Lenten sermon

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Sunday, 22 March 2026 : Fifth Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Fifth and last Sunday of Lent before the beginning of Holy Week, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us are ultimately bound for the eternal existence in perfect grace in Heaven with God, the Lord and Master over all life and death. In Him is the authority to give us life and to take, and to restore us even from death should He will it to be, according to His Divine plan and all that He has desired. This Sunday is also the beginning of the Passiontide, the more intense phase of this time of Lent which lasts all through the Holy Week right up to the moment of Our Lord’s Passion, His suffering and death, and finally culminating in His glorious Resurrection. Therefore, we are invited on this Sunday to spend more time reflecting on Our Lord’s Passion, reminding ourselves of everything that He had done for our sake, out of pure and unconditional Love.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, in which the Lord spoke to His people, the Israelites living in exile in the land of Babylon, to whom Ezekiel was sent to minister, the words of encouragement and reminder from their Lord and Master to keep the courage and strength within their hearts and minds, as they all had experienced lots of hardships, trials and struggles, having been forced to endure the shame of losing not only their homeland and cities, but also to see the destruction of their great and much revered Temple, the Temple and House of God which King Solomon once built for the Lord, and yet their ancestors had desecrated through their many years living in wickedness and sins, in disobedience against God.

God reassured His people that their sufferings and ordeals would be temporary and none of those hardships would be permanent. He would also remain with them, supporting and strengthening them throughout their journey, and one day, He would erase from them the shame of their exile and their homelessness, their sojourn in the distant and foreign lands. And the Lord promised that He would lead them back to the lands of their ancestors, to the land of Israel, a promise that He Himself would fulfil in due time. In the end, indeed, the Israelite exiles would be allowed to return to their homeland, to reestablish their lives there, their homes and their cities amidst the ruins of the old kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

And within this same prophecy, there was also an underlying prophecy and revelation of how God would also eventually lead all of us, His beloved people, not just the Israelites, but all of mankind, who have been forced to wander in exile in suffering in this world, in reference to what happened in the beginning of the Book of Genesis, back to Himself. Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? This is because just like the Israelites who have been forced to wander in exile away from their homeland by their disobedience and sins, it was also by the sins and disobedience of our ancestors that we have been sundered and separated from God. God Who created each and every one of us out of His infinite Love for us never intended for this fate to befall us, and the same God therefore wanted us all to realise that we are truly Beloved, and that He is always with us, by our side, journeying with us.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome. In that occasion we heard how St. Paul mentioned that those who walked in accordance to the flesh cannot please God, referring to how many people at that time lived in a worldly manner, refusing to follow the path of the Lord. He reminded the faithful people of God there in Rome that amidst their largely pagan and immoral surroundings, they, as Christians, as the ones whom God had called and chosen, and who have embraced God as their Lord and Saviour, ought to act, behave and live their lives as those who truly believe in God and not merely paying lip service to their faith.

This of course must not be understood as St. Paul requiring the faithful people of God to reject all sorts of worldliness and all kinds of worldly way of life. After all, each and every one of us living in our world today, in our respective communities and among our circles of family, friends and more, all of us are not required, expected or demanded to abandon our way of life in this world altogether. Rather, what St. Paul truly meant especially in the context of our world today is that, we should always be genuine in what we believe in, and practice them actively in our lives, in how we carry ourselves, in our interactions with one another, in how we love each other genuinely and sincerely just as much as we love God and ourselves.

There is indeed so many hurts, sufferings and troubles happening in this world today, and even scandals and problems facing the faithful people of God. And we may be surprised to know that it is often our fellow Catholics who caused many among us the greatest hurts and sufferings. Why is that so? That is because they are the ones we least expected to behave in the manner as they had done, and it is especially scandalising and unbecoming of our identity as Catholics that on one side, outwardly, we may appear to be pious, following the rules and commandments of the Church and the Lord, and yet, in how we treat one another, and even more so, those who are dear and closest to us, we caused hurt and sufferings instead. This is what St. Paul is warning us all about, that as Christians, we should not behave in the manner that bring scandal to our faith.

Finally, from our Gospel passage this Sunday from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the well-known story of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead by the Lord Jesus. In that well-known story, we heard how Lazarus, who was one of the Lord’s good friends, the brother of the sisters Mary and Martha, became very sick and was dying, and then we heard how the Lord purposefully went late and reached only after Lazarus had died from his sickness. All these happened in order that everything would come to be within God’s plan, and for God to be glorified through what His Son would do before everyone, in raising Lazarus from the dead. And in this occasion, this was where one of the occasions where we heard the Lord showed His great love for us manifested, as He wept for Lazarus.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, while the Lord knew that He has the power to raise Lazarus from the dead, seeing one of His close friends passing from sickness and all the sorrows showed by his sisters and all the mourners who were there mourning Lazarus certainly struck the Lord Who loved us all dearly. His weeping for Lazarus, the tears that He shed for Lazarus were real tears, tears that He shed out of His pure and ever enduring Love for him and for all of us. We can see here how God manifested His Love for us so wonderfully, just as He reminded us all through raising Lazarus afterwards, that He has power over life and death, how each and every one of us are precious to Him, and He wants us all to share in the everlasting Love He has for us, in how we should love all those around us, and especially so those who are dearest and most beloved to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, having been reminded of God’s ever present and patient Love for each and every one of us, His promise of new life and resurrection, and everything He had done for us, for our good and for our salvation, let us all therefore be thankful and grateful for all the opportunities, patient Love, kindness and mercy that we have been shown by the Lord. Let us all strive to do our best to emulate His examples in loving us, in being merciful and forgiving in our own attitudes, actions and way of life each day, and in every moments. Let us all be good role models, inspirations and examples for one another, and be the faithful and worthy bearers of God’s Light and truth at all times, called to be full of God’s love in all things, in how we treat others around us, those whom we have been entrusted to love, and also those strangers we encounter.

May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith and teach us all to love generously and patiently as He Himself had done. May He continue to guide us through this time and season of Lent as we spend this time to deepen our spirituality and relationship with God, but at the same time we must also remember to deepen our relationship with one another as well. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, and continue to accompany us lovingly as He has always done. Amen.

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Sunday, 15 March 2026 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Rose or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we mark the Fourth Sunday of Lent, all of us notice that today we have a somewhat more festive and joyful atmosphere in our celebration of the Holy Mass, as we mark the occasion of Laetare Sunday, one of the only two days in the whole liturgical year that the colour rose is used as the colour of the day. Together with Gaudete Sunday during the season of Advent, this Laetare Sunday marks the moment when amidst the more penitential and sombre nature of both Advent and Lent, we remind ourselves of the great joy and the exultation that we are expecting and looking ahead towards in Christmas and Easter respectively. Thus, as we continue to progress ever closer to the coming of the Holy Week and the Easter season, all of us ought to remember what we have been preparing ourselves for in this upcoming celebration and festivities, and remind ourselves of our penitential practices this Lent which are meant to prepare ourselves wholly for the great celebrations to come.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel regarding the story of the time when God told Samuel to visit Jesse the Bethlehemite, a man of Judah whom we know as the father of the then future King of Israel, the famous King David. Back then, Saul was the king of Israel, the first one to rule over the people of God, but he has fallen into disobedience and sin against God by not following the instructions and the commands that God had given him and instead following his own desires and whims. Thus, God chose David to be the new king to rule over His people, and sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him with the holy oil. We heard how Jesse presented his seven sons before Samuel, and none of them except David pleased the Lord. When Samuel saw the eldest son of Jesse and thought that he was good in appearance and stature, the Lord told Samuel that He did not judge by appearance but by what is in the heart of man.

David truly loved God, and was a righteous, good and faithful man, who led the people of God faithfully and with great wisdom in his reign as King over them, leading them down the path of faith in God. And despite him failing in some occasions later on throughout his reign, by far and large he remained firm in his faith in following God, and he was also a humble man at heart, who was always ready to humble himself before God and man alike. Compared to other kings and rulers who have been swayed by the temptations of worldly pride and glory, or by their own success and greatness, including that of David’s own son and successor, Solomon, the Lord’s choice of David as King of Israel was indeed reflective of how God chose the best not by their appearances or their outward facade, but by their interior disposition and real self, which God knows all about.

This sets the tone for what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, that is about our ability to see the truth and light of Christ, and seeing the path towards God’s salvation and grace, as well as being truly sincere and genuine in our faith and life. Today, as we remember the love of God and look forward to the joyful celebration of Easter, in our anticipation of that Joy to come, our Laetare Sunday celebration and Scripture passages remind us that each one of us are called to be truly filled by the light of God, His truth and His love. We are reminded that each and every one of us are the children of God, and as the children and people of His light. Therefore, it is important that all of us truly embody in all things, in our whole lives and existence, the true values and beliefs of the Lord’s teachings, His Law and commandments, and not be like those hypocrites who outwardly believed in God but inside, they are all rotten and wicked.

