Lenten sermon

by

Monday, 26 February 2024 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures of the great love and mercy of God, which He has constantly shown us all throughout time. God has always been faithful and committed to the Covenant which He willingly established and constantly renewed with us, and from time to time, again and again, He has shown us all His love, compassion and mercy, reaching out to us whenever we faltered and fell into the path of sin and darkness, calling upon us to return once again to Him, and to embrace once again the path of His righteousness, virtues and truth. God has always loved us all and while He despises our sins and wickedness, He has always desired to be reconciled and reunited with us, through our repentance and desire to be forgiven from those sins.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel of the prayer and supplication which the prophet Daniel made on behalf of all the people of Israel, many of whom at that time were suffering in exile away from their homeland, having been brought out of the Promised Land and the land of their forefathers by their conquerors, the Assyrians and the Babylonians, who sent them to the far-off lands, to be exiled and humbled, to be reviled and humiliated by the nations, for their sins and evils, their wickedness and failures to obey the Lord’s Law and commandments. They have abandoned the path that the Lord had taught and shown them, and they have rejected the many prophets and messengers sent to them to remind and help them to return to the right and virtuous path.

Thus, as we are all presented in our first reading today, we heard how the prophet Daniel, sent to the people of Israel in exile, who at that time had been humbled and suffered in the foreign lands, enduring persecutions and hardships, and God showed mercy and compassion to them, sending them reassurances and help through the prophet Daniel and all the other messengers and prophets that He sent to them. The Lord wanted all of them to know that He had never abandoned them and that He has always loved them regardless of the sins and wickedness which they had committed. The Lord called on His people to return to Him, and He has opened His hands to welcome all of them to come back to Him. What matters then, is for them all to come towards Him with love and the desire to repent from their sins.

That was why, Daniel represented the people in presenting themselves before the Lord, full of sorrow, regret and desire to repent from their sins and wickedness. While sin might have separated the people of God from Him and His love, but the Lord’s ever generous love and mercy, compassion and kindness to His people have prevailed, and through Him reaching out to His beloved ones, He has extended the ever present and ever enduring mercy, forgiveness and grace to those who have been lost to Him. Daniel brought the people of God to His Presence, and presented all of them with their regret and their willingness to change their way of life to their most loving God and Father. And thus, they have received from Him the assurance of hope, new life and liberation, which God would give to all of them, through none other than His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the words of the Lord Jesus Himself telling His disciples to be merciful just as the Father is and has been merciful to all of them. He told them all that they should all continue to love one another and to be kind, compassionate and merciful, because they themselves have been shown great mercy, love and forgiveness from God. Just as the people of God has always enjoyed the favour and grace that He has bestowed bountifully upon them, and just as the Lord has always extended and renewed the Covenant and promises which He had made with each and every one of them, patiently caring for them, leading and guiding them down the path that He has shown to them, therefore, all of us, as God’s people, must continue to follow this same path of the Lord, in our own respective lives at each and every moments.

Today, as we continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, we should keep in mind that the Lord has called upon us to follow Him, and to embrace once again His kindness, love, forgiveness and grace. Therefore, having received this calling and mission from the Lord, and having been given this time and opportunities during this time of Lent, let us all continue to walk ever more faithfully in God’s path, resisting the temptations of evil and sin, the temptations of worldly glory and pleasures that can distract and lead us astray in our path. We must make good use of these moments, all the time and opportunities provided to us so that we may turn away from the path of evil, darkness and sin, and bringing forth the light of God into our lives so that we may once again be filled with His grace and righteousness.

Let us all be humble before the Lord and admit just how fallen and wicked our way of life has been all these while, and how much we are in need of His grace, love and salvation. Let us all realise that we are all sinners who are corrupted and unworthy, and are in great need of God’s mercy and love, for it is He alone Who can heal us and save us from our sins and evils. It is He alone Who can deliver us from our troubles, and open for us the path to true joy and everlasting life. Unless we realise this and unless we are all humble enough to appreciate and to accept that we are all unworthy people, who have strayed from the path of the Lord, then we may find it difficult to progress ever more in this path of righteousness and virtue. That is why we are all reminded today to continue to walk the path of repentance and righteousness, embracing God and His ever wondrous love and mercy, now and always.

May the Lord, in His ever generous love and infinite mercy, and all the compassion and kindness which He has always shown us, continue to love us all wonderfully and help us in our journey of faith towards Him. May He empower and strengthen us all in our path, so that in our every good efforts and endeavours, we will always do what is pleasing to Him, and that we may grow ever closer to Him, rejecting all the temptations of evil and sin, and becoming ever more worthy and righteous in all of our every words, deeds and actions. May God bless us all, and may He lead us all ever more into His Holy Presence, and bless our Lenten observances and journey. Amen.

by

Sunday, 25 February 2024 : Second Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Lent, all of us are presented with the story of the sacrifice and offering of Isaac by Abraham on Mount Moriah as asked by the Lord in our first reading, and then, we heard about how God offered and gave us all His own Beloved and only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, so that He could be the source of our salvation and hope, as elaborated by St. Paul in his Epistle in our second reading. Lastly, we also then heard of the account of the glorious Transfiguration which the Lord Jesus experienced at Mount Tabor, before three of His disciples, which revealed to them and all of us, of the true nature of the Lord, and of His mission henceforth.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis of the moment when God called on Abraham to bring his beloved son, Isaac, the promised one, to Mount Moriah to be offered and sacrificed to God. Isaac was the son whom God had promised to Abraham, which he and his wife, Sarah, would have even though they were unable to have any child beforehand. God had given Isaac miraculously and then suddenly, as we heard, He asked Abraham to offer and sacrifice this same precious son to Him. Yet, despite any sorrow or surprise that Abraham might have experienced, he obeyed the Lord and listened to Him.

