Monday

by

Monday, 11 October 2021 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.

Alternative reading (Mass of Pope St. John XXIII)

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

by

Monday, 11 October 2021 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Romans 1 : 1-7

From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle, called and set apart for God’s Good News, the very promises He foretold through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures, regarding His Son, Who was born in the flesh a descendant of David, and has been recognised as the Son of God, endowed with Power, upon rising from the dead, through the Holy Spirit.

Through Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of His Name, we received grace, and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith. All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them, you, the beloved God in Rome, called to be holy : May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.

Alternative reading (Mass of Pope St. John XXIII)

Ezekiel 34 : 11-16

Indeed YHVH says this : I, Myself, will care for My sheep and watch over them. As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over My sheep; and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from their countries. I will lead them to their own land; and pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in all the valleys and inhabited regions of the land.

I will take them to good pastures on the high mountains of Israel. They will rest where the grazing is good, and feed in lush pastures on the heights of Israel. I, Myself, will tend My sheep and let them rest, word of YHVH. I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak; but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd My flock with justice.

by

Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Lord through the Sacred Scriptures in which we heard the story of both the prophet Jonah, his calling and mission to the city of Nineveh, as well as the story of the Good Samaritan from the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. Through these readings all of us are called to realise what we have all been called to do as Christians, that is to bring forth God’s truth and love to this world, much as He had spoken through the prophet Jonah and what He had revealed to us directly through the story of the Good Samaritan.

In our first reading today, we heard the rather long account of how God called the prophet Jonah from the land of Israel, calling him to follow His task and mission of going to the great city of Nineveh, to proclaim God’s words to the people of that city, who were infamous for their wickedness and great power, as the capital of the mighty and powerful Assyrian Empire. The story of Jonah and his mission was dated by historians as having occurred in the eighth century before the birth of Christ, during the decades before the final fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to the hands of the same Assyrians.

At that time, the Assyrians were rapidly growing in power as the great Hegemon of the entire Middle East. They conquered many countries and did many horrible things through their conquests, destroying many places and displacing numerous peoples, all for their own benefits. They were haughty and sinful, and through the prophet Jonah, God wanted to remind them of their mortality and their insignificance before the power of God. In the end, what God really wanted was for them to repent from their sins, to humble themselves and turn away from their sins.

But Jonah refused to obey the Lord and instead attempted to flee far away from the Lord, first to Tarshish, and then perhaps hoping to take a ship travelling to a far away place where God could not reach him. It was then that God showed His might and reminded Jonah that he could not flee from Him no matter how hard he tried to, as a great storm came and almost sank the ship that he was in, and he finally gave in to the Lord, asking himself to be thrown into the sea, and thereafter, as the Lord sent a great fish or whale to rescue him from the sea, Jonah came on dry land and then went to the city of Nineveh as God intended.

Through the prophet Jonah, God revealed His will to the people of Nineveh, as He first told them that the great city would be utterly destroyed and ruined by God for their many sins and wicked attitudes. And surprisingly, the Assyrian King, the ruler of Nineveh and the entire city listened to the Lord and His words, and humbled themselves before Him such that they all wore sackcloths in deep mourning, hoping that the Lord would not carry out His sentence against them and spare them. The Lord saw their repentance, and then did not carry out what He had designed to do on them.

As we then heard the well-known parable of the Good Samaritans from our Gospel passage today, all of us are reminded of a similar story of how a man who had been beset by robbers had been left to die in the wilderness by the roadside, only for a priest and a Levite to walk past by him, ignoring him and doing nothing to save him at all. This is a significant representation, as not only that it was reminiscent of what Jonah did, in refusing to do something to save people in need, for his case, the people of Nineveh, while he could do so, but it also showed us that all of us are called to learn what true love actually means.

The priest and the Levite were those who were deeply and greatly revered in the community of God’s people then, and yet, they did nothing at all to help, and not even sparing a glance or effort to aid the dying man. Instead, it fell to a Samaritan, a man belonging to a race that had often been hated and rejected by the descendants of the Israelites, who reached out in compassion and love to save the man, who was most likely from among the Israelites, most bitter enemies and rivals of the Samaritans.

And not only that, but as we all heard, the Good Samaritan not only took very good care of the man and brought him to a proper lodging, but he even took the extra mile of providing for his needs and showing genuine care and concern, hoping for his full recovery and sponsorship of his treatment. Through this story of the Good Samaritan in our Gospel passage today, the Lord wanted all of His disciples and therefore, all of us to know what it truly means to be His followers and disciples, to love generously and with great compassion for those who are in need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians are called to action, to follow the Lord and trust in Him as He called on us to do His will, to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to His cause, humbling ourselves before Him and trusting in Him. We should learn from the case of the prophet Jonah and the story of the Good Samaritan, how all of us have been called by God and been given the opportunities to do what is good in this world. Yet, many times we have rejected His call and find many excuses not to follow Him, just as Jonah, the priest and the Levite had done.

