Monday

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Monday, 1 February 2016 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Samuel 15 : 13-14, 30 and 2 Samuel 16 : 5-13a

A messenger came to report to David that the Israelites were siding with Absalom. Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let us flee, for we cannot resist Absalom. Go quickly, lest he come hurriedly and overtake us. Surely he will put the city to the sword if he can bring disaster upon us.”

David himself went up the Mount of Olives, weeping. He was barefooted and had his head covered, and all the people who were with him had their heads covered and wept as they went.

When king David came to Bahurim, a man from the clan of Saul’s family named Shimei, son of Gera, came out cursing him. He threw stones at David and his officers although the king’s men and warriors flanked the king on the right and left.

Shimei said as he cursed, “Go away! Go away! You bloodthirsty good-for-nothing! YHVH has brought down on your head all the blood of the family of Saul. You became king in his place, but God has now placed the kingdom in the hands of your son Absalom. Ruin has come upon you because you are a bloodthirsty man.”

Then Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go and cut his head off.” But the king said, “Why should I listen to you, sons of Zeruiah? If YHVH has ordered him to curse me, who shall ask him why he acts like this?”

Then David said to Abishai and his officers, “If my own son wants to kill me, how much more this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me if YHVH has ordered him to do so. Perhaps YHVH will look on my affliction and turn to good things the curses heaped on me today.”

So David and his men went their way while Shimei, following on the hillside opposite him, continued to curse as he threw stones and flung dust at him.

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Monday, 25 January 2016 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the whole Church celebrates an important event in our faith, when the great Apostle St. Paul was called by God from his old life and way of sin, and into righteousness and truth in Him, to be His servant and worker, bringing the fruits of the Good News to many nations, that many, countless souls were saved from certain destruction.

Today, we all celebrate the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, he who was once called Saul, a great enemy of the Church and the faithful, who had sworn to destroy the Church and to bring great suffering to all the faithful that he encountered. In his false and misled zeal, he persecuted the Church and brought misery to many of the faithful disciples of Christ.

Naturally, it was easy for many people, many among the faithful, to resent and hate him because of the vile and harsh actions that he had done. But, God had another plan for that young man, as He wanted him to be His mouthpiece and speaker to the many nations. It is indeed mysterious and amazing how God worked in ways incomprehensible to men, that He would make a great enemy of His Church to become its greatest defender and champion.

But that was exactly what had happened, and as God Himself appeared to Saul, He revealed the truth about Himself to him, and told him the path that he was to take. And ever since that fateful moment, Saul was never the same again, and having received the gift of purification by the sacrament of baptism, and by receiving the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit, he turned a new life, a life dedicated completely and entirely to the Lord, his God.

And because of that, many were saved, because Saul had chosen to abandon his easy life, a life approved by the society, the elders and the chief priests because of his opposition to Jesus, and thus accepting for himself, the cross of Christ which he would bear with great faith and commitment. And Saul, who later called himself as Paul, dedicated the rest of his life to help the people of God find their way to the Lord through his many travels, works and writings.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after we have heard all about St. Paul and how he was called by God to His service, surely then we ask ourselves, what is the significance of this event to all of us? Why is it so important that the Church rejoices together and celebrates it as a great feast? That is not just because St. Paul was truly a great Apostle and servant of God, but also because of the example and the inspiration that his conversion has for all of us.

In this matter, those of us who chose to join the Church not during our infancy may be able to relate better to what I am going to share with all of you about how relevant is the conversion of St. Paul to us, but even those among us who are cradle Catholics, or having received the gift of baptism since birth, we too will be able to relate well with it. This is because the story of the conversion of St. Paul, is the story of God’s love and mercy for us.

At the crux of the matter is the desire of our God Who loves all of us to bring us back into His embrace, and thus His desire that all of us should leave behind our sinfulness and wicked past lives, and begin anew in a life in Him, a life that is founded on the foundation of His ways and teachings, just as St. Paul had done. What God wants us to know is that, He wants to show us sinners His mercy, and if we are to accept His mercy, there will be much for us to do.

Yes, what is important is the desire of us sinners to repent from our sins and abandon behind all of our wickedness, that we sin no more and commit ourselves anew to a new life thoroughly dedicated to God. And there are few examples for us better than what St. Paul himself had shown us. He repented sincerely of all the evil things he had done while he persecuted the followers of the Lord, and he showed it through concrete action, by standing up for his faith in God.

Are we all able to do the same as well? It is what we should do too, considering that all of us are in one way or another, sinners and unworthy of God. And yet God has shown us His willingness to forgive us our sins and to love us once again with the fullness of His grace. It is something that we have to ponder and reflect on as we go along through our daily lives, that we would be able to understand better what we need to do from now on.

Saints themselves were once sinners, but what mattered the most was the very fact that they abandoned their past sins and wickedness, and from disobedience, they turned to a good faith and trust in the Lord. This is how they were made great and honoured. God is indeed mercy and love, but without the commitment from the sinner to accept that love and mercy, and act on them, then truly it is all meaningless for them.