We heard how Abraham brought Isaac to Mount Moriah to be offered and sacrificed to the Lord, and he faithfully obeyed the Lord as he has always done, not sparing even his precious son in doing so. The Lord saw all that Abraham had willingly done, and therefore told Abraham later on, that he had been truly faithful to Him, and to the Covenant which he had made with him, that he did not spare even his own son, and faithfully obeyed God in this matter. Thus, God sent an Angel to stop Abraham from sacrificing his son, and a ram to be offered and sacrificed instead of Isaac, on top of that Mount Moriah. Thus, Isaac was spared and protected from harm, while God blessed Abraham and his descendants for the faith which he had shown.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, this place of Mount Moriah would indeed be very important later on, as it would be the site where the great city of Jerusalem would be established and built later on. And it was in Jerusalem, at the same site of Mount Moriah, that the Lord Himself would send us His Son to be offered, sacrificed and broken up for our sake, in parallel to what Abraham and Isaac had experienced many centuries previously. There is a clear parallel between the occurrence in the case of Abraham’s offering of Isaac and the Lord offering His own Son, to be a worthy sacrifice for the sake of the atonement of our many sins. Not only that God had sent to us His Beloved Son, but He also spared us all from certain destruction through the same Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

In his Epistle to the Romans, which is our second reading today, St. Paul the Apostle spoke of how Christ, the Son of God, has redeemed us all by His suffering and death, as He offered Himself as the perfect and most worthy sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, through which all of us are forgiven and made whole once again, reunited and reconciled to God, our loving Father and Creator. God did not spare His own Beloved Son for our sake, in showing His ever strong and enduring love for us, and as the tangible and real example of how He is and has always been faithful to the Covenant that He had established with us all.

In our Gospel passage today, as mentioned, we then heard about the account of the moment when the Lord entioned earlier, we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord was revealed in His Divine Glory to His three disciples, St. Peter, St. James and St. John, at Mount Tabor. It was there that the Lord was Transfigured in glory, as His Divinity that has been hidden in His Humanity shone through, and made it clear that He is truly the Son of God, the Divine Word of God Incarnate, and not just merely the Son of Man or a Prophet. It is also through this revelation that the Lord Jesus has shown us the love of God made flesh, personified and becoming tangible and approachable to us all. He offered on our behalf the perfect offering of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, on the Altar of His Cross, at Golgotha or Calvary, which was exactly at the same site of Mount Moriah.

Through this great action of selfless love and undying devotion to us, the Lord has brought us all a new hope and a new life, the reassurance of eternal life and glory, which He has promised us all, and which He has ushered through His sacrifice, by which He spared all of us from our fated destruction and damnation, offering us all the sure path to redemption and eternal life, if we adhere to Him, follow His path and obey Him. Through our baptism and initiation into the Church, we have been united to Christ’s death, and died to our past sins and wickedness, and thereafter, brought into the new life and sharing in Christ’s glorious resurrection from the dead, representing our liberation from sin and death.

In that same account of the Transfiguration of the Lord, we also heard how the Lord appeared in all His Divine glory with two great figures of the Old Testament, namely Moses and Elijah. This appearance of Moses and Elijah further affirmed the Lord’s status and intentions, in what He was about to do for all of us mankind. Moses represented the Law of God, the Ten Commandments, and all the precepts which God had revealed and taught to us, while Elijah represented the Prophets, those whom the Lord had sent into the midst of His people in order to remind all of them of the need for each and every one of them to turn away from their wicked ways and to embrace once again the path of God, His Law and commandments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of that shows us that Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, is truly the fulfilment of everything that God has promised to us all, in His ever enduring and wonderful love for us, and in His desire to be reconciled fully with us, and to bring us all back once again to His presence. What God truly wants from us in our faith and love, just as how He Himself has always loved us from the very beginning. Like Abraham, our father in faith, who has shown such great faith in God, all of us should also do the same as well in our own lives. We should always strive to follow the Lord’s path and obey His Law and commandments, resisting the temptations of sin and evil.

Let us all therefore make good use of this time and season of Lent which has been provided for us, so that we may reevaluate our path in life. Let us all remember the great love which God has shown us through His giving of His Son for us, to suffer and die for us on the Cross, so that by His death and glorious Resurrection, He has provided us all with the sure path out of the darkness and evil. Let us all turn away from the path of wickedness and evil, and embrace wholeheartedly from now on, the way of the Lord. May our every actions, words and deeds henceforth be truly filled with faith and commitment to God, and may we become good role models and inspirations for our fellow brethren all around us. Amen.

by

Saturday, 24 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded yet again of the fundamental expectations and what it truly means for us all to be Christians. To be Christians means for us all to be filled with God’s love and kindness, His mercy and compassion for everyone. Without love, we cannot truly call or consider ourselves as Christians, as without love, our faith is dead and empty, meaningless and without purpose. God Himself is Love, and He has always shown us all this great love, at all times. That is why, as His beloved and holy people, it is only apt and proper that each and every one of us follow Him in this same path of love and compassion, and show love and kindness in each and every parts of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the words of the Lord spoken to His first chosen people, the Israelites, during their Exodus from Egypt. The Lord spoke to them through their leader, His servant Moses, in which He reminded them all to stay true and obedient to the Law and the commandments which He had revealed and passed to them, namely the Ten Commandments, as well as the many other rules, precepts and practices which He has given to them, for them all to follow and inculcate in each and every moments of their lives. Those laws and commandments were meant to show them and to teach them how they should behave and act as a people that God has chosen and blessed.

This is because how the people of God lived their lives and carried out their actions and works, in their obedience to the Law and commandments of God, all these would be measured up by others around them against what they believed in. If they had not been sincere in their faith and did not obey the Law of God as they should have, then it would have made them all to be no better than hypocrites who only paid lip service to their obligations and commitments to God. This reminder was made to them because although the Lord has revealed His Law and commandments to the Israelites, but they often disobeyed them and chose to follow pagan and false idols rather than remaining faithful to the Lord.

This is then elaborated further in our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus highlighted to His disciples and all the people that the commandments of God are all ultimately and essentially about Love, first of all, loving God their Lord and Master with all of their strength, might and capacity, and then showing the same kind of love towards all of our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Without these kinds of love, then we cannot truly consider ourselves as being obedient to the Law and commandments of God.

