Marian feasts

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Monday, 14 August 2017 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Chronicles 15 : 3-4, 15-16 and 1 Chronicles 16 : 1-2

Then David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the Ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered according to the command of YHVH.

David then told the leaders of the Levites to assign duties for some Levites to sing and play a joyful tune with their various musical instruments : harps and lyres and cymbals. They brought the Ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had prepared for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

And when David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the Name of YHVH.

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the memorial day and feast of the dedication of one of the Papal Major Basilicas in Rome, namely the Basilica of St. Mary Major, or known also as Santa Maria Maggiore. This is one of the four most important churches in Christendom, and the only one named in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary among the four.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore was built on a site which was donated to the Church in the early days of the emancipation and liberation of Christian worship and faith among the faithful, at the time following the toleration of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine. It was told that the site where the Basilica now stands was indicated to the nobleman who owned the land, who vowed to donate his possessions, as he was without a child and heir, to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And miraculously, at the height of summer in Rome, told be this very date, the fifth day of August, snows fell on the site atop a hill on which the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore or St. Mary Major now stands. Thereafter, the land was dedicated to the Church, and a great church and Basilica was built there. The Church was named as such because it was the largest of all the churches and parishes in Rome that was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now, why is it that we place so much honour and glory upon Mary? There are indeed many of those who would slander the Church and attack our beliefs just because they thought that we are idolising Mary and making her as if she is a goddess and a deity equivalent to God. But all of these in fact came about because of a gross misunderstanding of what it is that all of us Christian believe about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and thus the Mother of God.

We honour Mary because she is the mother of our God, since we believe that Jesus, her Son, is the Word of God and Son of God, Divine Incarnate Who assumed the flesh of Man through His mother Mary who gave Him His humanity as He was conceived in her womb and grew in her for the nine months of His presence before He was born into the world.

Mary is therefore the Ark of the New Covenant, for she carried within her the New Covenant which God established with us all His people, through Christ, Whose death on the cross and the shedding of His Blood, as the Lamb of Sacrifice, offered to God a perfect offering for the absolution of our sins, and seal the Covenant which He established anew with all of us, one that will last for eternity.

Just as the original Ark of the Covenant contained within it the sacred Commandments and Laws of God, the sign of His Covenant with Israel, Mary as the New Ark is far more precious, for unlike the original Ark made from wood, gold and other precious materials, made by the hands of men, Mary was created by God Himself, and as our Christian faith explained, she was was created and conceived without any taints of original sin.

But that is not just the only reason why we honour Mary above any other human beings, as the greatest among the ones whom God had created, above all saints and other holy men and women. We do not honour Mary just because she was made special and conceived immaculate without sin, but because throughout her life, she has also continued to keep her life pure and worthy of God, devoting herself completely to the Lord.

Mary is our role model in life, because she has been faithful and true all her life, true to her devotion and commitment to her Son, that she followed Him through, from the moment He was conceived in her womb, to His birth, and then through His growing years and childhood, showing as great love and care as a mother can possibly give to her child. She followed through, even through difficult moments, and walked with her Son to the cross at Calvary.

The faith and dedication which Mary had is truly exemplary for all of us, and we should all follow in her footsteps. As the Lord Jesus Himself mentioned in the Gospel today, that all those who have kept the word of God and practiced the word of God in their lives will truly be blessed, therefore, Mary who showed us all the way to the Lord, had been obedient and committed to the Lord all her life.

She placed her full and complete trust in God, and obeyed all of His words and commandments, placing herself in His hands, entrusting all that He had planned to do for all mankind through her. How many of us are able to achieve this total surrender of oneself as Mary, the mother of our Lord has done? How many of us are able to answer the Lord as firmly and faithfully as Mary had answered the revelation of the Archangel Gabriel? To have the Lord's will be done upon us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we all rejoice together in the memory of the dedication of the great Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Santa Maria Maggiore, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, by looking at the examples shown through the faith of Mary, the mother of God. Let us all walk in her footsteps and learn to persevere in our faith, just as she had persevered to walk through the agonising journey of accompanying her Son in His great Passion and suffering.

Let us all seek to be closer to God, through Mary, for it is indeed through Mary, that we will be able to find the surest and the best way to reach out to the Lord, His salvation and the eternal glory He has promised all those who believed in Him. May Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for us and intercede for us always at the presence of her Son in heaven. Pray for us, o Holy Mother of God. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, "This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John."

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, "It is not right for you to have her as your wife." Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish."

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John's disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, "Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!"

Jesus replied, "Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well."

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 7-8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

The land has given its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19

My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Leviticus 25 : 1, 8-17

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai : "When seven Sabbaths of years have passed, that is, seven times seven years, there shall be the time of the seven weeks of years, that is forty-nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month sound the trumpet loudly. On this Day of Atonement sound the trumpet all through the land."

"Keep holy the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom for all the inhabitants of the land. It shall be a jubilation year for you when each one shall recover his property and go back to his family. In this fiftieth year, your year of Jubilee, you shall neither sow nor reap the aftergrowth, nor gather the grapes from the uncultivated vines. This Jubilee year shall be holy for you, and you shall eat what the field yields of itself without cultivation."

