Jesus Christ

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Sunday, 3 November 2013 : 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 19 : 1-10

When Jesus entered Jericho and passed through the city, a man named Zaccheus lived there. He was a tax collector and a wealthy man. He wanted to see what Jesus was like, but he was a short man and could not see Him because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree. From there he would be able to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, Zaccheus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house today.” So Zaccheus climbed down and received Him joyfully.

All the people who saw it began to grumble, and said, “He has gone as a guest to the house of a sinner.” But Zaccheus spoke to Jesus, “Half of what I own, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.”

Looking at him, Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

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Sunday, 3 November 2013 : 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 1 : 11 – 2 Thessalonians 2 : 2

This is why we constantly pray for you; may our God make you worthy of His calling. May He, by His power, fulfill your good purposes and your work prompted by faith. In that way, the Name of Jesus our Lord will be glorified through you, and you through Him, according to the loving plan of God and of Christ Jesus the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, let us speak about the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and our gathering to meet Him. Do not be easily unsettled. Do not be alarmed by what a prophet says or by any report, or by some letter said to be ours, saying that the day of the Lord is at hand.

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Saturday, 2 November 2013 : Solemnity of All Souls (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Black

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after we celebrated the feast of all saints yesterday, today we also remember all of our faithful departed, the souls of the dead, those who departed before us, some of which are known to us, as our own relatives, brothers and sisters in Christ. They have departed from us, but certainly they are not forgotten, as they remain with us, united in God.

Just like all saints, those who had departed this world are also our intercessors. They pray for us who are still in this world, this sinful world, immersed in our sinfulness. At the same time we also pray for them, that the Lord will welcome them into the kingdom of God, opening the gates of heaven for them, forgiving their sins, and purifying them that they will be able to join the company of saints and angels.

The Lord had given all of us and the souls departed a new and great hope, that they may receive salvation in Him, and be freed from the bondage of sin and evil. Previously, mankind had no hope for salvation, as the gates of heaven was closed shut tight before them, as the consequence and punishment for their rebellion and sinfulness.

It is through Jesus then, that we are made righteous again. It is because Christ took unto Himself all of our sins and defects, suffering for all the consequences of our sins in place of us, and die a humiliating death, all that so we can have a new hope in Him, the hope of a life eternal in glory with God in the afterlife. Through His resurrection, we then too share the hope of the same resurrection, that we will be brought body and soul, purified and made worthy by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

But this salvation is only offered to all those who receive and accept Christ as their Lord, their God, and their Saviour. In accepting the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and Lord, they receive the fullness of the salvation promised to all of us. But those who rejected Him and spurned His love will have no part in the glory promised to them. Instead, they shall perish and suffer everlasting death in the eternal darkness of hell.

If we are saved, then why do we need to pray for our departed ones, the souls of the dead? That is because, we believe that, in our faith, as a central dogma, is the presence of the purgatory, as a temporary place where souls transit on their way towards heaven. These souls have been found worthy by the Lord, worthy of heaven and therefore, they did not deserve hell and the devil’s fate for their destination. Yet, for them, they still have venial and small sins that prevented them from truly being with the Lord. This is why we have the souls in purgatory.

In purgatory, the souls are being purified of their sins, through suffering that they are not yet able to be with God. Nevertheless, this is unlike hell, which is a state of total and complete separation from God, in which there is no hope, an eternal suffering without end. In the purgatory are good souls who deserve to be with God, but they need to be rid of these little imperfections first before they can enter heaven. God is so great and perfect, and so perfectly good that no evil can hope to stand in His presence and survive. That is why, we have souls in purgatory.

Through our prayers, we help the souls departed in purgatory, that the Lord will pardon them completely, and allow them to be completely reunited with His love. Our prayers do help, brothers and sisters, if we are sincere. These souls, suffering the temporal separation from God, also pray for us, that we can grow more faithful and evade damnation, together with the saints, who intercede for us daily and at all times without cease.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, today, as we pray for the souls departed and the souls in purgatory, let us also take some time to reflect on our own actions, that we may seek to rectify any errors and unworthiness that we still maintain before the Lord, which distanced us from the embrace and love of God. Let us from now on, seek to be righteous and to be worthy, loving God’s children and He who is our Father Himself, with all of our hearts, our minds, and our souls. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 November 2013 : Solemnity of All Souls (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Black

John 6 : 37-40

Yet all those whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I shall not turn away. For I have come from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me.

