Monday

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that as those whom God had chosen to be His own people, much as the Israelites had been, each and every one of us had been bound by His laws and precepts, as first of all God revealed to His people in the desert, which we heard today in the Book of Leviticus, our first reading.

God charged them to be righteous, just and upright in all of their deeds, to be holy just as God Himself is holy, for they are the people of God, and to exercise love, mercy and compassion in all the things that they say and do, and not to cause harm, pain, suffering and anguish for others around them, as what mankind normally always liked to do.

God had called His people from the world, and He sanctified them and made them holy, and He placed His laws before them, so that they would continue to be different from the ways of the world around them. And therefore, all of us have also been called to do the same, to be different from what the world has deemed to be acceptable to it, to be a true and devoted Christian, in all of our deeds.

And indeed, in this season of Lent, it is the perfect time for us to do so, as it is the time for us to take a step back and reflect on our own lives. It is a time for change and conversion, for us to reevaluate our lives and reorientate them so that while once we may have lived in a state of sin, now we may be able to walk righteously and justly in the way of the Lord.

Therefore, during this season of Lent all of us are called to be generous with our love and mercy, to forgive all those who have wronged us and those who have caused us pain and suffering. We are called to share our love and blessings with all those who have little or none of these, that they too may experience the love of God, and enjoy what we all enjoy in this life.

It is a reality that there are many people who suffer in this world today, because of the greed of man, because of jealousy and hatred, because of all the negativities and evil that are present in our hearts. All of them had brought about all the injustice, the evil and the sufferings we know. As Christians, there are many things which we are able to do in order to help others who have no one else to help them.

However, it is also important that we also take note of what our Lord Jesus had told His disciples in our Gospel passage today. In that passage we heard about the famous Last Judgment sermon by the Lord Jesus, Who foretold before all at that time, what would transpire at the moment of the Last Judgment, which we at present are also looking forward to.

In the Last Judgment, those who have been found to be righteous and just in all of their deeds, caring and loving for the poor and for the less fortunate, those who have shown compassion and mercy upon others will receive their reward from God, as those whom God had found to be worthy to be the recipients of His everlasting and glorious inheritance, the blessed eternal life in fullness of bliss with Him.

However, all those whom God had rejected and cast aside because of their sins had been made such, not just because they had committed acts and deeds that were wicked and evil before God, but also when they have the capacity of doing something that is right and good, and then did nothing and remained idle, while others around them were seeking for help and succour from their troubles.

That’s right, brothers and sisters in Christ, sin before God is not just that of the sin of action, but also the sin of omission. What does this mean? It means that if we are perfectly capable of doing something that is right and good, something that will help others around us, and yet we consciously refused to do so, because of various reasons, but all of which are selfish reasons, because we are lazy, because we are doubtful and unwilling to step beyond our comfort zone, then we will be condemned precisely because of our failure to do what is required of us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, let us make best use of the time given to us, so that we may exercise prudence in our actions, and be moved to do what God had asked us to do. Let us turn our back from our past ways of sin, and embrace God’s forgiveness and mercy, while at the same time being loving and merciful ourselves, extending our helping hands upon others who need our help.

Let us be generous to give of ourselves to the poor, to the lonely, to all those who have been rejected by others, and to all those who are still living in the darkness of sin. Let us help one another, and be the bearers of God’s light in our world today, so that our light may dispel the darkness of sin, and purified from our sins, may we all be worthy to enter into the heavenly kingdom of God, and receive from Him, the crown of everlasting glory. May God be with us all, bless us all in our actions, and help us to have a fulfilling and blessed time of Lent. Amen.

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Matthew 25 : 31-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory with all His Angels, He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be brought before Him, and as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will He do with them, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.”

“The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, blessed of My Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your house. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to see Me.'”

“Then the good people will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and give You food; thirsty, and give You something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome You; or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and go to see You?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you : whenever you did this to these little ones who are My brothers and sisters, you did it to Me.'”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of My sight into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give Me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'”

“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you : whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do it for Me.’ And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life.”

