homily

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Monday, 30 May 2016 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the parable of the vineyard tenants from our Lord Jesus Himself, Who taught it to His disciples and to the people, including the Pharisees who had been always in His way and who were trying at every opportunity to hinder Him and challenge Him and His authority during His missions and works among the people of God.

What Jesus told the people and the Pharisees were the direct rebuke of their own actions, particularly those of the Pharisees. What Jesus had implied in the parable, is the accurate representation of the situation that arose at that time, as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected Jesus, the Son of God, Who was sent into the world, so that all who believe in Him may be saved.

The vineyard owner and master represents the Lord our God, as the vineyard itself is the world. Just as in the Book of Genesis, God had entrusted this world, its administration and care to men, so therefore, all of us have been entrusted with this world as its stewards and caretakers. But how we take care of this world, is reflected in that parable which Jesus told the people.

Some of the tenants entrusted with the care of the vineyard became greedy, and they refused to pay the fees and rents that they rightly should have paid. Instead, they persecuted the servants and the people sent by the vineyard master to remind them and to collect what were due from them. These represented how the people of God had refused to listen to the Lord and to the prophets and servants whom God had sent to them to remind them to turn from their wicked ways.

Instead, they adamantly continued to live in sin, and persecuted the prophets and the servants of God, rejecting them, casting them out of their cities and towns, made their work very difficult, and indeed, killed and massacred them without fear of consequences of their actions, and without the fear of God. And yet, as we heard in the parable, the vineyard owner still wanted to give them a chance and sent to them his only son.

This is the sending of Jesus, the only Son of God, into the world so that the sinful mankind may be saved. We know the famous phrase in the Gospel of St. John, speaking about how God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, so that all those who believe in Him will not perish, but receive eternal life and the glory of the kingdom of heaven which has been prepared for all the faithful.

But Jesus Himself foretold His own rejection by many people who still yet refused to change their ways or to listen to the words of truth as brought and preached by the Lord Himself. They rejected Him and persecuted Him, and they mocked His message and teachings, accusing Him with false accusations, and as we know, last of all, they arrested Him, handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified to His death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should heed this parable of Jesus our Lord, for the last part showed us all a warning if our actions are like those evil tenants who refused to obey the promise and agreement which they had made with the master of the vineyard. It means that if our actions show that we are unrepentant like they were, and if we acted with wickedness unworthy of being called God’s children, then as the parable said, that in the end, the master will come, that is our Lord will come again at the end of time, to judge all of us.

And if we do not do His will and are found wanting in our faith, then there is nothing for us save for damnation and eternal suffering in hellfire, away from hope, from the love that our God has shown us. God loves us all, and He even gave everything for us in order to save us from our fate, but we prove to be the stubborn ones, refusing to listen to Him and preferring to follow our own desires.

Let us all from now on change our ways. If we have been stubborn and unrepentant, proud and filled with ego, let us all humble ourselves and reflect on how wicked and sinful we have been, and let us also realise just how much God loves all of us. Let this be a moment of profound change for each one of us, sin no more and become worthy of our Lord! Amen.

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Sunday, 29 May 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we commemorate the great Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi or Corpus Domini. On this great solemnity, which is traditionally also celebrated on the previous week Thursday, we celebrate the very centre of the mysteries of our faith, namely the fact that our Lord and God, had given Himself to us, through the offering of bread and wine which He transformed into the very essence and matter of His own Body and Blood.

And this perfectly summarises our faith in the Real Presence of God in the Eucharist, which we believe to be the complete and real transformation of those elements of bread and wine into God Himself, and not just some mere symbolic representations or memorial of what the Lord had done at the Last Supper. At every celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest did what Jesus Himself had done at that moment, when He gave His own Body and Blood for the salvation of all those who share in them.

But lest we misunderstand or think wrongly of it, we should look on the common misconception about the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Firstly, indeed the bread and wine which the priests offer in the same manner as the High Priest of God, Melchizedek had offered them, had been transformed completely in matter and substance to that of God Himself, and yet at the same time, visually they remain as bread and wine, and by taste, they still taste like that of bread and wine.

We tend to link and relate what our senses have received and felt with our understanding and comprehension on things that are around us. And that is why, indeed, it is not easy for us to understand and accept that the mere bread and wine is the very same as the Lord, Master and King of all the universe, including that all of us, and how the wholeness of that great Divine being is contained in His entirety, within that small piece of bread or within that small volume of wine.

But it is the same, with how the same Lord and God has become a humble and mere Man, the Lord and Master of all the universe becomes like one of His own creations. It is part of the great mysteries that is our faith, and requires all of us to overcome our doubts and our reluctance to believe in what our Lord has taught us, the truth which He brings us all.

If we read the Gospel today, what Jesus had done there, the famous miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish, where Jesus multiplied them to fill the stomachs of five thousand men and countless thousands other women and children, and yet still managing to gather twelve basketful of leftover bread, all of these are beyond our normal human comprehension, and yet it shows once again the reality of God, Who He is, and what He is going to do to us and show to us through His love.