Therefore, today, inspired by the examples, the courage and the faith of St. Paul, a great sinner who turned away from all of his sins and wickedness, and decided to follow fully and completely the path of the Lord, becoming a great servant and blessed in the process, we pray that all of us will also be given the strength and the courage to do the same as well.

Let us all renew our commitment and our faith to the Lord, not just in words but also in actions. Let our every deeds be testimony of our faith to the Lord, not fearing the prejudice and ridicule or persecution by the world, but be more concerned about one another, especially those who are under the threat by those who mislead them in life, and thus it is our duty to help each other to persevere in faith. Love one another and show our faith through our actions, brethren. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 25 January 2016 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 15-18

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.”

“Signs like these will accompany those who have believed : In My Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

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Monday, 25 January 2016 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 116 : 1, 2

Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.

How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.

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Monday, 25 January 2016 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 22 : 3-16

Paul said to the Jews, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our Law. And I was dedicated to God’s service, as are all of you today. As for this Way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.”

“The High Priest and the whole Council of elders can bear witness to this. From them I received letters for the Jewish brothers in Damascus and I set out to arrest those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. But as I was travelling along, nearing Damascus, at about noon a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me.”

“I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me : ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me : ‘I am Jesus the Nazarean Whom you persecute.’ The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the One Who was speaking to me.”

“I asked : ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord replied : ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told all that you are destined to do.’ Yet the brightness of that Light had blinded me and so I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions.”

“There a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the Law and well spoken by all the Jews who were living there. As he stood by me, he said : ‘Brother Saul, recover your sight.’ At that moment I could see and I looked at him. He then said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will, to see the Just One and to hear the words from His mouth.'”

“‘From now on you shall be His witness before all the pagan peoples and tell them all that you have seen and heard. And now, why delay? Get up and be baptised and have your sins washed away by calling upon His Name.'”

Alternative reading

Acts 9 : 1-22

Meanwhile, Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorise him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.

As he travelled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute Me?” And he asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus Whom you persecute. Now get up and go into the city; there you will be told what you are to do.”

The men who were travelling with him stood there speechless; they had heard the sound, but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground and opening his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was blind and he did not eat or drink for three days.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Here I am, Lord!” Then the Lord said to him, “Go at once to Straight Street and ask, at the house of Judas, for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and placed his hands upon him, to restore his sight.”

Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and now he is here with authority from the High Priest to arrest all who call upon Your Name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to bring My Name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I Myself will show him how much he will have to suffer for My Name.”

So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you so that you may receive your sight and be filled with Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see; he got up and was baptised. Then he took food and was strengthened.

For several days Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. All who heard were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who cast out in Jerusalem all those calling upon this Name? Did he not come here to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

But Saul grew more and more powerful, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

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Monday, 18 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Jesus Who spoke to His disciples about the new and old wineskins, and how only new skins should be used to contain new wines, or else, if old wine is put into new wineskins and vice versa, they would not be compatible and will ruin everything. Similarly, our Lord Jesus also spoke of how a piece of new cloth put to patch a hole in an old cloth will just cause the tear to become even bigger.

In the first reading today, we heard about the disobedience of king Saul, the first king chosen by God to lead His people Israel, who refused to obey fully the commands of the Lord, Who had commanded that he and the Israelites destroy the Amalekites completely, from their king, towards all the women and children, all their cattle and their goods, for they have been a great enemy and a great hindrance to the people of God for a long time.

Instead, king Saul chose only to destroy the men and all the armaments of war and the people of the Amalekites, sparing not just the cattle, the lambs and the possessions of the Amalekites, but even sparing the life of their king, Agag. Saul tried to argue his way out of trouble by saying that he had spared the cattle and the possessions of the Amalekites in order to give sacrifices to the Lord as a symbol of thanksgiving, but he failed to realise that, as Samuel and the Lord had made it clear, that sacrifices are no more important than obedience. In fact, sacrifice made without obedience and understanding is meaningless.

Jesus our Lord Himself had often repeated this point as well, saying that like the faith of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who often followed the code of the law so strictly and emphasised so much on the rituals and the properness of the actions that one should undertake in the Law, that they had often forgotten the true meaning and purpose of the Law itself.

Yes, that is just as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were so engrossed with the preserving of the Law of God, such as the law of the Sabbath prohibiting people from doing anything as prescribed by the law of Moses, but yet failed to take notice that indeed, the purpose of such law is to help mankind to love God more and devote their time to the Lord rather than being constantly engrossed in their own daily business.

They fasted and prayed loudly in public places not because they loved the Lord or had a real piety and devotion to Him. Some of them might have been truly faithful, but for most of them, they did all those things in order to be noticed by the people, and to be praised and honoured for their supposed great piety and devotion to the Lord. And this is what the Lord Jesus mentioned as the old way, that is incompatible to the new way He was revealing to the world.

