Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 131 : 6-7, 8-10
The Ark is in Ephrata, we found it in the fields of Jaar. Let us go to where He dwells and worship at His footstool!
Arise, o YHVH, and come to Your rest; You, and the Ark of Your might. May Your priests be arrayed in glorious mantle; may Your faithful ones shout in gladness. For the sake of Your servant, David, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.
Liturgical Colour : Red
1 Kings 8 : 1-7, 9-13
Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH from the city of David, which is Zion.
All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of YHVH and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent.
After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.
Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH in its place in the inner Sanctuary of the house – the Most Holy Place – underneath the wings of the Cherubim. The Cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles.
There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where YHVH made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled YHVH’s House that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of YHVH filled His House.
Then Solomon said, “YHVH has said that He would dwell in thick darkness. So the House I have built You will be Your House, a place for You to dwell in forever.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the love which our Lord and God has for us, and how in Him alone we can have hope and strength, salvation and liberation from all of our troubles, hardships and trials. Indeed, as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, we are constantly being called and reminded to remain focused on the Lord, to put our centre of attention and emphasis on Him at all times, especially in how we celebrate our upcoming Christmas festivities and joy. If we do not focus our attention on the Lord, it is very easy for us to be swayed by the many worldly temptations and coercions, attachments and distractions present all around us.
In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the prophet reminded the people of God that they should put their trust and faith in the Lord, and not be filled with doubt or uncertainty, because the Lord God is all powerful, Almighty and in Him alone there is true hope and path towards redemption. The Lord reminded His wayward people, who had often rebelled against Him and disobeyed His Law and commandments, that He would guide them all to the right path, and that He would restore their strength and state of grace. Contextually, by the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people of God had been troubled and endured a lot of hardships and challenges, many of which were borne out of their own foolishness and disobedience against God.
At that time, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had been scattered and oppressed by the mighty forces of the Assyrians, who crushed the Israelite kingdom and destroyed its capital Samaria, bringing many of the people from the northern tribes into exile in far-off lands. The people in the southern kingdom of Judah did not fare much better either, as they also faced a lot of challenges and trials, and many of the people faced difficulties from their neighbours, as well as from the Assyrians themselves. Yet, God still held onto the Covenant that He had made with each and every one of His people, and He did not forget the promises which He had made to them, and hence, through Isaiah, God promised that His salvation would come one day, and all these were fulfilled with the Incarnation and the birth of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God we celebrate in Christmas.
Then, as we heard in our Gospel passage today, the Lord Himself reassured all of us through His disciples that in Him there is true rest, satisfaction and joy. He said that all who are weary and heavily burdened ought to come to Him, and He will give them rest, and how His yoke is lighter compared to the yoke of the world. What this means is that, while being Christians, as followers of Christ, it does not mean that we will be free from sufferings and hardships, but what it means is that the Lord’s path, while it may seem difficult and challenging, but in the end, it is the only path that leads to true happiness, joy and satisfaction, and the Lord Himself is always with us throughout the whole entire journey.
Today, the Church reminds us all about the importance of remaining firmly rooted in Christ, in obeying the Law and commandments of God, in doing everything that He has taught and revealed to us, so that we may always be focused and centred on Him at all times. We should resist the temptations present around us that we do not end up falling into the traps and pitfalls of sin which may lead us down the path of suffering and destruction. We should always remember that God is always present by our side, guiding and strengthening us throughout the journey, and that we are never alone in our lives, because besides God, we also have our fellow brothers and sisters present all around us, journeying together with us, and hence that is why it is important for us to continue to live our lives with care and compassion for one another.
Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, today also happens to be the Feast of St. Lucy, also known as St. Lucia of Syracuse, whose holiness, piety and devotion to God were known far and wide, and inspired many people throughout the ages. St. Lucy was born in Syracuse as a Roman citizen, and dedicated herself to a life of holy virginity, and as a Christian, she lived in a dangerous time because it was during the time of the great persecutions by the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his co-rulers, who launched systematic and intense series of persecutions against the Church and the faithful people of God. St. Lucy’s family was bereft of her father in her early age, and as her mother was afflicted with bleeding issue, not aware of St. Lucy’s vow of virginity, arranged her to be married to a wealthy pagan nobleman.
