Monday

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Monday, 25 September 2023 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezra 1 : 1-6

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, YHVH willed to fulfil the word He had said through the prophet Jeremiah. So He moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom : “Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia : YHVH, the God of heavens, Who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah.”

“To everyone belonging to His people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and, there, build the House of YHVH, the God of Israel; the God Who is in Jerusalem. In every place where the rest of the people of YHVH live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the House of YHVH which is in Jerusalem.”

Then they rose up – the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up – and they decided to go and build the House of YHVH. And all their neighbours gave them all kinds of help : gold, silver, livestock and precious objects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

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Monday, 18 September 2023 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to have faith in the Lord, our God, in everything that He has done for us, in loving and caring for us, in showing us His ever patient and good providence, so that all of us may gain righteousness and salvation through Him. All of us are reminded as always today, to be ever more committed and faithful to the Law, commandments and the path that God has shown us and taught us. Without God, all of us are truly nothing, and we cannot achieve anything on our own if God had not guided and helped us, through His blessings and providence, in every moments of our lives. That is why we should always do our best to follow the Lord and to entrust ourselves to Him, just as the army centurion in our Gospel reading today showed us.

Beginning with our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy, the Apostle wrote to his protege speaking and urging all the faithful to pray for all those in power and entrusted with authority, that every one of them ought to remember and focus their attention on the Lord, their God, the one and only Mediator of the New Covenant which He Himself has established with every one of us. St. Paul reminded all the faithful once again of everything that God had done for those who are beloved to Him, all of us, by sending unto us all His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Divine Word, to be incarnate in the flesh, so that by becoming the Son of Man, He might show us the perfection of God’s love and glory, and lead us all once again to His loving Presence, and reconcile us fully with Him.

All of us have been separated and cast out of God’s loving presence due to our sins and wickedness, by our disobedience against His Law and commandments. But this does not mean that God does not love us anymore. On the contrary, His love and commitment to us, and to the Covenant that He has established with us, is ever wonderful, enduring and great, and His sending unto us of His Son, manifesting His love and compassion, His merciful outreach and attention to us highlight to us the ever enduring and persistent love He has for each and every one of us, sinners and delinquents, who have disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him. Much like a father who patiently cared for and loved his children, thus the Lord our God has done the same towards each and every one of us.

Unfortunately, many of us are often not appreciative of the love, kindness and grace that God had given to us, and we place our trust rather in our own strength and power, in our arrogance and greed, in our various worldly means and attachments, which prevented us from realising that we have walked down the wrong path, because we have always followed the whim of the many worldly temptations and desires present all around us. That is why many of us persisted in our errors and faults, in not doing what God has taught and commanded us all to do in our lives, and instead, did what we desired to do, in our many pursuits for worldly pleasures and satisfactions, turning a deaf ear to the Lord’s call and reminders for us to turn back towards Him and His path towards righteousness and salvation.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the great faith that a high ranking Roman military officer had shown to the Lord, in his faith and trust in the Lord, in entrusting to Him all things, even the life of his beloved and dear servant. That Roman military officer or centurion was also highly respected in the community because of his generosity and charitable actions, in helping to build the local synagogue, and in general we can conclude that he was truly a very upright and worthy man, who was although a Roman, and therefore largely a pagan in the eyes of the Jewish people at the time, but his actions and righteousness put even most of the Jews and their religious leaders at that time to shame. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because he had such great faith in the Lord, just like some other examples shown in the Gospels, more than those self-righteous fellows that the Lord criticised for their lack of faith and hypocrisy.

That Roman military officer, being highly ranked and respected at that time, could have told or even commanded the Lord Jesus to come to his place to show His miracles and healing in getting his servant to be healed. But, he humbled himself and showed his great faith and trust in the Lord, telling the Lord by the words that I am sure we are all very familiar with, ‘I am not worthy that You, the Lord, should enter under my roof. But only say the Word, and my servant would be healed and made whole.’ These are similar words to what we always say at every moments right after the Most Holy Presence of Our Lord, the Eucharist, is shown unto us, right after the Agnus Dei, and just before we are about to receive the Lord in Holy Communion. Those words that we utter are reminders for us, that the Lord has come unto us to heal us and to help us to be reconciled with Him, and by His grace we have been made whole again.

