Monday

by

Monday, 14 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

James 1 : 1-11

James, a servant of God, and of Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Consider yourselves fortunate, my brothers and sisters, when you meet with every kind of trial, for you know, that the testing of your faith makes you steadfast. Let your steadfastness become perfect, with deeds, that you, yourselves, may be perfect and blameless, without any defect.

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, Who gives to all easily and unconditionally. But ask with faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave driven and tossed on the sea by the wind. Such a person should not expect anything from the Lord, since the doubter has two minds and his conduct will always be insecure.

Let the believer who is poor, boast, in being uplifted, and let the rich one boast, in being humbled, because he will pass away like the flower of the field. The sun rises and its heat dries the grass; the flower withers and its beauty vanishes. So, too, will the rich person fade away, even in the midst of his pursuits.

by

Monday, 7 February 2022 : 5th 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 called to remember God’s presence in our lives as He has reminded us through his Ark of the Covenant in our first reading today, and later on, more concretely through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, His own beloved Son, in our Gospel passage today. We heard how the Lord has come to dwell among His people, and how He has reached out to us and extended to us His love and compassionate mercy.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of what happened at the time when King Solomon of Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark containing the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, the manna and the staff of Aaron as the symbol of God’s Presence among His people, to the Temple, the House that Solomon himself had built for the Lord in Jerusalem. The Temple of God had been completed after about seven years of construction, and as the final part of its completion is the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy of Holies built at the centre of the Temple.

In that occasion, the Ark of the Covenant which had long rested in the Holy Tent of Meeting from the time of the Exodus from Egypt was finally taken to the House that Solomon made which surpassed any other temples and houses of worship in its majesty and glory. That God Himself came to dwell among His people, His Presence coming down upon the Ark of the Covenant is significant and King Solomon built that great Temple as the physical symbol of God’s House and Presence among His people, to be a reminder of God being with His people.

We heard how the Glory of God came down to the House that Solomon had built for Him, and the Ark of the Covenant became the Seat of His Presence, as He came down enthroned on the Cherubim crafted on the Ark. The Glory of God filled the Temple and the people rejoiced altogether because God Himself had dwelled among His people and He has shown His great love and compassion to them, remembering them and caring for them, bringing them many blessings and graces during the glorious reigns of David and Solomon as the kings of Israel.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of how the Lord Jesus came among the people, and how He and His disciples cared for all those who have come to the Lord seeking for His healing and teachings. The Lord reached out to them and touched them, healing many among them and taught amongst them, bringing the words of His truth and His salvation, showing the love of God manifested to them, that through Him all may come to know of just how beloved and fortunate they are to have been graced by the loving presence of God in Christ, His one and only begotten Son.

Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Whom the Lord had sent into this world to be our Saviour, God has revealed His love in the flesh and His Presence dwells among us even far surpassing that of the Old Ark of the Covenant. For while the old Ark of the Covenant was made from gold and other precious metals crafted by the hands of man, the New Ark of the Covenant that is Mary, Mother of God, was crafted by God Himself, and while the old Ark contains the tablets of the Law and the manna, the New Covenant that God established with us through His Son is sealed by the gift of Himself as the Bread of Life, the Law and the Commandments of God in the flesh.

Thus, as the Lord walked among us and showed us His love through His Presence, all of us are called to remember the great grace and kindness that we have received through Christ, His Son, by His dwelling in our midst. God has come down to us so that He may bridge the unbridgeable chasm that existed between us and Him. God has always wanted us to be reconciled to Him but it is always us who delayed and dragged our feet, not being truthful to ourselves and continued to deny His love and kindness. Many of us have preferred to remain in the state of sin rather than to obey the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore ponder carefully what we have discussed and what we have heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures. Let us therefore seek to embrace God’s love and kindness, and open ourselves to allow Him to dwell within our hearts. Let us realise just how fortunate we are that God has endeavoured to walk alongside us and to guide us in our journey of faith through life. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each and every one of us to love Him ever more genuinely from now on. Amen.

by

Monday, 7 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 53-56

At that time, having crossed the lake, Jesus and His disciples came ashore at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. As soon as they landed, people recognised Jesus, and ran to spread the news throughout the countryside.

Wherever He was, they brought to Him the sick lying on their mats; and wherever He went, to villages, towns or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplace, and begged Him to let them touch just the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were cured.

by

Monday, 7 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 131 : 6-7, 8-10

The Ark is in Ephrata, we found it in the fields of Jaar. Let us go to where He dwells and worship at His footstool!

Arise, o YHVH, and come to Your rest; You, and the Ark of Your might. May Your priests be arrayed in glorious mantle; may Your faithful ones shout in gladness. For the sake of Your servant, David, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

by

Monday, 7 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 8 : 1-7, 9-13

Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of YHVH and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent.

After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.

Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH in its place in the inner Sanctuary of the house – the Most Holy Place – underneath the wings of the Cherubim. The Cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles.

There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where YHVH made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled YHVH’s House that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of YHVH filled His House.

