holy saints of God

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Wednesday, 13 July 2016 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Isaiah 10 : 5-7, 13-16

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger, the staff of My fury! Against a godless nation I send him, against a people who provoke My wrath I dispatch him, to plunder and pillage, to tread them down like mud in the streets. But the mind of his king is far from this, his heart harbours other thoughts; what he wants is to destroy, to make an end of all nations.

For the king says : “By my own strength I have done this and by my own wisdom, for I am clever. I have moved the frontiers of peoples, I have plundered treasures, I have brought inhabitants down to the dust, I have toppled kings from their thrones. As one reaches into a nest, so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth. As one gathers deserted eggs, so have I gathered the riches of the earth. No one flapped a wing or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.”

Does the axe claim more credit than the man who wields it? Does the saw magnify itself more than the one who uses it? This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up; will those not made of wood, be controlled by the cudgel? Therefore the Lord, YHVH Sabaoth, is ready to send a wasting sickness upon the king’s sturdy warriors. Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn like a consuming fire.

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Monday, 11 July 2016 : 15th 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 great feast day of one of the most renowned holy saints of Christendom, one known for his great piety and discipline in faith, the one who made religious life to be such a devout and popular profession in his days. St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder and first Abbot of the Benedictine religious order had a great role in the history of the Church, in helping many to find their calling and vocations in God, and advance the cause of the Lord.

St. Benedict of Nursia was born five centuries after the birth of Christ at a time when Christianity has become the majority faith for the people in the then known world. The Christian faith has become the faith followed by the people from the lowest to the greatest in the society, and the Church was still growing rapidly and developing its structure and practices. However, it was very often that heresies and all other false teachings arose in the Church, and people were also often lukewarm about their faith.

They have become complacent about their faith, just as what we heard in the Scriptures today, in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, where God rebuked His people for their empty offerings and sacrifices which were not made in real and genuine faith and devotion for Him. The people had come to see those sacrifices as obligations and as merely a process, and they had no real love for the Lord.

And in the Gospel Jesus also rebuked the people who followed Him, all those thinking that His coming into the world would usher an era of eternal peace where there would be no more suffering or difficulties, where being a follower of the Lord would entail one to a life of complacency and enjoyment, and where no more work is needed. Being a Christian in fact means a life of challenges and difficulties, as the world of darkness from which we have been rescued from would not remain silent even as we approach the salvation in our God.

Jesus Himself warned that His coming would bring about conflict and struggle, even among the closest of friends, among the inner circles of the families themselves, where one member of the family, being a Christian might be pitted against the other members of the family and even be persecuted. There had been many examples in the history of our Faith and the Church, where the faithful had been torn between their families and the faith, their friends and the Lord. And those who chose the Lord often faced suffering and even martyrdom.

And thus, St. Benedict who founded several communities of the faithful who chose to devote themselves and their whole lives to God in a life of seclusion and prayer. St. Benedict was renowned for his famous Rule of St. Benedict, which became the foundation of the order which he helped to establish, as those communities which he had established eventually grew to become what we know as the Benedictine order.

The Rule of St. Benedict encompassed the rules put in place to ensure that the lives of those who chose to join the religious order of St. Benedict are filled with devotions and prayers, and filled with hard work to cultivate their faith in the Lord. They lived together and worked together in harmony, and in the challenges and the difficulties that they faced, they have nothing better and greater than God Himself Who stood by them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it does not mean that all of us should abandon our current lives and devote ourselves to become monks and religious like St. Benedict and his followers had done. Of course if there are some among us who had been called and chosen, and if they had chosen to follow the fullness of the examples of St. Benedict, then it is in fact a great thing, and we should give our support and encouragement to them.

But for the rest of us, each and every one of us have also been called to give our best effort to live as true and devout Christians, as those who do not just profess the faith on paper or with mere words alone, but also through hard work and dedication. Indeed, the path forward for us will be challenging, but at least then if we remain faithful to the end, then our way forward is clear, and God rewards all those who keep their faith in Him despite all the difficulties and the challenges faced.

