Homily of the Mass

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Thursday, 3 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to keep in mind that we should trust in the Lord’s wisdom and allow Him to guide us in our path and journey throughout life. We should not do things in the way that the world often told us to do, or to trust in the wisdom of the world because as Christians, many of the things we learnt through the truth and wisdom of God show us that what the world considers as folly and stupid, irrational or strange, is actually the best path, as God knows all things while we mankind, even in our best intellect and wisdom knew only a part of all things, and it is not possible for us to know all things, no matter how much we try.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, continuing from the discourse earlier this week, we heard of the Apostle mentioning how what is wise in the sight of the world is considered as foolish in the eyes of God. This, together with the reference that was made regarding the leaders of the faithful and evangelisers like St. Paul himself, Apollos, a popular Jewish Christian convert and preacher, Cephas, that is St. Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the Vicar of Christ, among others, all these were meant to remind the faithful in Corinth that they must keep their focus in the Lord and not in their own selfishness and divided nature. Otherwise all those divisions could harm and destroy the Church and community of the people of God.

For back then, there had been a rather bitter division amongst the members of the Church and the faithful people of God, as some of the faithful sided with St. Paul while others were siding with Apollos, having differences in their thoughts and preferences. While that would have been natural in any organisation and in our Church even today, but from what St. Paul had elaborated and shared in his Epistle to the Corinthians showed us that the divisions that happened among the faithful seemed to be rather bitter, where that led to the break in the unity of the Church of God, the Body of Christ. Not only that, but the divisions were often particularly bitter and harsh, and they ended up attacking each other, often violently instead of working together to do God’s works.

That was why St. Paul appealed to the people of God in Corinth, to stay away from the temptations of their pride and ego, and to be willing to listen to God’s wisdom and truth, rather than to follow the whim of human and worldly wisdom and ways. Otherwise, that would have caused the divisions and disunity to continue even further, leading to further fracture in the unity within God’s Holy Church, the Christian community. Through the words of the Lord, God and His servants kept on reminding us the members of His Church to trust in His wisdom and love, His truth and grace, because in Him alone we can find the sure path to true happiness and salvation. And this is what we have been constantly reminded, as we heard in these readings today, that we should not cause division among the faithful, and strive to remain united in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord and His disciples, as He called on His first disciples by the Lake of Galilee or Gennesaret. There He encountered Simon, the future St. Peter, as well as the other fishermen, who had not been able to get any fishes all night long despite their efforts. The Lord told them to lower their nets according to His instruction, and while Simon told Him that they had done work all night and got nothing, but he still obeyed the Lord and did as He asked of him to do. According to conventional and worldly wisdom, this would have been foolish to do, as all the more that Simon Peter and the others must have been experienced fishermen, who must have known that it was pointless to try more.

Yet, as shown by the Lord’s instructions and what happened afterwards, Simon Peter and the other fishermen immediately got a catch so massive, with so many fishes trapped in their nets that their boats almost sank from the great weight of the fishes. This miracle showed us all that what the world considered foolish, is actually the truth and possible in the sight of God. We must not put our faith in the Lord and His truth on the backbench, but instead, put it at the forefront of our lives. We have to prioritise Him and not to forget that His way and truth is the better way forward. We have to learn to trust in Him more the way that Simon, St. Peter, trusted in Him and humbled himself before the Lord, in listening to and obeying the Lord’s words.

In the same way therefore, each and every one of us as Christians ought to be more trusting in God, putting our faith and trust in Him, and not to pride ourselves on our human achievements and greatness, our wisdom and glory. We have to learn to listen to the Lord and allow Him to lead and guide us down the right path. We should listen to the Lord calling us deep within our hearts and minds, and turn towards Him with full of faith and desire to obey Him and to do His will. And as we heard in our Gospel passage today, through the same event of the miraculous catching of fishes, we see how through God’s guidance, as the Church, all of us can gain so much more from our efforts. We ought to trust in God to guide us in our actions so that we may continue to go forth in faithfully obeying His commandments and doing His will.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, one of the great Popes, a great servant of God and reformer, who dedicated himself to the greater glory of God. Pope St. Gregory the Great reformed the Church in many different ways, reformed the Roman clergy and also influenced the greater Church community, purifying them from the excesses and corruptions of the world, enforcing a new and more rigorous practice and discipline in the Christian community. Pope St. Gregory the Great also spent his time and effort in expanding the reach of the Church and the Christian faith, sending out many missionaries to spread the Good News of God to more and more people all around the world.

Pope St. Gregory the Great spent a lot of time reforming the way the Church worshipped as well, laying the foundations of what would later be known as the Gregorian Chant, and also regulated the liturgy into a more synchronous form, and also brought the Church liturgy both in the West and the East to be more coordinated and laid the foundations of what today would become the Holy Mass as well as the Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Church. He wrote extensively in various letters and also other works, in opposing the various heresies of the day and in helping to guide the members of the faithful to turn back towards the Lord with faith. It was thanks to his efforts and all the initiatives that he began which helped the Church to grow and remain strong as it was during his time and for centuries afterwards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to and remember the words of the Scripture and as we remember the great deeds and works, the faith and dedication with which Pope St. Gregory the Great had committed himself, each and every one of us are reminded to live our lives to the fullest, in the path that God has shown us, obeying Him and focusing our attention on Him and not to ourselves, distancing ourselves from the temptations of worldly glory and greatness, and turning away from the allures of worldly excesses and ambitions, of pride and immorality, of hubris and human greed. All of us should guard ourselves against all those temptations and do our best to inspire one another to remain true in faith in God in the way that Pope St. Gregory the Great himself had inspired us.

Let us all therefore seek the Lord with all our heart, committing ourselves at all times to glorify Him by our lives. Let us all renew our commitment to serve Him with zeal and dedication, that we will always put God as the priority and focus of our lives. Let us all continue to work towards unity and harmony within the Church, and do our part to contribute to the good missions of the Church, the works and efforts of evangelisation and proclaiming of the Good News to many more people all around us, throughout our own exemplary living as Christians. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 2 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, we are reminded to distance ourselves from worldly attachments and erroneous ways. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly pressures and temptations, particularly the temptation of pride and ego, of desire and greed, of worldly attachments and pleasures. That is because all of those things can easily and quickly lead us down the slippery path towards sin and evil, wickedness and damnation. If we are not ever vigilant and careful, we can easily be tempted and turned into this path, and that is why we are reminded on this day to turn away from the path of evil into the path towards God and His righteousness.

