Holy Sunday Mass

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the great occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord, or the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, in which we remember and rejoice in one of the most important tenets and indeed the very core of our faith in the Lord. It is our belief that the Lord has given us His very own Body and His very own Blood for us all His faithful ones, as real food and real drink in the Eucharist.

This is what all of us believe, all of us who believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, that the bread and wine which we use in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has been thoroughly and completely transformed, or as the term says it: transubstantiation, into the very essence, and real material of the Body, the Flesh, and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, presence really in His Body, Soul and Divinity.

This is what we, who adhere to the true Christian faith, as well as our brethren in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches believe in, as separated and distinguished from those who had fallen into the heresy and falsehood of believing that the Lord’s sacrifice in the Mass is merely a symbolic gesture or a remembrance without real meaning and without the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

That is why, all of us believe that the Holy Mass is the highest form of worship, far greater and higher than all of our other participations in the acts of divine worship, for it is in the Holy Mass, more appropriately the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that the priests or the bishops, having been given the same authority by the Lord through His Apostles, acting in persona Christi, united with Christ Himself, offer the same offering of His Body and Blood, as the one He offered as He laid dying on the cross on Good Friday.

What we receive, and what we eat, is no longer a bread, or a chalice of wine, as even though we see the bread and the wine in appearance and in taste, but that is how our human senses perceive them as such. That is because in reality, transcending all senses and realities, the bread we receive and eat, and the wine we drink in some special occasions, have been completely transformed to the full Presence of our Lord, as Jesus Himself had mentioned in the Gospel today.

At that time, Jesus spoke the truth to the people of Israel and to His disciples, that He came into the world, bearing the true and living Bread of heaven. It was not the same with the bread from heaven which came at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, when the Lord fed His people with manna in the desert for forty years. He gave them food in the form of manna to sustain them, but that food, even if they are the bread of Angels, gave no real and complete sustenance unlike the One which Jesus our Lord gave them and all of us.

Jesus Himself said plainly and clearly, that He is the Living Bread Who came from heaven, and all those who do not eat His Body or drink His Blood, has no share of life in Him. And at the Last Supper, at the time when Jesus our Lord according to the tradition of our faith, instituted the Holy Eucharist, which we now celebrate during every celebration of the Holy Mass, also said the same thing, that as He blessed and passed around the bread He broke, He said that the bread is His Body. And He said the same with the chalice of wine, which He said that the wine is His Blood.

Did the Lord say that the bread is merely a ‘symbol’ or ‘representation’ of His Body? Did He say that the wine is merely an ‘image’ or ‘illusion’ of His Blood? No, He did not, brothers and sisters in Christ, and He really meant what He had said. That is why all of us in the Church believe that He is really, truly and completely present, in Body, Soul and Divinity, the wholeness of God in the bread and in the wine in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Indeed, there are those who refused to believe in this truth, but remember, brethren, that the very same response can be seen in the Gospel passage today, as we heard how many of the followers of Jesus left Him because of what He had said about the giving of His Body and Blood to them. The very same doubt that we encounter today has been expressed by the people at that time, ‘How can He give us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink?’.

Those people refused to listen to the truth because it seemed to be unimaginable and disgusting to them that someone had said something of the sort. In fact, the same falsehood was spread by those who would try to bring down the Church in its early years, as misinformations, be it deliberate or unintentional led the Roman authorities to believe that Christians were a group of dangerous sect, not just because they refused to worship the pagan gods and the Emperor, but they were also a cult of cannibals who eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Jesus.

Yet, that is what we believe, and indeed, while doubt will arise, as even the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord were dismayed and doubtful at what He had said, by saying, ‘Lord, this truth is hard to be accepted, who can believe and accept such truth?’, but we must not be swayed by doubt, and we must truly redouble our faith and devotion to the Lord, Who is truly and really present in the Eucharist. It is really the hard truth, and which we have to accept fully, as Jesus our Lord really did not mince His words when He said it.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why it is important that I bring you to attention to the reality in our Church today. Unlike in the past, when all the faithful ought to receive the Eucharist worthily and properly, when they are not in a state of sin and disgrace, and by kneeling and showing proper respect before Him in the Eucharist, and by receiving Him in the tongue only and not on the hands, nowadays, with the rampant abuse of the option to allow the faithful to receive Him on the hands, and the lack of proper catechism, we end up seeing many of the faithful not treating the Lord with respect, and go through receiving the Eucharist as if going through some regular motion without real meaning and understanding.

