Monday

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Monday, 7 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 35 : 1-10

Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice, the desert be glad and blossom. Concerned with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy, adorned with the splendour of Lebanon, the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon. They, my people, see the glory of YHVH, the majesty of our God.

Give vigour to weary hands and strength to enfeebled knees. Say to those who are afraid : “Have courage, do not fear. See, your God comes, demanding justice. He is the God who rewards, the God Who comes to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed. Then will the lame leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout. For water will break out in the wilderness and streams gush forth from the desert. The thirsty ground will become a pool, the arid land springs of water.

In the haunts where once reptiles lay, grass will grow with reeds and rushes. There will be a highway which will be called the Way of Holiness; no one unclean will pass over it nor any wicked fool stray there. No lion will be found there mor any beast of prey. Only the redeemed will walk there.

For the ransomed of YHVH will return : with everlasting joy upon their heads, they will come to Zion singing, gladness and joy marching with them, while sorrow and sighing flee away.

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Apostle Andrew, St. Andrew the First-Called, known as such because he was among the first of the Apostles to be called by the Lord, as we heard the story in the Gospel passage of today, where Jesus called him and his brother Peter from their job as fishermen on the shores of the Lake of Galilee.

St. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter, who would later be the one to establish many churches and structure of the Universal Church in many places, and in the end became the first Bishop of Rome, and also as the first Pope as he was given the authority by the Lord to be the chief shepherd and the leader of all His faithful ones. St. Andrew himself went on to establish his own dioceses and churches, and the most famous and lasting one is the Church of the city of Constantinople, then known as Byzantium.

St. Andrew would become the patron of that city and as its first bishop, and as that city grew in importance, and especially after the Roman Emperor Constantine, the very first Christian Emperor and the one to rescind the persecution against the faithful, conquered the whole Empire and chose the site if Byzantium to be his new capital city, the city he named after himself as Constantinople, to be the site of New and Second Rome.

And thus from then on, the episcopal see of St. Andrew, the See of Constantinople rose in prominence and importance until it became second in importance only after the See of Rome. And the Patriarchate that grew from Constantinople, patronised by St. Andrew, would become eventually a great Church that helped to spread the Faith to many peoples in what is now Eastern Europe, and as the centre of the Eastern half of Christianity.

It is therefore with a sense of great regret that we now exist as a divided and shattered Church, where the Universal authority of St. Peter of Rome was not recognised and acknowledged by the successors of St. Andrew, his brother, as since about a thousand years ago, due to the worldly ambitions of the then Patriarch of Constantinople, the See of Constantinople tore itself apart from the Universal Church, a division that we now seek to heal and restore.

Therefore, today, on the feast of the faithful and devoted St. Andrew, brother of the first Vicar of Christ, who shared with him the blood of martyrdom and in the defense of his Faith in God, having both been tortured, incarcerated and crucified as the chief disciples and Apostles of our Lord, we pray that firstly the Church established by St. Andrew will be reunited to the whole Universal Church under the primacy, supremacy and leadership authority of the Pope, whose authority extends over the entire Church and over all the faithful without exception, as the Vicar of our Lord Himself.

And then, let us also pray for ourselves, as the examples of the Holy Apostles and disciples of Christ should have made us to realise that there are still so many of the works which they have initiated that are still left undone and incomplete. And if we look carefully and listen to what St. Paul had exhorted the faithful in Rome in our first reading taken from his Epistle to the Romans, then we should know what is to be expected from us.

Yes, St. Paul reminded that salvation cannot come to the people of God unless they believe in the Lord God Who saved them from sin and death, but they cannot believe before someone bring to them the truth and the wholeness of the Good News, and while the Good News is already there, but without someone to convey the message and the truth, no one would know and thus no one will be saved.

This is the fact that all of us should understand and know, and we have to realise that God has not just called the Apostles to be His bearers of the Good News of His salvation, but in fact, He has called even all of us, all of us here living in this world today, many years after the time of the Apostles, to continue their good works and missions, following in their footsteps and in the examples of their successors.

Let us all therefore on this day, ask for the intercession of the Holy Apostles, particularly that of St. Andrew, that through us and through our works, we may bring light into the world, and also unite all the faithful ones of the Lord, especially those who have separated themselves from the unity of the Church under His Vicar. Let us all pray for the unity of all Christians and for the conversion of the whole world. Amen.

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 4 : 18-22

At that time, as Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fish for people.”

At once they left their nets and followed Him. He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them. At once they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 10 : 9-18

You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved.

For Scripture says : ‘No one who believes in Him will be ashamed.’ Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call upon the Name of the Lord without having believed in Him? And how can they believe in Him without having first heard about Him? And how will they hear about Him if no one preaches about Him? And how will they preach about Him if no one sends them?

