Holy Week sermon

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Monday, 13 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how the people of Israel in Egypt after the time of Joseph were mistreated and made into slaves. The Pharaoh or ruler of Egypt feared that these people who grew numerous and mighty him and his country, and thus he oppressed them and made them suffer. In this, as we compare to what Jesus had said in the Gospel, we can see indeed how conflict and clashes would come between the Lord and those who follow Him with the ways and norms of this world.

And as we see the conflict between the Egyptians and the Israelites, there would also conflict between us all who follow the ways of our Lord and those who follow the ways of this world. This is the fact which our Lord Jesus highlighted to His disciples and to all of us through them, that following Him and walking righteously in His path will not be an easy one. There will be plenty of challenges and difficulties awaiting us, as the conflict and clashes between our interests and ways will be our obstacles.

If we look at the history of the Church and our faith, then we will realise how in many occasions, for one to accept the faith and to believe in the Lord would often mean estrangement and opposition from one’s own family members and friends. Often many of the holy martyrs especially in the early years of the Church had to suffer martyrdom because they held fast to their faith despite the staunch opposition from their own families and friends.

That is because the way of the Lord is often opposed to the ways of the world, and for one to abandon the way of worldliness for the way which our Lord had taught us often mean for many, the estrangement from the norms of the society at large. And to many people who do not understand the way of God, it would indeed seem very strange that we would give ourselves and devote ourselves to this way.

This is just as the way of the world is selfishness, the way of the Lord is selflessness, and while the way of this world is materialism and consumerism, the way of our Lord is temperance and gratitude for whatever we have. While the world values appearances and human approval, the Lord values simplicity of heart and righteousness, and the courage to stand up for the truth, even when many others do not agree with us or approve what we are doing.

However, we have to take note that while the Lord Jesus Christ warned us about the conflict, clashes and confrontations that would come our way, it does not mean that we ought to go out there and purposely cause trouble for ourselves, inviting problems and dangers that may endanger those who are around us. Some of us may have misinterpreted the intentions of our Lord in this manner, as we may think that we have to confront the world actively and overpower it.

No, this rather means that we should be vigilant and be prepared that we may be ostracised, shunned, made an object of shame of, humiliated, or even tortured both physically and mentally by others, because of what we believe in. But do we then succumb and give up to the temptations and forces of the world? No, we must resist them. We must be courageous to stand up for our faith in the face of all these difficulties.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Henry, also known as Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, the sovereign Augustus and ruler of the revived Roman Empire in the west, God’s secular representative in the world. St. Henry II, was a great and benevolent Emperor, who led many of the faithful in the Empire, leading many other Christian nations at the time.

However, he also encountered many great challenges in his role as the paragon of faith and virtue. He combatted many forms of vices and excesses during his reign as Emperor, and he strengthened the Church and its many works by his tireless support of the Church and its activities, even though in many occasions he had to deal against the many people who opposed him and his reforms.

St. Henry was remembered for his upright actions and for his devotion to the Lord even though many people resisted and tried to undermine his works and reforms, for the good of the faithful, and even for the good of those who have resisted his works. Indeed, what he had done was a clear example of what we have just discussed this day. If we are truly faithful to the Lord, the path forward will not be easy, and challenges will surely come our way, but if we stay faithful to the end, our rewards in the Lord will be great indeed.

May the examples of St. Henry inspire us always and help us to be true to our faith and to defend it with all of our might. Let us show our faith in our actions, words and deeds, so that all who see us will know that we truly belong to the Lord. We have no need to fear anything for the Lord is with us, and whatever difficulties and challenges we will encounter, there will always be hope in the end, for the Lord will reward all those who keep their faith in Him even amidst persecution. God be with us all, and may He guide us in our way. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 July 2015 : Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Bible Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the desire of the Lord our God, our loving Father and Creator, who sent forth His disciples, messengers, Apostles, prophets and even His angels to go to the nations and the many peoples all over the earth to call them to Him, and to reunite all of His scattered loved ones back into His loving embrace.