Today, all of us should look upon the great examples set by a most famous saint of the Church, whose life and holiness, whose labours and efforts are still remembered even to this very day. St. Francis of Assisi, the renowned founder of the Order of Friars Minor, better known as the Franciscans and its later many offshoots, was a great saint who dedicated much of his life in service to God and to his fellow men. St. Francis of Assisi is a great role model for all of us to follow, in how we should be willing to reach out to our brethren in need, and to do God’s will.

St. Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, the son of a very rich and prosperous silk merchant in Assisi in what is today northern Italy, one Pietro di Bernardone, who would later on called his son Francesco upon his love for France, which eventually became his more famous name of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis in his youth was exposed to the life of the rich, the indulging of worldly pleasures and excesses, and was brought up by his father with the hope that he would be the one to continue his family’s business and legacy.

However, the young St. Francis gradually came to detest the life of excesses and wastefulness he experienced, and began to seek for true satisfaction and happiness. After a stint in the military and being struck by a disease, he would come to seek spiritual closeness to God, going for pilgrimage to Rome and even joined the poor in begging for alms. Then, he received a spiritual vision and experience from God as he passed by the ruined church of San Damiano, in which as he passed by the dilapidated church, he heard the Lord’s voice calling him, to rebuild His Church.

The young St. Francis took it that the Lord was calling him to restore the dilapidated church, and he went to take some of his father’s fine silk, selling them and using them to help the rebuilding the church. However, the priest in charge refused to accept his ill-gotten money from stealing, and the angry St. Francis threw the coins he earned on the floor. Actually, what the Lord wanted him to do, as He called St. Francis was for him to follow the Lord and to do what he could to restore the Church of God, the Universal Church and the people of God.

When St. Francis tried to hide from the wrath of his father, he hid from him for a month in a cave before eventually seeking the help of the local bishop. And when his merchant father came to seek him and demanded that he return the properties that he had stolen from him, St. Francis decided to remove from himself all pieces of clothings and there laid naked before all. The bishop covered the naked St. Francis with his cope, and from then on, St. Francis abandoned his birthright and his past life, in exchange for a new life committed to God. Ever since then, St. Francis dedicated himself wholly to God.

St. Francis of Assisi then laboured to gather others who shared his vision to rebuild and reform the Church, eventually establishing what is to be known as the Order of Friars Minor, of a religious order committed not only to prayer but also ministry to the people of God, as friars who lived in the midst of the world and in a community at the same time, where they shared their property with one another in a community of brotherhood, in poverty and in joy of serving God. Many people would come to join the Franciscans, and the Pope himself also approved of this foundation.

St. Francis himself would come to receive the holy wounds of the Lord, also known as the ‘stigmata’, which appeared on his hands and side, as well as his feet, which according to tradition happened as a Seraphim came to him and showed him the spiritual vision of God. He endured the physical pain of the stigmata each day henceforth, while living a life truly dedicated and committed to God, serving the Lord humbly and with love to the very last moments of his life, when he eventually went to the glory of Heaven, carried by the Angels of God in his sleep of death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of God and remembered the examples and the life showed by St. Francis of Assisi, let us all discern carefully in what way that we can follow the Lord and His calling more faithfully, listening to His words and urgings in our lives, and entrust ourselves to Him, inspired by what St. Francis of Assisi had done in his own life. May the Lord help us and strengthen us all, and may He continue to guide us in our journey of faith through life. May God bless us all in our every efforts and endeavours, in the footsteps of our holy predecessors, St. Francis of Assisi and many others. Amen.

by

Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 10 : 25-37

At that time, then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do You understand it?” The man answered, “It is written : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”

“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way; and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.”

“The next day, he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'” Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”

by

Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jonah 2 : 3, 4, 5, 8

In my distress I cried to YHVH, and He answered me; from the belly of the netherworld You heard my voice when I called.

You cast me into the abyss, into the very heart of the sea, and the currents swirled about me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over, engulfing me.

Then I thought : I have been cast out from Your presence, but I keep on looking to Your holy Temple.

When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered YHVH, and before You, rose my prayer up to Your holy Temple.

by

Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

by

Monday, 27 September 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to follow the Lord and to obey His will, to put our trust in Him and not to be vain in our desire to recognised and honoured, and rather, we should seek the greater glory of God in all things. We should seek to be humble and strive to resist the temptations to satisfy our own ego and personal ambitions so that we may truly be faithful disciples and followers of the Lord.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Zechariah, we have heard the words of the Lord to His people telling them and reassuring them that they were His people and He would be with them, blessing them and protecting them, as He would dwell once again in their midst in Jerusalem, the place where the Temple and House of God was. At that time, during the years following the return from the Babylonian exile, many of the Israelites were still scattered all around and Jerusalem was not yet fully rebuilt.