By feeding the people, Jesus is showing Himself as a Shepherd, as a loving Father and Lover of us all, that He intends to give us good things and bless us, and through the same love, He established a new and everlasting covenant with us all, not with the blood of animals, goats, lambs or doves, but with the very Blood and essence of His own, the Precious Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, offered and given for us all for our salvation.

In the past, God has established His covenant with mankind many times, and renewed them many times, by the sealing of the covenant with the offering of the fats and blood of lambs and goats on the holy and blessed altars, just as what He had established with Adam, with Noah, with Abraham, Moses and all the other figures we knew from the history of our faith, but all these were imperfect offerings and serve only temporarily.

Indeed, as the Epistle to the Hebrews and in the other sources mentioned, when the priests offered the sin offerings of goats and lambs on the altar, they were offering these for themselves, as well as for the sins of the people who had been entrusted to their care. And no amount of animal blood offering and sacrifices can erase the great entirety of the sins and wickedness of all mankind. Only One can do so.

And that one source from where salvation came, was the Lord, and is the Lord our God Himself, Who by His own will and power, came to share in our own humanity, taking up the form of our own flesh and blood, so that by uniting us to Himself in spirit and in the essence of our creation, He may gather us all and bring us to share with Him the glory of His salvation, and the eternal life He brought with Him.

After all, what is more precious than the very Blood of the Lamb of God, Who is flawless and perfect, without blame and holy? It is the only one that can heal us all and free us all from our sins, from all of our faults and iniquities for all eternity. The saints and martyrs as represented in the vision of St. John in the Book of Revelations wore white robes that has been cleansed in the Blood of the Lamb, because they worthily share in the Body and Blood of our Lord, and have been tested, and their faith has been found true and worthy of God.

Thus, it is a reminder to all of us as well. Have we been faithful to God, and have we shared worthily in the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord? When we welcome the Lord Himself through the Eucharist into ourselves, in reality, the Lord Himself has come to dwell in us, and we become the Temple and House of our God. And if God dwells in us, certainly, we should make sure that this Temple, that is our body, our mind, heart and soul are clear from filth and fornication.

Henceforth, shall we all reevaluate our lives, all of our actions and deeds? Shall we all remember the things which we have done all these while? Have we kept our Temple of the Lord’s Presence that is our body, mind, heart and soul worthy and in good condition? If we truly believe that Jesus our Lord is truly present in the bread and wine which have been transformed into the very substance and essence of our Lord, should we not think many times before we even contemplate sinning before God?

And if any of us are to doubt Him because we think that in every sacrifice of the Mass, Christ is being made to repeat again and again the sacrifice for the salvation of our souls, as some of those who refused to believe has accused the Church of God, then we ought to know and understand that, the priests, whom God had called and chosen from among us, are all His representatives, who lead all the faithful to offer their prayers and offerings to God, and to unite it with the sacrifice made by our Lord at the Altar of Calvary.

This means that the Holy Mass and the Eucharist we celebrate there is the same sacrifice which Jesus our Lord made at Calvary, when on that day, He laid Himself to be hung on the cross between the heavens and the earth, that by that singular and ultimate offering, God may deliver us all from our sins and from our fate of damnation and annihilation into eternal life.

Therefore, from now on, let us all rejuvenate our devotion to our Lord in the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Eucharist. Let us redouble our efforts in committing ourselves to He Who has given His all, even shedding His Blood for our sake. He has not even hesitated to lay down His life for us, so that we may live.

Let us all devote ourselves to Him and His cause, and from now on, do only things that are in accordance with His will and His ways, that our bodies and hearts, minds and souls may be free from sin and be a worthy House and dwelling place for our God, that we may find place in His salvation. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today St. Jude in his Epistle in our first reading reminds us all that as Christians, all of us have to hold fast and strong to the laws and the precepts that the Lord has passed down to us through His Church, doing all that is righteous and just, acceptable to the Lord our God, so that in all the things that we do, we may be ever faithful and be worthy of our God.

It means that we should not give in to fornication of the flesh and the soul, and neither should we do things that bring about harm and darkness upon each other. We must remain firm in our commitment and our faith to God, even though the world and all of the enemies of the Lord are trying actively to hinder us on our journey onward towards the salvation and eternal life in God.

In the Gospel today, we heard about how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were openly doubting the authority of Jesus, even went as far as asking Him directly in front of the people, under what authority He has been acting and doing all that He has done. That is as far as someone can go in trying to discredit or undermine another’s authority by openly showing doubt in front of so many people.

And yet, Jesus rebuked them and countered them excellently, pointing out to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that His authority is indeed from God, even more so if St. John the Baptist himself had come from God. He put them the question that prevented them from trying to undermine His authority any longer, as they were not able to disclaim whatever St. John the Baptist had done as a mere human action, but indeed divine instead.

