holy virgins

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Tuesday, 11 August 2015 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 32 : 3-4a, 7, 8, 9 and 12

For I will proclaim the Name of the Lord and declare the greatness of our God. He is the Rock, and perfect are all His works, just are all His ways.

Recall the days of old, think of the years gone by; your father will teach you about them, your elders will enlighten you.

When the Most High divided humankind and gave the nations their inheritance, He set up boundaries for the peoples after the number of the sons of God.

But the Lord keeps for Himself His portion Jacob, His chosen one. The Lord alone led them, without the aid of a foreign god.

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Tuesday, 11 August 2015 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 31 : 1-8

When Moses finished telling all Israel these words, he said, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I can no longer deal with anything – Remember that YHVH told me that I shall not cross the Jordan River. Now Joshua shall be at your head, as YHVH has said. He, your God, will go before you to destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them away.”

“YHVH shall deal with these cities as He dealt with Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and their land, which He destroyed. So when He has given these nations over to you, you shall do the same, according to what I have commanded you. Be valiant and strong, do not fear or tremble before them for YHVH, your God, is with you; He will not leave you or abandon you.”

After this, Moses called Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel : “Be valiant and strong, you shall go with this people into the land which YHVH swore to their ancestors He would give them and you shall give it to them as their possession. YHVH shall go before you. He shall be with you; He shall not leave you or abandon you. Do not fear, then, or be discouraged.”

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Sunday, 9 August 2015 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we have heard the words of the Scripture readings which all told us about one aspect of God, that is how He cares for all of His beloved ones, and He showed them all that care, by providing them with what they need, first of all food, the food that perishes, the earthly sources of food that fill up our stomach, and then, more importantly, He provides us with the true Food that lasts forever.

In the first reading we heard how the prophet Elijah was desperate and suffering from torment, which if we understand the background of the story from the previous chapters, was because of the intense persecution which the wicked king Ahab of Israel and his wife, queen Jezebel had initiated against the faithful ones and especially against Elijah, after he had shown the power of God against the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal on Mount Carmel in Israel.

The armies and forces of the king were sent to capture and torture Elijah, and he was fleeing from all these. Rejected by his own king, by his own people, and with people crying and seeking for his blood, we can indeed see why Elijah was desperate and truly suffering from all the challenges he was facing then. But what is important is, we have to take note what God did with Elijah.

God gave Elijah food and drink to strengthen him and his body, and sent His angels to serve him. The nourishment empowered him and gave him the strength to go on for the journey he was to embark on, to the Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, to meet God and to find out what His will was for the people of Israel. This is together with another occasion in which God also sent ravens to feed Elijah during his time running from the authorities, to give him strength against all the difficult challenges.

And if we link this to how God showed His great love to the people of Israel during their time in the desert, then we will surely be able to understand how much God had loved us, that He provided everything we need for us. When the people of Israel were thirsty in the desert, He gave them crystal clear and sweet water that gushed out from the rocks itself to drink, and when they were hungry, the Lord gave them manna, the bread of angels from heaven to eat, as well as large birds to be their food.

And we know how Jesus fed the multitudes of five thousand men, not counting the women and children present then, and on another occasion, He also fed more than four thousand men and the accompanying women and children as well. He knew that they were hungry after following Him for days and not having any food with them, and He fed them, giving them what they need to sustain their body.

All these should have awakened us to the fact that God truly cares for us all, regardless of our sins and rebelliousness which had torn us apart from His grace and love. He who created us with love, continues to love us from time to time, again and again, and He would not let us go hungry or thirsty, and He would not let us go on unloved and without His grace wherever possible.

He gave us everything we need, and most important of all, which we should remember, is that He gave us all life. Life is a gift from God to us, that when His Spirit entered our bodies made from dust and the earth, His Spirit dwelled in us and life entered our bodies and we are alive. But many of us have seemed to forget about this fact, and we showed no gratitude at all to the Lord who had given us all that we need in life.

Hence, all of us really need to think of how we have lived our lives so far, and see whether we have been grateful for the love and all the blessings our Lord had given us. But then, we also have to look beyond mere worldly sustenance and the fulfillment of what our bodies require. And in this, we have to reflect on what our Lord Jesus had done, and what He had taught us.

