Lenten Homily

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Friday, 16 February 2018 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we focuses on the aspect of fasting and abstinence which we practice during this season of Lent. Now the Law of the Church prescribed that only on two occasions that we are required to fast, that is during Ash Wednesday as well as on Good Friday. Fasting refers to the practice of not eating more than the equivalent of two full meals in a day, which can be one full meal and two smaller meals, also known as collations.

Meanwhile abstinence refers to the practice of not eating meat and meat products, and instead, fishes and seafood are usually consumed. Both practices had their roots in the Scripture, with fasting as a common practice in the past for those who would like to purify themselves to be ready to meet up with God or to undertake important and holy tasks, in order to prepare themselves wholeheartedly. The Lord Jesus Himself fasted for forty days and forty nights before He began His ministry.

Then, abstinence is a practice linked to the moment when the Lord Jesus was crucified, sacrificing Himself and His Body and flesh for us on the cross, and as the word ‘flesh’ in Latin is the same as used for meat, thus, Christians practiced this abstinence from meat on Fridays, not just during Lent, but in fact throughout the whole year, as Friday marks the day when Good Friday happened, the day of Our Lord’s crucifixion and death on the cross.

It is important that we truly understand the reason why we fast and why we abstain from meat. In fact, abstinence itself is not restricted to the no consumption of meat alone, but can include any other things, pleasures and indulgences that we have, which we want to restrain in order to prepare ourselves better spiritually, mentally and physically, especially in this season of Lent, as we prepare for the coming of Holy Week and Easter.

Otherwise, we will end up being hypocrites in our faith, just as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done. The Lord rebuked them because they fasted in order to be seen by others as being pious and obedient to the Law, and they made a lot of fuss over many external observances of the laws of God, not just in the matter of fasting but also over prayer and other forms of piety, so that all those who saw them might praise them and honour them for what they had done.

Yet, their actions represent exactly what the prophet Isaiah had said in his preachings, which we heard in our first reading today. The prophet Isaiah condemned and rebuked all those who fasted and practiced their faith, and yet at the same time, committing things and actions which were contrary to the Law, such as lying, stealing and cheating on others, and even causing pain and sorrow to those whom they persecuted.

That was what the Pharisees had done, claiming to be pious through their actions and yet, they did their actions for the wrong reasons, seeking self-glorification and to satisfy personal ambitions and greed instead of for the greater glory of God as they should have done. It can be the same for us as well, when we do not practice our faith with the right actions and for the right reasons, even our fasting and abstaining during this season of Lent.

When we fast, do we do it because we truly love the Lord Our God so much, that we want to be rid of our sins and all of the wickedness inside each one of us by the practice of fasting, which restrains our desire and the temptations of our flesh, resulting in greater resilience and endurance in our faith? Or do we do it, because we want to be recognised by others as being pious and devout?

Do we abstain because we want to resist the temptations of our flesh or because we want to show off our piety for others? It is important that we think this thoroughly, as the actions we take without the right reasons will end up causing us to lose the true intention of what we are doing in this season of Lent. Are we doing our Lenten practices correctly so as to make our Lenten experience more meaningful?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us reflect on our respective lives, and think of how we can better commemorate this season of Lent, by living a life with a deeper commitment to prayer, spending more quality time with Our Lord, and through our closer relationship with Him, we may draw ever closer to God’s love and grace. And when we fast and abstain, let us, if we have not done so, do them with the right reason and intention.

Let us restrain our human emotions, all the greed, the jealousy, the pride, the ambition, the anger, the hatred and all the negativities present in our lives, through our pious actions and devotions, especially in this blessed season of Lent. May the Lord be with us in our journey of faith, committing ourselves ever more devoutly to the Lord, and that we may find eternal life, glory and joy with Him at the end of our journey. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 February 2018 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the readings first of all from the Book of Deuteronomy, in which we heard how Moses told the people of Israel during their Exodus from Egypt, the choices that they had, either that they choose to do what is good in accordance to God’s laws and ways, or whether they would rather choose to disobey Him and do things in contrary to His teachings.

What the readings mentioned was that, each of us mankind have been given the free will by God, to choose freely and consciously between God and His blessings, or the devil and his curses. We are given this choice in our own respective lives, and we must make a stand on which way we are to choose in our path forward. We cannot be lukewarm or be indecisive in this matter.

In the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus reiterated once again this choice that we have before us, as He plainly stated before His disciples, that He would be rejected, as the Son of Man condemned to suffer and to die on the cross. That means the disciples themselves would encounter the same rejection and persecution which their Lord and Master has once faced, should they continue to serve Him and to be faithful to Him.

The Lord mentioned that all those who followed Him must be ready to pick up their crosses, following the Lord and walking with Him with those crosses born upon their shoulders. What the Lord mentioned here does not mean that we are to literally shoulder the burden of the physical wooden cross which the Lord had carried all the way from Jerusalem to Calvary, and neither does it mean that we bear the crosses of our sins, as all of our sins have been taken up by the Lord Himself, Who died for us on the cross to redeem us from our sins.