"In this year of Jubilee each of you shall recover his own property. When you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from him, do not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy it from your neighbour and according to the number of years left for harvesting crops he shall sell to you."

"When the years are many the price shall be greater and when the years are few the price shall be less, for it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. So you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear your God, for I am YHVH, your God."

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the throne, "Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them, and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away."

The One seated on the throne said, "See, I make all things new."

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Wednesday, 31 May 2017 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which essentially commemorates the moment when Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus visited her cousin Elizabeth in the mountainous regions of Judea, travelling there to see how her cousin Elizabeth was doing, after hearing the miraculous news of her pregnancy at a very old age.

Elizabeth was then pregnant with St. John the Baptist, the herald of the Messiah, who was miraculously conceived after many years of unsuccessful marriage without any children between Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah. At the same time, Mary was bearing within her, the Lord and Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, Who was conceived in her by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Word and Son of God Who took up the flesh of man to be born of the Virgin, Mary.

That was why the feast of the Visitation happens after the feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary to proclaim her the Good News of God, that she would become the mother of God. Upon the acceptance of Mary, as she said to the Archangel Gabriel, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me as He willed it.’, the Lord was conceived in her womb.

Through these two simple, humble and yet pious women, the Lord had made the salvation which He had promised to His people for a long time into a reality. He had promised them from the beginning of time, from the time when mankind first fell into sin, by telling them that salvation will come to them through their descendant, through a Woman whom God will bless as the bearer of the Saviour.

Therefore, as we today celebrate this feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, all of us have to keep in mind, first of all, how the Lord has loved us so much and blessed us so much, that He has given us the best of all gifts possible, by the giving of His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour and Liberator, that all of us may be freed from our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in what we heard in the Gospel today, when Mary came to the house of Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth was so joyful that he reacted with jubilation and his mother could feel his joy, knowing that the Lord and Saviour has come. In that manner, St. John the Baptist had done the first of his duties as the herald of the Messiah, announcing to all the coming of the Lord.

And Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, sang the song of jubilation and praise, which we also know as the Magnificat. Such was her joy of having received the fullness of God’s grace by entrusting the salvation of the world through her, by the Child in her womb. This is the same joy we all should have, having received such great love and grace from God.

Secondly then, all of us should take note the way of life these two holy women had done, righteous and just throughout their lives, especially that of Mary, the mother of our Lord. She has faithfully committed herself completely to her Son, and to the mission which has been entrusted to her as the mother of God and Saviour.

She has faithfully walked the path, beginning from her acceptance at the time of the Annunciation, and then to the Nativity, when she had to give birth to her firstborn Son in a stable, and had to escape the persecution of king Herod. She has had the joy of following her Son as He grew from a Child to become the One through Whom the world was to be saved.

And she has to endure the greatest pain a mother can have, that is to see her own Son arrested, tortured, ridiculed, rejected by those to whom He had given Himself to in service and love, and ultimately dying on the cross. Yet, Mary remained faithful all the way, even to the foot of the cross and to the tomb. This is why she is our role model in faith, and all of us Christians should follow her examples in our life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us from now on reaffirm our faith in God, and reaffirm our commitment to live a faithful life devoted to Him. Let us all draw closer to the Lord and always strive to do as what He had told us to do, as Mary and Elizabeth had done. And let us all always be filled with joy, knowing that through God, our salvation has come, and indeed, all of us should share that joy and truth with the whole world.

May the Lord bless us all and remain with us always, especially through times of challenges and difficulties, that we will not falter and fall into sin. May He continue to bless our works and guide us at all times, that we will always walk in His path. Amen.

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Wednesday, 31 May 2017 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 1 : 39-56

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour! He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed.”

“The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name! From age to age His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”

“He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

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Wednesday, 31 May 2017 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 12 : 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

He is the God of my salvation; in Him I trust and am not afraid. YHVH is my strength : Him I will praise, the One Who saved me. You will draw water with joy from the very fountain of salvation.

Praise to the Lord, break into songs of joy for Him, proclaim His marvellous deeds among the nations and exalt His Name.

Sing to the Lord : wonders He has done, let these be known all over the earth. Sing for joy, o people of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

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Wednesday, 31 May 2017 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Zephaniah 3 : 14-18

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving Warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love. For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.

I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be ashamed.

Alternative reading
Romans 12 : 9-16b

Let love be sincere. Hate what is evil and hold to whatever is good. Love one another and be considerate. Outdo one another in mutual respect. Be zealous in fulfilling your duties. Be fervent in the Spirit and serve God.

Have hope and be cheerful. Be patient in trials and pray constantly. Share with other Christians in need. With those passing by, be ready to receive them. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not wish evil on anyone. Rejoice with those who are joyful, and weep with those who weep.

Live in peace with one another. Do not dream of extraordinary things.

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Saturday, 13 May 2017 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, 100th Anniversary (Centenary) of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we as the whole Church are all celebrating a very special occasion and anniversary of one very significant event in our faith, one that happened not that long ago such that it was still relatively fresh in the living memory, that is about a century ago in Fatima, a small village in Portugal, in the year of our Lord 1917.