In our first reading today, as we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, evidently there was quite a bitter dispute among the people of God regarding the support that they had for the different leaders of the faithful, from those who were siding with St. Paul himself, while there were those who sided with another popular preacher, namely Apollos. According to the Scriptures and Apostolic traditions, Apollos was a popular Jewish Christian preacher who gained a great following because of his great charisma and teachings, and is considered a saint of the Church just like St. Paul. Both of them were the servants that God had called to His service, and whom He had sent to proclaim His truth and Good News to more and more of His people.

However, as we heard, unfortunately, although Apollos himself was faithful and devoted to God, and gave himself well to the service and the glory of God, but it was the people who were divided because of their competing allegiances and preferences, as some preferred to follow St. Paul and his way of teaching, while others preferred to follow Apollos and his ways. It is natural for people to have differences in their opinions and ideas, but when things become heated and very divided along various lines and opinions, or groups and viewpoints, that could quickly become very troublesome and hard for the Church and the faithful, who could become violently opposed to each other in bitter factional politics.

This was exactly what St. Paul warned the people against, and what he reminded them to avoid, as he told them that they should not be divided one against another, or be opposed to each other just because they were supporting different schools of thought, or ideologies, or preferences in the Church. He told the faithful in Corinth that whatever the missionaries and the different teachers of the faith like himself and Apollos had done, all of them were working for the greater glory of God and for the sake of His people, and all of them were all the servants of the same God, and hence, every one, every members of the Church and the faithful should be united in truth, love and purpose, and not be easily divided against each other.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard then the account of the Lord healing the mother-in-law of St. Peter, one of His Twelve Apostles. At that time, St. Peter, then known as Simon, asked the Lord to to help his mother-in-law, and immediately, the Lord healed her by His power, and made her completely healthy again. That news spread and soon there were many people who came to the Lord bringing all of their sick ones and those who were troubled in many ways. The Lord ministered to them and cared for them, healed their sick and shown His great power and might, and many believed in Him, that He is truly the Messiah or Saviour Whom God had promised to His people, and Who had come Himself to the midst of His beloved ones to rescue them from their distress.

But the Lord left that place quietly in the morning of the day after, and His disciples were all wondering why He was doing that. The Lord told all of them that there were still many people who were in need of His work and mercy, and if He were to stay there in that place, then He would not have been able to do so. There would be a lot of temptations as well, in trying to lure the people into forcing Him to be their King, and that would have led to disastrous and unwanted consequences to the detriment of the Lord’s work and ministry. At the same time, the Lord also wanted to highlight and point out that whatever He and His disciples ought to be doing and were doing, those were all done for the greater glory of God, and not for their own glory.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must not allow those worldly temptations of power, glory, ambition, fame and all sorts of pride, ego, hubris and greed from misleading us down the wrong path. The Lord has reminded us that each and every one of us must always be centred and focused on God, that we will not end up losing sight on the true goal of our lives, that is to be united with God, to be reconciled with Him and to walk in His path towards the salvation and eternal glory, true happiness and joy that we can only find in Him alone. To that end, we should to our best to resist the many temptations found all around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to do our best to resist those temptations and pressures to conform to worldly ways and manners, and instead, be exemplary and committed to a life filled with virtue and grace from now on. Let us all draw ever closer to God and let us all seek the Lord with all our hearts from now on, dedicating our whole selves and our entire effort to glorify the Lord by our lives. May God be with us always and may He bless us in our every works and deeds, in all the things we say and do. May He empower each and every one of us to be ever faithful in our path towards Him, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 1 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord, we are reminded to open ourselves to know the Lord, our Saviour and King, not just superficially but also wholeheartedly in a genuine desire to know Him and to love Him with all of our might. Each and every one of us ought to trust in God’s Wisdom and allow His truth to guide us. We must not let the temptations of worldly glory and other temptations of this world from misleading us down the wrong path, or making us to move further and further away from God and His truth. This is why we have been reminded through these readings from the Sacred Scriptures so that we may always be faithful at all times, doing what is necessary for us to live in the manner that God has shown and taught us to follow.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, we heard of the need for all the faithful to embrace the Spirit of God that has been given to them, and to attune themselves to the Spirit, that they may appreciate and understand the truth of God, and not to see things through the spirit and understanding of the world. That is because the ways of the Lord are different from the ways of the world, and unless we see things from the Lord’s perspective, and through His Spirit, then we cannot truly understand the Lord, His ways and His truth. It is important that we ought to embody our faith in our everyday actions and lives, and not just in mere words and formality.

Then in our Gospel passage today we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus cast out evil spirits from a man in Capernaum when that possessed man came to Him and began speaking up and revealing the truth about the Lord Himself, how Jesus was truly the Holy One of God, the Son of God and the Messiah or Saviour of the world. The significance of this moment is that when the people of Capernaum failed to recognise the truth spoken by the evil spirits, and especially when the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often criticised and harassed Him, refusing to listen to Him or to believe in His words, it was ironically the evil spirits who spoke the truth.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? First of all, the evil spirits were truly once spirits in the service of God, Angels and other spiritual beings who fell into disobedience and sin, following Satan, the Fallen Angel, who fell into sin because of his prideful rebellion against God. But, although those evil spirits had disobeyed and rebelled against God, they were still nonetheless subject to Him and they could not but speak the truth regarding Him before others. Hence, what the evil spirits spoke through the man was indeed the truth. What the evil spirits however wanted to do by that action, is to sow confusion and make it difficult for the Lord to perform His mission by revealing His true nature before the people.

Then, that was again where we see how the Lord exercised His power, commanding the evil spirits to get out of the man. The man was freed from his predicament and was liberated from the torment of those evil spirits. That the evil spirits had to obey the Lord and His commands was yet another proof that He truly was Who those evil spirits spoke about, that although they were malicious in their intent and mischievous in their actions, but they could not lie regarding the truth of the Lord and His works and mission in this world. Yet, many of the people still refused to believe in the Lord and many still continued to harden their hearts and minds against Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these then point out to our own attitudes as Christians, as members of the Church of God. Have we allowed God to speak to us through His Spirit and allowed Him to guide us in our journey of faith through life? Or have we instead kept on resisting Him and His truth, and preferred instead to follow the ways and wisdom of this world? Or remaining adamant in our own beliefs and way of thinking, and not willing to listen to the Lord speaking to us in the depths of our hearts and minds? Many of us as Christians we prefer to still follow our own supposedly superior way of thinking and doing things, without realising that this is one major obstacle in our path towards being truly faithful to God.

