Most Holy Eucharist

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Sunday, 12 October 2014 : 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings of this Sunday refers very, very clearly to the loving nature of our Lord, God and Father, who created all of us at the beginning of time, to be the most beloved of all His creations. He is truly like a father to us all, giving us life and all that we need, and He paved the path for us in our lives, guiding us in all the things that we do, that even though we often do not realise what He had done, but He is indeed there, watching over us and leading us towards Himself.

God who loves us has prepared all goodness for us, and He has blessed us with great riches, all the inheritance which are promised to us. This is shown by Jesus, when He told the people and His disciples, of the parable of the king and the banquet, where He told them of a king who prepared a great feast and invited many people to come to His banquet.

The banquet represented the promise of good life and eternal joy with God, and just as the king intended to celebrate and be merry with all those who had been invited to the feast, God intended for all of us, His beloved creations, to enjoy the fullness of happiness with Him. That was exactly also what He intended for us at the beginning. But like the guests who refused to come and listen to the king, our ancestors beginning from Adam also refused to listen to God and His will.

The guests might have a variety of reasons for not coming to the banquet prepared for them, and we may not know them, since it was never mentioned by Jesus. But certainly, by observing our own human behaviours and reactions, surely we are able to easily predict them. The guests might have had other businesses and commitments to handle, but then we can ask, has the king not given them the notice for the banquet in advance? And what is so important that they should skip the banquet of the king for something else?

Thus the same often happens to us, as we live our lives in this world. How often is it that when God calls us and guides us to His ways, that we said no to them and quickly go about worrying about our own selves? How often is it that we prefer to follow our own hearts’ desires and wants, rather than to listen to God and follow His will for us? We often complained that God interferes in our lives on one hand, saying that we prefer to do things on our own, but on the other hand, when we are in trouble, we are also quick to blame God for not helping us when we are in need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, men are not easy to satisfy, and our hearts continue to lead us to listen to our own desires and wants. It is within our human nature to succumb to the temptations of our flesh, and as a result, like the guests, we tend to regard our own concerns as priority, thinking about ourselves first and how to please ourselves first before that of others.

And the other possible ‘reason’ for their disobedience is indeed their laziness and sloth, preferring to remain idle in the comfort of their houses rather than to travel to the king’s palace to attend the banquet. And this we can indeed relate to ourselves, on how we tend to be slothful in this life, refusing the apparently more difficult path which the Lord offered us, and prefer the ‘easy’ and happy life which this world apparently gives.

Thus I would also like to share with you what St. Faustina Kowalska, the one who introduced the devotion to the Divine Mercy, had seen in one of her visions. She saw two paths and men who walked along these two paths. One path is a path that is filled with flowers and wonderful things, wide and pleasant to walk on, while the other path is a path filled with thorns, obstacles, and both narrow and difficult to walk on.

But then, she saw that the easy and pleasant path hide a terrible secret, that at the end, the many people who walked on that path, fell into an endless chasm that suddenly arose on the path of the road, and many were unaware of the chasm, and fell into the chasm as they walked. Meanwhile, on the narrow and difficult road, much fewer people travelled through it, but even as those who persevered on continued, when they reached the end, they found a very beautiful garden filled with goodness, where they lived on ever after.

Thus, the vision presented us yet again, that the Lord offers us goodness and the promise of eternal happiness in Him, and He will not renege on the promise which He had made and renewed over the many generations again and again. It is our choice whether we follow Him and trust in Him, or instead trust in Satan who ought not to be trusted. He leads us into damnation with him, but he is very clever indeed, and as we know in how he tried to tempt even Jesus, he offered all the goodness which he can offer us, be it food, power, wealth or glory, or other things that fulfill and satisfy our desires.

Thus we must be vigilant, and we cannot let go our our guard against the possible assaults by Satan, who awaits at every corner hoping to deceive us and lead us into harm. And that was why Jesus continued His story, by saying that after the king in his anger had destroyed all those who had disobeyed and spurned his invitation, he invited many others who were brought to his banquet instead of the first invited.

This is to highlight first the fate that all those who refused to listen to God, and prefer to follow their own paths and desires is death and destruction, just as those who walked the easy path fell into the chasm of infinite suffering in the vision of St. Faustina Kowalska. The path which the Lord offers may not seem easy, and indeed that obstacles will be plenty, but if we remain faithful to the end, we will be richly rewarded.

