Holy Sunday Mass

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Vigil Mass (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29

You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Vigil Mass (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal.

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.

As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we celebrate the fourth and the last Sunday of the season of Advent, the last one before Christmas, which happens to be just tomorrow. I hope that all of us have been using this precious season of Advent, which the Church had established as a time of preparation and recollection, in order to get ourselves ready for the worthy and meaningful Christmas joy.

On this Sunday we are focusing on the last of the four aspects of Advent, as part of our reflection on what Christmas is truly about. We have gone through the aspect of hope, peace and joy, and now finally we embrace the love that is coming with Christmas. Love is the most important of all aspects of Christmas, simply because Christmas is a celebration of true love, God’s love which He gave us through Jesus Christ.

We received this ultimate gift of God’s love, as we remember always the famous phrase from the Gospel of St. John, ‘God so loved the world, that He gave us His only Son, that all those who believe Him, will not perish but have eternal life’. This reminds us that our Christmas joy is caused by the love of God which was so great and was so generously given to us, that while we might have once been lost in the darkness, and without hope, now because of this, we have a new hope.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as mentioned in the first reading today about the story between king David of Israel and the prophet Nathan, God Himself has dwelled among His people, first in the House which the son and heir of king David, namely king Solomon, built in Jerusalem. But through Christmas, God made Himself present in the flesh, in the tangible body of Man, for Jesus Christ Our Lord, born into the world two millennia ago, was Son of God and Son of Man.

And this truth was revealed as the Good News which the Lord brought to His people, announcing the coming of His salvation and His everlasting love, which He has poured down on us in its fullness in Christ. He is the Love of God made Man, the Divine Word Incarnate, by Whom all of us have been created, out of love, and through Him also, God willed to save all of us mankind. And God did this in the most amazing of ways, not through might and miracles, but through the giving of Himself in love.

For it is this wonderful and amazing mystery of God’s love which He showed us by the incarnation of His Son, and dwelling in this world, that we celebrate this Christmas. The proof of His love is truly real and concrete, for as we should know, Christmas itself cannot be separated from what happens in Easter, and by that extension, what happens during the week of the Passion, suffering and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why, for us to be able to appreciate the meaning of Christmas and God’s love, we must spend time to reflect on what the Lord had done for us.

Let us look at the manger, which is always at the centre of the Christmas displays. The manger is the earthly throne of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Baby born of His mother Mary, not in a palace, not in a rich man’s house, but inside a dirty and cramped stable for animals, for sheep and horses, for goats and cows, but not fit for a man, less so for a King. And Jesus is not merely just any king, but the One True King, King of all kings and Master of the Universe. He is the Lord over all of us, over all the mightiest among mankind.

Yet, He willingly lowered Himself and emptied Himself, allowing Himself to assume the appearance and the nature of a man, one of His created beings, that through that act, He might fulfil the singular mission entrusted to Him by His Father. He was born with a single purpose, and that purpose was made clear in its due time, as the cross of Christ. He bore that cross willingly, putting upon Himself all of our faults, our disobedience, and all of our sins and wickedness.

He endured all of that to be our lamb of sacrifice, the perfect Lamb offered to God, the perfect Gift for us mankind. His Precious Body and Blood alone is worthy to redeem all of us from our sins and from all of our defilements, that kept us separated from God and His love. But in order to do that, He had to suffer greatly, tortured and scourged, and had to be pierced by nails and spears, and lifted up on the cross to die a most agonising death.

All of these are proofs of God’s ultimate love for each one of us. He Himself said that there is no greater love than for someone to die or to give his life for a friend. And that was exactly what He has done for each and every one of us. He has given us His life, and He gave it all for our sake. He is indeed Our God and Our King, and yet, amongst all the other kings and rulers of this world, none of them treat their servants in this manner.

Yes, God loves us so much, that as He Himself said, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends. He has loved us so much, that through the very significant act of Him assuming our form of Man, He has united us all to Himself, and make us all, more than just servants, but friends, and even more so, as we all know, through baptism, each and every one of us as Christians have been made to be God’s own sons and daughters.

He has given us this great and exceptional grace, again because of His love for us. And if He has given us such a great love, then should we not do the same? All of us are called to love, just as God has loved us first. First of all, of course we have to love the Lord Our God with all of our hearts, with all of our strength and capabilities. That is why we must focus ourselves on the Lord this Christmas, because Christmas is indeed about Him, all of the love which He has shown us, and through which He has made everything possible for us, to hope once again for eternal life.

But we are also called to love one another, in the same manner as God has loved us. After all, if He is Our Father, then all of us are brothers and sisters to one another, having the same Father in heaven. Then, how about if we practice that in our Christmas celebrations? When we discern about love in today’s Advent reflection, let us all look upon our own actions. Have we loved our brethren and showed concern and care for those who are in need?

