Monday

by

Monday, 2 November 2020 : Feast of All Souls, Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Black or Purple/Violet

Isaiah 25 : 6-9

On this mountain YHVH Sabaoth will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, meat full of marrow, fine wine strained. On this mountain He will destroy the pall cast over all peoples, this very shroud spread over all nations, and death will be no more.

The Lord YHVH will wipe away the tears from all cheeks and eyes; He will take away the humiliation of His people all over the world : for YHVH has spoken. On that day you will say : This is our God. We have waited for Him to save us, let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

by

Monday, 26 October 2020 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture we are presented with the reminder for us to be genuine Christians in our lives, and not to be hypocrites and lukewarm in living as Christians. The Lord has called all of us to be fully committed and be filled with love for Him and our fellow men, in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard the Apostle reminding the faithful in that city to keep their Christian faith and dedicate themselves to the Lord and His path, that they should always put God before anything else, and strive to follow the Lord’s path in their livelihood and actions.

St. Paul reminded the people there to keep themselves away from all sorts of impurities and sins, all wickedness and evils, all negative thoughts and actions that lead to sin. He told them to be exemplary in all of their actions, be it in small or significant things that they truly became faithful and genuine witnesses of their Christian faith before everyone else. Otherwise, they were no better than hypocrites.

In our Gospel today, we heard about the confrontation between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, who saw the Lord healing a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years, a very long time indeed. And the Lord healed her even though it was plainly in the sight of all and on the day of the Sabbath. We may think that there is no issue with this at all, as after all the Lord was doing great things for God’s glory.

However, to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, mentioned as the rulers of the Synagogues, at that time, what the Lord has done was an aberration and travesty, tantamount to blasphemy and committing evil deeds, as they believed that the Sabbath day is a day when no activity of all sorts were allowed, regardless of the type of action and the circumstances and intentions behind them.

They rigidly interpreted and enforced the Law, that even as the Lord showed love and mercy to the suffering woman, they grumbled and were unhappy seeing what He has done before them and the people. They would rather that the woman suffered longer than to be flexible in their enforcement and application of the Law. Their insistence in enforcing strictly the laws of Moses showed how they failed to understand and appreciate their faith properly.

The Law of God, as the Lord made it very clear, is not meant to oppress or make the people to suffer. The Law of God is meant for the people to rediscover their love and devotion to God, to remind them of the necessary things for them to do, in order to direct their effort and attention on God. Through the Law, including the Law regulating the Sabbath, God wants us all to keep and devote some time, reminding us that He is the chief priority of our lives.

That is why, the Sabbath was meant for keeping a sacred and special time for the people that they might spend it with God and keep themselves from all the distractions and the temptations that the world usually brought to them. Instead, the people ended up focusing on the wrong things, focusing excessively on the minute details, on how each observances of the Sabbath could be done, rather than focusing on the intention of the Law.

Through His healing of the woman suffering for such a long time, the Lord in fact wanted to show them His wonderful love. He wanted us to recognise this love and learn to love Him more and more. And how do we do this, brothers and sisters? It is by living righteously and virtuously in accordance to His Law, dedicating ourselves, our time, attention and effort on Him.

May the Lord help each and every one of us to remain more faithful to Him, and may He bless each and every one of us in our every good endeavours from now on. May God bless us all at all times, and guide us in the journey of life. May God be with us, now and always. Amen.

by

Monday, 26 October 2020 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 10-17

At that time, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years, so that she could not straighten up at all. On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.

But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath!”

But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”

When Jesus said this, all His opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of Him.

by

Monday, 26 October 2020 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

by

Monday, 26 October 2020 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 32 – Ephesians 5 : 8

Be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ. As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate Him. Follow the way of love, the example of Christ Who loved you. He gave Himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim Whose fragrance rises to God.

And since you are holy, there must not be among you even a hint of sexual immorality or greed, or any kind of impurity : these should not be named among you. So too for scandalous words, nonsense and foolishness, which are not fitting; instead offer thanksgiving to God.

Know this : no depraved, impure or covetous person who serves the god ‘Money’ shall have part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for these are the sins which God is about to condemn in people who do not obey.

Do not associate with such people. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light.

by

Monday, 19 October 2020 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded of the Lord’s generous love and providence, all that He had done for our sake, in caring for us and giving us our freedom and for bringing us out from our fated destruction. The Lord has called on all of us to have faith in Him, to put our trust and also be humble, as much as we can.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus on the Lord and how His love for us has rescued us from the depth of darkness and destruction, liberating us from the fate that we ought to have suffered because of our sins and disobedience against Him. God has given us this wonderful gift thanks to His enduring love for each and every one of us.

