holy saints

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Psalm 95 : 1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12a, 12b-13

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day.

Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds. Say among the nations, “He will judge the peoples with justice.”

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Isaiah 40 : 1-11

Be comforted, My people, be strengthened, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, proclaim to her that her time of bondage is at an end, that her guilt has been paid for, that from the hand of YHVH she has received double punishment for all her iniquity.

A voice cries, “In the wilderness prepare the way for YHVH. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up; every mountain and hill will be laid low. The stumbling blocks shall become level and the rugged places smooth. The glory of YHVH will be revealed, and all mortals together will see it; for the mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry.” And I say, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will forever stand.” Go up onto the high mountain, messenger of Good News to Zion, lift up your voice with strength, fear not to cry aloud when you tell Jerusalem and announce to the cities of Judah : Here is your God!

Here comes your God with might; His strong arm rules for Him; His reward is with Him, and here before Him is His booty. Like a shepherd He tends His flock : He gathers the lambs in His arms, He carries them in His bosom, gently leading those that are with young.

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Saturday, 2 April 2016 : Saturday within Easter Octave, Memorial of St. Francis of Paola, Hermit (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings are reminders for us all that we ought to go forth and preach the Good News of God to all the peoples, and not to be afraid or to be fearful of repercussion and the persecution by the world. The world may not like us and what we believe in, but remember, brethren, that they have not welcomed the Lord Jesus either, and neither had they welcomed the Apostles and the disciples of our Lord.

We are often not aware that being Christians does not mean just being passive and knowing that all of us have been saved. There are so many things that all of us can still do, and indeed, are expected to do. The Apostles certainly did not remain quiet and passive during the days and months after Jesus had risen from the dead and after He had ascended into heaven.

They healed the people from their sickness, performing many miracles in the Name of the Lord, and they most importantly, preached the truth and the salvation in Jesus Christ to the people, despite the staunch and fervent opposition from the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the chief priests and the elders, those who had been against the Lord Jesus once, and now also opposed the good works of God continued through His Apostles and disciples.

But even though they were persecuted and put to trial, mocked and cast out from the society, imprisoned and tortured, they continued to keep up their faith, and they resisted the attempts of those who were trying to persuade them otherwise, either through persuasion or through force. They stood up for the Lord, and for all those who deserve salvation from hearing the word of truth that they preach.

The problem lies in that many of us may think that their work has been completed, and seeing the state of our Church today, with its over a billion members, then surely everything is good, the Church is thriving, and there is nothing much that we need to do, as after all, we are no longer in those eras when the Church and the faithful ones were persecuted. But is this the case? Is it true that there is nothing that we need to do, or that we can do?

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we remember how the Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to spread forth the Good News of salvation to all the peoples all over the world, preaching to them and showing them the truth. But while this have been mostly done, and countless people have heard and been saved by believing in Jesus and His truth, but there are still so many others who are out of reach of the salvation in Christ.

And inside the Church itself, are we confident to say that all of us Christians are truly believing in God and obeying all of His laws and commandments? Do we even realise how many of us in the Church actually do not believe in all of the teachings of the Church, picking only what we want to believe, or like to believe and rejecting those which we do not like? That is not what a true Christian should be.

And how many of us are lukewarm about our faith? How many of us do not see the importance of doing what the Lord had taught us and shown us through His many teachings, and all the truth which He had spoken? This is important, brethren, as if we are not careful, the temptations of the world and even persecution to come, may just be strong enough and persuasive enough to pull us away from the path towards God’s salvation.

Let us all in this Easter season commit ourselves anew to God and to His ways, and in our words, our deeds and actions, in all the things that we do in our respective lives, in our interactions with one another, let us all devote ourselves, our time and effort to bring ourselves closer to God, and to help lead one another into the salvation found only in Christ our Lord. May God help us and bless us in our endeavours always. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 April 2016 : Saturday within Easter Octave, Memorial of St. Francis of Paola, Hermit (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 9-15

At that time, after Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary of Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven demons. She went and reported the news to His followers, who were now mourning and weeping. But when they heard that He lived, and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this He showed Himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. These men also went back and told the others, but they did not believe them. Later Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief, and stubbornness, in refusing to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Then He told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”

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Saturday, 2 April 2016 : Saturday within Easter Octave, Memorial of St. Francis of Paola, Hermit (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 117 : 1 and 14-15, 16ab-18, 19-21

Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His loving kindness endures forever. The Lord is my Strength and my Song; He has become my Salvation. Joyful shouts of victory are heard in the tents of the just : “The right hand of the Lord strikes mightily!”