Love is something that is easily said but difficult to be done. That is because love requires commitment and the giving of oneself. And true love should be selfless and life-giving, generous and compassionate. The best way for us to love, is to seek those around us, even within our own families and amongst our friends, and also among others we encounter in our respective lives, who have not been loved, those who have been ostracised, and those who are not as fortunate or blessed as we are.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to make our Christmas celebration a more meaningful one, let us all therefore strive that this Christmas, and from now onwards, we may go forth and show our love to our neighbours and brethren in need. Let us all show care and concern for those who are in need, no longer ignoring the pleas of the poor, the weak, the downtrodden, the unloved and those who are lonely. Let us show them the love of God, through our actions, that by doing so, we ourselves will draw closer to God’s love, and eventually will find our way to His eternal glory.

May the Lord bless each and every one of us, and may He also help us to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas, that is love, God’s love for us mankind. May He help us to share that love we have received with each other, that we may love our fellow men and women ever more generously that we may draw ever closer to Him, and eventually be worthy to receive His glorious inheritance. May we be ready to rejoice for Christ’s wondrous coming in Christmas day tomorrow. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 16 : 25-27

Glory be to God! He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus. Now is revealed the mysterious plan, kept hidden for long ages in the past.

By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. Glory to God, Who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29

I will sing forever, o YHVH, of Your love, and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

You said, “I have made a Covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My Covenant firm forever, and my love for Him will endure.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Samuel 7 : 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

When the king had settled in his palace and YHVH had rid him of all his surrounding enemies, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar but the Ark of God is housed in a tent.” Nathan replied, “Do as it seems fit to you for YHVH is with you.”

But that very night, YHVH’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell My servant David, this is what YHVH says : Are you able to build a house for Me to live in? I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great, as the name of the great ones on earth.”

“I will provide a place for My people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as before. From the time when I appointed judges over My people Israel it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. YHVH also tells you that He will build you a house.”

“When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you; and I will make his reign secure. I will be a Father to him and he shall be My son. Your house and your reign shall last forever before Me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”

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Sunday, 17 December 2017 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we enter into the third Sunday in the season of Advent, the time of preparation for the coming of Christmas. And we may have noticed something peculiar about today’s celebration of the Holy Mass, as we use a different liturgical colour, that is rose instead of purple or violet. That is because today we celebrate what is also known as Gaudete Sunday.

The word Gaudete comes from the first word in today’s Introit proper in Latin, ‘Gaudete’ which means ‘Joy’. In each of the four Sundays of Advent, we reflect on different aspects of our upcoming Christmas celebrations, from Peace, Hope, Joy and Love. And today we focus on the joyful aspect of our Christmas celebrations, and therefore the change in the liturgical colour signifies an allowance for a more vibrant celebration today as compared to the more solemn and penitential nature of the rest of the Advent season.

Yet, the first thing that we must ask ourselves today, is what is the joy of our Christmas celebrations. This may seem to be a silly question and many of us may be wondering why am I asking such a rhetorical and obvious question. However, do we realise that while many of us may know the answer to that question, ‘What is the joy of our Christmas celebrations?’, yet in our actions we are not doing what we think we know.

What am I talking about? I am talking about how many Christians know that Christmas is the joyous celebration remembering the historic and momentous event when Our Lord and God Himself, Who chose willingly to assume our humanity in Jesus Christ, His Son, was born into the world and God has entered into our midst, fulfilling His long promised salvation for us all who are faithful to Him. And yet, many of us do not celebrate Christmas for the right reasons.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we know just how aggressive the marketing campaign for Christmas can be. Almost everywhere in the world where Christmas is celebrated, there are plenty of festivities and celebrations, and increasingly, year after year, the celebrations become ever more elaborate, materialistic and the saddest of all, secularised.

What I mean is that, more and more people dissociate Christmas from the very One person after Whom Christmas was named, and the very One Whose birth is commemorated at Christmas, that is Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ. While there are still places where the Lord Jesus features prominently in the Christmas celebrations, how much less popular He is in many other places compared to other familiar Christmas figures we know of!

For example, we can be sure that in almost all Christmas celebrations we always have a Christmas tree, wonderfully decorated with lights and presents underneath the tree. Yet, how many of us know the reason why we make Christmas trees and decorate them as such to celebrate this momentous event?

The Christmas tree in fact represents Christ, as the evergreen tree used for the tree represents the life that Christ gives to the world. At most of the places where Christmas is celebrated, it occurs during the time of winter, when everything is covered with snow and temperature is so low that nothing can live except the evergreen trees that can withstand the harsh conditions. It is symbolic of Christ giving life into the world by His coming through Christmas.

