Monday

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to be truly faithful to God and not to be merely paying lip service to Him, or to be like hypocrites and all those who did not truly have genuine faith and trust in the Lord. Each and every one of us as Christians must always be sincere and genuine in our faith and belief in the Lord, and we should not merely be living our lives without commitment and the desire to live them in accordance to the faith and belief which we have in God. In each and every moments of our lives, we should always strive to do our best, to be exemplary and role model for one another in all things, to be true Christians not just in name, but also in our every efforts, endeavours, our words, actions and deeds.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians in which St. Paul greeted the faithful people of God in Thessalonica, in what is today part of Greece, praying for them and encouraging them amidst the many challenges and trials that they had to endure in their path and commitments as Christians, as those who have faith in the Lord and believed in Him. St. Paul reminded the faithful that the Lord would always be with them and they should not give up in enduring the many persecutions and challenges because rich would be their rewards in the Kingdom of God, the assurance that the Lord Himself has given to them, that they would be well taken care of, and no one who had made commitment and sacrifices for the Lord would be abandoned by Him.

This letter from St. Paul to the Thessalonians highlighted the reality of being a Christian, a follower and believer of Christ at that time, during the early years of the existence of the Church. At that time, the Christian faith was still a relatively new faith and faced many opposition and challenges from those who disagreed with the Lord’s teachings and from the pagans and also the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. Being persecuted and enduring trials and tribulations were part and parcel of being Christians then, and many among the faithful had to face these difficulties on a daily basis. And yet, this did not discouraged many of them from continuing to follow the Lord faithfully as the persecutions in fact strengthened their desire to continue to serve and follow the Lord faithfully.

From the Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew today, we begin the next few days of discourses on the woes of the Pharisees, as the Lord launched a series of criticisms at the Pharisees for their lack of faith and genuine commitment to the Lord, for their many hypocrisies in enforcing very strict laws and regulations as according to their interpretation of the Law of Moses, and yet, they themselves did not practice those laws with sincere faith, true commitment and understanding of the Law of God, His precepts and rules. They made it difficult for the people of God by applying very strict laws and regulations, and yet they themselves did not obey them wholeheartedly, making excuses and exceptions that contradicted themselves.

Not only that, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often took great pride in their supposed piety and obedience to the Law of God. They often showed off their faith and sought praise and glory from whatever they had done, taking great joy and satisfaction in being treated preferentially and respected by the others in the community. This attitude was also complemented by their exclusivist and elitist attitude as they often showed great prejudice and disdain against those whom they deemed to be less worthy than they were, those whom they condemned as sinners, like those tax collectors and prostitutes, those who were afflicted by diseases and possessed by evil spirits, as well as the pagans and non-Jewish people whom they deemed to be unworthy of God and His salvation.

It is all these attitudes and behaviours that the Lord had warned all of His disciples against, so that they would not adapt the same attitudes and ways. As His disciples and followers, the Lord expects each and every one of us to walk in His path, to be always humble in our disposition and our attitudes, not allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly glory and pride. We should not allow ourselves to be taken over by the desire for greatness and superiority over others, like what the Pharisees had suffered from, and like the Lord Himself has shown and taught us, we should constantly remind ourselves that what God wants from us is not empty proclamations and hubris-filled piety. Instead, the greater and better we are, all the more we should be humble and be willing to help others around us.

As Christians, we should always lead by example in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives. We should always be centred on the Lord in all things, doing our best at all opportunities given to us to proclaim Him through our examples, even in the smallest things that we do. We should never underestimate the impact of what we are doing, as often we may not realise that our every actions have wider consequences and implications that we may not be aware of. Through our actions and deeds, even the smallest and seemingly least significant ones among them, we may either show many others the truth and love of God, calling many more towards Him and His salvation, or we may end up scandalising His Holy Name instead, turning many away from God and His grace.

The decision on which path we are to embark on is ours alone, brothers and sisters in Christ. God has given us all the free will to decide and choose our path, and we should consider carefully how we are to proceed from now on so that we do not end up falling into the wrong path. Let us all henceforth renew our commitments from now and beyond, to continue to glorify the Lord by our lives and to do our best so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to be the faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord in all things. May the Lord be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 23 : 13-22

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “But woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You, yourselves, do not enter it, nor do you allow others to do so.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ property; and as a show, you pray long prayers! Therefore, you shall receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel by sea and land to make a single convert; yet, once he is converted, you make him twice as fit for hell as yourselves!”