And rightly, we should be inspired and touched by the good example shown by the Roman military officer who humbled himself before the Lord and showed such great faith in God, that he believed even without needing to witness the miraculous works being done in person. In order to understand this even better, we should also contrast his response and attitude to those of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who frequently demanded that the Lord should perform more miracles and wonders, signs and other amazing deeds before them, stubbornly refusing to believe in Him despite having witnessed so many of those miracles and wonders with their own eyes. All the signs and the words that the Lord had spoken, all pointed to Him being the Messiah, the Holy One of God, sent into this world, and yet, those same religious elders and influential leaders allowed their ego, pride and arrogance to blind and prevent them from recognising the truth before their very own eyes and senses.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we reflect upon the words of the Scriptures and what we have just discussed, let us all strive to renew our faith and trust in God, allowing Him to lead us in our path and journey towards Him. Each and every one of us must remember that we are truly so fortunate that God has loved us so much and has always ever been patient towards us, in reaching out to us with His ever generous mercy and compassion. We should therefore follow the examples of the faith of the Roman centurion, and do our very best in living our lives righteously and worthily at all times, reminding one another to always be committed in following God at all times. May God be with us always, and may He continue to empower us all in every opportunities and at every moments throughout our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 18 September 2023 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 7 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went to Capernaum. A Roman military officer lived there, whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade Him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged Him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of You, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”

Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house, when the Roman officer sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to welcome You under my roof. You see, I did not approach You myself. Just give the order, and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to the other, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people, sent by the captain, went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.

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Monday, 18 September 2023 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 27 : 2, 7, 8-9

Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help, as I lift up my hands toward Your innermost Sanctuary.

YHVH is my strength, my shield; my heart was sure of Him; I have been helped and my heart exults; with my song I give Him thanks.

YHVH is the strength of His people, the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance, be their Shepherd and carry them forever.

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Monday, 18 September 2023 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Timothy 2 : 1-8

First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for rulers of states, and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life, in godliness and respect. This is good and pleases God. For He wants all to be saved, and come to the knowledge of truth.

As there is one God, there is one Mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, Himself human, Who gave His life for the redemption of all. This is the testimony, given in its proper time, and of this, God has made me Apostle and herald. I am not lying, I am telling the truth : He made me teacher of the nations regarding faith and truth.

I want men, in every place, to lift pure hands, in prayer, to heaven, without anger and dissension.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the challenges and hardships that we may encounter amidst our lives in faith, as we are carrying out our responsibilities and works as Christians, in the midst of our communities and areas of life, where we may face opposition and resistance, rejection and even persecution for all that we do for God’s sake. But all those things should not discourage us from following the Lord and His path, as each and every one of us are reminded to remain firm in our faith and to be ever more committed to do our best, in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and in being great role models and inspirations for one another, in how we live our lives in the path that God has shown and taught us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, we heard of the words of the Apostles in encouraging and strengthening the disciples, followers and the faithful people of God there in that city and region, in how each and every one of them should continue to do what is right, just and virtuous in the sight of God, as they had done, despite the many challenges and trials that they might face in doing so, citing his own experiences and examples in how he himself had served the Lord faithfully, enduring hardships, trials, challenges and persecutions throughout his whole life, works and ministry. St. Paul’s life and ministry were truly great inspiration and help for many other early Christians who were facing similar trials and hardships.

These, together with the many other lives and examples of the early Church martyrs and saints, reminded the early Christian faithful that they should not easily give up the struggle in proclaiming the Good News and the truth of God, as the Lord has provided all of them with the strength, courage and guidance through His Holy Spirit and through the help and inspiration that they have received through their fellow Christian brethren. They were all called to have faith in the Lord and to trust in Him, because in Him alone that they all can gain full and complete satisfaction and deliverance from their troubles and hardships. God did not abandon them to the darkness and evil, and He was always with them throughout their journey, and thus all of us are also reminded to do the same as well, that is to put our full trust and faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord healed a man who suffered from a paralysis of his right hand, in which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were closely following Him to hear His teachings and in the case of His healing of the paralysed man, they were there to see if the Lord would heal the man on the day of the Sabbath, with the intention to accuse Him if He did so. This was because the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at that time were very much focused and preoccupied with very strict and rigid understanding and interpretation of the Jewish Law and customs, which saw them enforcing and applying the very harsh and restrictive provisions and customs of the Law on the people of God. This enforcement and rigidity went as much as prohibiting even any good actions from being done on the Sabbath day.