And if you are wondering why were the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law so adamantly set in their opposition against Jesus, then we should just take note and understand more of the situation at that time, where the Jewish society were dominated by the powerful elders and the masters of the laws and customs of the Jewish society, the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests.

In those days, where many cultures and customs were competing against each other, and when multicultural societies were the norm, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were self-appointed guardians of the Jewish society and culture, and they took a particularly strict and often unreasonable approach in enforcing the laws of Moses to the people.

And thus they looked at anyone who did not belong to them, and performing miracles, teaching about the faith to the people as rivals, especially those who did not subscribe to the same view as theirs. They enjoyed the adulation and praise from the people, and the fame and glory that accompanied their position. And naturally, as is our human nature, they feared the moment when any of these were to be taken away from them. And thus, they were willing to even oppose God just so that they could preserve themselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the way that we should behave, even as St. Jude in his Epistle had reminded us all the faithful ones. We have to let go of all these and we must not allow ourselves to be controlled by our desire, our wants, our needs and all that make us hunger for more, either wealth, or possessions, or any other forms of worldly attachments, that are bound to keep us away from the Lord.

Let us all instead commit ourselves to works of charity, caring for one another, and bringing the true faith to them, by first practicing it in our own lives. May our words, actions and deeds speak loudly of our faith in God, and while remaining humble and true to our devotion to God, He Who has come into the world, Jesus our Lord, so that all of us may be saved. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 27 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, listening at the passage which we heard from the Gospel today, surely many of us would feel kind of unsettled and fearful at what Jesus has said and done. After all, we heard how Jesus our Lord cursed the fig tree without fruits, and made it to dry up and die. And then, Jesus also showed His wrath on the merchants and money changers who set up stalls in the Temple grounds, chasing them out with whip and lashes.

In this passage therefore, we see the side of our Lord which we tend to forget or ignore, and an aspect which we tend to overlook when we think about God. We always tend to see God as a loving, kind, merciful and compassionate God, but then they forget that He is also a vengeful and angry God against those who have been unfaithful. He exacts judgment against those who disobeyed Him and refused to listen to Him.

We live in a world where many have forgotten about the consequences of sin, and therefore, as a result, we tend to become desensitised to sin, and we often ignore the consequences of our sins, to the point that we may just sin without even being worried about it, or being affected by it. And the main reason for this, is the lack of that understanding and the seriousness which we ought to have when we refer to sin and all the fruits of wickedness in our actions.

Indeed, it is just like the barren fig tree. We are the fig trees, and if we are without fruits, barren and dry, then we have truly not deserved the good graces and blessings of God. Instead, curses and destruction is our only share. And if we think that Jesus was being unreasonable because it was not the fig season, then we should understand how this is related to what Jesus spoke in another parable.

Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is coming to us in the manner like that of a thief, unexpected and sudden, without prior warning and without any signs to let us know that it is coming. It is just as Jesus came by suddenly to the fig tree, outside the fig season, and finding the tree to be barren and without any fruits. And thus it received only curses and not blessings, and it perished.

Thus, the same fate awaits all of us, if we do not learn from what the Scriptures are trying to tell us. And that is if we live like the merchants and the sellers, the money changers and all who filled up the sacred Temple grounds with their unholy transactions and dirty money. And as a result, they earned the wrath of God, Who whipped them and lashed at them, chasing them out of the Temple of God, the Holy residence of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must really devote ourselves to the Lord, in all things and commit ourselves to His ways, through our sincere devotion, and by all the loving acts which we should show to one another, caring for our brethren in need, and giving them the love which they ought to receive and which we ought to give. And in this manner, perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Augustine of Canterbury.

St. Augustine of Canterbury was one of the first bishops of the region known as England. His works there was instrumental in reestablishing the Christian faith and the Church in England. He was a religious monk from Rome, who was tasked by the then reigning Pope, Pope St. Gregory the Great to be the evangeliser of England and all of its neighbouring countries.

England had been Christianised by the preceding Roman era, when the Roman Empire still controlled the region. But with the invasion by the barbarian Saxons and Jutes, the Angles and others, Christian faith has largely died out in that country. As a result, there was a great need to reinvigorate the Church and reestablish the Church structure and hierarchy in England.

St. Augustine of Canterbury thus went forth to a region of unknown challenges, where he laboured hard for the sake of the faith, and he had to endure persecutions from the pagans and rejection from those who refused to accept the truth of God. But he persevered on, and showed them care, concern and love. And in teaching the people about the truths and wonders of God, St. Augustine showed them the path to God, and his actions bore many wonderful fruits, including the conversion of the king of the place where he ministered in, and many people who came to be baptised afterwards.

By his works, many people have been saved from the certainty of damnation and death, and these are truly the rich fruits of faith which St. Augustine had produced, and by which he was made justified and right in the presence of God. And that is why he is now counted among the holy saints of God. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too can follow in his footsteps and be like him.

