living God

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Friday, 29 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the glory of the saints, and all of the faithful servants and followers of God, whose lives had been righteous before God and exemplary before men. This is a reminder for all of us that we too can be like them, and we also can walk in their footsteps, doing the things that they have done, that is to love and serve the Lord with all of their heart and strength, and to do the same to their fellow men. In doing so, God will also find us to be just and righteous, and we will have the same share of grace and glory as all the saints in heaven.

And in the Gospel today we heard about how Jesus cleared the Temple and its ground from the filth and corruption of worldliness, by casting out all the money changers, merchants of animal sacrifices, and other forms of vices that had corrupted and tainted the Temple and its premises. The house of prayer and the dwelling of God on earth has become a marketplace, a place of worldliness and sin. That was why Jesus was so angry and His wrath was so great that He cast them out in anger.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this story may be very well known to us, and we knew what Jesus did that day in the Temple. After all this has been replicated many times in the documentaries and films about the life of Jesus. But do we understand its true significance? It is not just about the Temple of God in Jerusalem, but indeed it is about all of us who have been chosen and taken out of the world to be the disciples and children of God.

All of us who have accepted our Lord as our God and Saviour have been marked with the seal of baptism, the seal of confirmation and the seal of the Most Holy Eucharist, and this means that the Lord Himself, by the Eucharist which we have received, have entered into our bodies and hallowed it, made it holy to be the Temple of His Presence. The Holy Spirit has dwelled in us also by the Spirit given to us by the Sacrament of Confirmation, and the life which we have itself, is the proof of the presence of God our Father, our Creator who gave us life.

In all this, it is beyond deniable fact that the Lord dwells in us and we are His holy Temple. If we defile this Holy Temple, that is our body, our soul and our very being, then we know that just as we knew the story of Jesus clearing the Temple from all the filth of corruption, the same anger and wrath that God had shown then will be directed to us as well.

But we do not have to be fearful or afraid, and that is because what matters is for us to change our ways and find a way to repent and turn our hearts back to face the Lord, for He is merciful and willing to forgive us, but only if we ourselves are willing to make a difference in our own lives. Remember, brethren, the fact is that we all ought to be ashamed and indeed angry, when we look at ourselves.

Why is this so? That is because if we are truly concerned about ourselves, then we ought to see the kind of mess and the abundance of filth and corruption that had marred the Temple of God, that is our body, our heart, our mind, our soul and our very being. Are we not ashamed to have such a dirty and wicked dwelling for our Lord? But instead of being ashamed forever, we must indeed jolt ourselves awake and ask ourselves, what we can do from now on.

Let us all be thoroughly reformed. If we have sinned constantly until now and refused to follow the way of the Lord, then let us stop all things that we do and reevaluate our lives and priorities. Remember that the grace and forgiveness of God will be ours only if we make the conscious effort to seek it by humbly asking for His forgiveness and mercy. Let us all seek God’s grace by doing what is right and just before His eyes, beginning from ourselves and then by doing good and loving one another just as He had taught us.

Just as Christ had purged the Temple from all the merchants and the wicked things that dwelled there, let us all also purge our own Temple, our own body, heart, mind and soul from the wickedness that had marred the purity of our very own Temple, where the Lord Himself dwells. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 28 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the very beautiful and encouraging words from the Holy Scripture, beginning with the dissertation from the book of the prophet Sirach, who spoke about the nature of God and all of His wonders. He spoke of how God has created all things good and perfect, for us all to enjoy together, but it was because of our disobedience and sins that the perfection became marred and destroyed.

The light that once filled up this world has been veiled by darkness, that is the darkness of our sins. Our wickedness has served to be hindrance and obstacle for us to know how good and how great is the blessings and love which God has shown all of us. Therefore, we truly are blind, blind to the love of God, just as the blind man in the Gospel today cried out to Jesus, asking for His help to heal him from his blindness.

And that Gospel passage on the healing of the blind man by Jesus, is a reminder to all of us to reflect on our own actions in life. What are we now doing with regards to our lives filled with sin? What have we done so far in order to overcome the evils that had consumed us and what have we done to bring ourselves to the light? Do we act like the blind man who recognised who Jesus was and begged Him for mercy, to be healed from his blindness? Or are we content to stay on in our ignorance and blindness in the darkness of the world?