The Day of the Sabbath itself was instituted by the Lord and were passed to His people because He wanted all of them to keep in mind His Law and precepts, and not to be swayed and tempted by the many worldly distractions and attachments, that they forgot about the Lord, His Law and commandments, and all that they had to do as disciples, followers and holy people of God. The Sabbath day was a holy day dedicated to the Lord, so that every members of God’s people may remember their obligation and calling to serve Him, and to focus and reorientate their lives back to God, and not to lose sight on what truly matters in their lives. It was a holy day akin to how we celebrate Sunday, the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection each week.

However, what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law enforced were wrong, as they caused people to become inconvenienced and troubled because of their stubbornness in not allowing even good deeds and works to be done. The Lord pointed out that folly and the wickedness of such way of observing the Law, by asking them plainly on what was allowed on the day of the Sabbath, ‘To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’, which implied that if they were to do nothing, then it was also in fact a violation of God’s Law and commandments, as the Lord was there to heal the man, and to help him regain his health back once again, not allowing him to suffer more, even a single day more.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all can see from the Scripture passages today, each one of us may have to face hardships, challenges, trials and persecutions as part of our journey in life and as we live our lives faithfully as Christians in our world today. If our Lord Himself had faced such intense scrutiny and opposition, challenges and rejection, it is only natural that we may encounter similar kind of experience in our own lives. All of us as Christians are after all called to carry our crosses in life and follow the Lord. Each one of us are expected to do our part in doing God’s will and in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and we should do our part in walking down the path that He has shown us, and led us through. We must not be easily swayed by the temptations of the world.

Instead, all of us should do our best to commit ourselves to be better and more faithful Christians in all things. We should do our best so that we may always be exemplary in our way of life, in loving our fellow brothers and sisters in the midst of our communities. Let our lives and actions be inspirations for everyone all around us so that by our every commitment and dedication, we may truly be worthy of God and His grace. May God be with us always and may He empower all of us, that we may be ever stronger in faith and in our conviction to love and serve Him in all of our actions regardless of the hardships and challenges that we may have to face in our path, in our every moments in life, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 6-11

At that time, on another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralysed right hand, and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched Him : Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to the man, “Get up, and stand in the middle.” Then He spoke to them, “I want to ask you : what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other. But they were furious, and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 61 : 6-7, 9

Find rest in God alone, o my soul; from Him, comes my hope. He alone, is my Rock and my Salvation; with Him as my Stronghold, I shall not be overcome.

Trust in Him at all times, my people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is our refuge.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 1 : 24 – Colossians 2 : 3

At present, I rejoice when I suffer for you; I complete, in my own flesh, what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the Church. For I am serving the Church since God entrusted to me the ministry to make the word of God fully known.

I mean that mysterious plan that, for centuries and generations, remained secret, and which God has now revealed to His holy ones. God willed to make known to them the riches, and even the glory, that His mysterious plan reserved for the pagan nations : Christ is in you, the hope for glory.

This Christ, we preach. We warn, and teach everyone true wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect, in Christ. For this cause I labour and struggle, with the energy of Christ working powerfully in me. I want you to know how I strive for you, for those of Laodicea, and for so many who have not met me personally.