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 15

The Law of the Lord is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of the Lord is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of the Lord are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, it endures forever; the judgements of the Lord are true, all of them just and right.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart find favour in Your sight, o Lord – my Redeemer, my Rock!

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Leviticus 19 : 1-2, 11-18

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them : Be holy for I, YHVH, your God, am holy. Do not steal or lie or deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by My Name so as to profane the Name of your God; I am YHVH.”

“Do not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your God; I am YHVH.”

“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbour fairly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbour; I am YHVH.”

“Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbour frankly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself; I am YHVH.”

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Monday, 27 February 2017 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we quickly approach the season of Lent, and its advent this Ash Wednesday, we remember in the Scripture passages today about God’s mercy. God is ever loving and merciful to all of His children, who have been separated from Him and became lost in the turbulence of this world and swallowed by the darkness of sin.

Yet, God never gave up on us, and on every opportunity He always tried to help each and every one of us to find our way back towards Him. He has always kept the door of His mercy open to welcome us back. However, it is we ourselves who often reject God’s very generous offer of mercy. We thought that God is a God without mercy and love, where in fact it was we ourselves who have closed the doors of our hearts to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is often our attachments to the things and temptations of this world which have caused us to be distracted and kept away from God. That was why Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today about the difficulties that the rich people were facing, as exemplified by the young man who was rich and was willing to follow Jesus until He asked him to leave behind all of his worldly belongings.

Jesus was not attacking or criticising the rich because of their possessions. This is a misconception which many people often have, thinking that Jesus always condemns the rich and their possessions. Instead, in reality, He was actually condemning the inability to detach and let go, which means that we mankind are often too engrossed and grow too attached to our worldly possessions that we are unable to move on in our faith.

We cannot become too dependant on them, and be hesitant to let go of what we have, when the time comes for us to let them go. After all, all these possessions are indeed blessings and graces which God had granted to each and every one of us. To some of us have been given more, while others have received less, but all of these ultimately came from the Lord, and they do not belong to us.

Rather, whatever we have received, we should be generous in sharing them and using them for good purposes, for God had given us much gifts, and to those to whom He had given more, then more will be expected from them. We cannot bring whatever we have to the world that is to come, that is beyond death. We all know that upon death, all of us will leave behind our earthly treasures, and instead, look forward towards the true treasures found in God alone.

That said, it does not mean that each and every person should sell everything that they have and give all of them to the poor. It means rather that we should do our best in our abilities in order to make good use of whatever blessings and goodness we have received, so that by doing what the Lord had asked us to do, while we may decrease in our earthly riches, but we gain far more bountiful riches in God.

As Christians, all of us should spend some time thinking through what the Lord Jesus had told His disciples today, and also heed what He had asked the young man to do. All of us have to let go of our pride, our human greed and desires, and all the other things which had prevented us from reaching out to God, and from finding our way to Him.

All of us need to spend more time with the Lord, to deepen our relationship with Him, and learning to be humble and to be obedient to God. Let us all also understand that we need to build for ourselves the true treasures of heaven, and not be distracted by the illusory and the temporary wealth of this earth. May all of us grow ever stronger in our faith, and grow ever closer to the Lord our God. Amen.

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Monday, 27 February 2017 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 10 : 17-27

At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.” The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.”

Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”

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Monday, 27 February 2017 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 6, 7

Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom the Lord sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To the Lord I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin, You removed my guilt.

So let the faithful ones pray to You in time of distress; the overflowing waters will not reach them.

You are my refuge; You protect me from distress and surround me with songs of deliverance.

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Monday, 27 February 2017 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Sirach 17 : 20-28

Their misdeeds cannot be hidden from Him, all their sins are before the Lord. He holds a man’s almsgiving dear as a priceless signet ring; He cherishes a good deed like apple of His eye. One day He will rise and reward them; He will place their prize on their heads.

