Italian saints

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Monday, 1 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 28 : 1-17

Early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah spoke to me. Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon proclaimed in YHVH’s House in the presence of the priests and the people, “This is what YHVH the God of hosts and the God of Israel says : I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

“Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from YHVH’s House and carried to Babylon. I will likewise bring back Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all who were taken from Judah and deported to Babylon. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon – word of YHVH.”

Then Jeremiah replied to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people, “So be it! May YHVH fulfil the words you have spoken and bring back from Babylon to this place the objects taken from the House of YHVH and all the exiles. Yet hear now what I say in your hearing and the hearing of all the people.”

“The prophets who came before you and me continually prophesied war, disaster and plague to many nations and great kingdoms. So the prophet who prophesies peace will not be recognises as truly sent by YHVH, until his predictions are fulfilled.”

Then Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah and broke it. Hananiah proclaimed in the presence of all the people, “YHVH says this : In the same manner within two years will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of all the nations.” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

Some time later, a word of YHVH came to Jeremiah, “Go and tell this to Hananiah : This is what YHVH says : You have broken a wooden yoke but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. For this is what YHVH the God of hosts and the God of Israel says : I am placing a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.”

Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “Listen! Hananiah, you have not been sent by YHVH and yet you have deceived these people, giving them false hope with your lies. That is why YHVH says with regard to you : I am removing you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counselled rebellion against YHVH.”

And in the seventh month of that year Hananiah died.

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Thursday, 21 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings from the Holy Scriptures regarding the lack of faith and the lack of attentiveness amongst the people of God who refused to believe in Him even though He has in many occasions shown His majesty, glory and truth. God had done so many good things for them, and yet they betrayed Him for the pagan idols and for the pleasures of this world.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why is it such that the people of God were so stubborn in their refusal to believe, even though they have seen, heard and witnessed all that God had done and performed in this world? And we may also ask why is it that God held Himself back, and not revealed His truth frankly and plainly for all the world to see? Surely if He was to show His great power among the people, then they would believe in Him and follow Him?

But then where will this lead us? We mankind are creatures who are easily tempted and lured by the wonders and goodness of this world. If Jesus was to declare Himself openly and truthfully for all to see, certainly He would have a much easier time, without the need to hide from all of His enemies, and yet, that would lead to the faithful believing in God because of their awe, and not because of the true desire to love and serve the Lord.

What Jesus wanted to teach us all and His disciples is that true faith requires a deeper understanding of God, His actions and His love for us, all of which should transcend the awe and preoccupation with appearances only. We should not be limiting ourselves to look at the exteriors, but instead deepen our own understanding and commitment to the Lord by deepening our relationship with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we are all called to be ever more devoted to God in all the things which we say and do. We are all called to commit ourselves by our dedication to the truth of the Lord, and not being afraid to stand up for our faith whenever it is called for. For many would be swayed by the persecutions and the challenges of the world, and many more would also be swayed by the temptations to turn away from the path of God and into the path towards damnation.

In this matter therefore, let us all look at the example of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, the holy saint of God whose devotion has allowed him to become an example for us all in the matter of faith. St. Lawrence of Brindisi was a Capuchin friar who was renowned for his devotion to God, and in his evangelisations, through which he was an integral part of the Counter-Reformation effort against the heresy of Protestantism, which saw many people repenting their heresy and returning to the Holy Mother Church through his efforts.

He went about to do many other works and commitments, leading the army of the faithful against the forces of the heathen and pagan Turks, successfully reclaiming territories of Christendom from the forces of evil. He devoted himself to the very end of his earthly life, and he was then even still remembered through his many writings and works through which he continued to inspire many other people through the generations on how to remain truly faithful to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow in his footsteps, and also in the footsteps of the many other holy saints, holy men and women of God. Let us glorify God and declare our commitment to Him through our actions which bring joy to the world and to all those whom we have touched and healed with the truth and the word of God. May God help us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 13 : 10-17

At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has, will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand.”

“In them the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled : However much you hear, you do not understand; however much you see, you do not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them.”

“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you that many prophets and upright people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.”

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Thursday, 21 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Psalm 35 : 6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11

Your love, o God, reaches the heavens; Your faithfulness, to the clouds. Your justice is like the mighty mountains; Your judgment like the unfathomable deep.

How precious, o God, is Your constant love! Mortals take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. In Your house they find rich food and they drink from Your spring of delight.

For with You is the fountain of life, in Your light we see light. Bestow on Your faithful Your love and give salvation to the upright of heart.

