hope in the Lord

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Wednesday, 13 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the calling of the boy Samuel, who would become a great prophet and servant of God one day in his lifetime, who would be the one to anoint the first kings over Israel and also led the people of God during a time of turmoil and uncertainty, and also go against even the king Saul when he had erred in his judgment and no longer following the will of God.

Samuel was still very young when he was dedicated to the Lord at His House, when his mother Hannah whose prayer for a child had been answered by God, gave him to be the possession of the Lord forevermore. And then, as he grew up under the tutelage of Eli, the then judge over Israel, he grew in spirit and in faith to the Lord. And when the time was ripe, even though he was still also very young then, God began to speak to him, revealing the intention He had for him, and also for His people Israel.

In the Gospel today, we heard about Jesus our Lord Who healed the mother-in-law of His disciple Simon Peter, Who cast out from her the sickness and made her whole once again, and then we also heard how He healed many others who were sick and cared for those with afflictions, casting out evil spirits from them and brought them back from the depth of the darkness and into the light.

And Jesus also said to His disciples, how many of the people in other places also had need of Him, and He could not just stay in one place only serving the sick and the destitute of that area alone. He was sent into the world to bring about the salvation and the liberation of all of the peoples of God, and to that extent He would make Himself available to heal all those who seek for His help.

And in the same way Samuel had been called by the Lord even in his youth in order to serve a greater purpose. One might have thought that someone like Samuel would have become a servant in the household of Eli and as a servant in the House of the Lord, but God called him to be His mouthpiece and to be the one who would reveal His truth to the multitudes of the Israelites and to their neighbours alike.

Today we commemorate also the feast of St. Hilary, also known as St. Hilary of Poitiers, a holy saint renowned for his devout life and for his purity of life, and as a faithful servant of God, as the Bishop of Poitiers, he opposed the move and the attempt by the heretical Arians from their trying to subvert and lure away the people of God from the salvation in the Church.

St. Hilary of Poitiers tried his best to defend his flock from the depredations of the Arians, and despite their opposition, even which caused him to be exiled from Poitiers to the the other far ends of the Empire, he continued to labour hard for the sake of the Lord, and for his true faith in Him. He never gave up even despite all the oppositions and the challenges he had faced.

And when he managed to return to his own diocese after a few years, he continued the good works which he had started and continued on to sow the seeds of good faith amongst the people of God, and this resulted in many who were prevented from falling into heresy, and many others repented and returned to the true faith in the Lord.

In all these, we see the courage and the faith exhibited by St. Hilary of Poitiers, the kind of faith that all of us should have as well. We must have the same kind of zeal and faith, in following God and heeding to His call as the prophet Samuel had also once done. Only when we actively live out our faith and dedicate ourselves fully to the Lord, then we shall be blessed and made the sharers in our God’s inheritance.

Let us all from now on be more committed in our faith and dedicate our lives to serve the Lord in all things, so that through all that we have done, we may glorify God and bring much grace and blessings to all of us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the continuation of the story of the birth of Samuel the prophet, who was born of Elkanah, his father, and of Hannah, his mother who was once barren and unable to bear a child at all. And the other wife of Elkanah liked to jeer at Hannah and gloat over her because she was able to provide Elkanah with children, unlike Hannah.

And when Hannah prayed fervently before the Lord, beseeching Him for His mercy and help, the Lord heard her prayers and fulfilled her wish to have a son, whom she then dedicated to the Lord to be His servant, namely Samuel. And God blessed her richly from then on, as she had dedicated the very son who had come to her, and thus she was given many more children.

It was this that is in our psalm of today, which was taken from the song which Hannah in great joy and thanksgiving praised the Lord for all that He had done for her. She thanked God for having lifted from her the shame and embarrassment that came with the fact of her being unable to have a child, which was truly something shameful in the society at that time.

In the Gospel, we heard how the Lord Jesus cast out demons and evil spirits from a possessed man. At that time, people who were possessed with evil spirits, or had leprosy and other aberrations were seen as unclean and wicked, and they were excluded from the society, forced to live outside the bounds of the villages and the cities. People were afraid to look at them, turned their faces away from them, and they were thought as cursed by God.

Jesus showed that He had the authority over all things, be it human beings or spiritual beings, and even the devil and his angels also have to bend their knees before Him. And by casting out the evil spirits from the possessed man, He had healed him from his afflictions, removing from him the stigma and the obstacle which prevented him from being truly united to the rest of his society.

In all these, we see our God Who is loving and merciful, filled with love for us, He Who wants us all to be healed of our afflictions and suffering because of our sins. Yes, sin is the disease and affliction of the soul, which prevents us from being united with the Lord our God, the snare of the devil which pulls us down into the damnation and suffering in hell.