Let us all therefore renew our efforts to live our lives faithfully and renew our commitment to God, that we may give our all to the Lord and glorify Him through our actions. May He continue to bless us and keep us forever in His grace. Amen.

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Thursday, 26 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of our Lord spoken to us through His Apostle Peter, whom in our first reading today spoke about all of us as the people of God, children and followers of our God, and how we ought to act as truly a child of God, as the possession of our Lord. St. Peter has shown us in his Epistle how grateful and thankful all of us should be, for having been chosen by God to be His people.

And in the Gospel today we heard about how Jesus healed the blind man because of his faith, as he showed the commitment and devotion that had saved him, as God saw in him a genuine faith, and a genuine desire to love Him, to turn back away from the darkness of the world, and by his faith thus he had been healed and made whole once again.

But in this, there is a danger, brothers and sisters in Christ, as some among us would certainly be led to think that once we have faith, then we do not need to do anything, as our faith have saved us after all. And even, there are those, who think that believing in salvation through good deeds and works is false and against God. Yet, the reality is that this is the truth, and faith alone is not sufficient for us to guarantee our salvation in God.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that while we may have faith in God, but faith alone is meaningless if our lives do not show the faith which we profess or claim to have in God. In fact, if we say that we have faith in God, and yet our actions and deeds prove to be otherwise, then it is not just that it is not faith, but also that it will scandalise our faith.

How will people believe in us, and in what we are teaching them about our Lord if we ourselves did not practice what we have preached and spoken to them? And worse still if our actions directly contradicted what we have preached to them. Then we become no better than the hypocrites, like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of old, who preached about the Law of God and yet did not practice them on their own.

Our faith grows and develops through active and frequent cultivation of the good deeds which we did in the Name of God, obeying His will and commandments. It is not a dead and stagnant faith, but instead a living and evolving one, where our love for the Lord is constantly tested and growing, as we live our lives and as we commit ourselves each and every day to God and His ways.

The blind man did not give up even though he was ridiculed and scolded when he called upon the Lord Jesus to heal him. In fact, the more they tried to prevent him to speak, the more and the louder he shouted. In the same way, all of us should do the same as what the blind man had done. We need to put in effort to live faithfully as God’s people, and we cannot be complacent or be inactive, lest the second coming of our Lord catch us red-handed without genuine love and faith for our God.

Perhaps, we should heed the examples of St. Philip Neri, the holy saint and servant of God whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Philip Neri was a renowned priest and preacher, who for his works and dedications to the people of God were remembered for many generations, and he was also known as the Apostle of Rome because of his works in Rome, at the heart of Christendom.

He was the son of a noble and rich merchant family, who was educated in in a Dominican monastery, intended to inherit the great wealth of his family. However, God’s will was that St. Philip Neri should lead a different path in life, abandoning all the luxuries and possessions accredited to him, and instead choosing the path of service and devotion, as God’s calling grew strong in his heart.

He entered the religious life and devoted his life to serving the poor and the less fortunate ones in the society, particularly those who have erred and sinned in their path towards the Lord. He was particularly concerned about those who have fallen into sin, and tried his best to help and rescue them. He worked among prostitutes and others rejected by the society, and helped them to correct their ways.

He also established the Confraternity of the Oratory, as well as other religious organisations, through which he devoted his life and time, and inspired many others, even unto the current generation, to follow in his footsteps. By looking and understanding about the examples of St. Philip Neri, we ourselves can also be inspired to do more for the sake of the less fortunate around us, and give our love to those who are unloved and ostracised.

In all these, linking back to what we have discussed just earlier, we can see that the faith shown by St. Philip Neri is truly real and genuine, as shown through his works and commitments, and not just through empty proclamations and claims to faith. Thus, we too should show our faith through devotion and commitment. We should learn to obey the Lord through action and through good works obeying what Jesus our Lord had told us all to do.

May God bless us and keep us, and may He strengthen us, and give us the courage to lead a life true and devoted to God, amidst all the temptations of this world. Let us all dedicate ourselves to God and follow His ways in all things we do and say. God be with us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to be humble and to be committed to God, in the same way that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had been humble, loving and obedient to His Father even until the very end. The examples which Christ showed us is certainly what we too can follow in our own lives, especially considering the ways that this world have shown us.

Jesus spoke to His disciples regarding how in this world, it is common to see people oppressing each other, especially those in the positions of power and influence, using their power and authority to oppress those who are weaker than them, and those who are less powerful or influential than they are. This is the norms and the customs of this world, a world where the strongest lived on, survived and the weak perished.

And that was what James and John had done, in following the norms of the world. It was just like in our societies, where servants asked for favours from their masters, subordinates asking for more glory, wealth and power from their superiors. That is the way that men thought, and that is how we often lived our lives. It is all about getting more things for ourselves, garnering more praise and attention for our deeds.