Brethren, this is a great scandal of our faith! This is what we need to stop from continuing to happen. We must really restore what is right and proper in this centre tenet of our faith. We can no longer be careless in our adoration and belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Every single particle of the bread of the host, and every single drop of the wine in the chalice, even to the smallest particle, is the Real Presence of Our Lord Himself, present fully in Body, Soul and Divinity.

But nowadays, we treat the Lord in the Eucharist and queueing to receive Him as if we are queueing for free food in a fast food joint, and we do not even receive Him with proper respect while doing so. We want to go through it as quickly as possible, and even get angry when the queue is getting very slow. We are impatient because it ends up making the Holy Mass to get longer, and we cannot wait to return to our daily activities outside the Mass.

That is simply unacceptable, brothers and sisters in Christ, and in reality, it scandalises our faith, in that, there had been a few people, who refused to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, who commented that they did refuse to believe because they had seen that even us, Catholics, did not seem to believe in this through our actions and the way we come to Him and receive Him at the celebration of the Holy Mass.

How can we expect others to believe in the Lord Who is really present in the Eucharist, if we ourselves treat Him with disdain and lack of respect? How can we expect others to believe in the Real Presence when we do not bow down, kneel and feel unworthy to receive the Lord in the Eucharist, when we approach Him, and when we receive Him improperly while we are still in a state of grievous sin without confession?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today, as we commemorate this great Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us all rediscover our understanding and respect for the Lord Who has given us His own Body and Blood, and for what is that? It is for our salvation, that by eating His Body and Blood, we may share in the life He has brought upon us, by His sacrifice on the cross, and become united to Him in body and soul, and one day may come to share in His divinity, in the glory of His majesty forevermore.

Let us all start from ourselves, by striving to participate more actively and solemnly in the celebration of the Holy Mass, and by properly revering Him in the Eucharist, preferably by receiving Him only on the tongue and not on the hands, so that no particle of the Lord’s Body end up falling to the ground and get trampled on our feet. And also by properly preparing ourselves before receiving Him, knowing that we have sinned through our life’s actions, and how unworthy we are to receive Him, Who has come to us in Body, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.

Let us all do this, starting from ourselves, and thus by showing our own examples to others, we may create the great ripple effect, leading many, many more people, from our families, to our relatives, to our friends, throughout our communities and societies, that eventually, the whole Church, priests and laity alike, will return to the true reverence and faith in the Lord Jesus, in His Real Presence in the Eucharist, and reject all forms of abuse that had happened in the recent years and decades.

May the Lord, Who is present in the Eucharist, continue to sustain us through the giving of His Body and Blood, that we, who receive Him worthily into our being, may be strengthened by His Presence, and may all of us grow ever more faithful and ever more devoted, that we, the Temple of His Holy Presence, will be deemed worthy of eternal glory with Him forever. May the Lord bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 6 : 51-58

Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “I am the Living Bread from heaven; whoever eats of this Bread will live forever. The Bread I shall give is My Flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”

The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

“My Flesh is really food, and My Blood is truly drink. Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, live in Me, and I in them. Just as the Father, Who is Life, sent Me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will have life from Me. This is the Bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this Bread will live forever.”

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
1 Corinthians 10 : 16-17

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the Body of Christ?

The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Deuteronomy 8 : 2-3, 14b-16a

Remember how YHVH, your God, brought you through the desert for forty years. He humbled you, to test you and know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He made you experience want, He made you experience hunger, but He gave you manna to eat which neither you nor your fathers had known, to show you that one does not live on bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the mouth of God.

Do not forget YHVH, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery. It is He Who has led you across this great and terrible desert, full of fiery serpents and scorpions, an arid land where there is no water. But for you He made water gush forth from the hardest rock. And He fed you in the desert with manna which your fathers did not know.

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Sunday, 11 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we celebrate the great occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, one of the centrepiece of our faith, and yet one which is also often misunderstood by many people, both by those who are outside the Church, and even among Christians like us. How many of us truly know what is the Holy Trinity and how important it is for us Christians?

Imagine, brothers and sisters in Christ, if someone is to come to us and ask us, questions such as what kind of God do we believe in, or what is the Holy Trinity which Christians believe in, are we able to give them an accurate and reliable answer based on our knowledge of the Holy Trinity? It is often that, we realise that not only that in many occasions, Christians are taken aback by such questions, as we often take for granted what we believe in, and we do not take the effort needed to understand better what is the mystery and truth of our God.