The blind man cried out to Jesus asking for Him to heal him, and he recognised Jesus as the Son of David, the One with power and authority to make him whole again. And he did not give up, even when the people tried to shut him up and scorned him. He refused to give up and continued to ask the Lord for His mercy, and eventually, by the faith which he has, he was healed and made whole.

Have we been like the blind man who was so persistent in asking for God’s mercy and forgiveness? Or are we equally stubborn in refusing to accept the fact that we are afflicted and in trouble and therefore need a profound change in our attitudes and actions so that we will not fall into damnation and eternal suffering? The fact is that God always attunes His ears to listen to our cries and pleas for mercy, and He tirelessly continues to remind us to repent and change our ways.

Let us all be inspired by the blind man and his total faith in the Lord, so that we too may also follow suit and do the same, proclaiming our faith and devotion to He who can heal us from our afflictions that is sin, the darkness that had clouded our minds and beings, to the point that we are unable to see beyond the darkness. If we know that we are in danger, then all the more we should put in the effort to change our lives for the better and seek the salvation which only our Lord can give.

Remember, brethren, that the Book of Sirach had also reminded us of the love of God, which He would shower on all those who cling faithfully to Him. He is ever faithful to all those who are also faithful to Him, and all that have done His will shall not be disappointed. The love of God endures, even though our sins have become like a mountain. What matters is that we respond to that love and mercy which our Lord had shown.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be drawn ever closer to the throne of our Lord’s mercy and open wide the floodgates for the love of God to enter into our hearts. This is the time for change, the time for mercy, for us to seek the forgiveness of God for our sins and sin no more, so that we may be truly free from the blindness that have afflicted us, and welcome the Light into our lives. May Almighty God have mercy on us and forgive us our sins, and may He lead us on this new life filled with grace and blessings. Amen.

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from our first reading, taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, about the pleas and our begging for mercy from the Lord, that we hope that God would not hold our sins against us, and that He may be merciful to us and show us His mercy and forgive us our sins. By right, because of our sins, we have deserved death and to be destroyed and yet, by His infinite mercy He had opened for us the way to salvation.

But this does not mean that we should take God’s love for granted, for there is indeed a limit to God’s patience. Forgiveness will also come our way only if we have the commitment and dedication to changing our ways and abandoning all of our pride and ways of sin. God is merciful and kind, and He is willing to forgive our sins, but only if we are able to change and commit ourselves to His ways.

And God has given us so much help, so that we may be saved, firstly by sending reminders one after another, to keep us on His ways and not be lost, with prophets and messengers after another to preach to us the will of God and His message. And last of all, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of us all, and by His suffering and death, by which He bore the combined weight and burden of our sins, He had brought us this hope of forgiveness and liberation from our fate that was death.

We have to always remember this fact, that the Lord died for us, so that we may live. In His death we have shared the death to our old selves, and we have abandoned our old ways of sin, and by His resurrection to life, we have also therefore shared in the new life, which is the path to our eternal joy and true happiness with Him in heaven forevermore.

But the path to a life faithful to God, and indeed the journey of our faith will not be easy. In the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ had told this fact to His disciples, of the cup of suffering that He was to drink. This cup of suffering was the burden of sin, the whole weight of our disobedience and our punishment, which our Lord Jesus had taken up upon Himself. And we are also going to share in the same cup of suffering, which is the rejection of the world, and the persecution, which our Lord had also encountered, being rejected and cast out by His own people.

It will be difficult to face all the challenges that will come our way, but if we persevere on and never gave up, then we should be rewarded richly by our Lord. Remember that our Lord also said that those who are faithful to Him ought to take up their own crosses in life and follow Him? These crosses in life are part and parcel of our journey as the disciples and followers of our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we can look up to the example of the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Augustine of Canterbury. St. Augustine of Canterbury was the first to bring the Faith to England, and he was the first Archbishop of the See of Canterbury. Indeed, it is very unfortunate that because of the heresies committed a few hundred years ago, his successors have gone astray into the darkness, but indeed, in the first place, the works of St. Augustine of Canterbury remained evident even until this day, and it helps a lot in the reestablishment of the Faith in England until today.

St. Augustine was once a Roman priest and monk, who served the Pope in various capacities, and who was then summoned and tasked to spread the faith in the land of England beyond the sea. The Faith had once been established in that land by the Roman Empire, but after the fall of the Roman Empire in that region, the pagans have taken over the land, and the Church was in disarray. Therefore, the task and responsibility fell to the hands of St. Augustine, who then established the See of Canterbury, and became its first bishop.

Through his hard and tireless works, St. Augustine of Canterbury had managed to rebuild the Church and brought many people to conversion to the true Faith, and he never looked back on the past. He kept pushing forward and toiled hard to convert the masses of pagans and turn them from their faults and sins, and therefore to approach the throne of God’s mercy.

Therefore, let us all follow his examples and walk righteously in the path of the Lord. Let us no longer be distracted by the many distractions and temptations of this world, but let us all focus all of our attention to the Lord, devote ourselves to change our ways and do things righteously from now on. May Almighty God be with us all and protect us from the forces of evil, and bring us to the everlasting life He had promised to all of us who remain faithful to Him. Amen.

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Tuesday, 26 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today a very clear message is given to us through the Scriptures, that following the Lord and doing His commandments are the best ways to give ourselves and dedicate ourselves to Him, more so than the animal sacrifices of the people of Israel in the past, or compared to series of litanies and prayers that were not done with the full sincerity of the heart.

What God desires from us is the offering of ourselves, of our whole being, that we can be thoroughly devoted in our daily actions to the Lord our God. He does not lead loud prayers, but yet without real action and dedication to the Lord. What He wants is that we should seek to start from even small things in trying to obey the Lord and His commandments. Let us remember always the promise of our Lord Jesus, that all those who have entrusted themselves to Him will not be disappointed.

God is always with all those who have given Him their love and dedication, just as He is forever faithful. This means that if we have left behind all the worldly things and follow the Lord then the Lord will also bless them richly and His grace will be forever with us. To God, those of us who have given up certain things in order to follow Him, have given Him their love and what He asked of them. Therefore, these He will bless with His everlasting graces.

This is a reminder to us all that we should seek the everlasting treasure of heaven rather than the temporary treasures of this world, no matter how enticing and wonderful they are. These include wealth, fame, human praise and affection, and many others that often distract us and wanting us to get more and more of them. This is greed, and it has the tendency of wanting us to get more and even more, and as a result, we become too preoccupied with seeking the treasures of this world, and we forget about the true treasure in heaven.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Philip Neri, a great priest and preacher who lived in what is now part of Italy. St. Philip Neri was a very important figure in the revival of the faith in many parts of Italy, especially in Rome, where he earned his appellation as the Apostle of Rome. He helped many people to overcome their bonds to the corruptions of the world, and he helped reformed the Church and the faith by purging it out of all the heresies and the sins of worldliness which had entered their souls.

St. Philip Neri devoted all of his life to God, and he committed much of his time, helping his brethren who are in need of help, both physically and spiritually. He did not let the temptations of the world to overcome him and get the better of him, but instead, he committed himself ever more strongly to the Lord and gave his all to worship and serve the Lord in all things. That was why by his many works, so many wondrous things had happened, and countless souls had been saved, and many others were also inspired by his examples.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all walk in the footsteps of St. Philip Neri, and also all the saints, by abandoning our attraction towards the tempting things in this world, and by offering all of our beings as worthy offerings to God, that is by loving Him and dedicating ourselves to Him through the acts of love, in accordance with what He had taught us.

May our Almighty God be with us always, guide us and protect us in our ways, so that in all the things we do. May He bless us with all of His goodness, for we have remained faithful and true to Him, despite the challenges and the temptations of the world, so may we all never be lost or separated again from Him. Amen.

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Monday, 25 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of today’s Gospel and the readings of the Scripture is very clear indeed, that God is loving and merciful, just as He is understanding and patient in dealing with all of us. And He is calling on us to repentance, to change our ways, by sending reminders after reminders, prophets after prophets, messengers after messengers, and eventually until He came Himself to save us from perdition and condemnation in hell.

In the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes, it was mentioned how God knows all things that we do, be it good or evil. He knows it all, and we cannot hide from Him. All that we do must truly show our faith and devotion to the Lord, or otherwise, our faith in God is meaningless and empty, fake and useless. This is simply what God wants from us, to be true to our faith and to practice them in real life, but indeed, it is truly much more difficult than it seems.

That is because we mankind are naturally predisposed to temptations of the world, such as possessions, human greed, lust, desire for the pleasures of the flesh and of this world. What we heard in the Gospel today, about a rich man who asked Jesus on how to follow Him and eventually failed because he was unable to leave his riches behind, does not mean that we have to literally sell everything we have and follow the Lord.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because firstly, if everyone does this, then the world as we know it today will no longer function, as we cannot have everybody surrendering all their possessions at once. Rather, what the Lord Jesus wanted to show us is that, instead of condemning the rich and casting them aside as those who deserved punishment, God wanted to show that everyone is equal before Him, whether rich or poor.