But the Lord taught us all that His way is not the way acceptable to the world, for it is indeed different. Where the world championed and glorified those who glorify themselves and seek more power for their own, the way of our Lord is simplicity, humility and selflessness. In order to follow the Lord our God and love Him with all our heart, we must learn to let go of those corrupting desires that kept us away from being able to achieve salvation in God.

Jesus Himself showed by example, as even though He is Almighty, King of all the universe and Lord and Master of all creation, but He came into our world not as a King to be served and to be feared, and instead as a servant and a humble Man, through whose humility and work, the salvation would be brought into the world. And as He has shown us the way, we too should follow Him in His actions.

And today, we celebrate not just one but three holy saints of God, whose own lives have been exemplary, and can indeed be inspirations for us to follow their lifestyle, so that we ourselves may draw ever closer to God. St. Bede the Venerable was a holy servant of God, who was renowned for his many works with regards to the Scriptures and to the teachings of the early disciples and Church fathers.

St. Bede the Venerable was an English monk renowned for his devotion to his work, in bringing the truth of God to greater discovery and understanding by those who have read and viewed his works. He translated many Latin and Greek manuscripts of the faith into English language, and through his many dedications and works, people had therefore discovered the teachings of the Church passed down to them.

Meanwhile, Pope St. Gregory VII was a great leader of the Church, a courageous and committed defender of the Church and the faith against the forces of the world trying to undermine its authority. Pope St. Gregory VII led the Church through a turbulent time in the history of the Church, where conflict peaked between the Church and the secular authority in the person of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry.

The conflict was precisely because of the conflicting interest between the Emperor and the Church of God, led by Pope St. Gregory VII. The Emperor claimed the power and authority over the Church, and at least in the territories he controlled, the Emperor claimed the authority to appoint bishops and the other leaders of the Church.

But the Church and its leader, Pope St. Gregory VII refused to bow down to the demands of the Emperor. The faithful resisted the influences and the coercion by the Emperor and his party of supporters. As a result, the clashes and the conflicts between the Church and the Emperor became ever more violent and resulted in great difficulties and challenges for the faithful servants of God.

Even Pope St. Gregory VII himself was suffering from the tribulations and challenges, and he suffered even from exile and incarceration. He died a lonely and broken man in body, but his spirit was never daunted by the challenges and the difficulties which he had encountered. And in the end, the Church triumphed and the world did not have its way.

And last of all, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was a holy and devoted woman who lived in the region now known as Tuscany in Italy a few hundred years ago. She was a mystic and a Carmelite nun, who has devoted almost her entire life to the Lord. Ever since a very young age, she has practiced meditation as shown by a tutor she engaged, and she received many visions from the Lord, telling her about many things on the matter of faith and about God’s will for the world.

And by her many accounts and works, she helped to rejuvenate the faith in the hearts of many people, and many believed because of her accounts of the Lord, all of her visions and her own piety. And even though she died early in her life, but her inspirational life continues to influence many even unto this very day. Many miracles also accompanied her tomb and her relics, showing the glory which God gives to all of His faithful ones.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after we have witnessed and heard the examples of these holy saints, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord our God following the footsteps of the holy saints. Let us all not be discouraged and be afraid to lead a faithful life filled with true commitment and love for God and His ways. Let us all be the beacons of light for this world, so that through humility and service, we may be like Jesus our Lord, in bringing righteousness upon one another and the whole world.

May God bless us all and keep us, and may He strengthen us our faith, that we may continue to persevere despite the challenges in this life. May He guard us and protect us from harm, and may He keep us in His love forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 24 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary Help of Christians and our Lady of Sheshen in China, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Marian Feasts)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we commemorate the feast of our Lady of Sheshan or Sheshen, a major Marian devotion in China, as well as the feast of Mary herself as the Help of all Christians. This is of a particular importance as on this day, we commit ourselves together as the whole Church, to pray for our brethren, the faithful people of God now suffering persecution, whether legally or subtly, because they are faithful to the Lord and to His teachings.

Before we go on with regards to this matter, we have to first understand about the condition and the background of the situation of the Church and the faithful in China itself. The Church and the faithful in China had endured a long and difficult period of persecution and challenges ever since the Communists won the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and took over the control over mainland China.

At first, the officially atheistic and anti-Christian Communist government and officials openly persecuted the Church of God and the faithful people of God. They were harassed, attacked at every turn and opportunity, and their persecution took a nationalistic and political perspective, as the faithful Christians were deemed to have been influenced by the foreign influences, or even worse, by accusing them as traitors to the nation.

In what is similar to persecution of Christians in the earlier ages, even as the early Church was persecuted by the Roman Empire and by the Jewish authorities, many of the faithful suffered greatly for having kept their faith in God alive. Their properties and possessions were seized, their families and children were threatened, tortured or even brought to judgment and were killed unjustly.

Priests and bishops were sent to concentration and reeducation camp, where many suffered for many years. Some died in prison and for some the fact about their suffering was only known much later on. Such grievous things indeed which the faithful people of God in China had suffered for staying true to the Lord and for keeping the faith in their God alive.

