Lenten sermon

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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.

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Tuesday, 15 April 2025 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on this Tuesday of Holy Week all of us are reminded ever more of God’s salvation which has been fulfilled through Christ, the Son of God Incarnate, Who has embraced our Human existence and nature, becoming one of us and one like us in all things but sin, becoming the means for our salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin. Through everything that He has done during the time when He endured His Passion, all the obstacles that He has to bear through and overcome amidst His efforts in bringing us all, His lost children and scattered lost sheep from the darkness all over this world. We are reminded that the Lord has done all these because He loves us all generously and genuinely, showing us truly great love that surpasses all things, and is greater even than our sins and wickedness.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah regarding the words of the Lord for His people reassuring them all of His salvation that He would send unto them through His Saviour, the One that He would send into their midst to gather those who have been scattered around this world, made to wander around in suffering because of our sins. And this Holy One of God would be marked from before He was even born, given the Name above all the other names, and by the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, He was given the most important task to bring the Light of God, God’s Good News and love, God’s mercy and compassion to all of His people in this world, to all of us sinners who are still separated from the light of God’s salvation and from His grace.

In that prophecy of the prophet Isaiah that we heard today, we heard the prophet speaking as if he was the Saviour that God had sent, speaking in the first person, proclaiming everything that God would do through this same Saviour, the Word of God Incarnate. And through this manifestation of God’s love, His generous mercy and compassion which He has lovingly poured out upon us, and which He has constantly given to us despite our many sins and disobedience, God wants us all to be healed and to be reunited with Him. And the only way that this can be done is through His Son’s coming into this world and what He had done in redeeming us all from the clutches of sin and death. God has made His only Begotten Son to be our Eternal and one True High Priest to redeem us all from destruction and death, to be the Paschal Lamb of Sacrifice, the perfect offering and the only One that is worthy to redeem us all.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist we heard of the moment during the Last Supper between the Lord and His disciples, the Passover meal that He had planned to have with all of them, where He revealed how one among them, namely Judas Iscariot would betray Him to the chief priests and hand Him over to them to be condemned to death and crucified by the Romans. This was part of what the Lord had predicted through the various prophecies and messages that He had given to His disciples throughout time and history. But God also gave us all the freedom of will and the freedom to choose our path in life, whether we want to embrace His righteousness and virtues or whether we want to follow the path of sin and darkness.

Judas Iscariot chose to listen to the temptations of the evil one, who have often tempted him on many things, such as what we have heard in our Gospel passage yesterday, on how he had often stolen from the common funds of the Lord and His disciples to enrich himself, giving in to selfishness and wicked desires. Judas Iscariot also likely clashed with the Lord on other matters that might not have been highlighted or shown in the Gospels or elsewhere, but regardless of the details or specifics, what matters is that Judas chose the easier path of embracing the temptations of desire and greed, the desire for money and wealth and the acceptance of the world over the Lord’s often rather controversial teachings and ways, including how Judas himself was chastised after he criticised Mary for anointing the Lord’s feet with expensive perfume.

Judas clearly had the freedom to choose his path in life, just as Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and God had been given the same freedom to choose. While Mary indeed had the advantage of being free from the taint of original sin due to her Immaculate Conception, she was no doubt also tempted by the various sins and evils of the world around her. Yet, she trusted in the Lord completely over those temptations, fears and uncertainties. That was why she was greeted with the words, ‘Hail Mary, full of grace’ by the Archangel Gabriel. Mary chose to obey the Lord and to trust in Him, while Judas chose to give in to the temptations, to his fears and desires, and that was how he fell into sin, in betraying his Lord and Master for a mere value of thirty pieces of silver, the price for a slave, the price that is to pay for our salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what we are all reminded today through these readings from the Sacred Scriptures are the revelation of God’s ever enduring love for us and also all the opportunities that God had given to us, in sending unto us His Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, to be our Lord and Saviour, to be the One to heal us all from our faults and iniquities, and to lead us all one by one, all to the Throne of the Mercy of God. And we have also been reminded of the free will and the freedom that God has given to each and every one of us in choosing our path in life. Let us make the conscious effort and choice in our respective lives, directing ourselves towards the Lord because it is in Him alone that we shall find true satisfaction and happiness, and not in all the distractions and temptations that are around us in this world.