How about the lights and all the decorations that are placed on the Christmas trees? How about the gifts we place under the tree and the star that usually crowns the top of the Christmas tree? They also represent Christ, Who is the light of the world. As the prophet Isaiah said in the reading used for the Christmas Midnight Mass, ‘a people who lived in darkness have seen a great light’, and this Light is Christ.

The gifts represent the gift of Christ, as we should remember in the Gospel of St. John chapter 3 verse 16, the famous phrase, ‘God so loved the world, that He gave us His Beloved Son, that through Him all may be saved’. This is the ultimate gift that God has given us, the gift of love, and not just any kind of love, but ‘ultimate love’, for Christ Himself said, ‘there is no greater love than for someone to lay down his life for a friend’ and He laid down His life for us.

And the star atop the Christmas tree represent the Star of Bethlehem, which the three Magi saw, and they travelled a great distance from their homeland to come to the Saviour and King that the Star’s presence announced to the world. This Star is a symbol of faith and hope, and faith because the Magi had faith in God and they used the Star as a guiding light and their destination, and hope amidst the darkness of the land. As from the ancient times until today, the light of stars, sun and moon have guided us mankind in our journey, and therefore, Christ is our Light, our Hope and our Destination.

Therefore, as you can see, pretty much everything about the Christmas tree itself is about Christ! And yet, many of us may not have realised this fact, or that we are focusing on the wrong things. Many of us want to please our guests and family members who come to our houses for the Christmas celebrations, and many shopping malls and cities, companies and others try to outdo each other in raising up the best, the best decorated, the most beautiful and even largest Christmas trees. Yet, if we think about it carefully, are they, and indeed we, missing the point and the true spirit of Christmas?

And we always see Santa Claus and his chariot, driven by the reindeers around. We all know the story of how Santa Claus supposedly lives in the North Pole and has many elves who run a gift factory preparing many gifts for children around the world. And we know how Santa goes around in his magical chariot on Christmas Eve, and goes down the chimney to put the gifts secretly in the middle of the night, and magically the gifts appear in the morning to happy children?

All of them are fairy tales and fables crafted to entertain children and to entertain worldly fantasies. Unfortunately, not many people know the true origin of Santa Claus. Many of them associate Santa Claus with an elderly man dressed in red and white, with long moustache and beards, bearing a large sack filled with gifts. But the real Santa Claus is a saint, and one who was famous for his love for children, and the tradition that he gave gifts to children most likely have ended up being twisted eventually into the modern Santa Claus we know.

But the real Santa Claus is St. Nicholas of Myra, whose feast day we just celebrated earlier this month, a loving and kind servant of God, and yet one who was also zealous and filled with genuine devotion to God, and as tradition has it, he did not even hesitate to punch a heretic in the face, when Arius the heretic espoused and spoke heresies assembled at the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after our long discourse today about Christmas and all of its paraphernalia, and all the true reasons and purposes for all the Christmas traditions we see around us, are we convinced that our true joy of Christmas should indeed be Christ? Christmas is joyful because we have nothing less than God Himself, Master and Lord of all the universe, Who has willingly lowered and emptied Himself to take up our human existence, united to His divinity in Jesus Christ, equally God and equally Man, that through Him, and His ultimate loving sacrifice on the cross, we may have life in us?

Let us all tarry no longer and be distracted no longer by all the materialistic and secular celebrations of Christmas, but instead let us all seek to rediscover this true joy of our Christmas celebrations, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us restore Him to His rightful place in all of our celebrations, that is at the very centre and focus of all of our Christmas joy and happiness.

And as the Lord Himself has shown us, the examples of His love, then each and every one of us as Christians must also be empowered in the Christmas spirit of giving. Rather than giving expensive gifts to one another and expect a return from those who can give us back what we have given them, how about we give to those who have no joy with them this Christmas because they are not even able to make ends meet? Let us be generous with our charity and giving this Christmas.

As we continue to approach the time of Christmas, let us strive to be ever more understanding of the true meaning and joy of Christmas, that despite all the distractions of this world, we will not forget the true focus of all of our celebrations on this momentous occasion. May all of us draw ever closer to the Lord, and may we all find our true joy of Christmas. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 December 2017 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

John 1 : 6-8, 19-28

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light.

This was the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John recognised the truth, and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”

And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”

And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness : Make straight the way of the Lord!” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; and they put a further question to John, “Then why are you baptising, if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

John answered, “I baptise you with water, but among you stands One Whom you do not know; although He comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”

This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

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Sunday, 17 December 2017 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

1 Thessalonians 5 : 16-24

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks to God at every moment. This is the will of God, your vocation as Christians. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the prophets’ warnings. Put everything to the test and hold fast to what is good. Avoid evil, wherever it may be.

May the God of peace make you holy and bring you to perfection. May you be completely blameless, in spirit, soul and body, till the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord; He Who called you is faithful and will do it.