And God wants to show us all that He has the power and the authority to liberate us from all those pains and sufferings, and He brought with Him the hope and the light for us all, so that all those who gaze upon Him will see a new hope and way out of their suffering in sin. But all these do not just need the mercy and the love of God, but also our commitment and desire to be saved.

Yes, just imagine that if God had given us so much attention and love, and yet we refuse to follow Him and reject the forgiveness and mercy which He has given us, then surely we will have no part in the salvation that He had promised us. We have been given the free will to choose, and thus it is within our choice too for us to choose between obeying the Lord and following His ways, and disobeying Him while following our own whim and desires.

Let us all today therefore reflect on our own lives, on our own actions and choices we have made in life. God has given us His rich mercy and love, and the countless opportunities for us to be redeemed and be forgiven, and now it is up to us, if we are to welcome all these with open hands and hearts, or whether we are to turn our backs against the Lord and remain with all the pleasures and the good things that this world offer us. May God strengthen our faith and resolve, and may He guide us to the right paths. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 11 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we begin our season in the Ordinary Time, after we left the season of Christmas that officially ended yesterday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Today’s Scripture readings made it very clear to us that God called us mankind to be His followers and to walk along His path.

In the first reading, we heard about the prophet Samuel, who was born to a couple who were once unable to have a child, as the mother of Samuel, Hannah, was barren. She prayed to the Lord and promised that if her prayers for a child were fulfilled, then she would offer her firstborn to be a servant of the Lord in all things. And thus, Samuel was born and given to the Lord to be His servant.

God listened to her prayers and fulfilled her wish, as truly nothing is impossible for God. As long as whatever we wish is within His will to grant us, then He shall grant us what we need in accordance with His will. God loves us all and He wants us all to be reunited with Him in perfect love, and that was why, just as the parents of Samuel who loved God and offered their first son to Him, God also gave us His own Son as the proof of His eternal and infinite love.

Yes, He gave us Jesus His Son, to redeem us, and through Him, all of us have been called just as Samuel was called by the Lord, to be His followers, abandoning our old ways and our sinful past, and from then on, to be faithful and devoted in all the things that we say and do. He is calling us to be light to the nations, and to be His disciples and the extension of His hands, to spread to more people His love and help.

Therefore, just as we heard how Jesus called His disciples from among the simple fishermen at the shores of the lake of Galilee, and even tax collectors and zealots, who were counted among the numbers of His Twelve Apostles, thus, this is an example for us all too, that all of us should also follow their footsteps in following the Lord, and be transformed in our own lives, so that we no longer exist as creatures of this world, but as the people of God’s everlasting Kingdom.

Today we are all called to be like the disciples of our Lord, who left behind all of their tools of trade and even families behind in order to follow the Lord our God. Well, this does not mean that we have to literally do the same thing as well, abandoning our families and our lives. Rather, it means that all of us, who have often been in our comfort zone for very long time, should be aroused to move out and get on the path towards the Lord and His salvation.

And how do we do this then, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by removing all of our doubts and fears, or laziness and unwillingness to do what is expected from us as the followers and disciples of our Lord. Let us rather be courageous and be forthcoming in all of our words, actions and deeds, showing to all those who see us that we all belong to the Lord and we are always faithful in Him no matter what happens.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment and our faith to God, by refusing to be pulled down by ourselves and our attachment to our comfort zone. But rather, at the beginning of this new year, let us all strengthen our resolve ever more to be ever more faithful disciples and followers of our God, to love one another, our brethren ever more, and bring more lost souls to the salvation in God. God bless our endeavours and be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 10 January 2016 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, the time which is usually associated with the ending of the Christmas season, or Christmastide, although in some traditional celebrations, the season of Christmas does not end until the second day of February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, following a forty day period for Christmas.

On this day, we commemorate that moment, when Christ began His earthly ministry, to begin the works which He had been born into this world for, that is to herald and bring about salvation to all mankind, and to liberate them from their sins and from the chains of wickedness, evil, sin and death. It was at that moment of His baptism that He officially began His earthly ministry, and this is truly important to all of us as well in its meaning.

This is also the model of our Church’s sacrament of holy baptism, the first of the seven sacraments and the first one that a believer, either as a baby or as a catechumen deciding to follow the Lord, must receive, before he or she would be able to receive the other sacraments, such as the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Most Holy Eucharist, Penance or that of the Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders.

It was through baptism that a faithful is welcomed into the Church of God, and through baptism, the faithful was sealed with the seal of the Living God, and became one with all the other members of the Church, adopted as God’s children and become partakers of God’s plan of salvation and in His everlasting kingdom of joy and happiness. Without baptism, the state of our souls will continue to be in limbo and darkness.

