Lord God

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Monday, 15 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 30 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 15-16, 20

In You, o Lord, I take refuge, may I never be disgraced; deliver Me in Your justice. Give heed to My plea, and make haste to rescue Me.

Be a rock of refuge for Me, a fortress for My safety. For You are My rock and My stronghold, lead me for Your Name’s sake.

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.

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.

How great is the goodness which You have stored for those who fear You, which You show, for all to see, to those who take refuge in You!

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Sunday, 14 September 2014 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 77 : 1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38

Give heed, o My people, to My teaching; listen to the words of My mouth! I will speak in parables, I will talk of old mysteries.

When He slew them, they repented and sought Him earnestly. They remembered that God was their Rock, the Most High, their Redeemer.

But they flattered Him with their mouths, they lied to Him with their tongues, while their hearts were unfaithful; they were untrue to His covenant.

Even then, in His compassion, He forgave their offenses and did not destroy them. Many a time He restrained His anger and did not fully stir up His wrath.

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Sunday, 14 September 2014 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Numbers 21 : 4b-9

The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”

YHVH then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against YHVH and against you. Plead with YHVH to take the serpents away.”

Moses pleaded for the people and YHVH said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.”

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.

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Thursday, 11 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 138 : 1-3, 13-14ab, 23–24

O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

It was You who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You for Your marvellous deeds.

Search me, o God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if my steps are going astray, and lead me in Your eternal way.

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Wednesday, 10 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the Gospel reading, of the content of the sermon of Jesus on a mount, also known as the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes, a series of blessings for those who walk righteously in the way of the Lord and lived according to what God had asked them to, namely to bring peace and love where there is hatred and violence, and those who focused on the Lord rather than on the things of this world.

And in that also lie the curses and warnings for those who do not walk in the path of the Lord, who oppress others and those who practice wickedness in life, preferring the path of Satan and the pleasures of the world to the way of God, which for them seem to be a more difficult and less promising path, and yet that is the only path towards salvation.

St. Paul in the first reading today, in his letter addressed to the faithful and the Church in Corinth spoke about how the faithful should be maintaining whatever good things and virtues that they committed, and avoid any misfortunes, impurities and the darkness of the world that could be brought through certain actions.

No one knows the plan of the Lord and the will of God fully except the Lord Himself and to those whom He had revealed His will and plans to. And what we know of the end times when Jesus will come again in His glory, we know it from what He Himself had told the disciples, and the more detailed explanations as we heard it from the Book of the Revelations which was written by St. John the Evangelist as he received a vision of what was to come.

No one knew when and at what moment the Lord would come again. Remember that Jesus Himself mentioned that He will come again when people least expect it, like a thief entering into the house, no one knows when and how it will happen. Thus, He urged all of His disciples and all of us to be ever vigilant and to be always prepared for all eventualities.

Therefore, this was why St. Paul wrote in the way he did in his letter, as it was truly not known when the Lord would come again, and it was frequently assumed at that time, that the second coming of Jesus would be soon and immediate. Therefore, it was really not that St. Paul was opposed to marriage, or to the people walking and acting in the ways of the world, but he was truly concerned for the salvation of their souls.

All the priests and many other servants of God are also greatly concerned with the salvation of our souls, all of those who had been entrusted to them, like sheep entrusted to the care of their shepherds. But we ourselves should be concerned with our own salvation, the salvation of our souls. For if we do not do something, then when the time comes suddenly, we will be found wanting, and will not have any part in God’s kingdom, condemned for eternity.

How do we do this then? How do we live our lives so that we can ensure our safety and protection from the danger of eternal damnation? None other than by following the teachings of the Lord, some examples of which are what in the Beatitudes, the blessings which Jesus pronounced for those who had committed those good deeds.

And this is not impossible for us to do. And if we do them, we are truly going to be found as worthy when the Lord comes again, and He will bless us with His grace. But if we fail to do as He said, and instead if we follow the ways of this world and immerse ourselves in corruption, then His curse will be upon us, and in the end, only suffering will await us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us heed the message of the Beatitudes, not just to be awed by them, but that we truly listen to that message, and then practice it in our lives. We should not worry if things are not perfect as we are bound to make mistakes, but what is important is that we should do better every time, and thus we should begin from now before it is too late.

Never wait, brethren, and be ready at all times. Do not wait until it is too late for us and we regret our mistakes. May Almighty God and Lord guide us in this life, that we may find our way to Him through what He had revealed to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

1 Corinthians 6 : 1-11

When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring it before pagan judges instead of bringing it before God’s people? Do you not know that you shall one day judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you incapable of judging such simple problems?

Do you not know that we will even judge the angels? And could you not decide every day affairs? But when you have ordinary cases to be judged, you bring them before those who are of no account in the Church! Shame on you! Is there not even one among you wise enough to be the arbiter among believers?

But no. One of you brings a suit against another one, and files that suit before unbelievers. It is already a failure that you have suits against each other. Why do you not rather suffer wrong and receive some damage? But no. You wrong and injure others, and those are your brothers and sisters. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God?

Make no mistake about it : those who lead sexually immoral lives, or worship idols, or who are adulterers, perverts, sodomites, or thieves, exploiters, drunkards, slanderers or embezzlers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Some of you were like that, but you have been cleansed and consecrated to God and have been set right with God by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God.

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Monday, 8 September 2014 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 1-16, 18-23

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.

Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife.

Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah. Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel as the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor, Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ – the Messiah.

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet : “The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 1 : 18-23

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet : “The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us.”

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Monday, 8 September 2014 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Micah 5 : 1-4a

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the One who is to rule over Israel. For He comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

YHVH, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she who is to give birth has given birth. Then the rest of His deported brothers will return to the people of Israel.

He will stand and shepherd His flock with the strength of YHVH, in the glorious Name of YHVH, His God. They will live safely while He wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.

Alternative reading

Romans 8 : 28-30

We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called according to His plan. Those whom He knew beforehand, He has also predestined to be like His Son, similar to Him, so that He may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And so, those whom God predestined He called, and those whom He called He makes righteous, and to those whom He makes righteous He will give His Glory.

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Sunday, 7 September 2014 : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 18 : 15-20

Jesus said, “If your brother has sinned against you, go and point out the fault, when two of you are in private, and if he listens to you, you have won your brother. If he does not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

“And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard such a one as a pagan, or a publican.”

“I say to you : whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound. In like manner, I say to you : if, on earth, two of you are united in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by My heavenly Father; for where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there among them.”

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Saturday, 6 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

1 Corinthians 4 : 6b-15

Learn by this example not to believe yourselves superior by siding with one against the other. How then are you more than the others? What have you that you have not received? And if you received it, why are you proud, as if you did not receive it?

So, then, you are already rich and satisfied, and feel like kings without us! I wish you really were kings, so that we might enjoy the kingship with you! It seems to me that God has placed us, the Apostles, in the last place, as if condemned to death, and as spectacles for the whole world, for the angels as well as for mortals.

We are fools for Christ, while you show forth the wisdom of Christ. We are weak, you are strong. You are honoured, while we are despised. Until now we hunger and thirst, we are poorly clothed and badly treated, while moving from place to place.

We labour, working with our hands. People insult us and we bless them, they persecute us and we endure everything; they speak evil against us, and ours are works of peace. We have become like the scum of the earth, like the garbage of humankind until now.

I do not write this to shame you, but to warn you as very dear children. Because even though you may have ten thousand guardians in the Christian life, you have only one Father; and it was I who gave you life in Christ through the Gospel.