Contextually, at that time, when the Lord was performing His ministry, the Law of God was preserved, kept and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who were particularly strict and rigid in their observances and interpretations of the Law of God. Therefore, as the Lord came into the midst of His people, He showed and taught them the true meaning and purpose of the Law, which was meant to help teach and show the way for the people of God to follow in their lives, by teaching them about God’s Love, and how to show the same love to Him, our Lord and Creator, as well as to our fellow brothers and sisters.

Unfortunately, for many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, they had become swayed by their sense of superiority and pride, which led to them refusing to listen to the Lord and persisting in their misguided and wrong understanding of the meaning and purpose of the Law of God. They were too concerned about the manner how the Law and its precepts ought to be practiced and carried out, that they usually paid too much attention to the details of the Law and the commandments, that they forgot about the reason and the purpose why the Law had been given by God to us in the first place.

They also looked down on the others around them who did not manage to carry out the commandments and the precepts of the Law as strictly as they had done, and many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also had that sense of superiority amongst them, that they considered others to be less worthy than they were, or that they alone were the sole guardians and the ones whom everyone else ought to be following. However, they failed to realise that in their pride and ego, their ambitions and desires, and attachments to worldly glory, they became blinded and misguided in their path.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded today that we should always strive to follow the Lord and His examples in loving us, in how we should always focus ourselves and our whole lives on God, on His love, compassion and mercy. We should also restrain and resist all those temptations of the world, the temptations of worldly glory, pleasures, and also of our pride, ego, greed, ambition and desires, so that we do not end up falling into the trap of sin and evil. Let us all be humble before the Lord, and listen to Him speaking to us, and ask Him to help and guide us in our journey of faith and life, that we do not falter and end up falling into the wrong paths.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us all, and may He empower each and every one of us to live ever more worthily in His Presence from now on. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, particularly during this time and season of Lent, in rejecting the temptations of worldly evils and false pleasures, all around us. May our lives and good examples be good inspiration to others, now and always. Amen.

by

Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to live our lives righteously and in accordance with the teachings and the ways which the Lord Himself has presented to us, that we should be good, righteous, just and worthy in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives, and therefore, we must always strive to do what we have been taught and shown to do through the Church. Each and every one of us must remind ourselves that righteousness and virtues, all these will be rewarded by the Lord, while sins and wickedness in our lives will be counted against us in the end, at the time of the Final and Last Judgment. We must keep this in mind so that we will continue to live virtuously and strive to do God’s will in all things and at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard the Lord speaking to His people through Ezekiel reminding all of them that the righteous and the just will be judged by the sins that they all committed, and should in the end, they are found wanting and lacking in faith overall, they shall be condemned and cast down by those sins and wickedness. In the meantime, the wicked and those who are considered as sinners, shall be saved and brought out of the darkness, saved and brought into the Holy Presence of God, filled with His grace and love, and receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and glory, by the righteous deeds and repentance through which they had done and embraced.

This means that first of all, no one is truly beyond God’s redemption and forgiveness, as even the worst of sinners can have the opportunity to turn away from their many sins and be forgiven from all of them, should they consciously choose to abandon those sinful ways and turn back once again towards the Lord. At the same time, it is also an important reminder for us that ultimately sin is still dangerous and harmful to us, as God despises sin and evil, and while He does not despise us, but as long as we continue to commit sins against the Lord and refuse to repent from those sins, then those sins and wickedness shall become our obstacles and shall be counted against us. This is a reminder for all of us to remain ever faithful and committed to the Lord, to His path at all times.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord Jesus Himself reminded His disciples and all of us once again to be truly full of faith and love for God, and to be sincere in how we live our Christian lives, our dedication to God in all things. We should always do our best in all of our actions and words, in every moments to follow God’s path, to do His will and to love one another, as we should always do. We should not hold grudges and hate each other, and we must learn how to forgive and to let go of our anger and emotions, forgiving each other just as the Lord Himself has been so merciful and forgiving towards us. We must keep in mind this love and kindness shown to us, and we must do the same in our own lives as well, that we ourselves may be good examples and inspirations to others.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Polycarp, holy bishop and martyr, whose life and dedication to God should serve as good inspiration and examples for all of us as well, in how we ought to live out our lives. St. Polycarp was one of the earliest Church fathers who were the contemporaries of the successors of the Apostles like St. Ignatius of Antioch and others, and was a possible disciple of St. John the Apostle. According to the Apostolic traditions, he was converted by the Apostles, was made a priest and later on a bishop of the Church, and he was involved in many discussions about the works and proceedings of the Church, including the differences in practices such as the computation of the dates of Easter between the churches in Asia Minor and Rome.

Then, when persecutions came upon the Church and the faithful as it was common at that time in the early Church, St. Polycarp was persecuted and tortured, as he, like the many other Christians at the time, were forced to burn incense offerings and worship the Roman Emperors, which were considered as divine at the time. St. Polycarp refused to do so and proclaimed his faith before his persecutors, that he cannot betray and abandon his Lord and God, because in all his many years of life, God has always been with him and had done him no wrong. He also spoke bravely and firmly about the eternal flame of punishment that would punish all sinners, and whatever flames or torture he would have to endure, none of those could be compared to the eternal flames of hell. Thus, St. Polycarp was martyred by being burnt at the stake and pierced with a spear.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the great courage and faith which St. Polycarp had in the Lord should inspire all of us to have that kind of strong and unwavering faith in God as well. We should have that strong desire to love and serve the Lord faithfully to the best of our abilities so that in all that we say and do, we will always strive to glorify the Lord by our lives, distancing ourselves from sin and evil, and like St. Polycarp before us, to be inspirations and good role models in faith for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must do our part in every moments of our lives, to proclaim the Lord’s path and His ways to everyone all around us. We must lead by example, and show that our faith is not merely just superficial, but instead, we are truly full of genuine and real faith in God.