At that time, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three young villagers, named Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia. She appeared to them bearing messages to the people of God, calling mankind to repentance, and to rediscover their faith in God. There are many messages which Our Lady’s apparition, later known as Our Lady of Fatima, passed on through the three children.

She came at the time in the world where there were so many great evils lurking around, in the midst of the first World War, then known as the Great War, where millions of people lost their lives over conflict of national interests and sovereignty, over human greed and pride, over all worldly concerns and other things. Millions more people had been displaced from their homes and their dwellings, and had become refugees in their own lands.

And the year 1917 was the beginning of the Communist movement gaining momentum and power throughout the world, beginning in Russia, when the Bolshevik Revolution succeeded in allowing the Communists to establish the world’s first Communist regime. And this in time would result in the extermination of countless faithful, both the laity and the priests alike, the closure of many churches and parishes, and the spread of atheism throughout not just Russia but also through many other parts of the world.

Our Lady of Fatima made her appearance to the three children of Fatima, two of whom are now Blessed and will soon be made as Saints, right at the anniversary today, because she is the mother of our Lord, whom the Lord Jesus Himself had entrusted to all of us as our own mother, by His entrusting of her to His disciple St. John as He hung from the cross. Therefore, at the same time, just as she is our mother, we have also all been adopted as her children.

After all, which mother does not love her children? If a mother refuses to love her children, or neglect those children she had, then even if the children were her own biological children, she should be ashamed of even calling or considering herself as a mother. But Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, is truly our mother, because not only that she is concerned for our well-being, but she also tries her best to help us as we journey through this journey of life towards the end, trying out to reach the Lord and His salvation.

She has made frequent apparitions, and in the recent years alone, the two most well known of those were made, namely at Lourdes and at Fatima, in order to remind us all, the children of God, whom God had made to be her children as well, that all of us mankind must turn away from our sinful ways, and begin to make our journey towards repentance and forgiveness from our sins.

Otherwise, much sufferings, sorrows and evils will come out of our human behaviours, as shown and proven right at the very moment Our Lady of Fatima chose to make her appearance. The Great War or the first World War was the product of human greed, of the desire for power, for wealth, for renown and many other things, first of which is human ego, which led to men killing one another and making sufferings to happen on each other because they could not restrain themselves from the temptations.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it may have been a century since the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, but the message she had spoken to us all through the three Fatima children remain true to this very day. It may seem that in our world today, things are now less chaotic and dangerous than it was a hundred years ago, and yet, if we pay a closer attention to what is happening around us, we will realise that mankind have not yet learnt from the lessons of their past.

There are many people who continue, in the pursuit of their personal desires and wishes, to oppress other people and cause suffering upon other people, and there are also still the forces of those who refuse to believe in God, and impose their will on the faithful people of God, causing much harm and suffering on the people of God, much as how it had happened in the past.

Therefore, a century after the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three children at Fatima, delivering grim messages of destruction if mankind were to continue in their current path, and how we should act in order to avoid that fate, by bringing ourselves closer to God through the path that Our Lady had shown us, now the challenge is upon us, in order to listen again to what she had told Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia, and reflect on our own deeds in life, and think of what we can do, in order to be ever more faithful to God.

As Christians, all of us should do our best to help one another to live faithfully in accordance with the ways of the Lord, turning ourselves completely away from sin, and abandoning all sorts of wickedness and evil, and seek to serve the Lord with all of our might. Let us all listen to the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, and begin our way towards redemption, as we turn away from selfishness and worldly temptations, and renew our commitment to the Lord.

Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, should be our role model in life, as she is the paragon of virtue and obedience, as someone who had dedicated her entire life in the service of God, by obediently following her Son, Jesus our Lord, throughout His entire ministry in this world. She obeyed the Lord with faith, entrusting herself to God and His plans, and therefore, she became for all of us, an example in faith not surpassed by any other.

That is why we have such a deep devotion to Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, because we honour her great faith and commitment to live her life in accordance with the will of God. Let us all remember this, whenever we try to act selfishly and bring suffering on others, that our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, had been ever so selfless in her life, that she gave her all to love her Son, Jesus, and always thinking of Him all the time, the perfect love shown by a mother to her Son.

Let us all remember that despite all the darkness present in our lives today, and despite all the evils and wickedness that we mankind commit in this world, all of us as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord, can follow in the footsteps of Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, whose faith in God and life was brilliantly bright, that we can become beacons of light, to bring light to those who are living in the darkness, and make our world a better place, and save more souls from the damnation to hell and the darkness.

O, Our Lady of Fatima, Most Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for all of us sinners who are still struggling with our lives in this world. Help us to persevere in faith as you have done, and pray for our sake before your Son, our Lord and God, and help us to say in sincerity the prayer which the Angel your Son had sent to the three children had taught us to pray, for the sake of our souls and their salvation from eternal death and damnation in hell.

Let us all pray together, brothers and sisters in Christ, with the words taught to us by the Angel at Fatima a hundred years ago, “O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of Your mercy.” Amen.