There is a need for all of us God’s people to be humbler and to be more willing to listen to the Lord, to attune ourselves, our actions and deeds to God, and that requires us to allow the Lord and His Spirit to exercise His works within us and through us. We have to learn to listen and discern the will of God through His words. But one major obstacle is our many attachments and preoccupations in this world, and it will do us well to resist the temptations of these worldly desires as well as the many other pressures of worldly matters and preoccupations, all of which tend to distract us from our path towards the Lord and His salvation and grace.

Today we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation as established by our previous Pope, the late Pope Francis, whom through his Papal Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ highlighted the responsibilities that all of us mankind, the people of God and the Church in being good stewards of creation, of this world and all the things that God had made and created for us. It is important that, aligned with what we have discussed earlier on being more humble and more willing to listen to God, then all of us should also be willing to follow what the Lord has shown and taught us in being responsible stewards of our world, not just in taking good care of one another, but also in taking good care of this world as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to do our best in our lives to focus our attention towards the Lord and to be humble and a good listener, in allowing the Lord to lead and guide us in our lives, distancing ourselves from the many temptations and distractions all around us, and also to be good, worthy and faithful stewards of God’s Creation, that is this world we are living in. May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey, and may His Spirit continue to guide us with His wisdom and truth, and may His love and grace continue to strengthen us in all things and at all times. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 31 August 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard the unfortunate story of how the Lord Jesus was rejected in His own hometown of Nazareth in Galilee, by His own townspeople, not long after He began His ministry. He proclaimed the truth of God as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and proclaimed how the Lord’s salvation has finally arrived, in Him. But the people of Nazareth were bewildered, and all of them who heard Him in the synagogue was initially amazed and then later on confused and found it hard to believe that Jesus was referring to Himself as He read from the text of the prophet Isaiah. After all, they were His neighbours and fellow townspeople, many of whom had seen Him from when He was still very young, and saw Him as He grew up.

And He was merely the Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, who although an upright and likely well-respected man, but was poor and worked in a profession that was usually looked down upon. What went through the minds of the people then must have been things like, ‘How did this Jesus gain such wisdom and knowledge? He was just the poor carpenter’s Son!’ or ‘Preposterous! How can He claim Himself as the Messiah? We were just a mere tiny and poor village in Galilee!’ This referred to how that area was among the poorest in the region of Galilee, a small village and not noteworthy at all. Galilee itself was always seen as a backwater region, at the periphery of the Jewish world, then centred in Judea and Jerusalem. Galilee was where the Jewish settlers often lived alongside significant populations of Samaritans, local Canaanites and Syro-Phoenicians.

Thus, to the understanding of the people, it was impossible for someone from Galilee to have been the Messiah, and even less still, the Son of a poor carpenter hailing from the small and poor village in Galilee, the village of Nazareth. And we must also not forget that there must have been tinge of jealousy as the people complained against the Lord more because He tried to show them that in truth, He was not just a mere village carpenter’s Son. This unfortunate incident, and how the Lord was cast out of His own hometown was exactly what St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Corinthians, in our first reading today. He said that ‘your faith might be a matter not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.’

Those people of Nazareth thought that they knew it better and doubled down on their prejudices and biases, not willing to listen to the truth which the Lord Himself had brought into their midst. They, especially the religious and intellectual elites among them, the members and followers of the Pharisees and the priestly caste, among others, looked down on those deemed less than worthy, those of base and humble origins like the carpenters and others who were seen as uncouth, uneducated and uncivilised. That was why they hardened their hearts and minds against God’s truth and wisdom, even as these truths had been presented by the Lord Himself before their very own eyes, and even when they likely had heard of all the miracles and wonders which He had performed in the surrounding regions of Galilee.

And this is a reminder that we must not use our own human intellect, wisdom and understanding to judge the truth of God. And St. Paul also said earlier how as he came to the people preaching the truth about Christ, he did so with humility and open heart and mind, and thus, sought his listeners to do the same as well. It is an important reminder that we must not let the same sense of superiority and pride, our ego and all the other obstacles we heard to be barriers for us to truly be able to follow the Lord and obey Him. When we allow ourselves to be more humble, to learn to accept the limitations of our own human existence and wisdom, and realise that there is so much more that the Lord wants us to embrace and receive from Him, then that is when we truly can embark faithfully on the path that He is leading all of us towards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on these passages of the Scriptures we are reminded how every one of us have to open our minds and hearts, and allow God’s words and truth to enter into us. We must not be prejudiced in any way to others, just as the people of Nazareth were prejudiced against the Lord. As long as we have prejudice, bias and all these, it will be difficult for us to accept God’s truth and have genuine faith. And this applies in our own world as well. Why is that so? That is because if we are biased, prejudiced, then we are filling ourselves up with ego and pride, and there will be no place either for God or for our fellow brothers and sisters in our hearts and minds. And the word of God and His truth will remain elusive for us. Instead, we have to heed the words of St. Paul, reminding us to be humble before God, to accept His truth and not to allow our judgment be clouded by our prejudices and biases, our worldly perceptions and thoughts.