In the Gospel we heard how Jesus sent His disciples two by two to the many towns and villages, to preach the Good News of His salvation to the people, to heal the sick and to cast out demons from them, and to proclaim the time of repentance, for them to change their ways, the ways of sin, so that they may walk on the path towards grace and salvation in God.

In the second reading from the Epistle or letter of St. Paul to the faithful in Ephesus, he mentioned how God has destined all of us to be in perfect love and unity to Himself, as the very purpose of why He created us in the first place. He created all of us mankind and all the creatures so that He may love us all, and give us the fullness of the love of His heart, and yet, we have rejected Him many, many times.

We who have disobeyed Him have been sundered from that love which should have been part of us. And our portion should therefore have been hell, destruction and eternal damnation, and yet, we are truly fortunate, for just as our Lord despises sin and all forms of our wickedness, He still loves us even more than all that. He is loving, merciful, slow to anger and rich in kindness, and He generously offers to us His mercy which He made completely evident through the sending of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into this world, that we all may be saved through Him.

But sadly, our attitudes are often like that shown by the king Amaziah of Israel whom we heard in our first reading, rejecting the prophet Amos and telling him to go back to his own country of Judah, and to come no more to disturb his land of the northern kingdom of Israel. He refused to listen to the reminders which the Lord sent to His people to remind them of the bad and wicked deeds that they have committed in His sight.

We mankind are by our nature, we are always prideful and filled with self-serving attitudes. We like to think that we are always in the right and that the others are wrong or mistaken in their ways, because we often fail to look deep into ourselves and discover what actually went wrong with us. Our pride and arrogance, our attitudes and stubbornness are all that actually keep us separated from the love and grace of our Lord.

It was just like the king of Israel, Amaziah, who refused to listen to the truth as preached by the prophet Amos, even though it was the fact, no matter how terrible they might have sounded, but that is exactly because what he and the people of the northern kingdom had done were indeed wicked in the sight of God. And we know that what Amos and the other prophets prophesied about would come true in all their fullness, and the wicked were cast out in the utter darkness and suffering.

And yet God gave them chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity, just as He gave His people chance after they disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him during the Exodus from Egypt, when they abandoned Him for the pagan gods and a god made of gold. He forgave them and continued to love them even though He did punish them, but to those who adamantly refused to change their ways and continued to sin, there was no forgiveness.

In the Gospel, Jesus told His disciples to minister to those who are sick, both physically and spiritually, that is by delivering the truth of God as espoused in the Scriptures and in the testimony of the prophets, and opening the eyes of the people and their senses to the truth, so that they may repent and turn from their sinful ways. Yet, there are always those who would refuse to listen and continue to dwell in their sins.

To this people, the Lord rejected them and would hold their disobedience and stubbornness as testimony against them on the day of judgment. Do we want to share in their fate, brethren? We surely will if we continue to walk in the path of worldliness and sin. There is no future in following that path, for indeed the temporary goodness and pleasure we gain by that path is not worth the eternal suffering due to us.

Shall we therefore on this day, realise and understand how much God has loved us and how great is His everlasting love for us, that His mercy He richly provides for us all, so that all of us who repent our sinful ways may be saved? All of us have a choice, and the opportunity has been given to us to reflect on our own actions and consider it carefully, before what we do in this life bring great repercussions for us in what is to come.

And we also ought to realise that all of us who have been saved, and we who have committed ourselves to the way of the Lord, who believe in the fullness of His truth, also have a mission to carry on. Today happens to be the commemoration of Bible or Scripture Sunday, which should have brought us all to the greater realisation of what we ought to do from now on, if we have not done so.

Let me ask all of us these simple questions, how many of us actually regularly open up the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, and read it? How many of us are actually familiar with what the prophets and messengers of God had said? How many of us know what Jesus taught to His disciples, and what His servants like His Apostles wrote in the many letters preserved in the Holy Scriptures?

If our answers to these are no, that is because we have not understood or read the Holy Scriptures, if at all. We have a mission, brethren, to evangelise and to spread the Good News of our Lord, so that we may extend the mercy and love of God we have just discussed about, to the nations and to the peoples who have yet to hear them and witness them.