Let us all therefore imitate the examples of St. Benedict of Nursia and his Benedictine followers, devoting ourselves in each of our own way, but most importantly be sincere in our faith and devotion, and commit ourselves wholly to God, not just with our mouth or gestures, but from the deepest depths inside our hearts and our minds. May God help us and strengthen us. Amen.

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Monday, 11 July 2016 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 10 : 34 – Matthew 11 : 1

At that time, Jesus spoke to the people and to His disciples, “Do not think that I have come to establish peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Each one will have as enemies those of one’s own family.”

“Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take up His cross and come after Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes Him Who sent Me. The one who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet; the one who welcomes a just man, because he is a just man, will receive the reward of a just man. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is My disciple, I assure you, he will not go unrewarded.”

When Jesus had finished giving His twelve disciples these instructions, He went on from there to teach and to proclaim His message in their towns.

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Monday, 11 July 2016 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Monday, 11 July 2016 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 1 : 10-17

Hear the warning of YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah.

“What do I care,” says YHVH “for your endless sacrifices? I am fed up with your burnt offerings, and the fat of your bulls. The blood of fatlings, and lambs and he-goats I abhor.”

“When you come before Me and trample on My courts, who asked you to visit Me? I am fed up with your oblations. I grow sick with your incense. Your New Moons, Sabbaths and meetings, evil with holy assemblies, I can no longer bear.”

“I hate your New Moons and appointed feasts, they burden Me. When you stretch out your hands I will close My eyes; the more you pray, the more I refuse to listen, for your hands are bloody. Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds.”

“Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good. Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.”

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the message of the Sacred Scriptures is very clear, as the messages in unison are reminders for all of us, not to put our trust or to worship the pagan gods and idols, which the people in the past had worshipped, the pagan gods and idols of wood, gold, silver, bronze and carven artefacts.

The first reading taken from the book of the prophet Hosea spoke about the lamentation and the anger which God had for His people, especially those in the northern kingdom of Israel who abandoned Him and instead followed the path of their neighbouring countries, those who worshipped the gods and idols of carved stones, gold and silver statues, the gods of the Canaanites, Baal, Asherah and many others.

Just as their ancestors had done at the time of their Exodus from Egypt, they were and can indeed be considered as fools for abandoning the sure certainty and the guarantee of their God for the comfort of the worldly falsehoods and for the beings crafted by mere human hands, of idols made from gold, silver, wood or other precious stones.

Since times and moments immemorial, mankind had worshipped objects of nature, both visible and invisible. They have worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars, and even elements such as fire, water and all the other creations of God. They were awed by their glorious appearances and how wonderful they were. But they did not realise or understand that all these things were mere creations, and not the Lord and Creator.

And all of us have the privilege to know the truth, that by what had been revealed to us, we know that we worship the Creator God, Who had created all those wonderful things, and yet we also know that those things were mere creations, and thus do not deserve our obeisance and worship. Those people put their trust in those things, and worse of all, they worshipped those creations of their own, the works of their own hands.

All that is because they were incapable of understanding the will and the intention of God. They were unable to comprehend the mysteries of God, and instead, they put emphasis on themselves, thinking that whatever greatness and glory they have received were due to them alone. And thus, many men who thought in accordance to the ways of the world would not be able to comprehend the will of God, just as what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law showed us.

The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were those supposedly chosen from among the people, educated and filled with wisdom and the teachings of the Law and the prophets, and as such, they were highly respected in the society. And yet, when they saw what Jesus had done, which was clearly the works of God made evident in the world of man, they refused to acknowledge it, and even made a grave lie and false accusation that Jesus had done His works with the power of demons.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? We do not have to look further than the tension that arose between them and Jesus our Lord. They were the powerful and the privileged ones in the society. Through their authority, they gained honour, respect and many other things through their influence, but Jesus, Who came to dispel all falsehoods and revealed the entirety of God’s truth to us, thus became a great threat to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Their ego and pride prevented them from opening their eyes, minds and hearts, to look beyond the veil of jealousy and human greed, in order to realise that indeed they were the ones who had been mistaken in their approach. They were too self-centred to be able to realise the love of God which has been poured for their sake. They thought that they were doing the right thing, while the fact is that they are just serving their own purposes.