What if someone is to ask us why we believe in three Gods or three separate divine Beings, or if someone else indeed accuse us of being false to our supposedly monotheistic faith because we believe in three Gods? It is truly a reality that there are quite a few people who do not truly understand our Christian faith, who thought that we worship three distinct Gods, in the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and therefore, we do not believe in the One and only God, Creator and Master of all the universe.

But all of them were born out of misinformation, misunderstanding and the lack of true knowledge of what our Christian faith is. We have received the fullness of truth, and therefore, the ultimate truth of God, and the One Who had revealed it was none other than God Himself, through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus Himself had made known to His disciples on more than one occasion, that only He alone knows the truth about God, for no one who did not come from the Lord would know the truth. Because Jesus Himself is God, certainly He has the full knowledge of truth.

And what is this truth, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is what all of us Christians need to know, for it lies at the very centre of our faith, at the very heart of all that we believe in Christ. First of all, we all believe in the One and only One True God, Who is beyond compare and Almighty, and there is no other god besides Him. All the other gods and deities are pagans and of false origins, for it is the Lord our God Who is the Creator of everything in the universe, and therefore He is the Master of all.

Then, secondly, we believe that while there is only One and only One God, but that same God has in existence three distinct Divine Persons, namely the Father, the Son and then the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son and not the Holy Spirit, and vice versa, the Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, and thus, the Holy Spirit is also not the Son, or the Father. Each of the three Divine Persons are distinct, and yet at the same time, they are indivisible and inseparable from each other.

For all the three Divine Persons of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit all form the indivisible unity of the One and only God, the Creator, Lord and Master of all the universe. Without any one of the three Divine Persons, the whole unity of Divinity will be imperfect, and truly, we cannot separate one from the other without disrupting and distorting completely the truth about the Lord our God, in Whom we believe.

If you find this explanation to be difficult, it is perfectly understandable, for all these things have been revealed to us by the Lord, as matters that are beyond our normal human and worldly understanding. These are supernatural and spiritual matter which our senses cannot identify and distinguish directly, and therefore, our faith in what the Lord had told us is important.

And how did we know about all of these? How did we receive all of these truths? It is because all of these truths, the teachings of our faith and all that the Lord Jesus has revealed to us mankind through His disciples have been preserved through the Holy Mother Church, to which we belong to. It was through the Church that we have received our faith, for it had preserved the truth via its sacred traditions, and through the compilation of the sacred texts and Gospels into what we now know as the Holy Bible.

And the saints who have preceded us have also taught us in various ways on how to understand the concept of the Holy Trinity, most famous of which was done by St. Patrick, the well known patron saint of Ireland, who was a great missionary that laid the foundation of the faith in Ireland, formerly a deeply pagan country, worshipping pagan idols and gods, but ever since St. Patrick brought them the truth of God, many and eventually all of them converted to the true faith.

St. Patrick used the example of a three-leaf clover, which is a common plant easily found in Ireland. The three-leaf clover is a unique leaf, which leaf blade does not consist of just one singular leaf, or many leaves joined together by their leaf stalks. Instead, the three-leaf clover has its leaves consisting of three leaf blades that are at the same time conjoined together into a singular leaf. Thus, just like the Holy Trinity, each of the three leaf blades are distinct from each other, and one can see that there are indeed three leaves, and yet, at the same time, there is as a whole, only one leaf.

We cannot detach any one part of the three-leaf clover and still call it a three-leaf clover. A three-leaf clover is only so when all the three leaf parts are attached and intact. In the similar way, we cannot separate any parts of the Most Holy Trinity, the Father from the Son or from the Holy Spirit, and vice versa. They are three Divine Persons, distinct from each other, and yet part of a perfect and indivisible unity as part of a singular and One Godhood.

Using another example, which Jesus had used in His parables, we can also liken the Holy Trinity to salt and light of a candle. How do we know that a certain substance is salt, and not some other substances? That is because, first of all, when we touch salt, it has its crystalline structure, which is clearly different from for example sugar, and even other crystalline sugars like rock sugars and crystal sugars.

And then, when we look at salt, its appearance can be distinguished from that of other substances. We will know if something is not salt by the appearance, and also by the shape and the feel of the crystalline structure as mentioned. And finally, we can taste the salt. Salt has that saltiness taste that makes it to be so useful and favourable by many cultures. Without that saltiness, salt is useless.