But how are they going to believe in us if we ourselves do not have what we ought to know within each one of us? It is important for us to read the Holy Scriptures regularly so that we may have ever growing and greater understanding of what our faith is truly about. And then, it is important that we also have to make it complete by knowing, understanding and obeying the ancient traditions of the Church, the teachings as preserved by the Church from the time of our Lord and His Apostles.

Let us all therefore, from today onwards, renew our commitment to our Lord and God, so that through all the things we do which we commit in faith and hope for our salvation, and the salvation of many around us, we may bring ourselves together as one people closer to salvation and eternal life promised by our Lord to all who has been faithful to Him, and let us all deepen our understanding of the faith, by reading and studying more of the Holy Scriptures, so that our hearts may be opened to the word of God contained in the Bible. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 11 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of a renowned saint, that is of St. Benedict of Nursia, also known as St. Benedict the Abbot, the founder of the Benedictines religious order, one of the largest and earliest established religious orders in the world. He was one of the earliest pioneers of monasticism and religious life dedicated to God.

St. Benedict founded many communities of the religious and the faithful, but his life began as a Roman noble in the fifth century after the birth of our Lord, where he once had a great prospect in life, a quality education and a good company of friends and even those who professed their love for him. But, St. Benedict gradually saw how wicked the sins and actions which his companions had committed, and gradually withdrawing himself from worldliness, he found the true purpose of his life.

He sought true satisfaction in life by leading a life filled with prayer, sanctity and devotion to God. When the devil at one time tried to tempt him by filling his mind with the beautiful image of a woman he once loved in his youth, he resisted the temptation by purging it from the flesh by self-mortification, lying on a bed of thornbushes to remind himself of the sinfulness of such thoughts. By purifying his flesh, he gained the purification of his soul and being.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Scripture readings today, the first of which was taken from the last part of the Book of Genesis, talked about the passing of Jacob in Egypt, continuing from where we left off yesterday, and the begging of the sons of Israel, or Jacob, on their brother Joseph, whom they had once betrayed and sold to the slavemasters.

They feared his retribution for all the wrongs they had wrought on him in the past. But this is where they failed to see that whatever evil they had concocted and planned against Joseph, God had turned them into something good for the benefit of many people. The way of the Lord is truly far beyond our comprehension and understanding, and His ways is truly far beyond us and our ways.

What the Lord Jesus wanted to tell the disciples was in fact of the same nature as well. This is because He told them about not needing to worry about anything in life, as God who cares for His beloved ones would be with them and providing them with all the things that they need. And indeed, this was the case, and will always be for all of us who put our trust in Him.

Brethren, it is the fallibility of our human nature for us to have fear, worry and uncertainties inside each one of us. It is exactly because we do not have faith in the Lord, and because we put our hopes on worldly things and matters that we end up sinning before God and men, for we act in ways so as to preserve ourselves, our own prosperity, material goods, well-being, often at the expense of others around us.

The examples of St. Benedict and all that he had done should have inspired all of us. It does not mean that all of us ought to abandon everything and pursue religious life as he had done. Some of us indeed may follow in his footsteps, in the footsteps of the many holy priests and servants of God in giving their lives up for the service of the Lord and His people, but for the majority of us, what we need to do is to live faithfully and reject all of the temptations of the world, which Satan is offering us for the destruction of ourselves.

Can we indeed try to look away and detract ourselves from the temptations that is the worldliness all around us? Do not worry about these things, for truly what is more important is the salvation of our soul. There is no point for us to have a good life in this world, to have plenty of everything, and yet in the world that is to come, we have nothing, because in our striving for goodness in this world, we have brought suffering to others, we have not been obedient to God, and we have ended up sinning before His presence.

Let us all build for ourselves the richness and treasures of the world that is to come, by listening and obeying all that the Lord had shown us. May the examples of St. Benedict and that of other holy saints be inspiration for us, so that we may be forever true to our commitment to our Lord and God. May He bless us and keep us in His grace, and strengthen our faith in Him always. God be with us all. Amen.