This is also what St. Paul told to the faithful people in Ephesus, calling on them all to arise from the darkness of the world and abandon that darkness for the light of Christ’s truth and love. The Apostle reminded the faithful that they are the children and people of God, and they belong to the Light, and therefore, their actions and way of life should indeed reflect this nature, and that they should be genuinely faithful in all things. They should not scandalise the faith, the Church and all the other faithful people of God because of their wickedness and sinful actions. That is why he has called on all of them to embrace the Lord fully and wholeheartedly, to truly love God with all of their hearts and minds, with all of their strength, and to love one another, especially those dearly beloved to them, in the same way as well. Unless they commit themselves wholly to God and to their beloved ones, and if they continue to allow the temptations and attachments to worldliness to sway and distract them, then the path towards God and His salvation will truly be a difficult one.

That is why in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded yet again about this by the story of the moment when the Lord healed a man born blind, who was blind since birth. The Lord performed that healing on the blind man, opening his eyes and allowed him finally to see the light of this world. Immediately, that brought about the attention of the people who remembered this man who had been blind all the time since his birth, and then suddenly could see clearly. As this happened on the Sabbath, some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law present there immediately questioned the formerly blind man, who it was that healed him, and how he was healed in the first place, with some even doubting that he had been blind in the first place. This was because those people cannot reconcile with the fact that someone had performed this miraculous healing on the Sabbath day, as it had happened.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had often gotten in conflict and disagreements with the Lord because He often performed His healing on the Sabbath, which was to highlight the point that He wanted to bring across that it was truly foolishness that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were interpreting the Law in the way that brought about inconveniences and difficulties for the people of God to live their lives, not only in making it an offence to do anything on the Sabbath, but even forbidding and preventing anything good from being done on the Sabbath. Their way of obeying and observing the Law was based on external and ritualistic observance, on literal understanding of the precepts, but failing to understand the true intention and purpose of the Law, which was in truth meant to help the people of God to live their lives in accordance with His truth and love.

That is why, the Lord told them all that while they might be physically capable of seeing, unlike how the blind man was, but they were suffering from spiritual blindness. Their pride and ego, their arrogance and greed for power and worldly glory and praise led them to shut the doors of their hearts and minds, and also their spiritual eyes to the truth and the light of God. That is why although they could see perfectly well and had witnessed many of the miracles that the Lord had performed before them, but they consistently and stubbornly refused to believe, kept on asking the Lord for more signs when they had witnessed so many things and heard so many words of Wisdom and truth that the Lord had done before them. They even doubted Him and cast doubts in the hearts of others by openly challenging Him and accusing Him of colluding with the demons in the action of His miracles.

All those things happened because they allowed sin to cloud their minds and to make them blind to God’s truth and love. They had practiced their faith outwardly and were pious in the sight of others, showing all their ritual expertise and knowledge of the Law, but most if not all of those were superficial in nature. Below all of that, there was no true love for God. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is possible for one to be outwardly faithful to the Lord but in the inside, to have no real or genuine faith in Him. It means that they were just going through the motion as they practiced their faith, and they just carried on doing all their works without real understanding and appreciation of the true intentions of God’s Law and commandments. They were like a brilliant pot that is highly polished on the outside, but the inside is empty, or even ugly and dirty. That is what St. Paul had warned the faithful against, that they should not be bereft of the light of Christ in their hearts.

How do all these then relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, all of us are called to reflect deeply in our hearts, and look within us if Christ’s Light can be found within, and if His truth and love are the bedrock and strong foundation of our faith and lives. What the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had been doing, are exactly what we ourselves had been doing as well. How many of us practiced our faith in the way that we were just going through the motion? How many of us went and attended the Holy Mass or other celebrations of our faith, and yet we were not spiritually or mentally present there. How many of us cannot wait until everything is over so that we can go back to our usual daily routines and pursuits in life? Some of us even have the bad habit of leaving before the Holy Mass had concluded, even when we did not have the legitimate reason to do so.

The list can go on and on for us, like how many of us prayed by reciting the prayers and devotions and yet did not mean what we were saying. That is why I call these recitations and utterances rather than true, genuine prayer. We may think that we have done what our faith has been asking us to do, but we forget that what the Lord wants from us is to build a genuine and living relationship with Him, that of course begins from us spending more quality time with Him and nurturing that relationship we have with God. We do that by refocusing our lives and our attention truly on the Lord, and by learning to listen to Him instead of us just keep on reciting, telling or demanding for Him to do something for us. And we can also spend more time to reflect on our way of life and actions as well, on whether they have been truly a reflection of what God’s holy people should be like.

In this season of Lent, all of us are called to spend more time in prayer so that we may deepen and build up a genuine relationship with God, and we are also called to practice fasting and abstinence, not so that others may see how pious or great we are in our faith, but so that we may restrain the allure of worldly pride, greed and desire. All those things are great obstacles and barriers that keep us separated from God, and which have also kept causing us to fall again and again into sin. That is why this Lent we are constantly being reminded to distance ourselves from those sinful way of life and from all the obstacles that have been making it difficult for us to reach out to God. We are also called to be more generous in sharing our love and blessings to others, by practicing more almsgiving, again not for fame or praise from others, but so that others who are less fortunate than us may also truly experience joy and relief in their lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we look forward to the coming of our true Joy in Christ this Easter, let us all open the barred doors of our hearts and minds, and humble ourselves, seeking God for His forgiveness and compassionate mercy. Let us all remember the love and kindness that He has always shown us, and endeavour therefore to live our lives from now on in accordance with the path that He has shown us. Let us all be good examples and role models for each other, and inspire the people around us by our genuine faith and love-filled hearts in loving those beloved to us even more dearly and in loving those strangers that come into our paths, that also shine with the Light of Christ, so that more and more people may also come to believe in God through us. May God bless us all in the remaining time we have this Lent and help us to continue doing our best in living our lives and faith as good and truly devoted children of God. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 March 2026 : Third Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Third Sunday of the season of Lent all of us are reminded on the need for us to put our trust and faith in the Lord, to hold on to hope that we have in Him because regardless of how difficult our respective situations and conditions in this world may be, with God everything is possible and there is nothing too difficult or impossible for us all to overcome as long as we put our faith and trust in Him. We must remember that from the Lord we can receive the perfect assurance and support which will never fail. Anything of this world, all of our means and abilities can fail us, but if we hold on firmly in the Lord, He will provide for us, strengthening us with His Spirit and Wisdom against all the challenges facing us.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the story of the rebelliousness of Israel and their stubborn attitude at the place known as Massah and Meribah was told to us. This place of Massah and Meribah was rather infamous in the history of God’s people because it was there that they openly rebelled against God, and it was at the latter place where even Moses himself, so frustrated at all the demands of the people, their stubborn attitudes and behaviours, disobeyed God by not following His instruction faithfully. And all of these highlighted to us the people’s lack of faith in their Lord and God, despite them having clearly seen everything which He had done for their sake.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they themselves had witnessed the great works that the Lord Himself had done for their sake in striking against their Egyptian slavemasters and in bringing them out with great miracles and signs from the land of Egypt, among other things He has done. In fact, God has also provided His people amply with lots of food, sustenance and drink throughout their time and sojourn in the desert. But the people as we heard in our first reading this Sunday complained against the Lord and alleged that the Lord Himself had led them to the desert to perish, and those ungrateful people compared themselves with what they used to have in the land of Egypt, and how they preferred their previous status despite being in slavery.

And yet, as we also heard, God was still so patient with His people, caring for them and providing for them what they needed, instructing Moses what he ought to do in order to give the people the food and drink to sustain them even despite their constant and annoying complaints and grumbling, their constant lack of faith and trust in Him. God still truly loved His people, and still provided for all of them nonetheless even as He chastised them for their sins and disobedience. We can see indeed how if we put our trust in the Lord, His love and ever present and generous kindness ever provided to us all, and we should really trust that He knows what is best for us in our respective lives.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome, we heard of the Apostle’s words to the people reminding them all that we have received true peace and hope from the Lord our God, from Him Who is the Source of all Hope and strength, courage and providence, and Who will not fail us no matter what. As St. Paul famously said, which was also the theme of our previous year’s Jubilee Year of Hope, ‘Hope does not disappoint’, linking this Hope to the trust which all of us ought to have in the Lord, because in God alone we will not be disappointed and we will be strengthened and empowered through the difficult challenges of life.

