Liturgical Colour : White
Ephesians 3 : 2-3a, 5-6
You may have heard of the graces God bestowed on me for your sake. By a revelation He gave me the knowledge of His mysterious design. This mystery was not made known to past generations but only now, through revelations given to holy Apostles and prophets.
Now the non-Jewish people share the Inheritance; in Christ Jesus the non-Jews are incorporated and are to enjoy the Promise. This is the Good News.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 71 : 1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.
Justice will flower in His days, and peace abound till the moon be no more. For He reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
The kings of Tarshish and the islands render Him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts, all kings bow down to Him, and all nations serve Him.
He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor, He saves the life of the poor.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 60 : 1-6
Arise, shine, for your Light has come. The Glory of YHVH rises upon you. Night still covers the earth and gloomy clouds veil the peoples, but YHVH now rises and over you His glory appears. Nations will come to your Light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes round about and see : they are all gathered and come to you, your sons from afar, your daughters tenderly carried. This sight will make your face radiant, your heart throbbing and full; the riches of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.
A flood of camels will cover you, caravans from Midian and Ephah. Those from Sheba will come, bringing with them gold and incense, all singing in praise of YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from our Scripture passages today, once again we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us as Christians to hold firmly to our faith in the Lord, to trust in Him and to walk ever more faithfully in the path that He has revealed to each and every one of us. We must not easily be swayed by the temptations and the falsehoods of the world, of all things which may lead us astray into the path towards our downfall and destruction if we are not careful and vigilant, in resisting the various temptations to disobey God and to embrace the different pleasures and false joys of the world instead of following the Lord and truly walking in the path of His virtuous righteousness and justice.
In our first reading today, this is what St. John spoke about in one of his Epistles, continuing from what we have heard from earlier parts of the Epistle in the earlier days. The Apostle reminded all the faithful people of God, including all of us to remain vigilant of what we listen to and receive, for there would indeed be false prophets, messengers and antichrists, all those who do not speak the truth and perhaps even try to distort the truth that God has given to us through His Son and through His Holy Spirit. St. John spoke clearly reminding all of us of the salvation which all of us have received and been reassured with by the coming of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, the One by Whom we have all been gathered and reunited once again with the Lord, our Creator and loving Father.
This is why as Christians, all of us must always proclaim Christ our Lord, our Saviour and King, our Divine Master and God, the One and only Master whom we honour and worship, and we remember His coming into our midst, in His incarnation in the flesh, by which He has made Himself approachable and visible to us, that He has bridged the gap between us and God, our Heavenly Father and Creator. We must always remember that the Christ our Lord is at the centre and is the focus of our whole existence, and we must not let the world and all those false prophets and messengers to distract us from the Lord by their offer of alternatives that do not adhere to the Lord’s teachings and truths. We must be vigilant and careful lest we may be tempted to follow those falsehoods, as many of our predecessors had fallen to their snare.
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew the Apostle in which the works of the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world are recounted to us, all that He has done for the sake of the people of God after He embarked on His ministry. St. Matthew in his Gospel also spoke clearly about how the Lord Jesus and everything that He had done were fulfilment of all the prophecies and the promises of God which He had made through His prophets such as Isaiah and many others. And if we understand the main target audience of this Gospel by St. Matthew, we will understand better why this was highlighted, as St. Matthew intended for his Gospel to be read and used by the Jewish Christians, those among the Jewish people who converted to the Christian faith and became believers in Christ.
Therefore, as this Gospel was mainly directed to the Jewish community and the early Jewish Christians, we can see that St. Matthew wanted to convince those Jewish people and community that the Lord Jesus was indeed the one True Messiah, the Saviour Whom God had promised to His people and renewed those promises through the prophets. At the time of the Lord’s ministry and even before that, historically there had been several failed rebellions, some of which were recorded in the Scriptures, of those who had claimed to be the Messiah, and yet, they were truly false Messiahs, having called on the people to believe in them, but they did not represent the truth and Good News that God only proclaimed and brought into our midst through Christ His Son alone.