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Friday, 10 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the theme of the readings from the Scripture, is reassurance which God shows all those who believe in Him and who put their trust in Him. In the first reading from the Book of Genesis, we heard how God reassured Jacob, who was hesitant and unsure about moving to Egypt with all of his family and possessions.

In that occasion, Jacob, who had long grieved and were distraught over the loss of one of his favourite sons, Joseph, heard again the hope of seeing his son alive, when his other sons came back to him bearing the good tidings from Egypt. But in his heart, doubt and fear still existed, asking if this is not something that is not real, or that he in his old age should have remained in Canaan and not going forth on this journey to Egypt.

But God reassured him that this journey is part of His plan for him and for his descendants, and He will bring him back, and much later on, all of his descendants, back to the Land which He had promised to them since the days of Abraham their forefathers. God reassured Jacob that He will lead them and guide them, and great will be the rewards for His beloved people.

This is closely linked with the Gospel today, which if we look closely, it is about the Lord sending His disciples to the people whom they would be ministering on. He reminded them that they would be sent like sheep among wolves, to be the ones who would be sent in the midst of danger, oppression, harshness and plenty of difficulties as what would befall all those who follow the Lord and His way.

But He also reassured them at the same time, that He will be with them, and He will not leave them alone on their own, for His Spirit will be with them and will be upon them, just as He promised the sending of the Advocate, the Helper, the Holy Spirit which He had sent to all of His faithful. He will not leave us empty and alone in this journey of the faith.

God is our Hope, He is our Reassurance, our Strength and Power, and the One in whom we can totally trust everything we have to. He is patient as He is loving and forgiving, and despite all of the difficulties and challenges which we have presented Him with, through our actions and deeds, He has endured all of them, and opened for us the doorway to His mercy, providing that we make the effort to seek it.

Can we learn to put our trust in Him? For too long we have placed our trust in the power of men, and we can see where that leads us to. The power of men is feeble compared to the power of the Lord, and to trust in the power of men is indeed like what Jesus mentioned in one of His parables, those who built their houses on the foundation of sand.

That is why we fear and we do not have faith, because if we rely on our own strength, then truly we have no strong support and anchor to keep ourselves steady in this ever-challenging world. Then, all of us should indeed go forth and change our ways, that we can learn to put our complete trust in the Lord. He will bring us who are faithful to Him much goodness, and He will reunite us together, all to be in His presence forever, in eternal bliss and joy, just as on the day when Jacob saw Joseph, his beloved son, once again.

May Almighty God bless us all, and guide us in this journey, which we take as we live in this world. May He lead us to the path that leads us to Him, and help us so that in Him we may find our reassurance and our comfort. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 9 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we heard how Judah argued with Joseph to show mercy to Benjamin, who was accused of stealing the silver cup of the Regent of Egypt. The brothers of Joseph did not recognise who Joseph was, but their pleas and commitment to repentance of their past sins moved Joseph so much, that eventually he revealed who he was to all of them.

In the Gospel today, we heard about Jesus who sent forth His disciples to proclaim the Good News to the people of God, preaching the words and promises of God’s salvation. He sent them to reveal the truth of the Lord to mankind who have lived for so long in the darkness, so that by the light which He is bringing into the world, He may help us to realise that we ought to walk and live in the light and abandon the darkness which had enveloped us for so long.

There is a link between the two readings which if we realise it then all the things will make sense to us. In the first reading, the brothers of Joseph made pleas after pleas to Joseph, begging him to let Benjamin go, and instead take one of them as a hostage in the place of Benjamin. And eventually Joseph gave in and showed mercy to them, revealing to them who was his real identity, as his brother.

In the similar manner therefore, if we look at it, the brothers of Joseph actually resembles all of us who seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, while Joseph represents the Lord who is loving and merciful. Despite all of the bitterness, the betrayal and the sorrow that his brothers had wrought him, Joseph continued to love his brothers and forgave them their faults to him that many years ago. Joseph represents that love which our Lord continues to show us even though we have betrayed Him, rejected Him and brought Him so much sorrow by our rebelliousness.