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Thursday, 21 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jeremiah 2 : 1-3, 7-8, 12-13

A word of YHVH came to me, “Go and shout this in the hearing of Jerusalem. This is YHVH’s word : I remember your kindness as a youth, the love of your bridal days, when you followed Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to YHVH, the first-fruits of His harvest. All who ate of it had to pay and misfortune fell on them – it is YHVH Who speaks.”

“I brought you to a fertile land to eat of the choicest fruit. As soon as you came you defiled My land and dishonoured My heritage! The priests did not ask, ‘Where is YHVH?’ The masters of My teaching did not know Me; the pastors of My people betrayed Me; the prophets followed worthless idols and spoke in the name of Baal.”

“Be aghast at that, o heavens! Shudder, be utterly appalled – it is YHVH Who speaks – for My people have done two evils : they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to dig for themselves leaking cisterns that hold no water!”

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking about the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, to whom the prophet Hosea had been sent to. The people of Israel had been blessed with much blessings, as their ancestors had been faithful to God and to His covenant with them. And at that time, as a background, the prophet Hosea was sent to the northern kingdom of Israel at the time of relative prosperity.

And all that prosperity as well as their own stubbornness and lack of faith had made the people of God to lose track and deviate from the true faith in God. They refused to listen to the prophets which had been sent to them to remind them of what they ought to do to repent and to turn back to the Lord. They disobeyed God and instead, they lived in debauchery and wasted themselves on the prosperity and the wealth which they had gained.

And instead of following their one and true King, they followed the king whom they have set over themselves. Those kings had misled them into evil ways and thus into sin. But despite of this, they continued on with their wrong path, and they therefore sank deeper into the darkness. And yet, God continued to send His help again and again, one after another with the hope that some of them would realise their errors and return to Him.

That was why Jesus our Lord, Who came into the world in order to save it, also sent His twelve Apostles and the many other disciples He had to preach His Good News to the people, spreading the truth about God’s love and mercy to them, and calling them to repentance and to turn themselves to God’s ever great and generous mercy.

But the resistance by all those people to whom the Apostles and the disciples had been sent to, was great. They did not like it when they had to change their ways to suit that of the ways of the Lord. For them, it was much more preferable for them to continue with their then way of life rather than to abandon them for the sake of the Lord. Many of them were too attached to worldliness and thus their hearts were set against God and His message.

Then, this is where we should take note of what happened to the saint whose feast day we celebrate today. She is the famous saint whose story must be quite familiar with many of us. St. Maria Goretti was a young woman who was devoted to the Lord, and has promised herself before God to remain holy and pure in all things. She lived with another family as her own father had passed away when she was still very young.

The son of the family where St. Maria Goretti lived in took an interest in her, and he on one occasion, threatened St. Maria Goretti and wanted to rape her when she was alone, but St. Maria Goretti, even when threatened with a sharp knife, refused his advances, and courageously reminded him that such an act is a great and mortal sin that would condemn both of them to the eternal fires of hell.

Faced with such a setback and opposition, the boy panicked and as he gave in to his fears and anger, he struck at St. Maria Goretti many times with the knife. As she laid dying from her wounds in the hospital, she forgave her murderer with love, and wished that he would be with her in Heaven.

And indeed, while the murderer refused to repent and did not show regret over his actions in the first few years of his imprisonment, but after a bishop visited him in prison and told him how St. Maria Goretti had forgiven him and even prayed for him, and as on one night she even appeared before him and spoke to him, the murderer, Alessandro Serenelli, repented sincerely and changed his ways, eventually even becoming a member of a religious order, dedicating himself to a life of piety and devotion to God.

This wonderful story of the life and death of St. Maria Goretti, and how her murderer had been converted into the way to salvation should be inspiration for us all as well. Let us not be like the people of Israel in ancient times, who placed their worldly desires and greed above their faith in God. The same problem had caused that Alessandro to murder St. Maria Goretti, and also many other sinful things which we mankind commit in this world today.

Let us all no longer give in to our human desires and the greed that is in our hearts. Let us instead devote ourselves ever more faithfully to our God, and give ourselves to Him in all the things that we say and do, so that we may draw ever closer to the throne of His love and mercy. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 10 : 1-7

At that time, Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits, to drive them and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the Twelve Apostles : first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Him.

Jesus sent these twelve on mission with these instructions : “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go and proclaim this message : The kingdom of heaven is near.”

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hosea 10 : 1-3, 7-8, 12

Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built, the his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones. Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces.

