Holy Week Homily

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Friday, 25 March 2016 : Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Good Friday, and we all know that today marks the very special moment in the history of our faith and of our salvation, because on this day we celebrate together the love of our God, the great and infinite love which He had for every single one of us, by bearing our own sins and iniquities upon Himself, and ascending to the hill of Golgotha, He bared Himself before all to see, and though rejected and ridiculed, He persevered to the end for our sake. Yes, so that by His suffering and death on the cross, He may bring us all out from the darkness and into the eternal light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, one might be asking, that given the gravity of the situation of the day, of what we commemorate, then why we do call this day Good Friday? Should it not be one of sorrow and sadness, remembering how our Lord and Saviour was hated, rejected, cast out and sentenced to death on the cross? But this is where exactly we have to understand the meaning of our Lord’s works and His greatest work of all, that by sacrificing Himself and offering Himself on the cross, He has brought us all a new hope, and as well as a new life. Today is Good for us, because if not for this day, all of us would have no hope, and our existence in this world would have been meaningless.

Yes, we have ever suffered in this world, suffered pain and bitterness, sorrow and sadness, and all the other forms of sufferings because of the consequences of our sins and disobedience against God. We have betrayed our Lord, broken our promises to Him, failing to keep His laws and covenants, and by listening more to the words of Satan the deceiver and also to our own human desires, pride, greed and submitting ourselves to sin, rather than to obey the Lord and to live in accordance with His will. It was our destiny and fate for us to face persecution and punishment at the end of our earthly lives, an eternity of suffering and separation from the Lord our God in hell.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God does despise our sins and He was angry at us with our disobedience. But we must not forget that just as much as He was angry with our sins and wickedness, He also still loved us with equal and even greater intensity, for all of us are beloved in His eyes, and He had created all of us out of love, to enjoy forever the blessings and graces that He had promised to all of us. Yet, because of our disobedience, we have been sundered from Him, separated from those blessings and graces intended for us, and that is why we suffered, because of our sinfulness.

And therefore to that extent of helping us and to keep us away from our fate of being destroyed for our disobedience, God Himself intervened for our sake, by sending to us His Deliverer, the Saviour Who would bring all mankind out of their sins and their misery, and bring them from the darkness of sin and into the light of righteousness in Him. And for this purpose He would send no mere man or any mere servant, but He sent to us His own Son, the very Lord God and Creator of all life and all the universe. He sent to us as a Redeemer, the Word of God, He Who is part of the Trinity, One God and Lord of all things, and yet, in all these, He was willing to empty Himself and came down to us in the form of a humble Man.

All these were done, so that by His humble and perfect offering before God His Father, the Lord God may accept His offering, and use it as the redemption and grace for all of us mankind who have ever lived, from the days of Adam to the days of the last man at the end of time. God offered Himself on the cross for us, that all of us who have a share in His suffering and death, may receive the gifts of eternal life and redemption from our sins. This was a sacrifice beyond all other sacrifices and offerings, for if in the past, the people of Israel offered the blood of goats and doves in order to absolve them temporarily from their sins, but God Himself offered His own Flesh and Blood, the perfect and spotless offering beyond all others, which was the only one worthy to redeem the whole multitude of our sins, every single taint of original sin that had held us back from our salvation and reunion with our loving God.

And if He had loved us so much, then what are we all supposed to do, brothers and sisters in Christ? Christ had chosen to die for all of us, for all mankind, from the least of sinners to the greatest among them, and from the humblest and smallest person, to the great and the mighty. He did not choose from us, and neither was He biased against a certain group or towards a certain person, but He offered His love, mercy and salvation to all. It is our choice now then, whether we are to accept that rich offering of love and mercy, or whether we want to reject them and instead continue to proceed on with our own lives.

Today we are all reminded that the cross that our Lord bore on His way to Calvary, and the cross on which He was nailed to, and hung between the heavens and the earth is a cross of love, the cross of mercy, the cross of forgiveness. For it was through that cross, that God made His love evident to all, and it was through that love, that He endeavoured to gather all of His beloved children to Himself, and took for us, for our sake, the punishments intended for us. And that cross is also the cross of victory, of the triumph against evil and sin, and of the triumph against death. For we know that His death was not forever, and neither did death had any power over Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, but we also have to realise that the cross of Christ is also a cross of suffering, as well as a cross of responsibility. Jesus Himself had said to His disciples, that all those who want to follow Him ought to take up their own crosses and follow Him. So, all of us mankind also have the same obligation to carry up our crosses with us, if we are to follow Him. This is what Jesus told us about how by becoming His followers and disciples, life will be difficult for us, because of all the opposition by the world, and by all the forces of darkness that did not desire to see us saved from our fated destruction.

And just how do we carry our crosses, brethren? It is by remembering that the cross itself is a symbol of love, a bridge between God and mankind, which our Lord Jesus had built for us. For once because of our sins, a great and wide chasm had existed between us and God, and none of us could go to the Lord without crossing that chasm, which was impossible. But our Lord Jesus made it all possible by His death on the cross. For we all who share in His cross, dying to ourselves and our sins, share with Him the glorious joy of His resurrection and brought into a new life of righteousness worthy of our Lord. It was through this that God Himself made the bridge between Him and ourselves, that is the cross of Christ.

