holy women

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Wednesday, 5 October 2022 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Galatians 2 : 1-2, 7-14

After fourteen years, I, again, went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went, to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders – lest I should be working, or have worked, in a wrong way.

They recognised that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the Apostle of the Jews, He made me the Apostle of the pagans. James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me.

Those men, who were regarded as the pillars of the Church, stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas, as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans, and they, to the Jews. We should only keep in mind, the poor among them. I have taken care to do this.

When, later, Cephas, came to Antioch, I confronted him, since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James’ people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew, and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group. The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretense, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly : If you, who are Jewish, agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you, now, compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?

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Friday, 16 September 2022 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 8 : 1-3

At that time, Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the Good News of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed Him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases : Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna; and others, who provided for them out of their own funds.

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to get rid from ourselves all the taints of evil and sin, all the corruptions that came together with the actions and immorality of this world. All of us should not allow those things to distract us from the Lord and our focus on Him. We must resist the temptations of pride and ego and be more humble in our way of life and actions so that we may listen to the Lord and follow Him rather to insist on our own way. We should not harden our hearts and minds but instead be more willing to listen to the Lord and to allow Him to lead us and guide us to the path of truth and grace.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth speaking to us regarding the matter of the attitudes of the faithful people of God, which ought to be free from the evil ways and sins, and how Christians everywhere are called to be holy just as the Lord is holy. We are all called to get rid from ourselves the ‘leaven’ of sin, and purify ourselves in the way of the Lord, dedicating our lives anew in the manner that we have been taught to do through God’s Church. We live in a world that is full of temptations and persuasions, coercions and pressures to acquiesce to the worldly matters and ways just as it was during the time of the Lord and His Apostles.

At that time, St. Paul was exhorting the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth after having heard of the troubles that they were facing, the divisions that they encountered and experienced, the immorality and wickedness that they had indulged in which were scandalous in nature and unbecoming of them as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and as those who called themselves as His disciples and followers. St. Paul reminded them all to turn away from that path of sin and immorality, and instead embrace the path of God’s truth and love, and His righteousness and grace.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to the people who were listening to Him teaching in the synagogue and also to those Pharisees who were opposed to Him and who were hounding Him, attempting to discredit and to persecute Him for His constant works and efforts during the Sabbath to perform healing miracles and other deeds. The Lord criticised the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who refused to believe in Him, who hardened their hearts against His teachings and words simply because they were dead set on their beliefs and prejudices, and not only that, but they even plotted against Him and did whatever they could to undermine His efforts and works.

That was what made the Lord pointed out the folly of their argument and preferences, their way of observing the Law, and reminded them all that the Law of the Sabbath that God had revealed to His people through Moses was not meant to restrain mankind and not to be understood merely in the letter, but it has to be appreciated and understood wholly in its spirit, which is meant to lead mankind back towards the Lord, that they may all find their way to Him, and be reconciled with Him. Instead, those Pharisees and teachers of the Law indulged in their own preoccupations and prejudices regarding the Law, and made use of them to advance their own interests and wants, their ambitions and desires.

They made it difficult for the people to come towards the Lord and made it seem that following the Lord was something that was hard and impossible. They had forgotten that their role as the shepherds and guides of the people of God was to bring God closer to His people and the people closer to Him, which was exactly what the Lord had done, in reaching out for the suffering and the marginalised, and in putting others’ needs ahead of oneself, rather than what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves often did, in promoting themselves and their positions, their achievements and glory ahead of their responsibilities in leading the people of God towards Him.

Today therefore as Christians, all of us should be inspired by the examples of the Lord Himself, and also of the faith and dedication showed by the renowned St. Teresa of Kolkata, also known as Mother Teresa, who was a religious nun and the founder of the religious order of the Missionaries of Charity. St. Teresa of Kolkata was an Albanian who decided to join religious life and became a missionary sister, sent to India and experienced firsthand the hardships of life and the terrible nature of extreme poverty which happened all around her back then in Calcutta, where slums were aplenty and many people lived in great suffering and many were sick, died without any respect or honour on the streets.

Hence, it was then that St. Teresa of Kolkata was inspired to make a difference to the lives of those who were the least privileged, those who were sick and dying, and all those who had been despised by all others. Beginning with herself, she began to minister to many of the poor in the streets of Kolkata, and despite facing many challenges, doubts and disagreements, both from within and outside the Church, St. Teresa of Kolkata began seeing several impacts and successes, as there were others who followed her examples, and soon, it became the foundation of the Missionaries of Charity. And despite the challenges and trials that St. Teresa of Kolkata and her fellow sisters had to face, she continued to dedicate herself to the Lord and her mission tirelessly.

