Jesuit saints

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Saturday, 19 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the great things that the Lord has assured each and every one of us, the salvation that He has promised to us from time immemorial, and the revelation of everything that He has shown and done for us through His Son, the perfect manifestation of God’s ever enduring and wonderful love for all of us mankind. Through Christ, the Son of God that had taken up our nature and existence, God has opened for us all the path to eternal life and true happiness and fulfilment in Him. He has shown how great His power and love is, far surpassing anything else in this world and transcending all boundaries and limits, reassuring us as always of His ever present and boundless love, which we should therefore respond with the same love and faith.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Ephesus, in which the Apostle reminded all the faithful people of God of the Lord’s great and amazing power, His might and glorious dominion over the whole world. Through all of these, God has assured us all of the constant care and protection, love and compassion that He has always patiently had for each one of us. God has always been there for us and we have to remember this truth and fact, especially when we may be constantly facing a lot of trials and challenges in life. We must not easily give up our faith and commitment to God because we think that God did not care for us or that God was not there by our side through our challenges, trials and difficulties. Those were the main reasons why many people had abandoned the Lord and left Him, because they did not realise that God has actually always been with them.

The reality is such that, although we may not be able to see Him directly in person before us, but He is truly all around us, journeying with us and guiding us throughout the way. And if we do bother spending the time and effort to recognise His Presence around us, we can truly feel Him being there in our midst, walking with us and giving us all His assurance that He is always ever been there for us, being patient with us despite us having constantly been stubborn and disobedient against Him. God is always ever ready to forgive us and to reach out to us whenever we are regretful, repentant over our many sins and wickedness. God has always shown His great patience and kindness from the very beginning, as an ever loving Father Who truly loves His children very much, caring for us in each and every occasion without cease and with ever present patience, and always with the intention to bring us back to Himself..tiaenges anaempowe ov EPhes

Then, in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord told His disciples that everything which they had to face in the midst of their mission and journey, their work and commitment, all of these would be faced together with God by their side, and they would never be alone, as the Lord would give them His guidance, help and strength, granting and blessing them with His Holy Spirit, the great Advocate and Helper, Who would encourage and inflame our hearts, guiding us to the right path and giving us the strength and wisdom to stand up for our faith, if we continue to put our trust in His love and faithfulness, as we should always do. The Lord also prepared us saying that there would indeed be challenges, trials and obstacles, and we must be ready for them, but we must not be afraid of them.

As Christians, each and every one of us must always have that firm faith and conviction to trust the Lord and follow Him at all times. We must not allow ourselves to be dissuaded, tempted and coerced otherwise to think that we are alone in all the challenges and sufferings that we may be facing in life and in our journey and mission as Christians, because that is exactly what the evil one is trying hard to do, to convince us that we are all alone and that God is not there for us, when He has actually always been there for us, guiding us and strengthening us, providing us generously all throughout every steps and moments of the journey and mission in our lives. We should continue to be faithful to the Lord and to do whatever we can so that we may indeed live our lives in the manner that is truly holy and worthy of God at all times. Advhis H  erm

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, holy priests and martyrs, together with their many companions in holy martyrdom in the region now encompassing Canada and the northern part of North American continent. They were missionaries from the Society of Jesus sent from France to evangelise and minister to the native populations of the many parts and wilderness of French Canadian colony at the time and beyond. Many of these missionaries faced great challenges amidst their mission, as while they did encounter significant successes in having quite a number of the natives embracing the Lord and the Christian faith, but they also faced bitter and determined opposition from those who refused to believe and embrace the Christian faith, on top of the many harsh conditions they had to endure in their missionary journey and lives.

At the time, many of those missionaries faced bitter cold condition, diseases and other problems beside the persecution and attacks from the tribes that were opposed to the efforts of the missionaries in proclaiming the Good News of God. Some of the missionaries like St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues were captured by the hostile natives who persecuted and tortured them, and with some other Christians, both the missionaries and converts alike, many of them were martyred in the defence of their faith, refusing to give up their faith and remaining firmly committed to God to the very end, not allowing the sufferings and persecutions to tempt them to abandon their faith and trust in the Lord, their God and Master.