Then Solomon said, “YHVH has said that He would dwell in thick darkness. So the House I have built You will be Your House, a place for You to dwell in forever.”

by

Monday, 31 January 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day as we listened to the words of the Scripture we are all reminded of the Lord’s providence for His people, to His faithful ones, how He has always watched over those who are faithful to Him, provided for them and how He will not abandon them in their time of greatest need. The Lord will reach out to us and lead us to the ultimate victory through Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Samuel, we heard how Absalom, the son of David, rebelled against his own father and attempted to seize his kingdom for himself. Absalom was a cunning and proud man, as he likely saw himself as the one who was to succeed his father as King of Israel, and he began plotting his rise to power. He managed to gain significant support and eventually began his rebellion, forcing his father, David, the rightful king to flee Jerusalem with some of his trusted advisors and servants.

That time, we heard of the moment when David was at his lowest, beset by all the troubles caused by Absalom and his rebellion, and many of his advisors and servants abandoning him, and even as we heard, a man named Shimei from Saul’s clan used the opportunity to curse David and speak all sorts of ill things and misfortunes to him, thinking that the reign of David, the one who took over the throne of Israel from the family of Saul finally encountered his end. Nonetheless, as we heard, David remained faithful to God to the very end.

David trusted in the Lord and when one of his men, Abishai wanted to attack Shimei, he forbid Abishai from doing so, and he entrusted his fate completely to the Lord. David did not waver in his commitment and dedication to the Lord, and despite the challenges and hardships that he had to endure, in the end, he remained true and committed to God. King David believed that there is nothing impossible for God, and as long as he is faithful to the Lord, he has nothing to fear about. God shall be by his side just as He had done for all his life until that time.

In our Gospel passage today we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord Jesus cast our many evil spirits and demons from a possessed man in the wilderness in the region of the Gerasenes, which was the region beyond the Jordan River on the other side from Jerusalem and Judea. That man had suffered for a long time and had been ostracised from the community due to his affliction and condition, and he had wandered off in the wilderness until that time when the Lord Jesus were passing by with His disciples.

The evil spirits, aptly named Legion for their great numbers, who had tormented the man, recognised the Lord and asked Him what He wanted to do with them. Certainly the Lord would not have let those wicked spirits have their way and torment the man any longer. He ordered them all to go out from the man and freed him from their dominion and power. The man was healed and was completely restored, and while the local populace was terrified of what they had just witnessed and what happened, the man believed in God and wanted to follow Him. The Lord told the man to go back to his community and tell everyone all that he had experienced.

Today, as we listened to these words of the Scripture we are all reminded how God has always provided for us in our time and hour of need, and we have to believe in Him wholeheartedly, if we are to follow Him and remain faithful to Him. In Him alone is our true hope and happiness, and if we can trust Him this way, then we will be able to weather through any difficulties, trials and challenges that may come throughout our lives. We should not allow fear and doubt to come in between us and God, and we should believe in Him the way that King David had done, and knowing how He cared for each one of us as He had done with the possessed man.

Today, we all celebrate the feast of St. John Bosco, one of the famous saints of the Church known and remembered for his works and dedication to youths. Having experienced a difficult youth time himself, and how having inadequate education due to the poverty of his family, he was inspired to be a priest and from then on, to reach out to struggling juveniles and youths, establishing the Oratory in Turin, catering for the needs of those who need guidance and help, caring for the needs of orphans and those who were struggling with life.

He was committed to his work and made great impacts despite the challenges and opposition that he often had to face in his ministry, as there were members of both laity and the clergy opposed to his efforts due to various reasons. But St. John Bosco persevered nonetheless, gathering many others who shared his ideals and desire to serve the people of God, eventually leading to the foundation of the Order of the Salesians of Don Bosco, one of the great religious orders lasting till this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all turn towards the Lord with faith and commit ourselves thoroughly to His cause from now on. Let us be inspired by the faith shown by our holy predecessors, King David, St. John Bosco and innumerable other holy men and women, all of our role models in faith. May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey through life, and may He empower us to live ever more faithfully in His embrace and love. Amen.

by

Monday, 31 January 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 5 : 1-20

At that time, Jesus and His disciples arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. No sooner did Jesus leave the boat than He was met by a man with evil spirits, who had come from the tombs. The man lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him, even with a chain.

He had often been bound with fetters and chains; but he would pull the chains apart and smash the fetters; and no one had the strength to control him. Night and day he stayed among the tombs on the hillsides, and was continually screaming, and beating himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell at His feet, and cried with a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, I beg You, do not torment me!” He said this, because Jesus had commanded, “Evil spirit, come out of the man!”

When Jesus asked the evil spirit, “What is your name?” It replied, “Legion is my name, for we are many.” And it kept begging Jesus, not to send them out of that region. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the evil spirits begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.”

So Jesus let them go. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs; and immediately, the herd rushed down the cliff; and all were drowned in the lake. The herdsmen fled, and reported this in the town and in the countryside. So all the people came to see what had happened.