Just as Christ was immersed in the waters of the Jordan, we too have been immersed in the water during our baptism. Water itself has many symbolic meanings, the most common of which is its purifying capacity, where water cleanses things that are dirty and corrupted, and washes away all dirt and unpleasant things. It is also a symbol of life, since water is crucial for life, and absolutely no life could have existed in the absence of water.

And thus, as we were immersed in the water during our reception of the Sacrament of Baptism, we were also purified from the taints of our past sins, the wickedness and corruptions of sin that had been with us, and by the holy water blessed and made pure by the hands of the priests, the Lord Jesus had made us all whole again in body and in spirit, just as He had once healed the lepers, the sick and the dying.

And water can also bring death, as we have seen how water can be so destructive in occurrences such as tsunamis, floods and various other forces of water that brought death and misery, just as it can also bring life, and indeed is essential for life. Thus, the waters of baptism symbolised that death which all of us ought to share in the Lord, that through this sharing with His death, we may also have a share in His glorious resurrection.

Yes, the waters of baptism is a symbol of the death and the end of our old life on earth, in our commitment to abandon and reject sin and Satan in all of its forms, and by dying to this old life, as St. Paul had mentioned, we left behind all of the attachments, the bonds and the chains that kept us in our old ways and which had prevented us from attaining God’s salvation and grace.

The baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Jordan is a symbol for us all to remember, for even though He Himself was different, as He was without any taint of sin, and yet He chose to lower Himself and be immersed in the Jordan, and baptised by His servant John the Baptist, but through that action, we should now be able to understand clearly what our Lord had intended for us to do with our own lives.

Before the Lord Jesus was baptised, since the day when He was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in a stable, His parents had cared for Him very well, both His mother Mary, as well as His foster father St. Joseph. And He was brought up in Nazareth, the village where His family lived in, and where He Himself grew up as all men did, and He grew both in knowledge, wisdom and strength, and in the favour in the sight of God.

And as His father St. Joseph was a hardworking carpenter, and considering the fact that sons normally followed in the footsteps of their fathers, it was likely that Jesus was perhaps once a carpenter too, or at least that He knew how to handle things as His foster father had done. And so, He likely dealt with things and matters of the world such as crafting furnitures and other wooden objects.

Yet, when He was baptised by John at the Jordan, that was the moment when all was revealed regarding Jesus, His true nature and His mission on earth. And afterward, He began His ministry, tending to the sick, both in body and in spirit, and He blessed many people, fed them, and gave them the Good News of God through His own words.

And in the end, He carried up the cross that was burdened with all of our sins and iniquities, and He bore all these up with Him as He ascended the hill of Calvary, stretched up between the heavens and the earth, and He gave up His own life, as a perfect and fitting sacrifice to serve as the absolution and the forgiveness for all the multitudes of our sins and their effects.

In all these, we have to realise that the story of our Lord Jesus from His baptism to His death on the cross is actually the example of our own Christian life, of how we are all expected to live out our lives in faith. We who have received the gift of baptism should therefore go forth and do as the Lord Himself had done, loving one another, forgiving those who have done bad things to us, praying even for our enemies and for those who persecute us, as well as other things that He had commanded us all to do.

This is what we need to do, and this is what we should indeed do as those who call themselves as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and wholeheartedly follow His laws and commandments, so that in everything that we say and do, we will always be faithful, and bring glory to our Lord and God. May God bless us all and keep us in His grace, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 January 2016 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the actions of John the Baptist and Jesus, who were both baptising the people at the Jordan river. We heard about how he humbly rejoiced when his own Lord and Master gained popularity over that of his, and despite the protests from his own disciples, he remained true to his mission, that is as the herald and as the one who preceded the coming of the Messiah of God.

Through him, the world now knows the reality and the truth found in the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into this world in order to save it from the certain destruction if we were all to follow our usual path in the ways of the world, and in all the vices and sins we have committed daily in our respective lives. Through Him this world has found a new light.

And it is to this light that all of us have been called, that is to shed and to leave behind all the traces and taints of our sins and wickedness behind us, and to put forth righteousness and faith in our God. In Jesus our Lord, we have the example and the lead to follow if we are to be freed from the bonds of darkness and the servitude to sin and death that had kept us and many others chained throughout the ages.

As we approach the ending of our celebration of Christmas and all of its mysteries and nature, all of us should take some time to reflect on what Christmas and its joy, and indeed what our faith truly means for us. Is it just the celebration and joy because we are following what others had done, and then we just join in all the fun and the partying? Or did we rejoice because we know what the Lord had done for us?