May the Lord our God, our Crucified Saviour and King continue to lead and guide us all to Himself, and continue to strengthen us in our faith and commitment to Him, so that in everything that we say and do, in our observance of this sacred period of the Holy Week, this holiest week of all weeks in the year, we will continue to grow ever more committed to God and that we will become more aware of the great love that God has shown us through His Son, Our Saviour and King, and also of our own sinfulness and unworthiness before God. Let us all make the concrete effort and strive to commit ourselves, our time and our whole being to embrace this Holy Week period with dedication and true desire to be reconciled and reunited with our loving God and Father. Amen.

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Monday, 14 April 2025 : Monday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the Monday of the Holy Week and as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are called to remember the role that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Our Saviour had done in accomplishing everything that God had planned for our salvation, and on this most holy and solemn of all weeks in the year, we remember the things that the Lord has done for us, in loving us most wonderfully and generously, that He was willing to empty Himself of all glory and honour, embracing all of us and bearing our sins and faults upon Himself so that by His sufferings and by His willing endurance of the punishments meant for us, He may show unto us the path to eternal life.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah we heard of the words of the Lord regarding the Servant Whom He would send to His people, the people of God and the whole world, bearing forth the salvation of God made manifest through this same Servant. And God reassured all of His people that He would be with them through this Servant on Whom His Holy Spirit and favour was on, and through Him the salvation and liberation of all of God’s people would be accomplished perfectly, just as He has foretold and prophesied to them through His many prophets including that of the prophet Isaiah. God does not want any of His children and beloved ones to be separated or lost to Him, and that was why He sent to them the salvation and promise of eternal life.

And this Servant Whom He has spoken about through Isaiah was none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate in the flesh, Who has become the Son of Man, bringing forth the love of God perfectly manifested and becoming tangible and reachable to us. This same Christ, Our Lord and Saviour would also indeed suffer just as Isaiah prophesied, revealing how the same Lord Jesus would be rejected, persecuted and oppressed, and would be inflicted with the worst of punishments, but He would not resist or fight, and He accepted those sufferings with genuine and ever enduring love for us. He was led to the slaughter place, like a Lamb brought to be sacrificed, so that by His perfect obedience and most loving and selfless sacrifice, He might heal us all and bring us all to full reconciliation with God our Father.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord was in Bethany near Jerusalem during the week leading to His Crucifixion, when Mary, the sister of Lazarus came to the Lord before His disciples, anointing His feet with expensive perfume made of pure spikenard, and then wiped the perfumed feet clean with her hair. It was at that moment when Judas Iscariot, as mentioned, being the one who would betray the Lord to the chief priests, immediately criticised her for having wasted the expensive perfume, and in such case, the author of the Gospel, St. John pointed out the hypocrisy of the action of Judas because he himself had stolen from the funds of the Lord and His disciples to enrich his own pocket. Therefore, for him to criticise the actions of Mary was truly pure hypocrisy, and the Lord condemned Judas as such.

What Mary had done was more than just a prefigurement of the Lord’s sufferings and crucifixion, which the Lord hinted on as He mentioned how Mary was preparing His Body for His death, like that of how dead bodies were to be prepared for burial. Even more importantly is the symbolic representations of Mary’s actions before the Lord which should serve as important lessons for all of us to heed and to follow. First of all, Mary humbled herself before everyone and she put perfume on the Lord’s feet, when the feet at that time was considered as the filthiest and dirtiest part of a person’s body. Yet, she touched the Lord’s feet without hesitation, and even used her hair to wipe and clean the Lord’s feet. A woman’s hair is the crown of beauty and the pride of a woman, and Mary humbled herself such that she threw away all that pride in serving the Lord.