Therefore, in order to carry our crosses, we ought to remember that the cross itself is a joining between two components, the vertical bar and the horizontal bar. The vertical bar represents the love and the relationship we have with God, while the horizontal bar represents the love and the relationships we have with one another, with our fellow men. And hence, if we are to be faithful to the Lord, and to be worthy of the salvation which He had offered us through His cross, we ought to remember to obey His covenant and His laws, that is by loving Him with all the might of our bodies, minds, hearts and soul, and do the same to our fellow brethren around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all use this opportunity to reflect on our own lives. Have all of us been faithful to the Lord, and obeyed all of His laws and commandments? Or have we instead been more faithful to our whim and desires? Have we been loving and merciful in our interactions with our brethren around us, showing them acts of love and mercy, of care and compassion, of tenderness and justice? Let us all do so, if we have not done so yet. Let us all go forth in celebrating this Easter Triduum and the whole joyful season of Easter, by bringing forth the joy that God brought us, and share it with others who have little or none. May God bless us and keep us, and may through His holy Cross, He brings us to eternal life in Him. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Wednesday, 23 March 2016 : Wednesday of the Holy Week, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard again how Judas Iscariot went on to betray the Lord Jesus, bargaining with the chief priests and the Pharisees to hand Him over for the thirty pieces of silver coins they offered to him. Today is the traditional day in the tradition of our Church when it was told that Judas went to deal with the Pharisees about the price he would receive for betraying his Lord and Messiah.

And how is this relevant to all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ? As tomorrow is the beginning of the Easter Triduum, we should enter it with good understanding of what we are celebrating, so that when we go through it, we may find ourselves t benefit far more rather than if we do not understand or are aware of what all the important celebrations of our liturgical year are about, especially that of the upcoming few days.

Judas chose the world and its wealth instead of Jesus, His teachings and truth. He was a thief whom Jesus called to be one of His disciples. God called His disciples from various origins. Some were fishermen, some were zealots and tax collectors, and some were criminals like Judas. But what distinguished him from the others of the Twelve was that, even though the others abandoned their past lives, leaving behind everything to follow the Lord, but Judas did not.

We know how St. Peter, the chief of all the Apostles and the most devoted disciple of Jesus once also betrayed Jesus when out of fear as the Jews arrested his Lord and Master, and under suspicion because he was counted among His disciples, then he denied knowing Him, denying his own Lord, to Whom he had promised that he would even lay down his life for Him.

But what is the difference here? The difference is that, while St. Peter realised the gravity of his sins, and in the same manner, Judas also did, when he regretted having sold out his Master for thirty pieces of silver, but while Judas gave up on himself, and out of despair, hanged himself on a tree, seeking the easy way out of the trouble, but St. Peter began a long path to redemption and greatness.

Judas did not repent from his sins even though he did feel regret for his actions. He had given himself up to the temptations of the world, the temptation of money, which he was not able to resist throughout the time when he was following Jesus. He helped himself to the funds of the group, stealing from the money that should have been used to help the poor and for the common good for his own selfish benefits. And therefore, he was condemned because of his failure to turn himself away from sin, resisting those sins and seeking forgiveness from God.

St. Peter professed one more time his faith to the Lord when He asked of him three times, whether he loved Him. And as St. Peter professed his sincere and genuine love for his Lord, the Lord was happy and pleased with His faith, and entrusted to him the flock which He had established in this world, that he would become the anchor and the core through which the Church of God would grow and encompass all the people who have been saved in Him.

In all these, we have to realise one simple fact, that even all saints were themselves once sinners, and some of them were even great sinners. St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the most prominent and well-cited example, of how even a great sinner can become a great saint, only if he or she would come to realise the gravity of their sins, and know that they need to do something about it, and indeed, take the necessary action.

Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, one of the first saints hailing from the New World, or which is now known as the American continent. St. Turibius de Mogrovejo lived a few hundred years ago during the time when the people living in those places lived under slavery and harsh treatment by the Spanish who ruled over them and pressed hard on their lives, exploiting them at every possible opportunity.

St. Turibius de Mogrovejo led the people to live faithfully, and in his actions, he showed his examples to them, and worked among them even though heat, through difficult and challenging times. He helped to build facilities and infrastructures that benefited the indigenous peoples, and therefore helping them to live more comfortably and as a champion of their rights, St. Turibius de Mogrovejo helped the people to rediscover their rights.

In all these, we all should see how even the act of a single man could have such a great impact on many others. It does not need extraordinary works and events in order for us to do something that is good and something that can benefit our brethren around us. What we need to do is that we need to begin doing something and committing ourselves to do things that will bring happiness to others, and begin from small things and taking small steps to help us to become ever more righteous and committed to our Lord.

May God bless us all strengthen us, and may He keep us close to His side, and awaken in us the strong desire to love Him, so that in all the things we do, we will always strive to reach out to Him and to the salvation He offers us all with love and great kindness. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 22 March 2016 : Tuesday of the Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is very clear from the Scripture readings today that we are really getting ever closer to the pinnacle of our liturgical year celebrations, that is the Easter Triduum, celebrating the Last Supper of our Lord where He instituted the Eucharist, giving us His Body and Blood to share as a new covenant between us and God, and which was made complete and perfect through His ultimate sacrifice on the cross, and which culminates in the celebration of His glorious resurrection.

In today’s Gospel, we saw first how Judas Iscariot was about to betray Jesus, his Lord and Master. Judas betrayed his Master to the Pharisees and the elders at the Temple, for a sum of thirty silver coins. Such was the price of a slave at that time, and which means, Judas sold out his own Master, the Lord God and King of Kings, at a price no more than the price of a mere slave.