Let us all seek the Lord with all of our hearts, with all sincerity and faith, and let us devote our time and effort to be faithful witnesses of His truth, proclaiming that the Lord Jesus is indeed the Messiah of God, Who brought with Him and with His sacrifice on the Cross, the promise of eternal life and salvation and liberation from sin and death. Let us rejoice knowing that God has come to us, to be with us, and be thankful for His love, and no longer be stubborn or harden our hearts as His own townspeople and many of the Jewish leaders had done. The greater we are, truly the humbler and more kind and compassionate we should become instead of us becoming more ambitious and prejudiced in our ways and actions in life.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen in us our faith, and our love for Him, as well as for our fellow brothers and sisters. May the Lord bless us and all of our works, and may He grant us the courage to persevere in life with faith, in all of our works and actions, becoming ever greater inspiration and strength for one another, for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to resist the temptations and the pressures all around us, that we do not end up allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly glory, fame, temptations, and the pleasures of the world, that we fall into the path of sin and evil. Unless we make that conscious effort and have the strong determination to keep ourselves committed to the path that the Lord has shown us, and unless we do whatever we can so that our every actions, words and works proclaim the glory of God, His truth and love in our society today, we cannot truly consider ourselves as faithful and devout Christians. Each one of us are God’s holy people, and we have been called and chosen to follow Him, and to entrust ourselves to His cause.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in which we heard the struggle of Jeremiah in carrying out the will of God, in his predicament in facing challenges and hardships throughout his ministry, as he encountered stiff opposition and rejection from many of those whom he had been sent to minister to, that was the people of the kingdom of Judah. Back then, the kingdom of Judah was in its final days, torn between the great powers of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar and the Kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh Necho II and his successor. The kingdom of Judah was therefore in a very precarious situation where the king and the nobles were swayed by the temptations of power and glory, and the assurance of worldly powers and politics, and trusted in all those rather than to trust in the Lord, their God.

Instead, they doubled down on their disobedience and sins, in their worship of pagan idols and false gods. They refused to listen to the Lord, and they persecuted all the prophets and messengers that God had sent to them to remind them of their allegiance and obligation in following God and His Law, His commandments and ways. This included that of the prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord sent to the people of Judah on the last days of the existence of their kingdom. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of everything that would happen to the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, how destruction would come upon everything because of the constant sins and wickedness of the people, who have not truly obeyed the Lord as they should and who have allowed their desires, greed and evils to corrupt them and to lead them away from the path of righteousness and virtue. They allowed the devil to tempt them and to sway them away from the path of God into the path of sin.

The prophet Jeremiah himself was also persecuted greatly, and he suffered for all that he had done for the Lord, so much so that as we heard in the same first reading passage, he was also likely tempted by the devil, who persuaded him to stop for a while in his mission and work for the Lord. Yet, the Lord kept on calling and reminding Jeremiah, who therefore heeded the Lord’s call and embrace once again the missions and works that he has been called to do. He was tempted and the devil prevailed for a short while, but eventually Jeremiah came by and remained firm in his efforts and conviction to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, and to continue to speak the truth of God, His words of warning to the people and kingdom of Judah, even if that meant hardships and challenges would come to him, and he was persecuted greatly for his courage and commitment to his calling and mission.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples, in which the Lord told them that He would eventually have to face His enemies and those who would oppress Him, and how He would suffer in Jerusalem, and faced in His Passion and death. This brought about consternation and unrest among the disciples who heard that, and St. Peter in particular, pulled the Lord and tried to dissuade Him from allowing such a thing to happen. This was then met with immediate rebuke by the Lord, not on St. Peter personally, but Satan who was manipulating St. Peter and others, so that the Lord would doubt His mission and works. Hence, He told Satan off through St. Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” to highlight just how susceptible any one of us are to the temptations and to the falsehoods and persuasions of the evil one, and how he has always been busy at work in trying to subvert and destroy us all.

In essence, as we compare what we heard from the prophet Jeremiah and the Lord’s stories, we can see how the works of God met the opposition and challenges from the evil one, and all those who do not desire our salvation and liberation from the tyranny and power of sin and death. Just as Jeremiah had been persecuted for speaking the truth, and how he has suffered greatly for that, like the other prophets and messengers of God, thus the Lord Himself was not spared such a fate. In fact, He Himself faced a fate far worse than all those messengers and servants of God, having to bear the very heavy burden of the punishments and persecutions for our sins and faults, and yet, He persevered out of His everlasting love for us all.

He also encountered stubborn attitude and hardships from those same ones that He had tried to save, and those to whom He had been sent to, in order to reveal and proclaim the salvation and Good News of God. Yet, the Lord persisted and resisted those temptations, much as how He has rejected the advances of Satan during the time when He was tempted in the desert. The Lord’s dedication and obedience to His heavenly Father’s will, and His love for us all mankind allowed Him to keep on going regardless of the hardships and trials that He would have to face. This is something that should serve as a powerful inspiration for all of us to follow in our own lives.

In our second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, the Apostle told and reminded the faithful there to lead lives that were truly faithful and committed to God, resisting the worldly and pagan ways of life around them, to be always ever righteous and committed to the Law and commandments of God, in not doing things that were contrary to their faith, in embracing the pagan ways and the worship of false idols. Like that of the prophet Jeremiah, and the many other prophets, and the Lord Himself and His disciples, all of them have been called to proclaim God’s truth, as God’s holy and faithful people, that they may inspire and show everyone else, what it truly means to be followers and disciples of God. To be Christians means that we have to do what the Lord Himself had told us, that we have to carry our crosses just as He has carried His Cross.

It means that we may have to suffer injustice, oppression and rejection from the world, and challenges as well as trials throughout our lives here in this world. We may be tempted to give up our faith and struggle for the truth, just as Satan had done to Jeremiah, St. Peter, and undoubtedly many others of even our great and holy predecessors, and definitely for many others. Are we going to listen to his words of deceit and lies, the falsehoods and the wicked things that he suggested to us? Or are we going to heed instead the Lord’s persistent calling and reminders in our hearts and minds, that like Jeremiah, we may turn once again wholeheartedly towards the Lord, and dedicate ourselves once again to His cause. Each and every one of us are all the examples and the tangible signs of God’s works, in proclaiming His truth and Good News, His love and kindness in our world today.

Let us all therefore do whatever we can so that we may always be committed and focused on the Lord at all times, in living our lives well and worthily as Christians, to be holy and worthy of God, in all of the things we say and do, and in our every interactions and works. May God be with us always and may He strengthened and encouraged us in our resolve to walk ever more faithfully in His path, so that in all things and at all opportunities, we will always do what we can for the greater glory of God and for the well-being and salvation of more souls, of our fellow brothers and sisters. May God bless our every works and efforts, our every good endeavours, at all times, and may He continue to inspire us all to follow Him so that we may always do what we can to seek Him, and not for the glory of the world. Amen.