And we also commemorate St. Paul of the Cross on top of our commemoration of the Holy Martyrs of Canada. St. Paul of the Cross was an Italian priest who was the renowned founder of the Passionists, a religious congregation for men, dedicated to the devotion to the Lord’s Passion, His love and great compassion for all of us mankind. St. Paul of the Cross was convinced from when he was young and through the various experiences he encountered, that there was a need for a community to live together in total dedication and commitment to the Lord, particularly to His great Passion and love for us mankind, and this eventually became the inspiration and foundation for his eventual founding of the Passionists, whose members dedicate themselves to serve the people of God and to show His care and love to those who need them, to those who were marginalised and suffering.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all have heard from the lives of the great and holy saints, the Holy Martyrs of Canada and that of St. Paul of the Cross, among others, and as we have discussed through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures we have heard, let us all therefore renew our commitment to God, our faith and trust in Him, as well as our desire to love Him wholeheartedly and to continue to do His will at all times and in all circumstances. Let us all remember and keep reminding one another of the great love that God has for each one of us, and strive therefore to show the same love to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, just as much as we all should love God and be ever thankful for His ever patient love.

May the Lord, our most loving God, Father and Creator continue to show us all His love, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us with His strength, guidance and love, and through His Holy Spirit so that we may always continue to live worthily of the Lord, full of His love and compassion towards everyone around us, and may He continue to guide and help us all, so that by our inspirational and exemplary way of life, we will draw ever closer to His loving Presence and be worthy to share in the glorious inheritance that He has promised and reassured us. May God be with us always and bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Luke 12 : 8-12

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the Angels of God. But the one who denies Me before others will be denied before the Angels of God. There will be pardon for the one who criticises the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.”

“When you are brought before the synagogues, and before governors and rulers, do not worry about how you will defend yourself, or what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.”

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Saturday, 19 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Psalm 8 : 2-3a, 4-5, 6-7

O YHVH, our YHVH, how great is Your Name throughout the earth! And Your glory in the heavens above. Even the mouths of children and infants exalt Your glory in front of Your foes.

When I observe the heavens, the work of Your hands, the moon, and the stars You set in their place – what is man, that You be mindful of him; the Son of Man, that You should care for Him?

Yet You made Him a little less than a god; You crowned Him with glory and honour, and gave Him the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.

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Saturday, 19 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Ephesians 1 : 15-23

I have been told of your faith and your affection toward all the believers, so I always give thanks to God, remembering you in my prayers. May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of glory, reveal Himself to you, and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you may know Him.

May He enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for His saints; may you understand, with what extraordinary power, He acts in favour of us who believe.

He revealed His Almighty power in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and had Him sit at His right hand in heaven, far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world, but in the world to come as well. Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set Him above all things, as Head of the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him, Who fills all in all.

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that we should continue to put our focus, attention and emphasis on the Lord at all times and opportunities, and we should not allow the many temptations and allures of worldly glory, pleasures, ambitions and other things from leading us astray down the path towards our downfall and destruction. We should always keep in mind that as Christians, each and every one of us are the ones whom God had called and chosen from this world, and whom He embraced as His own beloved sons and daughters, as those whom He is pleased with, and seek to be reunited with.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which we heard of the frustrations of the prophet Jeremiah who at that time had been sent by God to minister to the people of the kingdom of Judah, the southern half of what was once the united kingdom of Israel. Jeremiah was sent to proclaim God’s words and judgment to the people and kingdom of Judah, telling them all of the wickedness that they had done as well as the consequences of those wickedness and sins. The Lord wanted His people to know that He still loved them and was concerned for them, and therefore told them through His prophet that they should repent from their many sins, and warning them of the doom and destruction which they would face if they continued to disobey Him.

