Monday

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Monday, 29 September 2025 : Feast of the Holy Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Archangels, Three of the Seven Holy Archangels of God that were mentioned in the Scriptures, namely St. Michael the Archangel, St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Raphael the Archangel. They are three of the seven Archangels that serve the Lord by His Throne, as the leaders and most prominent ones among the Angelic Host, and the three whose names are known to us from the Scriptures. Originally this day in the past was a celebration dedicated only to St. Michael the Archangel, the Prince of the Heavenly Host, leader of all the Angels of God in the struggle and war against the forces of the wicked fallen angels, the rebels led by Lucifer, now known as Satan, the great enemy and the deceiver, who had fallen from grace, and has swept a third of the Heavenly Host with his rebellion.

St. Michael the Archangel is the most well-known among the Seven Archangels through his constant presence and leadership among God’s people, and we know him for being the one who leads God’s mighty Heavenly Host, the force of Angels in their constant and daily struggles against the forces of the evil and wicked spirits, the demons, fallen angels and all those who have been arrayed against us, in the spiritual warfare ever raging all around us. St. Michael according to tradition was not the strongest and mightiest among the Angels of God, as back then the most brilliant and mightiest among the Angels created by God was one named Lucifer, or the lightbringer, who became enamoured and arrogant because of his own brilliance, and in whose vanity and pride, ended up rebelling against God.

As recorded in the Scriptures and according to Church traditions, it was told that Lucifer aspired to be greater than God and to put himself above all the Angels of God and creation, so swayed he was by his pride and vanity, his greatest sin, and hence, in one tradition, took his seat upon God’s Throne when God was away for a moment. St. Michael was the one who rebuked Lucifer and told him that he was not worthy to aspire to such a height. And with his own name, Michael as battlecry, ‘Who is like God?’, St. Michael the Archangel led the forces of Angels that remained faithful to God, against Lucifer and those who sided with him, just as we heard in one of our Scripture readings today, as the War in Heaven. Lucifer was defeated and cast down from Heaven, where henceforth he is known as Satan, the devil, the great enemy.

St. Michael is especially honoured for his role in leading the forces of the faithful Angels in the struggles that happened then, and ever since, and also for his great faith and commitment to God. It was told that St. Michael always trembled whenever he is in the presence of God, as he, a mighty Archangel he may be, but he is still nothing compared to the Almighty God, Whom he served with complete commitment. However, before the forces of the evil, St. Michael the Archangel stands strong at the head of God’s mighty Angelic Host, ever ready to smite those who would harm the people of God, those who have been placed under the care of St. Michael and the other Angels, our Guardian Angels and more.

Meanwhile, St. Gabriel the Archangel was known to be the one who brought the Good News and revelation to Mary, the Mother of God, at the moment of the Annunciation, in which her role as the one to bear the Saviour of the world was revealed to her. According to tradition of the Church, St. Gabriel the Archangel was also the one who brought the news of the conception of St. John the Baptist to his father, Zechariah the priest at the Temple. Gabriel means the ‘Strength of God’, and through his role in delivering the words of God’s help and deliverance for His people, he reminded them all of the Lord’s guidance and providence, and how each and every one of us should remain firm in our trust and faith in God, and depend on His strength amidst the challenges and trials that may be facing us.

Then, St. Raphael the Archangel was known in the Book of Tobit as he took the disguise of a young man named Azariah, so that he could bring God’s help and intervention in the case of Tobit himself, the protagonist of the Book of Tobit, and Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, who would become Tobit’s daughter-in-law. Both of them had been beset by troubles, and prayed to God for help and deliverance, for strength and guidance, and it was there and then that God, having heard their prayers and willed to help them, sent His Archangel, St. Raphael, to go upon each of them, to help them and to show them His love and compassionate mercy. Raphael’s name, which means ‘Healing of God’ was indeed apt, as he helped to bring God’s healing to both Tobit and Sara, who were therefore freed from their problems.