And not only that, as the Jewish leaders, like the members of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council, the members of the Pharisees and the Sadducees among others, many of them did not believe in the Lord Jesus, doubted and even openly opposed Him, both during His ministry and during the early days of the Church, by opposing the efforts of the Apostles and the other disciples and missionaries of the Lord, persecuting and oppressing them in many places and occasions. Therefore, St. Matthew testified that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah promised by God and His coming and His actions, in His many works and miracles, signs and wonders, in all of His words of wisdom, He has fulfilled the previous prophecies and predictions made about Him.
And this is why all of us should do our best to uphold this faith and trust in the Lord, in His Providence and everything that He has put in our path to help us in our journey of faith and life. All of us should remain firmly focused on the Lord and oppose all the falsehoods of the world, all the false teachings and ideas that can easily lead us astray down the wrong path, and be the good role models and inspirations to one another in how we all live up to our faith. We should not instead be the source of scandal and division, falsehoods and distractions ourselves, but be the worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, doing our best to glorify Him in each and every things that we do in our respective lives.
As we all continue to celebrate in the Lord’s coming in this season of Christmas, the season full of joy and celebration, let us all continue to remember why it is that we celebrate greatly this season, and continue to focus and help others to focus our attention towards the Lord in all things. May the Lord be with us always and may He give us all the strength and courage to continue living our lives from now on, ever virtuous and faithful, against all the challenges in life and against all the temptations that we may have to face in our journey. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 4 : 12-17, 23-25
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a town by the lake of Galilee, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.
In this way the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled : Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, crossed by the Road of the Sea, and you who live beyond the Jordan, Galilee, land of pagans : The people who lived in darkness have seen a great Light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a Light has shone.
From that time on, Jesus began to proclaim His message, “Change your ways : the kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and curing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.
The news about Him spread through the whole of Syria, and the people brought all their sick to Him, and all those who suffered : the possessed, the deranged, the paralysed, and He healed them all. Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Ten Cities, from Jerusalem, Judea and from across the Jordan.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 2 : 7-8, 10-11
I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me : “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
Now therefore, learn wisdom, o kings; be warned, o rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and fall at His feet; lest He be angry and you perish when His anger suddenly flares. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 3 : 22 – 1 John 4 : 6
Then whatever we ask we shall receive, since we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. His command is that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another, as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commands remains in God and God in him. It is by the Spirit God has given us that we know He lives in us.
My beloved, do not trust every inspiration. Test the spirits to see whether they come from God, because many false prophets are now in the world. How will you recognise the Spirit of God? Any spirit recognising Jesus as the Christ Who has taken our flesh is of God. But any spirit that does not recognise Jesus is not from God, it is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard of his coming and even now he is in the world.
You, my dear children, are of God and you have already overcome these people, because the One Who is in you is more powerful than he who is in the world. They are of the world and the world inspires them and those of the world listen to them. We are of God and those who know God listen to us, but those who are not of God ignore us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error as well.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to continue to keep our hope in the Lord and to resist all sorts of temptations and pressures so that we may continue to be righteous, just and worthy of God in all circumstances. We must not be ignorant of the dangers of the world and all the sins around us. If we do not take this seriously and do all the necessary preparations, it may be easy for us to be drawn into the path towards damnation and downfall, by losing sight in the true happiness and treasure that we will find in God alone. This is because the world and its many allures and alternative paths can indeed be very enticing and tempting, persuading us to take that path instead of God’s path.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle the exhortation that the Apostle made to the members of the faithful, addressed particularly to more senior members of the faithful, the fathers and parents who were supposed to bring up their children in the Christian faith, as well as the young men, those from the younger generation who have received the faith and its teachings from the Apostles and also from the guidance of their elders and seniors in their community. St. John exhorted all of them to put their faith in the Lord and in His salvation, in everything that He has done for our sake and overcoming all of the bondage for our sins and evils, all the things which had kept us tied and prevented from seeking God and His love and grace.