And therefore, we are reminded that we have been saved by God’s grace and love, and not by our own might and achievements. But for those who argue then that we are saved by faith alone then they must realise also that faith without any actions and deeds done in accordance to that faith is truly an empty, meaningless and dead faith.

And we shall also then be judged by our inaction, which is tantamount to committing sins of omission. Whatever it is, we have to follow the path that the Lord has set before us and have genuine faith in Him, living our lives virtuously and being centred on God. This is not something that can be easily done as there would definitely be plenty of temptations and challenges in our path and journey.

One of the most common temptations is that of pride and desire, as we heard the warning from St. Paul in our first reading today and also in our Gospel passage today through the parable the Lord used to teach His disciples and the people on the futility of worldly desires and pursuits, and the foolishness of human desires and greed, as well as pride and ego. In that reading, we heard about a rich and powerful man who owned a vast holding and earned plenty of harvests from his vast farmlands.

We heard how the man worried and wondered how he were to store all the things he had gained, and planned to build even larger barns and storehouses to gather more worldly wealth and possessions, thinking that he had secured his future completely and that he had nothing to fear from. This was the fault of his pride and ego, as well as his greed that he was oblivious and unable to recognise his own limitations and mortality.

And the Lord through that parable showed clearly all these, by showing how the life and death of man are completely in the hands of God. And no one could ever know the exact time and moment of the ending of one’s earthly life and existence. For all the wealth, glory and power that man had gathered as according to the parable, all of those would have amounted to nothing and are meaningless, as none of them would end up following the man to the afterlife.

This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all reminded this day that as Christians we must lead a life that is filled with faith and devotion to God, free from the corruption of ego, pride, greed and earthly desires in our hearts and minds. And we can look upon the good examples set by our saints whose feast day we celebrate today, the Holy Canadian Martyrs or the North American Martyrs, the martyrs St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, holy Jesuit missionaries of North America, as well as their companions in martyrdom.

St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues were the members of the Jesuits or the Society of Jesus that had been instrumental in Counter-Reformation and were also involved in missionary works. In that particular area, St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues ministered among the native populations and tribes of North America, spending much time and a lot of effort in reaching out to the pagan tribes and preaching the Good News of Christ to them.

As those tribes lived in some of the least hospitable and difficult conditions known to men, St. John de Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues and other missionaries had difficult time trying to adjust and to minister to the people, which was further compounded and made difficult by the reluctance and opposition by some of the native tribes against the efforts to evangelise among them by the Christian missionaries. There were misunderstandings and even conflicts, and also disagreements between the tribes that converted to the Christian faith with the other tribes.

Yet, despite all of these, the missionaries dedicated themselves wholeheartedly, and devoted their time and effort to minister to the people, both caring for them and providing for them, especially spiritually. In the end, amidst all the hardships they encountered, they were attacked by those who misunderstood the intentions of the missionaries, and they were tortured, made to suffer and eventually killed. Nonetheless, the seeds of faith they had spread and nurtured by their efforts remained strong and became the source of the Christian faith among many of the people for generations onwards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, those missionaries laboured in terrible conditions, had nothing on themselves, and had nothing else but God’s providence and guidance. They entrusted themselves completely to the Lord and allowed Him to lead them through the path that He has led them through. Are we as Christians, able to follow in their footsteps, and be inspired by their faith and courage to live their lives with genuine faith?

Let us all carefully discern this, and see in which way each and every one of us are able to commit ourselves to the Lord, in our every moments and actions. Let us all dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord, strengthen ourselves with faith, and walk faithfully and virtuously in the Lord’s presence, that our every efforts and works will be for the greater glory of God. St. John de Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues and all the martyrs of North America, holy servants of God and courageous defenders of the Faith, pray for us all. Amen.

by

Monday, 19 October 2020 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Luke 12 : 13-21

At that time, someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus, “Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance.” He replied, “My friend, who has appointed Me as your Judge or your Attorney?” Then Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.”

And Jesus continued, “There was a rich man, and his land had produced a good harvest. He thought, ‘What shall I do, for I am short of room to store my harvest? Alright, I know what I shall do : I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, to store all this grain, which is my wealth. Then I will say to myself : My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years. Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.'”

