holy women

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Thursday, 27 August 2015 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the feast day of a saint whom many of us may not be familiar with, as we are likely to be more familiar with her son, St. Augustine the Great, or known also as St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest saints of the Church. But without the actions and the hard works of the holy woman, whose life was dedicated both to the Lord and to her own son, St. Augustine of Hippo would not have been great and so influential.

St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo was a very devoted mother and a faithful servant of God, and it was her tireless and continuous dedication to St. Augustine, her ceaseless prayers for his conversion that has brought about such great merits and good things upon the faithful and upon the souls that were lost but then were brought to the salvation in God.

St. Monica showed us the examples of being a good role model for the faithful, and how mothers should be, devoting themselves to the Lord and to their families, not giving up on any of them should any of them fell into sin and darkness. She continued to pray for his conversion, for St. Augustine in his youth was a great sinner, which fell into the many wicked ways of the world, engaging in debauchery and various sins horrible in the eyes of the Lord.

She prayed for him, and eventually her prayers and her faithful devotion to her son helped him to see the light and helped him to set his path on the path to righteousness and to salvation in God. And from then on, the great sinner was turned into a great tool for the salvation of many, as St. Paul had done before St. Augustine was born.

In this, as we see in the Scriptures today, especially the Gospel, when the Lord Jesus shared the parable on the wise and wicked servants and stewards, whose actions were contrasted to each other, as representative of what we are celebrating today. The master is the Lord, and the stewards represent all of us, and indeed we all have a choice, on whether we should be a faithful and wise servant, or whether we should follow the path of the wicked and lazy servant.

St. Augustine once walked in the path of the wicked servant, filling himself with all the pleasures of the world and disregarded the ways of the Lord, being lost in a world of desire and hedonism, embracing false gods and idols, and lazing himself in a world of ignorance and in pursuit of worldliness. And many of us also walk in the same path, even now, and we are truly heading for trouble, for indeed, the parable reminds us that the master, our Lord can come back at any time, especially at times we do not expect.

And therefore, we should remember that, the lesson which we can learn today, is that God shows His mercy and love in myriads of ways, and one example which He had given is the example of St. Augustine of Hippo, as great saints were once great sinners too. What matters is that, those sinners chose the right path, repented from their sins and walked once again on the path of righteousness towards the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the examples and by the dedication shown by St. Monica, we too should follow in her footsteps, in how we care for our own brethren who we see around us and beyond. Let us all be concerned about those around us who are still living in the darkness of the world, and who are still like St. Augustine in his youth.

Let us all pray for them, and let us also show them the path to the Lord by our action. May our loving God and merciful Father forgive us all our sins, and help us all to find our way to Him. May God bless us all in our endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 27 August 2015 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 24 : 42-51

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “Stay awake then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Obviously, if the owner of the house knew at what time the thief was coming, he would certainly stay up and not allow his house to be broken into. So be alert, for the Son of Man will come at the hour you least expect.”

“Imagine a capable servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time. Fortunate indeed is that servant, whom his master will find at work when he comes. Truly I say to you, his lord will entrust that one with everything he has.”

“Not so with the bad servant who thinks, ‘My master is delayed.’ And he begins to ill-treat his fellow servants, while eating and drinking with drunkards. But his master will come on the day he does not know, and at the hour he least expects. He will dismiss that servant, and deal with him as with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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Thursday, 27 August 2015 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 89 : 3-4, 12-13, 14 and 17

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.

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Thursday, 27 August 2015 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Thessalonians 3 : 7-13

What a consolation for us, brothers and sisters, in the midst of our troubles and trials, this faith of yours! It is a breath of life for us when you stand firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for all the joy that we feel before God because of you? Day and night we beg of Him to let us see you again, that we may complete the instruction of the believers.

May God our Father and Jesus our Lord prepare the way for us to visit you. May the Lord increase more and more your love for each other and for all people, as He increases our love for you. May He strengthen you internally to be holy and blameless before God, our Father, on the day that Jesus, our Lord, will come with all His saints.

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Sunday, 23 August 2015 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are faced with the reality and the truth in the Scripture readings which we have heard today. In the first reading we heard about how Joshua, the leader who succeeded Moses in bringing Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, exhorted to them to remain faithful in the Lord, and then in the second reading, St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians urged people in the family to remain faithful to each other and to remain committed to their vow of marriage, having been united by God.

And then in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of how there will be those who refuse to listen to His words, and refuse to believe in His teachings, because of the doubts in their hearts, and their inability to grasp what the truth of the Lord is all about. He knew that there would be those who went astray and be lost because they refused to believe in the truth.

And yet of course, the Apostles, all save the one who had planned to betray Jesus, all remained faithful to the Lord Jesus, and continued to follow Him even though many others have left Him, and even though these have ridiculed the Lord they followed and served, and even though they must have been pressured and urged to leave behind their Master as well.