And the will of Him who sent Me is that I lose nothing of what He has given Me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him shall live eternal life; and I will raise Him up on the last day.

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Saturday, 2 November 2013 : Solemnity of All Souls (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Black

Romans 5 : 5-11

And hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.

But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us and we have become just through His Blood. With much more reason now He will save us from any condemnation.

 

Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of His Son; with much more reason now we may be saved through His life. Not only that; we even boast in God because of Christ Jesus, our Lord, through whom we have been reconciled.

Alternative Reading

Romans 6 : 3-9

Do you not know that in baptism which unites us to Christ we are all baptised and plunged into His death? By this baptism in His death, we were buried with Christ and, as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Glory of the Father, so we begin walking in a new life. If we have been joined to Him by dying a death like His so we shall be by a resurrection like His.

We know that our old self was crucified with Christ, so as to destroy what of us was sin, so that we may no longer serve sin – if we are dead, we are no longer in debt to sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will not die again and death has no more dominion over Him.

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Friday, 1 November 2013 : Solemnity of All Saints (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters, rejoice! Rejoice indeed, I say to you! That is because today is indeed a great feast for all creation. Today is the feast of All Saints and holy people of God, those who had been made holy in God and who have been made righteous and glorious, receiving the eternal rewards and glories of heaven.

Yet, we should not think that these saints are superhumans or truly people who we all cannot become. There is a danger in us seeing them as people with divine and miraculous powers. It is important for us not to get this misconception. That is why many people outside the Church of God and even inside the Church have this misconception that we worship and pray to the saints as if they are gods.

No, brethren, as we all should know, that this is not the case. These saints were once like us, and they were indeed mere humans like ourselves, with all of our strengths as well as our weaknesses and shortcomings. These saints were just like us once, and some of them were even at one point of time, great sinners, whose sins could indeed be considered very abominable and evil in the eyes of the Lord. Among them were murderers and liars alike. They were no different from us, when they still walked in their mortal bodies in this world.

Yet, what sets them apart, is their realisation and understanding of the reason for their lives, that they, particularly those who sinned greatly, discovered the ugly nature of their sinful acts and from there, resolved to change themselves for the better. They left behind their sinful selves and cast away that empty shell of sin, cutting away the veil of darkness that separate them from God and His love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why we have our saints and blesseds, whom the Church and the entire Body of Christ had declared to be worthy of the glory of heaven. They have transformed themselves to become the vessels of the light and love of the Lord our God. They have used the gifts given to them, using them for the good of others, loving all mankind, just as the Lord had asked all of us to do. And finally, they loved God in their own ways, each no less great than the other.

Sainthood is not an easy matter to get, for being saints mean that those people have been found worthy of the glory of heaven. It is not easy for us to be worthy of the glory of heaven, as we have to be mindful of the sins and evils we have committed, be it in our words and our actions. And yet, remember again, brethren, that saints and all the holy people, were also once sinners like us, but they have been made worthy, because they realised their sinful nature and changed themselves from that point, for the better.

In this, then we have to take note of what our Lord Jesus Christ had said in the Gospel today. It is a very familiar passage for us all, as it is the Sermon at the mount, or the Beatitudes, where Jesus taught His disciples and all the people who were following Him, on the blessings that He gave and attributed to the people who had done what is good. Essentially these are the people who are truly blessed and found worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

So are these categories then a sign of greatness and glory? Of might and power? No! In fact, when you look at the Beatitudes, the characteristics of those who are blessed, are being merciful, peaceful, loving, and essentially, all that Jesus Himself had preached throughout His ministry. It is these people who love peace, who seek love with one another, and those who put the Lord and His precepts above everything else.

We too can become saints, brethren! Sainthood is truly not outside our reach. The late Blessed Pope John Paul II himself, soon to be raised to the glory of heaven as a saint, called all of us the faithful ones in God, to become more saintly and aspire to be them, through his universal call to holiness. All of us truly have within each one of us, the ability to become saints, and receive the rich and glorious rewards of heaven, only if we make a decisive choice.

Let us therefore, brothers and sisters, from now on, resolve to make ourselves into new persons in God, that all of our actions, our words, and our deeds will be truly a reflection of the Lord, that we will be righteous in all of our deeds, that we will be made worthy and holy, before the Lord our God, that one day, we will be able to join His choir of angels and saints, praising His Name forever and ever.