Through the example of Mary, the Lord Jesus wanted His disciples and hence all of us to take note what it truly means to become His disciples and followers. As the Lord Himself would do on the Last Supper a few days after this event, He would humble Himself and wash His disciples’ feet, an action which also drew a similar comment and astonishment from His disciples, especially from St. Peter the Apostle. But the Lord showed that true Christian love and leadership is one of service and not one of vainglory and ambition. He came into this world to lead us all to salvation and to reconciliation to the Father, and He showed this to us not through glorious and mighty deeds, but through humble and perfect obedience to the Father’s will. To be Christians, we have to follow the example of Our Lord Himself, Who has been always full of love, and like Mary, whose love for the Lord made her to humble herself and to serve Him in the manner that few would have thought of or considered.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to deepen our faith in the Lord as we continue to progress through this Holy Week period. Let us make good use of the time and opportunities which had been presented to us so that we may truly benefit fully from this time when we commemorate Our Lord’s Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, all of which He had done for our sake, for His great and ever enduring love for us. We should always be grateful at what we have received from God and all the opportunities that we have been given for us to come back to Him, being called and reminded many times by our loving and most compassionate Father. Let us all continue to focus our gaze upon the Cross of Christ this Holy Week, and spend good quality time to reflect on our sinfulness and how God’s love and compassion had made it possible for us to overcome those sins and return back to God, forgiven and reconciled with Him by the sacrifice of Christ on His Cross.

May the Lord continue to guide us all through this time and period of the Holy Week, helping us to focus our attention on the Lord and His Passion, His love and sacrifice for us amidst all the busy schedules and things that we have daily in our time this week. May He continue to encourage us all with the strength and wisdom to carry on living our daily lives with faith and obedience, with righteousness and desire to follow God in all things, to be the inspiration for our fellow brothers and sisters around us. May God be with us all and may He bless our every good efforts and works this Holy Week, and bless our family and loved ones too. Amen.

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Sunday, 13 April 2025 : Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week, the holiest and most important of all weeks and periods in the whole entire liturgical year. This Sunday marks the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, in which the moments surrounding the Lord’s Passion or suffering is highlighted to us, in this most solemn week when the Lord fulfilled all of His promises of salvation to us, bringing unto us the fulfilment and perfect completion of everything that He had planned for us from the very beginning, the plan of bringing us all back to God’s loving embrace the moment that we fell into sin through disobedience and rebellion against Him. On this day we remember the Lord embarking on this most important mission which has been entrusted solely to Him alone in order to bring us all out of the darkness and back into God’s light and grace.

In our Gospel passage this Sunday, which was read before the triumphant procession with the Cross and the blessed palms, we heard of the account of the time when the Lord was about to enter into the city of Jerusalem for the last time prior to His Crucifixion, at the appointed time when He would accomplish everything that had been planned for our salvation. We heard how He sent His disciples to prepare the time of His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, getting a colt or a young donkey that had never been used or sat on before. This fulfilled the prophecy which God had made through His prophets, particularly the prophet Zechariah who prophesied about the coming of the Messiah or Saviour, the King of Kings, Who would come on a donkey to the Holy City of Jerusalem, marking the coming of God’s salvation for His people.

That is why by this action of this triumphant entry of the Lord into the city of Jerusalem, the people of God and hence all of us are shown God’s fulfilment of everything that He has promised to us, everything that He had said that He would do for those whom He dearly loved, and He came on a donkey instead of a great and fearsome warhorse, highlighting the manner by which He would accomplish this mission. He came into this world not to subjugate it to His will or to force us all to obey Him, but rather as our loving and compassionate King, Jesus showed us all this most generous love in restoring hope in our hearts, through His coming that fulfilled the prophecies of the prophets and the promises of God. And while Jesus came to Jerusalem with great pomp and celebration, it was all to obey the Father’s will and for Him to suffer for our sake on the Cross, to be the Source of salvation for all of us who believe in God.