And thus our Lord lowered Himself to be like a slave, and even lesser than a slave, for He had brought Himself to the lowest of the lowest darkness, in order to bring us all who have fallen into the same darkness, and lift us back up into the light. It was because God loves us all that He had endeavoured to do so, and willingly He went forth carrying out the mission which His Father had entrusted Him with, the salvation of all mankind.

The world itself did not appreciate Him, and they ridiculed Him, treated Him badly and rejected Him, and they refused to listen to His message, His teachings and His truth. But God had mercy on us because of His love, and because of that love which would not allow Him to abandon us all in the darkness on our own, unless it is by our own desire and conscious choice that we had chosen to abandon Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, indeed, the time of Lent is ending, and the season of fasting and abstinence to prepare ourselves for the joyous celebration of Easter is coming to an end soon. However, it does not mean that we return back to our sinful ways again. God wanted to save us, because He does not want us to fall into eternal damnation, and through the Church, He had shown us the path to reach out to His salvation, freely offered to all.

If God had loved us all so much, have we ourselves love Him as well? Or have we instead rejected His love and spurned His mercy? Do we want to be like Judas His traitorous disciple who loved money and worldliness more than he loved the Lord? It is a choice that we need to make, that in our lives, all of us should be conscious and be aware that all of our actions have implications to our salvation or to our damnation.

Let us not end our preparation for Easter just with the coming of Easter. If we have sincerely tried to abandon our sinfulness, casting aside the darkness and the wickedness that had coloured our lives all these while, then let us continue to do so, for the devil is always round about us, manipulating the world and all its forces to oppose the Lord and all of His good works. This means that temptations are always around us, and if we are not careful, we may fall into temptation and sin once again.

May God help us in our journey of this life, and may He strengthen the faith in each one of us, and the love which we should have for God, for His laws and for our fellow brethren. May He make us all realise how much He has loved us, and how much He has blessed us, and therefore awaken in us the desire for repentance, to turn our backs to sin, and to return to Him with all our heart. May He be with us now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 21 March 2016 : Monday of the Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how Mary, the sister of Lazarus anointed the feet of Jesus her Lord as He was sitting down for a meal with her and her family, as well as with His disciples. And we heard how Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, accused her of wasting such precious and expensive perfume on Him, when the perfume could have been sold for the proceeds to be given to the poor.

And of course, the Gospel also explained that Judas had been helping himself to the funds of Jesus and His group, and therefore, he had been a dishonest steward to the money which Jesus and His disciples had gathered. It was explained that he was a thief, and thus, naturally, we would find it easy to dismiss him and his comments as the comment of a thief and a slanderer.

But, remember, Judas was a sinner, and so do we too. Mary was a sinner as well, and unworthy as she was, thus, she wiped the feet of her Lord with her own hair. This has a parallel in another Gospel, where the woman who did the same deed to Jesus, was a sinner, who tearfully anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume, and wiped it dry with her hair.

And Judas also made a similar comment in that case, a condescending remark, rebuking and chiding the woman for doing what she had done, and saying that the proceeds could have been given to the poor should she had sold it instead of using it all on Jesus’ feet. But then, let us all ask ourselves, and let us all observe ourselves in this world, in all the events that we observe, is it not all just about the same?

Yes, many people in the world today attacked the Church and criticised the Church, the priests and the faithful, and they criticised the way that we ran things in the Church, criticising our supposed hypocrisy and indifference, especially those who misunderstood and thought that what we are doing are not in the way of the Lord, and instead reflecting an elitist attitude.

What am I talking about, brothers and sisters in Christ? I am talking about those who criticised the Church and our faith for having not done enough for the poor and the suffering in the world, and for having churches and buildings made from wonderful and precious materials, gold, silver and all the other riches of the world. They accuse us of being hypocritical and indifferent, but the reality, is actually really, very different. For the ways of this world, is not like the ways of our Lord.

The fact is that, the Church had done massively to help the poor and the destitute around the world, providing care for countless millions, education for those who once had chance for none, housing and care for those who were homeless, love and care for those who were ostracised and cast out from the society, and ultimately, care for countless people who had once no hope, and now they had a better future.

It was not perfect indeed, and there are still ever more things that we can do, in order to help countless other millions who are still out of the reach of the loving hands of God through His Church. But this is where we all need to come in. Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church is not just the institution of priests, bishops, the Pope and all the hierarchy of the Church. The Church is truly the body of the unity of all those who are faithful in the Lord, which means including all of us as well.

It is the combined efforts of the whole Church that can make a great difference in our world today, and thus, we have to realise that many of us have yet to contribute to the efforts of the Universal Church in helping our fellow brethren. And in this time when we are preparing to welcome the joy of Easter, let us reflect on this, as there are still so many things we can do to share that joy with those who have none. And if we have not done so, what are we waiting for?

And lastly, remember, about the rich decorations and the gold and silver vessels in the Church? Just as Mary had anointed the feet of Jesus with the very expensive perfume, it is also the same for what the Church had done. Why are all the vessels used in the Mass made from precious metals? That is because it is how we honour the Lord, Who is truly present in the Eucharist, the bread and wine made into the very substance of His own Body and Blood, that we cannot spare anything less than our most precious earthly things to be the vessels to contain such precious and great a gift for our salvation.

We glorify God through such means, and help one another to approach God with such means. Through what decent methods the Church had done, we have tried our best to bring Heaven itself to earth. A true and pure worship is when all of us the faithful are gathered together, and are so immersed in the environment and all the earthly glories placed together, that we indeed are present not just on earth, but in the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Heaven itself.