Being rich is not a fault in itself, but being rich has its disadvantages, as we all know that wealth and possessions can detract us from our faith in the Lord, and instead we may grow more drawn into those worldliness and become distracted and corrupted by those worldliness. We must be aware that riches, wealth and possessions themselves are not inherently evil but indeed neutral, yet it was because of our human weaknesses and greed, that we end up being controlled by our desires.

That attachment that grows between us and our possessions end up becoming the undoing for all of us. It is this attachment and its unhealthy results, the obsession and desire for even more, that our Lord Jesus Christ is warning us about. As long as we prize our possessions and things of this world higher than we prize our Lord, then the way forward is closed for us. We will not be able to proceed further on the path towards salvation, and worse still, the dangers of hell may be ever before us.

All of us should have the aim to overcome the temptations of the world and resist the lure of the pleasures of the world and the flesh. And in order to help us all, we should all reflect on the lives of the three saints whom we are celebrating today, namely St. Bede the Venerable, Pope St. Gregory VII and St. Mary Magdalena de’ Pazzi.

St. Bede the Venerable was an English monk and holy man, who had given almost all his life in the service of God. He had entered the monastery since his youth, and after he had completed his education, he decided to continue to serve the Lord with all of his strength. His many works and writings would become a source of knowledge and inspiration to all those who followed after him, and even for us today.

And just as St. Bede the Venerable had given all of his life in the service of God, without regards for himself, Pope St. Gregory VII was a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church in his wide-ranging reforms affecting all structures and members of the Church, resisting and combatting heresies and the sins of money or simony which had infiltrated and corrupted the Church and many of its members.

Pope St. Gregory VII also enforced rigorous rules on celibacy and other codes of conduct for clergy and laity alike, to help them to remain focused on the task at hand, that is to serve the Lord and not to be distracted, tempted or corrupted by the things of this world and by the temptations of the evil one. He also resisted the attempts by the worldly and secular authorities from trying to corrupt the faith and its practices, and he remained ardent and unbending despite the challenges of the evil ones.

And lastly, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was born a noble woman from a very rich and influential family in Renaissance era Italy. She was born into great wealth and status, and yet, she decided to give it all up, so that she might follow the Lord with all of her heart and her strength, joining the convent at a young age. Later on, she began receiving visions from the Lord, and as a mystic, her reputation spread far and wide.

All these holy saints are inspirations for us, that they have rejected the lures and temptations of the world and focus their sight and attention on the Lord alone. It does not mean that we have to throw away or give away everything that we have, but it means that we must not let these control our lives, and we must not let ourselves to succumb to the desires of our heart, if it not the desire to love our Lord all the more.

Let us all remind ourselves and remind one another, to be ever better disciples of our Lord and show it through real actions and deeds. Let us be ever faithful, and may our Lord who sees our genuine and sincere faith, lead us into the life everlasting He had promised all those who faithfully followed Him. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 May 2015 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark a truly great feast day of the Church, that is the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, at the fiftieth day of Easter, the culmination of our Easter celebration, and then, as the new beginning of the time of glory and service, as today also marks the birthday of the Church, the day when the Lord established His Church on earth, with the sending of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Helper to the Apostles and disciples, and the baptism of the three thousand people.

On this day, we rejoice, because God had reversed the bonds and destroyed the darkness in us, the lies of the devil and the confines of our selfish desires, and thrust upon us the undeniable and all-revealing light of truth, the very Light of our Lord Jesus Christ. God made it clear this day, by sending the Spirit of truth to dispel the darkness and the shackles of blindness that Satan and his allies has imposed on us, that is sin, desire, greed and selfishness.

If we look at the readings of the Vigil, we see in the beginning how God scattered men across the world by confusing their languages and causing divisions to appear among the people. We may think that this is something that God had done out of His anger at us, but if we look more closely at it, in fact, it was the pride and greed of mankind that had brought it upon themselves.

For since the beginning of time, men had always desired things that are often beyond their means, and as a result, they received harm instead. First, they were tempted by the devil to eat the fruits from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, and as a result, they received the punishment for their disobedience of the word of God. This was the first sin.