Through the intercession of another Syracusian saint, St. Agatha, St. Lucy’s mother was healed from her illness, and with the persuasion from St. Lucy herself, they distributed much of their riches to the poor, which was therefore reported by St. Lucy’s betrothed pagan nobleman to the Roman authorities. The Roman governor, one named Paschasius, ordered her to burn offerings and sacrifices to the pagan idols, knowing that St. Lucy was a Christian, which was rejected by the courageous young woman. Therefore, the governor ordered her to be defiled in a brothel, but could not get this done, by Divine intervention, which protected St. Lucy. Eventually, after further sufferings and persecutions, St. Lucy was martyred by a sword that was thrust into her throat. Her examples and faith inspired countless others long after her martyrdom, right up to this day.
That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us should be more and more committed to the Lord, following the examples set by St. Lucy and the many other saints, holy men and women of God, who had dedicated themselves worthily and thoroughly to God’s cause. Each and every one of us should always be committed and focused on the Lord in our whole lives, in putting Him at the centre of our existence, and make Him the reason for our every actions, words and deeds. And this Advent, we should therefore strive to redirect our lives and our attention to the Lord, especially in how we live our lives so that we may truly be able to prepare well for a proper and worthy celebration of Christmas.
May the Lord our God continue to guide us all in life, and remind us that in Him alone there is salvation, hope and eternal life. May He empower each one of us and give us the courage and strength to do His will at all times. May God bless our every good works and efforts, our every endeavours, now and always, and bless our Advent journey. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Matthew 11 : 28-30
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For My yoke is easy; and My burden is light.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10
Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.
YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Isaiah 40 : 25-31
To whom, then, will you liken Me or make Me equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and see : who has created all this? He has ordered them as a starry host and called them each by name. So mighty is His power, so great His strength, that not one of them is missing.
How can you say, o Jacob, how can you complain, o Israel, that your destiny is hidden from Me, that your rights are ignored by YHVH? Have you not known, have you not heard that YHVH is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not grow tired or weary, His knowledge is without limit.
He gives strength to the enfeebled, He gives vigour to the wearied. Youth may grow tired and faint, young men will stumble and fall, but those who hope in YHVH will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagle’s wings; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that each and every one of us are destined to a life and existence that is beyond this world, to be with the Lord our God, Master and Creator, in an eternity of bliss and joy, free from sufferings and hardships. This is why, despite of the challenges and trials we may have to face in our lives, it is important that we must remain firm in our faith and trust in the Lord, and we must not be easily swayed by the pressures, coercions, temptations and all the things which are laid in our path, attempting to derail our journey towards the Lord and preventing us from attaining true grace and salvation in God.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the Maccabees about the campaigns and efforts which the Seleucid King, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, had done in trying to restore the kingdom of his ancestors, and how he failed in doing that, and hearing all the failures of the policies he had implemented and enforced in Judea, where the Jewish people rose up in great rebellion against his rule. At that time, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, as highlighted in most of this previous week or so of readings from the Book of the Maccabees, enforced Greek ways and customs, religious practices and beliefs on all the people throughout his vast empire. This was likely done in order to enforce unity and in trying to regain the power and glory of his predecessors, considering that the Seleucid Empire was made up of many very different groups of peoples with great variation in their cultures and beliefs.
However, on top of that, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes was also known in history for his megalomania and great desire for power and glory, as prior to his enforcement of Greek ways and customs on his subjects, he invaded Egypt and was almost successful in conquering that kingdom if not for intervention from the Romans, who opposed the efforts of the Seleucid king. This same king in our first reading passage today went on another campaign to the eastern reaches of his empire and dominion, trying to exert his control and power there, in what was ultimately a failed effort and venture, and we heard how he received the bad news about his failed policies and how the Jewish people had overthrown whatever idols and corruptions he had placed in Jerusalem, reversing his efforts, and all those crushed him and made him to lie dying.
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the encounter and disagreements that happened between the Lord Jesus and some of the Sadducees who were trying to question and test Him because of their diverging and incompatible beliefs with His teachings. Back then, the Sadducees represented one of the major and very influential segment of the Jewish community, consisting of the Temple authorities and members of the priesthood, and in this case, it represented those who were not adhering to the concept of spirituality and the afterlife, but preferring to hold onto the current life and to live life in the world the best they could. The Sadducees believed that there is no life after death, and that there is no resurrection of the dead, and hence, they were a truly worldly bunch of people.
The Lord then responded to their queries of who would be the wife of the seven brothers, after the woman married each and every one of them when the latter died one by one without having any child with the woman. The Lord told the Sadducees the folly of their worldly way of thinking, in focusing only on worldly desires, for money, wealth, partner in life, and other things. The Lord told them that in the end, what truly matters is for us to be with God and to enjoy forever the bliss in His presence, where nothing of this world, of all the worldly desires, ambitions and attachments we often have, will exist any longer. This is related to the futility of everything that King Antiochus IV Epiphanes had done, in trying to stabilise his realm and gaining more power and glory, only to have everything collapsing before him at the end of his life.
