Mass homily

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Sunday, 11 January 2015 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, celebrating that moment when Christ began His ministry in this world, as the official beginning of His works, by the baptism which He took through John the Baptist, His herald and messenger, the one sent to prepare the way for Him. This is also to set the precedent for all of us the faithful, we who have received the holy seal of baptism as the mark and sign of divine favour, our Lord’s love for us.

On this feast day, all of us should be thinking about our own baptism, and remember the day when we were baptised, be it as a young infant newly born, or as a teenager or an adult, or even in our waning years, as we made the crucial and good decision of taking up the Lord’s cross and chose to follow Him as His disciples. We should all remember that day, when we are brought to the presence of God, and in His presence, we were sealed with the holy waters of baptism, marked as the children and possessions of our Lord.

And with that, Satan and his allies, the forces of darkness and this world no longer has power and authority over us, and they since that moment are not able to harm us anymore, for the Lord is ever before us, destroying all those who seek harm for us, His children and His beloved people. And baptism is also a pivotal moment, when our sins, the chains of the original sins of mankind, the disobedience our ancestors had shown to the Lord, are removed from us.

Sin is the tool that Satan is using to enslave us all mankind and prevent us from finding our way to the Lord. Sin is the means by which Satan tempts us to walk in his rebellious ways and turn against God, and baptism is meant to sever our connections and indeed our chains, the chains of our enslavement by sin. This is why we have to remember our own baptism, and for those among us who still seek the baptism of the Lord, then we have to put our entire heart’s focus on it. Because through baptism, we who were wicked and deserved death have been brought into the new hope of new life in Christ.

God is forever faithful and loving to us, and thus He shall never abandon us to destruction. It is we who have forsaken our Lord, who cares for us and the only One to show us true love. Therefore He made that act of love, of ultimate love, by the sending of His Son into the world, that through Him, the baptism He offers mankind, and through His loving sacrifice on the cross, the ultimate act of obedience to the will of God.

In the first reading of today from the book of the prophet Isaiah, God reaffirmed this love which He has for us, and called us back to Himself. He did not desire to punish us or to destroy us, unless if we ourselves want to be destroyed and rejected because we refused His generous offer of love, forgiveness and mercy. It was told that we should seek the Lord while we still can, and while it is not yet too late, and indeed, that is what we all ought to do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us who have received the Sacrament of Baptism in the Church ought to rejoice, for it had indeed not been too late for us. We have made that solemn and crucial decision of choosing the Lord over that of Satan and the world, and we were baptised in the Faith, and became the children of God. We surely have heard of those who prefer to postpone their baptism until the last minute, that is until death is knocking at the door.

But, those who did so failed to see, that firstly, we have no control or knowledge over what our fate will be in the days, months and years to come. We know only of the past we had, and the present in which we all live in. Only God knows what we are to face, and therefore, we should not wait until it is too late. There are certainly cases of those who delayed until the last minute, and when death comes without their knowledge, sudden and unexpected, only eternal regret and suffering will remain with them forever in hell.

Therefore, on this feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are all reminded that we should take our baptism seriously. Baptism is not just a one-off event after which we have no need to be concerned anymore with it and progress on with our own respective lives. Baptism is just the beginning, brethren, that is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, the chapter of our life as the children of God and as the members of His Church.

Baptism is the beginning of our journey of faith together with God, and also together with all the members of the Church, with the Pope, the bishops and the priests, and with every single one of those who have been accepted into the Church, that is baptised in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe that faith alone and baptism alone does not bring about salvation, as these require action and genuine effort for us to achieve it.

Baptism is like the reset button, which resets our life once again back to the zero point, and it is also like an eraser, providing us with a clean slate from which to begin anew. In the ceremony of the Sacrament of Baptism, all of us or our godparents made the profession of the Faith together and affirm our rejection of all of Satan’s lies and temptations, and this is the moment when we abandon our old lives filled with sin and embrace the new life offered by the Lord.

Yes, brethren, a life no longer filled with wanton desires, greed or selfishness, a life no longer filled by jealousy, lies and falsehoods, but from then on, from the moment of our baptism, we have a new life, a life following the teachings and the ways of our Lord, as He had revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. This feast of His Baptism by John today is a remarkable event, when God revealed yet again to the world, the truth which He was bringing through Christ.

Why do we believe in the Holy Trinity, brothers and sisters? That is because at that baptism in the Jordan, we see the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit together as One unity, God inseparable and yet three in aspects. The Father affirms the Son, while the Son is in the world, doing the will of the Father, and the Spirit is the mover of all things. All three united in perfect harmony, and through John who witnessed all the events, He proclaimed Himself to the world.