Now they say, “We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?” As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water. The idolatrous high places – the sin of Israel – will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking YHVH until He comes to rain salvation on you.

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Tuesday, 5 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the message of the Sacred Scriptures is very clear, as the messages in unison are reminders for all of us, not to put our trust or to worship the pagan gods and idols, which the people in the past had worshipped, the pagan gods and idols of wood, gold, silver, bronze and carven artefacts.

The first reading taken from the book of the prophet Hosea spoke about the lamentation and the anger which God had for His people, especially those in the northern kingdom of Israel who abandoned Him and instead followed the path of their neighbouring countries, those who worshipped the gods and idols of carved stones, gold and silver statues, the gods of the Canaanites, Baal, Asherah and many others.

Just as their ancestors had done at the time of their Exodus from Egypt, they were and can indeed be considered as fools for abandoning the sure certainty and the guarantee of their God for the comfort of the worldly falsehoods and for the beings crafted by mere human hands, of idols made from gold, silver, wood or other precious stones.

Since times and moments immemorial, mankind had worshipped objects of nature, both visible and invisible. They have worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars, and even elements such as fire, water and all the other creations of God. They were awed by their glorious appearances and how wonderful they were. But they did not realise or understand that all these things were mere creations, and not the Lord and Creator.

And all of us have the privilege to know the truth, that by what had been revealed to us, we know that we worship the Creator God, Who had created all those wonderful things, and yet we also know that those things were mere creations, and thus do not deserve our obeisance and worship. Those people put their trust in those things, and worse of all, they worshipped those creations of their own, the works of their own hands.

All that is because they were incapable of understanding the will and the intention of God. They were unable to comprehend the mysteries of God, and instead, they put emphasis on themselves, thinking that whatever greatness and glory they have received were due to them alone. And thus, many men who thought in accordance to the ways of the world would not be able to comprehend the will of God, just as what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law showed us.

The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were those supposedly chosen from among the people, educated and filled with wisdom and the teachings of the Law and the prophets, and as such, they were highly respected in the society. And yet, when they saw what Jesus had done, which was clearly the works of God made evident in the world of man, they refused to acknowledge it, and even made a grave lie and false accusation that Jesus had done His works with the power of demons.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? We do not have to look further than the tension that arose between them and Jesus our Lord. They were the powerful and the privileged ones in the society. Through their authority, they gained honour, respect and many other things through their influence, but Jesus, Who came to dispel all falsehoods and revealed the entirety of God’s truth to us, thus became a great threat to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Their ego and pride prevented them from opening their eyes, minds and hearts, to look beyond the veil of jealousy and human greed, in order to realise that indeed they were the ones who had been mistaken in their approach. They were too self-centred to be able to realise the love of God which has been poured for their sake. They thought that they were doing the right thing, while the fact is that they are just serving their own purposes.

Today’s Scripture readings serve as a reminder for us all, so that as we live our own lives today, we may keep ourselves free from those temptations, the temptations of power, the temptations of the flesh, and all the things that kept us away from truly being faithful to God. And we may think that in this current times, we no longer do what the ancients were doing, worshipping the idols of gold, silver, bronze or wood, but we are mistaken.

For there are always idols that keep us away from the Lord, no matter in what form it is. Do we not realise that many of us are so preoccupied by our work, by our income, wealth and possessions, which distracted us from following the Lord our God? Do we not realise that there are many modern day idols of materialism, of selfishness and of human pride that still stand on the path which we ought to take, as obstacles on our way to salvation?

Let us all reflect on this, and let us also see the example of St. Anthony Zaccaria, the faithful servant of God, whose feast day we are celebrating today. St. Anthony Zaccaria was an Italian priest, who lived a few hundred years ago, and he was well known for his piety and charitable acts, and became a great role model for many people, championing strong piety and devotion to God.

In particular, he made popular what is called the forty-hour devotion, the long period of solemn adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament, which is indeed the Lord Himself in the presence within the Eucharist. Through this devotion, which he championed and by his many other works and establishments of societies and religious groups dedicated to further the cause of the Lord, he had brought many souls from the precipice of darkness and back into the light.

Let us all therefore also follow in his footsteps, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us throw away all the idols of our life, those things that do not bring us closer to God and instead became barriers and obstacles on our path to Him. Let us not be distracted by ceaseless and endless pursuits of money, fame, wealth and human glory, but instead, put our trust in the Lord. Let us live our lives faithfully to God, and increase our devotion to the Lord, perhaps following the examples of St. Anthony Zaccaria through regular adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. May God help us all in all things. Amen.