Then, from our first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the prophecy of the Suffering Servant, the One Whom God sent to be with His people, the Saviour Who would suffer on behalf of all of mankind. This was indeed a curious and strange prophecy because the common understanding by many of the Jewish people by the time of the ministry of Jesus and His works, was that the Messiah would be a mighty, conquering King Who would restore the Kingdom of Israel as how it was during the glorious days of David and Solomon, and that He would be born into the House of David. But little did many of them realise that the Lord did not intend for that, as His plans and ways are truly beyond that of man’s comprehension. Firstly, He chose to be born into a poor family in Nazareth, the simple family of a carpenter, and then, He would accomplish His mission through suffering and not through war and conquest.

And that is how the narrative of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem then shifts to the sombre details of the sufferings and the trials that the Lord’s Saviour had to endure as we heard from the first reading today onwards to the Passion Reading, showing us what we are going to experience throughout this coming week, this Holy Week commemorating our Lord’s Passion, His sufferings and all that He had to endure in His mission to bring us all to salvation and eternal life. God has never forgotten about us and while we are suffering the consequences of our sins and wickedness, He has always persisted in loving us so generously and lovingly as a loving Father loving His children. And in order to save us all, He has given us all His own Son, manifesting His love in the flesh, so that by His perfect obedience and His ultimate loving sacrifice on the Cross, He might offer us the assurance of eternal life and true freedom from the bondage and domination of sin.

From the second reading this Palm Sunday taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Philippi, in what is now part of Greece, we heard of the Apostle speaking about the obedience of Christ, the Son of God made Man, Who has come into our midst and revealed God’s love for us, and as just mentioned, how this perfect obedience of Christ, as the Son of Man, as the New Man, the New Adam, has for His Father’s will, counteracted perfectly the disobedience of our ancestors that had once led us all into our downfall. By acting as our High Priest in offering the perfect offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, and by His perfect obedience, His sacrifice has been accepted by the Father for the atonement of all of our innumerable sins and flaws, allowing us all to access His love and grace once again.

Therefore, as we remember then everything that the Lord Jesus, Our God and Saviour had done for us as we recall our long Passion reading today, the story of the sufferings which Our Lord had to endure in the midst of this ultimate show of His genuine love, all of us are reminded on why we celebrate this Holy Week with such great dedication and faith, and with such great effort and intensity, because ultimately, it was God Himself Who has loved us all so intensely first that He has done such a deed for us. And today as we recall the story of everything that happened in Our Lord’s Passion let us keep our gaze upon the Cross of Our Saviour, the Cross with the figure of Our Lord crucified on it, His wounds and everything that He had done for us. Each and every one of His wounds have been caused by our wickedness and sins, and He bore all these punishments for us.

That is why as we enter into this Holy Week with today’s commemoration of Palm Sunday and the beginning of the Lord’s Passion story and experience, let us all appreciate and internalise why we celebrate this most important series of events in the history of our salvation. Let us remind ourselves on how God has reached out to us, His beloved people, with love and generous mercy and compassion, that He was willing to forgive us all our sins even when we do not deserve such a nice treatment. We should have suffered eternity in Hell and be damned for all of our rebelliousness, disobedience and sins. Yet, by God’s mercy and His grace, and by Him extending to us this assurance of salvation through His Son, made available to us through the Church and the Sacraments, we have been led through the darkness and into the Light of Christ.

This Holy Week should be different from our past Holy Week observances and experiences, especially if we have not truly devoted ourselves, our time, attention and effort to focus ourselves and our whole lives to the Lord, to the One Who has overcome sin and death by His most painful and sorrowful death on the Cross. And by the glorious Resurrection that He has shown us at the end of this most Holy Week, the triumph of Our Lord over sin and death by His Resurrection reminds us all that if we put our faith and trust in the Lord our God, we will be truly be victorious in the end, sharing in His joy and majesty. We shall no longer be bound by the tyranny and power of sin, evil and all the things that had kept us separated and sundered from God’s fullness of grace and love for us. That is why we should strive our best to focus ourselves well this time of the Holy Week, to centre ourselves upon the Lord’s Passion, all the sufferings that He had to endure out of love for us all.