This is God who has loved us so much that He is willing to send His own Son to us, so that we may be saved. And by that baptism we witnessed today we know that through the same baptism, we have experienced the same event of that day in the Jordan, sharing with Christ the grace of God. Just as Jesus Christ the Son received from the Lord God the Father the affirmation, that He is the Son, His Beloved, therefore all of us also share in the same kinship as Christ, being all made as the sons and daughters of God.

And now that we have been made the children of God through baptism, do we take it easy and continue to live our lives as we had lived before our baptism? Of course not! Imagine that if we live as we have lived before, with wickedness and vices, with selfishness and greed, then who will believe that we are the children of God? No one will believe that we belong to the Lord, but instead we belong to Satan and his allies, and though we have received baptism and be cleansed from our sins, but the sins we commit afterwards will be our undoing.

As long as we walk in this world, in our mortal flesh, we will always be prone and vulnerable to sin. Therefore we must be ever vigilant and be careful as we live in this world, that we sin no more or at least we must learn to restrain the urge and the temptation to sin again. It is part of the cross we have to carry as the followers of Christ, to resist the temptations of Satan. After all, brethren, remember that Christ our Lord was also tempted?

He was tempted in His humanity in every way we have been tempted, with greed, fame, power and praise, but He triumphed, to show that there is indeed a way out of sin, and that it is possible to say no to Satan and reject him. And His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection shows that sin and death does not have the final say on us mankind. All those who believe in Jesus and all of His teachings, and who accept to be baptised as He had commanded His Church to do, shall be saved and be freed from the fate of eternal death and suffering.

Now what remains is for us all to make ourselves truly worthy children of God. As I have mentioned, baptism is the new beginning for us, and from then on we have to prove that we stay faithful to the Lord. Our faith cannot be one that is passive and superficial, as faith without good works, as St. James mentioned in his epistle, is essentially dead.

Therefore today, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate this feast and celebration of our Lord Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan, let us all remember our own baptism, and if we were too young to remember it, then let us all seek those who have the memories of that event, such as our godparents and parents. This is so that we can remember the promise which we or our godparents had made on our behalf, the promise of resistance and rejection of all of Satan’s falsehoods and lies.

And lastly, let today be a reminder for us all as well, that we have a duty and mission to carry out as a baptised member of the Church. Jesus before He ascended to heaven leave one last mission to His Apostles, a mission that is still ongoing even today. He commanded them to go to all the ends of the earth preaching the Good News and calling on all the peoples to repent and follow the Lord, and to baptise them all in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Thus, let us all begin if we have not begun, to live according to our faith and according to what we believe in Jesus. Let us all from now on walk the talk, and truly mean what we preach. No one will believe us or follow us in the way of Christ, no matter how good we preach to them, if we ourselves do not show that faith in our lives, in our words, our deeds and actions.

Hence, let us all do the will of God by showing faith in our daily actions, and through that, let us reaffirm the profession of faith we made at our baptism, rejecting Satan in all of his lies and wickedness. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/10/sunday-11-january-2015-feast-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/10/sunday-11-january-2015-feast-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord-psalm/

 

Second Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/10/sunday-11-january-2015-feast-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/10/sunday-11-january-2015-feast-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord-gospel-reading/

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Saturday, 10 January 2015 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about baptism, the baptism which John the Baptist had performed, and the baptism which Jesus and His disciples also performed at the Jordan River. Then in the first reading from the First Letter of St. John spoke about sin, and the responsibility which we have to remind one another, in order to keep each other free from the taints of sin.

Today we prepare for tomorrow’s celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the feast which marks the beginning of the official period of God’s service in the world through Jesus Christ. The ministry of Jesus in the world officially began after He was baptised at the River Jordan by John the Baptist. In the Gospel today, we heard about the beginning of that ministry, which was to bring mankind and the world, great blessings and graces which continue even until today and beyond.

And what is the mission that Christ came into this world with? It is with the singular purpose of bringing God’s love to real and concrete contact with us mankind, through Jesus Christ the Son of God. And the purpose of baptism is to bring mankind closer to God and into direct contact with the salvation in Jesus, by the removal of the barriers which come between us and our loving Lord and God.

And what is this barrier that stand between us and the Lord? It is sin and all of its forms. Sin and wickedness, the corruptions of evil in our hearts, our minds and our bodies are the primary barriers and obstacles that make it difficult for us to approach the Lord. Sin corrupts our heart and turn our attentions away from the Lord, as it distorts our perception of all things around us and closes our eyes, blinding us from the love and mercy of our God.

What our Lord wants is to free us from sin, from the enslavement to sin, and from the punishment that sin brings, that is death. And that is why He brought the gift of baptism to us, the cleansing of our body, mind, heart and soul from the depredation and corruption of sin, and while we were once sinful and filled with wickedness, because of baptism we were made clean, healed from our spiritual affliction of sin, and made holy and pure as the children of God.