Remember brethren, the Beatitudes and the other teachings of our Lord. Be loving, be men of peace, be humble, be gentle, and be faithful to our Lord. Happy all Saints day to everyone, may they intercede for us sinners still in this world, and God be with us all. Amen!

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Friday, 1 November 2013 : Solemnity of All Saints (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Revelations 7 : 2-4, 9-14

I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”

After this I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves but our God who sits on the throne and the Lamb?”

All the angels were around the throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they then bowed before the throne with their faces to the ground to worship God. They said, “Amen. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honour, power, and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!”

At that moment, one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.”

The elder replied, “They are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed and made their clothes white in the Blood of the Lamb.

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Thursday, 31 October 2013 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, opposition is against us, against the servants of the Lord our God, against the good works dedicated to the service of God and His people, and finally, against the Lord Himself.

Today the Lord highlighted a historical fact, on how the people of God, the chosen people of Israel, rejected the Lord, His love and kindness, and cast away those whom God had sent to them. They did not just send them away but many of them were even slaughtered in cold blood.

The people whom the Lord had chosen and made as His own has rebelled and turned away from Him. Naturally, the Lord would have been angry and should have destroyed them all from the face of the earth. However, He is loving and merciful just as He is just and angry against the sins mankind have committed. He wants His people to be saved, and not to fall for the sins they have done.

The Lord Himself was rejected when He came to be with His people, and to liberate them from the yoke of the evil one. He did not leave His people to the power of the evil one, but they spurned His love. He was condemned for sins that He did not commit and was condemned to a humiliating death on the cross. Nevertheless, you all know what the Lord did.

He took up all those sins that were placed upon Him, and took them into Himself unto death. All these He had done for us, so that we do not have to suffer the consequences of the sins we had committed. For the consequences of sins are suffering and death, and the Lord who loves us dearly, does not want us to suffer those fates. That is why He offered Himself through Jesus His Son, to be the sacrificial victim to liberate us from our fate of destruction and death.

He laid down His own life that we shall live, that we shall not die an eternal death and suffer eternal suffering in hell. Nobody can separate us from Him, just as St. Paul had said in the first reading today, in his letter to the Church in Rome, the Empire’s capital. St. Paul asserted Christ’s eternal and undying love for all of us, that He is willing to suffer all the grievous sufferings actually intended for us as our deserved punishments for our sins.

It is that through His one and only ultimate sacrifice on the cross, that the Lord saves us all from the valley of death and brings us closer to the heavenly rewards that we have been blessed with through Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, as is noted in the Gospel today, despite all the love and kindness that the Lord has poured on us, there are still those who do not follow Him and even despise Him, just as they had despised the prophets and messengers sent before the Lord.

It is easy for us to dismiss them as being others, as being not all of us. Yet, we should indeed look first into ourselves, whether we have ourselves been righteous or wicked in our actions, and whether we have been ignorant or obedient to follow the Lord and His commandments. If we have done any of these, then we too have taken part in the suffering of the Lord.

Remember, that every single wounds on the Body of Christ is the sins that we have committed, with every words of evil that came out of our mouth, and with every actions of our limbs and bodies that do not reflect love or bring pain and suffering to others. Hence, brethren, let us, from today onwards, reflect on our own actions, and learn from what we have done, that we will cast from us, any actions that contribute towards the suffering of Christ in His Passion.

May our loving and merciful God continue to nurture in us His wonderful love, that we will grow to be ever more faithful and loving children of God, saved by Jesus His Son, and rejecting Satan and all of his advances. God guide us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 31 October 2013 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 31-35

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and gave Him this warning, “Leave this place and go on Your way, for Herod wants to kill You.” Jesus said to them, “Go and give that fox my answer : ‘I drive out demons, and I heal today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish My course!’ Nevertheless, I must go on My way today, and tomorrow, and for a little longer; for it would not be fitting for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem.”

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I tried to bring together your children, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, but you refused! From now on, you will be left with your temple, and you will no longer see Me, until the time when you will say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.'”

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Thursday, 31 October 2013 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 31b-39

If God is with us, who shall be against us? If He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not give us all things with Him? Who shall accuse those chosen by God : ‘He takes away their guilt.’ Who will dare to condemn them? Christ who died, and better still, rose and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish, persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword? As the Scripture says : ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; they treat us like sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all of this we are more than conquerors, thanks to Him who has loved us. I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord.