Liturgy of the Mass

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Wednesday, 4 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 20 : 17-28

At that time, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, who will condemn Him to death. They will hand Him over to the foreigners, who will mock Him, scourge Him and crucify Him. But He will be raised to life on the third day.”

Then the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favour. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here You have my two sons. Grant that they may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, when You are in Your kingdom.”

Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink My cup, but to sit at My right or at My left is not for Me to grant. That will be for those, for whom My Father has prepared it.”

The other ten heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to Him and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations act as tyrants over them, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you : whoever wants to be more important in your community shall make himself your servant. And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man who has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Wednesday, 4 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 30 : 5-6, 14, 15-16

Free Me from the snare that they have set for Me. Indeed You are My Protector. Into Your hands I commend My spirit; You have redeemed Me, o Lord, faithful God.

I hear whispering among the crowd, rumours that frighten Me from every side – their conspiracies, their schemes, their plot to take My life.

But I put My trust in You, o Lord, I said : “You are My God;” My days are in Your hand. Deliver Me from the hand of My enemies, from those after My skin.

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Wednesday, 4 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 18 : 18-20

Then, they said, “Come, let us plot against Jeremiah, for even without him, there will be priests to interpret the Teachings of the Law; there will always be wisemen to impart counsel and prophets to proclaim the word. Come, let us accuse him and strike him down instead of listening to what he says.”

“Hear me, o YHVH! Listen to what my accusers say. Is evil the reward for good? Why do they dig a grave for me? Remember how I stood before You to speak well on their behalf so that Your anger might subside.”

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Tuesday, 3 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the meaning of our faith. Our faith is not about being seen by others as pious or trying to outdo each other in piety. Rather, it is about obeying God’s commandment sincerely in our hearts. And it is also about listening to God’s will and humbling ourselves before Him rather than being judgmental on others and being unjust in our actions and deeds.

True expression of faith does not depend on external appearances or on the outward gestures of piety without true understanding of what the faith is truly about. God does not desire the punishment of the wicked and sinners, but instead the repentance and redemption of all of us mankind. And to this extent, He had sent Jesus His Son to remind all of His people of the need to change their ways and follow our Lord.

This is the essence of Lent, the season of recollection, the season of mercy and forgiveness, a time when we all should pull back from all of our busy schedules and hectic lives and instead seek to know more about the Lord, finding out more about His wishes and desires for us all, that is for us to abandon our sins and wickedness, and therefore for us to attain salvation and justification through our faith.

We are all called to come to realise the depth of our sins and all of the wrong things and mistakes which we have committed in life. It is easy for us to fall prey to the temptations of our pride and to the lures of our desires. Like the Pharisees, the scribes, the elders and the teachers of the Law, they took great pride in their supposed piety and strict observation of the extensive Law of the Jews.

But in their actions, and in how they lived their faith, they had failed miserably and greatly. This is because of the pride and the greed that covered their hearts and minds. They considered themselves righteous and just, and thinking that they alone were worthy of the salvation and the grace of God, to the point that they condemned all others around them, thinking that they all do not deserve salvation as they had received.

We are all reminded in this season of Lent, that we are all sinners, no matter be it small or great in terms of the sins we committed. Sins have entered into us since the day when we first disobeyed God, His will and His commandments. Even the greatest of the saints and the holiest of all God’s creations were all also once sinners, or even great sinners before.

What matters is therefore, if we look at it more carefully and closely, is the change of attitude and the change in our ways, that if we once walked in the path of sin, then now we would no longer remain in sin, but instead, seeking the true Light of Christ, we may be remade anew in righteousness and justice of the Lord. This is the essence of the repentance from sins, which all of us should aim for.

Our Lord and God is willing to help us and to forgive us from our sins, but only if we on our part also sincerely change our ways for the better, that is to sin no more but follow the Lord from now on through all of His teachings, and listen to what Jesus had told all of the people and His disciples in our today’s Gospel reading. This Lent, let us be thoroughly and completely transformed, from a creature of sin, into a creature and child of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called ‘Master’, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth ‘Father’, because you have only one Father, He who is in heaven. Nor should you be called ‘Leader’, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Tuesday, 3 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 3 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Hear the warning the YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah. Wash and make yourself clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good. Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.”

“Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together. Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool. If you obey Me, you will eat the goods of the earth; but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.

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Monday, 2 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, during this holy and penitential season of Lent, including that of today, we are always constantly reminded to be merciful, to forgive one another and to love each other tenderly. For our Lord, continues to love us despite of our sinfulness and wickedness. As He is willing to forgive our sins as long as we are sincere in our repentance and in our desire to change our evil ways.

It is highlighted today, that we all ought not to judge or accuse one another, but instead to set an example to all, following what God our Father has set for us. That is an example of love, love that triumphs over hate, over jealousy and over all forms of evil. This is the beginning of the break in the cycle of hatred and sin, which had bound us for so long while we are in this world.

For in our first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, it was highlighted, how our evil ways and rebelliousness are what had separated us from God. And it is a shameful thing, for us to persist in such a rebellion and in such an attitude. And yet, in this world today, there are still so much hatred, so much jealousy, so much human desire and all other forms of wickedness.

That is because we mankind are always sorely tempted, to think first about ourselves, to satisfy our own desires, and to neglect and ignore those who are around us. And when we love, we love not because we care, but rather because we desire returns. We only love those whom we have already cared, and whom we know that they will reciprocate our love.

To those whom we did not love, we often loathed them and wanted to have nothing to do with them. Thus hatred exists and was born into the world, for we have no love in us and we ignore the pleas of the unloved ones when we are in the capacity of being able to share our love and joy with them. It is why there is so much sorrow and sadness in the world, and all of us are partly to blame for it.

This Lent is the perfect time for us to rectify this, and for us to change our ways profoundly so that we would sin no more and keep no more hatred, jealousy, wickedness, and all other evils in our heart, but instead denouncing and rejecting them and replace them with love. Yes, replace them with the love which comes from the Lord, a beautiful and harmonious love, love that knows no conditions but purely made out of care and concern for one another.

Our Lord has often said that the greatest form of love is for someone to give up his or her own life for the sake of her friends. And indeed, that was what the Lord had done, as He gave up His life for us on the cross, carrying the burdens of our sins with Him, as He climbed up the steep and harsh path to Calvary. And did He die for us who are already righteous? No! He died for us while we are still sinners, and this very fact was also highlighted by St. Paul, who wanted to show us how selfless and great the love God had shown us all.

Sinners, be it with great sin or small sin, all are equal before the Lord. All are equally loved by God, who desires nothing else other than their repentance, that is our rescue from the depths of our wicked existence, which would have led us to destruction and annihilation, and our eternal separation in agony from God. This He does not want to happen to us, and that is why He showed us such great mercy and love.

What can we do now, brothers and sisters? This season of Lent is the perfect opportunity for us to change our ways, so that we should use this chance to reflect on our actions. Have we been selfish in our dealings with others and thinking only to preserve ourselves or satisfy our own desires? Have we done something to help others around us who need our help when we are able to?

May this Lent we will be able to be closer to our Lord and do things that will benefit one another. Let us seek to love each other unconditionally and with genuine love out of our hearts. Let us forgive each other our faults to one another and seek harmony and peace in all things. May God bless us all in this endeavour. Amen.

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Monday, 2 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 6 : 36-38

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

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Monday, 2 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 78 : 8, 9, 11, 13

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us for the sake of Your Name.

Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of Your arm, deliver those doomed to die.

Then we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank You forever. We will recount Your praise from generation to generation.