For through baptism we are made the children of God, adopted through Christ who had reunited us with God our Father, and we are also made the members of His one and only Church, the communion and unity among all of His faithful ones, the vessel of His salvation in this world. But this does not mean that, because of baptism then we can be complacent or slack in how we live out our lives with faith. Otherwise, the forces of Satan and his allies will corrupt us once again with sin, and darken our path that we may be lost on our way.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to live out our faith with true and genuine expression of our faith, that we ought to practice what we believe in, and not just merely paying a lip service to it. That is not true faith but a perversion of it. We cannot say that we are faithful to the Lord but our actions show otherwise, as them we will become the mockery of the nations.

We who are in the Church are charged with the responsibility and the mission which Jesus Himself had entrusted to the Apostles. What did He tell us? That we have to go forth to the whole world and to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord so that many and more will hear of the salvation that exists only in Christ and therefore they may be saved, through the holy baptism in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Brethren, we must not take baptism lightly, for through it we were sealed and made the possessions of the Lord. It is a holy sacrament, and if we do not live up to our faith after our baptism, then we have to account it to the Lord our God. If we are to spread God’s Good News to the nations, then our faith to Him must be genuine and real for others to believe in us. We must walk the talk, or else no one will believe in us, and they will then be lost, and the responsibility for that loss then will also fall upon us.

Therefore, today, as we prepare for tomorrow’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, let us all be faithful to God, not just in mere profession of the faith, but also through real action, and then, we must not forget that, we have to follow the example of John the Baptist, who served God faithfully, and yet took no credit for himself. He humbly submitted himself to the will of God and served and worked with great devotion. Let us all follow his examples and become better children of God, and bring all our brethren to the salvation in God, that together we shall be found righteous and just. God be with us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Saturday, 10 January 2015 : Saturday after the Epiphany (First Reading)


Psalm :

Saturday, 10 January 2015 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/09/saturday-10-january-2015-saturday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Friday, 9 January 2015 : Friday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded of the purpose of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world. He came not just for nothing or just to save the righteous ones, but even more importantly, from the story of the healing of the leper, we should know that Jesus came into the world in order to save the weak, the sinners, the wicked and all those who have been lost to Him.

Remember that Jesus Himself said to the Pharisees to rebuke them? He said that He came into the world not to save the righteous nor the healthy, but to save those who need His help, those who are separated from His love, and all those who are far away from His grace. He came as a doctor to heal the illness of the sick, and for our case, this illness and sickness is sin, the taint and corruption on our body and soul that prevented us from receiving the grace of God.

In short, Jesus desires for us to be forgiven from our sins, to be cleansed from our iniquities and sins, and to be made whole again, so that no one will be lost in the end. All those who are lost will be brought back together again, so that in the grace of God they may be saved. That is the meaning and intention of God’s love, which He freely offers to all those who seek Him and who are willing to listen to His urgings and calls.

But all this cannot happen without our part to play, and we need to do something on our part ourselves. God offers us His salvation and grace freely, but if we are not responsive and unreceptive to His offers, then it will be useless for us. We will not be part of God’s salvation. We must be receptive and also take the initiative to allow the work of God to take place in ourselves, so that God’s salvation may come to work for us.

Jesus Himself said that if we need anything, we only have to ask and it shall be given to us, and we just have to knock at the door, and the door will be opened for us. That is the truth, and God is generous with His love. The problem is of course that many of us for various reasons refuse to do these, and therefore shutting ourselves out from the richness of God’s grace.

Many of us are too proud to ask for God’s help, or to lower ourselves to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, and that is why many of us are still lost in the darkness of this world, and many of us continue to sin because we are too proud and haughty, thinking too highly of ourselves to humbly beg for the forgiveness for our sins. And on the other hand, many of us are also too afraid to ask for God’s help because we fear His punishment, His anger and His wrath, and hence, again we continue to live in sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if any of us are among these two groups of people, then we should indeed reflect, on the love of God, which He had shown through Jesus and through His loving sacrifice on the cross, the torture and sufferings He went through for our sake. We should open wide the doors of our heart to allow the Lord to come into us and to transform us from being the creatures of evil and sin into the people of the Light.

Therefore, let us all show love in our actions, loving one another and caring for each other, forgiving one another of the faults and mistakes we have done to each other. We have to live out our faith with real action, and we have to open up ourselves to the Lord, not to enclose ourselves within our pride and fear. Do not let pride prevent us from seeking out to the Lord and seeking His forgiveness for our sins. And of course, we should not allow our fear to come in the way of our seeking of the love of God.