And we are reminded by St. Paul how the Lord has given His love to us so generously and wonderfully, through the Incarnation of His Son, the Divine Word of God, the Logos, incarnate in the flesh and showing us all the infinite and most amazing love of God manifested in the flesh. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, we have seen the perfect manifestation of God’s love made tangible for us, that God Himself has indeed walked in our midst, and we can behold His loving gaze and the reality of His love being made approachable to us. And because of this, each and every one of us can now have sure hope and assurance in God’s many promises, because God has indeed delivered everything that He has promised to us, even if it may take some time to happen.

Lastly, from our Gospel reading this Sunday, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, in which the story of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and a Samaritan woman was told to us. In that occasion, as the Lord and His disciples were passing through the region of Samaria between Judea and Galilee, the lands of the former northern kingdom of Israel, He was stopping by a spring and while His disciples left Him for errands, He encountered a Samaritan woman who came by the spring to take water. That spring was also known as Jacob’s well, because the Samaritans believed that their forefather Jacob was the one who found and established that spring, which provided water to the people living around the region.

For the context, we must first understand who the Samaritans were, the Samaritans were descended from the people living in the areas that was once the central parts of the northern kingdom of Israel, the lands of the former tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and where the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, Samaria once stood. When the Assyrians defeated and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they also supplanted its people partly with the people they brought in from various parts of their empire, while bringing quite a significant number of the Israelites to exile in distant lands, in Assyria and beyond. Then, those people who lived in the land of Samaria, both some of the Israelites and the people brought in to dwell in the land, likely intermingled and from their descendants came about the Samaritans.

The Samaritans and the Jews in Judea and Galilee were often very suspicious at each other, and they were locked in bitter rivalry and even hatred for each other, especially because each of them accused the other of having corrupted and changed the Law to suit their own agenda, and with each group having different places that they considered as sacred, which was mentioned in our Gospel passage today in the conversation between the Lord and the Samaritan woman. To the Samaritans, Mount Gerizim in Samaria was the sacred mountain of God where they ought to be worshipping Him as opposed to Mount Zion where the Temple of God stood since the time of King Solomon, the place considered sacred by the Jewish people.

And the Samaritans also considered themselves as the true descendants of Jacob, while the Jews themselves also took great pride in their identity as those mainly descended from the people of the southern kingdom of Judah and some of their northern Israelite neighbours, and because of this, and historical frictions, conflicts and misunderstandings, eventually led to both groups becoming very hostile at each other. And that was why the Samaritan woman was surprised, even shocked when the Lord initiated conversation with her, which was something that no Jew or Samaritan would likely do to each other, given their extensive animosities.

The Lord however approached her with great patience, kindness and love, and with genuine intentions, revealing the truth about what God Himself has planned for all of His people, and not limited only to the Jews or the Samaritans, but to all of mankind. The Lord told her that if she listened to Him and kept His words, then His Word would become the Spring of living water which would far surpass the spring of Jacob which she had been taking her water regularly from. And the Lord also revealed truth about the woman which convinced her that He was indeed the One that God had promised to all of His people through the prophets, and that was how she then went to proclaim about Him to the Samaritans and many more people came to believe in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have received in this Sunday’s Scripture readings, we are reminded that God’s love for His people has indeed been so great and He has shown and manifested it throughout all of history, even when the people bickered, grumbled and complained against Him and even as they became divided and bitterly set against each other, He still patiently loved them and wanted them to be reconciled not just with one another but also with Himself. And that is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to embrace the love of God, His mercy and compassion, doing our very best to live our lives faithfully in accordance to His ways, His Law and commandments.

May the Lord continue to guide us all in our journey of life, in our perseverance in faith at all times, and may our Hope in Him continue to flourish, as we recall what St. Paul had said, that Hope in God does not disappoint, because God will surely provide for all of us what we require and need, and He will vindicate us all, and bring us all to the ultimate triumph, joy and satisfaction with Him if we remain truly faithful and committed to Him even through our greatest challenges and trials in life. May God bless us always and bless our Lenten journey moving forward, and help us all to continue to persevere in faith, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 March 2026 : Second Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we gather together to celebrate this Second Sunday in the season of Lent, all of us are reminded of this Sunday’s Scripture theme that is on the topic of calling and mission, which God has called each and every one of us to do, in following Him and entrusting ourselves to Him, to obey Him and listen to His words, as He guides us down the right path, one that is not necessarily the easiest and happiest path for us. But as long as we follow Him and remain faithful to Him, we shall find our satisfaction in the Lord, and we shall gain true joy in Him and with Him. Yet, we have to keep ourselves rooted firmly in faith in God, and focus our attention wholly on Him or else, we may find it easy to be distracted by worldly temptations and all the things which may mislead us down the wrong path in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis, the story of how God called a man named Abram from the land of Ur in Mesopotamia, in the present day Iraq, to follow Him. Abram obeyed the Lord and listened to Him, chose to depart from his homeland, which he never saw again in his lifetime, and went first to the land and city of Harran just at the boundary between Syria and Mesopotamia, together with his father, before he embarked on his own journey with his wife, Sarai and his household and belongings to the land of Canaan, following God’s instructions and commands, and it was mentioned that Lot his nephew also followed Abram as well. This was how Abram went and follow the Lord’s calling wholeheartedly, even when he could have done otherwise and just enjoyed the riches and the comfort of where he used to live in. He instead entrusted himself to the Lord completely.

Abram listened to the Lord and trusted Him, even when there were so many uncertainties in the path that he embarked on. He had great faith in God and consequently, he was greatly blessed by God, who promised him that he would become the father of many nations, by the Covenant which God Himself established with Abram. Abram dedicated and committed himself to this Covenant, and changed his name to Abraham as a mark of his commitment. Back then, a name change often signified this commitment which one made, in establishing a pact, which in this case is the solemn Covenant that Abraham had made with God. Sarai, his wife also went through the same change, known as Sarah henceforth, as would be his grandson, later on, Jacob, who was known as Israel after he renewed the same Covenant with God.

From the examples made by our forefathers in faith, all of us can see how each and every one of us are called to do the same as well, reminded that God has always been faithful to His Covenant, in how He fulfilled everything that He has ever promised to man, to Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah, and then to Jacob, also known as Israel, and his descendants, with whom God continued to renew and reestablish His Covenant. St. Paul in our second reading today in his Epistle to St. Timothy, his godson and protege has highlighted how the Lord has called us to Him, and how He has always renewed His Covenant and showing His love for us, especially through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, of all mankind. Christ has come into the world, into our midst so that by His coming, God might fulfil everything that He Himself has promised to us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the story of the Transfiguration of the Lord, detailing the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured before three of His disciples, His inner circle, of St. Peter, St. James and St. John, who went up to Mount Tabor with Him. There, they witnessed how the Lord revealed the glimpse of the truth about His true nature, as the Divine Son of God, the Divine Word Incarnate in the flesh, God Himself, taking up our human nature and existence, coming down into our midst and walking among us, so that through His coming, He may reach out to us and embrace us truly, as His own. He came to us as God Who truly loves each and every one of us, gathering us from among the nations, and calling on us all to follow Him, turning away from our sins.

By His Transfiguration and appearance with Moses and Elijah at Mount Tabor, Christ our Lord also highlighted to us all yet again everything that He has done for our sake. Moses represented the Law of God, the Law and the Ten Commandments, and everything that God has provided to His people Israel, during the time of their Exodus from Egypt and journey to the land promised to them and their ancestors, while Elijah represented the Prophets of God, the many prophets through whom God had sent His reminders and assurances to His people, reminding them of His love and faithfulness, of the coming of His salvation, and the revelation of His love and truth. The appearance of Moses and Elijah together with the Transfigured Christ therefore affirmed us all that the Lord has truly been faithful to the Covenant that He has established with us, and He wants us all to put our complete trust and faith in Him, and follow Him.

Like Abraham in the past, and Sarah, and Jacob, who have all witnessed the Lord present in their midst and journeying with them, St. Peter, St. James and St. John who have all witnessed the Lord Transfigured before their very own eyes, have seen for themselves the love of God manifested in all of His glory. That was why, after the Lord had died, and risen in glory, and then ascended into Heaven, they together with the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, having witnessed and received, shared and understood this same truth, they all went forth fearlessly and courageously, dedicating themselves completely to the Lord and His cause, following Him in much the same way as how Abraham trusted wholeheartedly in the Lord, and all of us have also received this same truth passed down to us through the Church of God.