The situation may seem to be much better these days as compared to how it was decades ago. And yet, we should not let ourselves be deceived. Persecution still continues upon the Church and upon our brethren the faithful ones in China. The Communists established the so-called ‘official church’ where all the faithful, the priests, the bishops and all must belong to, or else be persecuted.

But in reality, it is a means through which the people in power were trying to control the Church, and by requiring the faithful to obey the imposed rules and regulations, they were trying to sap the power of the Church and to prevent it from rising up against them. And if we have paid attention to the news, recently we have heard about the forced removal of crosses from many church buildings. It is a clear sign of the opposition which the government still accorded to the Christian faith.

And as we all reflect on these occasions today, let us all be mindful of the other persecutions and the sufferings that the faithful people of God are suffering even today in many parts of the world. Christians are persecuted in the Middle East where they even had to lose their lives just because they believe in the one and only true God. And in other places, the faithful are ridiculed because of their faith, and they are enduring ever greater difficulties in this world where God is gradually and increasingly becomes forgotten in the minds of men.

Therefore, let us all today devote our time to pray to God and ask for His help to be given to these brethren of ours, so that they may be given strength and courage to live their lives even under persecution and difficulty, that they will not give up or abandon their God for the sake of their own safety. May God help them and preserve them, particularly our brethren, the faithful people of God in China. May He bless them and keep them, and may He soon end the suffering that the Church in China faces today. God be with them all. Amen.

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Monday, 23 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings from the Holy Scriptures speaking to us about how we ought to act if we are to enter into the kingdom of God and receive the eternal life, glory and the inheritance which our Lord has promised to all of us. Jesus spoke with a man asking Him how to attain eternal life, and He told him that firstly He had to obey the laws and commandments of the Lord.

But as what we heard from what Jesus had told the man, clearly it was not enough that he should just obey the laws and the commandments alone. Many Jews and the people of God at the time also obeyed the laws and rules as stipulated by the chief priests and the Temple, but in truth, how many of them truly love God and how many of them are capable of giving themselves entirely to God without doubt?

From what we heard of Jesus’ speech to the man, it might seem that He was rebuking the rich and the wealthy as those who were wicked, corrupted, as well as being inherently incapable of attaining God’s salvation. Yet, if we look deeper into the matter, Jesus was not condemning the rich because of their wealth, or condemning wealth and possession itself, as some would have believed that Jesus had done so. Instead, what Jesus condemned was the attachment and the unhealthy obsession that mankind often have on their possessions and wealth.

As I have reiterated many times, being wealthy and comfortable in our lives in itself is not inherently wicked, and thus we should not come to the point where we resent the rich and the privileged, so long as they act responsibly and in accordance with the laws of God. It is the desires of men, the desire to seek for more wealth and more things that bring about sin and wickedness.

It is just that, when we have more things and possessions, unfortunately it is our human nature that we desire for even more things, and we will tend to disregard others, even to the point of causing harm and trouble for others just so that we can get good things for ourselves. We have seen this too often throughout our history, where men would exploit other people, and do things in order to benefit themselves. Wars and conflicts have been fought just so that the needs and wants of certain few people could be satisfied, either for ego or for their wealth.

Heeding these examples and learning from our past mistakes, we should remember the words of Jesus, what He had spoken to His disciples about being truly faithful, and striving to have true love for God, surpassing all of our material wishes and desires. What God is asking us to do, is not to literally shun all forms of possession and wealth, or to sell all of them and live like a hermit. Rather, what God wanted us to do is to overcome our attachment to worldly possessions and greed.

What makes many of the rich to be unable to reach the goal of the kingdom of God is that attachment which they were unable to overcome, and it is therefore dragging them down and away from God’s salvation. It is important therefore that we should refrain and resist the temptations of the flesh, which is pulling us away from God and His ways. We have to learn to limit and control our desires, and not to allow it to control us.

There are also many people who are rich, and yet they are generous and are willing to give to help others around them. There are many philanthropists like them, who are willing to help those who are in need, caring for those who have little and none, sharing what blessings they had with them. And thus, if we too, have been blessed by God with good life and sufficient things to carry us through life, let us be mindful of those around us, our neighbours who had little or none, and are suffering because of it.

Let us all show mercy, care and love upon them, and let us not shut our hearts and our ears to their pleas. Let us instead help one another, that each and every one of us will be able to live comfortably, and by learning to let go of what have received, we too may be freed from the slavery to our desires and our wants, and by resisting those may all of us grow ever more righteous and just in the sight of our God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 22 May 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday and Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we commemorate together a great solemnity and occasion, celebrating the mystery of our Lord and Master, Who is One and only One God, and yet, consisting of Three inseparable and equal Divine Persons. This is the mystery of the Holy Trinity of our God, One but Three, Three but One, equal and distinct, and united perfectly through perfect love.