And then, they did not repent and continued to sin, and God sent the Great Flood to destroy the wickedness in the world, and to purify mankind. Only the righteous Noah and his family was spared. But yet, they continued to gather in their pride and gave in to their greed, that they endeavoured to build the highest building possible, the Tower of Babel.

And their aim was to reach out even to the heavens itself, and for their arrogance and pride, the disrespect that they showed against God, they received their just reward, and God scattered them all, to show them that God alone has the power and might, and all of us and our pride cannot stand before the might of God.

However, God did not punish and then leave us alone in suffering. Instead, He gives us chance and opportunities to change our ways and repent, and to those who do so, He gives succour from the sufferings which have been ours because of our disobedience. And that is by giving us the Spirit of truth, and the Spirit of life, so that our afflictions may be healed, and all falsehoods may be dispelled.

The disciples being able to speak many languages, is a proof of this revelation, that God would lift up the punishment from those who have willingly put themselves in the path of salvation and devote themselves to Him. The veil of darkness and the veil of ignorance and the lack of knowledge had been lifted up from them, and Wisdom itself entered into them by the Holy Spirit.

Pope St. John Paul II once said in his Papal Coronation and Enthronement ceremony, that we must not be afraid to open up the doors of our heart to the Lord. We must open wide these doors indeed, so that the Spirit of truth may come into us, dwell into us and transform us. During his visit to his country, Poland, then a Communist country oppressed by ideologies hostile to the Faith, he said, inspired by the passage from the Holy Scriptures, that may the Holy Spirit come down upon the earth and renew it thoroughly.

And today is such a perfect occasion, the coincidence that today is both Pentecost Sunday and the World Day of Prayer for another Church that is in suffering and persecution, that is the Church in China. In China, ever since the takeover by the Communist regime in 1949, the Church has been suffering in various degrees for the past almost seventy years.

And so today, we have to pray, and pray that the Lord will indeed send His Spirit and His might, that eventually our suffering brethren of the Church suffering in China, may be relieved from their burdens, and from all the oppressions that the enemies of the Faith had placed on them. Remember that it does not matter how the forces of this world try to destroy the Church and the faithful, they shall never succeed. For God will protect all those who have entrusted themselves to Him.

Just as God eventually triumphed and cast down all the oppressors of the faithful and the holy ones in Poland and beyond, the same too He will promise and do for all of His faithful persecuted no matter where it may be, and when it may be. But at the moment, the situation remains very dire, and blatant disregard and assault on the freedom of the faithful to worship the Lord freely is rampant. We need to pray for our brethren in China, that the Lord will soon deliver them from this great suffering.

This day is also a reminder for us that God has given us many gifts through the Holy Spirit, that is the fruits of the Holy Spirit, namely love, joy, patience, peace, goodness, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity and others. But these fruits will never grow if we do not cultivate and utilise the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us.

Remember what the Lord Jesus told His disciples about the fig tree that is barren? Remember what He did to it? He cursed that barren fig tree, and the fig tree which was without any edible fruits withered and died. Then in another separate occasion, Jesus told the disciples about the tree that does not bear fruit, and the farmers wanted to kill and uproot the plant, for it has no use. But the Master gives it a chance, by pruning it and giving it more fertilisers to grow, hoping that it will bear fruit.

Thus, the Lord has also done the same to us. He gave us the Holy Spirit not just as a gift for us just to be passive and wait passively for salvation. Instead, on the other hand, God gave us His Holy Spirit so that we may be actively pursuing the works which He had taught us to do, that is to love one another tenderly, to show concern for the oppressed, for the poor, sick and dying. It is also to show concern for the salvation of souls, by sincerely and truly being concerned about how the people around us are falling into hell because of what they have done.

If we do things according to God’s will, then we will bear many fruits, and the Lord who sees what we have done, and what we have produced will be satisfied and will be pleased at us. And our reward in heaven shall be rich and great. Indeed, the giving of the Holy Spirit is not just a one-off event, but a continuous call for us to work ceaselessly and act ceaselessly in accordance to the way of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this event of Pentecost Sunday, the season of Easter may have come to an end, but this does not mean that our Easter joy should end. Rather, as I have mentioned, it is a new beginning, that just as the Church was born on this day, we too should renew our commitment to the very mission which our Lord had entrusted us, when He gave us the Spirit. This mission is for us to be the witnesses of the Lord, to be the bearers of His Good News to all the peoples of all nations.