May our Almighty and loving God be with us always, that we may not lose our way as we find our way towards Him and His salvation. May all of us grow stronger in faith and love, so that in all things we say, do and act, we may have the love of God in us. Let us throw far, far away all forms of pride and fear from our hearts and embrace God with love. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Friday, 9 January 2015 : Friday after the Epiphany (First Reading)


Psalm :

Friday, 9 January 2015 : Friday after the Epiphany (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/08/friday-9-january-2015-friday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Thursday, 8 January 2015 : Thursday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen about the fulfillment of the Law and the prophecies of the prophets and messengers of God in Jesus, which He Himself proclaimed as He read from the very prophecy of Isaiah at the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth. In Jesus God had made manifest His love, which entered this world and dwells among us even now, for Christ is in us, and we live in Him, all of us who put our faith to Him and believe in Him.

But if we read later on what happened after Jesus had proclaimed Himself as the Messiah, we would find out that His own townspeople, His own neighbours rejected Him, as they were too fixated on their own ego and human desires, thinking that because they knew Him who had lived and dwelled among them for a long time, then they had the right to judge who He was.

They thought of Him as a mere carpenter’s Son, and being in the family of a carpenter, they thought lowly of Him. In their minds, they thought, how could this mere Carpenter be the Messiah or be the One to bring the salvation of all mankind? They thought that because they saw Him doing menial job of a carpenter, cutting the logs and making furnitures, then they got the right to judge His character.

But they were wrong, as it is the same too for many of us, as we are often so blinded by our imperfect human perceptions, biased by our flawed sense of judgment, biased by our desires and even greed, and biased by our upbringing and the varied influences of the world. How often is it that we are jealous of what others have and we do not have with us? How often is it that we crave what others have, wishing that we have them too, be it by force or other means?

Brethren in Christ, we often do not realise God’s presence among us and within us, indeed because we are often selfish and thinking only about ourselves and nothing else. We are too caught up with the concerns of this world to even notice about the Lord working His subtle works in our world, and among us all. Remember, that God is Love, and Jesus is the manifestation of that great love which He has for us. Even though He is no longer physically in the world because He ascended into heaven, but His love is still with us and is still present with us.

And the essence of His love is still with us too, even though He has ascended to heaven, but because He has given us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, to all of us who believe in Him, and to all of us who have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour, we have received Him, His Real Presence and True Body and Blood into ourselves. As such, we have the Lord and His love dwelling in us.

We should therefore be conscious of this love which God had shown us through Christ. We must not be like the people of Nazareth who were indifferent and even openly hostile against Him for they were blinded by their own ego, by their own prejudice and jealousy. We must not follow their examples, and instead we all must be humble, knowing how much love God has poured unto us, even though we are sinners, wicked and unworthy.

This season of Christmas, which we still celebrate even today, is a season of celebration of God’s love for us all, which was made fully and completely real and concrete, through the loving entry of Himself, through the Son, into the world, and His birth at Bethlehem, as a humble Baby, the One who would change the world and all of us forever.

For Christ calls us, even now, just as He had done so often in the past, to repent and change our sinful ways. He has lovingly sacrificed Himself and offered Himself as the perfect oblation and offering to free us forever from sin and its consequences, but this can only happen if we too accept what He has done for us and recognise what He has done for us. Thus we have to learn to recognise Christ present within us and around us, by knowing His love, understanding it and applying it in our own lives.

God has given us all love, by sharing it through His Son, who is with us, and this love needs to be shared with one another. If we keep this love within ourselves, then it will wither and be gone, but if we share it, it will grow stronger and ever stronger. Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all share our love with one another, living our lives filled with faith, faith in God’s love. May Almighty God be our guide and our strength, so that through us all, He may call many more peoples of many nations to be reunited with Himself. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/07/thursday-8-january-2015-thursday-after-the-epiphany-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/07/thursday-8-january-2015-thursday-after-the-epiphany-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/07/thursday-8-january-2015-thursday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Wednesday, 7 January 2015 : Wednesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the truth proclaimed in the Scriptures and the Gospel, that our Lord is with us and He dwells among us, even now, as He had been, and will ever be. He will always be with us, as long as we remain faithful to our love for Him. He is ever faithful, ever graceful and ever providing for us, a loving and gentle Lord who cares for every single one of His people.

In the Gospel, we heard about Jesus walking through the storm on the water while the boat that the disciples boarded was battered with the winds and the waves, threatening to sink them. They were frightened and were filled with fear, and the sight of Jesus walking on the water towards them frightened them even more, and this was because they lacked the faith, which they should have in Jesus.

The disciples of Christ were always with Him, helping Him in His works and ministry, following Him wherever He went to, and became His faithful servants and helpers in proclaiming the Good News of God. What is this Good News? It is exactly what the First Reading today from the Letter of St. John had revealed to us, that the Lord had sent His Son into the world, and by the dwelling of the Son in the form of the flesh of Man, He is with us.