God is just like Joseph, and if we seek Him with all of our might and with all of our hearts’ attention, then He will listen to us and our pleas. He has great love and mercy for us, seeing us suffering from the results of our sins. We have been sundered from His grace and love, and we suffer just like the sons of Israel suffering not just from hunger because of the great famine, but even more so because of the guilt, of having betrayed their own blood, their own brother and selling him to the slave masters.

We too have betrayed the covenant which our Lord had made with us, and we spurned His love and His care for us. We rejected His rich offer of forgiveness, which He had extended to all of us who have sinned against Him. Do we not appreciate this mercy which our Lord had shown us at all times? Do we not know how the angels and the saints are praying daily and at all times for our sake?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on the lives of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his many companions who had given up their lives for the sake of their faith in God. Despite the challenges they faced, they did not give up their faith, and chose to die rather than to commit sin by disobeying the Lord and falling once again into a life of sin.

Together, they, who are called the Martyr Saints of China have endured rejection, persecution, torture and suffering from those who refused to believe in God. They have been tempted with the offers from those worldly peoples, offering them positions, fame, wealth and safety in exchange for them to recant their faith and to reject the Lord their God.

They refused to do so, and remained firm, even when threatened with torture and suffering unto death. They have sought the Lord with all of their hearts, and indeed their prayers were heard, and in the faith and righteous way of life, even until the end, they justified themselves in faith and they were all received into the glory of heaven in the presence of God.

We can do the same too with our lives, brethren, in a way that we all should stand up for the Lord, and for the faith we ought to have in Him. Do we still succumb to the temptations of this world, the temptations of pleasures especially that of the flesh? We have to remember that it is meaningless for us to be safe in the world, and yet lose everything in the world that is to come.

And we have to take note that we all are still empty in us, and we hunger for the spiritual nourishment and fulfilment which only God can give. What can we do then? Draw closer to God and walk in His ways, listen to Him and do what He had commanded us to do, and carry out the mission which He had commissioned His Apostles to do, that is by our actions, spread the Good News of His salvation to all the peoples. May God bless us all in this endeavour. Amen.

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Wednesday, 8 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, whose favouritism showed by his father caused the enmity of his brothers and led him to be sold by them as a slave who was then sold to the Egyptians. And we knew how Joseph rose through his years of difficulty and suffering to become the Regent of all Egypt, the second man in the whole country after the Pharaoh himself.

We heard in today’s first reading how a great famine enveloped Egypt and all of the world, but thanks to what God had done through Joseph, Egypt was fully prepared to face the famine with its years of preparation during the time of plenty. And the other sons of Jacob came to Egypt, save for Benjamin, to buy food and grains to alleviate the famine they were facing in the land of Canaan.

In the Gospel reading, we heard how Jesus called His twelve Apostles, the twelve chosen from among many to be His principal disciples, the ones to become the pillars of His Church and the spearheads of His works after His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. And He commanded them to go to the villages and towns and to gather back the lost sheep of Israel.

There is a great connection here between the readings which we may not be able to realise on face value, as we need to look deeper into them. The twelve Apostles of Christ were chosen in such a number to represent the tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob. So just as the Lord gathered His twelve disciples to Himself, He symbolised the gathering of all the sons of Israel, the people of God, once scattered around the world, back to His loving embrace and presence.

And just as there was a great famine all over the world including that of Canaan, where Israel or Jacob and his sons lived, there were great darkness awaiting the people of God scattered around the world because of their sins and disobedience. They also suffered from hunger, not the hunger for bread or food, but the spiritual hunger of the heart and soul, the desire and longing for the Lord to come and fill their hearts and nourish their souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, looking at the readings of today’s Scripture readings, there is something that we need to realise, and that is, our Lord is concerned with us, and He is thoroughly concerned about the state of our soul, whether we are in a state of grace, or instead in a state where sins and disobedience have brought us far away from His salvation and from His love.

The sons of Israel all represented us in this world, from how they plotted against Joseph out of jealousy for his dreams and his being the favourite son of their father. We are all by our nature selfish and thinking first of ourselves, and we do not like it when we see someone else doing better than us or having better things than us. This is where our desires, greed, jealousy and haughtiness become our undoing.