Those three disciples obeyed and listened to the Lord, despite having initially wanted to stay on that mountain with the Lord, in that blissful glory, with Moses and Elijah. We must understand that this request as mentioned by St. Peter was likely made because if they were to stay there in that blissful place, then they could enjoy being there and away from the hardships of the struggles and trials that they had to endure in following the path of the Lord. But God reminded all of them to listen to His Son, and to follow Him. The Lord Himself could very well have stayed there, in a great moment of blissful glory, revealing for a moment, His true glorious nature. He did not need to endure sufferings and hardships, persecution, humiliation and pain, and if we recall the Gospel passage from the last Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, that was exactly the intent of the devil too when he tried to tempt the Lord to give in to the many temptations he presented to Him.

Yet, all those things did not prevail as the Lord showed us all true obedience, and as the Son of Man, He shows us all mankind, how to be truly obedient to God, to listen to Him and follow Him wholeheartedly, as He Himself showed by His coming down from Mount Tabor, ready to go forth to His Passion, His suffering and death in Jerusalem, to be betrayed by one of His own disciples, to be rejected by His own people and the chief priests, condemned to death and blamed for mistakes and sins that were not His own. The Lord our Saviour obeyed His Father’s will so perfectly that He offered Himself for our own behalf, and from that, gained for all of us the promise and assurance of eternal life. He showed all of us the perfect example of perfect and most selfless love, and showed us that trusting in Him and putting our faith in Him is indeed something that we should do, because He Himself has given us His promises, not just in mere words, but He truly showed us all these in person.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to this Sunday’s Scripture passages and reflect upon them, let us all be truly touched by the Lord and be inspired by Him and His own examples, and also the examples of our holy predecessors, who had followed the Lord and answered His call. Let us also follow the Lord in our own way, and listen to Him calling on us to follow Him, and discern carefully our path in life so that, in whatever it is that the Lord had led us towards, we may indeed be able to commit ourselves fully to His path, and strive our best to walk in that path throughout our lives, so that our lives may truly be worthy of Him, and our deeds and actions may truly reflect who we are, that is God’s holy and beloved people, as Christians, called to be the disiples of the Lord and as the beacons of His light and truth in our communities today.

May this season of Lent be a time for us to recommit ourselves to the Lord once again, turning ourselves away from the many temptations of the world all around us, and spend more time with God in prayer and by other means, so that we may come to know fully what God truly wants us to do, and what He has called upon us to do as well. Let us do our best to make use of the time and opportunities that had been given to us to draw ever closer to God and to know Him more. May God bless us all and guide us through this season of Lent so that we may be able to resist the many temptations all around us, and be ever more faithful and better role models and inspirations in faith in all of our actions and deeds, throughout our lives. Amen.

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Sunday, 22 February 2026 : First Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the first one in the whole season of Lent, the first of the five Sundays of the season of Lent before we enter into the Holy Week, as we all prepare ourselves for the coming of the great mystery of the Passion of the Lord and all of His saving works, and the glorious celebration at Easter. On this Sunday we are all brought to the very beginning of how sin came into us and led us all into corruption and our downfall, so that hopefully we may realise just how dangerous and terrible sin can be, and why we have to remain vigilant and careful throughout our lives such that we do not end up falling down the slippery path towards damnation because of us being tempted to sin. It is quite easy for us to fall into sin unless we remain strong in our conviction and faith in the Lord, as how it had happened to many of our predecessors. And this is why we need to make good use of this season of Lent to remind ourselves to be more faithful and committed to God, resisting the temptations of sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis the story of how the first mankind fell into sin, that is of Adam and Eve, the ones whom God created in the beginning of time. God created mankind after He had created the whole universe and existence, and prepared everything all well and good, crafting man in His own image. God made everything to be all good and perfect, and He intended for us to enjoy forever the happiness, bliss and joy of our existence, full of grace and love for God, for eternity. That is what why we had been created, to share in the love of God, and to enjoy the blissful existence in Eden as our ancestors had once enjoyed. Yet, unfortunately they fell into sin because they chose to listen to the sweet lies and falsehoods of Satan rather than to trust in the Lord and His love for each one of us.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve by playing into their desires, their curiosity for knowledge and understanding, their willingness to try out new things and to experience what it may be like to know good and evil like how God Himself is all-knowing. Yet, it was by their disobedience against God that they allowed sin to enter into their hearts and minds, corrupting them and their descendants henceforth, and because of that, we have to wander off in the hardships of this world, away from the fullness of God’s grace and love. This is because sin and wickedness have no place before God and His perfection, His all good nature. Sin has therefore held dominion over us all ever since then right up to the moment when the Lord sent us His salvation, through none other than Jesus Christ, His own beloved and only begotten Son. Through Christ, all of us have seen, witnessed and received the perfect manifestation of God’s love.

The fact is that God truly loves each one of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. He could have crushed and destroyed us easily for our disobedience and wickedness, but He chose to be patient with us, reaching out to us with genuine love and compassionate mercy. He gave us His beloved Son because through Him, we are going to be led out of the darkness of sin into the eternal life and justification in God. This is what St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome has spoken about, as he highlighted to them all how sin had entered into this world through the first man, but then, God gave us the gift of His only begotten Son, to come into our world and becoming Man like us, as the Son of Man, so that by the perfect example of His obedience to the will of His heavenly Father, He may lead us all into the right path towards full reconciliation and reunion with the Lord, our loving Father Who loves each and every one of us, without exception.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Paul clearly highlighted the comparison and difference between what Adam, the first man had done, in listening to Satan instead of listening to God, choosing to obey the words of Satan together with that of his wife Eve, so that they ended up disobeying God and doing what the Lord had forbidden them to do, with Jesus Christ, Whom St. Paul mentioned sometimes as the New Adam, the New Man, through Whom He showed us all the example of perfect obedience to the will of God. Our Lord Jesus obeyed the Father’s will so perfectly and well, that He obeyed even when He had to bear the burden of His Cross, that is the multitudes of our many and innumerable sins, evils and wickedness, our faults and corruptions, all of which should have led us to our deaths and destructions. Yet, by His great and ever patient and enduring love, God Himself has willingly done all He could for us, so that by His most loving and selfless sacrifice on the Cross, He could save us from our fated destruction.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan after He was baptised in the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist, at the beginning of His ministry in this world. In this quite well known story, at that time, the Lord Jesus went through a period of forty days of physical fasting and spiritual exercise in the wilderness and desert, where Satan came to Him and tried not just once but three times to tempt Him to stop His work and mission in this world, by offering Him the same kind of persuasions and temptations that He had once tempted our ancestors with. Satan struck with all of his persuasions, tempting the Lord with all sorts of the most dangerous temptations, by first striking at Him with the satisfaction of the flesh through food, and pride, and yet again another one through hubris, ego and pride, and finally the greed and desire for worldly glory and fame.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the allure of knowledge and greatness, so that by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, expressly prohibited by God, they could become equal like God, to be like God in His might and knowledge, tempting them with glory, power and knowledge, among others, which moved them to disobey the Lord and choose to walk their own rebellious path as Satan himself had done before them, instead of trusting in God and His providence. But this failed to tempt the Lord, Who as the Son of Man, the New Adam, showed us the perfect example of great obedience as He obeyed His Father’s will, and refused to bend to the demands of Satan, or even paying attention or any heed to his falsehoods, his sweet lies and wicked words. He refuted Satan’s claims and lies, and spoke courageously of the truth that He Himself has brought into this world.

When Satan tried to highlight to the Lord that He is the Son of God in order to make Him to be swayed by pride and ego, to do something for His own selfish gain and benefit, by turning the stones into bread to nourish Himself, the Lord rebuked Satan and rejected his effort in tempting Him, by saying that mankind do not live and survive on bread alone, but on every words that come from the Lord. Instead of doing something for the sake of His own benefit, the Lord chose to do what is most unconventional, and that is to do what He had done for everyone’s sake, in giving Himself to them all. Instead of turning the stones into bread for His own consumption, He, Who is the Bread of Life, chose to be broken Himself, and to offer Himself for everyone, in a most selfless sacrifice and offering of love, for the salvation of the whole world.

And when Satan brought the Lord over to the top of the Temple of Jerusalem, telling Him using the phrases from the Scriptures to try to trick Him and to make Him be swayed by the fame and glory that he offered, the Lord told Satan off once again, that one should not put the Lord to the test, which is an important reminder for each and every one of us not to lose faith in the Lord and His providence. Instead, we have to keep our faith in Him and put our focus on Him, and not to indulge in the desire to be seen or to be praised for our actions. Everything we do in our lives, all of them should indeed be to glorify the Lord by our own exemplary life and works, which should be in accordance to the will of God. We should not seek to be selfish and pursuing personal glory and satisfaction over our obedience and faith in God, and also our love for one another.

