Monday

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Monday, 25 December 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Midnight Mass (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 11-12, 13

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

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

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them; let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy.

Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Monday, 25 December 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Midnight Mass (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 9 : 1-7

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death. You have enlarged the nation; You have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, as people rejoice at harvest time as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.

For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors, You have broken it as on the day of Midian. Every warrior’s boot that tramped in war, every cloak rolled in blood, will be thrown out for burning, will serve as fuel for the fire.

For a Child is born to us, a Son is given us; the royal ornament is laid upon His shoulder, and His Name is proclaimed : “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

To the increase of His powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be His dominion, He will reign on David’s throne and over all his kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever. The zealous love of YHVH Sabaoth will do this.

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Sunday, 24 December 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, finally after a long period of few weeks during the Advent season that we have spent in preparation for today’s glorious and most joyful celebration, we can finally sing in great joy and jubilation, ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo!’, ‘Glory to God in the Highest!’ because His salvation has come into our midst and we recall the moment when this very important event in the history of our salvation and existence, happened more than two thousand years ago in the small town of Bethlehem in Judea. At that time, in the small town where David, the famous King of Israel hailed from, in a manger within a stable where animals were kept, a young Child was born, the firstborn of His Mother Mary, an unassuming young woman who had come with her husband St. Joseph from Nazareth in Galilee.

Yet, this seemingly ordinary occasion, of just another birth happening in this world, and all the more happening in a small and ordinary town, not even something that is supposed to be memorable, and yet, it is one of the most important moments in our faith which allows us to hope once again in the Lord, His love and compassion for us, that by this same, ever enduring and patient love, He has manifested this love in a tangible and real way, by making Himself approachable to us, through His beloved Son, Our Saviour, Lord and King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God Most High. His coming was welcomed not with great fanfare that usually accompanied the birth of royalty and great personages of this world, and yet, His birth is the singular most important birth that has happened and will ever happen.

He is the One Whom all the prophets and messengers of God had spoken about, prophesied and predicted, and His coming would herald a new era for the world. Before He came and reveal God’s love and truth to us, we were still all lost amidst all the darkness and evils of this world. We were tempted by the temptations of worldly pleasures to seek these things and our many attachments to worldly goods and pursuits that we often forgot about the Lord and failed to recognise Him being the One Whom we should focus our attention on in our lives. But God sent to us His Son, so that He can gather us all, His lost sheep who have been wandering all over the world. And His entry into this world, His Nativity or birth, is what we all rejoice for this day and throughout the Christmas season.

We must realise that without Christ and His Incarnation, His entry into this world and later on with everything that He had done for our sake, in willingly embracing and taking upon Himself our sins and the punishments due for those sins, we would have been doomed by those same sins and wickedness, and we should have suffered for eternity in Hell away from God and His perpetual love and grace. There is indeed a massive chasm separating us from God’s love, again due to our sins and refusal to obey the Law and commandments of God. No one could cross this chasm and be reconciled, reunited to God on His own, but through His coming, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had brought about the reassurance of our reconciliation with God, as He became for us the Bridge connecting between us and God, our loving Father and Creator.

Yet, brothers and sisters in Christ, despite all these, we can easily notice all around us how this time and celebration of Christmas had lost its meaning, purpose and significance in many of the occasions when we celebrate Christmas. Christmas has become yet just another celebration and festivities, with all of its glamour, glitz and parties, where many focused on the celebratory aspects, all the activities, feasting and rejoicing, but the heart and core significance of what Christmas is all about has often been lost, even to many amongst us Christians. How many of us Christians actually carry out our celebrations of Christmas with the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and God at the centre of everything we do this Christmas?

How many of us treated Christmas as merely a time for another celebration or holiday, or think of Christmas as the time and occasion to be merry and to celebrate with lots of festivities and parties? How many among us are looking forward to all the food and the good things that we are all going to have, to the gifts and presents that we are all going to exchange and receive, and to all the bling associated with the way how the world usually celebrate Christmas? How many of us have forgotten that Christmas is truly about Christ our Lord, and how He has brought into our midst the love of God, being made present among us, and therefore all of our rejoicing and celebration ought to be centred on Him and not on ourselves?

Christmas is definitely a time to be happy and to celebrate, brothers and sisters in Christ. However, if we allow ourselves to be deluded, fooled and swayed by all the temptations and the false ideas being presented to us, and if we forget the true nature and significance of Christmas, then I am afraid that we have not celebrated it in the right way and in the right spirit. Without Christ, there can be no Christmas and there can be no true joy and hope for us. It is precisely because of Christ that we can truly rejoice today, as His coming into this world and His birth shows us that God was not just making empty promises and He is truly loving all of us all these while. Through Christ, all of us can experience and we have become witnesses of God’s ever enduring and ever present love, just as we can also experience His Presence in our midst.