All of these would bring us to ask ourselves, about our faith in this ever-changing and ever more difficult world to live in. We know how this world follows its own ways. And often these ways are not in accordance to the ways of the Lord. This we should be aware of, that the world has been under the dominion and power of Satan, the evil and fallen one, ever since he brought sin into the world, and not until the day of judgment that he would be overthrown and the world made anew.

As we heard in the first reading today about Joshua and the people of Israel, Joshua gave a passionate exhortation and reminder to the people of Israel to remain faithful to the Lord, who had done so much wonders for them, and who had brought them and their fathers out of Egypt with might and power, crushing those who have enslaved them and liberated them to bring them to the lands and the bountiful gifts promised to their ancestors.

And yet, if we would read on, and which we should know, we should realise that the people of Israel did not remain faithful. They would revert to their ways of rebellion and disobedience, as they had often exhibited throughout their journey in the desert, beginning with their worship of the golden calf, betraying the Lord for the pagan idols of their neighbours, for statues and idols made of gold, silver and worldly goods.

They would sell their souls and their bodies to the vileness of the world many, many times, and they often became lost in the many temptations of the flesh coming their way. They worshipped the pagan gods of their neighbours and forgot entirely about the Lord who had led them to the lands they occupied then in prosperity. Therefore the Lord reminded them by allowing their neighbours to harass them and oppress them, so that they might know that human power is feeble, and the joy they have in the world is temporary. And everything means nothing if all are not bound to the Lord, the one true God.

Therefore, then we too should reflect on our own lives. Have we been truly faithful to the Lord? And if we say that we are faithful, then do our actions and our words, all the things we do and say, do they all show concretely and firmly that all of us truly belong to the Lord? Or did we instead do things contrary to what the Lord had taught and shown to us? Have we created scandal of our faith by not doing what we profess to believe?

Brethren, there are so many pressures and temptations from all sources and directions around us, from our own communities and societies, for us to abandon what we have believed in the Lord, and for us to betray the Lord, for other pagan and ungodly idols, just as the Israelites had done in the past, and just as they had done again at the time of Jesus, rejecting and refusing to believe in the Saviour who had come upon them in order to save them.

And if last time, they were tempted to worship the pagan gods and idols of wood, silver, gold and other earthly wares, and pushed to give sacrifices to these idols, we may think that in this modern world we no longer have such idols and hence we should be safe from such depredations and corrupted ways of our predecessors. However, many of us did not realise that we live in a world that is filled with idols, that is the new idol of wealth, of injustice, of selfishness and many others.

If we look around us, we would certainly realise how we live in such a commercialised and materialistic world, where money and possessions matter a great deal for many of us, where prestige and position, where fame and acceptance by others matter a great deal for us. If we lack any of these, it is our nature to go forth and seek ways to get more of them, to have more of what we do not have, be it money, or recognition from others.

These are the new idols that can tear us away from the true path and way of the Lord. And this path is the path of selfishness, where all of these lead to the pampering and the glorification of the self, the satisfaction of our ego and selfishness, where we end up closing ourselves up from knowing what others around us need and what we can do to help them.

It is in our human nature to think of ourselves first and even at the expense of others if necessary. And this is why St. Paul in his letter to the faithful in the city of Ephesus reminded them of the importance of the family and its unity, when every member of the family are devoted to each other, and obey one another. When each member of the family give in to their selfishness and the desire to satisfy themselves ahead of others, then it is where the very fabric of the family itself will fall apart.

The institution of the family is the anchor of faith for us all. The family is the basic unit of the Church and the faithful, where faith is disseminated and transferred from one generation to the next, and Satan knows this. This is why Satan is so particular in his efforts to destroy the family and its unity, by playing on mankind’s selfishness and self-satisfying attitudes.

We have to take note of this, brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, as we reflect on the readings from the Scripture which we have heard today, let us all keep in mind our own families, and reflect on whether in our families, we have practiced our faith together as one, and put the family ahead of our own selves. Have we put God at the centre of our family? Have we prayed together and worked together as one?

These are important questions we have to ask ourselves, if we are to help ourselves in resisting the temptations of the world through which Satan is trying to pull us away from the path towards salvation. Let us all work together as one, through our own families, by keeping the sanctity and holiness in our own families, placing God at the centre of our lives, and then working together as the whole Church to help one another in finding our way to the Lord and reaching out to Him.

May Almighty God keep our faith strong and guide us in our life’s endeavours, that in all the things we do, we will always practice what He had taught us, and remember always His mercy and love, which He generously pours upon us. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 23 August 2015 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 60-69

At that time, after hearing Jesus, many of His followers said, “This language is very hard! Who can accept it?”

Jesus was aware that His disciples were murmuring about this, and so He said to them, “Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, not the flesh. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray Him. So He added, “As I have told you, no one can come to Me unless it is granted by the Father.” After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed Him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Will you also go away?”

Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We now believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

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Sunday, 23 August 2015 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 5 : 21-32

Let all kinds of submission to one another become obedience to Christ. So wives to their husbands : as to the Lord. The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, of whom He is also the Saviour. And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband.

As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. As He wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, He Himself had to prepare and present her to Himself.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. That is just what Christ does for the Church, because we are members of His Body.

Scripture says : Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church.

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Sunday, 23 August 2015 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

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

The eyes of the Lord are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth.

The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.

Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all. He keeps all their bones intact, and none of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked; the enemies of the just will be doomed. But the Lord will redeem the life of His servants; none of those who trust in Him will be doomed.

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Sunday, 23 August 2015 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Joshua 24 : 1-2a, 15-17, 18b

Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel in Shechem, and assembled the elders, leaders, judges and secretaries. And together they presented themselves before God.

Addressing the people, Joshua said to them : “YHVH, the God of Israel, commands me to say to you : But if you do not want to serve YHVH, make known this very day whom you shall serve – whether they be the gods your ancestors served in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites who formerly occupied the land in which you now live. As for me, I and my household will serve YHVH.”

The people answered : “May God not permit that we ever abandon YHVH to serve other gods! For it was He who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was He who did those great wonders that we have seen; He protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed. So we shall also serve YHVH : He is our God!”

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Wednesday, 12 August 2015 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how Moses looked at a glimpse of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, the place of his death. Moses finally saw the land to where he was leading the people of Israel for forty years, the fruits of his long labours. However, he was unable to enter the Land because he had not been fully faithful, and on one occasion, he disobeyed the Lord and His will because of his anger against the people.

At that time, the people of Israel grumbled against the Lord and against Moses. They complained because they were hungry and thirsty, and they demanded what they wanted. They refused to listen to the Lord, and Moses was hard pressed by their demands. God commanded Moses to show the people of Israel His power, by speaking to the rock to let water to gush forth out of it.

However, Moses was so angered by the people he had led with much patience and hard work, and he struck the rock with his staff instead of speaking to it. Water still gushed out of the water and the people were able to drink and be satisfied. But God was not happy at Moses because of his disobedience, and as a result, together with Aaron and Miriam, his siblings, who earlier on had also rebelled against the Lord and Moses, they would not enter the Promised Land.

Yet, God who loves those who show their faith and dedication to Him showed Moses His mercy, and He allowed him to have a glimpse of the Land of Promise before he died. And when he died, God took him up to heaven to be with him. It was said by Jewish tradition that when Moses died, Satan was trying to claim him for himself, but God sent His Archangel Michael to wrestle with Satan and prevented him from getting Moses.

In the Gospel today, we heard about how Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the people on how they ought to resolve a problem that arose among them. He spoke to them how to deal with those who have not followed the commandments of God, or otherwise, living in heresy. God did not condemn them directly, or punished them directly if we noticed it. God instead gives them chance.

Yes, it does not mean that God hates sinner through and through, and once we sin we are rejected by God totally and completely. This is a misconception which many of us often have about the Lord and about sin. However, we have to take note that what the Lord despise is not the sinners themselves, but the sin which they have committed.

Thus, what God wants from us is not to punish us or to oppress us, but instead to save us from harm and liberate us from our own desires and our own wickedness. That is why He sent us Jesus to be our Saviour, to deliver us from the certainty of destruction and annihilation that await us had we remained on our path of doom, that is if we continue to live in our state of sin.

What matters is that we have to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, by humbly accepting and acknowledging our own sinfulness and weakness, that is our predisposition to sin and the wickedness that we have committed before God and men alike. We must aspire and seek to change our lives, our way of life, so that our actions are no longer based on worldly things and we no longer commit sin, but repent completely and turn ourselves perfectly to follow the Lord our God.

Today, we celebrate the feast of a saint whose life can be a great inspiration to all of us on how we live our lives. St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a noblewoman who had a normal life as were other nobility at that time, having four children in her family. However, she was widowed early because of an accident, and she eventually devoted the rest of her life to serve the Lord as a religious.

She established a religious order, Congregation of the Visitation, which was unusual among the other religious orders for women at the time, because they were very active in their works and outreach to the poor and the sick, whom they often ministered in many places, as more and more followed the examples of St. Jane Frances de Chantal and her sisters.

In her examples too, we can see the work of God in place in this world. God through her and her congregation, as well as through many other media, is trying to help all of us to liberate ourselves from the allures of this world, and from the entanglements of our sins. We too should also help in bringing one another closer to God and away from our past and present state of sin.

Let us all realise the love and mercy which God had shown us, and which we all should appreciate, because they were very great indeed. Let us all seek God’s mercy and love in all things. May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, welcome us all into His kingdom and bring us into everlasting life. Amen.