For Christ is the purest and most concrete manifestation of God’s love for us, the love that has become real and tangible, which we can see and feel with our senses. He came so that He may dwell within us, and thus the love of God may also dwell in us and we would know what love truly is. True love is just as what God had shown us through Jesus, the loving sacrifice He had committed, giving up His own life in exchange for ours, and through that act, gained new life for us all.

True love does not demand returns, and it is unconditional by nature just like what Jesus had done for us. We are sinners and tainted, wicked and undeserving of life and salvation, and yet, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners, as we are still today. He did not hesitate to do so, even though He must have fully known the kind of suffering and pain He would have to go through in order to achieve our salvation and liberation from sin.

The readings of this day teach us that we have God on our backs, and He will support us and provide for us, as long as we are faithful to Him, and as long as we are faithful, we do not have to worry about anything. We worry because we start to lose our faith in God and our firm faith in Him is being undermined. By what? By our own sense of insecurities, by our insatiable desires, and by many other things that distract us from our attention and focus towards the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, the Master of the Dominican Order or also known as the Order of Preachers. St. Raymond of Penyafort had been very faithful and devoted to the Lord from the beginning, from his youth, and he dedicated much of his life in the service of God, to the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the lost sheep of the Lord.

St. Raymond of Penyafort led a simple but dedicated life, one that was filled with the love and concern for the people of God who were still lost to the darkness. Thus, in accordance of the part he played in the Dominican order, or the Order of Preachers, St. Raymond preached about the Faith to many people, especially those who have yet to accept Christ, Jesus our Lord, as their Lord and Saviour. Through his words, he changed their hearts and helped them to allow themselves to open their hearts to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our world today there are many people who remain blinded against the love of God, for their heart’s desires, their pride, their greed, their vanity and others often come in between them and their ability to recognise the love of God. Thus, by understanding what we had heard today in the Gospel and the Scriptures, and by witnessing the examples of St. Raymond of Penyafort and his dedications, let us all also do the same, helping one another especially those who are still lost in the world.

Therefore, let us from now on redirect our energies and efforts, that we may lead others from a life of vice and sin, not knowing the Lord and His love, into one that is firmly founded on the foundation of God’s eternal love. Let us all help each other to reach out to the Lord, and may our loving God, the Almighty Father, also guide us, help us and remain with us always. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 6 January 2015 : Tuesday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if yesterday we heard about the actions of Christ our Lord, who came into this world to save it, then today we are reflecting on the very love of God which He had made manifest through Jesus, our Lord, through whose action as we heard in the Gospel today, we see for real the concrete and genuine love which God has for His people.

In the Gospel today we heard about the famous and well-known feeding by Jesus of the multitude of five thousand men, not counting together the women and children. Jesus performed the great miracle of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes, that all of the numerous throngs of people had enough to eat and even with much extra leftovers filling up twelve full baskets.

This was the proof of God’s love for us mankind, not just by mere words and empty promises, but through real action, which He Himself committed in this world through His Word Incarnate into Man, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus saw the multitudes of people who followed Him, and He had pity on them, for He loved them and those people to Him were like sheep without a shepherd, lost in the darkness of the world.

And thus, Jesus showed them His love and cared for them, providing them not just with physical food and nourishment, but also with food and nourishment for their spirits. The feeding done by Jesus through His miracle, where He fed more than five thousand people is a proof of God’s love in feeding and caring for His people, just as He had done before. Remember the feeding of the Israelites with manna, the bread from heaven? They were fed for forty years, the entirety of their journey, and the Lord also made large birds available for them to catch as their food.

But we have to remember also, what Christ had said when He was tempted the first time by Satan. He was very hungry and Satan tempted Him by asking Him to turn the stones into bread for Him to eat. But Jesus rebuked Satan, saying that men does not survive on bread alone, but on every words that came out of the mouth of God. And that was exactly what Jesus also did to the people. He fed them the spiritual food of His words and teachings.

When the people were hungry and their stomachs were empty, He fed them with much food, so much that there was excess, and as they were like sheep lost without their shepherds, Jesus became their Shepherd, leading them from harm’s way that is the darkness, and lead them into the Light. He taught them the meaning of the Law and how to live according to the will of God, following His way of leading a good and devoted life.

In that, He cared for His flock, the sheep that He had gathered back from the world, and those whom He had called to follow Him. He provided them with what they need, with the food for the flesh, and the food for their spirits. But He did not stop at that, for the gift of God’s love went all the way, providing us all with a new life, by none other than the ultimate act of love which Christ performed for our sake.

For Christ has taken the burdens of our sins upon Himself, and loaded them upon His shoulders. The cross He bore on the way of suffering to Calvary is the proof of His ultimate and undying love for all of us. He bore all the sufferings and pains of the sins we have, so that as He suffered from them and died because of them, we may ourselves be freed from the consequences of those sins, as long as we believe in Christ.