But for all these works and things that he had done in God’s employ, Jeremiah faced a lot of stubborn resistance and rejection from those who refused to listen to God’s words. He was persecuted and had a difficult journey and life as God’s prophet, just like many others before him. And just like any one of us, even Jeremiah could break under pressure and duress, after he had to face such stubbornness and all the difficulties that he had to endure amidst all those challenges. But at the same time, as we heard in that same passage, the Lord also spoke to Jeremiah, reassuring him of His protection and guidance, and how despite all the hardships, challenges and dangers that he had to endure, God would always be with him and guard him, and indeed, if we follow the life and story of the prophet Jeremiah, God had saved and protected him on many occasions, and gave him the strength to persevere through those difficulties.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord spoke to His disciples and followers using two parables to highlight what the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God is like. He used parable of the treasure in the field and the parable of a pearl of great price to show that the Kingdom of Heaven, God’s glorious Kingdom, His triumph and victory is something that we should value over all else, and is what we should put as the focus and emphasis of our whole lives. Each and every one of us as Christians should put our focus on the Kingdom of God and value it above everything else in our lives, above all the temptations and distractions all around us, the false treasures that will not lead us to the ultimate triumph and victory with God.

We are reminded as we heard these readings from the Scriptures that first of all, following God is not an easy matter, just as how the prophet Jeremiah and the many other holy men and women of God had suffered. To be a disciple and follower of Christ, we may often have to face difficulties and challenges just as the many stories and experiences of our holy predecessors have shown us. But we must also be strengthened and encouraged by the fact that God is always with us throughout the way, and just as He had done with the prophet Jeremiah and His many other servants, He will always be by our side, providing for us and giving us His help in our respective paths and journeys. The path we tread and walk through may indeed be difficult and arduous, but we must not be afraid to make the sacrifices and the efforts needed for us to remain true to this path, just as the person who discovered the treasure and the merchant who found the pearl in the Lord’s parables had done.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the great founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, namely that of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was born in the northern part of Spain today as the youngest son of a local Basque nobility, at the time when there were many conflicts and wars happening in the region. St. Ignatius of Loyola eventually grew up into a young man who was interested in military matters and career, seeking for glory and fame through wars and battles, seeking all that through the various romanticised war stories and legends he was inspired by in his youth. Hence, he joined the army at the young age of seventeen, fighting in many battles in Navarre in northern Spain, until one day, he was seriously injured by a cannonball hitting one of his legs, which effectively ended his military career.

St. Ignatius of Loyola went through a spiritual conversion as he was recovering from that major injury, as he was exposed to the story of the Lord and His saints, realising that his earlier pursuit of fame and glory through war and conflicts had ultimately been illusory and fleeting, a fact further emphasised by his mangled leg and injury, reminding him and also all of us of just how fickle life in this world can be, and how fleeting any kind of earthly glory and satisfaction can be. And as he grew closer to God, he eventually came to the idea of establishing an order and congregation of men dedicated and committed to God and His Church, to the mission of evangelisation and ministering to the people of God, which came to reality with the Society of Jesus.

Through the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered many other people who were called to serve the Lord, including those like St. Peter Faber and St. Francis Xavier who were counted among the founding members of the Jesuits. They worked tirelessly to serve God and His people in both Christendom at the time when the Protestant reformation was causing great harm and divisions on many of the faithful, as the spearhead of the Counter Reformation efforts, as well as in distant lands to proclaim the Gospel of Christ among the people who have not yet known God and His truth, like what St. Francis Xavier and many others did in the Far East and beyond. St. Ignatius of Loyola committed himself and the rest of his life in serving God faithfully and we should be inspired by his great examples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures, pondered and reflected, and then through the life and experiences of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the great saint whose memory we remember and venerate today, let us all as Christians renew our commitment to be ever more faithful, zealous and committed disciples and followers of God, giving our best in whatever areas and missions that He had entrusted to us, so that by our various contributions and efforts, we may truly glorify Him and bear rich fruits of our efforts in the advance of the proclamation of the truth of God and His salvation to all.

