Monday

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Monday, 20 September 2021 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When YHVH brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then, our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH has done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Monday, 20 September 2021 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

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, 13 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to entrust ourselves to the Lord, through Christ Himself as the Moderator of the New Covenant between us and God. Christ our Lord has reunited us and the Lord, our God, and by His most loving sacrifice and death on the Cross, He has done all these because He loves each and every one of us without exception, and we should be inspired to follow His loving examples.

St. Paul elaborated on all of these in his Epistle to St. Timothy as mentioned in our first reading passage today. We heard the Apostle telling his godson and fellow servant of God, St. Timothy that God wanted the reconciliation of the whole entire world and for all of mankind to be reconciled with Him in love. To this extent, He has shown us all His enduring love, by His coming into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, whom St. Paul specifically mentioned in His act of ultimate loving sacrifice on the Cross, as He gave His life for the salvation of all.

If it was not for the love of God, all of us would have perished, and God could have erased us from existence with the mere simple will of His mind alone. Yet, He did not do that, and we may be wondering why. That is because He created each and every one of us out of love, of all races and origins, of all of our various communities and nations, of our uniqueness and diversity, all of us are equally beloved by God, no matter our background and our histories. God cares for us and has made us all to share with us His love. St. Paul mentioned all these as he reminds us all also to show God’s love in our own way of life.

Then we also heard from our Gospel passage today of the story from the time when the Lord Jesus encountered the Roman military officer, likely a centurion who had a servant who was very ill and near death, and the officer hoped that the Lord could heal his servant from his condition, and made him whole again. He came to seek the Lord and beseeched Him humbly to ask for His help and assistance. And this is something that is very significant because for someone of his stature and position, it is unprecedented for the Roman centurion to come and seek someone like the Lord Jesus.

Why is that so? That is because the Romans were the elites and the ruling people of the reigning superpower of that time, the Roman Empire, and for a Roman citizen, a truly privileged class at that time, and an army centurion no less, to come and meet with a Jewish teacher of the faith and miracle worker, as how Jesus was known at that time, was indeed unusual. The expectation would have been that the Lord ought to have come to the Roman officer instead to provide His services. And on the contrary, as we heard, not only that the Roman centurion came to the Lord, but He trusted in the Lord so much and had such faith in Him, that he humbly asked Him to command that the disease be driven away from his dear servant.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that Roman officer had greater faith than many of the Israelites of that time. He was truly a man of God and someone filled with true love, as he was willing to go all the way to seek help and healing for his ailing and dear servant. If he had not loved or cared for his servant, he would not have done so, or bothered to spend the time to look for the Lord, and he would not have humbled himself so before the Lord, being a high ranking Roman officer that he was.

And that is exactly what the Lord Himself had done for us, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are so beloved and precious to God, that He was willing to humble Himself and to go all the way to seek us, to be reconciled with us and to see our healing and redemption. He did all these by offering Himself as the perfect offering and sacrifice for the atonement of all of our sins. We are all therefore reminded of the great and infinite love that God has shown us, and how each and every one of us should respond to Him with faith and love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we not embarrassed and ashamed at the attitude that we have for the Lord as compared to the attitude showed by the Roman army officer? Many of us have not truly loved the Lord sincerely and many among us have treated the Lord with nothing but disdain and ignorance, refusing to commit ourselves to Him and not having the faith that we should have in Him. Instead, we placed our trust more in worldly things and matters, that led us further and further away from Him.

This is where we really should reflect upon the faith that the Roman centurion had in the Lord, and in the love which he has shown to his fellow men, his dear servant whom he cared for and loved. Are we able to follow the Lord and have faith in Him in the same manner? Today, we should also look upon the examples set by yet another great role model of faith, namely that of St. John Chrysostom, a great Doctor of the Church and a truly inspiring saint and servant of God, whose love for God and dedication to Him and His people should be our inspiration.

St. John Chrysostom was the Archbishop of Constantinople, then the Eastern capital of the Roman Empire, under the reign of the Emperor Arcadius. He was an ascetic earlier in his life, dedicated to the study of theology and other aspects of the Christian faith before becoming a deacon in Antioch and was remembered for his great and eloquent sermons, for which he was honoured as ‘Chrysostom’ which means the ‘golden-mouthed’ and became more and more famous at the time. Many pagans and unbelievers came to believe in God because of his sermons and piety, and many fellow Christians turned away from their sins and erroneous ways through his works.

