living God

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Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 18-27

The Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : ‘If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all the children of one God, the Lord our Father who came down to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are all His children, and because of that, all of us should indeed be like Him, both in appearance, because He created us in His own image, and most importantly in our behaviour and in all the things that we do.

But sadly, indeed, that many of us no longer do things which reflect that we are all the children of our loving God, and instead, many of the things that we had done, are representative of the fact that we are children of the evil one, Satan, the tricker and deceiver. He deceived us and our ancestors to do things in his own preferences, and in doing so, we are following Satan’s bidding.

Do we then serve the Lord or Satan, His enemy? It is indeed easy to say that we want to serve the Lord, but yet, serving the Lord our God is never easy, because this world itself is filled with the powers and agents of Satan, which will do his best to keep us away from true salvation and faith in God. He did not want us to be saved, because of his hatred against the Lord, he wants only that His children, the mankind, suffer for that.

God chose us, and He justifies us, and if we remain faithful in Him, we will indeed receive abundant blessings in Him, and we will gain the promised eternal life and eternal bliss in union with our God. He chose us, and not we choose Him, for not all the people will be saved, and many remained in rebellion against God’s love and compassion, which He offered to all mankind for free, by dying on the cross.

That was what happened to the Jews in the Gentile lands, that despite the disciples attempting to spread the Good News to them first, being the first chosen people of our Lord, they have failed to see through the shadow placed by the evil one on their eyes and the ‘eyes’ of their hearts, and because they did not have true faith in God, they were easily taken over by the evil one, and reject the salvation offered freely by our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

And today, we listened to the story of the evangelisations done by the apostles, by St. Paul and Barnabas, who were at the forefront of the attempts to bring the Word of God to all the nations, to the pagans and Gentiles, whom we often see that they embrace the faith in God openly, because God becomes a living spring in them, and He fills the emptiness that was once within their souls and their hearts.

Again, God justifies anybody who believes in Him, remain in His love, and obey His commandments, and actually do His will rather than just mere lip-service in their faith in God. He did not let Himself be biased, even against Israel, His people, whom He had chosen through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers. For there were many whom did not belong to the Jews, but actually having greater faith and love for God than the Jews ever were.

Therefore, the same also applies to us today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that if all of us remain strongly in God’s love and favour, and that if we ensure that we do His will and commandments, and strive to be men of justice, love, and truth, we will be granted His graces and blessings, and truly becoming His beloved children, who are worthy of His kingdom and the eternal life. Let us go forth and make our actions and our words to reflect the love of God, and proclaim to all mankind that God is love, and God is life, and through Him we had been ransomed from death that is our fate. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 22 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 41 : 2-3 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, o God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Send forth Your light and Your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre and harp. O God, my God.

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(Easter Vigil) Saturday, 30 March 2013 : Easter Vigil of the Resurrection of the Lord, Holy Week (Psalm after Seventh Reading)

Psalm 41 : 3, 5 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Now as I pour out my soul, I remember all this – how I used to lead the faithful in procession to the house of God, amid shouts of joy and thanksgiving, among the feasting throng.

Send forth your light and your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre and harp, o God, my God.

 

Alternative Psalm (If there is baptism)

 

Psalm 50 : 12-15, 18, 19

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will show wrongdoers Your ways and sinners will return to You.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it.

O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart You will not despise.

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(Chrism Mass) Thursday, 28 March 2013 : Chrism Mass, Holy Week (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Christ, or the Anointed one of God, for He came from the Lord, and sent by the Lord God, He was anointed as the servant and the messenger of God’s wish and will in this world. Upon Him lay the works of salvation that would bring this world and all its people much closer to God.

He came to bring salvation, liberty to the captives, succour for the poor and the neglected ones. Love for the unloved and for the rejected ones. For through Him, God wanted to bring all mankind to Himself, especially these weak and little ones, whom He preferred over others. Since these little ones are more sincere in their love for God, being unfettered by chains of worldly temptations of power, greed, pride, avarice, and others.

He who is God and divine, is willing to give Himself up for our sake, to lower Himself such that He died a criminal’s death on the cross. A king crucified, a king humiliated, and a king despised, and yet, despite all this, He forgave all those who had shouted for His death, and prayed for them.

Despite His despair and suffering, He persevered through, all because of His love for all of us. Because of that infinite love, the huge amounts of our sins combined weighed heavily upon Him, but did not crush Him.

With every steps that Jesus took towards Calvary, He took with us all our afflictions and our corruptions by Satan and evil. He granted us salvation by the shedding of His Blood and His life, just as He had said, “No greater love than someone who lays down his life for his friend”. Yes, Jesus is our friend, He is our brother as all of us who believes in Him are the children of God, but even those who does not yet believe are also children of the same God, for did He not create all mankind?

Remember this, as we enter into the holiest season of the year in the Easter Triduum, the three most important days in our liturgical calendar, commemorating the institution of the Holy Eucharist, which became the basis of our salvation and the Mass that we have today, in the Eucharist we receive during Communion, and then also the Passion and death of our Lord, who died on the cross for us.

But again, all did not end there, for if our Lord Jesus Christ just died on the cross and was buried, it would have ended there, just like any other death, and just like any other man. But Jesus is the Son of God just as He is the Son of Man. Upon His death, He descended into hell, and in what is known as the harrowing of hell, He opened the prison and freed the innumerable faithful souls from the clutches of Satan and hell, and brought them with Him together in resurrection. This is why many dead ones were risen at the time of Christ’s resurrection, since through Christ’s death, He destroyed the power of death forever, and through His resurrection and life, He brought life back to the dead, that we all may live together with Him in paradise.

For remember that our God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did not die anymore, but are living now together with Him in heaven. When it is also time for us to depart this world, He will welcome us, and we will live with Him, with all His saints and angels in perfect happiness and harmony, without any more taints of evil and sin that had all these while chained us and enslaved us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as today the holy oils used for baptism, chrism, and the anointment of the sick are blessed, let us pray that God who anointed us with these oils will strengthen in us the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. May the Spirit continue to guide our path and our life, that through us, the love of God will be made manifest into this world through our good works, and may our faith in Him continues to grow and grow. Amen.

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Wednesday, 13 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 17-30

Jesus replied, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made Himself equal with God, calling God, His own Father.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. And whatever He does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does; and He will show Him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.”

“As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom He wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for He has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and He wants all to honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent Him.”

“Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live.”

“For the Father has life in Himself, and He has given to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has empowered Him as well as to carry out Judgment, for He is Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this; the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear My voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

“I can do nothing of Myself, and I need to hear Another One to judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”