St. Teresa of Kolkata showed us what true Christian charism and mission is all about, that we ought to put the Lord and others ahead of ourselves, and in reaching out towards our fellow brethren with love and compassion, providing help and assistance whenever and wherever possible. St. Teresa of Kolkata reminded us that as Christians we are all called to be full of love and charity, and that we should show God’s love to our fellow brothers and sisters regardless of who they are, their background or origins. We should love all equally just as the Lord Himself has loved us all equally all these times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore commit ourselves to the Lord and devote ourselves completely to Him from now on, inspired by the examples, the great love, compassion and charity which St. Teresa of Kolkata had shown her fellow brethren. Let us do our best to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, and may the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us, and may He continue to encourage us that we will always remember to do what is worthy in the eyes of the Lord, living our lives full of virtue and grace, and distancing ourselves from the path of pride and ego, of human ambition and worldly desires. May God bless us in our every works and efforts, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 6 : 6-11

At that time, on another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralysed right hand, and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched Him : Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to the man, “Get up, and stand in the middle.” Then He spoke to them, “I want to ask you : what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other. But they were furious, and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 5 : 5-6, 7, 12

You are not a God Who delights in wickedness; evil has no place in You. The arrogant cannot stand before You. You hate all who do evil.

You destroy all who speak falsehood, who thirst for blood and live on lies; all of them YHVH detests.

But for those who take refuge in You, let them ever sing and rejoice. Let Your deliverance shield them, that they may praise You in gladness – those who love Your Name, o YHVH.

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

1 Corinthians 5 : 1-8

You have become news, with a case of immorality, and such a case, that is not even found among pagans. Yes, one of you has taken, as wife, his own stepmother. And you feel proud! Should you not be in mourning, instead, and expel the one who did such a thing?

For my part, although I am physically absent, my spirit is with you and, as if present, I have already passed sentence on the man who committed such a sin. Let us meet together, you and my spirit, and in the Name of Our Lord Jesus, and with His power, you shall deliver him to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit be saved in the day of Judgment.

This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread. Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

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Saturday, 27 August 2022 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, each and every one of us have been reminded that we have been called by God to be His servants, and to follow Him to whatever and wherever He sends us, in our respective and various areas of responsibilities, in whatever opportunities and moments we have been given, to be the evangelising and missionary witnesses of His truth. Each and every one of us have been given by God unique talents, abilities, opportunities and gifts, and it is really indeed up to us whether we want to embrace these gifts from God and do what God had called and commanded us to do.

In our first reading today taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard of the Apostle speaking regarding the Lord and how He called and chose those from the world that might not be in accordance to the expectations of the world. While the world often sought the rich, the powerful and the mighty, the intellectual and those who are considered worthy and good, but the Lord called on all those who are considered ordinary and plain, those whom the world does not consider to be good or worthy, to be the ones to carry out His will and to do His works. God called on all these to be the instruments of His will.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard another story, that of the parable of the silver talents, in which a master gave three of his servants several amounts of silver talents while he was going away for a while. Entrusting those silver talents to them, the master left on his matter, and the three servants acted differently on the silver talents given to them. The one who had only one silver talent chose to hide his silver talent and did nothing to it, while the ones who had received five and two silver talents respectively chose to put their silver to good use, invested in them and made good returns from them.

We heard how then the master chastised and was angry against the servant who was lazy and did not do anything to his one silver talent, while praising those servants who had done what they could to the silver entrusted to them. Through what we heard in our Gospel passage today and linking to what we have also heard in our first reading today earlier, we can see the clear parallel and comparison, between that of the silver talents and the servants with our calling and responsibilities as Christians, in serving the Lord, our Master and King. The Lord entrusted to us various talents, gifts, abilities, opportunities and others just as the master in the parable entrusted the silver talents to his three servants.

Yes, linking with what we heard earlier from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, God called us all to follow Him, and bestowed on us various gifts and talents, opportunities as each one of us have received and experienced throughout our lives. Each one of us have unique experiences and diverse gifts, all of which should be put to good use for the purpose which the Lord had given these to us. Sometimes we may not be sure what we should do with those gifts and blessings, and that is why it is important for us to discern carefully what our respective calling in life as Christians are, as we are all called to different vocations and purposes in life.