It is a clear reminder to all of us, that if we are to become the disciples and followers of the Lord, then we all have to forsake and leave behind our earthly and worldly ways, or else, the incompatibility between the two will cause a rift and a trouble for us in the days to come, just as the Lord Jesus showed it with the incompatibility of old wineskins and new wine.

The way of the world is the way of pride and desire, the desire to be praised, to receive fame and to be showered with good things in life. The way of the world is to turn our back to the Lord and to His love, and the way that we have usually followed is the path of selfishness and self-indulgence, which we must avoid if we are to be true disciples of our Lord.

Let us all renew all of our faith to God with great passion and good understanding what the Lord expects from us. He does not expect from us sacrifices or offerings, but rather the true offering of our love, our devotion, our commitment to Him. This is what He desires from us, rather than the long prayers and all the rituals. But do take note, that it does not mean that we should not pray, but rather, when we pray, from now on, let us do it with zeal and fervour.

May Almighty God bless us all and strengthen us, so that we all may cast away our old shell of life, and discard all the wicked things of the past which we had, and take up the new mantle of life that is blessed and in the grace of God. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 18 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 2 : 18-22

At that time, one day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but yours did not?”

Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the day will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.”

“No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”

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Monday, 18 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Monday, 18 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Samuel 15 : 16-23

Samuel then told Saul, “Enough! Let me tell you what YHVH said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Please tell me.” So Samuel went on and said, “Though you had no confidence in yourself, you became chief of the tribes of Israel, for YHVH wanted to anoint you king over Israel. Then He sent you with this command, ‘Go. Completely crush the Amalekite offenders, engaging them in battle until they are destroyed.'”

“Why then did you not obey the voice of YHVH but instead swooped down on the spoil, doing what was evil in His sight?” To this, Saul replied, “I have obeyed the voice of YHVH and have carried out the mission for which He sent me. I have captured Agag, king of Amalek and completely destroyed the Amalekites. If my men spared the best sheep and oxen from among those to be destroyed, it was in order to sacrifice them to YHVH, your God, in Gilgal.”

Samuel then said, “Does YHVH take as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to His command? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission better than the fat of rams. Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness like holding onto idols. Since you have rejected the word of YHVH, He too has rejected you as king.”

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Monday, 11 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we begin our season in the Ordinary Time, after we left the season of Christmas that officially ended yesterday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Today’s Scripture readings made it very clear to us that God called us mankind to be His followers and to walk along His path.

In the first reading, we heard about the prophet Samuel, who was born to a couple who were once unable to have a child, as the mother of Samuel, Hannah, was barren. She prayed to the Lord and promised that if her prayers for a child were fulfilled, then she would offer her firstborn to be a servant of the Lord in all things. And thus, Samuel was born and given to the Lord to be His servant.

God listened to her prayers and fulfilled her wish, as truly nothing is impossible for God. As long as whatever we wish is within His will to grant us, then He shall grant us what we need in accordance with His will. God loves us all and He wants us all to be reunited with Him in perfect love, and that was why, just as the parents of Samuel who loved God and offered their first son to Him, God also gave us His own Son as the proof of His eternal and infinite love.

Yes, He gave us Jesus His Son, to redeem us, and through Him, all of us have been called just as Samuel was called by the Lord, to be His followers, abandoning our old ways and our sinful past, and from then on, to be faithful and devoted in all the things that we say and do. He is calling us to be light to the nations, and to be His disciples and the extension of His hands, to spread to more people His love and help.

Therefore, just as we heard how Jesus called His disciples from among the simple fishermen at the shores of the lake of Galilee, and even tax collectors and zealots, who were counted among the numbers of His Twelve Apostles, thus, this is an example for us all too, that all of us should also follow their footsteps in following the Lord, and be transformed in our own lives, so that we no longer exist as creatures of this world, but as the people of God’s everlasting Kingdom.

Today we are all called to be like the disciples of our Lord, who left behind all of their tools of trade and even families behind in order to follow the Lord our God. Well, this does not mean that we have to literally do the same thing as well, abandoning our families and our lives. Rather, it means that all of us, who have often been in our comfort zone for very long time, should be aroused to move out and get on the path towards the Lord and His salvation.

And how do we do this then, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by removing all of our doubts and fears, or laziness and unwillingness to do what is expected from us as the followers and disciples of our Lord. Let us rather be courageous and be forthcoming in all of our words, actions and deeds, showing to all those who see us that we all belong to the Lord and we are always faithful in Him no matter what happens.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment and our faith to God, by refusing to be pulled down by ourselves and our attachment to our comfort zone. But rather, at the beginning of this new year, let us all strengthen our resolve ever more to be ever more faithful disciples and followers of our God, to love one another, our brethren ever more, and bring more lost souls to the salvation in God. God bless our endeavours and be with us all. Amen.