May the Lord our God Almighty be our guide, and strengthen our resolve always to live out our lives in accordance to the truth which He had revealed to us through the gift of His Holy Spirit. Let us all also commend in our prayers today, our brethren persecuted in China, by the godless and the worldly peoples and authorities, and let us then also pray for all others persecuted for their Faith around the world, asking God that He may send His Holy Spirit to renew the whole world, and give succour to all those who are currently suffering. God be with all of us. Amen.

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Saturday, 23 May 2015 : 7th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings mark the ending of the time of Easter, which will end with the celebration of the great feast of Pentecost tomorrow. Today we read about the culmination of the great journey of the Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, which was also the same for the other Apostles. The work of the Apostles was to continue the works of Christ, who had begun a work for the salvation of all mankind.

But in the end, this leads also to the greatest of their works which brings glory to God. Just as Jesus had said, that there is no greater love, than for a friend to give up his life for another, this has two, reciprocal meaning. Jesus Himself had died for us all, His beloved people, as the proof of His great and infinite love for us, and He died for us indeed so that by being the Lamb of Sacrifice, He might bring new chance and new life upon us all.

And therefore, in a reciprocal manner, then the Apostles showed their love for the Lord, and also for the people entrusted to them all, for they were their shepherds, by dying in martyrdom for their sake. They laid down their lives willingly and without fear, knowing that God who loves them would see how much they too have loved Him to the point of defending Him and remaining true and faithful to the end, and thus grant them the eternal rewards of heaven.

Today’s readings are reminder that at the end of days, we are all still mortals who will die, and our earthly lives will come to an end. We are all mortals and our days are numbered. We do not know when we will depart from this world, but the day may be swift and is totally unexpected by us. Therefore, we are all here today to reflect on this, so that we may realise how important it is that we live our lives knowing that we ought to do the will of God and walk in His ways.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we ask ourselves at the end of our lives, and say to ourselves that we have, in the words of St. Paul, finished the race and kept the faith? If we can say that, then indeed it is very good, for we have done what is expected from us. And indeed, that must be what St. Paul and St. Peter both had said just before they met their martyrdom, both in the city of Rome, the heart of Christendom.

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday tomorrow, the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit, let us ask ourselves, on how committed we are as members of God’s Church. The Holy Spirit had been given to us, so that we may use the gifts given to us for the good of one another. If we all do this faithfully and dutifully, certainly we shall not be disappointed, for the Lord will guide us into the everlasting glory He had promised us.

Can we take concrete steps, following in the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, the disciples and many other martyrs of the Faith, who had lived their lives faithfully. Even though they were also once sinners, but they turned their backs to those sins and committed themselves to a new life blessed by the Light of God. Therefore, we too should do the same thing in our own lives.

May Almighty God who gave us His own Spirit, strengthen in us the love which we ought to have for Him and for our fellow men. May He empower us all to walk ever faithfully in His ways. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 22 May 2015 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of the two great Apostles, St. Paul and St. Peter, both of whom we now know as the martyrs of the Universal Church and the Church of Rome, having been martyred in Rome, the seat of the Popes and the centre of the Church. These two saints had their own different origins and lives, but after they had been called by Christ, they preached His glory and even by death they glorified Him.

St. Paul was once a zealous and fiery Pharisee who once vowed to hunt every single believers of the true Faith, and he hunted many hundreds if not thousands, chasing them out of the synagogues and capturing them, handing them over to the authorities to be scourged and judged. But this seemingly great enemy and nemesis of the faithful was suddenly transformed into the faithful defender of the faith and a great Apostle, when Jesus called him out of the darkness on the way to Damascus.

The moment when he was blinded and was in darkness is a reminder of the life he once led, filled with sin and hatred, and with wrong ideas and filled with the lies of Satan, which caused him to do things as he had done. And God called him out of the darkness into the light, symbolically represented when St. Paul regained his vision and was baptised, to be His messenger and servant, to reveal the truth about God to all the nations, and this is why he is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Meanwhile, St. Peter was a simple fisherman who lived at the shore of the Lake of Galilee, who made a living by catching fish in the lake daily. And that was what his life would have been till the end of his life, if the Lord on that day had not called him to leave behind everything and follow Him, to be a fisher of men instead. And the Lord Jesus called St. Peter and changed his life forever, just as He had done the same with St. Paul.