May the Lord our most loving God and Father continue to guide us all through our lives and especially through this upcoming celebrations this Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum so that each and every moments of this most solemn and sacred period be truly fruitful and faithful to Him. Let us all continue to do our best to follow the Lord ever more faithfully each day and let us continue to be good role models and examples in our faith and in how we live our lives so that our lives may truly be exemplary and be good beacons of God’s Light and truth to all mankind. May God be with us all and be with our every efforts and good works in all things, and may He bless our Holy Week observances and time. Amen.

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Saturday, 12 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings, all of us are reminded of what the Lord had most generously done for us all, His beloved people and children. God has not forgotten about us and our sufferings in this world, and He wanted us all to be reconciled fully with Him, just as how He had treated His people, the Israelites, who have sinned and rebelled against Him, and yet, He showed them all His mercy and compassion, gathering all of them from the various corners of the world to be once again reunited with Him. All of us are also reminded that we should not continue to harden our hearts and minds against the Lord because of our pride, ego, ambition and desires, among other things, all of which can lead us down the path of destruction and damnation through sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, in which the Lord told His people in exile, scattered throughout many distant lands, in Babylon, Mesopotamia, Egypt and elsewhere of the love and compassion which He had for them, and His reassurances to them on how they would all be reunited and gathered back from the lands of their exile to their homeland, the lands which God had granted to their ancestors, the Israelites in the land of Israel and Judah. The people of Israel had frequently disobeyed the Lord and His commandments, refusing to listen to God and His many prophets sent to them to remind them, and that was why, separated from God’s grace and blessings, they were defeated and conquered by their enemies, humiliated and had to suffer the loss of their homes.

Not only that but they even had to witness and experience the destruction of the Temple of God which King Solomon had established in Jerusalem as the House of God and the focus of the people’s worship of God and community. That destruction and desolation serve as important reminder of the dangers and effects of sin which had separated the people of God from their loving Master and Creator. Fortunately, the Lord is truly full of love and mercy, ever rich and generous in His compassion and in His desire to love His people, that though they were sinners, they were always precious and beloved by God, Who gave all of the people the means and the path to reach out to Him, just as He has outrightly declared His salvation and liberation for all of them, that they would truly be blessed once again.

And this passage from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel is also in fact a prophecy of the Messiah or the Saviour, promising to the people of Israel the coming of God’s salvation which would happen through the House of David, just as God had once promised King David of Israel, His faithful servant. God renewed this promise again, and through Ezekiel, He made it clear that through the allusion of David, the One Whom He would send into this world, none other than His own Begotten Son, would be born into the House of David, and through Him, Our Lord and Saviour, God would gather all of His beloved ones and show unto us all how we can enter into His grace and love, and receive His forgiveness and be reconciled with Him. And we also heard of the promise of the Covenant which God would establish with us all, which all would indeed come true in Christ.

Then, through our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story of the events that transpired at the moment when the Lord was in Jerusalem for the time of the Passover, the moments leading towards the culmination of His mission in this world. It was at that time in which more and more among the Pharisees, chief priests and elders were opposing the Lord and began to call out for the elimination of this great threat to their power, influence and status in the community of the people of God. Many among the Pharisees, who were the intellectual elites of the people of God at the time, had issues and disagreements with the Lord and His teachings because they refused to accept that their way of observing and practicing the Law could have been flawed and mistaken.