When Jesus was in the desert, as He was fasting for forty days and forty nights in preparation for His ministry after His baptism at the Jordan, Satan tempted Him to turn the stones into bread to satisfy His hunger after fasting for such a long period of time. But Jesus rebuked Satan by saying that men do not live on bread alone, but on every words that came from the mouth of God.

This is truly significant, for we have to see it in terms of who Jesus really is. Jesus, if we look at the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John, is the Divine Word incarnate, He who is God, who was God, and who will ever be God, the Word that created all of creations including all of us, and the Word which came down from heaven by the will of God, that with the Holy Spirit, He assumed the flesh of man, and was born of the Virgin Mary.

He is truly Man, but at the same time, He is also truly and fully God. He has two natures, God and Man, distinct but completely and perfectly in harmony and united in Jesus Christ, Word of God made Man. And if we remember the passage from the Gospel today, how He referred to the ancestors of the people to whom He was speaking to, and how those people ate the manna but still died, this will help us to understand indeed.

Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life, the Living Bread, and all who have share in Him, His Body and also His Blood, shall have eternal life and not die. Remember that Jesus rebuked Satan by saying that men do not live on bread alone but on every words that came from the mouth of God? Jesus is the Word, and all who share in Him, have life in them.

For those who ate of the bread of the world, including manna, the bread of heaven, all these satisfied only the needs of the flesh, which our Lord indeed had blessed us and provided for us whatever we need. But, more importantly, all of us are longing to be satisfied spiritually, in our hearts, minds and souls, that we may be made satisfied by whatever we receive from the Lord.

And this satisfaction comes from Christ alone, and when Christ gave us freely His Body and His Blood to be shared and to be received as part of us, we have essentially receive the spiritual and bodily nourishment for ourselves, and if we allow God to dwell in us, by receiving Him worthily, His Body and His Blood and Presence which is in the Eucharist, then we shall shine and be justified, and if our actions reflect what we have believed in, then we shall be saved.

Again, we see how God loves us so much, that He wants to make us complete, nourish us and make us whole again. For we have been tainted since sin entered into us, by the disobedience and rebellion which we have committed against Him from generation to generation. And only through God that we can be completely reconciled to Himself, and that was what Jesus had done.

That when we are all still sinners and unworthy, God had allowed Himself to take up the burden of the sins which we have committed, and placed upon His own shoulders the price and punishments for our sins, ever since the days of our first ancestors until today, and in the many years and time to come. He placed all of them on Himself, so that, by offering the perfect sacrifice of love, He may reconcile all of us to God, and be given a new chance at redemption and eternal life with God.

And those who share in His Body and His Blood, which He shed from the cross for us, will therefore receive the effects of God’s saving works, and thus also will be liberated from the bonds of sin, the wickedness of this world that had been holding us back all these while. Therefore, today, let us all pray for the grace that we may be ever strengthened in our faith and in our devotion to God, so that we can worthily receive our Lord and Master into ourselves, and as He dwell in us, He may bring us closer to life eternal.

May Almighty God be upon all of us, and give us all of His graces and blessings. And may He help us to overcome the weakness of our desires, so that we may be able to focus our own attention to seek out the true gift and goodness which came from God alone. May He bless us now and forever and give us His light to shine on our path to find Him. Amen.

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Sunday, 9 August 2015 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 41-51

At that time, the Jews murmured because Jesus had said, “I am the Bread which comes from heaven.” And they said, “This Man is the Son of Joseph, is He not? We know His father and mother. How can He say that He has come from heaven?”

Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent Me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me.”

“For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the Bread which comes from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.”

“I am the Living Bread which has come 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.”

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Sunday, 9 August 2015 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 30 – Ephesians 5 : 2

Do not sadden the Holy Spirit of God which you were marked with. It will be your distinctive mark on the day of salvation. Do away with all quarrelling, rage, anger, insults and every kind of malice : be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ.

As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate Him. Follow the way of love, the example of Christ who loved you. He gave Himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim whose fragrance rises to God.

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Sunday, 9 August 2015 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

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Sunday, 9 August 2015 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 19 : 4-8

Elijah himself disappeared into the desert going on a day’s journey. Then he sat down under a broom tree and prayed to die, “That is enough, YHVH, take away my life for I am dying.”

He lay down and went to sleep under the broom tree. Then an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” Elijah looked and saw, at his head, a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and went back to sleep. The angel of YHVH came a second time to him, saying, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too long for you.”