He wanted us to realise that we must be ready to face the consequences should we choose to devote ourselves, our time and attention on the Lord. We cannot expect that becoming Christians and obeying God’s will then allow us to live our lives comfortably without any issues or problems. That is how some of us misunderstood the true essence of being Christians, that is to be ready to be counter-cultural and counter-norm, as the ways of Our Lord are not like those of the world, and what the world approves, may not be what is approved by the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, some of us worry that our crosses are burdens that are too difficult for us to bear, and that is why we tend to be lukewarm with our faith and refuse to stand up for our faith. But do you know that if we carry up our crosses faithfully, the Lord Himself will be with us and He will help us along the way throughout our journey? We are never alone, as God will always be with us.

The way forward for us is not going to be an easy one, and there will be moments when we may be seriously tempted to give up our journey and effort. The devil himself is always active trying to prevent us from finding our way to God, by alluring us to a different pathway, one that seems to be more promising, easier and less inconvenient for us. But we must not be short-sighted and focused only on what is present at the moment.

Ultimately, in God alone we can find true consolation and support. This is because if we choose the seemingly easier path shown to us by the devil, while we may have an easier time in our respective lives, but in the end, because we have not chosen Him, God will reject us and what awaits us will only be eternal damnation and suffering in hell. Rather than this, we should shoulder on and persevere in the path shown to us by the Lord, which may be filled with obstacles, but one in which we may hope because in the end of the day, God will always be faithful to the promises which He made with us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all carry our crosses in life, being ready to accept whatever challenges that the world may throw at us as faithful disciples and followers of the Lord. Let us welcome the Lord into our hearts, especially in this season of Lent, during which we are called to a deeper understanding of ourselves, by means of reflection, prayer, fasting and abstinence.

Let us allow the Lord to enter into our hearts that He may transform our whole being, that we will draw ever closer to His righteous and generous love. Let us be more loving and compassionate beginning from this time of Lent, a time for renewal and spiritual refocusing, for us to draw closer to God, carrying our crosses and journeying together with Him. Let us remember that He will not abandon us, but instead, He will continue to love us and show us His generous mercy.

May the Lord be our source of courage and strength, as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, growing stronger in faith and in love. May we draw ever closer to God, and deepening our faith in Him, may we live ever more attuned to the ways that He has shown us. Let us willingly come to the Lord, seeking for His forgiveness and be reconciled completely with Him in love. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 February 2018 : Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we mark the beginning of the forty days of the season of Lent. On this Ash Wednesday, as we celebrate it every year, blessed ashes are imposed on the foreheads or heads of the faithful, reminding them of the penitential nature of this season. The time of Lent is a time of preparation for us to prepare ourselves in our hearts, minds and our whole being for the upcoming celebration of the mysteries of the Holy Week and Easter.

Ash Wednesday mark the beginning of this wonderful season and time, a time to turn inwards into ourselves and reflect about our lives, our actions and deeds thus far, whether everything has been going on well and whether we are in good standing with God, or whether we have lapsed and fallen along the way, due to the temptations we face in life, and due to our inability to resist the allures of the devil who is constantly trying to undermine us and drag us into sin.

On this day, the ashes are imposed on our heads with the words uttered by the priest, ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.’ These words remind each and every one of us that we are mortals and mere creation, and that we were created from dust and had the breath of life given to us by God, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Without God we are nothing, and without His love and grace, our existence is empty and meaningless.

Yet, many of us have forgotten about God and His love for us, and instead, we were busy with our many concerns and pursuits in this world. We spent most of our time trying to earn ourselves more money, more prestige, more worldly goods, praise from others, more pleasure and other things that led to our further slide deeper and deeper into sin.

Many of us are also too proud to admit that we have been wrong and mistaken, sinful and unworthy. We think that nothing can go wrong in our own lives, and that we are in control of everything we do. We think that we are the masters of our own lives and everything have to go in accordance to what we desire it to be, and when things do not go according to our desire, we end up becoming angry, jealous and negative.

In the world we live in today, we are inundated and often overwhelmed from every possible sources with the subliminal and often hidden messages, which are the ways that the devil tempt us with, of the materialistic and hedonistic way of life many of us are familiar with. We are presented with a way of life centred on our very selves, on the ‘I’ and ‘Me’ at the main focus, and we are conditioned to be selfish, to put our needs and desires ahead of others.

But let us ask ourselves, what does gaining more power, more wealth, more glory in this world, more prestige and status and all the other things we often desire in our lives can do to us? Can all these things last forever? Can all of them withstand the test of time, fire and all other things that often cause us sorrow because they can destroy all these things we deem to be precious to us?

Can any of those things I mentioned extend our life in this world for even a single second, or even a small fraction of a second? No! None of these will come to any use when the time appointed by the Lord for each and every one of us come upon us, the time of our death. That is the fact and reality which all of us must understand and be aware of, that all man must die. Death is the only certainty in life, and nothing else is less certain than the time of death.