Today’s Scripture readings serve as a reminder for us all, so that as we live our own lives today, we may keep ourselves free from those temptations, the temptations of power, the temptations of the flesh, and all the things that kept us away from truly being faithful to God. And we may think that in this current times, we no longer do what the ancients were doing, worshipping the idols of gold, silver, bronze or wood, but we are mistaken.

For there are always idols that keep us away from the Lord, no matter in what form it is. Do we not realise that many of us are so preoccupied by our work, by our income, wealth and possessions, which distracted us from following the Lord our God? Do we not realise that there are many modern day idols of materialism, of selfishness and of human pride that still stand on the path which we ought to take, as obstacles on our way to salvation?

Let us all reflect on this, and let us also see the example of St. Anthony Zaccaria, the faithful servant of God, whose feast day we are celebrating today. St. Anthony Zaccaria was an Italian priest, who lived a few hundred years ago, and he was well known for his piety and charitable acts, and became a great role model for many people, championing strong piety and devotion to God.

In particular, he made popular what is called the forty-hour devotion, the long period of solemn adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament, which is indeed the Lord Himself in the presence within the Eucharist. Through this devotion, which he championed and by his many other works and establishments of societies and religious groups dedicated to further the cause of the Lord, he had brought many souls from the precipice of darkness and back into the light.

Let us all therefore also follow in his footsteps, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us throw away all the idols of our life, those things that do not bring us closer to God and instead became barriers and obstacles on our path to Him. Let us not be distracted by ceaseless and endless pursuits of money, fame, wealth and human glory, but instead, put our trust in the Lord. Let us live our lives faithfully to God, and increase our devotion to the Lord, perhaps following the examples of St. Anthony Zaccaria through regular adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. May God help us all in all things. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 9 : 32-38

At that time, when the two blind men whom Jesus had healed just left, some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb, because he was possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees said, “He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and He cured every sickness and disease. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send workers to gather His harvest.”

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Psalm 113B : 3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10

There in heaven is our God; whatever He wishes, He does. Not so the hand-made idols, crafted in silver and gold.

They have mouths that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, noses that cannot smell.

They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. Their makers will be like them, so will all who trust in them.

O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is your help and your shield! You, family of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is your help and your shield!

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Hosea 8 : 4-7, 11-13

Without My approval they set up kings and without My blessing appointed leaders. With their silver and gold they fashioned idols to their own ruin. To Me, Samaria, your calf is loathsome and My anger blazes against you. How long will you remain defiled?

The calf is yours, Israel, a craftsman has made it; it is not God and will be broken into pieces. As they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. Like the erect ear of corn they will bear no grain and produce no flour, or if they do, foreigners will devour it.

Ephraim built many altars but his altars made him more guilty. I wrote out for him the numerous precepts of My Law, but they look on them as coming from foreigners. They offer sacrifices to Me because they are those who eat the meat, but YHVH does not accept their sacrifices for He is mindful of their sin and remembers their wickedness. They will return to Egypt.

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Sunday, 3 July 2016 : 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the sending of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Lord Himself entrusted the mission to evangelise and to preach the Good News of His salvation. To them the authority had been given to bring peace and the grace of God to mankind, to all the people who are willing to welcome the peace and grace of God.

In the first reading, taken from the last chapters of the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God promised His people with hope and salvation, at a time when many periods of turmoil and suffering had occurred to them for many generations because of their own infidelity and lack of faith in God, following the pagan gods and idols rather than following the Lord their God. The northern kingdom of Israel had also fallen, and most of its people had been brought to slavery and exile in Assyria.

In those darkened and uncertain times, God had promised His mercy and peace, the rest that they would enjoy from all those things that troubled them. But at the same time, as what we heard in the Gospel today, there was a need for those who would come up and bring the word of God to the people and the masses. And only a few of them would dare to come up and to preach to the people of God, the likes of Isaiah himself, and later on Jeremiah.

If we read through the entirety of the book of the prophet Isaiah and especially later on the prophet Jeremiah, we would see how they encountered challenges after challenges in their work, and they certainly did not have it easy most of the time. The kings like Ahaz of Judah rejected Isaiah, and the later kings also rejected Jeremiah. The people refused to listen to them, and false prophets would rise to challenge Jeremiah, spreading lies and untruths, and making Jeremiah’s life very difficult.