St. John the Baptist knew all these, and as he knew the greatness of God’s love and all that He had planned to do for us all mankind, he rejoiced and praised the Lord with all his might whenever he heard the Lord Jesus making advances in His earthly works and missions, as he knew that he had been successful in the mission he was brought into this world for, that is to prepare the way for his Lord and Master, Jesus.

It is in our human nature to be jealous and to desire things for ourselves, such as power, influence, money, wealth and many other worldly goods and things. And therefore, the disciples of John the Baptist asked such questions because they thought it would have been natural for someone to be jealous and to be angry when another person seems to be better and doing things that are harmful or in opposition to what a person is doing.

But St. John the Baptist enlightened them and told them how as a servant of God, Whose works were then just beginning to take off, into the perfect fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation, he was just a tool in the hands of the Lord. And what is important is that the work of God was done, and as he diminished and became less, the Lord became more important.

In the first reading, we all heard at the end of the reading, where St. John in his letter or epistle reminded all the faithful who read that Epistle, of the importance of avoiding idols and keeping ourselves free from the taints of wickedness. This is applicable to us all today as well, as these idols will bring us further away from the Lord and ever closer to damnation.

We may think that we are safe from idols and from such corruptions, but we are truly wrong in this. Take note that these idols may not be the idols of gold, silver, wood or stone, carvings and images of animals as it was in the past, but our new idols are the idols of money, of fame, of recognition and affluence, all of which often come in between us and God.

Let us all therefore today commit ourselves anew in faith to our Lord, so that we may be able to better resist the temptation of these new idols, and therefore gain for ourselves the salvation that we can only find in the Lord our God. Let us commit ourselves to say and do things that will glorify God forevermore and let us no longer be idle or be distracted in our path. God bless us all in all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 January 2016 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 3 : 22-30

At that time, Jesus went into the territory of Judea with His disciples. He stayed there with them and baptised. John was also baptising in Aenon, near Salim, where water was plentiful; people came to him and were baptised. This happened before John was put in prison.

Now John’s disciples had been questioned by a Jew about spiritual cleansing, so they came to John and said, “Rabbi, the One Who was with you across the Jordan, and about Whom you spoke favourably, is now baptising, and all are going to him.”

John answered, “No one can receive anything, except what has been given to Him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’ Only the bridegroom has the bride; but the friend of the bridegroom stands by and listens, and rejoices to hear the bridegroom’s voice.”

“My joy is now full. It is necessary that He increase but that I decrease.”

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Saturday, 9 January 2016 : Saturday after the Epiphany (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 5 : 14-21

Through Him we are fully confident that whatever we ask, according to His will, He will grant us. If we know that He hears us whenever we ask, we know that we already have what we asked of Him.

If you see your brother committing sin, a sin which does not lead to death, pray for him, and God will give life to your brother. I speak, of course, of the sin which does not lead to death. There is also a sin that leads to death; I do not speak of praying about this. Every kind of wrongdoing is sin, but not all sin leads to death.

We know that those born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them and the evil one does not touch them. We know that we belong to God, while the whole world lies in evil. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us power to know the truth. We are in Him Who is true, His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

My dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

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Friday, 8 January 2016 : Friday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Who came into this world, proclaiming and bringing God’s salvation, mercy and healing upon all of us mankind, all of whom were sickened in our hearts, filled and tainted with the darkness of our own faults and disobediences, with our own sins and unworthiness before the Lord.

In the Gospel we heard how the Lord Jesus helped a leper who was suffering from his leprosy, the pain, the suffering, the shame and the stigma that came with it, and how Jesus brought him to fullness of healing and redemption, and his leprosy was healed when the Lord touched him, purging from him the imperfection and the filth of the physical leprosy of the flesh.

But Jesus did not desire for the man to trumpet out loud what He had done for him. In our human nature, it would be natural for us all to show off what we have been successful in, and boast of our achievements, but this was not what the Lord Jesus had done. This is because whatever He had done for mankind’s sake, His people and beloved children, He had done them for their sake entirely, and never for His own glory.

And yet, whatever He had done, out of His infinite and everlasting love for us all, He had been glorified through His actions, as we heard in the first reading today, by the testimony of the water, the blood and the Spirit, all of which acted in unison in proclaiming the love, the everlasting and great love that God had shown us all and manifested itself through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When Jesus was baptised at the Jordan, as He was immersed in the water by John the Baptist, the heaven was opened, and there came a great voice from Heaven, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, and a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, came to dwell on Jesus, the testimony of the truth which both the water and the Spirit agreed on, that Christ our Lord is the One Who had come into the world in order to save us.