This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded of all these so that we do not end up being obsessed and attached too much to the worldly matters and pursuits, for worldly pleasures, fame, power, glory and all other things that we often look for in this world, and then ending up forgetting our purpose and intention in following and serving the Lord our God. We are all reminded that all the glory and power, wealth and possessions we have in this world are temporary and do not last forever. Hence, we should focus and redirect our attention to the Lord, turn towards Him and commit ourselves to His cause, instead of being distracted by the many temptations of the world that are usually present all around us.
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great martyr and servant of God, a great woman whose faith and dedication to Him served as great inspirations and strength for many Christians during and even long after her time. According to Church tradition, St. Catherine of Alexandria was the daughter of the Roman governor of Alexandria, who lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his successors. At that time, Christians were treated with disdain and contempt, and a particularly intense and bitter persecution was carried out against them. Many Christians had to suffer and die amidst that brutal persecution, and many of them had to choose between remaining faithful in God and suffer, or to betray and abandon the Lord and live.
St. Catherine of Alexandria courageously went to the Emperor himself, the Emperor Maxentius who ruled in Rome and Italy, during one of these episodes of brutal persecutions, rebuking him for his actions and evil deeds. St. Catherine won over the fifty over philosophers that the Emperor set up against her to debate her on her faith and other matters, so much so that some of them converted to the Christian faith and were martyred. St. Catherine also convinced many others to become Christians, including even the Emperor’s own wife, when they visited her during her time in prison. The Lord Himself visited her, and Angels tended her wounds during her incarceration and period of suffering. The Emperor, who grew increasingly desperate in trying to subdue St. Catherine, tried to woo her by proposing marriage to her, which was also rejected by the saint. In the end, she was martyred by beheading, after other methods had failed.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples of St. Catherine of Alexandria and what we heard from our Scripture readings earlier today should serve as good examples and inspirations for each and every one of us, in how we should live our lives, so that we may always be courageous in doing what we can, to glorify the Lord by our lives, and to put Him as the centre and the focus of our whole lives and existence. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of pleasures of the world, and all the other temptations and attachments that may mislead us down the path to our downfall and damnation. May the Lord continue to guide, help and strengthen us in our lives, that in each and every moments of our lives, we will always seek the Lord and live our lives faithfully and worthily of Him rather than following the whims of our worldly desires and temptations. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Luke 20 : 27-40
At that time, then some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Law Moses told us, ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.’”
“Now, there were seven brothers : the first married, but died without children. The second married the woman, but also died childless. And then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”
And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”
“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”
Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, You have spoken well.” They did not dare ask Him anything else.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Psalm 9 : 2-3, 4 and 6, 16b and 19
Let my heart give thanks to YHVH, I yearn to proclaim Your marvellous deeds, and rejoice and exult in You; and sing praise to Your Name, o Most High.
For my enemies fell back in retreat, they stumbled and perished before You. You have turned back the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their names forever.
The feet of the pagans were ensnared by the trap they laid. For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
1 Maccabees 6 : 1-13
When king Antiochus was making his way through the upper regions of Persia, he received news about Elymais, a city renowned for its wealth in silver and gold. They kept in the wealthy temple of their city golden armour, breastplates and weapons, left there by the Macedonian king, Alexander, the son of Philip, the first sovereign of the Greeks.
So Antiochus went there. But the inhabitants came out armed against him when they learnt of his intention, so his attempt to take the city failed. He had to turn back; and he returned much embittered to Babylon. While he was still in Persia, it was reported to him that the armies sent to Judea had been defeated. They told him that although Lysias had gone with a strong army, he had to flee before the Jews, who had been strengthened with the weapons and the abundant booty taken from the neighbouring armies.
He heard, too, that the Jews had destroyed the abominable idol he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem; and had rebuilt the Temple walls to the same height as before; and had also fortified the city of Beth-zur. When he received this news, he was terrified and deeply upset. He fell sick and became greatly depressed because things had not turned out the way he had planned.
So he remained overcome by this terrible anguish for many days. He felt he was dying, so he called his friends and said to them, “Sleep has fled from my eyes and I am greatly crushed by my anxieties. And I keep on asking why such grief has come upon me – I who was generous and well-loved when in power – and now I am so discouraged.”
“Now I remember the evils I did in Jerusalem, the vessels of gold and silver that I stole, the inhabitants of Judea I ordered to be killed for no reason at all. I now know, that because of this, these misfortunes have come upon me; and I am dying of grief in a strange land.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 