That is why, this Christmas, let us all turn away from all the excesses of the worldly and secular Christmas, that we do not end up celebrating and rejoicing in the wrong way. We should not be celebrating excessively, focusing our attention on all the glamour, parties and all the excessive attention on the festivities without remembering or putting Christ at the centre of all that rejoicing and celebrations. We must not allow the temptations and false pleasures of this world from distracting us away from the true reason and joy of Christmas, that is Christ our Lord. We should lead by example in how we all centre ourselves on Christ and do whatever we can so that our whole lives and how we celebrate Christmas will truly be filled with Christ in all things, and we may be the good and faithful bearers of our Christian truth and Good News to all the people around us.

Let us also share our joy and happiness with everyone around us especially if we have been blessed with more, and granted the opportunities and chances to do more good things in our lives and particularly during this Christmas celebrations and time. Let us also remember that not everyone has the opportunity to celebrate Christmas, either because of the circumstances or because of certain misfortunes and difficulties. Our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, particularly in the Holy Land are now facing hardships and conflicts, ongoing warfare and constant threats to their lives and properties. They cannot celebrate in the same manner as us, especially when death and sufferings are all around them daily and at every moments. The same is also still happening to our brethren in Ukraine and parts of Russia as well, where conflict is still raging on almost two years now.

There are also many of our brothers and sisters who have been persecuted for their faith across the world, just like in the days of the early Church, and as it had happened throughout the history of our faith. Many of these brethren of ours cannot openly celebrate Christmas and cannot even let it be known that they are followers of Christ on the threat and pain of suffering and death. There are many others still who are facing financial difficulties and challenges in their lives, from losing their loved ones and their livelihood, from all the injustice and hardships of this world. Many are not able to even afford basic needs and basic welfare, and they are definitely not in the position to celebrate the way that many of us do for Christmas. Yet, we may be surprised to find out that in their hearts and minds, they know well the message and the hope of Christmas, and they look to Christ as their Hope and their focus as they endure all these crosses and sufferings with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore help our needy brothers and sisters whenever and wherever we can, and keep in mind those who are not able to rejoice as much as we do that our celebrations do not become lavish and excessive, or lose its focus on Christ. Let our Christmas celebrations and joy be shared with all, and let us all show that through Christ, a new Hope has descended into this world, illuminating a world steeped in darkness, raising us all from our wretched state and existence, allowing us all to have hope again, and His Peace has come into our world, and we hope that the Peace of Christ may reign in all hearts and in all the world, that all conflicts may cease and everyone may live once again in peace, and His Joy brought about a new smile and cheer to all of us, reminding us all that all these are possible because of His everlasting and ever patient Love.

May the Lord Jesus Christ, Our God, Saviour and King, born on Christmas Day, continue to bless us all and watch over all of us. May He bless our every Christmas joy and celebrations and help us to remain focused and centred on Him in all things. May He empower us all, particularly those among us who are facing hardships and troubles in life, and may He give us the courage and strength to continue to persevere in faith and life, at all times. Wishing everyone a happy, holy and blessed Christmas! Amen.

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Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures and as we come ever closer to the moment of Christmas, which is just exactly a week away from now, each and every one of us are reminded that we all should do our part in ensuring that our preparations and all the things that we do in our upcoming Christmas celebrations and joy, all of them should always be focused and centred on the Lord, our God and our Saviour, Christ, in Whom we all ought to be celebrating about, and the One Who is the true joy and reason for Christmas. Without Christ, there can be no Christmas, and this is what we are being reminded of again today.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the Lord reassured His people that He would send unto them His salvation, through the Heir of the House of David, successor of David, the great King who had once ruled over the whole people of Israel. This was hope and joy given to the people who by that time had been facing lots of struggles, humiliations and hardships. The kingdom of Israel as it was during the glorious days of David and Solomon was no more, and the northern part of the kingdom, also known as Israel had been destroyed and conquered by the Assyrians, and many of them uprooted from their homeland to be exiled to far-off lands.