That is why beginning from this Ash Wednesday and throughout the season of Lent, we are all invited to take a break from our daily schedules, business and all the things that have preoccupied us all these while. Year after year, the season of Lent represent a time for us to prepare ourselves, in mind, heart and body, to be able to celebrate the most important mysteries and aspects of our faith with proper disposition and understanding.

We must realise that we are mere mortals, and we will one day die, and we have to face this fact. Many of us are in fact obsessed and desiring to find ways to prevent death, or at least postpone the onset of death. We spent many hours and much money trying to find ways to keep ourselves healthy and looking young, some even resorting to medicines and physical surgeries and modifications, in order to make ourselves look younger and healthier, but how do all these things benefit us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as I have mentioned earlier, our existence and life has no meaning without God, for it is God Who gave us our life, the breath of life He has given to each one of us. And just as He has freely given this life to each one of us, He is also free to take back the life at the time of His choosing, and it is not for us to decide when we are to die. Today, we all receive the ashes on our foreheads as reminders for our mortality and our sins.

For sin has corrupted us all, as the disease that is slowly consuming us from within. Sin is caused by our disobedience and refusal to follow the Lord’s will, and instead, following our own desires and wants, we rebelled against God and sin entered into our hearts. And unless if we do something about our sinful and corrupted state, we will not be allowed to enter into the new life and the eternal glory which God has prepared for us, His people.

We must be purified and cleansed before we are considered worthy of the Lord, and in order to achieve this, we must be willing to repent and turn away from all the sins and wicked things we do in life. Some of us are afraid to do so, because we are afraid that God is angry with us and therefore we hide from Him, and pretend as if everything is going fine. But if we do so, we are only lying to ourselves, and just as He knew about the sins committed by Adam and Eve, who pretended at first not to know anything about what they had done, God Who knows everything also knows every single sins we have committed, from the smallest to the greatest.

God knows that we have sinned, and He is disgusted and angry at all the sins we have committed. But His great love for us is far greater than His anger and disgust at us, and instead of being angry, He is rather more worried about us, on what will happen to us should we continue to walk in our path of sin. He is always ready to give us another chance, to show us the way back to His embrace and to love us once again fully with all of His most loving heart. However, it is us mankind who have always been stubborn and rejected His attempts to reconcile us with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we enter into this sacred and contemplative season of Lent, and as we receive the blessed ashes on our forehead, let us first and foremost recognise that we are sinners and we are in need of help. And there is no one else we can turn to besides the Lord Himself. He is ever ready to welcome us back and to love us back fully as He had done before, but are we willing to open ourselves to accept His free offering of love and forgiveness?

During this season of Lent, we practice fasting and abstinence, as ways for us to restrain our human desires and to open ourselves to contemplation and direct our thoughts towards the Lord. However, when we fast and abstain from certain pleasures in life, we must also keep in mind that we must do them with the right reason in mind, or else, as mentioned in the Gospel today, we will end up falling back into sin. Do not fast or abstain for the sake of being praised by others, but rather because we want to return to God’s loving embrace.

Let us all then renew our faith in God, and commit ourselves to a new life, turning away from all the past sins we have committed, discarding from ourselves, the anger, the jealousy, the greed, the worldly desires and all that have thus far been obstacles in our journey back towards the Lord. May this time of Lent be a turning point in our lives, that we may reorientate ourselves towards God, to He Who loves us and reconcile ourselves with Him. May God be with us always, throughout this journey of faith. Amen.

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Saturday, 8 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings we see seemingly very contrasting pictures painted by what we heard from the first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, which spoke of the coming of the Lord’s glorious kingdom of glory, where He would succour and rescue all of His people suffering and scattered around the world, and the Gospel passage, in which we heard the Pharisees and the chief priests who worked together to arrest Jesus and persecute Him to death.

As we approach the beginning of the week of the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus, the Holy Week, holiest among the weeks of our Liturgical Year, it is important that we see these two readings as related to each other, in terms that, the Lord will fulfil the promise which He had made to His people, to gather them together once again and bless them again with the fullness of His love, and to bring all of His beloved ones into a life of bliss, happiness and glory, but all these would not come about without the suffering and Passion which our Lord Jesus was to suffer during what we are celebrating in this upcoming Holy Week.

Jesus had to endure rejection, opposition and stubbornness from the people to whom He had been sent to. God had showed His love to His people by sending them none other than His own Son, the Son of David and Son of God, to be the Heir to all the kingdom of David and as Lord and rightful King over all of God’s people, and yet, the very leaders, the chief priests, elders and the Pharisees who were leaders of the people, rejected Him.

The Pharisees and the elders, the chief priests and the high priest himself, Caiaphas, all of them surely were very aware of what Jesus and His disciples had been doing all that time, healing and preaching in many villages and towns throughout Galilee and Judea, and performing even miracles in Jerusalem and its surroundings, even raising Lazarus from the dead near the Holy City. His deeds were well known and could be attested by many who witnessed all of them.