He got up, ate and drank, and on the strength of that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

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Monday, 6 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the richness of God’s tender mercy and love. God has always loved all of us from the depths of His heart, and His love and mercy is always available for us, if only that we are able to put forth the courage to go forth and seek Him with all of our hearts’ strength and might as well.

In the first reading today, we heard about how Jacob who escaped from the wrath of his brother, Esau, after he had stolen the birthright and the blessings which his father Isaac had intended for Esau, his elder brother. At a time when he encountered such great challenge and difficulty, and when his life was in great danger, when he was on the run, God appeared to him and affirmed him with His love and faithfulness.

He reaffirmed the covenant which He had established with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham and which He had reaffirmed with Isaac, the father of Jacob. He assured Jacob that if he remained true and faithful to his part of the covenant, then his rewards will be rich, and through him, God would make true what He had promised through Abraham, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand on the seashore.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the same had also happened when the synagogue official had her daughter in suffering and sickness, on the verge of death, and when he went forth to see Jesus, he was reassured that because of his faith, his daughter would be safe and healed from whatever her issues were. And the woman with the bleeding issue also was healed by Jesus because of her faith in God, reaching out her hand to touch the cloak of Jesus.

God does not desire the destruction of His beloved ones, and He does not wish to punish us all because of all of our disobedience and sins, unless it is indeed truly necessary, such as when we refuse to repent and change our ways for the better, that is when we continue to live in our state of sin. It is we ourselves who have caused our own downfall and destruction, by our own stubbornness and inability to resist the temptations of the world.

The daughter of the synagogue official, who was gravely ill, the woman with bleeding issue, who suffered in great pain, and lastly, Jacob himself, the descendant of Abraham, who was in great distress and in the danger of death. All of them were in some sorts of dilemma and trouble, and they all represent us and our current state of sin, the sickness that afflicts the soul.

Do we realise that all of us are sick because of our sins? We may be perfectly healthy in terms of our physical bodies, our appearances and other physical parameters, but inside, many of us suffer from the sins that still dwell in us, plaguing us and keeping us from being truly worthy for the Lord our God. We are sick just as the people I have mentioned had their own troubles.

Then, we truly have to ask ourselves, what do we do then? Let the example of today’s saint be our inspiration. We celebrate today the feast of St. Maria Goretti, a martyr of the faith, a holy virgin and someone who was truly devoted to her faith in God, and someone who would not let the evils and the corruption of sin to taint her pure soul, leading to her martyrdom, but with a life that is truly pleasing to God.

St. Maria Goretti had always led a life faithful and devoted to the Lord, and she had always been charitable and loving towards others, and she devoted much of her time to the Lord, her God. One day, one of her neighbour’s son sought to commit sin with her through sexual harassment, and she refused him because doing so would taint her and him both with mortal sin.

Having been refused, the boy tried to rape her but he failed, and in his anger, he stabbed her many times, mortally wounding her. On her deathbed, St. Maria Goretti forgave her assailant, and she prayed for him and for his conversion to the way of the Lord, which he eventually did. The example of St. Maria Goretti, together with that of Jacob, his ancestor Abraham, as well as the other figures from the Gospel which we have mentioned, show us how we ought to live out our lives.

We have to stand up for our faith, and be truly devoted to Him in all of our ways. Let none of our ways be wicked and unfaithful before His presence, and let every things that we do, that we say, and that we have be pleasing to Him, and may all of us be able to seek Him with all of our hearts’ strength and commit ourselves fully to Him and walk faithfully in His ways. May God Almighty guide us on this path, and bless us always. Amen.

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Monday, 6 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 9 : 18-26

At that time, while Jesus was speaking to the people, an official of the synagogue came up to Him, bowed before Him and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and place Your hands on her, and she will live.” Jesus stood up and followed him with His disciples.

Them a woman, who had suffered from a severe bleeding for twelve years, came up from behind and touched the edge of His cloak; for she thought, “If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned, saw her and said, “Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.” And from that moment the woman was cured.

When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the excited crowd, He said, “Get out of here! The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping!” And they laughed at Him. But once the crowd had been turned out, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up. The news of this spread through the whole area.

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Monday, 6 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “My stronghold, my refuge, my God in whom I trust!”

He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and give you refuge under His wings.

“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says the Lord, “I will protect those who know My Name. When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble I will be with them.”