holy women

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Monday, 27 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

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Monday, 27 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Hebrews 9 : 15, 24-28

So Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant or testament. His death made atonement for the sins committed under the old testament, and the promise is handed over to all who are called to the everlasting inheritance.

Christ did not enter some sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself. He is now in the presence of God on our behalf. He had not to offer Himself many times, as the High Priest does : he who may return every year, because the blood is not his own.

Otherwise He would have suffered many times from the creation of the world. But no; He manifested Himself only now at the end of the ages, to take away sin by sacrifice, and, as humans die only once and afterwards are judged, in the same way Christ sacrificed Himself once to take away the sins of the multitude. There will be no further question of sin when He comes again to save those waiting for Him.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Scriptures, we are all reminded and reassured of the constant and ever enduring love of God which He has always shown us throughout time and history, and which He has again and again renewed through His many promises made to us through His own words and through the prophets. And all these promises were not just mere empty words, as they all had been formalised and made complete, fulfilled and accomplished through none other than Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, Who has come into our midst to reveal to us the fullness of God’s love and grace, His mercy and kindness made tangible and real, approachable to us all.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews we heard of the reminders from the author directed to the Jewish community and people of everything that the Lord their God has promised and reassured to them again and again throughout history, referring to the promises of the Covenant He had made with Abraham and others among His servants and people, and how it was the perseverance shown by Abraham and those who are faithful to the Lord which has earned them all their inheritance and blessings from God. Through God and His love, and their constant and enduring obedience and faith in Him, all of those faithful people of God have been truly blessed and become reminders for us all that God has given us all so wonderful a blessing.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist the arguments between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees who argued that the Lord and His disciples had violated the Law of God on the matter of the Sabbath day because the disciples had plucked on the grains of wheat from the field when they were all very hungry. The Lord rebuked those Pharisees by quoting the example from the Scripture, how the venerated and well-respected King David of Israel and his companions were allowed to eat from the bread reserved only for the priests at the House of God. Neither David nor his companions were members of the priestly order, but they were allowed to eat when they were very hungry.

Those Pharisees belonged to those who very strictly and rigidly interpreted the Law of God, taking the meaning of the Law such as the Law on the Sabbath, to the point that they misunderstood the true purpose, meaning and intention of the Law of God, which were not meant to restrict, restrain or make their lives difficult. Instead, the Law had always been meant to help show and teach the people of God the true meaning of love and how they all can truly love Him wholeheartedly and to be filled fully with faith and trust in this love, because it is by His ever great, wonderful and enduring love that we all have been saved and provided with rich and sure assurance of eternal life and inheritance beyond measure or comparison.

We are therefore reminded through these Scripture passages today that we must always be truly faithful to the Lord and put our whole trust in Him, be filled with true and genuine love in Him and not merely observing His Law and commandments without truly understanding and appreciating their true importance, purpose and significance. If we want to be truly faithful to the Lord, then we must not be like those Pharisees who placed greater importance in their own selfish desires and personal ambitions in achieving their pious actions and practices so that they might be praised by others and be honoured for doing so. This is why all of us as Christians should always put God first and foremost in our lives, as Abraham and many of our predecessors had done before us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Agnes, a renowned martyr of the faith who perished during one of the most intense persecutions of Christians and the Church. She was also known as St. Agnes of Rome, having been born into a Roman noble family and was raised as a Christian by her family during the difficult years of persecution against Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his fellow rulers in the then Tetrarchy. Eventually, due to her great beauty, St. Agnes had many suitors whom she all rejected as she wanted to devote herself to God, and as such, disgruntled suitors reported St. Agnes’ Christian identity to the authorities who then arrested her and forced her to deny God and abandon her faith, which she courageously refused to do.

When St. Agnes was brought before the Roman prefect, Sempronius, he condemned her to be paraded naked to a brothel for her to be defiled by those people who frequented the brothel in mockery of her holy virginity. According to Church tradition, St. Agnes prayed to God and her hair miraculously grew and covered her whole body, and anyone who wanted to rape her were immediately struck blind, and no one could harm her at all. And this included Sempronius’ own son, who was struck dead, and upon the intercession of St. Agnes, the dead son was revived again. Undoubtedly shaken by what he experienced and what happened to his son, the Roman prefect recused himself from the judgment and let another person to judge St. Agnes, who was thereafter martyred by either being beheaded or stabbed on her throat after even flames would not harm her.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scripture passages today, and from the life and examples of St. Agnes, holy woman and martyr of the Church, let us all therefore learn to commit ourselves ever more, in each and every moments given to us, in every opportunities so that we may ever be courageous and most dedicated servant of God, with our lives and examples be the shining beacons of truth and the guiding light for everyone around us. May everyone knows the Lord and His love by the love He has shown us and which we have reflected in our own lives, in our complete and trust in God and in our love for our fellow brothers and sisters, for those who are less fortunate and in need for our love. May God, our ever loving Master and Creator be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 2 : 23-28

At that time, one Sabbath Jesus was walking through grainfields. As His disciples walked along with Him, they began to pick the heads of grain and crush them in their hands. Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath!”

And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did in his time of need, when he and his men were very hungry? He went into the house of God, when Abiathar was High Priest, and ate the bread of offering, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men who were with him.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Master even of the Sabbath.”

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Tuesday, 21 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 110 : 1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c

Alleluia! I thank the Lord with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of the Lord are great and pondered by all who delight in them.

He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; the Lord is merciful and kind. Always mindful of His covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him.

He has sent His people deliverances and made with them a covenant forever. His holy Name is to be revered! To Him belongs everlasting praise.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Hebrews 6 : 10-20

God is not unjust and will not forget everything you have done for love of His Name; you have helped and still help the believers. We desire each of you to have, until the end, the same zeal for reaching what you have hoped for. Do not grow careless but imitate those who, by their faith and determination, inherit the promise.