The Israelites had earlier on been humiliated and crushed, as their nations of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were destroyed by the Assyrians and the Babylonians respectively. Most of the people of Israel were conquered and brought into exile in far-off land away from their ancestral lands, and their cities destroyed, while the Holy Temple of God in Jerusalem was also utterly destroyed and ruined.

However, God never abandoned and forgot about His people, and they were always foremost in His mind. This was also the case despite their wayward behaviour and actions, and God still wanted to forgive them for their sins and desired to see them turn away from those sins and wickedness that they have committed earlier on. As He brought them back to the land of their ancestors through the emancipation of King Cyrus of Persia, He wanted to remind them once again that they were His people and that He would always be with them.

As He said through the prophet Zechariah, He would gather the scattered people from all over the world and from all the nations, to gather them back once again into His presence. God would gather His people and bless them again in His presence, all reunited as one flock, and this is what He has promised to them. He even sent them His own Son to be born into the world as their Saviour. He gave them all His promised inheritance through Christ, Who opened for us all the path to eternal life and true glory with Him.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called through Christ to embrace God and to do His will wholeheartedly in our lives, as we heed His words in our Gospel passage today, that all those who welcomes the Lord faithfully and sincerely, and opens themselves to the Lord shall be great in His kingdom and shall be the first to be saved. All of us are called to partake in the efforts and great works to glorify the Lord through all that we do and through our contributions.

Today, all of us ought to reflect on the good examples of St. Vincent de Paul, whose feast we are celebrating today. We are all called to emulate the great life of this great saint, whose dedication to the Lord and actions were truly exemplary in helping so many people to find their way to the Lord, either by his direct actions or through the efforts whom he had gathered and inspired to follow in his footsteps. St. Vincent de Paul was very widely remembered for his role in founding the Congregation of the Mission also known after their founder as the Vincentians, as well as the inspiration in the establishment of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul after his passing, all inspired by his generosity and humility.

St. Vincent de Paul himself had a very eventful early life during his youth, as he was ordained a priest in his early years after being educated in a seminary, only to be taken captive by Barbary pirates and enslaved. He suffered in slavery for two years passing from master to master, before finally coming to the possession of one Guillaume Gautier, a former priest who had been enslaved himself and apostatised in order to be freed from slavery. Through the acts of one of Gautier’s wives, who was intrigued by St. Vincent’s Christian faith, eventually that led to St. Vincent de Paul returning to Christendom together with his former master.

St. Vincent de Paul thereafter continued his ministry and later on founded congregations and societies of Apostolic life inspired by his previous experiences including that of his capture and enslavement. He ministered to the poor, the captives and slaves, the weak and those who were oppressed and marginalised. Through the aforementioned Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentians, St. Vincent de Paul inspired many people to reach out to the least among their brethren and made many people to become aware of the plight of their fellow brethren.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us? Are we able to follow in the footsteps of this faithful servant of God, Whom the Lord had led and guided to become great inspiration for so many including that of ourselves? Shall we not learn to love the Lord and commit ourselves to Him just as He has been so kind and generous to us? Let us all be generous and charitable in giving just as St. Vincent de Paul had done, in giving his time, effort and attention to those who need them. We should love one another just in the same way that the Lord Himself has loved us.

Let us all reflect carefully on everything that we have discussed thus far today. May the Lord help us in discerning our path, that we may find our way amidst this world, amidst all the challenges and temptations that we may be facing daily in life. May God be with us always and may He strengthen us to be ever faithful to Him, at all times. Amen.

by

Monday, 27 September 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 9 : 46-50

At that time, one day, the disciples were arguing about which of them was the most important. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so He took a little child and stood him by His side. Then He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me. And listen : the one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest.”

Then John spoke up, “Master, we saw someone who drives out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him, because he does not follow You with us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him. He who is not against you is for you.”

by

Monday, 27 September 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 101 : 16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.”

Your servants’ children will dwell secure; their posterity will endure without fail. Then the Name of the Lord will be declared in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship Him.

by

Monday, 27 September 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Zechariah 8 : 1-8

The word of YHVH, the God of hosts was directed to me in this way, “I am intensely jealous for Zion, stirred by a burning anger for her sake. YHVH says : I will return to Zion and live in her midst. Jerusalem shall be called the city of faithfulness and the mountain of holiness.”

YHVH, God of hosts speaks, “Old men and women will again sit in the squares, each with a stick in hand on account of their great age. The squares of the city will be filled with girls and boys playing.”

YHVH, God of hosts declared, “If that seems impossible in the eyes of those who have returned from exile, will it be impossible for Me as well?” – word of YHVH. YHVH, God of hosts says, “See, I am going to save My people, bringing them from the east and from the west; and they will live in Jerusalem. They will be My people and I shall be their God, in truth and in justice.”