Therefore, as we all prepare for the joys of Easter, the celebrations that we are going to revel in as we share the joy and hope of our Lord’s resurrection, we too should look forward to our own resurrection and rise into glory, which all begin from ourselves, from how we live our lives. Let us all do what we can to make ourselves worthy of the Lord, and let us begin by putting more effort to help one another particularly in helping out the efforts of the Church in its charitable activities around the world.

May God help us to make this Holy Week a very meaningful time for us, and if we have not begun, let us all initiate a very important change in our lives, by seeking to turn away from all things that kept us away from truly being able to reach out to the Lord, and finding our way to Him through repentance, through commitment and love for Him. Let us all be saved in His grace. Amen.

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Friday, 13 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we hear about the Lord who will choose the righteous and reject the wicked and the damned, on the day which He decides to be the day of judgment, when He will separate all those whom He deemed to be good and righteous, from those that He deems to not have been capable of achieving what He had looked for in us, that is love, devotion, and commitment to His ways.

We may think that we have led a good life, and we may think that everything we have in this life is all pleasant and happy. Yet, many of us usually overlook the fact that there are shortcomings in our life that we may not be aware of. And in many things, many of us have this tendency to be distracted in our lives by the many goodness and the many temptations that Satan and this world had offered to us.

And very importantly, as shown in our first reading today, from the Book of Wisdom, many of us are often distracted by the many great things in this world, which we enjoy and even praise, but yet in the end, we did not give glory to the One Who had made all of these possible, the One Who had created all of us and all of the things present in the universe.

Instead, as history had shown us, we have endeavoured to make into deities and gods the many wonders of the nature and this world. Thus, it was why many of our ancestors worshipped beings like the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and even idols and statues made from stone, marble, gold, silver, wood and other precious elements and materials. We settle on all these as idols and gods, instead of the one and only true God.

If we think that this was what happened in the past and that now we are already free from this, then we are mistaken in our beliefs. As it is evident that even though we may no longer worship these pagan idols and gods, the gods of nature and of precious elements, but we remain attached to wealth and possessions of this world, especially in our world today that is ever increasingly growing more and more attached to worldliness and worldly goods.

We just have to look at the way in which our world works and functions today. There are so many emphasis at materialism and commercialism in everything today, and all these help to fuel our greed and desires ever further, and as a result, we become ever more distracted from our true goal in God. There are too many things that draw us away from following what is good that we should have done in the Lord and in accordance with His ways.

This is what differentiates those who are following the Lord and stay true to His ways, and those who succumbed to the distractions of the world, and on the last day, when the time comes for us all to be judged, then we will find out our fate, where even those who are close to each other can have an entirely different fate, one who is saved and blessed, while the other is condemned to hell.

Do we all want to end up like those who have been rejected by God? Do we want to end up in the eternal suffering of hell? Certainly, none of us want this fate for ourselves, but sadly many of us had the problem that we did not know what to do or how to find the correct path to reach out to our Lord. And then the way is also not going to be an easy one, as challenges, temptations and all the various difficulties and obstacles lie on that path.

But if we have the will and desire to follow the Lord, nothing is impossible, as long as we stay committed to our path and destination, that is salvation and eternal joy and happiness in God alone. Courage and dedication are needed, and we have to be brave to live up to our faith, and if necessary, turn our back against all the temptations that the devil has lined up against us.

Let us all lead a more wholesome and meaningful life by dedicating ourselves more to God, by loving Him ever more through all the things we do, especially by loving one another, our fellow brethren in the Lord. Let us all be loving and dedicated children of our Lord, our Father, Who will bless us forevermore for our faith and endless commitment. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Holy Scriptures which spoke to us about the Wisdom of God, and how that Wisdom is far superior to the wisdom and the intellect of men. The combined might of our intelligence and power, the greatness of our minds and achievements are nothing compared to what God can do.

Many of us think that we are capable of great things and achievements, and indeed we are able to, but lest that we think we accomplished all of them on our own accord and abilities, let us all take a step back to remember that our life is not ours to command, but it has been granted and been given to us by the One who had created us, and it was by His will and desire that we are able to live such a life in this world.

And yet, many of us conveniently forgot about this fact, and many of us thought that our glory and greatness is ours alone. We like to think in this way because for us men, it is often not in our priority to think about the Lord, and even less so to give Him thanks for all the goodness that we have received. We only remember Him when we are in trouble and in need of help, when we beg Him to help us, but otherwise, on other occasions, we forget entirely about Him.

In God lies everything that we will ever need in life, and in Him we will have everlasting and true joy. Yet, many of us are unable to find this joy or see the truth about the Lord beyond the veil of lies and untruths that Satan has placed between us and the Lord. Satan placed many temptations and good things of this world, and he played into our sense of glory and desire, so that he may seize our hearts’ focus and attention, and thus rather than glorifying God, we glorify ourselves.

Satan himself was once a great angel who fell from grace because of his vanity and pride. He was unable to restrain his pride and arrogance, and because he thought of himself as having power and majesty far greater than all the other creatures of the Lord, then he was worthy of the throne of the Creator. Thus, in his pride, Lucifer fell from grace, and instead of greatness, it was damnation and eternal suffering and shame that awaited him.

And in our pride too, and succumbing to our own desires, our ancestors have been fooled and allowed themselves to be tempted by the devil, who played along their sense of greatness and hubris, and by claiming that if they disobeyed the Lord and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would not die but instead would gain glory and greatness by becoming like God.