“The right hand of the Lord is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily!” I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has stricken me severely, but He has saved me from death.

Open to me the gates of the Just, and let me enter to give thanks. “This is the Lord’s gate, through which the upright enter.” I thank You for having answered me, for having rescued me.

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Saturday, 2 April 2016 : Saturday within Easter Octave, Memorial of St. Francis of Paola, Hermit (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 4 : 13-21

The Jewish leaders, elders and teachers of the Law were astonished at the boldness of Peter and John, considering that they were uneducated and untrained men. They recognised also, that they had been with Jesus, but, as the man who had been cured stood beside them, they could make no reply.

So they ordered them to leave the council room while they consulted with one another. They asked, “What shall we do with these men? Everyone who lives in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign has been given through them, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in the Name of Jesus.”

So they called them back and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s eyes for us to obey you rather than God. We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Then the council threatened them once more and let them go. They could find no way of punishing them because of the people who glorified God for what had happened.

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Sunday, 11 October 2015 : Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of today’s Scripture readings is very, very clear to us, and in case any of us have not realised and understood what this message is, then let us all discuss them here together, that all of us may understand the importance of what we heard today from the Holy Scriptures, for the sake of the salvation of our souls.

From the first reading taken from the Book of Wisdom, we are exhorted to look for the true treasure that we can find in this life, that is not wealth or possessions, neither pleasures of life or joys of this world, neither in food or revelry, neither human praise nor in fame, but in the knowledge of the wisdom of God, and the understanding of the truth that can only be found in God.

In the psalm today, we heard the very last line, which said to us that we ought to know the shortness of our lives, and asking us to let ourselves be filled and be completely taken by the wisdom of God, which will fill us up with true grace and wonders, that cannot be offered or be given by the world, for the wonders of God’s wisdom and might is infinitely far better.

This is to let us all know that for all the greatness and the wonders that the world can offer us or boast to us, all these are mere fleeting and temporary, and nothing of these can offer us true and lasting joy. And that is what Jesus in the Gospel today is trying to let us all know as well. For the wealth of this world is perishable, just as much as our flesh and bodies are perishable.

What does this mean? This means that all the money, the properties, houses, cars, buildings and all forms of wealth both tangible and intangible are all perishable by the forces of nature and by the hands of men. Take for example, a natural disaster like fire or earthquake or many other manifestations of these disasters, can easily destroy all that we have gathered so hard for our own satisfaction and pleasure.

And if we think that if we store our possessions in banks and similar institutions, or convert them into something like bonds and stocks, thinking that they are safe, then we really ought to realise how wrong we are. Banks and other institutions, even the mightiest ones, have fallen low and be destroyed by their own greed, or by other reasons, and when they fall, they bring together with them all of those who have entrusted what they had invested in them.

Surely we have seen how throughout history there are those who placed their trust and hopes in the upsurge of stock prices only to be sorely disappointed and even crushed by collapse or meltdown in the financial markets. Countless millions had experienced sufferings because they lost their hard earned money thinking that they could earn even more money quickly through such methods.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Gospel today spoke about Jesus our Lord, who spoke to a man who said to Him that he had done everything that the Law of God, or more specifically, the law of Moses had asked him to do, the commandments, the rules and obediences that he had to perform in accordance to the Jewish customs and faith, but who did not feel satisfied in his heart, because he did not feel the true satisfaction, and thus he asked that question to Jesus.

And Jesus told him the fact, the hard truth, that in order to be truly faithful, obedient, and ultimately to find the true satisfaction, one must be ready to part with all that he has, and abandon everything and follow Him in His ways, walking together the path of Jesus towards eternal life and salvation. This is the fact that Jesus had spoken to the man, which unfortunately was too much for him to bear.

And Jesus did say that the more that one has, the more difficult it is for one to part with all the multitudes and myriads of things that they have. And this is indeed very true, because it is our human nature to be greedy and to be filled with desire, and this desire is for things that satisfy the lust and greed of our human flesh, of our mortal bodies, the desire for money, for praise and fame, for adulation and glory, for pleasures of the body and sexual gratification and many others.