While St. Gabriel and St. Raphael may be less known than St. Michael the Archangel, their works and presence at important moments in the history of our faith together with St. Michael the Archangel and the other Archangels and Holy Angels of God, innumerable and mighty as one Heavenly Host, whose names we may not be familiar with, they all do God’s works in reaching out to us, guarding all around us, leading us all courageously and tirelessly towards the Lord our God. All of us are always involved in this great spiritual battlefield all around us, all being fought in the struggle for the fate of our souls. The evil ones are always ever tireless in their efforts to lead us astray and to divide us against each other, while the Archangels lead the forces of God in defending us and smiting all those arrayed against us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we honour the great Archangels of God, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Raphael the Archangel, let us all thank them for their guidance and presence in our lives, in their inspiration and their examples, so that we may truly be faithful to the Lord and fear the Lord as St. Michael had done, and to put our trust in God’s strength and providence as St. Gabriel had shown and revealed to us, and to allow ourselves to be touched by God’s Healing and mercy, His forgiveness and compassion as St. Raphael has reassured and reminded all of us. May God be with us always and may He be praised forever, in the glory of His Holy Archangels, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 29 September 2025 : Feast of the Holy Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 47-51

At that time, when Jesus saw Nathanael coming, He said to him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?”

And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.” Nathanael answered, “Master, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.”

“Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Monday, 29 September 2025 : Feast of the Holy Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 4-5

I thank You, o YHVH, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down toward Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word, which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

O YHVH, all kings on earth will give You praise, when they have heard Your words. They will celebrate the ways of YHVH, “Great is the glory of YHVH!”

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Monday, 29 September 2025 : Feast of the Holy Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Daniel 7 : 9-10, 13-14

I looked and saw the following : Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took His seat. His robe was white, as snow, His hair, white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before Him. Thousands upon thousands served Him and a countless multitude stood before Him.

Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book. I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Alternative reading (Second Reading if this Feast is celebrated as a Solemnity)

Revelations 12 : 7-12a

War broke out in heaven, with Michael and his Angels battling with the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated, and lost their place in heaven. The great dragon, the ancient serpent, known as the devil, or Satan, seducer of the whole world, was thrown out. He was hurled down to earth, together with his angels.

Then, I heard a loud voice from heaven : Now has salvation come, with the power and the kingdom of our God, and the rule of His Anointed. For our brothers’ accuser has been cast out, who accused them night and day, before God. They conquered him, by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, for they gave up their lives, going to death.

Rejoice, therefore, o you heavens, and you who dwell in them.

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Monday, 22 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded by the message contained within the Sacred Scriptures which we have heard of the message of hope from God for all of His people. The Lord wants to remind us all through these readings of the Scriptures that if we continue to put our faith and trust in Him, and do our very best to live our lives with genuine faith and understanding of His ways and love, then we shall be provided for and protected by God, and God will always guide us all, and show us the way. And then, God also wants us all to make good use of whatever it is that He has given and blessed us all with, all the blessings, graces and opportunities that He has provided to us, so that we may use them well for the benefit of everyone.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezra, we heard of the moment when the Israelites living in exile in Babylon finally had their moment of freedom and emancipation after living in exile for many years. While traditionally it was numbered as seventy years or seven decades, the reality was such that some of those Israelites spent more years in exile while others spent less years in exile in Babylon, and for those people living in the northern kingdom of Israel, which was destroyed by the Assyrians almost two centuries earlier, some of them might have also returned to their ancestral lands as well, and it had been a long wait for all of them regardless. Contextually, the Israelites, the people of God had faced all these trials and challenges, all because their own disobedience against God.

They chose to follow the gods of their neighbours, abandoning the Law and commandments of God, persecuting the prophets and messengers sent into their midst to remind and call them to return to the Lord their God. They chose to embrace their worldly desires and ambitions instead of following the Lord and doing what He has taught and shown them to do, and as a result, they veered further and further away from the path that God has led them to, and as such, they fell from grace and lost the favour which God had once bestowed on them. They became divided and weakened, and they fell into disarray, becoming the object of derision and scorn from their neighbours, and were oppressed, conquered and subjugated by their enemies. Both Israel and Judah, Samaria and Jerusalem were destroyed and many of the people of God were carried into exile.