May the Lord, our most loving God continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey and faith, at each and every moments so that we may continue to be good and worthy examples for everyone around us in our lives and actions. May He bless our many good works and endeavours, our efforts and contributions to the missions of His Church, and may He strengthen us in the commitment and conviction to continue proclaiming Him at all times, in our every niches in life and in all of our various communities. Amen.

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 44-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field. The one who finds it, buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader, who is looking for fine pearls. Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it.”

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 58 : 2-3, 4-5a, 10-11, 17, 18

Deliver me from my enemies, o God, from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from evildoers; rescue me from the bloodthirsty.

Look, they lie in wait for my life; the mighty conspiring against me, for no fault of mine, o YHVH. I have done them no wrong; yet, they prepare to attack me.

O my Strength, I look up, to You; for You, o God, are my Fortress. My loving God will come to help me and let me see my enemies fall.

But I will sing of Your might; in the morning I will sing of Your love. For You have been a Fortress to me, a Refuge in time of distress.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to You; for You, o God, are my Stronghold; You are a loving God.

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 15 : 10, 16-21

Woe is me, Mother, why did you bring me to the light? A man of dissension throughout the land! I owe them nothing, neither do they owe me, yet they all curse me!

I devoured Your words when they came. They were my happiness and I felt full of joy when You made Your Name rest on me. I never associate with worldly people, amusing myself with scoffers! When Your hand was upon me I stood apart and You filled me with Your anger. Why is there no end to my sorrow or healing for my wound? Why do You deceive me, and why does my spring suddenly dry up?

Then YHVH spoke to me, “If you return I will take you back and you will serve Me again. Draw the gold from the dross and you will be as My own mouth. You must draw them to you and not to go over to them. I will make you a fortress and a wall of bronze facing them; if they fight against you they will not overcome you; I am with you to free you and save you. I will redeem you from the wicked and free you from the hands of tyrants.”

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to obey the Law and commandments of God, and to keep ourselves away from the wickedness of evil and all the temptations present all around us, which may distract and mislead us in our journey throughout life, in leading us towards the path of downfall and sin, like what our predecessors has shown us. We should all nurture a life that is full of faith, commitment, love and obedience to God, and strive to do our best so that in our every words, actions and in our whole life, we may truly embody our Christian faith above all else. We should strive to live a life that is in harmony with the Lord and His ways, so that by our works and lives, all may come to know God and they may know that we truly belong to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus of the moment when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai after having received the Ten Commandments, the Law and the precepts of the Lord, which were meant for all of the people of God, only to find the people of Israel having committed a great sin against God. They apostatised themselves and abandoned the Lord Who had just very recently brought them out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and led them through many great wonders and by His own mighty hands, in smiting the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, and in how He had opened the sea itself before His people so that they all could safely walk through the dry seabed away from the forces of the Pharaoh, which God had destroyed and crushed before their very own eyes.

Despite all those and how God took really good care of all of them throughout their time and journey in the desert, in providing them with food and sustenance, and with protection and help against their enemies and those who were hostile against them, many of the Israelites rebelled against the Lord and disobeyed Him, building and raising up an idol, a false god to be their lord and master, a golden calf modelled after the gods of their former slave masters, the Egyptians. Thus, they commit the most grievous and serious crime and sin against the Lord, the most important commandment of all, which stated that all the faithful people of God must love the Lord their God, with all their heart, their strength and might, and have no other god beside Him. The Lord has just established His Covenant with His people back then, only for those same people to betray Him in this manner. For this sin they should all have deserved death and destruction, but Moses pleaded for them all before the Lord.