And then, when Jesus mentioned about the man who came to the banquet not wearing the proper banquet garment, He was in fact referring to how we lead our faith life. In being faithful to the Lord, we cannot be half-hearted, and in our effort to seek the Lord our God we cannot be divided between Him and something else. Thus, when we come to the banquet of the Lord, we too cannot be divided in our hearts, our minds and our souls.

What is this banquet of the Lord which God had prepared for all of us? That is none other than the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we celebrate in unity with the singular act of God’s greatest act of love for us all, that is His sacrifice, suffering and death on the cross, where He bared Himself to all those whom He loved, offering Himself as the perfect offering for the reparation and the redemption of all of us from our sins.

And just as the king prepared lavish food and drinks in the banquet, so thus the Lord also gave the best of all food and drink to all of us, who comes to His banquet, that is His own Precious Body and Precious Blood. Remember when Jesus said that those who eat of His Body and drink of His Blood will not die but live eternally with God? And that is the case indeed. If we are to come to attend the banquet, that is the Holy Mass, should we not then be properly ‘attired’?

This attire does not mean just that we should be properly attired with proper clothing and wear when we come for the Mass. Certainly we do not come to the banquet of the Lord wearing clothes as if we are about to go for a picnic or a leisure walk. Instead we should wear our very best and look our very best to honour the Lord our God. However, if this is as far as we go, then it is not enough.

How many of us attend the Holy Mass and yet our minds are not in the Mass at all? How many of us prefer to talk among ourselves and with our friends, and also to pay attention to our phones and other communication devices, contacting persons even outside the Holy Mass, and not to focus our heart, mind and soul to the Lord, who should be at the centre of the celebration? Ought the king not be given his proper place in his own banquet? And thus, should we not indeed give the Lord the proper adoration and respect He deserve in the Mass?

Think about these, brothers and sisters in Christ. There are two key messages which our Lord Jesus Christ and His revelations through the Scriptures want to tell us all today. First is that, we have a choice, either to follow the easier way out, that is to follow what we want and disregard the Lord, or to follow Him, and walk in His ways, even though that path might indeed be difficult and challenging. But the reward is clear, while the first path leads to destruction in the end, the path of the Lord never disappoints.

And then second, that if we choose to follow the Lord, He who loves us so much that He gave us everything, and held back not even His own Son, to bear our sins and die for our sake, that we may have life in Him, we cannot be half-hearted or be divided in our hearts, in our souls, and in our minds’ desires to follow Him. We cannot serve both God and our own heart’s desire, that is the temptations of the flesh.

And thus, as I have mentioned, we have to give it all, at the banquet of the Lord where He had given His own Body and Blood to us, in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, that we have to be fully prepared and properly attired in our body, in our mind, in our soul, and in our hearts. Our focus should be completely on the Lord. Look at Him who is in the Eucharist, and focus our entire being to Him! If we do so, then He, who is the King of all, will approve of us and our actions, and justify us in our faith.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we go on with our lives from today onwards, let us all dedicate ourselves anew and renew our commitment to the Lord. Let us from now on attend and fully participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, giving our Lord all of our love and devotion, just as He had loved us first to the fullness of His heart, that He even gave us His life.

May Almighty God be with us all, and may He guide us to Himself, that amidst all the difficulties and challenges which we may and will indeed encounter, we may remain faithful, and with our gaze fixed at Him, may we gain the promise of eternal life, which God gives freely to all who are true to Him in faith and love. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion, and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Daniel 9 : 17, 18, 19

Oravi Deum meum ego Daniel, dicens : Exaudi, Domine, preces servi Tui : illumina faciem Tuam super sanctuarium Tuum : et propitius intende populum istum, super quem invocatum est Nomen Tuum, Deus.

English translation

I, Daniel, prayed to my God, saying, “Hear, o Lord, the prayers of Your servant. Show Your face upon Your sanctuary, and favourably look down upon this people upon whom Your Name is invoked, o God.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Majestatem Tuam, Domine, suppliciter deprecamur : ut haec sancta, quae gerimus, et a praeritis nos delictis exuant et futuris. Per Dominum…

English translation

We implore Your majesty, o Lord, that the holy mysteries which we are celebrating may free us of past and save us from future sins. Through our Lord…

Communion

Psalm 75 : 12-13

Vovete et reddite Domino, Deo vestro, omnes, qui in circuitu ejus affertis munera : terribili, et ei qui aufert spiritum principum : terribili apud omnes reges terrae.