St. John also warned the faithful to be vigilant and to be wary of sin and all of its tempting allures, all the things that can lead us into downfall and destruction. He mentioned that if one loves the world and all the things that are in the world, then they will not have the love of God the Father in them. Essentially, it is not possible for one to be able to truly love the Lord and to love the world and all of its riches and temptations all at once. That is why St. John exhorted all the faithful so that they would not fall into this temptation and ended up on the wrong path in life, as if they are not careful, it is easy for them to end up falling ever deeper into the slippery slope of sin. This same reminder also applies to us all as well, and we should truly heed these reminders for our own good.
The Apostle also spoke of the fleeting and impermanent nature of the world against the permanence of God’s love and grace. This is a reality check for all of us especially if we reflect on all the things we often desire and want to pursue in our daily lives in this world. We must be aware that none of those things of the world that we seek, be it glory, fame, riches and wealth, material possessions, popularity and other forms of worldly parameters and things can truly satisfy us and none of them will also last and endure forever. All of them can be gone and disappear in mere moments, and none of us can bring them with us beyond this mortal life and existence we have on earth. The only thing that is truly everlasting is God’s Love and grace, His providence and salvation.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which the account of the time and moment when the Child Jesus was presented and offered at the Temple and House of God in Jerusalem, according to the Jewish laws and customs. At that time, the eldest child of the household and family of the Israelites ought to be dedicated and offered to God, about eight days after they were born. This was a sign of the renewal of God’s great Covenant, His love and enduring providence for all of His beloved people. Then, at that time, just as Mary and St. Joseph was at the Temple of God, two people came up to them and began to prophesy from God, giving thanks that they had managed to see the Saviour Himself appearing before them in the flesh. They were the old man Simeon and the prophetess Anna.
Both of them spoke of the many good things that the Lord God would do for His people through the Holy Child, and they also showed the first premonition of the kind of suffering and hardships which the Lord would eventually have to endure, and how that event would bring great sorrow and pain for Mary, His Mother. Yet, that was what the Lord had to go through in carrying out and completing His mission in this world, that is to bear the punishment and consequences for our many sins and wickedness, to bring forth into our midst the assurance of God’s salvation and grace, His forgiveness and ever enduring patience and love. And we are reminded of all these today in particular during this glorious and joyful season of Christmas so that we can continue to remember the true reason for our Christmas rejoicing and festivities.
The Lord and His love for us is and has always and will be so great that He has done everything for our sake, to help and rescue us from the depths of our predicament, from the darkness of our sins and troubles, from the snares of the devil and the threats of all those seeking our ruin and destruction. And because of this love all of us can now truly rejoice and be filled with hope, the hope for God’s salvation and the promise of eternal life and true happiness with Him. We should continue to put our faith in God and not easily allow ourselves to be distracted by the many temptations present all around us, all of which can lead us astray into the path towards our downfall. We should always trust in the Lord and distance ourselves from the excesses of worldly desires and pleasures, especially during this time of Christmas.
Let us all celebrate Christmas with proper understanding of its importance and significance to all of us, becoming the good role models for one another in how we put Christ at the heart and centre of all our festivities and rejoicing in this time and season. And at the same time, let us not be ignorant of and forget about the sufferings and trials that those who are around us may be facing in their lives. Some of us may also not be able to celebrate Christmas due to various difficulties and reasons, and all of us are therefore called and reminded to share our joy with one another. Let us all be the faithful and worthy bearers of the Light of Christ and His salvation to everyone, and may our Christmas joy be truly rooted and centred in Christ, as always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 2 : 36-40
There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, and spoke of the Child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the Child grew in stature and strength, and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon Him.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 95 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
Give to YHVH, you families of nations, give to YHVH glory and strength. Give to YHVH the glory due His Name.
Bring gifts and enter His courts. Worship YHVH with holy celebrations; stand in awe of Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “YHVH reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 