And yet, they refused to believe in Him and rejected Him because, they were much more concerned about themselves, about their status and privileges, about their position in the society, as revered and highly respected members of the elite, upon whom the whole community revolved around. They were concerned that the teachings and works of Jesus would jeopardise their own position and prestige among the people, and a threat because that would probably have caused the Romans to remove the privileges they have granted them.

As such, human pride, ambition and desire for power, prestige and influence have resulted in the obstruction towards the good works of God. The same thing had caused the fall of many among the people of Israel, as well as many other among us mankind. It is all of these wickedness, all of these sins which our Lord Jesus Himself shouldered as He brought His cross on the way from Jerusalem to Calvary, bearing insults and rejection from His beloved people.

And yet, if we remember what Jesus did during His time of Passion and suffering, He forgave His enemies and all those who have persecuted Him. From the cross, He forgave those who have surrendered Him to the Romans and called out for His death, and indeed, He also suffered and died for these people. It is a reminder to all of us that, whenever we sin, God is willing to forgive us, and He has died for those sins that we have committed.

If we have a sense of shame inside us, then surely we would have realised that all the sins we have committed are wrong and are things that we must rectify. It is a time for us to reflect on our lives, even as we enter into the Holy Week. All the more we have to link our actions and deeds in life with the works and the actions of Jesus, Who have taken upon Himself all of our life’s sins and faults on Himself. He has loved each and every one of us who are sinners unto death, death on the cross.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all turn away from our rebellious ways, from all the things we have committed, all the sins and wrongs we have done in our lives thus far. Let us turn away from the way of the Pharisees and the elders, who have placed themselves and their selfish desires ahead of their responsibility to lead the people of God to their Lord.

Let us all devote ourselves to do what is right and just, by loving and caring for each other, for our neighbours, even for strangers and for our enemies. Let us all forgive one another of the hurt that we have caused each other much as Jesus Himself had forgiven His enemies, all those who have caused Him harm and condemned Him to death.

Let us all die to our pride, to our ego, to our selfishness and all the wickedness in us, and come to live again in glory with God, as we remember together His Passion, death and resurrection in the upcoming Holy Week. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 7 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John Baptist de la Salle, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard all the insults and accusations which the Jewish people and the opponents of Jesus were hurling against Him because He has revealed Himself to be the Son of God and the Messiah for all the world. They refused to believe in Him and wanted to stone Him for what they considered to be blasphemy against God.

Even though they had seen all that Jesus had done before them, by His healing of the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, making people who were deaf to be able to hear again, and those who were mute to be able to speak again, and even raising people from the dead as what He had done with the son of the widow from Naim and also with the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue official, they still refused to believe.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because they have hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord, not allowing Him to enter into their hearts and minds. They have put their trust in their own human judgment and intellect, thinking that they alone have the knowledge of truth, and when One came into the picture, challenging all that they used to believe, they refused to listen to the truth.

And therefore, it comes to the danger of our human pride and ego, which is the most harmful of all kinds of sins and temptations, as it is pride that brought many people to fall into sin, and it is our ego and pride which made us stubborn and adamant in our refusal to admit and repent from our sins, as the Israelites had themselves once done. And it is what all of us Christians must avoid and remove from ourselves, especially during this time of Lent.

It is pride that had prevented us from humbling ourselves and from realising that all of us are poor sinners. It is pride that had closed the doors of mercy before us, not so much that God had abandoned us or that He had not forgiven us, but instead, we ourselves in our pride and ego had refused God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness, and by our sins due to that pride, we have distanced ourselves away further from God and His merciful love.

Let us today reflect on the life of the saint, whose holy life we are commemorating today, the life of St. John Baptist de la Salle, the founder of the order of the Brothers of the Christian Schools or the Lasallians. St. John Baptist de la Salle was a French priest who was remembered for his dedication to the poorest, the least, the last and the lost among the community, those who have no one else to turn to, those who have been abandoned and unloved.

To that extent, St. John Baptist de la Salle left behind his prestigious post as the canon to the Cathedral of Rheims, a post with great prestige and privilege at that time, and chose to serve the people of God, calling together like minded people and assemble together what would become the Brotherhood of the Christian Schools, providing genuine Catholic education to the people who have once been uneducated and had no access at all to what had once been the privilege of the rich and the elite.

St. John Baptist de la Salle showed all of us the way to reach out to the Lord and to His mercy, by following what he had once done to the least and the poorest among his brethren. He eschewed pride and human ambitions, human glory and fame, renown and prestige, for true faith in God by doing what he could in order to help his fellow brethren, by showing them love, care and compassion.