English translation

May you vow, and pay to the Lord your God, all you who round about Him bring presents. To Him who is terrible, even to Him who took away the spirit of princes, to the terrible with all the kings of the earth.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sanctificationibus Tuis, omnipotens Deus, et vitia nostra curentur, et remedia nobis aeterna proveniant. Per Dominum…

English translation

By Your grace, o Almighty God, let our wicked propensities be cured and everlasting remedies be forthcoming. Through our Lord…

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(Usus Antiquior) Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Wenceslaus, Martyr (II Classis) – Sunday, 28 September 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Psalm 39 : 14, 15

Domine, in auxilium meum respice : confundantur et revereantur, qui quaerunt animam meam, ut auferant eam : Domine, in auxilium meum respice.

English translation

Look down, o Lord, to help me. Let those who seek after my soul to take it away be confounded and ashamed. Look down, o Lord, to help me.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Munda nos, quaesumus, Domine, sacrificii praesentis effectu : et perfice miseratus in nobis; ut ejus mereamur esse participes. Per Dominum…

English translation

Cleanse us, we beseech You, o Lord, by the effect of the present sacrifice, and in Your mercy bring to pass in us that we may deserve to be partakers of it. Through our Lord…

Communion

Psalm 70 : 16-17, 18

Domine, memorabor justitiae Tuae solius : Deus, docuisti me a juventute mea : et usque in senectam et senium, Deus, ne derelinquas me.

English translation

O Lord, I will be mindful of Your justice alone. You have taught me, o God, from my youth, and unto old age and gray hairs, o God, do not forsake me.

Post-Communion Prayer

Purifica, quaesumus, Domine, mentes nostras benignus, et renova caelestibus sacramentis : ut consequenter et corporum praesens pariter et futurum capiamus auxilium. Per Dominum…

English translation

In Your loving kindness, purify our souls, we beseech You, o Lord, and renew them with the heavenly sacrament, that we may receive bodily assistance thereby, both for this life and for the life to come. Through our Lord…

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 21 September 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Psalm 39 : 2, 3, 4

Exspectans exspectavi Dominum, et respexit me : et exaudivit deprecationem meam : et immisit in os meum canticum novum, hymnum Deo nostro.

English translation

With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and He had regard to me, and He heard my prayer, and He put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Tua nos, Domine, sacramenta custodiant : et contra diabolicos semper tueantur incursus. Per Dominum…

English translation

May Your sacraments, o Lord, keep us and guard us always from the assaults of the devil. Through our Lord…

Communion

John 6 : 52

Panis, quem ego dedero, caro mea est pro saeculi vita.

English translation

The bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.

Post-Communion Prayer

Mentes nostras et corpora possideat, quaesumus, Domine, doni caelestis operatio : ut non noster sensus in nobis, sed jugiter ejus praeveniat effectus. Per Dominum…

English translation

Let the operation of the heavenly gift, o Lord, possess our souls and bodies, that, its holy grace, not our own impulses, may continually be our guide. Through our Lord…

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Saturday, 13 September 2014 : 23rd 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, today we celebrate the feast of a great saint of the Church, one of the Four Great Doctors of the Church, and one of the most brilliant minds ever to come from the Church in the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire at the time. St. John Chrysostom is this saint, who was the Archbishop of the great See of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire during the early fifth century after the birth of Christ.

St. John Chrysostom was born from a relatively unknown parentage, and it was disputed whether his mother was a pagan or a Christian. In any case, St. John Chrysostom was baptised when he entered adulthood, and it was discovered that he had a great intellectual mind, and he easily went through his studies of literature and philosophy.

However, as time progressed, St. John Chrysostom turned more and more towards the Lord and dedicated his life to His service. His sermons and speeches were greatly influential and inspirational, based on the deep understanding and comprehension of the Gospels and the fundamentals of faith, through which he gained his title of Chrysostomus, which literally means ‘golden-mouthed’.