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Saturday, 29 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Passion of St. John the Baptist, in which we remember the courageous faith and dedication that St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Lord and Messiah had given to his Lord and Master, in all the things he had done, and in his whole life until even facing persecution, hardships in prison and eventually martyrdom for his righteous life and commitment to God, and his refusal to bend to the forces of the world, the forces of wickedness and evil. Through his courageous proclamation of the Lord’s coming and by calling on everyone to seek the Lord once again, turning away from their wickedness and sins, St. John the Baptist had brought more and more people closer to the Lord’s Presence and had done much in preparing the path for the Lord’s coming, which was indeed his mission in life.

At that time, St. John the Baptist, whom God had called and chosen since before he was even conceived and born, and whose miraculous birth and life had surprised many, went on with his mission, calling on the people of God to return to the Lord and to embrace His mercy, baptising countless thousands and more as a symbolic commitment that they would make for the Lord, in cleansing themselves from the corruption and taint of their past wicked and sinful lives. St. John the Baptist brought the words of God’s consolation and the assurance that the Messiah, that is the Saviour long promised by God would come very soon. He did not hold his tongue or words against those who were wicked, unjust and proud, like that of the Pharisees and the elders who were corrupt and wicked in their ways, calling them brood of vipers when they questioned him and doubted his authority in teaching and doing his mission.

Then, which led directly to today’s Gospel passage events, St. John the Baptist also spoke up courageously against the wickedness and evils of King Herod Antipas, the King and ruler of Galilee, who had taken the wife of his own brother Philip, who was likely still alive at that time according to historical records and evidence, as his own wife. Herodias, who was Philip’s wife, was therefore Herod’s own sister-in-law, and as we heard of one daughter of Herodias being mentioned in that Gospel passage today, it means that daughter was likely the child of Philip and Herodias, which according to the laws and customs of God’s Law and commandments, meant that the marriage had been consummated and could not be legally dissolved or annulled in any way. This also means that Herod committed the sin of adultery with Herodias, a fact that St. John the Baptist fearlessly criticised both of them for.

This was why Herodias held a grudge against St. John the Baptist, and wanted his death, which was only stopped by Herod’s admiration for the holy man of God. While Herod arrested St. John the Baptist and placed him in prison, he did not harm him any further otherwise as mentioned in today’s Gospel. But then we heard of Herodias’ machinations and wicked plans through which she brought about the death and martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. It was Herod’s own weakness of the flesh, which led him to commit the sin of adultery and then the sin of lust, by lusting for his own sister-in-law’s daughter that led him to his downfall, in becoming complicit in the murder and killing of the holy servant of God, because of his inability in resisting worldly temptations and the allures of worldly pleasures and vices.

That is why, all of us today are reminded on this celebration in the memory of the glorious and most courageous martyrdom of this great servant of God, St. John the Baptist, that each and every one of us must first of all be inspired by the great examples of this holy servant of God, in giving our best effort and time, our attention and focus so that we may truly serve the Lord faithfully in all things, and that we may be great examples and inspiration for one another as well. Living our lives as Christians, in following God in our world today may be a challenge for us, as we may encounter rejection and even persecution, hardships and challenges, obstacles and all sorts of things that may discourage us from continuing our path in following God. But we must not easily allow the temptations of the world, the allures of worldly pleasures and desires to mislead us down the path of evil and vice, as it had done to King Herod, Herodias, many among the Pharisees and many others.

Instead, we have to continue to dedicate ourselves to the path that the Lord has shown and guided us into. Just as St. John the Baptist, who had devoted his whole life to the service of God, and who walked faithfully in the path of righteousness without any reservations, and with all of his might, hence, that is how we should also live our lives, that is with great faith and commitment to God. We should always be strong in our desire to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and in leading a life that is truly worthy and good, upright and exemplary, so that others who see us, hear us and witness our actions and works may come to believe in God as well through us, just as St. John the Baptist in all of the commitments and works he had done, showed us what it truly should be like for us to be one of God’s faithful disciples and followers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all remember therefore the courageous and faithful life of St. John the Baptist, and follow him in his courage and examples. At the same time, let us also be vigilant and careful so that we do not end up falling into the same trap of sin, evil and worldly vices that King Herod and Herodias had fallen into, the temptations of worldly pleasures, lust and desires, as well as the temptations of worldly pride, ego and ambition that many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had fallen into. Let us all help one another to remain truly faithful to God so that we do not end up falling into the wrong path, and let us all remind one another so that we may help to encourage our fellow brethren whenever they are downtrodden and are facing hardships and challenges in life. Let us be the shining beacons of God’s hope, love and light in the midst of our darkened world today.

May the Lord continue to bless us all in our every good efforts, works and endeavours, and may He empower all of us in our every dealings and interactions, and in our commitments and lives, so that we may truly be His faithful disciples at all occasions, and be the beacons of light through which many others may come to find God and His salvation, just as St. John the Baptist had done to us, through his life, works and martyrdom. St. John the Baptist, Herald of the Messiah, Holy Man of God, pray for us all sinners. Amen.

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Friday, 28 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are presented with the need for each and every one of us as Christians to be dedicated to God in all things, and all of us should always trust in the wisdom of God and in His truth, His path and guidance rather than to follow the path of the world or any sorts of worldly means or solutions. All of us are called to be ever prepared and vigilant lest we allow ourselves to be deluded and misled by worldly temptations and false guides. We have to heed the words of today’s Scriptures that we may choose the right path forward in life and not to end up falling into the wrong paths.

In our first reading today, we listened from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, speaking to us regarding the matter of human wisdom versus God’s wisdom and truth. St. Paul elaborated how the wisdom of God far surpassed the wisdom of mankind, and how the truth and wisdom of God might be seen by man as a form of foolishness, and man by their own conventional way of thinking and wisdom may find the teachings of the Lord, His way and truth as foolishness. And yet, it is by seeking that truth alone and by putting our faith in God alone that we may find the path to eternal life and true joy.

Why is the wisdom and ways of the Lord be considered as folly by mankind? That is because the Lord’s actions, in Him reaching out to us all, flawed as we were, and showing His love, compassion and mercy might be seen as weakness by some who valued legalistic viewpoints such as that those who have erred ought to suffer punishments for their errors without forgiveness or chance of repentance. Then, when He chose to come into our world, being born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, assuming our humble existence, then that became a source of even greater confusion and consternation by those who kept the wisdom of man.