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say : To swear by the temple is not binding; but, to swear by the gold of the temple is binding. Foolish men! Blind men! Which is of more worth : the gold in the temple, or the temple which makes the gold a sacred treasure? You say : To swear by the altar is not binding, but to swear by the offering on the altar is binding. How blind you are! Which is of more value : the offering on the altar, or the altar which makes the offering sacred?”

“Whoever swears by the altar, is swearing by the altar and by everything on it. Whoever swears by the temple, is swearing by the temple, and by God, Who dwells in the temple. Whoever swears by heaven, is swearing by the throne of God, and by Him, Who is seated on it.”

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5

Sing to YHVH a new song, sing to YHVH, all the earth! Sing to YHVH, praise His Name.

Proclaim His salvation, day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

How great is YHVH and worthy of praise! Above all gods, He is to be feared. For all other gods are worthless idols, but YHVH is the One Who made the heavens.

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 1 : 1-5, 11b-12

From Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God, our Father, and in Christ Jesus, the Lord. May grace and peace be yours, from God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, we should give thanks to God, at all times, for you. It is fitting to do so, for your faith is growing, and your love for one another, increasing. We take pride in you, among the Churches of God, because of your endurance, and by your faith in the midst of persecution and sufferings. In this, the just judgment of God may be seen; for you must show yourselves worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are now suffering.

May our God make you worthy of His calling. May He, by His power, fulfil your good purposes, and your work, prompted by faith. In that way, the Name of Jesus, our Lord, will be glorified through you, and you, through Him, according to the loving plan of God and of Christ Jesus, the Lord.

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Monday, 19 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that in following God, we have to be truly sincere in doing so, and that we may have to encounter a lot of challenges, hardships and difficulties amidst our journey towards the Lord, and we may have to make sacrifices and persevere through whatever it is that we may have to endure in our journey towards God’s grace and salvation. The Lord has always been kind towards us and He has always shown His great patience, in continuing to love us all despite the stubborn attitudes that we had shown Him all these while. God has loved us from the beginning, and He has always helped us throughout the way, showing us the means through which we may find the surest path to His salvation, by entrusting to us His Law and commandments.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the Lord told His prophet to speak to the community of the Israelite exiles in Babylon and elsewhere, telling them how each and every one of them should always put their faith and trust in the Lord, and sin against Him no more, for all the sins which they and their ancestors had committed would lead them all to ruin and destruction, because of the many temptations that this world has offered them, and which kept them away from the path towards God and His grace. At that time, the remnants of Israel in the kingdom of Judah where Ezekiel hailed from was in the last days of its existence, as the Babylonians were about to conquer them and eradicate them from existence, destroying their city of Jerusalem and its Temple.

Through what we have heard, we are reminded that if we choose to walk the path of sin and evil, through our disobedience against God and by embracing the temptations of worldly desires and greed, we are likely to end up in ultimate defeat, regret and destruction, just as the Israelites themselves had suffered, and just as how the Lord showed it through the examples of the misfortunes faced by His prophet Ezekiel. We must not allow the temptations and wickedness of this world from swaying us down the wrong path, and as Christians, we should remind ourselves that we have to follow what the Lord Himself has revealed and taught to us, His Law and commandments, through His Church, and because we are His people, it is important that we should live in accordance to God’s ways, at all times.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard a related passage about the Lord Who was speaking to a young man who asked Him about how he could attain eternal life, and the young man also mentioned how he had been obeying and following the Law, the commandments of the Lord, in all of its many precepts and rules. However, when the Lord then asked the young man to sell everything that he possessed, leaving behind all worldly matters and glory, the young man left in sadness. This showed how despite everything that the young man had done in obeying the Law and commandments of God, he has not yet put the Lord at the very centre and as the first priority of his life. His love and attachment for those wealth and possessions was preventing him from truly being able to commit himself thoroughly as a disciple of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, this does not mean that the Lord is asking us to leave behind all of our properties, wealth and earthly treasures. Rather, this is an important reminder for us that we do not end up getting so caught up and obsessed by those things that we end up getting too attached and preoccupied by them which may end up distracting our true focus and path in life, in serving the Lord wholeheartedly all of our whole lives. Those blessings, possessions and things which we have received should serve as means for us to make them for good use in empowering those around us and also helping all those who may be less fortunate and not as blessed as we all are. We should not use them for our own selfish benefits and gains, and we should also not be obsessed in trying to get more of them.