The more we have all these, and the more we make it a norm and a habit for us to have these, to pursue these and to want to have these, then we have to realise that we will be drawn ever further away from God’s grace and salvation, for in exchange of all these worldly pleasures and goodness, that are illusory and temporary, we have sold our rights and inheritance of God’s everlasting kingdom, by committing sins that make us unworthy to receive His grace and blessings.

Yet, we have to understand also that God did not mean that we should take His words completely at the literal level and sell everything we have, destroying all of our possessions or disowning them, or breaking apart our families and relationships just because Jesus said so to the man and to His Apostles. Indeed, He said that no one who had left behind worldliness and attachments to this world that will not be rewarded richly in the presence of God, but what He truly meant is different than what we understand if we read it merely at the literal level.

What our Lord meant is that we must be willing to forgo and break our attachments to the things of this world, that are the temptations that Satan and his tempters are presenting to us daily in order to tempt us and pull as away fron ever reaching God’s salvation, but it does not mean that those worldly goods are inherently evil in themselves.

Money and possessions can be beneficial when they are used appropriately, and they can be used for good purposes, such as helping the needy and supporting one another, that everyone can have a good life without suffering. And relationships and family ties are indeed necessary, for the family is truly the heart of our Christian faith. It is one of the strong pillars that supported the Church, for without strong and good Christian families, I fear that countless souls will be lost to damnation.

What our Lord Jesus is condemning is our unhealthy attachment to those things of this world, that caused us to behave in a wicked manner, in acts of selfishness and disgrace that brought about suffering to others around us. This is evident in how many people refused to share or give even a little of what they have, in order to help alleviate the suffering of others around them, and instead, endeavoured to gain even more of what they already had, or even engaging in the exploitation of the weak and the poor for this purpose.

It is this attachment to the world, to all the worldliness and the refusal to let go of all these things that our Lord condemned from us. He chides us for our stubbornness and our constant and continued acts of selfishness that showed how far we have fallen into the trap of our own greed and desire, and the extent of which we have allowed ourselves to fall is indeed worrying.

Now, therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, the choice lie before us, on whether we choose the path of the world, enjoying the goods and riches, the wonders and the pleasures of life, seeking the easy path and succumbing to our own desires and wanting ever more good things in our lives, without realising that all we have are merely illusory and temporary, and there will be a time when all of these will be taken away from us and we are left with nothing, or we can choose to follow the path that is more difficult and uncertain in the beginning, or it may seem so to us, but in the end, will bear us the everlasting fruits of heaven.

Jesus told His disciples the parable about a rich man who had so much wealth and riches, that he boasted that he should bring down his barns and storage places to build even bigger ones to store more of his wealth. But the Lord rebuked him and said to him that he was truly a fool for believing that he had all such glory and good things, when the Lord Himself would claim him on that very night.

Thus, through this, we see again the futility of the path of greed and the path of wickedness. Instead, let us all from now on, devote ourselves anew to the Lord and commit ourselves to His ways. Let us all seek to renew our zeal and courage to stand up for our faith and resist the temptations of the devil and the allures of the world. And instead of selfishly keeping all things to ourselves, let us make use of what we have been blessed with, and share that blessing with one another.

May Almighty God awaken in each one of us a heart of renewed charity, that we may become ever more sensitive to the cries of the poor and to the needs of the poor and those who are less fortunate around us, not just in wealth, but also those whose hearts are still shrouded in the darkness of greed and wickedness. Let us help one another to reach out to the Lord, and through repentance find His mercy. May our Lord bring us all His beloved children, into His everlasting kingdom. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 October 2015 : Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 17-30

At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.”

The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.”

On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”

Peter spoke up and said, “We have given up everything to follow You.” Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward. I say to you : even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time, and in the world to come eternal life.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Mark 10 : 17-27

At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.”

The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.”

On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”

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Sunday, 11 October 2015 : Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 4 : 12-13

For the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the intention and thoughts of the heart.

All creation is transparent to Him; everything is uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we render account.

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Sunday, 11 October 2015 : Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Anniversary of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. Make joy endure as the misery did, and the years in which we were afflicted.

Let Your work be seen by Your servants and Your glorious power by their children. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.