And then, among the other influential groups like the Sadducees, to which belonged many of the chief priests and the members of the religious elite of the community, they also had issues and disagreements with the Lord because they did not see eye to eye on many matters and beliefs, and because ultimately, like the Pharisees, many among them were likely jealous at the great influence and the successes which the Lord Jesus had managed to gather during His time of ministry among the people of God and even among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people. They feared that these would eventually lead to the loss of their prestige, status and influence among God’s people, and also 

That was why in the meeting of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, many among their members sought to destroy the Lord Jesus, thinking of false accusations to condemn Him and to bring Him to be punished, plotting His destruction, which all happened just shortly before the Lord began the journey of His Passion, leading to His suffering and death on the Cross. And just as we have heard from our first reading today, from the prophet Ezekiel, as we have just discussed, we are reminded of how God fulfilled everything, all of His promises of love and salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, Son and Heir of David, the One Whom had been sent into our midst in order to save all of us from certain destruction and damnation.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and reflected from the messages of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for us to turn away from our sins and from all the temptations of worldly glory, pride and ambitions, greed, desires for all sorts of worldly pleasures and attachments, all of which can lead us astray in the path and journey we have towards the Lord. We should not allow these to distract us in our focus on the Lord, but instead we should remind ourselves of the great love and compassion which God has shown us, that He was willing to send unto us His only Begotten Son, to be Man like us, and to suffer and endure the worst punishments and sufferings so that all of us can be saved from certain destruction.

All of us are reminded that we are sinners, imperfect and flawed, and we are indeed easily tempted by the temptations of worldly glory and pleasures. But at the same time, God has shown us the sure path out of this predicament, and through His own Son, He has shown us all His perfect and most wonderful love, which He extends upon us lovingly through the sacrifice and offering that Christ His Son has offered on the Altar of His Cross. By His wounds and hurt, by His sufferings and death, all of us have been shown the path to eternal life and salvation, as through the breaking of His Precious Body and the outpouring of His Precious Blood, God Himself has washed us away from the taint and corruption of our original sins, and led us all to Himself, making the Bridge that leads us all back to our loving Father and Creator.

Therefore, as we are about to enter into the most solemn and important events of Holy Week beginning tomorrow with Palm Sunday, let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord and strive to put ourselves wholly in His care and love, trusting in God’s ever wonderful mercy and compassion. Let us all put our focus and attention on all the events that we are going to celebrate in this Palm Sunday so that we will truly be drawn into them and grow ever stronger in our appreciation of everything that our Lord has done for us through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. May all of us have a truly holy and blessed Holy Week ahead. Amen.

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Friday, 11 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the persecutions, hardships and challenges which we have to face in the midst of our journey of faith and life as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen to be His own because the world itself and all those wicked forces all around it have opposed the Lord and His works, persecuting the Lord and even rejecting Him, in their unwillingness to obey the Lord and in refusing to listen to Him. That is why, being made aware of these obstacles, and all the challenges we may face, we should be more resilient and persistent in our desire to follow the Lord and to be faithful to Him at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which we heard of the plots and the dangers which Jeremiah had to face amidst his ministry among the people of God in the kingdom of Judah. For the context, Jeremiah had been sent to the people of the kingdom of Judah at the time just before that kingdom met its end at the hands of the Babylonians, and he came bearing God’s words of warning to the people of Judah, telling them of the consequences of their many sins and wickedness, all of which would prevent them from truly living a righteous and worthy life in God’s Presence. But Jeremiah was hated and reviled for his works and ministry, labelled as doomsayer and even traitor to the nation for what he delivered to the people of God.

There were many false prophets who had risen during that time, misleading the people of Judah and their king to continue on the path of rebellion and disobedience against God. That was how many disregarded Jeremiah’s words and prophecies, as they chose rather to trust in the words of the false prophets and in the arrangements and plans of man, depending and trusting in worldly powers and strengths rather than in their Lord and God Who has always been faithful to them. And those enemies of Jeremiah plotted even the destruction and downfall of the prophet, and almost managed to do so if not for the intervention and protection from God which prevented those people from succeeding in their plots.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the continuation of the bickering and disagreements between many of the Jewish people in Jerusalem and the Lord Jesus, with the former mostly belonging to the group of the Pharisees and their supporters, those who followed the overly rigid and legalistic approach of the observance of the Law of God, in the manner that the Pharisees had observed them. They continued to harden their hearts and minds, closing them against the Lord Who had repeatedly brought His truth and love to His people, but the stubborn attitudes shown by those same people had rebuffed Him and His efforts.