If we look at these two men, these two crucial pillars of the Church, we would think that they were something like superhumans, but in fact, they are just like us, but with the difference that they heard the calling of the Lord, and followed Him. They left behind their old lives of worldliness and darkness, and entered into a new life with new purpose, that is to serve the Lord and their fellow men.

They too encountered troubles and difficulties, and they were tempted, just as St. Paul was once the brutal murderer and enemy of the faithful, while St. Peter once denied his Lord not just once, but three times. But did God immediately abandon them and cast them away from His presence? No, and in fact He guided them back to Him, and gave them a second chance in life, which they took and look at where that had brought them to.

Today we celebrate also the feast of St. Rita of Cascia, a religious who was once a housewife and a mother, who joined life devoted to the Lord after the murder of her husband. As a housewife, she led a good and faithful life, urging her violent and temperamental husband to follow the way of the Lord and repent, and in the same way also influence her children to do the same. She prevented her sons from seeking revenge at the murder of their father.

In the aftermath of her husband’s death, St. Rita of Cascia tried to join a convent as a nun but she was rejected because the convent feared backlash due to the controversial nature of her husband’s death and the scandals it caused. But St. Rita of Cascia persevered through and she went through the task given to her to allow her to join religious life, that is to reconcile all the parties involved in the death of her husband.

And by her work and piety, she succeeded so well, that eventually she was accepted without problem as a religious sister, and until her death, she continued to do many good works, by action and prayer. The lesson we can take from her life is that we must always work for the harmony between all peoples, and most importantly of course, the harmony between us and our Lord and God.

God did not come to call just the saints and the holy ones. For these have already been saved. Rather, He came to call on sinners and those who still live in darkness. These people have the potential to attain salvation, but they still have yet to take the concrete step towards salvation. God had called His people out of the darkness and into the light, but there are still many souls left to be saved.

We all can follow in the footsteps of St. Peter and St. Paul. God called them, they left behind their past and followed Him. And when they erred, God showed them love and mercy, they repented and they received great glory for their continuous faith in Him. We too can walk in the same path, and gradually progressing towards salvation, by seeking to understand more of God’s love and mercy, and committing ourselves to do things more in tune with what the Lord had taught us, and therefore, the Lord who found our faith satisfactory will bless us forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 May 2015 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue to hear about the prayer which Jesus had made to His Father, asking Him to bless and protect those who have dedicated themselves to Him, and all those whom He had chosen out of the world and have not betrayed Him like what Judas Iscariot had done.

And He prayed that they all may be united and one in Body and Spirit, just as He and His Father are one, that as One Church, they may stand together against the darkness around them, and become the testimony of the Faith that all who saw them might believe and repent.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we also heard about how St. Paul stood for trial in front of the Sanhedrin, or the Council of the elders of the people of Israel, and he was condemned because of his faith in God and his courageous and ceaseless preaching and evangelisation of the peoples regarding the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, which most of the Sanhedrin members had rejected.

And we heard how God blessed St. Paul and protected him from harm by putting discord amongst his persecutors, the party of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And this was because of the discord of those who do not belong to the Church of God. Each of them with their own ideas and thoughts. That is indeed the way of this world, the way of selfishness where everyone gives in to their own selfish desires and wants.

But sadly, this is the same issue that also affected even the Church of God. Because of mankind’s greed and inability to resist the temptations of the world, this brought about division into the Church of God, where heresy and falsehoods were rampant amongst the people of God, misleading many souls away from salvation. And this is a great danger to all of us, for division in the Church brings about harm for the souls that became ensnared in the lies of Satan.

That is why Jesus prayed for the unity of the Church, that is the unity of all of His faithful ones, all of His beloved children. The Church is not just a building and an establishment, or an organisation, but in fact, it encompassed all of us, all the believers and all those who have placed their faith in God. All of us make up the one Body of Christ, that is His Church. For while the Church is filled with peoples of different origins from all over the world, but its human traits hide the truth that truly, the Church came from God and it, together with all of us, belongs to God alone.

If united, the Church of God will be able to face and persevere through whatever it is that Satan and his wicked allies throw against us. Remember that Jesus Himself told Peter that not even the gates of hell will prevail against it. Thus, if we remain united and devoted to our call and mission as children of God and members of His Church, then not even the greatest force and power of Satan can uproot us or harm us.

As we approach the celebration of Pentecost, let us all remember that all of us faithful ones in God all share the same Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit which we have received, in the one Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Church. And today we also celebrate the feast of St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, who are martyrs of the Faith and the Church.