As Scripture says : ‘How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of Good News.’ Although not everyone obeyed the Good News, as Isaiah said : ‘Lord, who has believed in our preaching?’ So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ.

I ask : Have the Jews not heard? But of course they have. Because the voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth and their voice was heard to the ends of the world.

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Monday, 23 November 2015.: 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr and St. Columban, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Scripture readings which highlighted the fact that giving should come from the heart, and that from a purity of heart, one can give enormously in terms of the righteousness and light that emanates from those who are righteous, just and good in the eyes of the Lord.

In the first reading, we heard the beginning of the narrative of the story of Daniel the prophet and servant of God, who was called and chosen from among the many exiles of Israel at the time of their Babylonian exile, and he was blessed by God, for his faith and devotion to God, through his never ending commitment to the ways of the Lord, and God blessed him to show an example to the nations that He is the one and only True God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the choice facing Daniel and his friends are the same choices which all of us are facing on daily basis. It is a choice between following the way of righteousness of our Lord, following His commandments and laws, and obeying all the tenets and precepts as taught by the Sacred Scriptures. The other option is for us to disobey the Lord and follow our own desires, living without the bounds of the Law.

It is a choice for us whether we lead a life filled with the purity of love, of care for others, commitment to peace and harmony between peoples and nations, and leading a life filled with faith and joy knowing that we have lived in accordance to God and His words, or we can choose to live a life filled with the worldly pleasures of gluttony and greed, of hatred and jealousy, of insatiable desire and selfishness.

And in this, we should heed the examples of the poor widow as shown and told by our Lord Jesus Himself, as He related the parable to His disciples, about a poor widow who even though gave only two pieces of small coins, but she sincerely gave them for the Lord, without even worrying about what she would do without these coins which would be essential for her own livelihood and survival.

Jesus did not mean to mark a difference or distinguish between the rich and the poor, between the privileged and those who have little or none. On the other hand, He wanted to point out that to have faith in the Lord require much effort and much devotion, commitment and hard work on our part, by giving of ourselves unconditionally and with complete confidence in God.

Many of us are often distracted by the many worldly goods and things that kept us away from truly being able to give ourselves fully to the Lord, and many of these things tempted us away from the true goal that is to reach out to salvation in our Lord. It is in our nature to be easily lured away and tempted by these pleasures and goods of the world, which the evil one is using to his full advantage to prevent us from being saved and fall into damnation.

Therefore, all of us ought to follow the examples of the two saints, faithful men whose lives are an inspiration to us all, namely the lives of St. Columban the Abbot, and Pope St. Clement I, one of the first Popes and a martyr of the Holy Church and a defender of his Faith in God. Both of these saints have lived through times both good and evil, and they have lived their lives faithfully and had had their faith tested through many trials.

Pope St. Clement I was one of the first Bishops of Rome, the successors of St. Peter the Apostle, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ. As the leader of both the growing local Church in the heart of the Roman Empire and as the leader of the whole Universal Church, Pope St. Clement I toiled and laboured hard for the sake of the Lord, and for the sake of His people.

He wrote extensively, and in His many writings, He encouraged the faithful of the Church all over the world to follow closely to the teachings of Christ found in the Church, and amidst persecutions of the faithful, he continued to inspire many of the people of God to walk courageously in faith, and he led by example, when he himself was arrested and imprisoned, he continued to defend his faith in God passionately. Yes, even unto death.

Meanwhile, St. Columban was a religious monk whose life was truly exemplary, filled with prayers and great spiritual focus on the Lord. He advocated the faithful to be true to their faith, and seek to be forgiven from their sins and mistakes through the use of confession by priests. He was one of the first to encourage regular confession before priests to ensure that our souls are clean from the taints of sin.

These two holy men led an example through their own respective lives, and there are many things which they had done that we can also emulate for ourselves. Indeed, let us all heed their examples, and show the same actions in our own lives as well. It is time for us to commit ourselves more to the Lord and walk ever more faithfully in His ways. May God be with us all, and may through the intercession of Pope St. Clement I and St. Columban the Abbot, we may be brought closer to God’s holy presence. Amen.

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Monday, 23 November 2015.: 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr and St. Columban, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 21 : 1-4

At that time, Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury of the Temple. He also saw a poor widow, who dropped in two small coins. And He said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. For all of them gave an offering from their plenty; but she, out of her poverty, gave all she had to live on.”

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Monday, 23 November 2015.: 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr and St. Columban, Abbot (Psalm)

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

Daniel 3 : 52a, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, Who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of Heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Monday, 23 November 2015.: 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr and St. Columban, Abbot (First Reading)

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

Daniel 1 : 1-6, 8-20

In the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign as king of Judah, king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. The Lord delivered into his hands king Jehoiakim of Judah, and some of the vessels from the Temple of God as well. These he carried off to the land of Shinar and placed in the treasure house of his god.