St. John Chrysostom preached in many parts of the Empire, and in one occasion his sincere and passionated plea to the pagans who were accused of the defilement of the statues of the Emperor in the city of Antioch brought thousands and more to see the error of their ways, and thus, they were received into the Church and was spared both the punishment and persecution by the Emperor, and even more importantly, they evaded the punishment and destruction of the soul by receiving the salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Even after St. John Chrysostom had been appointed as the Archbishop of Constantinople, one of the most prominent position in the Church, in fact just second after the Pope in Rome himself, St. John Chrysostom remained humble and dedicated in his service to the people of God, the sheep entrusted to him. St. John Chrysostom rejected the extravagant and lavish ways of the society at the time and pushed for a true Christian community founded on love.

He did not fear even to oppose the mighty and the powerful. When the Empress Aelia Eudoxia lived extravagantly, he greatly criticised her for her way of life and actions. Together with his enemies, the Empress plotted together and managed to cast St. John Chrysostom into exile, which would indeed have ended his works for the Church, but the people of God were incensed, and divine wrath itself soon manifested in a great earthquake and fire that devastated many parts of the capital.

But even after St. John Chrysostom was recalled back to his mission in the Church, the Empress continued to defy the way of the Lord, as she continued to live extravagantly and even installed a silver statue of herself near the cathedral of St. John Chrysostom, purposely to provoke him into action. And indeed, St. John Chrysostom denounced the Empress again, and as her punishment, she died during childbirth.

But St. John Chrysostom continued to suffer as his enemies continued to plot against him and persecuted him. He was sent again into exile and died before he was able to return to shepherd his sheep again at Constantinople. Nevertheless, his legacies lasted long after him, even until today. He was credited for his many works and sermons that inspired many of the faithful and even many saints who came after him.

And his works also resulted in one of the rites used in the Eastern Church even until today, as the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, one of the most solemn liturgical rites of the Church, designed solely for the glorification of the Lord. Thus, this holy man and servant of God is the one whose life and actions we celebrate on this day as we gather together.

How is this related to the readings of the day? Very much related indeed. This is because as Jesus said in the Gospel, that good fruits can only be produced by good and healthy trees, vice versa. Bad and rotten trees can only produce bad and rotten fruits. Thus, St. John Chrysostom, that good tree, produce only good fruits for the benefits of the faithful. Similarly this is also the case for the other saints, the holy servants of God.

And he listened to the word of God intently, placing them into the depths of his heart, and most importantly, he acted on them, and from there brought about much good for the Church and for the faithful ones in the Lord. Thus, his actions were the representation of the man who built his house on solid rock foundation, and therefore had no need to fear the storms or any forces arrayed against it.

On the other hand, those who refused to listen to the word of God were like those who built their houses on unstable ground, on weak foundations that are easily swept away by winds and waves, and therefore representing the actions of the wicked ones opposed to the works of St. John Chrysostom, namely the Empress and his rivals, who were engrossed so much in the ways of the Lord, that they failed to even see that what they were doing was their own undoing.

And St. Paul in his letter to the faithful in the city of Corinth clearly and zealously stated that we who are faithful ought not to have any share in the communion with demons, that is with Satan and his allies, the forces of darkness in the world. Instead, we who are the children of God should be like St. John Chrysostom, in how he worked hard with zeal to bring the word of God to many of God’s people so that they may achieve salvation.

How do we know if we have made a communion with the Lord or with the evil one? It is basic and simple indeed. We have to first be aware that all of us who are in the Church of God are part of one Body, that is the Body of Christ, which is the union of all who shared in the Body and Blood of Christ, who had worthily become part of the Body of Christ, Christ is in them and they are in the Lord. It is inconceivable that a part of the Body of Christ should be flawed with the darkness of evil.

Thus if we commit evil, just as what those people mentioned earlier had done, in preserving their own vanity, concerned only for their own prosperity and in slandering others, worse that is to even put an obstacle on the works of the servant of God. In doing these evils, they committed sin before the Lord, and therefore entered into communion with the devil. For the devil too, rebelled against the Lord because of his pride and vanity.

Therefore, as we are part of the Church of God, and we have become the children of God, let us all realise that all of us must act therefore as how a child of God should behave. Listen to the Lord, work on what we believe in and practice our faith in our lives. Love one another and love the Lord just as much as we love ourselves. If we do all these, we will be surely be granted favour by the Lord.