Therefore, what do we need to do, brothers and sisters in Christ? Let us all learn from the example of Joseph, who if we read the story today in the first reading from the Book of Genesis to its conclusion, then we ought to know that he forgave his brothers, despite all that they had done to him, all the suffering they had caused him. That is the example which our Lord Jesus Christ had shown us as well. He shows us that the way of the Lord is forgiveness and love.

May Almighty God guide us on our way, so that we may walk faithfully in His ways, and be reunited to Him with one another, so that just as He gathered back all the sons of Israel through the means of Joseph, He may also gather all of us mankind back into His loving presence, that we who were once sundered from His presence may find a good reunion and unity to Him who loves us all and wants us back to His embrace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the work of God, who went here and there to cure and heal those who were sick, those who were possessed by the evil spirits, those afflicted by their sinful ways, and brought them to righteousness and salvation once again. And yet, some of His people doubted Him, even those who had seen His mighty deeds and power.

We can see this in the struggle which ensued between Jacob and God as Jacob made his way back from exile to the land of Canaan. He fled into exile to the house of his relatives back in Abraham’s homeland because of the great fear for his life, for having stolen the birthright and blessings which his brother Esau should have received from their father, Isaac.

And even though God had affirmed him in His love and showed how much he will be cared for, with all the blessings he received during his years in exile, having possessions, wealth, good wives and family with all of his children, but deep inside, he still had his doubts, and he still feared the retribution of Esau even as he travelled back to the land of Canaan, which God had promised him and his ancestor, Abraham.

That was why it is likely God appeared to him to show him that if he trusted in God, there would be nothing that he needed to fear from. He struggled with God and survived, and that was why he was given the name Israel, which literally means struggling with God. This is to show us that if God is behind us and giving us strength, then we really have no need to fear, for He will support us and help us in all that we need.

But doubt is indeed our greatest challenge, the inability to put our complete trust and faith in the Lord. And for the people of Israel, if we witness their actions and deeds throughout the entire Scripture, we see how they struggle to commit themselves to the Lord their God, as their hearts, minds and attentions are not fully focused on Him, but rather on the things of this world, trusting in their own power and abilities rather than putting their trust in the Lord.

They doubted Jesus because they were unable to comprehend the fullness of God’s truth and love, which He manifested perfectly in Jesus Christ, who healed many and cast out demons and sickness from many, simply because of one fact, that God loves us so much, and so great was His love, that He is willing to come down to earth to dwell with us and to succour us from the torture that is our sins.

And He has given us so much goodness for so little a price. All we need to do is to cast away our doubts and faithlessness, and embrace His love, which He had given for us freely, that we too may have love in us. And all of us who have believed in Him and followed Him, should realise that there is something for us to do, to help Him to bring the love which He had shown us, and the Good News of His salvation to the rest of the people, to all those who have yet to hear them and witness them.

The Lord had said, that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Indeed, this is the problem facing this world now. There are so many opportunities in this world, to bring men closer to God and bring them from doubt into faith, but there are so few willing to devote themselves to the tough job and challenges of bringing that Good News to those who are willing to hear it, and yet have no opportunity to do so.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect today and think about the mission which God had given us through His disciples. Do we remember what the Lord Jesus told them before He ascended into heaven? He commanded them all to go forth to all the nations, to the very ends of the earth, and to baptise all nations and all peoples in His holy Name, and make them His own, united through His Church.

It is here then that our role is important, as we are the ones to continue the good works of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, who had begun what He had commanded them to do. We do not have to start with big things and then thinking that it is too much and impossible for us to do. Rather, start from something as simple as having a strong faith on our own, and then show that great faith through real and true actions, all of which reflect the nature that we belong to the faith and to the Lord.

Let us now pray that we will be able to carry out this mission, and that people through our works will come flocking to the Lord our God, so that all of us may receive together the salvation and grace which He had promised all those who believe in Him. May Almighty God bless us and guide us in this path, and in all of our endeavours in faith. Amen.