This mystery is one of the most difficult aspects of our faith to be understood, as we have to realise that disagreements about the nature of our Lord and Divine Master had caused numerous divisions in the Church, with countless heresies and peoples claiming their own versions of the teachings to be correct. And most contentious of all was indeed the nature of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Throughout history, and even until this very day today, there are many peoples and groups who ridicule us Christians, the people of God, because of our believe in the Most Holy Trinity, One God with Three Divine Godheads. They thought that we are those who believe in many gods, like the pagans do. They ridiculed us because they misunderstood our faith, and what we believe, and Who we believe in.

There were those who thought that we were committing sacrilege and blasphemy against God, especially those who refused to believe in the nature of God as a Trinity. They thought that we are committing a great sin by thinking that we have three Gods instead of just one God. But that is exactly because they have failed to understand the truth about our Lord which He Himself had revealed to the world, to us all who believe in Him.

Then I should ask all of you, each and every one of us, to reflect on the Most Holy Trinity, about what we believe in our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Do we truly believe in the Most Holy Trinity? And in fact, do we mean what we always say, when we made the holy sign of the Cross? The Sign of the Cross is not just merely a symbol of victory and triumph over evil and death, but it is also the standard of the Most Holy Trinity.

When we mark ourselves with the Cross of Christ, do we feel proud of having been marked as the children and the possession of our God through the cross? Do we feel the pride of telling all that we believe in the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? Or do we do it in secret, or out of apathy, just doing it for the sake of doing it? We can see it clearly in how we make even in such a basic gesture as making the sign of the Cross.

The belief in the Most Holy Trinity is crucial and essential part of our faith, and it is what distinguishes us from all those who believe in heretical teachings and aberrations, or from the pagans and those who rejected God and His truth. And it is important therefore that we are familiar with all of its aspects, so that if someone is to ask us about it, we will not be embarrassed, and worse, turn people away from salvation because of our failure to show the truth to them.

We do not believe in three Gods, all separate and distinct from each other. Instead, our core belief remains the same as it had been since the days of Abraham and Israel of old. We believe in one and only one God, the one God Who created all creation and all the universe. There is no other God besides Him, and all other gods, pagan or otherwise, are all false gods and idols, and in fact, even demons.

But at the same time, as Jesus our Lord and Saviour had revealed to His disciples, and from them to us, is that that one God, Supreme and Almighty, consists of three Divine Persons, or Aspects, distinct from each other, and yet remained united in a perfect harmony with each other, as the inseparable part of the whole One Divinity, the one and only True God. Without one or the other, the wholeness of the one God is not complete.

Thus, when we talk about the Father, we cannot separate Him from the Son and the Holy Spirit, or the Son from the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. To separate out any of them from the others means to diminish the Lord and the wholeness of His divinity. And when they are working, they work together as one, working in perfect harmony in all things.

When God created the world, His Holy Spirit were all around, hovering over all creations. And by His words, He has willed all thing to be created. And that Word of life, the Word through which God created all life, has descended down upon us, taking up the flesh, and through the Holy Spirit, was made Man, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

At creation, we saw how the Trinity worked together harmoniously as one, with one will and intention. The Father willed all things to creation, which the Son in the Word executed the will of the Father and made all things to be created, and which in the end, the Holy Spirit filled all things and all creation, and gave life to all. As a result, the universe with all of its wonders were created, through the works of the one and only true God, and yet we can see clearly the Three Divine Aspects of God, the Trinity.

And at the moment of the incarnation, God the Father willed the incarnation of His own Son, the Divine Word, part of Himself and the Trinity, to become one like us, as a Man, save for being pure and free from sin. And the Holy Spirit came over Mary and covered her, and by the Holy Spirit, the Lord became Man, just as what we believed and which is part of our Creed.

In all these examples, taken from the Scriptures themselves, we can see how God is indeed One, and even though He consists of the Three Divine Persons, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, but one cannot understand the Father without understanding the Son and the Holy Spirit and vice versa. This is what we must know, and what we must understand with all of our hearts and minds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if someone asks us about our belief in the Holy Trinity, then how should we respond to it? Perhaps then we should tell them about something as simple as a flame. And not just that this is for them to think and discover about the truth of the Trinity, but perhaps for many of us too, who doubted in the Trinity, may now come to believe the fullness of God’s truth.

A flame consists of the visible flame that we are able to see with our eyes, but a flame also consists of the material of the flame that we can touch with our hands, the energies of the flame which made it visible in the first place as the flame. And last of all, a flame can also be felt as we place our hands nearby the flame but not touching it, in the form of the heat that warms our hands and bodies close to it.

We cannot take out the light out of the flame and then still call the remaining object as a flame, and neither can we take out the heat or the matter of the flame and can still call the remaining as a flame. Undeniably, the light and the heat and the matter of the flame are distinct from each other, as they are all different, and yet they are inseparable parts that made up a flame. In the same manner, and even more so, the Most Holy Trinity is similar to this approximation.