I pray, that all may be encouraged. May you be established in love, that you may obtain all the riches of a full understanding, and know the mystery of God, Christ Himself. For, in Him, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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Monday, 4 September 2023 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Lord’s promises to us, His kindness and mercy, and all that He has assured us of, in how each and every one of us as members and parts of His Church, counted among His flock and holy people, are to receive the rich bounty and blessings of His love and kindness, His desire to liberate us all from the threat and dangers of sin, evil and death. All of us have been reassured and have received the promises of God’s grace and love, through everything that He has done for us, and through all that He has reminded us constantly through His messengers, prophets and ultimately through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and all that He has revealed to us, and through the Holy Spirit Who has always been with us and guided the Church throughout all this time.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, we heard of St. Paul telling the good faithful people of God there to put their trust in the Lord, and to continue to do good and to act worthily of Him as they had always done, so that by their faith, commitment and actions, they will always serve God’s will and purpose, and that they will be great role models and inspirations to one another, in how they live their lives and in all of their words, actions and interactions, reassuring them that in the end, they shall be triumphant with God, and that in the last moments, the Lord will come again as He has promised and reassured us, all those who have lived their lives worthily of the Lord and died in His grace, will be glorified together with Him, and will be triumphant, as they will be raised together, body and soul, to enjoy forever the eternal joy and true glory with God.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story of the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ came back to His hometown of Nazareth, where He spoke and taught in the local synagogue, explaining to them the words of the prophecies of Isaiah the prophet, which was actually concerning Himself, to reveal to them the fulfilment of those prophecies and the coming of the salvation in God. In Jesus Christ, the Saviour Whom God had sent unto us, His faithful and beloved people, we have seen the love of God manifested in the flesh, becoming tangible, real and approachable to us. Each and every one of us have received this assurance from the Lord Himself, and through His coming into our midst, we have been strengthened and encouraged, ever being reminded that the Lord has always watched kindly over us and He does not leave us all alone.

However, the people of Nazareth, who saw the Lord growing up in their midst and who knew that His father was the village carpenter, St. Joseph, hardened their hearts and closed their minds to Him, refusing to accept the truth and reality that this same Jesus was the One Who the prophets and the messengers of God had been proclaiming about. They did not have enough faith and trust in God, preferring instead to depend on their own flawed judgments and biases, their prejudices and thoughts rather than to trust in the Lord and in His Wisdom. They thought that it must have been impossible for the Saviour that God sent to His people to have come from their own small and insignificant village, which was the same thinking and thoughts that many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law heard that the Lord Jesus came from Nazareth, from the region of Galilee.

Essentially, they placed their own human biases, prejudices, judgments and ideals ahead of their faith and trust in God. They doubted that the Lord could do what He has decided to do, in making the small village of Nazareth, and also the small town of Bethlehem, where the Lord was born in, to be the place where the Saviour of the world and the King of Kings would be born in. We are reminded through these Scripture readings that everything is possible for God and there is nothing that He cannot do, because He is all-powerful, almighty and is in control of all things. Thus, we are reminded today not to give in to all those wicked thoughts, biases, prejudices and all the parameters by which we often judge others with, and we should also not have so little faith and trust in God. Instead, we should entrust ourselves all the more to the Lord and be reminded of all the love and compassionate kindness that He has always shown us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore heed these words that we have heard through the Scriptures, reminding ourselves that we are all called to be ever more committed disciples and followers of the Lord. Each and every one of us should always should learn to out our faith and trust in God, in doing our best at every time and moment to do God’s will, in following His Law and commandments, in living our lives virtuously and worthily of Him, so that we are truly worthy of being called Christians, that is God’s beloved and holy people, through our every words, actions and deeds. We should not merely have an empty and meaningless faith, that is only good on the outside, and yet, in our hearts and minds, God is not in them, and God is not at the centre of our lives and existence as He should have been.

Let us all realise that being Christians require from us the dedication and effort, and not passivity and lack of action and commitment. All of us have been called to follow the Lord and to do His will, carrying out His commandments in all things. And in the midst of doing that, we may face trials and hardships, opposition and challenges, rejection and difficulties, much as what the Lord Himself, His disciples, followers and messengers had faced in the past. We have to keep our faith and trust in the Lord so that just like that of the Apostles, the innumerable saints and martyrs, holy men and women of God, who held on to their faith in God even at the time of their greatest crises, they never wavered and they remained strong in their commitment to serve the Lord, and hence, those among them who suffered, did them willingly, knowing that the Lord shall reward them in the end, for eternity.

May the Lord, our loving God and Master, continue to help and guide us all in our respective journeys in life so that we may indeed live our lives well and faithfully, despite the challenges and trials that we may face, so that we do not easily succumb to temptation and we do not easily give up in life, or give up our faith and trust in God. We should remind each other that there is always hope and assurance in God, and it is in Him alone that we shall find true comfort and satisfaction, when nothing that the world has, can provide us with lasting help and satisfaction. May the Lord empower each and every one of us, so that we will always be strong and encouraged, to live faithful and worthy lives at all times, being good examples and role models to one another. Amen.