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be taken from you. Tell Me, who shall get all you have put aside?’ This is the lot of the one who stores up riches for himself and is not wealthy in the eyes of God.”

by

Monday, 19 October 2020 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

by

Monday, 19 October 2020 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John de Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Ephesians 2 : 1-10

You were dead, through the faults and sins. Once, you lived through them, according to this world, and followed the Sovereign Ruler Who reigns between heaven and earth, and Who goes on working, in those who resist the faith.

All of us belonged to them, at one time, and we followed human greed; we obeyed the urges of our human nature and consented to its desires. By ourselves, we went straight to the judgment, like the rest of humankind.

But God, Who is rich in mercy, revealed His immense love. As we were dead through our sins, He gave us life, with Christ. By grace, you have been saved! And He raised us to life, with Christ, giving us a place with Him in heaven.

In showing us such kindness, in Christ Jesus, God willed to reveal, and unfold in the coming ages, the extraordinary riches of His grace. By the grace of God, you have been saved, through faith.

This has not come from you : it is God’s gift. This was not the result of your works, so you are not to feel proud. What we are, is God’s work. He has created us, in Christ Jesus, for the good works He has prepared, that we should devote ourselves to them.

by

Monday, 12 October 2020 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are called to be faithful to the Lord, to embrace Lord with all of our strength because we are truly God’s chosen ones, and we have been brought out from the darkness into the light. We are reminded that we are no longer bound by the power of sin, through the saving power of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians, in our first reading today alluded to this as the comparison between the two sons of Abraham, the one born earlier to the slave Hagar, namely Ishmael, and the one born of his wife, Sarah, the promised son, Isaac, born as promised by God. While the first one was conceived by lack of faith and by worldly counsel, the true son of Abraham, Isaac had been conceived through God’s providence.

This highlights the contrast between the two states and existences of our lives, namely our past, sinful and worldly selves, and our renewed and reborn selves, reborn and rejuvenated through our Christian baptism and initiation, as we enter into the grace of God through Christ and by the loving sacrifice on the Cross, in which He has liberated us from the tyranny of sin.

Unfortunately, as highlighted in our Gospel passage today, despite this, there are still so many lacking in real and genuine faith. In that occasion mentioned in the Gospel, the Lord referred to the people’s lack of faith and their constant asking for signs and miracles, especially by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who often criticised Him and shadowed Him all throughout His ministry, refusing to believe in Him despite everything they had witnessed and heard.

That was why the Lord compared them to the people of Nineveh in the case of their repentance and humility, their faith and belief in God when the prophet Jonah came to them and declared that the city of Nineveh would be destroyed and annihilated. They believed in the words of Jonah and humbled themselves even when they had not seen any miracles or deeds of the Lord.

And this is all the more remarkable because Nineveh was the capital of the great Assyrian Empire, which was pagan and worshipped pagan idols and false gods. Yet, the whole city, the king and its people, all humbled themselves before God and repented from their sinful ways, begging for God to forgive them. And all these happened even though they did not even see a single miraculous deeds of God. In this, their faith and ways were better than those at the time of the Lord Jesus, who saw, witnessed and heard every wonders of the Lord, and did not believe or repent.

This is where we are all reminded of the dangers of sin and its temptations in our hearts. Pride in particular is the most dangerous of all, and can bring many to their downfall. Pride was what brought down Satan through his pride and vanity, in rebelling against God and in desiring to claim the throne of God. And through pride, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who thought that their intellectual superiority, understanding of the Law and piousness in obeying the Law could not be challenged by anyone.

That was why they looked down on the Lord, doubted Him and His works, and continued to make His ministry difficult and opposed Him in many opportunities along the way. In this way, they were those whom the Lord said to be those who were further away from God even from the people of Nineveh and from the Queen of the South, who came all the way to Jerusalem just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Those people had faith in the Lord and believed in Him, even when they were once pagans and unbelievers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a reminder for us all not to be overcome or swallowed by pride, and we must not allow those to mislead us down the wrong path. We must remain firm in our faith, be humble and recognise just how we have sinned against God and just how fortunate we are to have been beloved by God. Let us commit ourselves therefore to a new way of life, one that is aligned with God, centred on God and be truly dedicated to our Christian faith, in deeds and actions, living up to what we believe with all of our strength.

May God bless us all, and may He guide us always in our journey of faith, that we will draw ever closer to the Lord and help to inspire even more people to walk faithfully in His way. Let us embrace our Christian calling at baptism fully, and be firm in our resolution not to give in to sin and also to pride and other temptations by which many had fallen again and again into sin. Amen.