The kingdom of Judah, where the prophet Jeremiah ministered in, was also not in a good state, having been beset by many troubles, and dominated by powerful neighbours and rulers. Yet amidst all of these, the Lord told all of His people of the hope that was to come, after telling and warning them of the destruction that was about to come to them because of their sins and wickedness, that eventually, the Lord would rescue and save them all, and gather them all once again, and that they would be His people once again, promising and reassuring them all of His love and continued compassion and care. Through all of that, we can see just how much God has loved us all His people, and we really should not have taken any of these for granted. God’s love for us endures even despite our sins and wickedness.

Ultimately, God still loves us, though He despises our sins and evils. He wants us all to turn away from all those sins and embrace His path of righteousness and truth once again, and this is why He has sent unto us His salvation through His Son, which we heard in our Gospel passage today, as the fulfilment of everything that He has spoken, promised and reassured us all from the very beginning of time, and which He has kept on reminding us again and again through His prophets and messengers. We heard of the Lord sending His Son unto us, Incarnate in the flesh and to be born of the Blessed ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the will of the Father, and how He persuaded and revealed the truth to St. Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, that the Child in her is none other than the Saviour of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of all these we are then reminded of why Christmas is so important to us, and that is because God’s love has been made manifested to us, tangible, real and approachable through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, that God has shown Himself to us, no longer veiled and hidden, and He showed us all just how much He cared for all of us that He reached out to us sinners, even to the worst of sinners amongst us, and making known to all of us His intentions, that is to reconcile us and to bring about forgiveness and liberation for us from the tyranny of sin and evil. Much as how the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in our first reading today, through Christ, all of us have seen and witnessed the real proof of God’s providence and love.

Today, as we reflect upon these readings from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all spend some time to think about how we may have prepared ourselves for the Christmas celebrations and how we have responded to the way that the world around us have celebrated Christmas, with all the festivities and merrymaking, all the glamour and glitz of the celebrations, but one which often came without Christ in the midst of all those things. This is where all of us as Christians must strive to show the world that Christmas is truly about Christ, about God and the Love which He has very generously shown us all, by sending unto us His Son into our midst, and not about all the food, parties, festivities and gifts that we are all going to get and enjoy during the time of celebration.

Let us all therefore do our best in this time and opportunities provided to us, in this blessed season of Advent so that we may truly prepare ourselves wholeheartedly and completely, in living our lives worthily as Christians and in welcoming the Lord into our midst, focusing our attention once again on Him and not upon the many other distractions and temptations all around us. Let us all put the Lord once again at the very centre of our lives and existence, and do our best so that we may truly indeed be God’s faithful and committed followers and people, and through our proper orientation and focus in life, our emphasis on Christ, the true Joy and Hope of Christmas, we may show Him and His love to more and more people all around us.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower each and every one of us with the courage and strength to do His will, and may He bless our Advent commemorations and preparations that we may truly be able to rejoice fully and properly this upcoming glorious and joyous Christmas season. Amen.

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Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 1 : 18-24

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to disgrace her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, she has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ fo He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us. When Joseph awoke, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

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Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 12-13, 18-19

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.

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 lives of the poor.

Praised be YHVH, God of Israel, Who alone, works so marvellously. Praised be His glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen. Amen.

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Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 23 : 5-8

YHVH further says, “The day is coming when I will raise up a King Who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness. That will be a grandiose era when Judah will enjoy peace and Israel will live in safety. He will be called YHVH-Our-Justice!”

“The days are coming,” says YHVH, “when people shall no longer swear by YHVH as the Living God Who freed the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. Rather, they will swear by YHVH as the Living God Who restored the descendants of Israel from the northern empire and from all the lands where He had driven them, to live again in their own land!”

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Monday, 11 December 2023 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, all of us are continuously being reminded of the true reason why we celebrate in this time and season, the upcoming great joy and happiness we are looking forward to in Christmas, as well as the reason why we spend this time of Advent to prepare ourselves thoroughly so that hopefully we may be more prepared and worthy, properly oriented and focused in our Christmas commemorations and celebrations. Advent is a time for us to rediscover our love for God, and for us to redirect and reorientate ourselves that if thus far our lives have been focused on ourselves and worldly pursuits, we may return once again to lives that are centred on God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the Lord’s words of assurance to His people, reminding them all of His love and providence, and how He would come again into their midst to bless them and to make things right for them again, which would be marked with the appearance of wonderful miracles and supernatural events like that had never happened before. The Lord reassured His people of His love through Isaiah, as part of the prophecies that He gave them, to reveal to them the coming of His salvation through none other than Jesus Christ, His one and only begotten Son, Whom He would send into this world in order to lead us all into His loving Presence, to save us all from certain death and destruction.