But the Lord did not forget them and still showed them all His wonderful and patient love as always. He reminded them of this love through His prophets and messengers that He sent to them, promising restoration and reconciliation for them, if they were to embrace Him once again with love and devotion, and with sincere and genuine repentance from their many sins and disobedience. That was what happened then, as God sent them deliverance through the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon and emancipated those people of God who had been living in exile for many decades. He allowed the people of Israel to return to their homeland and to rebuild their lives there, and giving them the freedom once again to worship their God.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord to His disciples in which He told them all with a parable using the example of lamp placed on a lamp-stand for everyone to see to highlight the need for their faith, for the faith that all of us have in the Lord to be lived genuinely in our own respective lives in each and every moments. This means that whatever God has given to us and blessed us with we should not ignore or neglect, or use them for the purposes that are not meant to glorify God. God has given us all various gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities which we should actively use and engage in our daily lives and in everything that we say and do so that in even the smallest things that we do, we will always do the Lord’s good works and proclaim His Good News to all.

The Lord also mentioned that whoever produces more, shall be given more while those who have not produced, even what they had will be taken away from them. This is the same reminder of how each and every one of us need to be active in living our faith, not through grand gestures or amazing achievements, but rather through daily actions and words which truly show that we are indeed God’s holy and beloved people. As Christians, it is imperative that we have to be full of God’s love as always, to love God wholeheartedly as we should, and not like the people of Israel in the past that had been unfaithful to Him. At the same time, we must also love all those around us, and especially those who are truly dearly beloved to us, and we should not neglect them or ignore their needs.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us have been given various responsibilities in our own areas of life, and we are all called to be active and faithful disciples of God, ever mindful of the impact that our words and actions have on everyone around us. Consequently, we should always strive to live our lives ever more faithfully in all things, by becoming closer to God and also to all those whom we love, practicing our genuine faith by showing love and care for everyone, including even to those who have hurt and disappointed us. It is by these actions of love that we are indeed showing tangible signs and evidence that we are God’s beloved people, and it is by those real and tangible actions and works that we can touch the lives of others and help them to come closer to God.

May the Lord our most loving God continue to be with us and guide us all in our respective journeys in life. May He continue to strengthen each and every one of us to carry out our daily activities showing ever greater faith and commitment to Him, so that we may touch the lives of many others around us, and thus helping many to find their way to the Lord as well, through inspiration of our own good and worthy lives filled with God’s grace and love. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 22 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 8 : 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather, he puts it on a lamp stand, so that people coming in may see the light.”

“In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret, that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces, will be given more; but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

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Monday, 22 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When YHVH brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then, our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH has done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Monday, 22 September 2025 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezra 1 : 1-6

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, YHVH willed to fulfil the word He had said through the prophet Jeremiah. So He moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom : “Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia : YHVH, the God of heavens, Who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah.”

“To everyone belonging to His people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and, there, build the House of YHVH, the God of Israel; the God Who is in Jerusalem. In every place where the rest of the people of YHVH live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the House of YHVH which is in Jerusalem.”

Then they rose up – the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up – and they decided to go and build the House of YHVH. And all their neighbours gave them all kinds of help : gold, silver, livestock and precious objects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

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Monday, 15 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is always celebrated on the day following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Both feasts are indeed related to each other as we cannot separate the sufferings and sorrows of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows when she witnessed the cruel and most painful sufferings of her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Mary’s great sorrow, seeing all that her Son had to undergo for the sake of the salvation of the world indeed reminded us of the great love and devotion which she has always had in following and committing herself to all that God had planned and revealed to her, in everything that He has entrusted to her in the story of our salvation.