And He also gave us His love by the shedding and the sharing of His own Body and Blood, that just like the sons and daughters of Israel who ate of the young slaughtered lamb and had its blood on their doorposts and were saved from death, passed over by the angels, thus, we too, who partake in His Body and Blood, which we receive with fullness of faith in the Eucharist, may be brought into life eternal with Him, for He lives in us, and we live too in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we progress through this holy season of Christmas, we should continue to reflect on the great love which God has for us all, and no greater love indeed than for someone to give up his life for another, especially for Christ who had given up His life for us all while we are still sinners and filled with the defilements of sin.

Let us all be grateful for that great love, which God showed us, so that by understanding and recognising His great love, we may also practice the same love in our own lives. May all of us be more and more loving and be more gracious as days pass by, and may our Lord and Almighty be with us all, so that we may be better able to resist the temptations of life. May we all be more loving and more forgiving in our actions, embracing one another as fellow brethren in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Monday, 5 January 2015 : Monday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the works of God made real and manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God incarnate as Man by the Holy Spirit, and who by the same Holy Spirit did many wonderful works that only God can do. And through Jesus, God exercised His mighty power, teaching and healing the people from their afflictions, bringing the Good News long awaited into full and complete fulfillment.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, the commemoration of the moment when the Lord revealed Himself to His people, by the means of the gifts of the three Wise men or the Magi, who presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In that celebration we continue to reaffirm our faith in our Lord Jesus who is Lord and King, who is God and one true God incarnate into flesh, and the One who was to suffer the consequences of sin so that we may be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we know who is the Christ, and what He has done. The Gospel today precisely spoke about the things that Jesus had done, reaffirming the call of St. John the Baptist, calling the people to repent and to change their ways, so that they would sin no more but enter into the grace of God, thus becoming worthy of the salvation which Christ brought into the world.

Why would the Lord to bother with all these? Why would He come to save the stubborn people who continue to refuse His love, even until today? We know of how many people who were lost along the way, who preferred the ways of the world and succumbing to their heart’s desires and greed. Many lived a debauched life filled with wickedness, with no regard for the Law and commandments of God.

Yet, if we know of the Lord, we should know how much He treasures each and every one of us without exception, even for the greatest of sinners. He does not want to let even a single one of us to be lost without His effort to try to bring us all back to Him. That is why He put so much effort into the attempt to reunite us with Himself, to the point that He Himself came into the world, so that we will not be lost.

As we continue to proceed through our daily celebrations of life, we have to grow stronger and better in our realisation of the love that the Lord has for us all, and the mercy which He wants to show to us. It is too often that we lack the necessary gratitude and acknowledgement of what God had done for us. Thus in this time and season, we have to grow more dedicated and devoted to Him.

How do we do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is by practicing our faith genuinely through our actions and deeds. We cannot be true disciples of the Lord unless if we ourselves have already practiced our faith with real actions and deeds. If what we are doing contradict what we believe in, then our faith in the Lord is meaningless, but if we do what our faith had told us to do, then our faith will benefit us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this world, there is still great darkness and many people are still lost in it, wandering around seeking for their Lord and God, and many were blinded by their own emotions, ego, greed, desire, jealousy, hatred and many others. Thus it is now entrusted to all of us, for us to continue the works of Christ in this world, proclaiming His salvation for all the peoples, and by our examples and actions, may we all be able to inspire more and more people to embrace the way of the Lord and abandon their old ways of sin.

May Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ, help us on our journey in this life, that we will always be able to stay faithful to His ways and remain steadfast in our faith to Him. May all the peoples find their ways to the Lord and be saved as one people, that we may rejoice together at the end of time, blessing His great Name. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard yet again about the incarnation of the Divine into Flesh, the assumption of the Divine Word of God of the mortal flesh of Man. In it we continue to reflect and celebrate in this blessed season of Christmas, the commemoration of the birth and entry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into this world.

The Christmas season is a time for us all to rejoice, but even more so, that we have to take a step back and realise the very reason why the Lord had done this, while He truly had no reason to do so. He is perfect in everything and He is perfectly fine by Himself, and yet He decided that He wants to share the love He has with those whom He had created in His own image, that is all of us mankind.

He came so that through what He taught His disciples, He might deliver the wisdom and truth of God unto mankind, so that, realising the truth about God and His love, they may find their way towards Him. That is because if we are not able to find our way to Him, we are likely to be lost in the darkness of the world, becoming tempted and failing to sin just as our ancestors had been tempted by Satan.

St. John in his letter which is our First Reading today warned of the presence and rise of antichrists, those whom Satan had charged with the corruption and subversion of the world and all the people of God, so that instead of following the true Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, we will follow the lies of Satan instead, spread through the wicked antichrists.