For the Jews, as we heard St. Paul saying, it was a great scandal, because Christ did not just mention that He is the Son of God Most High, the Saviour of the world, but more importantly, through His crucifixion and death on that Cross, He had suffered the most humiliating and painful death, at the hands of His enemies. By any conventional Jewish understanding and wisdom, such an event would have been utterly unbelievable and disheartening, as they had considered and thought the Messiah as the Mighty One that God would send their way to lead them in a great victory against their enemies and restore the kingdom of Israel.

On the other hand, for the Greeks, the notion of God being incarnate as Man would not have been very strange, as in their own pantheon and mythology, the gods often came down to the world disguising themselves and posing as man. However, what would have also befuddled and confused them is the same fact that this God came willingly to offer His own life, to suffer and die for the sake of mere mankind. That is something that the Greek gods and pantheon would not have done at all. Yet, that was exactly what the Lord had done, by His suffering and death on the Cross, for the sake of our redemption and salvation. That is something truly unusual and unprecedented, but that highlights just how much the Lord truly loves each one of us.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story or parable of the five wise and five foolish maidens, which we may be quite familiar with. Those five wise maidens had backup oil with them together with their oil lamps while they were waiting for the coming of the bridegroom for a late night wedding celebration while the five foolish maidens were bringing with them just enough oil for their lamps, without any backup. Through what we heard regarding this story of the five wise and five foolish maidens, we can clearly see the Lord’s intentions in reminding all of us, His faithful disciples, that we cannot be idle and we have to be ever vigilant in living our lives with faith.

And we have to entrust ourselves in God’s wisdom and providence, and do our best to live our lives in the most worthy, Christian manner. That is because if we follow the ways of the world, and put our trust in our own human wisdom and strength, then we are likely to fall into the wrong path, of self-delusion and self-aggrandisement, which will prevent us from realising that we may be wrong in what we do. Unfortunately, it is quite often that we mankind prefer to follow our own ways and satisfy our own desires and wants, and as a result, we end up doing things that are contrary to the way of the Lord, and we end up choosing the wrong actions that causing us to be more and more distant from God. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, a great saint and servant of God who is one of the original Doctor of the Church, a great Church father and role model for all of us, God’s faithful people. St. Augustine of Hippo was indeed very well-known and looked up to as a great man of God, however, he was not always a faithful person from the very beginning. At the start, St. Augustine was born into a Roman pagan noble family, to a patrician named Patricius and his mother, St. Monica, a Christian believer. St. Augustine was raised up as a pagan and brought up well in the ways of the world, and had a great interest in intellectual pursuits, being highly intelligent and curious by nature.

However, St. Augustine lived his early youth life in hedonistic pursuits and lifestyle, being swayed by the various temptations of worldly glory and the pleasures of the flesh, even leading to him fathering a child with a woman out of wedlock. All those things brought about a great misery and heart pain for his loving mother, St. Monica, who devoted herself to her son very much, and who prayed daily for the conversion of both her husband and her son. Eventually, St. Monica’s efforts, prayers and actions led to the conversion, first of her husband before his passing, and finally, that of St. Augustine himself, who was called by God, abandoning his earlier wicked lifestyle and worldly pursuits, embracing God wholeheartedly ever since afterwards.

St. Augustine thereafter led a truly faithful and exemplary way of life, as one of the most influential Church rfathers of all time, whose faith and devotion became truly shining beacons of God’s light and truth. He wrote extensively on many aspects of the faith, and his many works influenced many other saints, theologians and others in the Church long after his passing into the glory of Heaven. His works, including that of De Trinitate, a treatise on the Trinitarian nature of God, and others like the famous City of God remained as great literary and theological works, which made him honoured as one of the original Doctors of the Church, having brought so many people to the path of God and his salvation, be it directly or indirectly.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of all these things, from the Scriptures and from the examples shown by St. Augustine of Hippo, our great and holy predecessor, our brilliant role model, can we all be inspired to live our lives with true faith and dedication to the Lord as well? Can we be truly devout and faithful in our way of life as well, so that by our every words, actions and deeds, our every moments in life, we may help to lead others to God and to inspire them all in their path, that more and more people may come to know the Lord, his love and truth. Let us all therefore do our part so that we may indeed be worthy of the Lord, and be worthy of the eternal glory and true joy that He has promised to all those who are faithful to Him. May God bless all of us in our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 27 August 2026 : 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 Scriptures, we are reminded of the calling for all of us as Christians to remain faithful to the truth, teachings and the way of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We must always be ready and vigilant, and not to fall into the trap of complacency and sloth, or lukewarmness in faith and mediocracy. Each and every one of us as Christians are expected to live our lives full of faith and to do whatever we can in order to proclaim the truth of God and the glory of God through our daily living, our every words, actions and deeds. As Christians we are all called to proclaim the Lord and His Good News not just through words only, but also through our real actions and deeds rooted in our strong and genuine faith in God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, as the Apostle exhorted the faithful there to continue to remain steadfast in their faith and obedience to God through His Son, their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He reminded them of the wisdom and the light that they all had received from the Lord Himself, as they received those through the Apostles, from St. Paul himself and the other missionaries, and inspired from the Holy Spirit that has been given to them by the laying of the hands. They had received the wisdom and truth of God, and are therefore called to be faithful witnesses of the Lord and their Christian faith as they have been entrusted with by the Lord Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples with the parable of the faithful and bad servants, through which the Lord wanted to highlight the importance for each one of us, His followers and disciples, to live our lives most worthily at all times, and to do whatever we can in obeying His Law and commandments, and in doing our best to proclaim the truth of God by our exemplary actions. We cannot live our lives the way that hypocrites had done, that we do things contrary to what we profess to believe in. And we can neither neglect our obligations and responsibilities in living a good and faithful Christian life, when we are all called to be leading virtuous and good Christian living at all times and circumstances.

That is because as the Lord highlighted, the moment of our reckoning, for our actions and deeds, and for our whole lives can come at anytime. Through that parable of the two stewards, the Lord compared their examples with our own lives, reminding us that the moment for us as the stewards of the Lord’s creation, accounting for our lives in this world, can happen at anytime. We all ought to remember and know that while the most certain thing that will happen to each one of us is death, but at the same time, the most uncertain thing for us is to know the time of our death, as no one will ever know when they exactly will reach the end of their worldly existence. God alone knows that detail and all of us certainly will face that moment of reckoning when we will have to account for our lives and actions before Him.