Lastly, the Lord also rebuked Satan when he showed Him the whole vastness of the wealth and the greatness of the world, as the latter desperately tried to bring the Lord to succumb to the temptations of worldly glory and riches, to no avail. The Lord told Satan off and rebuked him hard with the words that the Lord alone is worthy and ought to be worshipped, and not Satan. This last effort from Satan that was greatly rejected and criticised by the Lord, Who struck at the very core of Satan’s own rebellion against God, as he aspired to ascend even the Throne of God and become the ruler over all of Creation. Essentially, the Lord proclaimed to Satan that in the end, the justice and goodness of the Lord will triumph over him, and that the faith in the Lord alone will lead us mankind to salvation through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Meanwhile, Satan and all those who choose to side with him will be crushed and destroyed.

That is why, each and every one of us are reminded today at the early beginning of this season of Lent, that we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the lies and false promises of Satan and all other tempters and those sent to convince us to abandon our path and journey towards the Lord. We have to be ever vigilant and not allow ourselves to be twisted and corrupted by our own pride, ego, arrogance, hubris, desires and greed, jealousy, lust and other things by which we often encounter serious obstacles in our journey of faith towards the Lord. We must follow the examples shown by Our Lord Himself, as well as the innumerable saints and martyrs, our holy predecessors, those holy men and women who have resisted the temptations to sin, the temptation of worldly glory, fame and ambition in our hearts and minds.

During this season of Lent, all of us are called and reminded to deepen our relationship with God through the three pillars of Lent, that we all should be well aware of. These three pillars are that of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and our whole season of Lent should be filled with them. Not only that, but when we carry out those actions and fulfil what we have been recommended to do during this solemn period of Lent, we should do them with the right intention and purpose, that is to bring ourselves closer to God and to restrain the many temptations from outside and within us, so that hopefully we may come ever closer to God and His salvation, and distance ourselves from Satan and all those who seek nothing else but our destruction and damnation. We should make good use of whatever opportunities and time provided to us, and do what we can to live our lives worthily of the Lord.

We must of course have a good and vibrant prayerful life, as for Christians, it is inconceivable for us not to spend any time in prayer. But our prayers must also not be one that is merely reciting and saying words, as we should use prayer as how it is intended to be, for us to communicate with the Lord. All of us may come to deeper appreciation of God’s love and actions through our interactions and time spent with Him in prayer and through our other means of reaching out to Him. And when we fast, we should do so because we want to restrain the temptations of our flesh, which can be indeed weak in the face of relentless attacks and temptations present all around us. We should not fast because we seek renown or praise for our actions, but rather we fast because we have that genuine and strong desire to distance ourselves from sin and come closer to God and His merciful love, and in loving one another ever more.

We should also be ever more generous, in almsgiving, that is in giving whatever we can spare for all those around us who are less fortunate than us. And almsgiving should not just be limited to material giving, but rather, should also include our time and attention, our love and care in particular for all those who are less fortunate and unloved, all around us, and especially so for those who are most dear and precious to us. During this time of Lent, each and every one of us are reminded to sharpen the side of our humility and faith, deepening our relationship with God through charity and love, while at the same time rejecting Satan and all of his false promises and lies, and resist the many temptations all around us to commit what is sinful against the Lord. We are all called to be ever more faithful to God and to be good and worthy role models in our faith, inspiring many others to follow in our footsteps as well.

May God be with us always and may He empower us all throughout this Lenten season so that we may continue to serve Him and to walk in His presence, now and always. May God bless us all in our every good works, efforts and endeavours for His greater glory, so that by each and every things we do, we will always draw many more people closer to Him and lead many more towards the salvation in God. Amen.

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Wednesday, 18 February 2026 : Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today marks the beginning of the season of Lent with this commemoration of Ash Wednesday. On this day as we receive the imposition of ashes on our forehead, we are all reminded of the fickle nature of our existence in this world, and how we are not meant to last forever in our current life. Eventually, we shall reach the end of our lives and existence in this world and we shall be made accountable for our lives and how we have lived them. And unless we remain vigilant and keep in mind the commandments, the precepts and the Law of God, we may end up falling into the wrong path, tempted and swayed by sin and evils all around us. Hence, that is why we have this season and time of Lent to help us to reorientate our lives and redirect our attention and focus back towards the Lord once again.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of the Lord calling upon His people to return to Him, to entrust themselves once again to His providence, love and grace. We heard the Lord calling on all the people to repent and turn away from their many sins and wicked ways, and how He is truly merciful, compassionate and filled up with great and most generous love for each and every one of us. According to historical evidence and signs, the prophet Joel lived during the time after the destruction of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, the exile of the remnants of the people of God to distant lands of Assyria and Babylon. Hence, what the Lord spoke to His people through the prophet Joel was a reminder that despite all the wicked things that the people had done, ultimately, His love for them still prevailed.

Yes, the Lord truly loves all of us, His people, His children and all those whom He has cherished. He did not create us all in order to destroy or punish us, but it was by our own disobedience and sins which we have separated and sundered ourselves from the fullness of God’s love and grace. God still loved us regardless, as He despised our sins and wickedness, but not us personally. What He wants us to do is to distance ourselves from those sins and wickedness, and to turn away from all the rebellious and sinful attitudes that are unworthy of Him. If only we can embrace His love, compassion and mercy once again, we will receive the fullness of His forgiveness and grace, and we shall be lifted out of our predicaments, troubles and trials in life. He has always promised us all that He will care for us and liberate us from our troubles, and He has indeed fulfilled it all.

In our second reading passage today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, we heard about the Apostle speaking to the people of God regarding the salvation that God Himself has brought upon His people. St. Paul reminded us all how the Lord has sent us His own beloved Son to be our Saviour, and to provide us with the sure and guaranteed way out of the darkness and the predicaments of our lives. He showed us all the proof and manifestation of His ever enduring love for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Through Him, all of us have seen the light of God’s salvation, and therefore we are reminded today at the beginning of this season of Lent, that having seen and received the love of God shown to us through Christ and all that He has done for us, even to the point of enduring all the sufferings for us, and dying on the Cross, we are all called to return to the Lord once again with faith.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and followers regarding the matter of fasting and why one should be fasting and how they ought to be fasting in the right manner. Contextually, at that time, the people of God especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had not been living their lives with genuine faith, as they were doing all those things like fasting and even almsgiving for appearances, fame and praise by others. The Lord Himself often criticised the Pharisees for parading themselves and their piety before others, showing off just how faithful and dedicated they were to God, so that they could be praised by everyone and be esteemed and respected as they desired. That is why, He told His disciples and hence all of us that whatever we do in life, we have to do it out of genuine faith in God and because we truly love God and His people, our fellow brothers and sisters.

During this season of Lent, we are all called to genuine conversion of heart and to rediscover once again the love that we ought to have for God, to put our trust once again in Him and to renew our commitment to Him, distancing ourselves from the wickedness of the world and from the corruption of sin, and coming to Him seeking for forgiveness from our many faults. As I mentioned earlier on, God truly loves each one of us, and while He despises our sins, He truly wants us to be reconciled to Him, and this season of Lent is the perfect opportunity and time that He has given us again and again, for us to spend in reflecting upon our lives and think carefully of what we should be doing moving forward in life. Should we continue to walk down the path of sin and rebellion against God, indulging in the many worldly vices and temptations? Or should we instead seek the Lord with renewed vigour and zeal?

This Lent, all of us are called to spend more time with God, to be more faithful and committed to Him, and the practices that the Church has called us to do this Lent, which includes the fast and abstinence we ought to do today on this Ash Wednesday, as well as greater love and charity, generosity and almsgiving, all these should be done because we have the desire to love God more, to come closer to Him and be reconciled with Him, and not because we want to be recognised and praised in our faith, as the Pharisees had once done. That is why we are reminded today that our actions and observances of Lenten practices should be done out of focus on the Lord and the Lord alone, and not to satisfy our greed and worldly ambitions, or to gain us fulfilment and good feeling. This Ash Wednesday is a good reminder of this need for us to turn back once again towards God with faith.

Today, on Ash Wednesday, as we have ashes imposed upon us, on our head or on our forehead, let it be a reminder for us that we are all sinners in need of God’s healing and mercy, and let that ash not be a symbol of pride, for us to show off our faith to others. Instead, the ash should be a reminder instead of our humility and our need of help and regeneration from God, that as we rend not just our bodies, but also our hearts, minds, our souls and our whole beings, we commit ourselves to the Lord into a whole new existence that is focused and centred on Him. Let the ash be the commitment that we make to distance ourselves from our sinful past, ever reminded of our mortality and how sin has led us down this wrong path. And let us all rise again from the ashes, through our commitment to live our lives with greater faith and confidence in God, from now on.