It is what we all as Christians ought to be doing as well, that each one of us are not Christians just by name, or only on paper, but also through real deeds and works. Let us all make use of this opportunity that God has given us in order to strengthen our faith by devoting ourselves ever more to the works of mercy and love, committing ourselves to help our brethren, in the same manner as what St. John Baptist de la Salle and the other saints had done.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He bless us all in our works. May He remain with us and help us on our way, that we may find our way to Him and be saved in Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 6 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the faith of Abraham, the father of many nations and peoples, who had heard the Lord’s call and followed His call to go to the land He had promised to him and to his descendants. And that was why God blessed Abraham and made His covenant with him, and with all of his descendants.

But the Israelites at the time of Jesus refused to believe in Him when He came into this world to establish a new covenant with them. They were very proud of themselves as the descendants of Abraham, and yet in their actions, they showed what were contrary to how Abraham had lived his life. They were vain, filled with human ambitions and desires, acted unjustly upon others and did what was sinful in the sight of God.

They thought that by being born children and direct descendants of Abraham, then they alone deserved God’s love, grace and salvation. Unfortunately, because of their actions and wicked deeds, even Abraham himself would be ashamed to have these people calling themselves his descendants. Their actions have brought scandal to the name of Abraham, for they have not acted and did things in the same manner as Abraham had done.

They have not been faithful to God, and they have not done what the Lord had asked them to do. They gave in to worldly temptations of power, desire and all other sorts of things that kept them away from being truly faithful to God. And they forgot that, as God mentioned to Abraham at that time, and written in the book of Genesis, they need to obey the commandments of God and be actively involved in living up their part of the covenant.

Yes, a covenant is not a one-directional transaction between God and Abraham. A covenant instead is a transaction and agreement, between two parties, and in this case, involving both God and Abraham. Both sides would have to fulfil their respective part of the covenant, or else, the covenant would not be fulfilled. And that was what happened to the Israelites, as they disregarded their obligations to fulfil the commandments of God, they had lost their right for the covenant with God.

That was why they also suffered the consequences, having been conquered and put down by their enemies, having to leave behind which God had promised to them and to their forefathers, because of their lack of faith. They were brought to faraway lands and had to endure humiliation among the foreigners, who as written in the Scriptures, mocked them for their disobedience and fate.

Yet, the Lord is ever forgiving and loving, and that is what all of us need to remember as we progress through this time of Lent, and as we deepen our relationships with God. God sent us a new Hope in the person of Jesus Christ, His Son, the Saviour and Deliverer He had promised to all of us, as the sign of His love and faith, as well as commitment to His covenant with all of us, remembering the covenant He Himself made with Abraham.

To this extent, through Jesus God had established a new covenant with us all, one that will never end and be broken, for it is by none other than through His own Precious Blood and Body shed on the cross at Calvary, that He had sealed and made fulfilled the covenant that He made anew with us. This new Covenant is the covenant between us and God, and through this Covenant all of us are called to come closer to God, to be forgiven from all of our sins and to receive God’s everlasting grace.

Are we then able to commit ourselves to God in the same way that God had committed Himself. God is ever so faithful and committed to His words and covenants that He was willing to lay down His life for the sake of us all, the partakers of His covenant. If God Himself is willing to go so far for our sake, then should we all mankind then do the same? Shall we all show Him as great a commitment and faith that we can muster?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to God from now on. Let us all be renewed in faith, and show it through our actions and deeds. Everything we say and do, we should do it with genuine Christian love and charity. Let us all give ourselves to the service and help for our brethren in need, all those around us who are in need of help, and have no one to help them. May the Lord bless us all and our endeavours, and may He bring us all to His everlasting glory, all of us who partake in His wonderful covenant. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings, we heard about God Who is ever faithful to His beloved people, Who kept to the words of His covenant with them, and He will not abandon them. And when they call out to Him, He shall answer them and deliver them from all of their troubles, if they remain faithful and true in their commitment to Him.

In the first reading today, the three friends and fellow countrymen of Daniel, namely Azariah, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, got into a great trouble with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, their master, who have conquered the country of the Israelites and brought the people of God into exile at Babylon. And as they lived in the foreign land and under the rule of foreigners, they were forced to even worship pagan gods and idols, under the threat of death.

Yet, even when they were faced with persecution and the king himself forced them to choose between worshipping his golden statue or death, they stayed true to their faith and defied the orders of the king, knowing that God is always on their side, and will provide for them in all that they need. They knew that everything they had, including their very lives, were all gifts and blessings from God. If it was God’s will that they should perish while keeping their faith, then they would let God’s will be done.

It is this kind of faith which Abraham, our father in faith also once had. He trusted completely in the Lord, following where He wanted him to go to, and giving his all to walk in the path of the Lord. And because of the great faith he had, even to the point of offering his own beloved son, as the Lord asked for, when He tested his faith, God blessed Abraham greatly, to his descendants and to his descendants’ descendants.

But God does not reward the descendants of Abraham by their birth from the line of Abraham alone. That was what we heard in the Gospel today. That is why we all also call Abraham our father in faith. We followed the Lord and believed in Him much in the same manner that Abraham had been faithful, and by that virtue, we have given the same share of the blessings which God had promised to Abraham and to his faithful descendants.