That is why, all of us as Christians ought to prepare ourselves well for the inevitable, and we have to keep in mind what we have heard in today’s Scripture passages so that we can keep ourselves in check and also attuned to the expectations that the Lord has placed on us. If we have been delaying and been lukewarm in our faith, and not doing what the Lord has expected each one of us to do, then we really should spend the time to start doing what we should be doing, in living our lives in accordance with God and His ways from now on, and we can also seek inspiration on how to do so by looking upon the good examples set by our holy predecessors who have lived courageously and faithfully in the manner that God Himself has taught and shown them.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Monica, the mother of the well-known St. Augustine of Hippo, and who is the patron saint of mothers. St. Monica is a truly great saint who can be our great inspiration in how we should live our lives as faithful and holy people of God, in her tireless commitment to her son, her prayers and patience in guiding him towards the Lord. St. Monica was a Christian married to a Roman pagan influential man, and her son, St. Augustine of Hippo was a brilliant young man, but he was easily influenced by the many debauched and wicked influences of his time, and became a Manichaean, indulging himself in all sorts of wicked behaviours and even fathered a child out of wedlock. One can only imagine the frustrations that St. Monica might have to experience.

And yet, St. Monica went through it all patiently, always there to pray and support her son, praying for his conversion and change of heart. Slowly but surely, this impacted the members of her family, beginning from her husband, who converted to be a Christian before he passed away, and then St. Augustine of Hippo himself, who was called by God and then, under the tutelage of St. Ambrose of Milan, finally embraced the Christian faith and the Lord fully, abandoning his past wicked way of life. St. Monica was by her son’s side throughout the whole entire journey, and has always shown her love to him, reminding us all what it means for us to be a Christian and a disciple of Christ, in how we ought to love one another and to help one another in our path towards the Lord’s salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our best to proclaim the Lord ever more faithfully in our whole lives inspired by the courage and faith, the dedication and love which St. Monica has shown, especially to her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, and do our part as Christians to be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to bless and guide us in our journey, strengthening us all to walk ever more faithfully in His path, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 26 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the Scripture passages we heard of the need for us to remain truly faithful to the Lord and not to be led down the wrong path by those who misunderstood and misrepresented the Law for various reasons. And one of these were the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom did not obey the Lord as they ought to have done as mentioned in our Gospel today as were many others. They were the elites of the community of the people of Israel, and they had often misused the Law as the means to gain themselves more prestige, power and honour, as well as benefits as the expense of others around them. This means that they had not done what they were entrusted to do as the leaders of God’s people, and serve as good reminders for us not to follow their footsteps.

In our first reading today, all of us heard of the exhortation from St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the great city of Thessalonica, reminding all of them to remain true to the faith that they had received from him and from the other Apostles and the legitimate teachers of the faith and servants of God, and not to be swayed and misled by those who wanted to twist the truth and misuse Church teachings for their own selfish purposes. The Apostle told the faithful there not to allow those false and misguided ideas such as those held and championed by the Pharisees and their supporters among the early Christian communities that were often divided along these sectarian lines, and these divisions caused harm to the Church at that time.

At that time, and as how it would be in the early days of the Church, there were charismatic and influential people who would claim to have the better knowledge of the truth, or mixed the Christian truth with the other religious beliefs and causing confusion and misled many among the faithful into various heresies and syncretic, unorthodox and wicked false faith and ways, which in many occasions caused divisions among the faithful as mentioned. That is why the Apostles and the many faithful missionaries and leaders of the Church had their work cut out for them in trying to bridge those divisions and keep the unity within the Church’s efforts just as they continued to proclaim the Good News to more and more people during their missions.

St. Paul therefore cautioned the faithful against all those who were leading them astray, exhorting them to remain faithful to the truth of the Church and the Gospels they have received. And the Lord Jesus warned His followers similarly as He told them not to follow the examples set by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He told His followers on various occasions to listen to those teachers of the Law, but not to follow the way that they have practiced the Law. And that is because the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were engrossed in focusing on the petty details in the Law, spending much of their time trying to force others to observe the Law as they had done, a very strict interpretation of this Law which unfortunately led them to be superficial in their faith. As they focused on the external applications of the Law, they became proud and liked to show off their piety to others, and even looking down on those whom they deemed to be less faithful and pious than they were.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the kind of faith that God wants from any one of us. Such faith is empty and meaningless, as faith and its actions, done without clear and proper grasp of the Law, and most importantly without the focus on God and without genuine love and commitment to God, are ultimately meaningless and leads to a faith that is stagnant, and even dead. As Christians, all of us are therefore called to keep faithfully God’s commandments, and we are called to love Him first and foremost in our lives. Are we able to focus ourselves on God in this manner? Are we able and willing to trust in God wholeheartedly, and do not allow the temptations and falsehoods of the devil to affect us and lead us down the wrong path, brothers and sisters in Christ?

It is important that we should be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us in how we carry ourselves in each and every moments of our lives, in our every actions and way of living, in how we are truly genuine in believing in everything that God has shown and taught us, in His ever constant and persistent love for each and every one of us, without exception. This means that unlike those who are prejudiced, biased and hateful in the way how they relate to others, we are reminded that we should always show care, concern and love, especially for those who are marginalised and abandoned by everyone, and we should also keep others in mind in all things, and learn to be more humble and caring in everything we do, even in the smallest things.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment, to love and serve the Lord with all of our strength, and commit ourselves day after day, filled with genuine and sincere love for Him, for His truth and putting our trust and faith in Him through His Church. Let us all also hold firmly to the truth and the teachings of the Holy Apostles, all the deposit of faith that have been passed down to us through the Church, and help one another to remain faithful and not be misled by the false ways of the world. It is also important that we should strive to inculcate what we believe in within each and every one of our actions and activities in our daily lives, so that everyone who encounter us and interact with us, will truly experience God and His Presence through our own lives and actions.

May God bless us all and guide us in our journey, now and always, strengthening each and every one of us to be worthy and faithful bearers of His Good News and truth, in showing to everyone around us what it truly means to be a beloved child of God and as someone who enjoys God’s favour and love, as we all have received in various ways from Him. May our ever burning and strong love for God continue to inspire many more people to embrace God’s love in their own lives. Amen.