St. John Chrysostom as the Archbishop of Constantinople presided over a period of great reform and purification of the Church from the excesses of worldly influences, especially from that of the corrupt practices of the Roman Empress Aelia Eudoxia. His reforms gained him the ire of the Empress and her powerful supporters, which led to more confrontations and eventually St. John Chrysostom publicly denounced the activities of the Empress and her associates. His enemies plotted against him and managed to get him exiled and banished away from his See, which led to a great revolt by the people and an earthquake which signified the signs of Divine displeasure at such a heinous act against God’s holy servant.

He was banished again after criticising the placing of a silver statue of the Empress near the Cathedral, and while he remained in exile, his steadfastness in defending the faith, the purity of morality and Church teachings were well-remembered and became great inspirations for many of those who came after him. St. John Chrysostom showed us all how one can commit oneself to the Lord and how we can dedicate ourselves to His cause. His love for the Lord, his dedication for the flock of the Lord entrusted to him and his other inspiring life examples should be inspiration for us to follow in our own lives.

May the Lord continue to be with us and strengthen us in our journey of faith, so that hopefully we may find our way to Him and be blessed in our every good works and endeavours, following in the faith and examples of the virtuous Roman centurion, St. John Chrysostom and many others of our holy predecessors. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 13 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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, 13 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

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, 13 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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, 6 September 2021 : 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 Scripture, we are all reminded to follow the Lord and be faithful to Him, and to play our part as members of God’s Church. God has told us to follow Him sincerely and wants us to understand His path and His commandments well. The Lord has shown us what we have to do, and what we should be doing is to trust in Him and to commit ourselves to this path that the Lord has revealed to us.

However, this is easier said than done, as many of us often preferred to trust in our own judgments and strength, and in our own way of thinking and ideas, not willing to listen to the Lord and trust ourselves in His infinite wisdom. As we heard in our Gospel passage today, the Lord Himself was confronted by the Pharisees who wanted to test Him and see if He would violate the law of the Sabbath that they held to be sacrosanct. They were often opposed to Him and His teachings, and particularly found offence in the Lord’s activities on the Sabbath.

This was where the Lord strongly rebuked those self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the Law, by revealing how it is ridiculous for the Law of God to be used to prevent someone from performing something that is good, right and just, and He told them that the Law was not meant to arbitrarily restrict the faithful from doing anything on the holy day of the Lord. Instead, the true purpose and intention of the Law of the Sabbath was to remind the people of God to spend more time in their relationship with God.

And that was why, they were told not to do work or conduct their usual daily business, not because they could not do so or prohibited like as if those things were grave sins. Rather, out of the seven days of the week, if everyone were to do their work on every single day, then there would be no space for God in their hearts and minds. Hence, the Lord instituted the Sabbath and its laws to help the faithful to redirect their attentions and their focus on the Lord, away from the usual busy schedules and activities of their worldly lives.

Yet, this does not mean that the Lord wanted to exclude all of them from doing what they should and could be doing on that day, in doing good things and in showing their faith in the Lord. On the contrary, if one were to purposely ignore the plight of others and the needy during the day of the Sabbath, then they would have committed the sin of omission, in failing to do what they could do, when they were in the right place and opportunity to do so, to show God’s love and compassion to our fellow men.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, this was what the Lord highlighted in His rebuke of the attitude of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He wanted them to know that obeying the Law is and should not just be a mere formality and a ritual to be done with and to be followed blindly without understanding. Otherwise, it might end up like the Pharisees themselves, who practiced their version and interpretation of the Law, including the rules regarding the Sabbath, and yet, did so with little understanding of its true intentions.

God chose to heal the man without hesitation, and healed the paralytic man, restoring him to full health, to the anger of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who became even more determined to oppose Him and to arrest Him. Yet, through these actions, the Lord wants each and every one of us to know that His love is always all-encompassing, and He is always ready to reach out to us, and loving us once again, in His willingness to love us and in the great patience which He has shown us.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? As we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we have all been invited to reflect on our way of life, on whether we have truly been faithful to the Lord in all of our lives and whether we have truly understood His Law and commandments, or whether we have been spending all these time merely paying Him lip service and treating our Christian life as a mere formality? Have we been living our lives as Christians in the wrong way all these while?

Let us all therefore spend some time to discern carefully what we are going to do from now on, in walking down the path that the Lord has shown us. Let us commit ourselves to Him anew and be ever more genuine and sincere in loving Him, and in loving one another according to His teachings. May God be with us all, and may He continue to guide us all through life, to be ever more faithful Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 6 September 2021 : 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, 6 September 2021 : 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, 6 September 2021 : 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.