Today, the Church celebrates the memory of a great saint, whose feast day we commemorate today, namely that of St. John Eudes, a holy priest and servant of God. St. John Eudes was born in France about four centuries ago and he devoted himself to the Lord since a rather early age, committing himself to a chaste life before embarking on formation first under the Jesuits and then the Oratorians through which he grew stronger in his devotion and commitment to the Lord through a strong personal and spiritual relationship with Him. And as a priest, St. John Eudes was well known for his dedication to his work as a priest, ministering to the people of God and administering the sacraments to them, caring for the sick, the poor and the dying among other things.

St. John Eudes was a renowned preacher who has went on many missions to reach out to more and more of God’s people, calling on them all to return to Him, and he was also involved in establishing seminaries and institutions meant to help in the upbringing and formation of priests like seminaries and other related establishments to help improve the formation and spiritual quality of priests that he found quite lacking at the time. St. John Eudes also founded several religious congregations, one of which is the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge dedicated to help those prostitutes and former prostitutes who sought to live a new life of grace and penance in atonement for their past sins and way of life. He also established the Eudists, a congregation dedicated to education of priests and parish missions, something that he had done all his life. St. John Eudes truly committed himself wholeheartedly to the Lord, and we should follow in his footsteps.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon what we have just discussed from the readings of the Scriptures and from the life and missions of St. John Eudes, the holy man of God. Let us all do our own part in living our lives worthily of the Lord, by doing whatever we can in each and every moments of our lives to carry out what God had told us to do, and to follow Him wholeheartedly in all things just as we have heard from our Scripture readings today. We should always put the Lord at the centre and at the very heart of our every actions and works, in every moments of our lives and in our every interactions with one another. It is by doing all these that we are truly able to live a worthy, Christ-like life, and we can do what God has called us to do. Let our lives be truly filled with God’s grace and love in all things, and may we all be the worthy bearers of His light and truth, and may we inspire many others to walk in the same path that we have walked ourselves in our journey towards God. Amen.

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Monday, 19 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 19 : 16-22

At that time, it was then, that a young man approached Him and asked, “Master, what good work must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you ask Me about what is good? One, only, is good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

The young man said, “Which commandments?” Jesus replied, “Do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honour your father and mother. And love your neighbour as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “I have kept all these commandments. What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you possess, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow Me.” On hearing this, the young man went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

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Monday, 19 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Deuteronomy 32 : 18-19, 20, 21

They have disowned the Rock Who fathered them; they have forgotten the God Who gave them birth. The Lord saw this, and in His anger rejected His sons and daughters.

He said, “I will hide My face from them and see what will become of them. They are so perverse, so unfaithful!”

“They made Me jealous with their false gods and angered Me with their idols. I will, therefore, make them envious of a foolish people, I will provoke them to anger with an empty-headed nation.”

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Monday, 19 August 2024 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Ezekiel 24 : 15-24

The word of YHVH came to me in these terms, “Son of man, I am about to suddenly take from you the delight of your eyes, but you are not to lament or weep or to let your tears flow. Groan in silence and do not mourn for the dead; wear your turban, put on your sandals, do not cover your beard or eat the customary food of mourners.”

I spoke to the people in the morning and my wife died that evening. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. Then the people said to me : “Explain to us the meaning of your actions.” I said to them, “The word of YHVH came to me in these terms : ‘Say to Israel : I am about to profane My Sanctuary, your pride, the delight of your eyes for which you long.’”

“‘The sons and daughters you left behind will also fall by the sword, but you will do as I have done : you will not cover your beard or eat the customary food of mourners; you will keep your turbans on your heads and sandals on your feet. You will not lament or weep. Instead, because of your sin, you will waste away and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign for you. Do as he did : and when this happens, you will know that I am YHVH.’”

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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to obey the Lord as we are all His people, and we are all created by Him and are all under His dominion and rule. At the same time, we are also reminded to show the same obedience to the laws and customs of the land, to the place and the states that we have pledged allegiance to, as far as we continue to carry out our obligations and responsibilities as God’s faithful and committed disciples and followers. Today’s Scripture passages and discourses are reminders for us that we can indeed be both faithful Christians and also dutiful and law-abiding citizens of our respective countries, states and territories.

In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the moment when Ezekiel saw a heavenly vision from God was told to us. In that vision, Ezekiel saw the glory of God shown to him, manifested as the Great Throne of God and the Lord enthroned on it, above the Angels, the Seraphim and Cherubim surrounding Him, and the Thrones, the Angels supporting His Throne, revealing God Himself in all of His Divine and Almighty glory. The Lord showed Himself as a truly great and amazing Being beyond the comprehension of man, full of glory and power, and this is in fact a good reminder for us today, as people living in the world where many people have lost their faith in God in this much secularised world, where many marginalised God and His Presence in our midst, and others still also made God to be so personal and human-like that we end up forgetting that He is the Almighty God, Lord and Master of the whole Universe.