And the main problem as I had mentioned in the previous days was that of pride, ego and arrogance, all of which had hardened the hearts and minds of the people of God against the love of their Master and Creator. They thought that they could not have been wrong in their interpretations and way of living their faith and the Law of God. The Lord revealed to them the truth and many among them could not accept it, being angry and refusing to believe in Him, especially when He revealed that He is the Son of God, the manifestation of God’s perfect Love and kindness, His mercy and compassion towards us all. And this is despite His identity having been alluded in the prophecy of the prophets and servants of God, and despite all the signs and wonders that He had performed before each and every one of them. This is also a prelude to everything that we are about to commemorate in the Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Stanislas, also known as St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów, a Polish bishop and martyr of the Church, whose faith and life should be good inspiration for all of us to follow in our own lives as Christians. St. Stanislas hailed from the village of Szczepanów in Poland during the Medieval era, about a thousand years ago. He eventually joined the priesthood and was ordained first as priest and then as bishop succeeding the Bishop of Krakow who had ordained him. He did many good works in Poland, establishing relationship between the domains of Poland and the Church in Rome, and the establishment of Church hierarchy in Poland, bridging between the King of Poland and the Church.

In what many saw as a parallel as the story of another famous bishop and holy servant of God martyred by the secular ruler due to conflicting ideals and disagreements, like that of St. Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England, St. Stanislas got into a conflict and argument with the Polish king with regard to land disputes pertaining to the Church lands and properties. The king claimed that the lands which the Church had purchased through St. Stanislas as bishop from a man named Piotr, and which was claimed by the man’s family belonged to the family and not the Church. When the king challenged St. Stanislas to produce an evidence of the purchase, deemed impossible because the man Piotr had died, St. Stanislas miraculously brought the man back to life and the latter testified for St. Stanislas and chastised his sons who had claimed the land for themselves.

St. Stanislas also got into another, more serious conflict with King Boleslaw of Poland, whom he chastised for his actions in war and in another immoral behaviours that he had done, leading to St. Stanislas excommunicating the king for his grave sins and faults. This brought about conflict in the royal court and made the king and his allies to accuse St. Stanislas of treason against the king and state, and sentenced him to death. When no one among his nobles and allies dared to lay their hands on the bishop, the king himself came to slay St. Stanislas as he was celebrating the Mass outside the walls of Krakow or within Wawel Castle depending on the traditions. He was martyred defending the Church and the Christian teachings against the immoral and sinful king, leading to great outrage and eventual dethronement of the same king.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect upon the readings from the Sacred Scriptures today and from the life of St. Stanislas, let us all therefore remember that we are all called to be truly holy and worthy of God as His beloved children and people. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations present all around us, all the challenges and oppositions that we may have to face in living our lives faithfully as Christians. Many of our holy predecessors like St. Stanislas and ultimately the Lord Himself had faced a lot of persecutions and hardships throughout their lives and ministry, and we should in fact strengthen ourselves with the knowledge and resolve that we are all enduring these for the faith and love that we have for the Lord.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment to love and serve the Lord ever more faithfully, doing our very best so that by our commitment, dedication and efforts, we will continue to walk faithfully down this path that the Lord has shown us and led us through, the path that leads to eternal life and to reconciliation with Him. Let us no longer be separated from our loving, merciful and most compassionate God, but instead let us take the initiative and make the conscious effort to follow the Lord our God with zeal and devotion, with true courage and faith so that in everything that we do, we will always glorify Him at all times, coming ever closer to Him and to His salvation. May our Lenten observances and practices continue to bear rich fruits and be truly blessed. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the Word of God contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the promises and the Covenant which God had given and made with Abraham, the forefather of the Israelites and many other nations, and who is also our father in faith, as the progenitor of all those who believe in one of the major Abrahamic traditions and beliefs, including that of Christianity. And therefore we are reminded that we ourselves are also part of the same Covenant between God and us, and we are all part of this commitment which all of us are expected to fulfil in our daily living and in all the things that we do so that we are truly indeed worthy of God’s grace and love, His promises and reassurances for us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis detailing to us what the Lord had established with Abraham, making a Covenant with him as mentioned earlier on, binding himself and his descendants to God, and therefore blessing Him with the promise of many descendants and the land which God would bestow upon the descendants of Abraham, but at the same time, also requiring them all to follow the Law and commandments that God would give to them. A Covenant is a two-way commitment between two parties, and in this case between God on one side and then Abraham and his descendants on the other. And that God willingly made this Covenant between Himself and us, His beloved people, is a clear sign of His ever enduring and great love for each and every one of us.