Let us all therefore do our best, especially in this blessed time and moment of Lent which we have been presented with, so that in all the things we do, we will continue to walk ever more courageously and faithfully in the path of the Lord, as we continue to draw ever closer to Him. Let us all continue to be the worthy and shining beacons of God’s light, truth, Good News and love in our world today, filled with sin, darkness and evil. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good endeavours and efforts. Amen.

by

Thursday, 22 February 2024 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day we celebrate the glorious Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, which commemorates the Chair of St. Peter, the seat of authority which is traditionally ascribed to St. Peter, the Prince and Chief of all the Apostles, the one whom the Lord had entrusted His Church to, as His Vicar in this world. In the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, where the tomb of St. Peter and the largest and one of the most important churches of all Christendom now stands, there is a wooden chair, gilded and covered partly in gold, which according to Church and Apostolic traditions had been used by St. Peter the Apostle himself while he was in Rome, as the seat of his authority as the first Pope and Bishop of Rome. This chair is now enshrined above the Altar of the Chair at one end of the Basilica of St. Peter.

We may then be wondering why we put so much important and matter to a mere chair? Is it not just like any other chairs out there that we also use? Now, brothers and sisters, this Chair of St. Peter is not merely just a chair like any other chair out there. As mentioned earlier, there is indeed a historic relic of the actual chair used by St. Peter the Apostle. However, regardless whether the chair has been authentic or complete, or been modified throughout all these years of the past two millennia since the time of St. Peter and the other Apostles, it does not matter, as this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle is more than just celebrating the actual chair upon which our first Pope and Vicar of Christ had exercised his solemn God-given authority over the Church.

First of all, the chair of the bishop of a diocese, which is a structural and administrative division in the Church, is also known as a Cathedra, and this seat represents the Divine-granted authority, power and teaching of the bishop, his leadership, guidance and shepherdhood over the people of God entrusted under his care. This Cathedra is located in the church which is then considered as the Mother Church of the whole diocese, and this church is thus also known as a Cathedral. Just as the Cathedra is the seat and the symbol of the bishop’s authority and power, thus the Cathedral is the central hub and focus of the spiritual life and a symbol of unity of the whole diocese, and all the faithful there.

Now, Cathedrals all around the world have undergone a lot of changes over the years and throughout the history of the Church, with old Cathedrals have been destroyed and rebuilt, and many new churches were built and made to be the new Cathedrals of the dioceses all around the world. Thus, a particular chair or seat is not what determines the ‘Chair of the Bishop’ akin to today’s celebration of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, but rather, that authority and power have been granted to each bishops through the Holy Spirit, from God, and by the power granted and authorised to the Church and its leadership, chief of which is the Pope, the Vicar of Christ and Successor of St. Peter, this power and authority have been passed down from the Apostles to the bishops of the Church today, in what is known as the Apostolic Succession.

Thus, the Cathedra is just symbolic of the Bishop’s authority and power to rule over the flock of the faithful people of God in his respective diocese, and usually when a new bishop is consecrated and ordained, during or soon after his ordination, he is led to take his place on this Cathedra or any other equivalent chairs, in the case of auxiliary bishops, to represent this Apostolic Succession of the episcopal duty and authority entrusted to them by the Lord. And above all the bishops of the whole world, the Bishop of Rome as the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle in his unique role as the Supreme Pontiff and Vicar of Christ, as the one whom the Lord had entrusted His Church to, from St. Peter to his successors, right down to Pope Francis, our current Pope, they all have been given the duty and responsibility over the whole entire Universal Church.

Thus, as we celebrate this great Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle today, we are all reminded of the nature of our faith and membership in this same One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, united under the same Head of the Church, Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, through His Vicar, our Pope, the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle. The successive Popes throughout history sits upon the Chair of St. Peter, not necessarily the actual chair that St. Peter had sat upon, but like that of many of the other rulers and monarchs in the world, and like all the other bishops, this Chair of St. Peter the Apostle represents the governing and leadership, the authority and power that God had bestowed upon the Pope as the leader of the whole Church.

To St. Peter, the Lord has entrusted His Church as we heard in our Gospel passage today, as He replied to the great testimony of faith which St. Peter had declared before all the other disciples, that he truly believed in the fact that Christ is the Son of God and Saviour sent into this world for our salvation. The Lord entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to St. Peter, and established His Church upon the ‘Rock’ of St. Peter, which is symbolic not just because of the name Peter or Petros, or Cephas in the original Aramaic, which means ‘Rock’, but it is the establishment of the office of the Supreme Pontiff, the Pope and hence the Vicar of Christ, the one to whom the guardianship of the whole entire Church, in unity with the other bishops, the successors of the Apostles of the Lord, that all the faithful remain part of this One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

This is why today, as we celebrate this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, it is important that we all reaffirm our unity, obedience and adherence to the teachings and the rules and ways of the Church as contained within its laws and precepts, and as governed and guided by the Pope, united with all of his brother bishops all throughout the world, who as the successors of the Apostles, had been tasked with keeping faithfully the teachings of the Lord, His Good News and truth, and this important deposit of faith, all of our Christian beliefs and practices, through which, many of us can come ever closer to the Lord, to His grace and love. We must always support the good works of the Church, and pray for our Pope in particular, as well as for the other bishops who help to guide and steer the Church in often turbulent and difficult times.

Let us all continue to support the Church, especially to all those who have been entrusted with the leadership of the Church, like the Pope and the many bishops, our own diocesan bishops and others entrusted with the guidance of the flock of the faithful people of God. Let us all strive to do our part as the Christian faithful, holy people of God so that we may continue to glorify God by our lives, and contribute in whichever areas we have been called and entrusted to by the Lord. Let us all do our best that our every words, actions and deeds will continue to proclaim God’s truth and Good News, in all things. May the Lord continue to bless and guide us in our path, strengthening and encouraging us in our journey of faith and life, as part of the Universal Church, and may He continue to bless our Pope, the Successor of St. Peter. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 21 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for us all as Christians, as God’s beloved and holy people to heed God’s call and embrace His mercy, compassion and love. Each and every one of us have been given the opportunities and chances to come back to Him, as He offers us always His ever generous and plentiful mercy and redemption. Yet, many of us still resist God’s generosity and love, preferring to follow our own path filled with sin and wickedness. That is why many of us are still distant from the grace and righteousness that God has called us into, and many of us are still trapped by the many attachments we had for worldly matters, goods and things around us. Those temptations have often become serious obstacles preventing us from returning to the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah in which the ministry of Jonah to the city and the people of Nineveh has been highlighted to us all. At that time, the prophet Jonah had been sent by God to the people of Nineveh, the then great capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire, which had ruled over many other nations and states, and committed many atrocities and vile deeds during their campaigns of destruction and conquest. They were a warlike and proud race of people, who had glorified themselves over their conquest of many of those whom they had defeated, and therefore, God sent Jonah to them to remind them of the consequences and the retribution for their many sins and wickedness, and that in the end, whatever earthly glory they had gained and amassed, all are nothing before the Lord.

