. He founded several religious congregations dedicated to a life of service to God and to the Church, especially those sharing his charitable approach and examples. He helped many younger priests and many others to develop their calling to be good and devoted Christians, who know how to love others generously as he had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all devote ourselves to the Lord in the same manner as St. Vincent de Paul had done. When calamities, difficulties and troubles come our way, let us all learn to persist and to devote ourselves instead to help one another, as St. Vincent de Paul and the other holy saints of God had done, that those who have more may share with those who have less, and everyone may have enough for themselves.

May God bless us and help us in our endeavours. May He strengthen our faith and our dedication to the Lord, giving us all in order to love Him and in the same manner, loving and caring for our fellow brethren with genuine love. May the Lord be with us always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 27 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 9 : 51-56

At that time, as the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, He made up His mind to go to Jerusalem. He sent ahead of Him some messengers, who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for Him.

But the people would not receive Him, because He was on His way to Jerusalem. Seeing this, James and John, His disciples, said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to reduce them to ashes?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.

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Tuesday, 27 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 87 : 2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8

O Lord, my God, I call for help by day; before You I cry out by night. May my prayer come to You; incline Your ear to my cry for help.

My soul is deeply troubled; my life draws near to the grave. I am like those without strength. Counted among those going down into the pit.

I lie forsaken among the dead, like those You remember no more, cut off from Your care.

You have plunged me into the darkest depths of the pit. With Your wrath heavy upon me, You have battered me with all Your waves.

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Tuesday, 27 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Job 3 : 1-3, 11-17, 20-23

At length it was Job who spoke, cursing the day of his birth. This is what he said : “Cursed be the day I was born, and the night which whispered : A boy has been conceived. Why did I not die at birth, or come from the womb without breath? Why the knees that received me, why the breasts that suckled me?”

“For then I should have lain down asleep and been at rest with kings and rulers of the earth who built for themselves lonely tombs; or with princes who had gold to spare and houses stuffed with silver. Why was I not stillborn, like others who did not see the light of morn? There the trouble of the wicked ceases, there the weary find repose.”

“Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the embittered? To those who long for death more than for hidden treasure? They rejoice at the sight of their end, they are happy upon reaching the grave. Why give light to a man whose path has vanished, whose ways God blocks at every side?”

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Tuesday, 20 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest, and St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs, Martyr Saints of Korea (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of the Gospel and the Scriptures, urging us all to obey the Law and the commandments of God, as how He had given all these to us as the instruments and helpers for us all as we walk on this path towards salvation and eternal life. He has given all of them to us so that these may guide as we encounter challenges and difficulties on our way.

And yet, as we heard from the Book of Proverbs, our first reading of today, we saw how many people persisted in their wicked ways and refused to follow what the Lord had instructed and shown them. And that is because in their hearts, they do not have the Lord in their hearts. They were so full of themselves and their ego that they did not see how much God had done for them and blessed them in their lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians are expected to live in accordance with the ways of the Lord, devoting ourselves to God and all the things that He had taught us to do. And just as Jesus said, those who have done the will of God, He will consider as His brothers and sisters. Why is this so? That is because He Who is God has made Himself to be a Man like ourselves, so that all those who have obeyed the Lord as He had obeyed His Father may be like Him in all things, and be worthy to be considered as His brethren.

And perhaps, the best example for that obedience is our Lord Himself, Who have obeyed the will of the Father to the very end. He was willing to shoulder the burden of the cross, so that by bearing that cross, on which has been laid the burdens of our sins, we may be saved from certain death and destruction due to those sins. He is our Good Shepherd, Who truly loves us and cares for us, showing us the love and concern with which He guides us to the right path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we should also heed the examples of St. Laurent Imbert, St. Jacques Chastan, St. Andrew Kim Taegon and all the many other holy saints and martyrs, who have suffered and died defending the faith in the land of Korea. These saints were missionaries and local Christians who have endured difficulties, tribulations, oppressions and persecutions in their faith and in their belief in God.

At that time, the government of Korea was very hostile to the Christian faith, openly opposing the evangelisation of the faith in its territory, and were very staunch in their stance against the missionaries of the faith. And many of those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour were arrested, tortured, and forced to choose between great suffering and pain or to recant their faith and return to their old beliefs.

But amidst this very difficult and turbulent time, many brave and courageous members of the faithful, together with the missionaries stood up against the tide of persecution, and became living examples of how faith should be like in us Christians. They refused to abandon the Lord and their faith in Him, and even while knowing that such a stance would lead to great difficulties and persecution, they pressed on nonetheless.

And in particular St. Laurent Imbert, a French missionary appointed as the first Bishop of Korea, as the Vicar Apostolic there, was exemplary in his actions, which showed many the same example as Christ Himself had shown the world. At that time, as the persecution of the faithful and the Church intensified, the authorities were trying to destroy the Church by striking at its leadership. St. Laurent Imbert, the Bishop of Korea and his priests were then hiding from the authorities.

An offer went out from the authorities, that if the bishop and the leading priests were to surrender themselves, then they would spare the rest of the faithful from further persecution. While this was most likely a trap, and no guarantee could be ensured from trusting the words of the authorities, St. Laurent Imbert nonetheless decided to surrender himself, while encouraging his fellow priests to do the same.

In doing so, as was explained in his writings, St. Laurent Imbert had followed the example of the Lord, the Good Shepherd. Jesus said that the Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep, and there, St. Laurent Imbert laid down his life for the good and the benefit of the flock entrusted to him by God. He showed us all by action, true Christian love, devotion and commitment, both to God and to His people, his fellow men.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too should follow in the footsteps of St. Laurent Imbert, St. Jacques Chastan, St. Andrew Kim Taegon and all the saints and martyrs of Korea, all of whom bravely and courageously defended their faith even with their life. They have lived truly as Christians, and showed the meaning of commitment, faith, and true love for God and for their fellow men, by their unfailing faith and devotion.

Let us all imitate them in their examples, and be brave and courageous in our faith as well. Let us all not be intimidated by the challenges of this world, but instead put our full trust in the Lord, knowing that God will always be with all those who are faithful to Him, for He will always love us all, and will never abandon His beloved ones to the darkness. May God bless us all, always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest, and St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs, Martyr Saints of Korea (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 8 : 19-21

At that time, the mother of Jesus and His relatives came to Him, but they could not get to Him because of the crowd. Someone told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet You.”

Then Jesus answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

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Tuesday, 20 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest, and St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs, Martyr Saints of Korea (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 118 : 1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of the Lord.

Explain to me all Your ordinances, and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds.

I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart upon Your laws.

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your Law with all my heart.

Guide me in obeying Your instructions, for my pleasure lies in them.

May I always keep Your word forever and ever.