In our first reading passage today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author of this Epistle spoke of the great obedience which Christ our Lord and Saviour had shown in following the commands and the will of His heavenly Father, in taking up His Cross and bearing upon Himself the whole combined burdens of the sins of the whole world, of all mankind, past, present and future, of all time. Such a seemingly infinitely heavy and impossible burden it may be, but the Lord bore it patiently out of His even greater love for each and every one of us. And this role was what He had been sent into this world for, the Divine Word and Son of God Incarnate Who had been made Son of Man through His mother Mary, who is truly His mother.

And when Christ suffered on the Cross, He really did suffer genuinely, as although He is God, the Divine Word of God, but He is also fully Man at the same time, and He truly did suffer in the flesh, all the pain and wounds that He endured out of love for all of us, and seeing this kind of suffering is something that no one, and especially no mother would have wanted to witness to happen to her own child. This had been presaged and revealed to Mary herself many years previously as we heard in one of our two possible Gospel passages for today, from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist. At the time when Mary and St. Joseph presented the Child Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem, the old man of God named Simeon had been promised by the Lord that he would not pass away before beholding in person the Saviour that God had promised all of His people.

It was at that very occasion that Simeon spoke to Mary regarding what she would have to face amidst the upcoming challenges and pains that she would have to suffer as part of the mission which God had entrusted to her. She would face the worst of heartbreaks and sorrow when seeing her own Son being persecuted, suffering and dying before her. And as we heard, Mary listened to the words of Simeon and kept those words in her heart, trusting in the Lord in everything that He had planned, and not even once questioning what the Lord had intended to do with her. As what she had responded to the Archangel Gabriel at the time of the Annunciation, she is truly the handmaid of the Lord, and she devoted herself wholly to Him, in everything that He had entrusted to her.

And in the other Gospel passage from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was dying on the Cross, and how He entrusted His own Mother Mary to the care of His beloved disciple, St. John himself, and then conversely, also entrusted St. John to the care of His Mother. Through this symbolic act, what in fact happened was the entrustment of all of us mankind, represented by St. John, to the Mother of Our Lord herself, to be our loving and caring Mother, Our Lady and Mother of Sorrows, whose heart had been greatly troubled by the sufferings of her own Son that she had witnessed, as she followed Him throughout the whole Way of the Cross. That is why Mary has always been so passionate and committed to help us all, her own adopted children, to find our way to the salvation in her Son.

Having seen for herself everything that the old man of God, Simeon, had predicted to her, indeed Mary’s heart must have been pained as if she was pierced by many swords.
And yet, she remained firm in her resolve to follow through what had been entrusted to her, and she committed herself ever more to the mission, which therefore should be great inspiration for all of us to follow in our own lives as Christians. Mary is indeed the perfect example of faith, and how each and every one of us should live our own lives so that we may truly align ourselves to the Lord’s will, to everything that He has shown and taught us to do. And while we may encounter a lot of hardships, disappointments and challenges in life, we should remain firm in faith as what Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows has shown us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the sufferings and pains that she had encountered, Mary our loving Mother has constantly shown us her love even to this day, as proven by her many efforts and works, in appearing to us at the times of great need. Mary’s proven apparitions in Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima, among others, all usually happened during times of great conflicts and turmoils, all of which would cause the downfall of many people through violence and wickedness, and as such, Mary showed herself to remind all of us her children that we should not disobey the Lord but instead remembering that we should turn towards Him and asking Him for His mercy and forgiveness, or else we will suffer the fate of those who have rejected God’s generous offer of mercy, just as how her Son had suffered on the Cross for our sins.

May all of us continue to walk in the path that Our Lord has shown us, and may we continue to put our hope and faith in Him despite the many challenges and hardships that we may have to endure and persevere through in life. May Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, our loving Mother continue to intercede for us all in our journey of faith and life, and may through her patient prayers, intercessions and guidance, many more of us come to seek the Lord and find our true joy and redemption in Him. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 15 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 19 : 25-27

At that time, near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom He loved, He said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.”

Then He said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Alternative reading

Luke 2 : 33-35

At that time, the father and mother of Jesus wondered at what was said about the Child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother, “Know this : your Son is a Sign; a Sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a Sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”