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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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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we heard about how Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth, and the people doubted Him and rejected Him, because they thought they knew who He was and where He came from, His background and family, that they refused to listen to Him. This defiance was indeed what the Lord had told His prophet Ezekiel in the first reading we has today.

The Lord sent many prophets and messengers to let the people know His will through many ages, when the people of God had walked astray from His path, and followed the ways of the world into their doom. God wanted to save them all and turn them all back to the faith, to salvation and liberation from all of the punishment that are due for their sins, but yet, in many cases, the people refused to believe.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because we mankind have been afflicted with what is called pride, and with what is called greed, desire, stubbornness, and many others. Because of all these, which we are all vulnerable from, we ended up acting like the people of Nazareth, who in their pride and refusal to acknowledge their sins, they have refused God’s salvation which He had freely offered through Jesus.

Many of us are by our nature selfish, and we like to think about ourselves first before that of others, and we like to judge others based on the standards that we set ourselves, including the standards of this world. It is in our nature to be judgmental and to criticise, and yet, while we are so concerned about others’ faults and shortcomings, we fail to see our own shortcomings and weaknesses.

Jesus rebuked all those who have acted as though they were so righteous and just, but in truth, they had no love in them. He rebuked all those who have been judging others for their little faults and yet failed to see the big flaws present in each one of them. This is the faith of the hypocrites, and the action of hypocrites do not gain much favour in the sight of God.

We ought to reflect on this, brothers and sisters, on the fact that we have also often walked in the same path as them. Look at the people of Nazareth, and why did Jesus say about them such things, such that the prophets are welcome except in their own home countries and towns? This is because of the same reason. We like to make assumptions and judgments to please our own purposes, and we are quick to get jealous when someone else have something that we do not have.

The people of Nazareth thought that it was preposterous to think of someone who apparently lived with them and walked among them for many years, the son of a mere humble carpenter could have been a great prophet and someone with such powers to heal and restore many peoples with illnesses and diseases. What do you think was it that happened inside of their hearts and minds?

Precisely, it was the devil who was at work, planting the seeds of distrust, jealousy and desire inside of them. He fanned the flames of jealousy in them, making them think that it was unfair for this mere carpenter’s Son to assume such power, and deep in their hearts, it was likely that they secretly desired the same power and authority as the one had by Jesus.

If we succumb to these wicked thoughts and behaviours, then this is where the root cause of all the sufferings and pains of this world came from. We live in a world where violence and struggle between members of families, friends, relations and peoples can happen because one covets what others possessed but not him or her. We should learn from the history of our race, to know from many occasions how mankind were willing to cause hurt to others just to satisfy their carnal desires, to possess more of this world’s goodness.

And it is our bad tendency and nature that we like to judge based on appearances. We always focus on how we appear before others, and we deem people worthy and suitable, even unto placing values on them based on how their appearances are. Unfortunately, this is reality and indeed, we often fail to realise what someone’s true worth is, as we focus on appearances but not what is inside the heart.

Does God look at appearances? No, such thing is superficial. What God sees is what lies inside each of our hearts and minds. And under His gaze, nothing even hidden deep inside men’s hearts and minds can escape His sight. What God values most is what is the contents of our hearts, whether they are filled with love, tenderness, care and concern for one another, and with love for Him, or whether they are filled with greed, desire, pride, arrogance and selfishness.

God created each one of us with our own strengths and weaknesses. No one is made perfect. Therefore, it is important for us to realise how we need to open up our eyes, and not just the physical eyes that we have to perceive the world and others as they appear around us, but even more importantly, we need to open up the eyes of our hearts, which allow us to see one another in a new light.

I assure you that if we do so, then we will be able to perceive the world around us in a different, and in a much better way. And we will then be able to see our true goal in life, that is to seek the Lord with all of our might and strength, and therefore carry out all of His will, which is for us to love each other, especially those who are least among us, the poor, the lonely, the downtrodden, the oppressed and many others who are not as fortunate as us.

Do we ignore the plight of these people when we look at them? Do we just focus on the appearances and externals, and fail to open our eyes, the eyes of our heart to see and understand the truth of what we can do to help them? Let us all reflect on what Jesus had told His disciples about what will happen at the last judgment of the living and the dead.