The Lord showed and proved His commitment to the Covenant which He had made with all of us, and this includes His guidance to Abraham and his descendants, providing for them and protecting them through difficult times and moments. He provided for them in their time and hour of need, shielding them from their enemies, bringing them out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and showing His might to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh. He was always with His people, guiding and providing for them even when they have often hardened their hearts and rebelled against Him. The Lord showed us all His persistent and powerful love, and we truly should be grateful for what He has shown us, all the kindness that He has bestowed upon us, and hence, we should return His love with the same kind or commitment and dedication as well.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the continuation of the interactions and disputes between the Lord Jesus and the Jewish people, which were referring to the zealous Pharisees and the members of the community that supported them, in their refusal to believe in the Lord, in His teachings and works. And today we heard the increasing hostility between the crowd and the Lord, when the crowd, proudly claiming their descent from Abraham just as we heard in our Gospel passage yesterday, took offense at the Lord when the Lord told them that if they believed in Him, they would not experience death, saying that He was uttering nonsense or even blasphemy by stating such things.

But the Lord was saying the truth when He told them all that, telling them that His truth and all that He delivered to them would indeed save them all from certain destruction and death. But those people, many of whom had witnessed the Lord’s miracles and works, and heard His Wisdom and truth failed to believe in Him despite of what they themselves had experienced, all due to their pride and ego which had made them to harden their hearts and minds against God. They were proud of their descent from Abraham, and as was common at the time, they considered others to be unworthy of God, inferior and sinners who would defile and corrupt them if they were to mingle with those people. Yet this is not what God had taught and wanted His people to do in their lives.

For to God, each and every one of us mankind are important and beloved, and we are all equally beloved by Him, and He does not discriminate us based on our descent, background or origins. He made all those who believe in Him and have been faithful to Him to be His beloved children, and as the children of Abraham by faith, by adoption and by our partaking of the same Covenant which God had promised to Abraham. Therefore, all of us are also worthy of everything that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, as long as we believe in God and live our lives in the manner that is truly pleasing to Him. We should not be like those who claimed to be worthy because they were descended from Abraham, and yet, refused to believe in the Lord when He came to their midst, and those who were hypocrites in their faith and life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore heed the messages that we have heard today from the Sacred Scriptures and be reminded that we are all part of the Covenant which God had made with us, and henceforth, all of us are expected to observe faithfully the commandments and Law that God had taught, shown and revealed to us. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of the world, of ambitions and glory, prejudices and all other things which may lead us astray in our journey towards God. Instead, we should abandon our pride and ego, and grow more in humility, realising the depth of our sinfulness and wickedness, all the things which had kept us away from God and His love.

During this time and season of Lent, let us all hence renew our commitment to God and turn away from all of our rebellious attitudes, doing our very best to embrace God’s love and mercy, and doing our part to fulfil our obligations and commitments to God. We are all called to be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, in living our lives faithfully out of compassion for our brethren and our genuine love for God. Let us all therefore as Christians be truly faithful to the Lord and show our faith through our everyday living and actions, now and always. Especially during this time of Lent let us all be the good and worthy bearers of the truth and light of God’s Good News and salvation. Amen.