Hence, as we enter into this season of Lent, let us all rediscover the love we ought to have for God, putting Him once again as the centre and focus of our lives. Let us also nurture the same love that we should have for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, as God has also called us to be generous in loving one another, and we ought to do it unconditionally and willingly, not because we seek for benefits or return of what we have given. Let us all make good use of this time and season of Lent, and may all of us have a great experience in our preparation throughout this blessed time, that we may grow ever closer to God and be worthy to receive the fullness of His grace and love. Wishing us all a most blessed, holy and fruitful Lenten season. Amen.

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Friday, 18 April 2025 : Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Good Friday, also known as the Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord. On this day Christians throughout the world commemorate the suffering, crucifixion and ultimately the death of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. This day is truly a Good Friday because it is a Good thing that God has died for us, as if not for this, we would have certainly perished in the eternal darkness and suffering, being separated forever from the love and grace of God. It was because of the sufferings and the pains endured by Christ, all of His wounds and hurts that we have been healed from our afflictions and sins, from all the corruptions and defilements by those sins and evils we have committed in our lives.

And indeed, God died today on this most holy and good Friday, almost two millennia ago. Such a statement is indeed baffling to many people, as to the Jews at that time, it was incomprehensible that God died, Him being the Almighty Lord and God of all Creation and the Universe, while to the Greeks and other Gentiles, such a notion that God dies, is one of foolishness and weakness, for to them, accustomed with having many gods and those gods that perished, only the strong ones remain while those that perished were weak. And yet, what God has revealed to us through His Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, Son of God and yet also Son of Man, is one of pure and ever enduring love which persists despite the many challenges and obstacles to this love that God had for us.

This death of God was made possible because in the very core of our Christian beliefs and teachings, we believe that God Himself has become incarnate in the flesh, embracing our human nature and existence, being formed and developing in the hallowed womb of Mary, whom God had sanctified and filled with His grace, keeping her away from the taint of original sin and corruption so that this vessel so pure and blameless might truly be worthy to bear the Son of God and brought Him forth into this world. We believe that in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, is a hypostatic union of two distinct and yet inseparable natures, that of Divine and Human. That means Jesus was truly and fully Divine, fully God, while at the same time He was also fully Man.

And while God in His Divinity is immortal and all-powerful, transcendent and beyond comprehension, but in His Humanity, God truly has died that day at Calvary, pierced, beaten and wounded for us all. The death of Jesus Christ is truly a real death, and not merely a symbol or appearance only, or as some would believe it otherwise, that He did not really die but was replaced by another. The Lord really did suffer and die, and He was wounded deeply because of our sins. As the first reading of this Good Friday from the Book of the prophet Isaiah highlighted to us, Christ is the One to bear all the burdens of our sins, all of our wickedness and faults, for which we should have been punished for, and yet, God’s great mercy and compassion has allowed us to find a way out through His Son, Our Saviour.

The prophet Isaiah spoke about the Suffering Servant of God, the One Whom God would punish on our behalf for all of our faults and mistakes, burdened with all of the punishments and scourges, wounds because of our disobedience and evils, all the things which we have done in this world that are not in accordance with God’s will. The Suffering Servant is the role that Christ our Saviour has taken up upon Himself, willingly and obediently accepting punishments upon Himself so that by His perfect obedience, He might craft unto us a remedy that allows us all to overcome all of our sins, through God’s forgiveness and grace, freely given and offered to us. By the willing and most loving sacrifice of our Lord and God, on the Altar of the Cross, the perfect and worthy sacrifice in atonement of our sins have been offered by our One True Eternal High Priest.

And this offering is none other than the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Himself, slain and offered on the Altar of the Cross for us. And since it is none other than the Divine Son and Lamb of God offering Himself, it is the only sacrifice and offering worthy to atone for our sins. This is the continuation of the whole grand liturgy that began yesterday at the Last Supper and which will continue through to the Easter Vigil tomorrow evening, a grand sacrifice that the Lord Himself has offered on our behalf for our salvation, with His sufferings and death uniting us all to die to our own sins and wickedness, bringing us through the valley of darkness and out into the light. And by partaking His Most Precious Body and Blood that He Himself has given to us most generously through the Eucharist, God has given us all the perfect remedy for our fallen state and sinfulness, showing us the certain path out of the darkness and into the light of God’s grace and salvation.

In our second reading this Good Friday, we then heard of the words from the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in which he highlighted the role of Jesus Christ our Lord as the High Priest, Who having shared in our human nature and being truly and fully human, He did share in our pains and sufferings. It is again His incarnation that allowed Him to experience suffering and death in His Passion and what we reflect upon throughout the long Passion story in our Gospel passage today. He has been tempted also by the same temptations that we have faced ourselves, and endured the same things that we have endured. Yet, He triumphed over all those temptations and showed us all that it is indeed possible for us mankind to resist the temptations and to be truly obedient to God, just as Christ Himself has shown us.

By His humble obedience, Jesus our Lord has shown us the perfect example of how each and every one of us as Christians should live our lives in the manner that is truly pleasing to God. And today as we focus our attention on the great sacrifice that Our Lord Himself has gone through for our sake, we are reminded that all of us should not continue to indulge in our various temptations and sins. We should instead remember that each one of our sins and faults have caused hurt on the Lord Himself, with every wounds that were inflicted upon Him being every single sins that we have committed in our lives. And yet, at the same time, God has been so generous with His love for us that He was willing to go through all the sufferings and pains meant for us so that we can be saved from certain destruction and can be reconciled and reunited with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we commemorate the events which happened on this Good Friday and as we continue to immerse ourselves in the important events of this Paschal Triduum, let us all grow ever more aware of our relationship with God and all of our sins, imperfections and faults. Let us all first and foremost be thankful for all the love that God has shown us, and be grateful for everything that He had done for us. Let us all lovingly gaze upon the Cross and commit ourselves wholly and wholeheartedly knowing that He has always been there for us, guiding us through our journey in life and helping us to carry our own crosses. Let us remind ourselves that whatever difficulties and sufferings we may be facing in life, the Lord has suffered them all as well, and in a manner far worse than ours. Yet, He bore them all patiently out of love for us.

Let us all therefore continue to deepen our relationship with God and do our very best to commit ourselves to Him, in everything that we do and in our whole ways of living our lives. We should be more genuine in our faith and in our efforts to build and maintain our relationship with God and we should not ignore the love that God has for us any longer. Instead, let us do our best to glorify God by our lives and our whole actions so that we may continue to be good role models and inspirations for one another in faith, as good and worthy Christians, parts and members of the Church and Kingdom of God which God Himself has established on this Good Friday through His ultimate loving sacrifice on the Cross. May our Crucified Lord and Saviour be with us always. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 April 2025 : Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this evening as we begin the celebrations of the Paschal or Easter Triduum, we enter into this most solemn and holy period in the whole entire liturgical year. And this evening marks the start of that three days period or Triduum, beginning with this celebration in memory of the Last Supper which the Lord Jesus had with His disciples, referring to the Passover meal which they had that evening just before the Lord was arrested and began with His Passion journey to the Cross. On this evening we remember how the Lord began this most important part of His ministry, in accomplishing and fulfilling everything that God had promised to His people, to all of us mankind from the very beginning of time, in order to lead us all from the domination and slavery to sin, and out into His salvation and eternal life with Him.

In our first reading this Holy Thursday, we heard from the Book of Exodus the retelling of the account of the very first Passover of the Israelites which they celebrated in the Land of Egypt, the place where they had been enslaved and put under harsh rule of the Egyptians for centuries. God has remembered them all, His beloved and chosen people, and He has not ignored their plight and misery in the land and place of their sufferings and enslavement. He sent to them Moses to be the leader to inspire and strengthen them, and to reveal unto them what He had planned to do with them and how He would lead them all out of Egypt with His mighty hands and deeds, striking the Egyptians and their Pharaoh with the Ten Great Plagues, as punishment for their enslavement of the Israelites and for the Pharaoh’s stubbornness in refusing them to go free.

And this Passover was instructed by God to be celebrated and done by the Israelites leading to the Tenth and the Last of the Ten Great Plagues, which was the death of all the firstborn of the Egyptians, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the lowest among the Egyptians and even their animals. This plague of death was a response to the continued hardening of heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who continued to refuse to relent and let the Israelites to go free to the land of their ancestors. Thus, God asked His people to prepare an unblemished lamb for each of their households, and this lamb was to be kept until the day when the lamb was to be slaughtered and then it was to be roasted for the whole household to partake and eat while they prepared in haste to depart from Egypt to their freedom.