And they fell indeed, because in their shortsightedness, they had allowed themselves to be corrupted by their own desires, uncontrolled and untamed, and having been taken over by pride and by desire, they realised it too late that they have committed sinful things before the Lord. This is what can happen to all of us as well, and all of us must be ever vigilant in this.

We just have to look at how many people among us mankind who have thought of themselves as better than God through their actions, showing disrespect to the Lord through acts such as murder of life, alteration of Church teachings and morality, and even doubting the existence of God Himself just because they could not see Him and thus prove that He exists.

Thus was mankind fooled by their own feeble and limited intellect and capacity, all these while thinking that they were capable of truly great things on their own. Yet, in our pursuit of glory and greatness, many of us had often forgotten that it was because of God, because of His grace and blessings that we were capable of such great feats.

Let us all therefore look into the examples of today’s saint, St. Josaphat the Martyr, also known as St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, the holy martyr of Russia, and the defender of the true Faith. St. Josaphat was born into the Russian Orthodox Church, which is a branch of the Eastern Orthodoxy that split away from the Holy Mother Church about a thousand years ago out of disagreement and the eastern prelates’ desire for worldly authority, and thus they split away from the authority of the Vicar of Christ in Rome.

St. Josaphat became a religious and eventually rose to become a bishop in the Eastern Orthodoxy, and led a very pious and dedicated life to God, until the opportunity came for some of the Eastern Christians to rejoin in a renewed communion with Rome, with the Pope. He led the faithful in joining the new union with the Holy Mother Church.

But there were many oppositions and resistance from all those who refused to see the truth and follow the example of those who have reunited with the Universal Church in Rome. And over time, the opposition grew more and more vocal and even violent, harassing the faithful and even eventually the bishop, St. Josaphat himself, who in the end suffered martyrdom at the hands of these people.

St. Josaphat was murdered in cold blood by those who refused his authority and who rejected the communion with Rome, preferring to remain in heresy and damnation of their rebelliousness instead. But St. Josaphat never faltered till the end, and he continued to faithfully minister to the people of God, completely entrusting himself to the care of the Lord till the end.

In accordance with the examples that St. Josaphat had shown us, let us all also therefore dedicate ourselves more and more to the Lord, and less to ourselves, and rather than trusting solely in our own human thoughts and intellect, let us learn to put our trust in the Lord. May He bless us all always and guide us on our path. May He continue to watch over us and protect us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard the words of our Lord Jesus Christ about the ten lepers who asked for God’s mercy and healing, and after they have been healed from their afflictions, only one of the ten healed lepers went back on his way and sought Jesus, in Whom he knew that he had been healed, and by Whose power he had been made whole once again.

Meanwhile, the other nine lepers went on their way filled with joy, just as the Samaritan leper who sought Jesus. Yet the difference was that, while the Samaritan sought to give thanks to God for having healed him and made him whole again, the other ten were too engrossed in their own happiness and joy, that they forgot entirely to give thanks to God. Either that, or they were too proud to admit that they have begged the Lord to heal them.

That was why the Lord praised the Samaritan for his gratitude and the due honour that he had shown to the Lord. He had genuine and true faith in Jesus, for he knew that it was not by his own power or ability that he had been healed, and it was the Lord Who heard his prayers and petitions, and listening to his pleas and wishes, granted him the wish for healing he had asked for.

Of course we can see here obviously, that God did not rescind the healing which had been given to the other nine lepers. Neither did He curse them or be angry at them for not having thanked Him as they should have done. Rather, He was likely indeed sad for them, as these nine people went back to their old lives and acted as if nothing had happened. And since they did not give God thanks for what He has done for them, then it is likely that they might just return to their old sinfulness.

Why is this important for us all to take note of? It is because of all the diseases and afflictions that affected us or can affect us, the worst and the most dangerous one is sin, which is the affliction and disease of the soul. And unlike the diseases of the flesh that afflicted the body and the flesh, the disease of sin afflicts the very centre of our beings, that is our souls.

Sin separates us mankind from God, and the corruption it caused to our hearts, minds, flesh and whole being is a great harm for us as we may be brought down into eternal damnation because of those sins which made us wicked and unworthy of God’s blessings and grace. And the worst of it all, is that sin also inherently makes us all unwilling to change for the better and to abandon those sins, for just like cancer, sin grows and solidifies its hold on us as we proceed on in our lives, unless we receive the healing and mending by the Lord.

It is often for us to lose track of our path in the Lord, and many of us became too engaged and occupied with our own worldliness, tempted by all the various temptations of this world, be it money, pleasure, or other forms of wickedness and engagements that distract us from our true focus on the Lord and His precepts and laws. This is also why many of us often forget to thank God for all that He had done for us, and for all of His blessings, as we never think about the Lord unless we are in trouble or difficult times.

This was just what happened when the lepers sought the Lord to be healed, and once they were healed, save for one, they all forgot about Him and went on joyously to their own lives as if the sickness never happened at all. And this amnesia is dangerous as forgetting our sins and evil, we have the tendency to return to them and fall back into sin. Thus, so many people in the past had fallen because of their lack of commitment to the Lord.

In this matter therefore, we should heed the examples of St. Martin of Tours, whose feast day we are celebrating on this day. St. Martin of Tours as his namesake suggested us, was the Bishop of Tours during the waning days of the Roman Empire, the greatest city in what is now southern France. But he was not always a religious from the start, for indeed he came from a military background. He became a Christian at a young age after he attended the Church sessions in his youth.