Similarly, with regards to flame and candles, the flame provides light to all who sees it, as well as heat. In the past, people do not have electricity as we have nowadays. Therefore, at nighttime, people always live in darkness, and they use the lighted candles to give them light, in order to allow them to do their night activities. And there is no source of heat beside flame, for which reason in winter time or in cold night, people warm themselves around fireplaces and bonfires.

A flame consists of its light, its heat and finally its shape. If a flame has lost its heat, or somehow is devoid of heat, can we still call it as a flame? Surely not. Similarly, if a flame no longer emits light, and therefore cannot be seen, is it still a flame? Certainly it is not either. Therefore, it is the same with the Holy Trinity, for our Lord and God consists of the three Divine Persons that are distinct as much as the heat, light and the shape of the flame is different from each other, and inseparable from each other forming a perfect and indivisible union.

And how is our belief in the Most Holy Trinity important to us as Christians? That is because the whole history of our salvation and creation has been made possible by the works of God, Who is in everything and has been present in everything. The Father willed all things into creation, while the Word of God, the Son, is what the Father used to will all things into being, for example, as He said the words, “Let there be light.”

And the Holy Spirit is in everything, the source of all creation, of all life, through which God made all things into being and possible. The three Divine Persons are at work throughout our creation and our salvation. The Father loves each and every one of us whom He had created, and as the Gospel mentioned today, that because of that love, He sent to us His only begotten Son, the Word of God, Who took up the flesh and nature of Man, and became Man for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through our Lord Jesus, His loving sacrifice on the cross, and by His giving of His own Precious Body and Blood for all of us, He has united all of us, those who believe in Him, to Him, and He is present in all of us, which He affirmed to us, by sending us all, the same Holy Spirit which is part of Him, Who is in us now, giving us the strength and courage to go on living our lives with faith.

All of us have therefore been sealed with the seal of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, beginning with our baptism, be it as babies or as adults, when we were baptised in Their Name. And the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confirmation, see the Lord Himself dwelling in each and every one of us, who have become the Temple of His Most Holy Presence.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, now that we know what the Holy Trinity of our Lord is truly about, and how we ought to explain it to others who are misinformed or are curious about it, and how they have worked together in creation and our salvation, as Christians, all of us are tasked to fulfil what the Lord had commanded us all, that is to call all peoples and all the nations, and baptise them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

As such, all of us need to be exemplary in our faith, to do what He has taught us to do, to love Him with all of our heart, and by showing genuine devotion, spending our time with the Lord Who has loved us so much, that He gave us His only Son. And by following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, by being humble and obedient, let us all show all the others, especially those who have yet to know about the Lord, that they too, hopefully will also be touched in their hearts, and come to believe in Him.

It is too often that Christians are divided against each other, and we are easily affected by our ego and conflicting human desires, that we bring even suffering and difficulties to our fellow men, even to fellow Christians. If our Lord and God is perfectly united in love, Three Divine Persons as One, then how can we call ourselves as Christians if we do not love one another and are divided against each other?

Let us all thus put our complete trust in the Most Holy Trinity, and as Christians, strive to do our best to glorify Their great and glorious Name. Let us be united with one another and not be divided, and remain as one people, just as They are One. Let us all be exemplary in all of our actions and deeds, and let us all renew our commitment to live faithfully, beginning from ourselves, and then to our families and communities, that more and more people will believe in the Most Holy Trinity, and receive salvation through that faith. May God, the Most Holy Trinity, bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 3 : 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through Him the world is to be saved.”

“Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.”

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Sunday, 11 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
2 Corinthians 13 : 11-13

Finally, brothers and sisters, be happy, strive to be perfect, have courage, be of one mind and live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of Christ Jesus the Lord, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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Sunday, 11 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Daniel 3 : 52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever. Blessed is Your holy and glorious Name, celebrated and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, Who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Sunday, 11 June 2017 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Exodus 34 : 4b-6, 8-9

Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai as YHVH had commanded, taking in his hands the two slabs of stone. And YHVH came down in a cloud and stood there with him, and Moses called on the Name of YHVH.

Then YHVH passed in front of him and cried out, “YHVH, YHVH is a God full of pity and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in truth and loving-kindness.”

Moses hastened to bow down to the ground and worshipped. He then said, “If You really look kindly on me, my Lord, please come and walk in our midst and even though we are a stiff-necked people, pardon our wickedness and our sin and make us Yours.”