Why is this important, brethren? That is because the people of Israel, even at Jesus’ time, as we saw in the Gospel today, often used their ancestry, their descent from Abraham as something to be proud of, and to belittle and discriminate others. For the same reason, the Jews at the time of Jesus looked down on the Samaritans and the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people, because they looked at themselves as those whom God had chosen to be His people by the virtue of their ancestry, while others do not deserve God’s grace because they do not belong to them.

Yet, Jesus was angry at the Jews, precisely because while they touted themselves as being descendants of Abraham, their actions and deeds were far from being right for those who claim descent from the faithful Abraham. They did not love God as Abraham had loved God, and they did what is wicked and evil in the sight of God and men alike, caring for themselves and their desires only, and not having God living in their hearts. God had often been sidelined in their lives.

Therefore, today all of us are reminded that faith in God will bring us to salvation and righteousness, while if we disobey and sin, our sins will bring us to our downfall. It was mentioned in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, that if a righteous person turns away from his or her righteousness, and commit sin, then the person will perish because of the sins he or she has committed. In the same manner, a sinner who turns to righteousness will be saved because of the righteous deeds the sinner had done.

Let us all during this time of Lent remember that it is our actions and deeds, filled with righteousness and obedience to God, that will bring us closer to God and to His salvation. Let us all not be distracted by pride, by human greed and desire, and let us not be complacent in our faith. There is always something to be done in our lives, and we should always make use of our time well in order to obey the Lord and walk in His ways. 

Let us all follow the examples of St. Vincent Ferrer, a holy priest and Dominican friar who lived during the years of late Medieval era France. He was renowned for his great dedication to the poor and the needy, and he called many people to repentance and forgiveness through his teaching and preaching. St. Vincent Ferrer went to many places, doing good works and helping many people who struggled with their faith and with their lives.

St. Vincent Ferrer showed all of us that we have many things that we all need to do in our lives, which are all the things we are capable of doing, and yet, we are unable to do because of our reluctance and lack of dedication. There are many things that all of us Christians are capable of doing in order to help those who are around us, but we did not do, as we are too busy caring for ourselves and for our own desires.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, as we progress through this season of Lent. Let us all do as St. Vincent Ferrer and the saints had done before us, and as Abraham, our father in faith had lived his life. Let us all be holy as our Lord is holy, so that we may truly be worthy of His grace and blessings. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we approach ever closer to the time of the Holy Week, we are reminded of why we do all the fasting and abstinence during this season of Lent. In the first reading today, from the Book of Numbers, we heard what happened to the people of Israel as they journeyed through the desert. They rebelled against God and God sent punishment to them in the form of fiery serpents that killed many of them.

The people of Israel begged for mercy from God through Moses, and Moses implored the Lord to have pity on them. Seeing that they have suffered and that they wanted to end their rebellion against Him, and the sincerity of their repentance, God showed His mercy and instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent placed on a stand so that all those who had been bitten by the fiery serpents, and saw the bronze serpent would not die but survive and live.

And in the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to all those who followed Him about the upcoming persecution and suffering that He would then soon endure during His Passion and death on the cross. He spoke to them that He would be lifted up for all to see, the Son of Man and Saviour of the world, Who was crucified like a criminal even though He was innocent and did nothing wrong.

Through this, we can see how the event in the time of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt is linked to the time of the salvation of mankind through Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. At the time of the Exodus, God brought His people Israel out of Egypt and towards the Promised Land. However, they were unfaithful and they were constantly rebelling and disobeying Him, to the point of making for themselves a golden calf to be their deity and god.

As God was angry at them, for their wickedness and sins, the fiery serpents represent the punishment for all those sins and disobedience, much as how the sins that all of us mankind have done, bring about with it punishment and consequences. And many of the people of Israel died bitten by those fiery serpents, reminding all of us that the consequence for sin is death.

When we were created by the Lord, when Adam and Eve were still walking in the gardens of Eden, God did not intend for mankind to suffer and die, for it was not His intention. But, because they have sinned and disobeyed Him, therefore, they were cast out of Eden, and had to wander in this world in suffering, and death reigned over them. Ever since, all mankind, without exception, met the end of their lives in death.

But God loves each and every one of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is that love which allows Him to show us His mercy when we His people sincerely desire to be forgiven, through our petition and grievances, through our regretting of our sins and wickedness, by our humble submission to His grace and love. And God Who loves us will indeed forgive us our sins if we are sincere in seeking to be forgiven.

That is just as how He gave a new chance to the Israelites by asking Moses to make the bronze serpent to rescue them from their predicament. And while that applied only to the people of Israel who died in the desert, God made the same thing to happen to all of mankind, by the sending of none other than His own Beloved Son, to be the One through Whom He would exercise His mercy and forgiveness.

And Jesus willingly took up upon Himself the multitudes of our sins, our defilements and all the things that had separated us from God and His love. He bore all those sins on Himself, carrying His cross through the way of suffering from Jerusalem towards the hill of Calvary. It was at Calvary where He was raised up for all to see, as the Sign of God’s salvation, forgiveness and grace, a reminder of the bronze serpent that saved the Israelites.