King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief eunuch Ashpenaz to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility : young men without physical defect, handsome, intelligent and wise, well-informed, quick to learn and understand, and suitable for service in the king’s palace.

They were to be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans. They were allotted a daily portion of food and wine from the king’s table and were to be trained for three years, after which they were to enter the king’s service. Among these were young men of Judah : Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

As Daniel was resolved not to make himself unclean with the king’s food or wine, he begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement. By the grace of God, the chief eunuch had been sympathetic to Daniel, but he was afraid of the king, and so he said, “If the king, who has allotted your food and drink, sees that you look more emaciated than the other young men of your age, he might think ill of me. It will put my life in danger to give in to your wish.”

Daniel then turned to the steward whom the chief eunuch had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. “Please test your servants for ten days. Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink, and see how we look in comparison with the young men who eat food from the king’s table. Then treat us in accordance with what you see.”

The steward agreed and tested them for ten days, at the end of which they looked healthier and better fed than any of the young men who ate the king’s food. So the steward continued to give them vegetables instead of the choice food and wine. To these four youths God gave wisdom and proficiency in literature, and to Daniel the gift of interpreting visions and dreams.

At the end of the period set by the king for the youths’ training, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them and found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These four became members of the king’s court.

In any matter of wisdom and discernment about which the king consulted, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

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Monday, 16 November 2015 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Margaret of Scotland, and St. Gertrude, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the beginning of the new chapter in our Scripture readings from the Book of the Maccabees, telling us the narrative of what happened during the time of the Maccabean rebellion or the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid Empire, or the Greek Empire that descended from the Empire of Alexander the Great of Greece who had brought much of the known world under his dominion.

At that time, the Greek culture was the high culture of the society, and many people aspired to learn the Greek language, culture and customs, and in various ways, many people from various nations and origins would try to implement Greek lifestyle and even religion into their own lifestyle, which is known as Hellenism. Many people even became completely Greek in their lifestyle and they incorporated completely the Hellenic culture as their own.

And the problem came when the same sentiment and practice came to the land of the faithful people of Israel, the direct descendants and heirs of Abraham, to whom God had shown His favour and with whom God had established an eternal covenant, a bond of promise between Himself and Abraham and his descendants, that they would commit to each other forever.

This means that the Lord God of all universe and of all creation would dedicate Himself and commit Himself to the people whom He had chosen and loved, and to whom He would give the entirety of His blessings and inheritance. But a covenant is a two-way process, and require both parties of the covenant to dedicate themselves to one another. This means that the people of Israel, and by extension, all of us, must devote ourselves and commit ourselves to the Lord as well.

Yet, the people of the time of Maccabees, the family of faithful people who eventually led the faithful in rebellion against the tyranny and the wickedness of the king Antiochus Epiphanes and his successors, who enforced the assimilation of the Jews into the pagan ways of the Greeks, and insisted on the adoption of the pagan gods and worship by the faithful, who worshipped only the one and only True God.

To follow the orders of the king would be tantamount to disobeying and breaking the covenant which the Lord had established with them, and the consequences would not be light. Indeed, only those who have remained true to the covenant of God would deserve the everlasting reward which God had promised, whereas to break away from the covenant would mean the nullification of such privileges, and therefore, separate from the Lord of all life, there will be nothing for them.

Many succumbed to the temptations of such pressure and many succumbed to the great pressures given by the king against the faithful. Many betrayed the Lord in exchange for safety and acceptance by the world. As such, many souls were lost and these went into damnation, unless they changed their ways and repented their sins. But there were also many of those who remained true to the Lord and to their faith despite the difficulties and the persecutions against them.

The examples of today’s saints also should remind us that it is not easy for us to remain faithful and to be devoted to our Lord, but it is possible if we put in enough effort in order to do so. St. Margaret of Scotland was the Queen of Scotland, whose life had been marked with many challenges and difficulties, and yet even though she attained great importance and preeminence, she remained devout, committed and faithful to her faith in God.

She spent much time in prayer and in performing numerous charities and loving acts to all the poor and the destitute of her kingdom. She also provided shelter and safe haven for many refugees and the oppressed peoples from the neighbouring countries. Through her works, the livelihood of many people were improved, and many were greatly inspired by her great piety.

Meanwhile, St. Gertrude was a great and devoted mystic, who received visions from the Lord and inspiration about her faith. St. Gertrude devoted her whole life to the Lord and to His people through prayer, and her many works and writings continued to inspire many people even until today, and called many to continue to be faithful to the teachings of the Faith.

In all of their examples, we can see how we ought to live as children of God and as followers of His way and truth. Let us all devote ourselves in the same way, and let us all commit ourselves anew to our faith and be no longer be ignorant or be against the ways that we should indeed follow and emulate in our own lives. May the Lord always bless us in all of our endeavours. Amen.