And we heard how the blood of the unblemished Passover lamb was used to mark the houses of the Israelites, placed on their doorposts as a sign to the Angels of Death bringing forth death and destruction to the Egyptians that the houses where the blood of the lamb had been marked on belonged to the people of God, and they would therefore be ‘passed over’ from the death meant for all the others who have not put the lamb’s blood and observed the Passover. This festival of the Passover is the most important celebration and event for the people of Israel as it marks their freedom from the slavery that they had long experienced in Egypt and also their adoption by God to be His beloved and holy people, called and chosen to be His own, and for whom God had exercised His mighty power to lead them into their freedom.

Then from the second reading and the Gospel passage, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth and from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle respectively, we heard the two important events that have been initiated on this Holy Thursday by the Lord for His Church. In that second reading this evening, we heard St. Paul sharing to the faithful about the moment of the Last Supper when the Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, linking to what we have just heard earlier from the first reading on the account of the Passover meal in Egypt. Yes, the Last Supper is indeed the same celebration of the Passover meal, but if we do read through the account of the Passover meal as detailed in the Book of Exodus and in the Jewish traditions, as compared to the Last Supper, curiously there were some very clear differences.

Why is that so? First of all, unlike the Jewish Passover which placed an unblemished lamb at the centre of the celebrations, there was no mention of lamb being used or eaten at the Last Supper. And even if there was indeed lamb being eaten at the Last Supper in the manner that the Jewish Passover had been celebrated, what the Lord did at that Last Supper was something that was different and truly revolutionary, as He prayed over the bread, broke the bread and shared them and the wine with the disciples saying that, “This is My Body, which will be given up for you.” as well as “This is My Blood, which has been poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in the memory of Me.” Through this, the Lord placed Himself at the centre of the New Passover, no longer sealed by the blood of the unblemished lamb, but by the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Himself.

This is also supported further by the fact that the celebration of the Passover in the Last Supper was rather too early, as if we recall from the account of the Gospel on the Crucifixion of the Lord, towards the end of the Passion narrative, there was a mention of how the chief priests and Jewish leaders asked that the bodies of the Lord and the two thieves were to be brought down from their crosses as they would then hang on through the sacred day of the Sabbath, and earlier on when the chief priests and the crowd of people gathered before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea to condemn Jesus, how they did not enter into the praetorium where Pilate governed from, as according to their traditional practice and belief, that would have made them unclean and therefore unworthy and unable to eat the Passover meal.

While the Passover day does not always coincide with the Sabbath day, but evidence from these Scriptural accounts highlighted to us how that very year when the Lord went through His Passion, suffering and Crucifixion, as well as the earlier Last Supper, the Passover that year fell on the Sabbath day, which occurred right after the Lord had been crucified and died on His Cross. Therefore that would have made the day of the Good Friday, the day when the Lord Himself was slain and died, being the day when the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered and prepared for the Passover meal, and its blood collected and used to mark the houses of the faithful. Therefore, that was why the Last Supper being the New Passover happened rather early, because the whole entire New Passover does not end with the Last Supper, but rather merely just the beginning of the whole event that spanned the whole Paschal Triduum.

During the Last Supper, the Lord did not complete the whole celebration of the Passover, as it was also mentioned during this event that He would not drink the cup of the vine again, that is wine until the coming of the Kingdom of God. This refers to the cup of suffering drunk during the Passover celebrations, which the Lord would indeed drink at the height of His Passion on the Cross. And all these would be accomplished as He mentioned at the moment of the Crucifixion, ‘I thirst’ and the soldiers gave the Lord the sour wine to drink with the hyssop, hence completing the sacrifice and offering of the Lamb of God for the sake of our redemption. By His Body broken and Blood outpoured, which we all share tonight and at every celebrations of the Holy Mass, we have received the Lord Himself, the Paschal Lamb, and by sharing in Him, we have been marked as His own, to be spared from the destruction due to sin and death.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, our celebration tonight continues throughout the whole Paschal Triduum, the great New Christian Passover that the Lord has celebrated, beginning with this Holy Thursday events, continuing through His Passion on Good Friday, His suffering and death, and it lasts all the way through the moment of His most glorious triumph, the Glorious Resurrection that He has shown us, in how He has defeated and conquered death itself. That is why there is no celebration of the Holy Mass from tonight until that of Easter Vigil, to commemorate this fact that the whole Paschal Triduum is one overarching Sacrifice that the Lord has offered for us all, the Holy Sacrifice at Calvary which is the same Sacrifice that our priests celebrate during each celebrations of the Mass. And that is why today we commemorate the Institution of both the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and also that of the Ministerial Priesthood.

And regarding that Ministerial Priesthood, it was shown this evening through what we have heard from our Gospel passage from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle in which the Lord’s action in washing the feet of His disciples during the Last Supper was highlighted to us. The Lord showed by example that He came into this world to serve all of us, to love us and to unite us all and our sufferings to Himself, and not to lord it over us and to subjugate us. Instead, He humbly accepted His role as the Saviour of all, and in being the Servant of all the servants of God. He humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples, the dirtiest and filthiest part of the human body, to show us all that as His followers and disciples, we must also follow His examples in loving the poorest, the weakest and the most marginalised.

After all, the Lord has loved us all even at our weakest and most unworthy moments, when we are still sinners. If God loves us still despite how defiled and wicked we have been, reaching out to us to show us His most wonderful and patient love, His mercy and compassion towards us, then how can we not love Him in the same manner as well? Our priests and bishops, all those whom God had called and chosen to be His ministers are called to embody this same spirit of service and love in them, and that is why we pray for them earnestly this evening so that the Lord may continue to strengthen and guide them all amidst their ministry and works so that they will continue to be faithful to the Lord regardless of the challenges and trials that they may have to face in their journey and ministry to God’s people and God’s Church.

At the same time, we are also reminded that the Lord’s instruction to His disciples, ‘If I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. I have just given you an example, that as I have done, you also may do.’, therefore, in this Mandatum, or commandment that the Lord has given to us, as Christians, all of us ought to love one another just as God has loved us, and be caring and loving towards everyone around us, particularly those who have been marginalised and ignored by others. We are also challenged to love our brethren around us who may not be on best of terms with us, to our enemies and those who have persecuted us and made our lives difficult. Of course this is easier said than done, but we can gain inspiration from none other than the Lord Himself, Who forgave His enemies and persecutors, and loved all of them nonetheless, dying for them on His Cross for their salvation no less.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to immerse ourselves in the events and commemorations of this Paschal Triduum, let us all deepen our understanding of what the Lord had done for us, all of His love and kindness towards us. And most importantly, let our focus be centred on the Lord, and on His Passion, on everything that He had done for our sake and for our salvation. May all of us be truly blessed and empowered by God, and may our commemoration of the sacred Paschal Triduum be a truly holy and blessed one. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 April 2025 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this morning on Holy Thursday, just before the beginning of the liturgical celebrations of the Paschal or Easter Triduum, traditionally in many of the dioceses all around the whole world, the bishop of the diocese celebrates the Chrism Mass with all the priests of the diocese, from the Pope in Rome as the Bishop of Rome to the furthest corners and ends of the earth, from the biggest and most renowned dioceses to the smallest and least known dioceses out there. Each and every one of them commemorates this day the blessing of the holy oils that are used in the many important celebrations of the Church and its Sacraments, as well as the renewal of priestly commitments, vows and promises which they renew during this Chrism Mass.

And all of these are ultimately tied to the historic and traditional association of Holy Thursday, especially what we are going to celebrate this evening at the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, in the two most important events that the Lord had done in that Last Supper about two millennia ago, when He instituted two important Sacraments of the Church, that is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, as well as the Sacrament of the Holy Orders, that of the Ministerial Priesthood. And since the role of the priests in the Church are truly intimately tied to their roles in administering of the Sacraments to the Church, to the faithful people of God, their central role in the Holy Eucharist and in the use of the holy oils, hence, many dioceses celebrate this during the morning of Holy Thursday.

First let us all examine our Scriptural verses today. In our first reading today, we heard from the words from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which we heard of the words of the Lord’s prophecy presented to His people through Isaiah, of the coming of the Saviour or Messiah, the Holy One Who has been empowered by the Holy Spirit, sent into our midst to lead us all out of the darkness and into the Light of God and His salvation. Through this same Saviour, God would also bring consolation and comfort to His people, healing to the sick and those who had been afflicted by various sickness and maladies, opening the eyes of the blind, and ministering to the people of God. All these would come to fruition with the coming and appearance of the Messiah, and would be the clear sign from God on Who the Messiah would be when He comes.