That was why Jonah spoke of the great destruction that would soon befall Nineveh, the great and mighty city, because of the multitudes of their sins, a fate that was echoed and preceded by the well-known case of the destruction and doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed by the Lord for their many sins and wickedness. Those people had disobeyed the Lord, followed the path of worldliness and sins, and as such, they were crushed by a storm of fire and brimstones, and the whole two cities were overturned, crushed and destroyed completely, erased from the face of the earth. The same fate could have befallen Nineveh as well, if they had not repented in the manner that they did, like those people who once lived in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Yet, as we heard and as I mentioned, the people of Nineveh immediately believed in the Lord and in the warnings which He presented to them through the prophet Jonah. They humbled themselves and repented from their sins, showing genuine regret for all the wicked things which they had done, and hence, the Lord did not carry out the destruction and the damnation which He had planned for them. This also shows us all that God’s love for us is truly great and wonderful, and that even sin and darkness, evil and wickedness of the world cannot come in between us and God’s love and grace. God’s mercy and love transcends the chasm of sin which had separated us from the grace and love of God all these while.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Luke in which the same story of Jonah and the people of Nineveh were also presented to us, in the manner how the Lord Jesus used that together with the story of the coming of the Queen of the South or the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem, in order to highlight how many of the people to whom the Lord had been sent to, were lacking in their faith and trust in God, that they failed to believe in the One Whom God had sent into their midst, despite the obvious signs and all that the Lord Jesus Himself had done, in fulfilling everything that God had promised to His people from the very beginning of time. This was also presented as an irony and comparison, between the attitudes of the people of that time with those in Nineveh and that of the Queen of the South.

That is the people who should have believed in the Lord and followed Him, chose to shut their ears, close their hearts and minds against Him, rejecting and doubting Him, questioning His authenticity and authority, refusing to trust in Him or put their faith in Him. They turned their backs against the Lord Who has always been so loving and merciful, kind and compassionate towards them, seeking in the false leads and pleasures of the world instead. Meanwhile, the tax collectors, prostitutes, foreigners and pagans whom the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees among them, had looked down upon, were indeed closer to God and His salvation, because they, like the people of Nineveh in the past, sought to repent and turn away from their sins, embracing God’s love and mercy. This is what we all should be doing as well, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Damian, a great servant of God and a holy man of God, whose dedication and actions, contributions to the Church and the community of the faithful inspired many throughout Christendom and through time right to this very day. St. Peter Damian was a great religious and servant of God, who had dedicated his life to the works of the Lord and to the good of His Church, and he was also involved in the great reforms of the Church which he spearheaded, as he was involved in many programs to help restore the sanctity and purity in the Church, especially amongst the members of the clergy and the Church hierarchy. He himself resisted the temptations of worldly glory, and giving up any such ambitions, chose to become a religious and dedicated himself to God as a religious.

St. Peter Damian however was deeply involved in the works of the reforms of the Church, due to his good friend, who would eventually be elected as Pope St. Gregory VII. As a religious Benedictine monk, although he lived in his monastery, but St. Peter Damian continued to watch closely the affairs and workings of the Church of his time, and later on, when Pope St. Gregory VII chose his advisors, he placed St. Peter Damian as one of his close collaborators, being therefore closely involved in the process of reforms. The next Pope who succeeded Pope St. Gregory VII also treasured the contributions of St. Peter Damian and insisted to make him as a Cardinal, which St. Peter Damian resisted for a while, before eventually relenting and he was thus consecrated as the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia as a chief and very important advisor to the Pope, continuing with his works and missions in reforming the Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore make good use of the examples shown to us by this holy man of God, St. Peter Damian, in all that he had done for the sake of God’s Church, and also remind ourselves of the need for us to repent and turn away from all of our many sins and wickedness. Let us all be the beacons of hope and strength for one another, doing whatever we can so that by our loving examples and inspirational actions, filled with love and grace of God, we may help many others to come ever closer towards God, and to be redeemed from their sins, like how the people of Nineveh had done in the past, in embracing God with great desire to be forgiven and to be redeemed from their sins. Let us all come towards the Lord with contrite hearts and minds, and seek Him with ever greater commitment from now on, especially as we journey through this blessed time of Lent. May God be with us always throughout this journey of faith and life, and throughout this Lenten season. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 20 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of the virtue of obedience and the importance of prayer in our lives as Christians. This is because it is through prayer and obedience that all of us will likely come closer to God and His salvation, as it is through those that we will grow ever stronger and better in our Christian living, and each one of us will come to share in the grace of God, our loving Father and Creator, Whose love and compassion for us are truly boundless and wonderful. Each and every one of us are beloved by God, and that is why He has given us all the most wonderful and perfect gift of His own Son, the One He sent to us to become our Saviour.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people regarding His Word, Whom He sent into the world to do His will, to bless and to provide for all of us, His beloved ones. This was in fact a premonition and also a prophecy on what was to happen and come, with the coming of the Word of God, incarnate in the flesh as the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, Who had been sent into our midst to save us all from certain destruction and damnation, and to fulfil what God has always desired to do with us, and that is to love us all and to bring us all back to Himself, so that we will be reconciled with Him, and made perfect and good once again. And to this extent, that was why He gave us all the most perfect gift of all in His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, the Divine Word Incarnate.

God is truly full of love for each and every one of us, and He is indeed a loving Father to each and every one of us. No one is truly beyond the great love and compassion of God, which has endured throughout all time, from the very beginning. God could have erased us from existence and destroyed us because of our disobedience and wickedness, which had led to us committing sins against Him. Sin has separated us from the love and grace of God, and brought us all into this state of corruption, tainting us by the vileness of disgrace and the filth of evil. Yet, despite all these, God’s love for each one of us endures and remains, because nothing can overcome this love, and not even the power of sin. What God despises is our sins and wickedness, and not us. That is why, as a loving Father, He sent unto us His Son to save us.