That was why Jesus when He spoke to His seventy-two disciples whom He sent ahead of Him, spoke of how He was sending them like sheep among the wolves. They would really be wandering among those who might refuse to listen to the word of God. Some would turn themselves to God, open their hearts and follow Him, but many others would not do so, reject their message and even persecute them.

But God was with them, and He encouraged them, saying that He would be with them, and so long as they remained faithful, their names had been written in heaven, and thus the promise of eternal life and everlasting glory was already theirs. Yet, there is always a lack of faithful servants of the Lord due to various reasons, but especially because of the lack of the ability to commit to a life of suffering and difficulties that would come as a result of our faith in the Lord.

That is why Jesus said that while the harvest was plentiful, but the labourers are few, and those few labourers would not be able to fully engage and capitalise on the rich harvest, and the excess harvest will just be wasted. And this fact cannot be further than the truth today. There is a need for many more labourers and servants of the Lord, those who are willing to give up their time and effort for the sake of the Lord and for His Church.

Today, we celebrate also the feast of one of the Twelve holy Apostles, that is of St. Thomas, the Twin, also known as the doubter and the one who has always been doubtful and lacking in faith in Jesus, and to that end, even doubting that Christ had risen from the dead in His glorious resurrection. He doubted Jesus when He was going forth to Jerusalem, saying that they were all going to die together with Him. And of course all of us are aware that he also asked for a proof that Jesus had risen.

In some ways, the actions and behaviours of St. Thomas represent that of our own actions. We ourselves have not been completely faithful to the Lord, and we have our moments of doubt. There are times I am sure, when we tend to believe more in ourselves and less in God. There are also times when we think that we know it all, and we do not need God. And it is in those moments of vulnerability, when Satan can enter our hearts and sow the seeds of confusion and discord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is also the reason why many of us do not embrace the calling of God. We as Christians have been called to be His servants and to follow His ways in all things, and yet, many of us still commit actions and things that are contrary to the way of the Lord, in being selfish, in being uncaring and unloving towards others, and sometimes even bringing other people into sin through our own actions.

If we ourselves are not capable of fulfilling what is required of us as Christians, then how should we expect that we will be able to convert the whole world to the cause of the Lord? And that is precisely the mission which God had entrusted to all of us, as the members of His Church, to go forth to all the nations and preach the Good News of His salvation, and baptise them all in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

We have to start with ourselves, and make a difference from ourselves. Otherwise we will not be able to inspire others if we ourselves have not been faithful to God and righteous in our ways. God Himself will not look kindly upon us if we do not walk faithfully in His ways, if we just call ourselves Christians and yet we act in ways that are totally un-Christian in nature.

There is that challenge for us all Christians, particularly those among us who have been called to serve the Lord. God calls His servants in unique and mysterious ways. He called them through their hearts, prodding them up to take up their crosses and follow Him. He had chosen those whom He deemed to be worthy, and now it is up to those whom God had chosen to choose whether they want to follow Him or not.

But the voice of God is often muffled and silenced by the noise of this world. We are too busy, too distracted by the concerns of the world, by the concerns of power, of wealth and possessions, of the ambitions and human greed, of prestige and many other factors which affect our ability to devote ourselves to God and to His people. And the opposition from the society, even from within our own families will be great too.

Are we all ready to stand up against the challenge? Are we all ready to embrace the roles into which we have been entrusted by God? Let us all embrace our calling, be doubtful no longer but from now on be filled with courage and strength to embark on the way of the Lord. And for those among us whom God has called in His own subtle ways, let us all not be afraid but be fully dedicated and be committed to serve the Lord, carry our crosses and follow Him. St . Thomas himself, who was doubtful, eventually made a turnaround and devoted himself for the Lord with all of his heart and faced death with pride, defending his Lord and Master while bringing many nations to God’s presence.

May God bless us all, and may He put in each and every one of us, a loving heart, fully filled with love for Him and for our fellow men, that in everything we say and do, we will always bring greater glory to the Lord, our God. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.