All those things were indeed fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ, the One Whom everyone had been awaiting for, and He Himself proclaimed it all at Nazareth, just as we heard from our Gospel passage today when the Lord was handed the scroll of the words of God, and it was exactly this passage from the first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah that the Lord was reading from, proclaiming the completion and perfection of God’s long awaited plan, and it was His coming and mission, His works and miracles that had proven how everything that God had spoken about was indeed true and would soon be fulfilled perfectly through Him. But even more than that is what we have also heard from that same passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah regarding the calling of those who are to be priests of the Lord.

As the prophet Isaiah mentioned in his prophecy that there will be priests and ministers of the Lord, those whom God had called and chosen among His people. This alludes to the ministry of the ministerial priesthood which the Lord has also instituted at the Last Supper which we celebrate today on Holy Thursday, at the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. And that is why all the priests all around the world renew their priestly promises, vows and commitments today, united with their bishop and renewing their obedience and commitment to the Lord through the Church and their bishop, who is the chief shepherd of the diocese. All the priests and those who have dedicated themselves to this vocation and ministry have solemnly promised to take up these responsibilities and serve the Lord and His people faithfully all the rest of their lives.

They all represent the Lord Jesus Christ, acting in persona Christi in the celebration of the Holy Mass. And as we heard in our second reading this morning from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, they represent the mighty conquering Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God that had conquered sin and death for us, overcoming the forces of evil and brought His salvation upon us. He is the Alpha and Omega, that is the Beginning and the End, Lord and Master of all the whole universe. And He has placed His priests and ministers to be our guides and shepherds in His place, guiding and helping us to come towards Him, as He showed us all the sure path towards eternal life and true joy with Him. The priests who renew their commitments today are truly the ministers of the One True King of all.

That is why today as we commemorate this occasion of the Chrism Mass, we are all reminded of the great graces which God has given us all through His Church, in the ministerial priesthood and in the Sacraments, in all that He has provided to us so that we may truly be able to find our way to Him. On this day, the holy oils are blessed as mentioned, consisting of the three holy oils that are used for the various purposes in the Church and its liturgical celebrations and other uses. The first of them being the Sanctum Chrisma or the Sacred Chrism, used in many occasions of the Church and in the distribution of the Sacraments, used in the Sacrament of Baptism to anoint the newly baptised Christians, as well as in the Sacrament of Confirmation to affirm in faith all those who have been deemed mature and worthy of the Christian faith and teachings, as well as for the anointing of the hands and heads of the deacons, priests and bishops in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, marking them as truly consecrated to God.

The Sacred Chrism is also used for the anointing of the churches and other sacred places during their Dedication and Consecration, as well as in the consecration of sacred vessels among other uses. And then for the other two holy oils, they are more limited in use but are certainly very important parts of the Church. The Oil of the Catechumens or Oleum Catechumenorum is used in the anointing of the catechumens before their baptism, in order to strengthen them in their journey to be a Christian that is to be a follower of Christ and be part of His Church. Lastly, the Oil of the Sick or Oleum Infirmorum is used in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, when priests anoint those who are very sick and in the danger of death, preparing them for the life that is to come or for God to restore them to health if that is His will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us can see how the Lord has provided His Church and all of His faithful with so many great means to reach out to Him, to be sanctified and strengthened in faith. Let us all therefore on this occasion pray for all of our priests and bishops, all those whom God had called and chosen from among us to be our shepherds and guides, to be the ones to minister to all the faithful and holy people of God, and to be the examples and role models in our faith and commitment to God. Let us all pray for them that God may grant them the strength, courage, faith, patience and perseverance in carrying out their missions and ministries all around the whole world. Let us pray for each other and for God’s Church too, that we may also be strong and be able to persevere in faith against all the trials and challenges that we may have to encounter in life. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 April 2025 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on this Wednesday of the Holy Week, a day also commonly known as the Spy Wednesday, we draw ever closer to the peak of our entire liturgical year, the Paschal or Easter Triduum. And the reason why this day is named as such is because of the reading of the Gospel for today, which touches on the moment when Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed the Lord Jesus went to the chief priests and the Temple authorities, discussing on how they would be able to cooperate in handing over Jesus to the chief priests and the Sanhedrin to be tried and judged, so that they could all condemn Him for the faults and accusations that they would all blame on Him, such as the crime of blasphemy against God and also the crime of treason against Rome and the Emperor.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which we heard of the sufferings to be faced by the One Whom God would send into this world, to save us all mankind, to save all of us, His beloved people. The Suffering Servant, the Suffering Messiah would have to bear the brunt of the many punishments and pains, the trials and challenges that all of us should have faced and endured, all the punishments that we all have deserved because of our disobedience and sins. He faced all these humiliation and disgrace, all the oppressions, rejection and wounds, all because of the ever enduring and great love that He has always had for us. By His perfect obedience, this Servant of God fulfilled everything that God Himself has promised to His people throughout all of history, accomplishing everything through His ultimate, loving sacrifice.

And this Servant of God, suffering and humiliated all pointed towards Jesus Christ, the Son of God made Man, the One Whom had been sent into our midst, born of the Virgin Mother, Blessed Virgin Mary, to be the One through Whom God would sanctify and rescue all of His beloved ones. And during this time of the Holy Week, as we immerse ourselves in the moments of the Passion of Our Lord, and as we gaze our sight upon the Lord crucified on His Cross, all of us should remember how such great love has been shown to us all in everything that He willingly embraced and endured so that He could rescue us from our predicament and fated destruction. By His humble obedience, He is reversing the effects of our disobedience and sins, all of which had separated us from the fullness of God’s love and grace. By His wounds, His broken Precious Body and outpoured Precious Blood, He has shown us all salvation in God.

Then, as mentioned earlier, from the Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the story of the time when Judas Iscariot came before the chief priests, offering to them to betray his own Master and Teacher, cornering Him in a place where the Lord’s opponents and enemies could arrest Him without much opposition from the people, as previously, they feared the reaction of the people whenever the Lord was teaching in public and they dared not to move against Him. Judas was likely unhappy with the Lord through various reasons, but it was also him embracing the temptations of the evil one, who sowed the seeds of dissension and sin in his heart and mind. And this provided the chief priests with the perfect opportunity to seize the Lord and arrest Him.

Therefore, as we heard in the Gospel, they agreed to offer Judas Iscariot a sum of thirty pieces of silver, and this offer of the silver pieces is actually a very significant symbol and fulfilment of the prophecies that the Lord Himself had foretold through His prophets. This is because thirty pieces of silver was the price that a slave was commonly priced for in the slave market at the time, and therefore, Judas had betrayed his own Master for the price of a slave, and it symbolises how Jesus would indeed take the place and position of a slave, and by humbling Himself, emptying Himself of all glory, honour and majesty, He Who is the Incarnation of the Divine, the Word of God made Man. And through His suffering and death, He is uniting us all in our humanity to death to our own sins and wickedness, to all the vices and evils that have kept us separated from God.

We heard then of the account of the moment at the Last Supper from the Gospel today, in which the disciples were gathered together with the Lord while having the Passover meal. It was there that the Lord again predicted that one of His disciples would betray Him. The Lord already knew who that betrayer was to be, and Judas himself in a way confirmed his betrayal, and the Lord was in fact not too discreet in making this fact known. Yet, at that time, the other disciples were all unaware of the significance of what the Lord was telling them clearly before them all. Thus that was how Judas eventually went to betray the Lord, by allowing Satan, the evil one to act through him, in trying to derail the Lord’s plan of salvation for His people, by striking at the One that God had sent to this world to bring forth His salvation.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded today not only of God’s persistence in loving all of us and in His most generous gesture of love, which He has truly shown us all most generously through all that He had done in His Passion, His sufferings and all the wounds and beatings that He had endured for our sake, but all of us are also reminded that we must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of sin, the temptations of worldly pleasures and all the evils and wickedness around us, all the efforts and works of the evil one and his forces, all trying to lead us all into eternal damnation and destruction. We must not allow the devil and his forces to strike easily at us because we willingly embrace the path of greed, ambition and worldly pursuits, all of which had misled so many down the path of ruin in the past.

Let us all therefore as we prepare to enter into the most holy and solemn Paschal Triduum tomorrow continue to deepen our faith in the Lord and focus ourselves wholly and wholeheartedly on the Lord as we centre our focus and attention on Him and on His most wonderful love, on everything that He had done for us. Let us no longer harden our hearts and minds, and no longer be stubborn or obstinate in our refusal to obey and follow Him. Let us instead do our very best so that we will truly immerse ourselves in the important events we are going to commemorate during this time of the Paschal Triduum. May all of us be truly blessed and be enlightened by our experiences these next few days, and may all of us be ever more strengthened in faith in God, now and always. Amen.