Instead of muddling our minds and thoughts in trying to understand the nature of the Lord our God, One but Three, and Three but One, we should rather have faith in Him. If only that we can learn to trust Him and His truth, and learn to accept the truth which He had brought to us. Mankind had refused to believe His truth, often and simply because it was too much for their feeble minds and intellect to understand God and His ways.

Let us all instead work together, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we may find our way to the Lord our God, and work together in the same way as how harmonious the Lord in the Trinity is. Jesus Himself prayed to His Father in the time before His suffering and Passion, that He would make His people to be one, just as He and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were one.

Thus, as we proceed on with our lives in this world, let us all heed the examples of the Most Holy Trinity, our Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we too may be united in faith, hope and love in our Lord. Let us never be shaken in our faith and devotion to the Most Holy Trinity, believing in the one and only True God, and in His Three inseparable but distinct Aspects, and then show the same love which has united Them as One, so that we too, the faithful people of God, may be united in love and harmony with one another.

May God bless us all and strengthen us, that we may resolve to keep this faith burning strongly in each one of us, and have the love in us, and show that love by caring for each other, devoting our time and efforts to care for our brethren, especially to those who are in the greatest need for our help. May God awaken in each one of us, the love we ought to have for each other. O, Most Holy Trinity, the Triune God, be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 May 2016 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Epistle of St. James about how we Christians should live our lives with good faith. And he told us that as Christians, all of us should pray, and make those prayers with genuine intention. The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous, and He will grant us what we have asked from Him, as long as these are in accordance to His will.

A good Christian knows how to pray to God, and true prayer which we offer to God, is a prayer of contemplation and of good conversation which we have with the Lord our God. It is a prayer through which we open our hearts to God, and let Him speak with us through our hearts and minds, and at the same time, we too open ourselves and show all of our hearts to God, baring everything before Him.

It was mentioned by St. James in his Epistle, how there would be much good if everyone can just learn to forgive one another and to be merciful, and to open themselves to God’s love. The problem with our society today is precisely that many of us are unable to forgive and let go, and we keep our angst and hatred inside us, welling up within ourselves and keeping those grudges, that when uncontrolled, can result in us committing great sins.

People hurt each other and cause angst and troubles among them because of reasons such as jealousy and selfish desires. They cannot give way even an inch to another when they came to be pitted against each other. The jealousy between men and each other had resulted in some of the greatest anguish and sorrow that had existed in our societies in the past, and even unto this very day.

And this is where the words of Jesus in the Gospel today came to our mind. Jesus spoke to His disciples about welcoming children to His presence, and how they should not stop those little children from seeking out the Lord. For the disciples did not quite like it when people brought children to Jesus, perhaps thinking of them as nuisance and as a hassle for them, as they might need to do more work to care for these little children.

And yet, Jesus opened their minds, and revealed that, rather than rejecting them and pushing them aside, they should welcome them and bring themselves to become more like those little children in the matter of their faith. Why is this so, brethren? That is because, children are innocent and pure, blameless and they have not yet had that taste of temptations and desires of the world, and their love for God is pure.

What the Lord Jesus is telling His disciples is that unless their faith can be as pure and true as the love which the little children showed Him, they would not go far in their journey towards Him, as inevitably, the pull and distractions of the many desires and temptations of the world would derail us on our journey towards God’s salvation. And if we do not take a concrete action regarding this, then I fear that many of us will fall into the darkness.

Let us all then follow the examples shown by one of the holy men of God, St. Christopher Magallanes, and his many companions, whose feasts we are celebrating today. St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, collectively known as the Martyr Saints of Mexico were the victims of the ruthless and vicious persecution campaign against the Church and the faithful people of God.

St. Christopher Magallanes lived during the early years of the twentieth century, just over a hundred years ago in Mexico, during a time of great troubles and difficulties for the Church of God. At that time, governments hostile to the Church and to the faith rose to power, and persecuted the people of God through various means, especially that of the clergy and the servants of God’s people.

St. Christopher Magallanes and his fellow compatriots, all the servants of God persecuted for their faith, remained calm and continued to minister to the people of God as much as they could, even in the face of suffering, torture and death. They faced martyrdom courageously, and not even the temptations of the world could shake their resolve, neither money, nor fame nor power nor worldly glory.

Their examples showed us all that we must devote ourselves wholly to God, and be like little children in their faith, true, pure, full and without blemish. And just like little children, whose love means true love, we should not be distracted and be turned away by all those things that keep us away from the love of God, and we should commit our hearts, minds and soul fully to God, in the same way that the holy martyrs and saints of God had done.

Let us all walk courageously in the footsteps of the holy martyrs and saints. Let us not be discouraged by the difficulties that we are to face as part of our lives as the faithful children of our Lord. But instead, let us all be more and more committed to God in all things, and renew our faith in Him. May God help us in our way and guide us all to Himself. God bless us all. Amen.