How so? By embracing our human nature and existence, taking up our human flesh and becoming as one of us, Christ, the Son of God Who has also become the Son of Man, has united us all to His Sonship, and since He is the Son of the Father, He has made us all His brothers and sisters, and thus also the adopted sons and daughters of God, Who is truly our Father and Creator. That is why, we should really be thankful and grateful, appreciative and understanding, just how fortunate we all are to have been beloved so much by our God and Father. We must not take this for granted and we must always do what we can so that we reciprocate the love which our loving and merciful Father has always shown us, listening to Him and communicating with Him, which brings us to what we listened to in our Gospel passage today.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord Jesus talked to His disciples and followers about the matter of praying to God. He told them all that when they pray, they must not be like those who often said a lot and made a lot of words and yet, they did not truly embody and understand what they were saying. The Lord also spoke against all those who spoke many words and did not even understand what prayer is all about, and hence, He taught all of His disciples on how they should be praying, with the prayer which He Himself has made, the prayer that we now know well as the Pater Noster, or ‘Our Father’, also known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ because it is He Himself Who has taught us this perfect prayer.

Essentially, prayer is all about communication that we have with God, and not merely a litany of words and demands, unlike what many of us had often misunderstood this important essence of prayer. Prayer is first of all about thanking and glorifying God, thanking Him for everything that He has done for us, for the many blessings we have received and ultimately for the lives we have been blessed with, all these while. Prayer is not about praising or glorifying ourselves, and also not about making demands of the Lord, asking and demanding Him to do things for us, which is what prayer is about, in our mistaken and flawed understanding. Prayer is something that needs to be made from the heart, our connection with God, our loving Father, as we speak and listen to Him, communicating with Him genuinely.

That is why, the Lord Himself has taught us how to communicate with our loving Father in Heaven, to thank Him and to allow Him to speak with us, to glorify Him and to ask Him for His blessings and providence in all things. This is what our prayers should be like, and not prayers made without true love and understanding of our relationship with the Father. We all should use prayer well in order to deepen our relationship with the Lord, our most loving and kind, patient and benevolent Father and Creator. We should practice a good spiritual and prayerful life so that we can grow ever closer to Him, distancing ourselves from the path of sin and evil, resisting all the temptations which may prevent us from coming close towards God and His salvation.

Let us all therefore spend more good and quality time with the Lord our God, through prayers and other means, and seek to understand and know better the will of God which He has presented to us through His Son, and through our interactions with Him. As Christians, let us all always be role model for one another, so that by our examples and dedication, we may inspire one another in faith, and in doing more and more to come ever closer to God and His grace. May God bless us all in all things, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Monday, 19 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to proceed through this time and season of Lent, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians, all of us must always strive to do what God has called and commanded us all to do with our lives, in being righteous, just and committed to the path which He has taught and shown us. Otherwise, if we do not do so, then we will end up being held accountable for our lack of faith and real commitment to the path of God, and in the end, we will have to account for all of our actions and commitments to God, or for our failure to do so, if we neglect our responsibilities and calling as Christians, in whichever areas and opportunities that we have been given by God.

In our first reading today, we heard the exhortations from the Book of Leviticus in which God spoke to His people, the Israelites, whom He had brought out of the land of Egypt through Moses, His servant, whom then He entrusted with the responsibilities of leading and guiding the Israelites through their time in Egypt, their liberation and then the journey through the desert to the Promised Land of Canaan. God told all of His people that they must be holy just as He is Holy, loving just as He is always full of Love, devoted to Him just as He has always been devoted to the Covenant that He had made with each and every one of them and with their ancestors. That was why Moses told the people what they all ought to do, in doing what is right and just, in loving and caring for one another, and in not oppressing or causing hardships and sufferings to others.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, although this happened a really long time ago, but whatever Moses had told the people of Israel are still applicable to us all as well. For are we not God’s beloved and chosen people as well? Through baptism we have willingly embraced the Lord as our God and Saviour, and we have become part of God’s One Church, His united Body, where all of us have been brought together to be one holy people, filled with grace and blessings of God. That is why all of us should also strive to be righteous and just, full of love for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters around us. We should not ignore all these things, the Law and the commandments which the Lord had given and revealed to us, and which He has also explained and taught to us through His Church.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the Last Judgment as presented by the Lord Jesus to His disciples and all those who have gathered to listen to Him. He told all of them that He Himself, the Son of Man, will come at the end of time, the moment of the Final Judgment of all the living and the dead, when everyone will have to account for everything which they have said, done, and even all those things that they had failed to say, do or act upon when they had been given the good opportunities and means to by the Lord. The Lord Jesus showed how everyone will be separated by whether they have been found worthy of the Lord and His salvation, or whether they have been found lacking and wanting in their faith.

The Lord also made it clear that all those who have been deemed worthy are all those who have always lived their lives faithfully, and did whatever they could to reach out to their fellow brethren, particularly those who are less fortunate and blessed than they are, that through their care and love, they have shown themselves to be the epitome of Christian love and truth. Meanwhile, all those who have been found lacking and wanting for their faith are not only those who did what are wicked and evil in the sight of God, but also those who neglect their responsibilities, calling and spurned all the opportunities which God had provided them, as they cared more for themselves and selfishly caring and loving themselves only at the expense of others around them.