Thus, the Lord regained His people, the Israelites, after those most responsible for the disobedience and the golden calf worship, especially those who refused to repent, had been crushed and destroyed. The people all had to atone for their sins and wickedness, and they had to repent and turn away from their sinful path. Through His Law and commandments, God has bestowed His providence and help for all of His beloved ones, and through those same Law and commandments, God prepared them all to walk down the path of righteousness and justice, the path of His virtue and grace, towards the eternal life and salvation that He alone can provide to them. The Lord has reminded us all yet again today through our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the yeast and the flour, by which He explained the kingdom of God is like, and how all of us, as His disciples should lead our lives that we can truly embody this kingdom of God being truly present in our midst.

For those who are truly familiar with breadmaking, placing yeast inside the flour that had been kneaded and mixed into dough is necessary for the dough to rise into a large and properly developed bread. However, this requires a specific kind of conditions, which include the absence of oxygen and also having the right temperature in order for the yeast to be able to turn the substances in the dough into the right mixture and texture present in the bread. This is why it was used by the Lord to highlight to His disciples, and hence also to all of us that in order for us to become truly faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord, then we have to spend our time and effort to cultivate and nurture that favourable conditions for the development and growth of the seeds of faith present inside each and every one of us.

For the Lord has given us all His truth, His Wisdom and love, to help and guide us, as are His Law and commandments, but for them to truly and meaningfully make use of those gifts and blessings, they have to provide the best and optimum conditions for those gifts to grow ever stronger in faith and grace in God. All these cannot happen unless we strive to live our lives worthily and well in accordance to God’s path and ways, and unless we do our best in trying to live our lives with dedication and commitment to God, loving Him and knowing His ways, and doing whatever we can to serve and love Him at every possible opportunities. Through all these things, we shall become the great beacons of God’s light and truth, His missionaries and messengers to all the people all around us. It is by our examples and actions that we can proclaim His Good News to the nations.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. On this day as we recall the life of this great saint of God, we recall the actions and works that St. Ignatius of Loyola carried out in his life, in his dedication to serve the Lord, that we may also be inspired to do the same in our own lives. St. Ignatius of Loyola was born Inigo Lopez into a family of lower nobility in the region of Basque in what is now northern part of Spain. And after a rather turbulent early years in life, the young St. Ignatius of Loyola was attracted into a life in the military, and was persuaded and tempted by the many hedonistic and materialistic pursuits of the world, that in his teenage years, he took up gambling, dancing, duelling and pursuing young women, as were common in those days among the nobles and the rich.

Then, when St. Ignatius of Loyola joined the military, for about more than decade, he encountered a lot of glorious moments and victories, but when he was injured in a particular battle, he faced a life-changing moment and encounter with God, through which he decided to renounce the allures of worldly glory and temptations, of greatness and desires, and henceforth, committed himself to a life that is dedicated to the greater glory of God alone. This would become the motto of the religious order that he would establish, that is the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. Their motto is ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’, that is ‘For the Greater Glory of God’. St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered several other like-minded people, who became the first members of the Jesuits, and dedicated themselves and their efforts henceforth in serving the Lord at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the commitment and dedication shown by St. Ignatius of Loyola and his fellow Jesuits, many people came back to the faith, turning away from the falsehoods and heresies of their past. Thus, St. Ignatius of Loyola became the examples for many others to follow the Lord more faithfully, and by his commitment and dedication, he became for many of us a shining beacon of God’s light and truth. Are we able to do the same with our own lives, brethren? Are we willing and able to embrace the Lord and His path just as St. Ignatius of Loyola had done with his life? Let us all hence turn wholeheartedly towards the Lord once again, reject the path of sin and evil, and be ourselves the worthy bearers of God’s truth in our world. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 31-35

At that time, Jesus offered His disciples another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it is fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast than a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole mass of dough began to rise.” Jesus taught all these things to the crowds by means of parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. This fulfilled whag was spoken by the Prophet : ‘I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.’