During his service in the Roman Army, it was noted that St. Martin of Tours despite of his harsh and rigorous training and life as a soldier, he was a good man at heart and is always caring to others around him, and as an army commander, he always took good care of his soldiers wherever they were, practicing his faith in God through action. And on one occasion, which is now famous, the Lord Himself tested him for his devotion.

It was told that one day, during a cold day, St. Martin of Tours was travelling on the horseback wearing his army commander’s mantle when he passed by a poor man on the street who had little clothing and suffering from the cold and the elements. Without second thoughts, St. Martin of Tours, who was then on the process of being accepted into the Church as a catechumen, cut his own cloak into two pieces, and gave one piece to cover the poor man’s body.

That very night, St. Martin of Tours received a vision of Christ Who came to him and showed how He was that poor man, and wearing the half of the cloak given to Him by St. Martin, He praised him in the presence of the angels, praising him that he was still just a catechumen, but yet his faith and devotion was so strong. After all, do we all remember what Jesus said when He spoke about the final judgment? That whatever we do for the sake of our least and weakest brethren, we are doing it for God? That was what St. Martin of Tours had done.

And throughout the rest of his life, and after he was chosen as bishop by his flock, St. Martin of Tours continued to live his life with zeal and dedication to the Lord, and his many works and devotions continue to be our inspiration even to this day. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we also walk in his footsteps? Let us all remember to thank God for all of His blessings and grace, and let us all remember always all of His goodness.

May we all be able to then share all of our joys and blessings with those who have less or none, emulating what St. Martin of Tours had done in giving generously to the poor and the needy. Let us all devote ourselves on the path to become better children and followers of our Lord, that we may be found truly worthy of God’s everlasting inheritance and joy in His kingdom. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about our nature as the servants of the Lord, as those whom He had created and blessed with life, and in this world that is our working place, we truly have the responsibility of living a life good and just in the sight of our Lord, following all the teachings and ways that He has shown us through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the prophets and the Holy Scriptures.

We are all creatures and servants of our Lord who have been living well in this world and enjoying all of its goodness and bounties simply because our Lord, God and Master has deemed it such that He allowed us to dwell in this world and have another chance to seek His mercy and salvation. Rightfully and in consideration of justice, He should have wiped us out from the face of the earth and from among all creations, because of our sins and wickedness.

God calls all of us to hearken to Him and to listen to His words and understand His will for us, that is for our repentance and genuine penitence and regret from all the faults that we have committed in this life. God wants us all to be reunited with Him and to receive once again the blessings and graces that should have been ours if not for the sins and disobedience that we have committed against Him.

We spurned His laws, rejected Him, chose the father of lies and wickedness, Satan as our lord and guide instead of the Lord, just because to us, he seems to be offering more and better offerings as compared to what the Lord is offering us. And this is because of that great sin and evil that had begun with him, and which, once we mankind took up his offer, became ours to bear as well.

The sin of pride is truly great, if not the greatest and most dangerous of all forms of sin, evil and wickedness. It was what brought down Satan, once called Lucifer, from his height and glory in heaven, into damnation and eternal revilement by all of creations. He was once the greatest, most brilliant and mightiest angel created by the Lord, with brilliant and large wings, and with beauty unsurpassed by any in creation. And yet, in all these glories, he fell to his own pride, desiring more things for himself.

It was from his pride that greed and desire sprung forth, jealousy and hatred of the Lord, as he aspired to have more things for himself and to get something that is not his due. He wanted to make himself to rise above all angels and seize the throne of God, and sitting upon it, he planned to usurp the Lord and His authority, but in the end, he was beaten up and thrown down into humiliation and darkness.

And the same will also happen to us all if we are not careful with how we live our lives. If we allow our pride, our arrogance and our desires to take over all of us, then it is likely that we will also rise up against the Lord in disobedience and rebellion against His will, and by our actions we will be found wanting on the day of judgment. And I am sure we would not want to hear the verdict and result of that judgment.

Therefore, today, all of us are called to live righteously and in accordance with the will of God, even amidst all the temptations and the challenges of this world that persuaded us not to follow the Lord and His ways. And in this, we ought to look up to the examples of Pope St. Leo the Great, whose feast day we are celebrating today, the feast of this great saint, whose many works and dedications helped the Church and many of the faithful to weather through all the challenges.

Pope St. Leo the Great lived and reigned as the Vicar of Christ during a time when the Christians were no longer persecuted, but indeed, they have even been privileged to receive the official state religion status in the whole of the Roman Empire. Yet, this did not mean that the Church and the faithful had it easy for them, or that everything was smooth and without any issues or troubles.

At that time, there existed many heresies and errors of the faith, which were espoused by those who thought of themselves as better than the Apostles and the Church fathers who had preserved the wholeness of the Christian faith and teachings as passed down to them from the Lord Himself. Instead, these people, who led many souls to downfall and destruction, acted based on their desires and greed, pride and haughtiness, and in how they want to preserve and perpetuate all these.

At such a time, Pope St. Leo the Great played a very crucial role, by acting as the unshakeable anchor to the Lord, who then through him, he opened the path for many to find the Lord and to repent from their errors and mistakes. He wrote many works and books related to the essentials and necessities of Church teachings and doctrine, and in these, he firmly rejected Satan and all of his lies, while urging the faithful to stay true to the teachings of the Lord.