The Lord made it very clear too of what will happen to the righteous and to those who have been condemned and are deemed unworthy. The worthy and righteous ones will share together in the glory of God, forever enjoying the fullness of God’s grace and all the joy and happiness they shall receive from the Lord Himself, while those who are wicked and unworthy have condemned themselves by their wickedness and by their lack of genuine faith, to an eternity of suffering and darkness, despair and destruction in Hell. The fates of each of these groups have been made clear to us, and therefore we are given the choice by the Lord on which path we want to follow and end up in. We should not waste and squander these opportunities which God has given us, and while it is not yet too late for us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having been reminded of all these things from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore do whatever we can so that we may always strive to fulfil what we have been entrusted to do, to do what we can so that our lives may be holy, worthy and exemplary in all things. Let us all resist the temptations of Satan and all the false promises and lies which he and all the other fallen beings had given us, and also we ought to restrain our pride, ego, greed and all the things that may lead us all to our downfall if we allow ourselves to be easily swayed and tempted by them. Let us all remind ourselves of our Christian duties and our respective vocations in life, as we all embark through this Lenten journey, journeying with renewed faith in the Lord.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey through life, so that we may truly be blessed by our faith and commitment to Him, and may our lives be good inspirations and examples for everyone else all around us, so that all of us may share together the desire to love the Lord and to obey Him, to follow His Law and commandments, rejecting the evil and wicked ways of the world. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, which is the first Sunday in the season of Lent, we are all reminded of the nature and the importance of this time and season of preparation, in which we prepare ourselves for the upcoming commemoration and celebration of the most important events in Holy Week and Easter, which is highlighted in our Scripture passages today, using the story of Noah and the Great Flood as a reminder for us first of all of the fate of sinners who are unrepentant, the dangers of sin, and ultimately, how God’s love and grace can help us to overcome all these dangers, threats and dominion of sin, evil and death. If we put our faith and trust in the Lord, He will help and guide us all into the path of righteousness and freedom from all these.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Genesis of the aftermath of the Great Flood when God sent a great rain and flood to inundate the whole world, causing the destruction and death of all the people, the descendants of Adam and Eve, except for Noah and his immediate family, who had been spared by God for their faith and obedience to God, while all the others were wicked and filled with all sorts of sins and vices of the world. God ordered Noah to build a great ship, the Ark of Noah, for which he would become very famous for, and everyone and all the living things that were present in that ship were saved by God, Who then as we heard in our first reading, made a Covenant and promise with Noah and his family, that He would never destroy anyone again with a similar Great Flood.

Through that narrative of the Great Flood, its destruction of all the unrepentant and wicked sinners in the world, and its aftermath, all of us are first of all reminded as we begin this penitential season and time of Lent, of the need for all of us to be reconciled with God by the forgiveness of our many sins and wicked ways, which have separated us all from the wonderful and generous love of God. For there can be no sin or wickedness, imperfections and corruption present before the Lord our God, Who is all good and perfect. Sin is caused by our disobedience and refusal to obey the Lord’s will, His Law and commandments, and through sin, we have been corrupted and defiled, and hence, we have to be separated from God, and cast out from the bliss of the Gardens of Eden, where everything was once perfect.

Sin led mankind to this lack of grace from God, and our separation from the Lord and Master of life, and hence, that was why we had to suffer and experience death, which was the natural and logical consequence of our sins. Disobedience leads to sin and sin then leads to death. We had not meant to suffer such fate, or to endure and experience the bitterness of death, the separation from the Lord, and yet, by our own conscious choice, we have chosen to cast ourselves out of the Holy Presence of God. Yet, God has always desired to call us all back to Him, and He still loved us all despite all the wickedness and sins that we have committed. And this is because what He despises is not us per se, but rather our sins and wickedness, which we have done and committed in His sight. And God is so great and merciful that even the greatest of sinners are still within the reach of His mercy and compassion.

Then, in our second reading today, we also heard from the Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in which he reminded the faithful using the same example and story of Noah and the Great Ark he built, in obedience to God, in saving himself and his family from the Great Flood of his time. St. Peter showed how our salvation was just like the journey of Noah through the time of the Great Flood, and how he persisted and survived, and how God made a Covenant with him and his family. This is because through the example of the Great Flood, the waters involved in that event was clearly a force of destruction, but also at the same time a force that brought about new life and rejuvenation. The same experience was faced by the Israelites when the Lord brought them out of the land of Egypt through the leadership of Moses, as they walked through the waters of the Red Sea, into their freedom from their slavery.

In the same manner therefore, the Lord led us all through His death on the Cross, as He suffered and endured the worst punishments and trials for our sake, showing us the concrete and most enduring form of His love. His compassion and love have been shown unto us in the flesh in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. He united us all, our humanity and our existence to Him, through His incarnation in the flesh, and by the waters of baptism, He has brought us all like how Noah led all of his family and the living things in the world into the Great Ark, and like how Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea to their freedom. The Lord has therefore brought us through death and then to new life, through His most glorious Resurrection, through which He has defeated and conquered death itself, and broke forever the yoke of sin and evil over us. He renewed and made with us all, a perfect and Eternal Covenant, meant for our salvation and everlasting life.

Lastly, in our Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan during His forty days time in the desert right after His baptism in the River Jordan. This current liturgical year’s account of this temptation story from the Gospel of St. Mark is the shortest among the other Gospels, but I am sure that all of us are familiar with the details on how the Lord rejected the advances and the efforts of the devil to make Him succumb to the temptations of sin and evil. He rebuked Satan, all of his false promises and lies, and through that, He began His ministry in this world, where He revealed to all of us the truth about God, His Good News and everything that He has planned for our salvation and how He was the One that the prophets had promised and prophesied about, the Saviour Who would redeem all of mankind and reconcile them all to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard all of these passages from the Scriptures and reflecting upon what we have all just discussed and pondered about, let us all therefore make a firm resolve and commitment to God, renewing our faith in Him and reaffirming our desire to return to Him with a contrite and sorrowful heart, full of regret and sorrow for our many sins, our many evils and wickedness, all the things which had kept us away from the fullness of His love and grace. Let us also remind ourselves of just how blessed and fortunate all of us are, to have been beloved so much by God, that He has willingly sent unto us His own Beloved Son, to bring us all out of the darkness, sin and death, by leading us through the waters of baptism, that we may become part of His Church, His one united Body, and be united to Him in death and in the new life He has promised us, that we may one day share in His glorious Resurrection.