Jesus told them that those who have loved those who are least among them, helped them and gave them love, will be worthy of the kingdom of God, while those who have ignored those who need our love, will be rejected and cast out of God’s presence forever. Thus all of us ought to be aware that if we do not realise what we ought to do to vindicate our faith and devotion to God, then what awaits us will certainly be something that we do not desire.

Therefore, let us from now on learn how to live faithfully this life which we have received from God, and learn to open the eyes of our heart, to see the plight and suffering of others around us, that we may realise how earthly goods and possessions are not everything for us, and there is indeed a greater goal in our lives, namely to seek God our Lord, with all of our strength and might.

And let us all grow stronger in our humility before the Lord knowing that we are sinners who ought to be forgiven despite the sins and faults which we have committed, and for that forgiveness to take place, we ourselves too must die to ourselves, to our pride and desire, to all of our earthly desires and wants. Let us all remind one another to live righteously and justly in the presence of God, and making ourselves available to help others who are in need of help. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Isaac blessed his younger son Jacob with the blessing which was intended for Esau, the eldest son. And in the Gospel we heard how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who criticised the way that the disciples of Jesus followed, not fasting and following what the norm of traditions at the time dictated.

It may be difficult to see the link and connection between the two readings, but the truth is that the two are indeed very related, considering what Jesus told them about how new wine ought to be placed in new wineskins, and how old wine ought to be placed in old wineskins. This is related to the two sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, each of whom represent the old ways of the world, and the new ways of the Lord and His salvation.

The triumph of Jacob over his brother Esau showed the incompatibility of the old ways with the new ways, and that we must indeed make a choice between the two of them. This also means that if we call ourselves followers and disciples of the Lord, then all of us cannot do what is contrary to what is expected of us as the followers of the Lord.

If we call ourselves the disciples of the Lord, and then we commit things wicked and evil in the sight of God and men, then we discredit and trample on our own faith. In this manner, we are exactly like the old wine being placed into new wineskins. The incompatibility between the two will tear apart the whole wineskin and wine inside it will be spilt and wasted. In the same manner, therefore, if we believe in God and yet did not do as is expected from us, then it created a scandal for us.

We have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that in order to be true disciples of our Lord, then all of us have to show it not just by mere words or proclamations of faith, but instead, we must also show it through work and devotion, which will vindicate our faith, that it is indeed real and genuine. This is what we ought to do, and what we must stand up for.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we have to wake up to the realisation that we have to listen to what the Lord had taught us. He had taught us about love, for He is love Himself, and by showing that love for us, He taught us that we need to love Him and love one another in the same manner. Yet, we know that even among us the faithful, we see so much discord and divisions, infighting and conflict among us.

We should know that faith is meaningless and dead without action and commitment. True faith requires us to go forth and do what the Lord had commanded us to do, to be righteous in all of our dealings, to defend the truth which He had revealed to us, and to stand up for the Lord. Indeed, the world will be hard on us and it will oppose us with all of its might.

But remember, they have also rejected the Lord when He came into the world, and they refused to listen to Him, and persecuted Him and His servants and disciples. This is why we have to have courage in our faith, and do not fear, for God is always with us, and He will guide us on the path, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will receive the fullness of the richness of God’s grace and blessings.

On this day, we commemorate the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, who was the Queen of Portugal in the middle ages, who was renowned for her great faith and piety, and who after her husband’s death, she left everything behind and chose to devote the rest of her life in a prayerful retreat in a monastery. She continued to do great works of charity, even in her old age, helping those who were less fortunate, poor, weak and ostracised.

The examples of St. Elizabeth of Portugal reminds us that while we live in this world, filled with much vices and evil, it does not mean that we have to succumb to it and to follow the way of this world. We can choose to be righteous and just, as St. Elizabeth of Portugal and the other holy men and women of God had done throughout the ages. Let us all go forth and show God’s love to one another, a concrete show of our faith.

May Almighty God be with all of us, strengthen our faith and devotion to Him, and empower us to be even more devoted disciple of His cause. God bless us all. Amen.