By the cross of Christ we have been saved, a new hope and light had dawned on us. God has given us a second chance, because He loves each and every one of us. But are we willing to be forgiven our sins? Are we allowing God to enter into our hearts and help us to transform ourselves from the creatures of sin and darkness that we were once, into beings of light worthy to be called the children of God?

That is the question we must ask ourselves, and which we must ponder on as we go through this time of preparation in Lent. We need to spend time to reflect on our lives, our actions and deeds in life thus far. Have we been faithful to the Lord, walking righteously in His ways? Or have we been wayward and disobedient like the people of Israel in the past? Have we ignored God’s laws and commandments, by our hatred, our jealousy, our selfishness and human greed?

Let us look upon the cross of Christ, the body that lies hanging on the crucifixes we have, at our homes, at our churches and wherever we are, and at our personal crosses and crucifixes. Whenever we look at Him Who is crucified, let us first of all remember that we are all sinners and should have perished because of them. Then remember how Christ died for all of us, bearing all the burdens of our sins as His own. Remember how He suffered for our sake, taking the punishment on our behalf, that we will not perish but live.

Let us devote ourselves with new commitment, looking at the example of today’s saint whose feast we are celebrating. St. Isidore of Seville was the Bishop of Seville during the years of the early Medieval era, who was credited with the conversion of the kingdom of the Visigoths in present day Spain from the heresy of Arianism into the orthodox and true Christian faith.

St. Isidore lamented the corruption that permeated the society and the people at that time, as morality became ignored and the faith among the people faltered. St. Isidore therefore laboured hard to bring the people of God back to the faith, by preaching to them the truth of the Gospels, and calling them to repentance. He stood firmly against the false teachings of Arianism and by his works, he managed to bring multitudes of souls to salvation.

Inspired by his examples, all of us Christians should endeavour to do the same as well. We should come closer to the Lord and change our sinful ways, repent from all of our past wrongdoings, realising just how much God loves us and wants us to be reconciled with Him. And we need to help our fellow brethren, especially those who are still struggling with sin and with their wickedness.

Let us endeavour to help one another, that each one of us may learn to draw closer to God, so that we may find our way to reconciliation with our God. May all of us learn to be humble, and beg the Lord for His forgiveness, by committing ourselves to change our sinful ways, and walk in righteousness and grace from now on. May God help us all, and may He bless all of us always. Amen.

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Monday, 3 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture readings, from the Book of Daniel the prophet, where we heard the false accusation done by two elders of Israel against the faithful woman, Susanna. The two elders went wayward and disobeyed the Lord, allowing their lust and desire to take over their minds and bodies, and caused them to sin before the Lord and before their fellow men.

They were the elders entrusted with the guardianship and judgment over the people. They were supposed to be those who were most well versed in the matter of the Law and the commandments of God, and yet, they misused their authority to satisfy their own selfish desires. They presented false testimonies and accusations against the innocent, just because they wanted to cover the tracks of their own sins and wickedness.

But God would not allow His faithful ones to suffer such injustice. And therefore through the work of Daniel, God rescued Susanna from the hands of the two elders who wanted to see her destroyed while concealing their sins. They wanted to accuse others of their sins, but they themselves were judged and condemned because of their own sins. This is what is reinforced by what we heard in today’s Gospel, where we heard how Jesus dealt with those who wanted to persecute and punish the woman who had been caught in the midst of committing adultery.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law wanted to test Jesus by using the woman who had been accused of committing adultery, to see if He would judge her and therefore, they themselves could use whatever He was to say against Him. That was just how wicked those who were opposed to Jesus were, as they were prepared to manipulate and to take advantage of the situation to serve their own purposes.

But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and He did not fall for the trickery. If He had condemned the woman, then He would be in trouble, because He had walked often among prostitutes and the tax collectors, then the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would condemn Jesus for His frequent sorties and work among those considered as sinners. It was believed then that if one was to come into contact with sinners, they would be defiled as well.

If Jesus had not condemned the woman, then it would have been used to condemn Him either way, as an arbitrary person who did not recognise or turned a blind eye on sin committed by the woman. But that is when Jesus, Who in His wisdom knew what to do, chose instead to reveal that very fact which many people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, loathed to admit, that everyone is a sinner.

Thus He simply asked all of them, that the one who was without sin ought to cast the first stone against her. And indeed, no one raised even a stone against her, and beginning from the oldest ones among them, who have lived the longest, and therefore arguably having committed the most sins in their lives, left the woman behind and went away. Eventually every one of those who wanted to punish the woman and those who wanted to test Jesus went away. No one was without sin, and they were all aware of it, as much as many of them loathed to admit the fact.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, by knowing this fact, all of us should understand just how fortunate we are to have God with us, on our side, guiding us and caring for us. Jesus was the only One Who was without sin at that time, and yet, He did not judge the woman and punish her. Instead, He gave the woman a new chance and an opportunity. He said to her, “Go and sin no more.”