And when great danger and evil would come upon the people of God, Pope St. Leo the Great would not hesitate to go forth and ride in front of them to protect them from harm. This was evident at the time when Rome itself, the seat of the Apostles and Heart of Christendom was threatened by the Huns led by their infamous king, Attila the Hun. In what was to be the most famous and well-known event of his life, Pope St. Leo the Great went by himself to meet the fearsome and cruel king of the Huns, asking him to turn back to his land and leave the people of God alone, of else God would smite him and crush him for his wickedness.

Awed by the courage and the strength he found in Pope St. Leo the Great, the Hun king Attila had no choice but to retreat and abandon his campaign. If not for the resolute and the courageous attitude and action of Pope St. Leo the Great, so many thousands of people would have suffered terribly and even might lose their lives. Thus, we see how in the actions of this faithful and devoted servant of God, we can also follow in his footsteps to be faithful servants of our Lord.

Let us all throw away all forms of pride and attachments to desires and the pleasures of this world. All the things in this world are merely playing at our vanity and the devil knows it well, so he will certainly manipulate us and tempt us with whatever is in his means to derail us from our path towards salvation. Let us all reject his path and stick faithfully to our Lord, and bless Him forever and glorify Him with all of our actions. Amen.

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Monday, 9 November 2015 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast day, a great solemnity in commemoration of the dedication of the hreatest church in Christendom. For today we celebrate the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, the seat of authority of the Bishop of Rome who is the Vicar of Christ and the Leader of the Universal Church, and therefore the principal church among all churches in the world.

Then one may think, that is place is the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican. However, that is not the case, for indeed, while the Papal Basilica of St. Peter is also a very important church, dedicated for St. Peter the first Pope and Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ, and built above his place of martyrdom and his tomb, but it is second in preeminence to the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

It is in this Archbasilica, that the Pope our Leader has his Cathedra, that is his throne, the throne exceeding all other cathedras, as the primary and chief seat of authority encompassing the whole world and the whole Church of God. This was the very first church that was built after the end of the great persecutions of the faithful, and the sign of the ultimate triumph of the Faith and the Church.

For it was donated to the Pope by the first ever Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine the Great, who enacted the Edict of Milan that ended persecutions against the Faith. This great Archbasilica was thus built, and then dedicated on this day over seventeen centuries ago, and dedicated firstly to our Lord, the Most Holy Saviour, and the saints, St. John the Baptist, His herald, and His Apostle, St. John the Evangelist.

This is reflected in its full official name, as the Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of all churches in Rome and in the world. This designation marks it as the heart of Christendom, and the focal point to which all the faithful in the Church ought to turn themselves to, in obedience to the Pope and the holy traditions and teachings of the Church.

And on this joyous occasion, when we celebrate the dedication of this great Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, we are called to reflect about what is the Temple of God, its significance, the holiness that should be associated with it, and how it is relevant to all of us, as God’s faithful and as He dwell with us, and as we gather and exist in His holy presence. It is important that we take note how we ought to live in accordance to this fact.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? First we have to take note of what Jesus had done in the Gospel today, where He came into the Temple courtyard with His disciples, and seeing how so many merchants, tax collectors, money changers and many other people who performed acts and works contrary to the way of the Lord, where cheating, bribery and love for money were commonplace.

He took a whip and chased out all of the merchants and money changers, and chased their goods and money out with them, that the Temple grounds might be purified from all of the impurities and wickedness that had filled it and defiled it. What Jesus had done, was an example for all of us to follow. He purified the Temple of God, the House of God’s dwelling on earth, so that God who is holy and perfect in all things will dwell in a truly holy edifice without the taints of wickedness of the world.

Thus, before a church, or a cathedral or a basilica can be utilised for the purpose of the Holy Mass and divine worship, they must first be consecrated and made holy first. No Mass can be said on the altar and in the Church before these have been consecrated to God and prepared in holiness. This is how the celebration of today’s memorial of the dedication of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is very important, as this greatest, mother and head of all churches in the world was consecrated on this very day.

And even more importantly for each and every one of us, do we realise that each one of us is also a holy Temple of the Lord, the place of His dwelling on earth? This is because all of us who have been made a member of the Church have been welcomed into the unity in the Lord, cleansed by our baptism, the Sacrament of Baptism, when the holy water and holy oils anointed us and purified us from all of our past sins. We have also been claimed as the children of God, by the seal of the Most Holy Name of the Trinity.

And by the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit Himself dwells in us. And the Spirit dwells in our hearts, and we become the Temple of the Holy Spirit, God Who dwells in us, as St. Paul have elaborated in his letter to the faithful and the Church in Corinth, where he exhorted that all of the faithful should keep themselves pure and holy, for God Himself dwells in us, and if we are unworthy and allow wickedness, darkness and sins to corrupt this Temple, then we are accountable for that.

For we cannot forget that the third of the three important Sacraments of Initiation, namely Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, is God Himself Who had made Himself to take up the flesh of Man, so that by this act, He may dwell in us and be united with us, by the giving of His own Body and Blood, the Flesh that has become His very essence, that God now dwells in all of us who have worthily received Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

By this, we are even more affirmed in our status as the Holy Temple and the Holy Dwelling and Place of our God, the dwelling He has on this earth, that is in the heart, mind, soul and bodies of all those who are faithful to God and keep themselves holy and pure. If we do not keep ourselves worthy, holy and pure, then we just have to look at the Gospel today of what God will do to us.

He will drive all those who are wicked and unrepentant away from His presence, just as He had done the same towards the money changers and merchants who tainted His House with vile, wickedness in all its various forms and sin. God will not tolerate sin in His presence, and unless we repent and purify ourselves from all of our past wickedness, we will not have a share in His everlasting glory and life.

Therefore today, as we celebrate this great solemnity of the dedication of the greatest Church of Christendom, let us all also remember ourselves as God’s Holy Temples on earth, and how we need to preserve our state of sanctity and purity or else we are actually blaspheming and disrespecting God, for we spurn His Name and holiness by our wicked actions, and we are a scandal to Him.

Therefore, let us remind ourselves and discipline ourselves, so that just as Jesus used a whip to cast out all of the merchants, the money lenders and changers, and all of their animals and vile money, let us all also keep our lives holy, that our Body, the Temple of God and His Residence may remain holy and worthy of our Lord, so that we may always receive God’s grace and blessings, and not instead curses and damnation.

May Almighty God bless us all, strengthen us all in our resolve to live our lives with true faith and devotion. May He bless us in all of our endeavours and shine upon us on our way at all times. God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 November 2015 : Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this sacred and holy day of the Lord, we heard about the Lord our God Who shows great love and concern for us, the providence which He will give to all those who clung themselves strongly to Him, and He will bless all those who have given their all and devoted their all for the sake of the Lord their God.

And we heard about the story of two poor and suffering woman in both the first reading today from the Book of Kings, and in the poor woman from the Gospel of St. Mark, who gave all the possessions she had, despite herself having difficulties to persevere in her own difficult life. But what Jesus wanted to tell us is that, her gifts and offerings, being given out through times of difficulty is truly a genuine gift pleasing to the Lord.

For Jesus showed rightly that those who are rich, when they gave to the poor or donated money to the Temple treasury, they tried to outdo the other man in our giving to all those who needed them. While they gave what they had, they gave from their plenty and had no concerns or qualms about giving what they had, whereas the woman who had so little, still yet gave from her own pocket, whatever she could give to help the Temple building at that time.

In trying to glorify the Lord by her actions and by her dedication, she has shown all of us true and genuine faith, and a courageous and real commitment to the Lord, by giving all she had without worry or concerns for this world and for whatever she had in this world. She placed her trust completely and entirely in the Lord, and in doing so, she will indeed receive eternal and glorious reward of heaven.

But yet, at the same time, we have to take note that Jesus was not condemning the rich and those who have many possessions and things of this world. For we know of the rich people and those who have much with them, who have generously given from their own coffers to help others who are in need, and for various other good purposes and deeds.

The key here is that when we give to others, and we give something that belongs to us to help other who are around us, we have to be sincere and devoted in our giving, and we cannot give with the expectation that whoever we gave to, we demand them to return the gift in the same manner. And when we give something, let us not be too concerned about the loss we incur because of our giving.

Why is this so, brethren? This is important as it is our tendency to grow too attached to what we have, and we do not like it when we need to lose them or to part ways with them, because it is in our human nature to always desire for more things, to accumulate what we already have to get even more of them. It is this attachment that is so harmful and so dangerous for us, as unchecked, they can bring about ruin to our souls.

The wealth and possessions that we have, they are in themselves not evil or wicked in nature, for they are just objects and tools that can indeed be used for the purpose of evil, as well as for good purposes and for the benefit of all those who are around us. It is in how we use them, that we can effect either good or bad things upon others, and it is in how we look at them and treat these that we can use them for good or evil, and in doing so bringing either blessings or disgrace and condemnation upon our souls.

The Lord wanted us all to know that if we want to love Him and if we want to be truly faithful to Him, then there is truly no greater price to pay than our total devotion and commitment, and the full trust that we all should place in Him, our Lord, Master and Saviour. Just like the widow of Zarephath who suffered greatly from the famine that came over Israel because of their disobedience, she had less and less food, and soon enough, her food stock would run out and she and her son would perish.

But the prophet Elijah came to her seeking for help and food, and when she voiced her concerns, Elijah told her not to worry, for the Lord Who is loving and kind to all those who put their trust in Him will provide all that is needed for sustenance and survival, as well as joy and happiness for His people. He will not abandon them to suffer in need without what they need, and He will in His own ways, bless His people and grant them help.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God proved His love and commitment to help His people, by showing His everlasting providence through the flour jar that never finished, and the jug of oil that never ran out. In this, He wanted the widow of Zarephath and all of us to know that if we put our trust and complete faith in Him, then we truly have nothing to be worried about.

Remember on another occasion Jesus told His disciples and the people about how God blessed the beautiful flowers in the field and the birds with colourful feathers and various raiments of colour with much blessings, and how if He has blessed these with such great blessings then we should not need to worry if we put our trust in Him. In one way or another, in His own way, He will take very good care of us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make use of the opportunities that God has given us, and let us use whatever blessings He has graced us with, we may share the goods and the joys we have with one another. Let us not be greedy or be selfish, in selfishly keeping all the wealth, goods and blessings of God to ourselves. May God awaken in all of our hearts the desire to love one another, so that we may realise that even if we are in unfortunate condition, there are always those who are poorer and who are in greater suffering than us.

Let us all act now, and from now on let us all devote ourselves completely to serve the Lord in all the things we do, and let us all commit ourselves to care about each other, and sharing the joys we have received from the Lord. May Almighty God, our Lord bless our endeavours and keep us always in His grace. God bless us all. Amen.