Through His Incarnation in the flesh, by His coming into our midst as the Son of Man, in Our Lord Jesus Christ, God has indeed made Himself to be visible, approachable and within our reach, unlike how God had been depicted and shown in the Old Testament, such as what we have heard in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel we have just discussed, and also other occasions like that of Moses’ encounters on the Lord and the prophet Elijah who also encountered God face to face. Earlier on, no one could look at the Lord and live, except for those whom God allowed it, but even then, like what Ezekiel did, he still looked down and fell on his face when he saw God in all of His glory. Through His incarnation, God made Himself personal and approachable to us, by sharing in our human existence. However, this does not change the fact that He is still the same Almighty God, Lord and King over all of us, Whom we ought to obey and follow.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew in which we heard of the Lord Who told His disciples that He would soon face trials, tribulations and challenges, to be handed over to His enemies and suffer death. This was a premonition of what would soon happen during the time on the Cross, during His Passion, His suffering and death for the sake of all of us mankind. In that, He was telling them all that He was obeying His Father’s will, to do what He has wanted to do for us, to open for us the path to redemption and eternal life. Through His selfless and most loving sacrifice on the Cross, He, as our Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, offered Himself to be the most worthy sacrifice and offering for the atonement of our sins and wickedness, for all the things that had caused us to be separated from God, His love and grace.

Then, we have also heard how the Lord spoke to them with regards to the matter of paying taxes to the temple, when they were confronted by the temple officials. At that time, all the Jewish people had to pay the temple taxes which were levied to them on top of the other taxes that they had to pay to the local rulers and their Roman overlords. The Lord told them all that because they were all God’s children, they were all free and not bound to anything, save that of the Lord Himself, their obligation and obedience to Him. However, the Lord also said that they all ought to follow the rules and ways of the land, and to do what they were all asked to do by the temple officials. Thus, all of us as Christians, we also should do our part in obeying the laws, rules and regulations of our countries and states, of any organisations or places that we belong in, as long as they do not directly contradict our obligation and obedience to God, to His Law and commandments.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, a religious whose life and devotion to God, action and great piety can serve as great inspiration for all of us to follow in how we ought to live our own lives as faithful and dedicated people of God. She was born in Dijon in France to an influential family and she was raised up well to be a refined and beautiful woman. She married Baron de Chantal who gave her the surname she would be later known as, and had a sizeable loving family. She was known as an excellent manager of her family’s estates and was a good daughter-in-law to her husband’s father, and was also renowned for her great charitable actions and works in the community, caring for the poor and needy in her community. When later on her husband was killed in a hunting accident, she took on a vow of chastity and devoted herself henceforth to God.

She eventually became a close friend of St. Francis de Sales and wished to become a nun, eventually establishing the order of the Nuns of the Visitation after she left all of her property and matters to her children. Together with the other sisters in her then small congregation, she was unusual in her approach to her ministry in that they all courageously went forth to the community to minister to the people who were needy and poor, neglected and unloved instead of staying cloistered in the monasteries. Her great piety and sanctity soon inspired many people to follow her examples and to be touched in their hearts, leading many ever closer to the Lord and His path. The great faith and examples shown by St. Jane Frances de Chantal should also therefore be inspiration for every one of us to follow her great examples in our own lives, and to be truly faithful to God while also being an active and contributing citizens of our respective countries and states, and as members of our various organisations.

Let us all therefore as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people continue to be truly faithful in all things, dedicated and committed in everything that we say and do so that we may always be sincere in our actions, our words and deeds, in everything that we do in life, so that we ourselves, like St. Jane Frances de Chantal, we may be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters around us. May all of us be blessed and strengthened by God, and may God continue to empower and encourage each and every one of us to live our lives to the fullest and to the best of our abilities in all things and circumstances. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, all for His greater glory and for the good of our fellow men and women. Amen.

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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 17 : 22-27

At that time, when Jesus was in Galilee with the Twelve, He said to them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. But He will rise on the third day.” The Twelve were deeply grieved.

When they returned to Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Does your Master pay the temple tax?” He answered, “Yes.” Peter then entered the house; and immediately, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? Who pay taxes or tribute to the kings of the earth : their sons or strangers and aliens?”

Peter replied, “Strangers and aliens.” And Jesus told him, “The sons, then, are tax-free. But, so as not to offend these people, go to the sea, throw in a hook, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin in it. Take the coin and give it to them for you and for Me.”