He allows those who repent to return; He comforts those whose hopes are fading. Be converted to the Lord and give up your sins, plead with Him to lessen your offence. Return to the Almighty, turn aside from wrongdoing and totally detest evil.

For who in the grave will praise the Almighty, if the living do not give Him glory? The dead man is as if he did not exist and cannot give praise; he who has life and health can praise the Lord.

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Monday, 20 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded that while we mankind can perform all sorts of wonderful deeds and achievements, but we are truly nothing compared to the wonders of our God. And we are also nothing if we do not have God on our side. If we are separated from God, we cannot do anything, as all that we have achieved all ultimately have come from God.

Without God, His wisdom and grace, there will be no wisdom in us, as we are all like empty vessels made from dust, as when He created us from the earth, without the Wisdom of the Spirit of God, which He Himself placed in us. And for all of our boasting and hubris about our own achievements and abilities, not even mankind’s greatest technologies and achievements are able to give an answer for all of our needs.

It is in God alone that we can find an answer to all of our needs. In the matter of the material and worldliness, indeed, we may be able to find satisfaction and answer from the world and its ways, but in the matter of the spiritual, our answer comes from God alone. That is why in the Gospel today, Jesus chided and rebuked His disciples and the people for their lack of faith in Him.

They tried to cast out the evil spirits in the boy, but they did not have complete faith in Him. They perhaps had thought that they had their power of healing and creating miracles because of their own power and might, but all the authority which had been given to them came ultimately from God. God granted them the power and authority over the whole world, over all mankind, and even over the spiritual forces, the evil spirits.

Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, and said that there is a need for them to have faith in Him. Without faith, there could be no healing and power, and without faith, nothing good will happen. It was because of faith that the Lord was able to exercise His work and power through His people and principally through His disciples. They carry out the good works of His hands, and He gave them the means to do so.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all ask ourselves, whether we have been faithful to God, and not just any kind of faith, but indeed, to have a genuine and true faith in the Lord. Faith in the Lord is the foundation of everything we have, and should be the cornerstone of all of our actions, words and deeds. With faith, even things that seem to be impossible are possible, for nothing is truly impossible with God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians it is important that each and every one of us must have genuine faith in our God. We must not become only a ‘paper’ Christian, where we are just Christians by formality, or because we have been brought up in the faith but then we do nothing more or worse still, want to have nothing to do with our faith and beliefs in God.

We must show our faith through action, to show that what we believe in God, is not just a formality alone, but instead that we really ingrain it in ourselves, that we really understand and appreciate the importance of our faith in our lives. Let us all therefore from now onwards, if we have not done so, spend our time to carry out good works of charity, love and mercy, and also showing care and concern for one another, for our neighbours, especially those who have fallen in the darkness and become lost from God and from us.

May the Lord bless us all and may He strengthen our faith. May He empower us with the strength to carry out daily what He has given us to do. May He be the pillar of our strength, and may He be the foundation of our lives. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Monday, 20 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 9 : 14-29

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples, Peter, James and John came to the place where they had left the disciples, they saw many people around them and some teachers of the Law arguing with them. When the people saw Jesus, they were astonished and ran to greet Him.

He asked, “What are you arguing about with them?” A man answered Him from the crowd, “Master, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit, deaf and mute. Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked Your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.”

Jesus replied, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to Me.” And the brought the boy to Him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it shook and convulsed the boy, who fell on the ground, and began rolling about, foaming at the mouth.

Then Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “From childhood. And it has often thrown him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. If You can do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

Jesus said to him, “Why do you say, ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe, but help the little faith I have.” Jesus saw that the crowd was increasing rapidly, so He ordered the evil spirit, “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you : Leave the boy and never enter him again.”

The evil spirit shook and convulsed the boy and with a terrible shriek came out. The boy lay like a corpse and people said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him and the boy stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?”

And He answered, “Only prayer can drive out this kind, nothing else.”