This is what we need to remember, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is often that we misunderstood the Lord and His desire for us to be forgiven. Many of us thought that God is ever merciful and loving, and we often used this instance of how Jesus forgave the woman who committed adultery as the reason to back up our claim that God will forgive whatever sins we commit in life.

Yet, if we understand what the Lord wants from us, then we are really mistaken, brethren. For while God is merciful and He wants us to be reconciled with Him, this depends also on the acceptance on our side, of the forgiveness which He had given freely to all of us. And what does acceptance mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is precisely the words, “Go and sin no more.” And that means, total and complete repentance, the sincere regret and penance for our sins.

It is what we need to do from now on, brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is what we need to proclaim and tell to our fellow brethren, all those who are still lost in the darkness, so that each and every one of us may find our way to the Lord and His salvation. God will forgive us, only if we sincerely turn our ways back away from our sinful past, and embrace wholeheartedly the forgiveness, by practicing what is righteous and just in our actions, sinning no more and doing what is right from now on.

Let us all pray, brothers and sisters, for the conversion of the whole world to Christ. Let us all pray, that mankind will be able to turn away from sin, and become faithful disciples and followers of our God, so that no more people, no more souls will fall into the eternal damnation in hell fire. May God be with us all, and may He forgive us all our sins, all of us who desire to be forgiven. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 April 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded again that the world itself had rejected Christ and His ways, as shown through the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who debated about the nature of the works which Jesus our Lord had performed as He went about His earthly ministry. They disputed the claim that Jesus was the Messiah and Saviour which God had promised His people, refusing to believe in Him, even though they had seen the multitudes of miracles and great deeds that He had performed before them.

And therefore all of us are reminded to guard ourselves against all those temptations and all the things that have caused man to resist against God, and to harden their hearts against God’s love and mercy. First of all, is the temptation of human greed, which led us to crave for more and more things of this world, such as wealth, fame, renown, knowledge and many other things that we mankind often seek, in order to satisfy that greed we have in us.

Unfortunately, the nature of greed is such that we cannot be satisfied by worldly things we have received. It is in our nature to want for even more after we have received, and when we have something like power, money, possessions and other things, we try to look for even more of these to satisfy our desires and cravings. And when we do not get what we want, we get jealous and are filled with hatred.

That was why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were so adamant and stubborn in their opposition against Jesus. They were the ones who were supposed to be those who would first welcome the Lord, because they were knowledgeable on the matters of the Scriptures, and would have recognised the Messiah of God when He came into the world.

Unfortunately, because they were blinded with jealousy, anger and fear, they were unable to bring themselves to believe in the Lord Jesus, and instead, they acted to preserve their own human and worldly interests. They were those who held great power and influence in the community, and they saw Jesus as a great threat to their power, influence and standing among the Jewish people. As such, they were driven by those to oppose the Lord and His good works.

And then of course, is the temptation of human pride, which is the most dangerous of all forms of sins and temptations. It is the pride of most of the Pharisees and the elders of Israel, that they refused to bend their knee before the Lord Who came before them, and as their ego and pride overtook them, they ended up doing all that they could to thwart the good works of God, even though some among them, including Nicodemus, tried to point out to them the truth of God.

How are all these relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is through understanding that if we do not restrain ourselves, our desires and wants, we will end up like the Pharisees and the scribes, being too busy with their own preoccupations with their power, worldly schemes and plans, to notice the grace of God at work around us.

Many of us Christians call ourselves as such, and yet, if we look more carefully at our actions, we will indeed be ashamed. We call ourselves Christians and yet in our actions and deeds, and also in our words, we do not act in the way that Christians should have done. Instead, we committed things and deeds that are wicked in the sight of God and man alike.

We cause pain and suffering for others, just because we are too greedy in desiring for more money and influence. We treat our fellow men badly because we exploit them and we did not treat them in the manner that we should be treating our fellow brethren in the Lord. We exploit others for our own personal benefit and advantage, and in our selfishness we have caused others to be sorrowful.

This is what we all need to avoid, and if we have done all these things, perhaps it is time indeed during this season of Lent for us to take a step back and reflect on our past actions and deeds. Have we been faithful to the Lord as how He had taught us to be faithful, by loving and showing care and compassion to our fellow brethren? Or have we instead acted out of our human pride, greed and selfishness? Have we treated our fellow men badly simply in order to satisfy our wants and desires?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this wonderful and extraordinary time of mercy, let us all turn towards God and seek His forgiveness. Let us all repent from our past sins and wrongdoings, and let us throw away all of our human pride, greed and all the things that had separated us from God and His love. Let us welcome the Lord and allow Him to come into our hearts, so that He may transform us into those who are worthy to receive His grace and inheritance.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen our faith within us, so that we may persevere through the temptations and challenges of the world. May we all draw closer to Him and to His love, so that in everything we say and do, we will always proclaim the glory of God, now and forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.