St. Christopher Magallanes was a faithful and devoted priest and servant of God, who ministered to the people of God with love and tenderness, sharing with them the love of God. He lived however, in a turbulent country at a turbulent time, in Mexico during a time of great hostility and opposition against the Church and the Faith in general. The people in power were adamantly and aggressively hostile against the Church.

Thus, he was martyred with many other brave and courageous defenders of the faith, and together they were elevated to their glory at the Altar as the holy saints and martyrs of the Church. They remained true to their faith and calling as servants of God, bringing the word of God despite knowing that doing so would lead to their deaths.  Their examples should serve as a reminder for all of us to lead a dedicated and committed life of faith in our Lord. There are so much more that we can do.

Let us all in all of our actions seek to bring unity to the Church, and bringing one another closer to God, and helping one another to resist the temptations of the flesh and the world. May God our Father guide us on our way and keep our hearts strongly in love for Him, and so that we may remain true to Him and keep all of His Laws and commandments faithfully. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 May 2015 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bernardine of Siena, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how Jesus prayed to the Lord His Father, to keep safe all of His disciples, all that He had chosen and called out of the world. Those who keep themselves faithful in His ways will not be disappointed, and God who is ever faithful, will keep them in His love and grace. After all, He had endured none other than the cross of all the sins of all the world, just so that all who believed in Him may be saved.

God will keep all those who believe in Him and trust in Him safe. He will bless them and guide them to righteousness. But we ourselves must also put in the effort to keep ourselves true and faithful to our Lord. If we do not put in the effort, then we have to be wary that Satan and all of his allies will try to snatch us away from the salvation we have in the Lord, through the means of heresy and falsehoods that they will try to sow in our hearts.

The aim of the devil is to sunder us away from the love and grace of God, by ensnaring is with the temptations of the flesh and the world. That was why so many people even among the faithful became wayward in their faith. No longer faithful to their initial devotion to God, they began to pursue their own paths, listening to the words of their desires more than they listen to the word of God speaking in their hearts.

The concerns of the world clouded everything in their heart, covering their eyes and preventing them from seeing the truth. As a result, they began to preach falsehoods and lies just as the father of lies had done, that is Satan. The sole purpose of this is to further the cause and the aggrandisement of all those who have given in to their desires, seeking more glory and human praise, and indeed at the expense of those poor souls who have been misled and been fed all the lies of the devil.

We have so many heresies that at one point of time or another tried and almost managed to tear apart and destroy the whole Church of God and condemn all the faithful to the depredations of evil and the suffering of hell. Yet, the Church triumphed despite all the odds, just as the Lord Jesus Himself had told Peter, as He entrusted His Church to him, that not even the gates of hell would be able to withstand the power of the Church.

All those who anchor themselves securely in the power and protection of the Church will not be disappointed, and as long as they remain faithful, they shall never be shaken. Not even the devil has any power or control or dominion over us if we stick fast to God as our Protector. There will be challenges, difficulties and persecution indeed, but none of these can bring us any lasting harm. Indeed harm will only come our way if we decide to give in to the lies of the devil.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bernardine of Siena, a faithful and courageous priest who hailed from Siena in Italy. He was a Franciscan friar and preacher, who was widely known as the Apostle of Italy, for his great and hard works, committing himself to rejuvenate the faith in the region now known as Italy, which was then fractured and divided against each other, and they were embroiled in heresies and vices of life.

He preached against the wickedness of the world and men, who had enjoyed too much of the world’s pleasures and goodness. They have given in to their greed and forgotten about their true purpose in this world, that is to bring glory to God, and bring to fullness their lives, by devoting their lives in loving service to both God and men alike. Instead, they gave in to the temptations of the world and believed in the falsehoods of the false prophets and false teachings.

Through his works, many were converted and repented their sins to follow the path of the truth of God. And this is a reminder for us as well, that as members of God’s Church, we ought to take note what St. Bernardine of Siena had done, and follow in his footsteps. We have this duty and responsibility, which we ought to fulfill. Remember, that many people still lived in the darkness of sin, and await our active response to help them to get to the Light of God.

May Almighty God guide us in this life, so that in all the things we do, we may become light for all the peoples who still dwell in the darkness, and by anchoring ourselves strongly and trusting completely in God, we will be able to help one another to find our way to the Lord, and gain the salvation and eternal life which He had promised all who remain faithful to the end. Amen.