Do not think that antichrists will come only with the coming of the end times, as they are already here. We have many antichrists around us, those who pretend to speak for the truth, but instead subverting the truth into lies, while making people to believe in what they said as true. A simple and common example would be how the world, how the media perceived what the Church and its teachings mean, and how they twisted them and corrupt the people against God’s Church.

It is also similar with how the media and the people often misrepresented the Pope and his teachings, especially with our current Pope, Pope Francis. Pope Francis is an orthodox defender of the faith, who merely pushed for a more loving and meaningful application of our Faith in the world, but with no intention whatsoever to dismantle or destroy even a single iota or piece of the sacred teachings and Traditions of the Faith which we faithfully kept.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, are often distracted with the many lies and goodness of this world, the temptations of the evil one designed to bring us away from the salvation in God through Jesus Christ. We often find the ways of this world, and the various offers made by Satan and his agents in this world to be much more attractive than what our Lord offers us. Yet, what Satan offers us bring just temporary satisfaction and the end result in eternal death and condemnation.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we should help one another in the Faith, committing ourselves to help one another defending ourselves from the lies of Satan, from the traps of the antichrists, and help each other to remain firmly faithful to the teachings of the Faith. Today we also celebrate the feast of Pope St. Silvester I or Pope St. Sylvester I, the Pope who lived during the time when Christianity, our Faith had been accepted by the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine the Great.

Although the Faith had been accepted and was no longer persecuted then as it had been in the previous decades and centuries, but it did not mean that Pope St. Silvester I had an easy time as the Vicar of Christ. Instead, he had to deal with various heresies and false teachings of the Faith by various people trying to lead the people away from the truth of Christ and the true Faith.

Most prominent among the false prophets was Arius, who spread his teachings of Arianism, rejecting the divinity of Christ, proclaiming that Jesus was a mere Man and not God. Thus, if we look at this false prophet, it is very obvious that he was repudiating the very core of our faith, that is the belief in Jesus, the Logos or the Word of God, who is God and is with God, as the Gospel of John today proclaims, and who descended unto us, incarnate into Flesh by the means of His mother, Mary. Pope St. Silvester I and the other bishops condemned this falsehood and heresy through the now famous Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, reaffirming true Christian Faith and teachings.

Do not let Satan and his antichrists deceive us, but let us instead firmly believe in our Lord, who is the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ, who out of His eternal love for us, was willing to descend upon us and dwell among us, so that we may be saved. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (First Reading)



Psalm :

Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Psalm)



Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/30/wednesday-31-december-2014-seventh-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-memorial-of-pope-st-silvester-i-pope-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how all things shall receive the fullness of God’s grace and His wonderful mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God, the Word of God, the Divine incarnate into the flesh of Man. He chose to become one of us so that by His incarnation and by His actions in the world, He might become the source of all hope and inspiration for countless peoples of all races and nations, to be the Liberation of mankind from the chains and tyranny of sin.

Anna the prophetess had waited for a long time for the coming of the Saviour in Jesus, the Holy Child, whom in the Gospel today was presented at the Temple on the eighth day to the Lord as the firstborn Son of His mother Mary. She was fortunate that she was given the grace and opportunity to behold the Saviour in the Flesh, and to see Him with her own eyes. Many in the past ages and the future, including all of us now, have no such opportunity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have been saved in Jesus Christ, by the shedding and the outpouring of His Blood, and we have been paid for in full by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, who provided the only and the one only sure path through to reach salvation in God. He has brought us all over from our old lives of sin and dependence of things of the flesh, and instead He offered us all a new life founded on His firm foundation.

If we put our trust and faith firmly in Jesus, then I say that, we have overcome the evil one, that is Satan and all of his evil temptations, and we have triumphed, overcoming our slavery and enslavement to sin, which began when men first listened to Satan and to their own desires instead of listening to God. We have been brought out of the slavery of our heart, mind, body and soul, just as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt with the great power of God.

The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt with His great power, and He destroyed their shackles, as He also destroyed our shackles of sin, but just as the Israelites who complained and refused to listen to God, worshipping pagan gods and idols and preferring to walk their own ways, we also often rebelling against God, walking on our own paths, and listening more to our own desires and wants rather than listening to our Lord.

Therefore, it is necessary for us to persevere in this world filled with numerous temptations and things that distract us from our focus on the Lord. Satan is always actively trying to subvert us and turn us away from salvation in God, and into damnation together with him. He knows what things can best be used to persuade us and entice us to sin, and this is the great danger facing all of us, if we are not aware or able to resist the advances of Satan, we are in danger of losing our way.

Hence, as we continue in our celebration of Christmas, in this holy and blessed season, and as we approach the coming of the new year, let us all keep our focus on Christ, and try our best not to be distracted by the many things in the world. We have to keep Christ at the centre of our celebration of Christmas, and indeed, at the centre of our lives.