All the signs and things which the Lord had spoken about and prophesied through Isaiah were meant to reveal to them the One in Whom the Lord would bring all of His people to true happiness and joy once again, free from the troubles and trials that beset them, and brought free from the slavery of sin much as how He had once so with their ancestors in Egypt as He led them out through Moses and Aaron, destroying the shackles of their slavery by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Thus, this Advent, we ought to remember how the Lord, our God and Saviour, had liberated us all from the shackles and bonds of sin, and reunited us all with Himself, opening the direct and sure path to salvation and eternal life, by the coming of His Son, the Saviour of the world.

Meanwhile, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story of the time when the Lord Jesus healed a paralysed man, who was unable to move at all, brought upon his mat to the presence of the Lord. And we heard how the Lord was moved by the faith of the paralysed man and his friends who brought him, and healed him from his ailment. This led to the criticism and opposition from the teachers of the Law who happened to be there at the place. Those teachers of the Law take offence at the Lord’s words to the paralysed man, as He forgave the latter his sins. The teachers of the Law argued that only God alone can forgive sin, and thus the Lord Jesus had committed blasphemy against God by claiming to be able to forgive sins.

Yet, this same Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the One Whom Isaiah and the other prophets had been prophesying about, with all the wonders and signs that had been predicted in the prophecies of the prophets, including the healing of the paralysed man, and many other wonders and miracles that the Lord Himself had done, often in the plain sight and witness of those same teachers of the Law and the Pharisees and Sadducees who were with them. Unfortunately, their pride and ego, their thinking that no one else could have known better about the Lord and His Law had clouded their minds and judgment, and which was likely the reason why they had hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord, refusing to believe in Him, and even placing obstacles in His path.

This is what we ourselves should not be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ. Like how many of us had often done ourselves, in closing off our hearts and minds against the Lord, we must be careful lest we fail to recognise the Lord being present in our lives in all circumstances. And in this time and season of Advent and upcoming Christmas season, this is where we often see God being neglected because we are so focused on all the festivities, celebrations and rejoicing that we end up forgetting the very One Whom we ought to be celebrating and commemorating about this Christmas, that is Christ Our Lord and Saviour, Whose coming into this world had brought unto us God’s love manifested before us, becoming tangible and approachable to us, and how He has reassured us all of His salvation and grace.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Damasus I, one of the leaders of the early Church who helped to strengthen the Church amidst turbulent and challenging times, as he was very committed in devoting his time and efforts to the Church, even from before the time he was elected and reigned as the Pope and hence leader of the Church. Pope St. Damasus I was an Archdeacon of the Church and according to tradition, he also followed the then Pope Liberius into exile when the latter was persecuted by the then Roman Emperor Constantius II who was a supporter of the Arian heresy. Later on, during his time as Pope, Pope St. Damasus I was a very ardent defender of the faith against various heresies plaguing the Church and the faithful at that time.

Pope St. Damasus I should serve as our inspiration and role model because he tirelessly dedicated himself in guiding and shepherding the faithful people of God and the Church against the forces of heretics and others who sought to divide the Church, as he had to face many challenges like the presence of an Antipope in opposition to his rule, as well as challenges from the nobles and other powerful factions in the Church. He carried out important reforms and works that were meant to help the Church to remain firmly rooted in the faith, and was the one who commissioned St. Jerome to compile the Latin translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible, which would later on become the Latin Vulgate. Truly, Pope St. Damasus I did many great works, in establishing the Church and its institutions for the good of the people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we have been reminded and hopefully inspired by the faith and courage shown by Pope St. Damasus I, let us all therefore strive to commit ourselves anew to the Lord especially during this time and season of Advent so that, hopefully we may grow ever closer to God, and be able to inspire others to seek the true joy and reason for Christmas, that is Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and celebrate Christmas together with right understanding and true joy, and not with the excesses of worldly festivities and celebrations. May God be with us always, and may He continue to bless us in all things, and guide us in our Advent journey, now and henceforth. Amen.

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Monday, 11 December 2023 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Luke 5 : 17-26

At that time, Jesus was teaching and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea, and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there, while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick. Then some men brought a paralysed man who lay on his mat.

They tried to enter the house to place him before Jesus, but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof, and removing the tiles, they lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”

At once the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to wonder, “This Man insults God! Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them, “Why are you reacting like this? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And Jesus said to the paralysed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” At once the man stood before them. He took up the mat he had been lying on, and went home praising God. Amazement seized the people and they praised God. They were filled with a holy fear, and said, “What wonderful things we have seen today!”

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Monday, 11 December 2023 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Psalm 84 : 9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14

Would that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His Glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.