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Tuesday, 25 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis, and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all reminded to distance ourselves from the taints of hypocrisy and all sorts of temptations to sin, especially the temptation of worldly desires and pleasures, worldly glory, fame and renown, all of which can distract us in our journey towards the Lord. Through our Scripture readings today we are all reminded how there had been many people who were entrusted with the faith and the responsibility to guide their fellow faithful ones, and yet they failed to do their duties and responsibilities appropriately as they should have done. We are hence reminded that we must do better and do our very best to continue keeping our focus on the Lord in our daily living.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord rebuking the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their behaviour and way of living their faith lives, and especially in how they misused their authority as well as their hypocrisy and their imposition of very strict and harsh rules and regulations pertaining to the Law on the entire people of Israel. They demanded their portion and for the people to respect and to support them, and yet at the same time, they looked down on all those whom they deemed to be less worthy, the ones like the tax collectors, the prostitutes and all those who were inflicted with various diseases and illnesses, and many others. They thought of themselves as being better and superior than others around them, more worthy of God’s grace and blessings than those whom they were prejudiced against.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law demanded an external application of the Law, and they paraded themselves in doing all the things that people could witness and see them doing, praying aloud in the synagogues and in the streets, and they similarly imposed this bias and preferences in what they taught the people of God through their actions and words. But they had failed to realise that obeying the words of the letter of the Law is empty and meaningless unless one also understands and appreciates the meaning and the Spirit of the same Law. One can easily obey the Law to the letter but without understanding the importance and significance of why one has done so, which actually distracts us from truly being able to follow God wholeheartedly.

That is why the Lord was so critical on them and their actions. Their actions and irresponsible behaviour had made it difficult for many to seek the Lord and not only that, but it likely also turned many people away from God and His salvation, since the conditions and requirements which they imposed on everyone were so difficult, tough and yet unnecessary, that many people simply did not make the effort to come closer to God and instead remained in their state of sin. That way, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law whom God had entrusted with His people, had not done as they were supposed to do, and in their obedience to the Law, they were also selective and focused more on the externals rather than a wholesome application of the Law of God, and a better understanding of the ‘Spirit of the Law’.

The Lord told His people that in order for us to truly love and serve the Lord, we have to have that proper understanding of His truth and love, and obey His Law wholeheartedly instead of just obeying blindly or paying lip service or only seeking for external application or holding up appearances only. Each one of us must live our lives with faith and practice our faith with genuine dedication and commitment, at every available opportunities and at every moments, or else we may end up causing scandal on the Lord and His Church, and we may have to be responsible for making people to be more distant from God just as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done. As Christians, that is as those whom the Lord had called and chosen to be His own, and to whom through His Church, He Himself has revealed His truth and Good News to us, we ought to show genuine faith based on deep understanding of the Lord and His intentions and love for us.

That is why today we are all called to reflect on our way of life and see carefully how we can better commit ourselves from now on with faith, in following the Lord in all the path of our lives, and at all times. Each one of us have been called to reflect on the path that we should be taking moving forward in life, so that our actions and words, our deeds and everything may always be aligned with God and His will, with His teachings and with His revelation of truth. We are all presented with the opportunities and the many circumstances through which we will be able to find our way to do things in accordance to our calling and God’s will. It is up to us then whether we want to follow the path that the Lord has called us to walk through and which He has been preparing us for.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two great saints, holy men of God whose lives and faith in God should be sources of strength and inspiration for all of us to follow, so that we may all know how we should also dedicate ourselves, our time and effort to serve the Lord wholeheartedly if we have not yet done so. One of them is St. Louis of France, also known better as King Louis IX of France, a great and renowned King of France and holy servant of God. Meanwhile, the other one is St. Joseph Calasanz, a renowned Spanish Catholic priest remembered for his dedication to the less fortunate, especially to those who did not have access to education and proper upbringing in life, by establishing schools and institutions to help them. Both of them were remembered for their great commitment and dedication to God, their piety and love for both God and their fellow brothers and sisters alike, and for all the efforts that they had done for the greater glory of God and for the good of the people of God.

St. Louis, as the King of France, Louis IX, was a great king remembered for his many efforts to improve the livelihood of his people, working hard to ensure the well-being and prosperity of his people and kingdom, in his efforts to spread the Good News and the works of the Church by his support of various Church institutions and efforts. He was also well-known for his efforts in eradicating heresies and false teachings as was rampant at that time with the Albigensian heresy, which led to the efforts known as the Albigensian Crusades, where many priests and other missionaries went to convert the people back to the truth of God, having been deluded and misled by the falsehoods of the Cathars that led to the Albigensian heresy. St. Louis dedicated himself to the greater glory of God, and did everything he could for the glory of God, and had done so much for the prosperity and future of those entrusted under his care.

St. Joseph Calasanz was born into a family of minor Spanish nobleman, and he was brought up with good education and upbringing which likely gave a good impression on him on the importance of education on the youth and children. It also brought up in him the desire to become a priest, in serving the Lord in greater ways. This was initially opposed by his parents, but after a great sickness that almost led him to his death, eventually his father relented and allowed St. Joseph Calasanz to be a priest. As a priest, he dedicated himself to many great works and missions, and paid particular focus as mentioned to the youths and children who had not been able to access education. He helped to establish and open the first free public school in all of Europe, and establishing even more public schools and institutions meant to help and assist many people who have been disadvantaged. He continued to commit himself to this mission and encourage many more efforts to be done for the sick, the disadvantaged and the uneducated, to the end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the life stories and the works of St. Louis and St. Joseph Calasanz, all of us should be reminded that in our daily lives, we should also show forth genuinely our faith in the Lord, our God, through our kind and loving actions to one another especially to all those who are suffering and facing hardships and difficulties in life. If we cannot be truly genuine in how we love others around us, especially those whom we ought love the most and those who have loved us so much, and also those who need our love, then we cannot truly call ourselves as genuine and faithful Christians. We will be no better than those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who put appearances and personal ambitions ahead of their responsibilities as God’s people. May the Lord help and guide us always in everything we do, so that we will always be faithful to Him in all things and at all times. Amen.