May all of us be able to seek our way to the Lord, and keep our gaze firmly focused and locked onto Him, so that amidst the various dangers and temptations that the world presents to us, we may persevere and remain strong in our Faith and will not lose our way, so that at the end of the days, rich rewards of salvation and eternal life will be ours. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (First Reading)


Psalm :

Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/29/tuesday-30-december-2014-sixth-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-gospel-reading/

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Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about listening to God and obeying His laws, and fulfilling the commandments which He had given to us. It is highlighted in the first reading today from the first letter of St. John the Apostle, that as the servants and disciples of God, that we have to live out our faith and be concrete in that faith, showing it in our actions, words and deeds, and not doing what is contrary to the teachings of our Lord Jesus.

If we call ourselves as the children of God and as the members of His Church, then we have to behave as one. We cannot profess to be the children of God, and yet our actions prove to be completely otherwise. The very reason why it has been so difficult for many to believe in Christ and indeed why many of them refused to believe in Him is because we who are the disciples of Christ preached about Him but we did not practice what we preached.

How can they believe in us and in what we preached to them if we ourselves did not embody what we have preached. Instead, we become an embarrassment of the Faith, and our Lord will not be pleased at us. Not only that we have failed to observe His laws and commandments, but we have also made others to lack the faith in Him because of our own wicked actions and deeds, not in line with what we preached.

Therefore, we have to mean what we say, and we have to act on what we believe in. Otherwise, our faith in God is empty and meaningless, and instead of salvation we will gain condemnation from God and eternal punishment. St. James in his epistle, the letter of St. James, highlighted in it that faith without works is essentially the same as dead. That means faith without action based on that faith is a useless one and indeed, as I have elaborated, this kind of faith is harmful to us.

Yes, and that is the same faith which the hypocrites committed. The Pharisees and the scribes of the Law whom the Lord condemned as hypocrites were externally and outwardly seeming to be pious and good servants of the Lord, but in reality, they have no God in them, for whom they spared no place in their hearts. They preached faith and devotion to God and trumpeted their devotion loud for others to see, and yet they did these for themselves and to satisfy their own vanity.

Jesus condemned them precisely because they have no regards for the Lord and did not obey His laws and commandments as they should have. They have besmirched the Name of the Lord and spat on His precepts. They cared not for the Lord nor for His people but for their own self-aggrandisement. They were the ones who should have recognised the Christ when He came, and yet they doubted Him, rejected Him and laid difficulties along His works and His paths.

Our actions must not be like that of theirs, and instead we have to do as we believed, and we have to act in the way not contradicting the very Creed we profess. And this is what we can learn from the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Thomas of Canterbury, also known by his name, St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the high Medieval age of the twelfth century, during the reign of King Henry II of England.

St. Thomas Becket was a devoted man of God, who followed the will of God wholeheartedly and who took the laws and commandments of God seriously in his heart. He was particularly staunch at the enforcement of the law of God and the Church. He was once a servant of the king entrusted with many matters because of his skills in management, appointed to chancellorship by the king.

The king had hoped that if he appointed St. Thomas Becket to the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of England and the chief of the religious officer of the state, he would continue to show preference to serve the king and the state as he had been before. But St. Thomas Becket would prove him to be wrong. He was a faithful and pious servant of the Church, who did not mince his words and who was sorrowed by the great corruption in the lives of the king and his servants.

St. Thomas Becket practiced his faith faithfully to the core of its foundations, fulfilling the teachings of Christ. He showed mercy and love to sinners who sought God’s help, but to those who were wicked and unrepentant, and to those who persisted in their love for the world, he had no love for them. He excommunicated and expelled many from the Church those who had followed the path of the Pharisees, getting themselves rich at the cost of others and those who have caused untold sufferings for many.

He gained the enmity and hatred of many in the king’s court and circles, and this eventually led to a group of knights who plotted to assassinate him as he celebrated the solemn prayers. He was assassinated in cold blood at the holy places, while he surrendered himself completely to God. Those who were involved in the assassination including the king were punished severely by the Church, excommunicated and asked to do serious and long series of penance for their murder of the holy man of God, who was canonised as a martyr and saint soon after his murder.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the example of St. Thomas Becket should inspire us all to walk and practice our faith with genuine intention and devotion to our God. If only that all the faithful would emulate his upright life and devotion to his Faith, then the whole world would have been converted upon seeing our brilliant examples and dedication to the way of the Lord.

It is therefore necessary that we mean what we say, and if we are to preach the Word of God, then we have to mean what we preach and practice it ourselves, so that others who see us may know that we truly belongs to Christ, and not following our own selfish way. May St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Thomas Becket pray for us and intercede for us sinners. Amen.

First Reading :

Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)


Psalm :

Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/28/monday-29-december-2014-fifth-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-memorial-of-st-thomas-becket-bishop-and-martyr-gospel-reading/