Let us all therefore begin our observances this Lenten season with great commitment and genuine faith, and let us all do our best so that in each and every moments of our lives, particularly during this Lenten season, we may make best use of them to draw ever closer to God, seeking His love and guidance, help and strength so that by His power and guidance we may come ever closer to His forgiveness, mercy and love. Let us all help one another in seeking God’s grace and salvation, and support each other with love and compassion, with generosity in how we share our blessings and excesses with those who have less or none. Let us be ever more worthy and committed Christians in all the things we say and do, now and always.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, our Lenten journey and observances, our every moments and lives throughout this blessed season and time of Lent. Amen.

by

Saturday, 17 February 2024 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day we are all reminded that we should indeed free ourselves from the dominion and bondage of sins and evils, wickedness and all the temptations present all around us, all of which can become very serious obstacles that prevent us from truly attaining righteousness and grace in God. We are reminded of the need for all of us to remove from ourselves all the corruptions of sin, and all the attachments to those sins which had led to so many of us falling into the path of sin all these while. And God has always been full of kindness, mercy and compassion towards us, which is something that we really need to appreciate and be thankful for, as if not for the Lord, we would have been damned, crushed and destroyed because of our many sins and wickedness.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke to His people in the southern kingdom of Judah about the matter of the repentance of the people from their many sins and wickedness, from their rebellions and disobedience, all of which had caused them to endure trials and sufferings, difficulties and humiliations because of their enemies and all those who had gone into conflict with them. At that time, the prophet Isaiah was sent to the kingdom of Judah when their northern neighbour, the kingdom of Israel that ruled over most of the ten out of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, God’s chosen people, had been subjugated, destroyed and conquered by the mighty Assyrian Empire.

That same kingdom of Israel had persecuted countless prophets and messengers of the Lord that had been sent to them in order to remind them and to help and guide them all back towards God. Despite this, the Lord still patiently reached out to all of the people, His beloved ones whom He wanted to be reconciled with. Yet, they still remained stubborn and chose to do things in their own way rather than to put their trust and faith in the Lord. The people chose to worship the pagan idols and the false gods rather than to believe in the Lord Who has delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, blessed and protected them throughout their whole journey from Egypt through the desert, defended them from their enemies and made them prosper.

Hence, that was why they ended up in their downfall, as they continued to put their trust in their own strength and their own power, in their false idols and all their worldly power and glory rather than to listen to God. They allowed their pride, ego, ambition and desires to be stumbling blocks and obstacles in the path of their return towards the Lord. This was why the Lord sent Isaiah amidst His people to remind them to turn away from this foolish path, which was also affecting the people of Judah, so that they would not end up facing the same fate of destruction and hardships. Those who lived in the northern kingdom were not humiliated just because they have lost their kingdom and nation, but also because many among them were forcefully brought out of their lands and exiled in the lands of Assyria, scattered in far and distant places, while pagans and foreigners were brought in to dwell in the lands which the Israelites had lived in earlier. Something like this unfortunate fate will be ours as well, if we fail to believe in the Lord and keep our faith in Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord calling to Levi, the tax collector, in which He gained a new and close follower and confidant, as Levi willingly left behind everything that he had in order to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. The Lord had come and saw Levi at his tax collector’s booth, and He called on the latter, knowing the faith which this man had for God, and all the great things which he would do later on for the sake of God, His glory and His people. At that time, many of the people, especially among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, they had a rather negative view and strong prejudice against the tax collectors, whom they considered as wicked, unworthy of God and sinful, because of their actions and work in collecting the taxes on behalf of the Roman overlords and also that of the local kings and rulers like the Herodians.

Hence, this prejudice led to the tax collectors being persecuted and ostracised from the general community, as they were generally disliked and even hated because of the work they carried out, and some even considered them as traitors to the people for having colluded and worked with those who conquered the lands and the nation of the Israelites. Yet, this led to those same Pharisees and the teachers of the Law commonly having a self-righteous and selfish personality, in thinking that they were superior, better and more worthy than those whom they deemed to be inferior, sinners, corrupt and wicked, like the tax collectors and prostitutes. Nonetheless, the Lord called one of His Twelve Apostles from among these tax collectors, recognising that such prejudice was nonsense.

In fact, as the Lord Himself mentioned elsewhere, that the tax collectors and the prostitutes were closer to the Lord and His salvation than the self-righteous and arrogant Pharisees as the former were aware and repentant over their sins and wickedness, and desired to seek the Lord for forgiveness and for reconciliation with Him, and through God’s generous mercy and love, they were all indeed forgiven and empowered to live and enter into a new life blessed by Him. But the latter persisted in their sins because they were too proud and haughty to realise and recognise their errors and mistakes, and thus, continuing to persist in their waywardness and lack of true and genuine faith in the Lord. This is a reminder for all of us that we ourselves have to be humble and willing to listen to God, and get rid from ourselves all pride, haughty and self-righteous attitudes.

Today, the Church also celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order. These seven Holy Founders of the Servites, namely Bonfilius, Alexis, Manettus, Amideus, Hugh, Sostene and Buonagiunta, all of whom were men from the city of Florence that were called by the Lord and they all bound themselves in strong and lasting spiritual friendship that eventually became the foundation of the Servite Order, in their strong faith in the Lord as well as in the intense devotion which they all had for the Blessed Mother of God. All of them led holy and devout lives, committed wholly to God, and they all became great source of inspiration for their fellow men and women, many of whom were drawn to follow their examples as well.

Through the examples shown by those holy men of God, the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, all of us are shown what it truly means for us to be genuine and faithful Christians in all things, in all that we say and do, and at all opportunities. We should be inspired by their good role models and examples, their actions and deeds in doing what God had told and commanded them all to do. Let us all be the worthy and faithful bearers of God’s light and truth, His Good News and His teachings, so that like Levi, who would later be known as St. Matthew the Apostle, a great evangelist and servant of God, and like the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, we too may live our lives in each and every moments ever more faithfully and that we may draw ever closer to God.

May God be with us always and may He continue to guide and strengthen us in the path which we are walking in, in doing what is right according to His teachings, ways and to our Christian beliefs and faith. May God bless our every good efforts, endeavours and our faithful observances and actions in this blessed penitential season of Lent, so that we may continue to do what God had entrusted to us to do, and be ever more worthy and faithful, now and always. Amen.