They came to Jesus, and saw the man freed of the evil spirits, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; the same man who had been possessed by the legion. They were afraid. And when those who had seen it, told what had happened to the man and to the pigs, the people begged Jesus to leave their neighbourhood.

When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man, who had been possessed, begged to stay with Him. Jesus would not let him, and said, “Go home to your people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

So he went throughout the country of Decapolis, telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.

by

Monday, 31 January 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 3 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

O YHVH, how great in number are my foes! How numerous are they who rise against me! How many are they who say of my soul : “There is no help for him in God!”

But You are my Shield, o YHVH, my Glory; You lift up my head. Aloud I cry to YHVH, and from His holy hill He answers me.

If I lie down to sleep, again I awake, for YHVH supports me; no fear of the thousands standing against me.

by

Monday, 31 January 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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.

As he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! 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 wicked 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 on their way while Shimei, following on the hillside opposite him.

by

Monday, 24 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are called to remember the love that God has shown upon us, His beloved people that He raised for us His Saviour, born of the House of David, the great King of Israel just as He has promised and revealed through the various prophecies, in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Heir of David. We are reminded from the Scripture readings today what it means for us to follow the Lord and to be faithful to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the the second book of the prophet Samuel regarding the time when David was elected and affirmed as the King over all of the Israelites. For the context, David had earlier on been chosen by God as the new King over all Israel to replace Saul, the first and previous King of Israel. But Saul and David ended up in conflict and rivalry, in which Saul attempted in several occasions to kill David and remove him as a threat to his rule.

When later on King Saul was killed at Mount Gilboa during a battle with the Philistines, the people were divided between those who supported David to be King of Israel and those who supported Ishbaal, Saul’s son. The conflict lasted for a while in a brief civil war before finally the whole nation was united under the leadership of David. The elders and the whole people asked David to be their king, and he finally led the Israelites to many years of glory.

He built his kingdom and the great city of Jerusalem, to be the place where God would dwell, as he himself planned for the House of God, that would eventually be built by his son, Solomon. The Lord provided for His people and guided them, and gave them great prosperity and happiness so long as they obeyed him and listened to Him and His words, as they did during the reigns of David and Solomon, and other good kings. But the people fell again and again into sin and disobedience against God.

Yet, the Lord still patiently loved His people, all of us His beloved children and creation. He Who created us all out of love would not want to see us destroyed and crushed under the sins and evils we have committed, and therefore just as He has chosen David to be the leader, shepherd and King over His people, thus, He sent His own Son, the Divine Word, to be born and incarnate in the flesh, born into the House of David to fulfil the promises He had made to His people and to David long ago.

Through Christ, God had endeavoured to lead us all out of the misery of evil and darkness, and provided us all with a sure and certain path into the light of His presence. He revealed His truth and love to us, and yet, as we have heard in the Gospel passage today, there were still people who hardened their hearts against Him, despite everything that He had done for them all. We heard how the teachers of the Law were accusing the Lord of colluding with Beelzebul, the prince of demons in order to perform His miracles.

That was something that happened due to the pride, ego and arrogance of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, who thought that they knew it better, and they could not accept the fact that someone not from within their ranks could have gotten such great popularity, spoke with such great wisdom, truth and authority, that they felt threatened and they gave in to their desires and temptations which resulted in them foolishly opposing the good works of the Lord.

Many of us are often like that too, brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of us often hardened our hearts against the Lord and ignored Him and His love, and many of us had done things to spite the Lord, rejecting His compassion and kindness for worldly things and ambitions, for other things that distracted us from the truth about just how much God has loved us and how precious all of us are to Him.

Today, all of us should be inspired by the faith and the good examples set by St. Francis de Sales, a great saint, bishop and Doctor of the Church, whose life and dedication to the Lord can inspire us to be better Christians and better followers and witnesses of His truth and love. St. Francis de Sales was the Bishop of Geneva during the height of the Counter Reformation efforts in countering the divisions in the Church and among the Christian faithful due to the reformation earlier on.

He was born a noble, but encounters with the Lord and some questions about the faith eventually led him to seek the Lord more closely and he then chose to become a priest. Against initial family opposition, St. Francis de Sales finally gave up his rights and inheritance and became a priest. He dedicated himself a lot for the people he was working with, and in everything he had been entrusted to do. And later on as the Bishop of Geneva, he tirelessly involved himself in reaching out to many Christians and including those who have separated themselves from the Church.

St. Francis de Sales also wrote extensively about the faith which influenced and impacted many even long after his passing. His enormous contributions eventually led him to be declared a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Through his dedication and lifetime of service to God, all of us ought to be inspired to follow his great examples in walking the path of God faithfully ourselves.

Let us all therefore renew our commitments to be faithful to the Lord. Let us be committed and full of love for Him, and do whatever we can to glorify the Lord and His Name through our every acts, words and deeds, in every opportunities in our lives. Let us glorify our Lord and King, He Who has chosen and raised David to be King over His people, and Who has come down upon us Himself, to be our King forever. Amen.