God called on us all from our diverse backgrounds, bestowing on us various things, blessings, abilities and more so that we may make good use of them, and be fruitful in our actions throughout life. As Christians, our actions, words and deeds should be life-giving and bear testimony to our Christian faith and to the Lord, our God and Saviour. But sadly, many Christians throughout the world are still lukewarm about their faith, and many did not do anything more than the minimum required obligations and responsibilities placed on us as Christians, and many more are even Christians in name and formality only.

That is why today all of us are reminded of this duty and obligation that each and every one of us as Christians have in being obedient to God and in doing His will, making good use of whatever God has given us to do His will. And unless we make the effort to do so, then we are likely to continue to ignore the Lord and His truth, and may end up falling into the slippery slope of worldliness and sins. We have to remind ourselves to be genuine in our faith and to be truly dedicated to God in all things. We can be inspired today from the story and the life of St. Monica, a great saint and woman, and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the most renowned and famous early Church fathers, servant of God and Doctor of the Church.

Back then, St. Monica was married to a Roman pagan nobleman and had a child which was to become St. Augustine. St. Monica had to put up with her husband’s often violent temper and then her son’s immoral behaviour in his youth. St. Augustine was a wayward child and teenager, and spent his life in hedonistic pursuits and also fell into the Manichaean heretical teachings and influence. St. Monica never ceased to pray for her son and continued to patiently care for him, and after her many tearful nights being concerned and worried about him, eventually her prayers and the Lord brought St. Augustine to be converted to the true faith.

St. Monica might have just been an ordinary woman, a normal mother with all the issues that mothers often face even up to this day. Yet, in all of that ordinary living and things, we see how God turned what was ordinary into extraordinary. St. Monica lived her life with faith and righteousness, and did all that she could to obey the Lord and to care for her loved ones, and that led to the conversion of her son, who was to become one of the greatest of the Church fathers, and whose own contributions and works led to the many other good things and the salvation of so many other souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after hearing all that and discerning on the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all called to not be afraid to be extraordinary through God, although we may seem to be ordinary in our lives and appearances. It is God in the end Who will make us worthy of Him, as He had done with St. Monica and countless other saints, holy men and women of God who have inspired us with the stories of their great faith and deeds. It was God Who made all those things possible. That is why, we should answer God’s call with faith and conviction, and do our best to invest our time and effort in doing whatever is within our means, in living our lives for the greater glory of God.

May God be with us always, and may He continue to guide us and bless us in all of our good efforts and endeavours, and may He continue to lead us down the path of righteousness, and bestow us His blessings and graces that we may make good use of them to glorify His Name all the more. Amen.

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Saturday, 27 August 2022 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 25 : 14-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Imagine someone who, before going abroad, summoned his servants to entrust his property to them. He gave five talents of silver to one servant, two talents to another servant, and one talent to a third, to each, according to his ability; and he went away.”

“He who received five talents went at once to do business with the talents, and gained another five. The one who received two talents did the same, and gained another two. But the one who received one talent dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.”

“After a long time, the master of those servants returned and asked for a reckoning. The one who had received five talents came with another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you entrusted me with five talents, but see, I have gained five more.’ The master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in a few things, I will entrust you in charge of many things. Come and share the joy of your master.'”

“Then the one who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you entrusted me with two talents; with them I have gained two more.’ The master said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in little things, I will entrust you in charge of many things. Come and share the joy of your master.'”

“Finally, the one who had received one talent came and said, ‘Master, I know that you are a hard man. You reap what you have not sown, and gather what you have not scattered. I was afraid, so I hid your money in the ground. Here, take what is yours!’ But his master replied, ‘Wicked and worthless servant, you know that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered. You should have deposited my money in the bank, and given it back to me with interest on my return.'”

“Therefore, take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who are unproductive, even what they have will be taken from them. As for that useless servant, thrown him out into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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Saturday, 27 August 2022 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 32 : 12-13, 18-19, 20-21

Blessed is the nation whose God is YHVH – the people He has chosen for His inheritance. YHVH looks down from heaven and sees the whole race of mortals.

But YHVH’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness; to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope, we wait for YHVH, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His holy Name.

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Saturday, 27 August 2022 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 1 : 26-31

Brothers and sisters, look and see whom God has called. Few among you can be said to be cultured or wealthy, and few belong to noble families. Yet God has chosen what the world considers foolish, to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong.

God has chosen common and unimportant people, making use of what is nothing to nullify the things that are, so that no mortal may boast before God. But, by God’s grace you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become our wisdom from God, and Who makes us just and holy and free. Scripture says : Let the one who boasts boast of the Lord.