Remember God’s promise to Abraham, God wanted to confirm it with an oath and, as no one is higher than God, He swore by Himself : I shall bless you and give you many descendants. By just patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the promise.

People are used to swearing by someone higher than themselves and their oath affirms everything that could be denied. So God committed Himself with an oath in order to convince those who were to wait for His promise that He would never change His mind.

Thus we have two certainties in which it is impossible that God be proved false : promise and oath. That is enough to encourage us strongly when we leave everything to hold to the hope set before us. This hope is like a steadfast anchor of the soul, secure and firm, thrust beyond the curtain of the Temple into the sanctuary itself, where Jesus has entered ahead of us – Jesus, High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

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Friday, 13 December 2024 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, we are all reminded that we should continue to keep closely attuned to the Lord and maintain our focus on Him amidst all the temptations and false leads in this world, and amidst all the secular rejoicing, festivities and celebrations of the worldly Christmas that may not have their focus on the Lord. We should always remember that ultimately Christmas is a great celebration and rejoicing because of the Lord and His great and most wonderful love by which He has sent us all His assurance and salvation through His Beloved Son, born into this world two millennia ago and which we celebrate as this celebration of Christmas.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God told His people, the Israelites in the kingdom of Judah about how they all would have prospered and lived wonderfully had they obeyed His words and commandments, listened to Him and followed the path that He has revealed to them. At that time many of the Israelites had wandered off from the path of the Lord and disobeyed His words, refusing to follow the advice and exhortations from the prophets and messengers of God sent to them to remind them. However, the Lord Who truly loved all of His people refused to give up on them and that is why He kept reminding them through His prophets like Isaiah, to help at least some of them to find their bearing in life and to be able to return back to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard the Lord telling the people of the frustrations He faced from many among them because of their lack of faith and trust in Him, and how they kept on changing their thoughts and ways according to their ever changing priorities and preferences, and as their leaders often criticised Him and St. John the Baptist, the one who was the Herald of the Saviour. They refused to listen to St. John the Baptist when he called on all of them to repent from their sins, and criticising the man of God for his ascetic lifestyle and appearance. Then, afterwards, they also refused to listen to the Lord and criticised Him because He was not following the strict rules and practices of the Law which they had interpreted and enforced.

Essentially from what we have heard, the people of God applied their own inconsistent standards and demands, being swayed by their own desires and ambitions, instead of listening to the Lord and embracing His truth and Good News. They were too focused on their own worldly pursuits and ambitions that they were not able to open their minds and hearts to listen to the Lord Who has delivered unto them His truth, His love and the revelation of what He wanted to tell them. And this is in a way, a warning for each and every one of us as well, in how we must be careful and not give in to the temptations of worldliness that can lead us to our downfall by distracting us from the path towards God and His salvation. This Advent, we should remind ourselves what is the true focus and reason for our lives, and that is the Lord, our God and Master.

As Christians, all of us should strive to centre all of our preparations and efforts to the Lord, to the One Who had made all things possible for us, and He Who has always loved us and constantly provided for us without cease. We should always remind ourselves and one another that our lives should always be focused on the Lord, following His words and commandments, entrusting ourselves to His Providence and care, and walking in the path that He has shown us, so that by our dedication and obedience, we may find the surest and straightest path towards the eternal life and salvation that we can gain through God alone. We should make good use of the many opportunities provided for us so that we may continue to grow ever stronger in our faith and trust in the Lord.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Lucy, also known as Santa Lucia, or St. Lucy of Syracuse, a great Roman martyr and saint of the early fourth century. She was born to a noble Roman family during the late third century, during the time of the rise to power of Emperor Diocletian, the Roman Emperor who would become infamous among Christians for his particularly intense persecution against them and the Church. St. Lucy devoted herself to God and was very pious in her life, and she committed herself to a sacred vow of virginity to God. Yet, things came to issue when her mother, who took care of St. Lucy betrothed her to a rich and young pagan nobleman, having worried about her future after the passing of her father when she was just merely five years old.

St. Lucy’s mother, Eutychia, was also then suffering from a disease, and through the intercession of another famous local martyr, St. Agatha, who appeared to St. Lucy in a dream, her mother was cured, and this prompted St. Lucy to persuade her mother to give generously from her family’s estate and patrimony to the poor and the less fortunate. However this action was not viewed kindly by the pagan nobleman that St. Lucy was betrothed to, and he reported St. Lucy to the Roman governor, Paschasius. Paschasius forced St. Lucy to burn offerings to the Roman Emperor, but she courageously refused, and when she was sentenced to be defiled in a brothel, the people assigned to bring her to the brothel could not manage to move her, as the Lord protected her from defilement. Eventually, she was martyred by a sword thrust into her throat.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have discussed earlier from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, and also from the life and examples set by St. Lucy of Syracuse, holy martyr of the Church, let us all therefore remember that our lives in this world should be holy and exemplary, and we should always focus on the Lord at all times that we do not end up losing sight on His hope and salvation, and be tricked and misled by all sorts of worldly temptations and distractions around us. May the Lord our most loving God and Master continue to help and guide us all in our journey so that we may come to Him and find true happiness and consolation in Him at the end of our life’s journey. Amen.

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Friday, 13 December 2024 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 11 : 16-19

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain : ‘We played the lute for you, but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song, but you would not cry!’”

“For John came fasting, and people said, ‘He is possessed by a demon!’ Then, the Son of Man came. He ate and drank; and people said, ‘Look at this Man : a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet, wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

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Friday, 13 December 2024 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the man who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of YHVH and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Friday, 13 December 2024 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Isaiah 48 : 17-19

Thus says YHVH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : I, YHVH, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go. Had you paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from My presence.