And what is the testimony of Blood? It is the testimony of the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ Who had shed His blood and pour it all upon us as He lay dying and suffering on the cross. Had it been any other blood, animal’s blood or human blood besides that of Christ’s, it would have been useless and meaningless. But because our Lord Himself had shed His own Precious Blood, the blood which is worthy and capable of absolving all of us from our sins, then that was why, we have a new hope of salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all realise what great friend and help we have had in Jesus our Lord. It was because of Him that the love of God had reached out to all of us, and through Him we have this hope and promise of eternal life and salvation from all of our predicaments. We have once been condemned to a fate of eternal death and suffering because of our sins and disobedience, but the Lord Who loves us all, wanted another fate for us.

Have we therefore given Him thanks and gratitude for all that He has done for us? We have passed through Christmas and all of its joyful celebrations, where we revel and be happy knowing that our Lord Who had come into the world, had also blessed us with His presence and dwelling here among us, so that through Him, we may all be saved. And we see how the Lord had sacrificed Himself for our sake, which we will celebrate in the upcoming weeks as we proceed into the season of Lent and then into the Holy Week and Easter.

Let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us all strengthen our faith in Him, so that in all things that we say and do, we may always bring glory to Him and also that we may remain always in His grace and love, that we will never be separated again from His love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 January 2016 : Thursday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard of the proclamation of Jesus as the Holy One of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah or Saviour which the prophets of the old days had spoken about, revealing to all mankind of the plan of salvation through which our loving and devoted God had planned for us all, to bring us all out of our misery into the everlasting happiness to be found in Him.

Through Jesus, a people who have long awaited for their salvation and for the coming of their Saviour had seen and witnessed how their God Himself came among them and touched the least and the forgotten ones among them, healing them from their afflictions and carrying them back from the precipice of darkness and back into the light and grace of God.

God has not abandoned us all even though we have often abandoned Him and rejected Him for the preference of the world and all of its good offers, and thus, while we have sinned and deserved eternal damnation and death, but God Who created us and loved us all dearly since the beginning wanted to give all of us a chance.

This is why through Jesus, God wanted to show us His mercy and forgiveness, the care and concern which He showed to all of those who have been lost in their way in the world, just as He made it clear that He came to seek those who had been lost and those who have erred, those who were tainted and darkened by their sins and wickedness.

God healed them and made them whole again, filling up their beings not just with the physical food that satisfies the stomach, but also with the spiritual blessings and nourishment that fills up and satisfies the heart and the soul. And even though once we were delinquents and rebels who refused to comply and obey the laws and the commandments of our God, but God is willing to give us a chance.

Nevertheless, it does not mean that we should take His kindness, love and mercy for granted. We must take whatever opportunity He has given us, and do not wait until it is too late for us, or try to test God’s patience in His generous grant of mercy to all of us. In this we should heed what our Lord Jesus told His disciples in another occasion on the parable of the five wise women and the five foolish women.

The wise women were ready for the coming of the bridegroom and they had prepared amply for the provision of their lamps so that when the bridegroom came at the unexpected hour, they were ready and were therefore able to join him in the banquet prepared for them. Meanwhile, the foolish women did not prepare themselves beforehand, and they were caught unprepared when the bridegroom came, and they were left out.

Similarly therefore, it is important for us all to be ready and to welcome God’s mercy fully into ourselves. Let us commit ourselves and devote ourselves to receive worthily God’s mercy and love. And in this let us all follow the example shown by St. Raymond of Penyafort, a holy servant of God whose feast we are celebrating on this day.

St. Raymond of Penyafort was Dominican priest and a famous preacher who was renowned in his many works on the faith, and in how he zealously lived his life in ever preparedness and readiness for the Lord. He also refused the temptations of worldliness and human power, and instead, despite his fame and position, once appointed to lead his congregation, he remained very humble.

His examples in how he lived his life and how he committed himself to his faith can be examples for us all in how we should live out our own faith. If we can dedicate ourselves and commit ourselves to the Lord in the same way as this holy man of God had done, trusting in God’s love and mercy, then surely we shall be blessed and the inheritance of eternal joy and grace of God will be ours.

May God be with us all and may He continue to strengthen us in our faith, so that in all the things that we say and do, we may always align ourselves to the Lord and be always found in His grace. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 January 2016 : Thursday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 4 : 14-22a

At that time, Jesus acted with the power of the Spirit; and on His return to Galilee, the news about Him spread throughout all that territory. He began teaching in the synagogues of the Jews and everyone praised Him.

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written : “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.” All agreed with Him, and were lost in wonder, while He spoke of the grace of God.