May Almighty God therefore grant us His grace, that He may empower us to live according to what St. John Chrysostom had once done. Let us all treasure this communion we share with one another, the communion and unity as the one Body of Christ, those who have received the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep us, Lord, on the path towards salvation, and let us not to fall into evil. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 10 : 14-22

Therefore, dear friends, shun the cult of idols. I address you as intelligent persons; judge what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the Body of Christ?

The Bread is one, and so we, though many, form one Body, sharing the one Bread. Consider the Israelites. For them, to eat of the victim is to come into communion with its altar. What does all that mean? That the meat is really consecrated to the idol, or that the idol is a being.

However, when the pagans offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice goes to the demons, not to God. I do not want you to come into fellowship with demons. You cannot drink at the same time from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of the demons.

Do we want, perhaps, to provoke the jealousy of the Lord? Could we be stronger than He?

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 24 August 2014 : Homily and Reflections on the Holy Scriptures

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how Jesus opened the ears and the tongue of the deaf and dumb person, who was brought to Jesus to be healed, and healed he was indeed. The openings of his ears were opened and the ligaments of his tongue loosened, he could therefore hear and speak once again. And it is in particular important for us to take note how this is closely related to the testimony of St. Paul to the Church in Corinth, on how he came about to the faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today’s Scripture and Gospel readings in fact talk about what happened during our own baptism, that singular and very important occasion when we are welcomed to be a member of the Holy Church of God, that is to no longer live in sin and in the darkness of this world, but instead embracing the light of Christ, professing Him to be our Lord and Saviour, and therefore cast out the veil that had blinded us and our senses to the great truth and majesty of the Lord. This applies to us be it that we are baptised in our early days in life or when we are baptised as adults.

In this Usus Antiquior rite, the celebration of the Mass of the Ages, we still faithfully kept in fullness the entirety of the sacred traditions we inherited from our fathers in faith, since the time of the early Church. And one of these sacred traditions was exactly the replica and reenactment of the actions which Jesus had done to the deaf and dumb man. This is called the Ephphetha or the opening of the ears and tongue, with the exact same meaning of the actions of Jesus we heard today.

The priest would do the same to the baby or the person being baptised, putting some spittle in the ears and touching the tongue of the person to be baptised, while saying the word, ‘Ephphetha’, to represent that because the priest in the person in Alter Christus, that is Christ personified, he represents the Lord who comes to open up our senses and end our blindness to His love and grace. And this is the very crucial and important meaning to this tradition we have kept faithfully since the beginnings of the Church.

This is meant to show the importance of baptism, as the gateway towards salvation, when we decide with full firmness and confidence to leave our old, sinful ways behind, that is also to leave behind a life of uncertainty and filled with doubts, and instead, come towards the Lord in order to begin a new life filled with faith, hope and love in the Lord. That means we are no longer blinded to God and His care for us, and we turn our back to our past lives, forgiven and given a new chance in life.

However, this must not stop here, as to stop here means that we have not done our part in life as the member of the Church and as the children of our loving God. In this, we can look at the example of St. Paul and what he had done for the sake of the Lord and his faith in Him. Remember, brethren, that faith saves us only if we commit ourselves to do good works based on that faith which we have, for without good works, our faith is as good as dead, and therefore we will not have any part in the salvation of God.

Baptism as I mentioned, with the rite of Ephphetha is just the beginning. It opens us up to the presence and to the power of God, which we are able to access and use for the good of ourselves and for those around us. All of us, each and every one of us had been given a special gift, all by the Lord who knows us and who knows what we are capable of doing. Therefore, it is only right that we use what we had been given with in order to bring much goodness to this world.

St. Paul himself was once a great sinner and even a great enemy of all the faithful, as Saul, the young Pharisee and zealot, who in his great but misled zeal, ended up pursuing, hunting and murdering many of the faithful of the earliest Church, the disciples of Christ in cold blood. He took part in the killing of the first martyr, Deacon Stephen, and he also hunted many of the faithful throughout Judea and Jerusalem, showing no mercy even to women and children whom he had dealt with.

He had even planned with great fervour and spirit to spread his works and persecutions to other places, with Damascus as one of his targets. Blinded as he was with hatred and misguided faith, as well as with the lies of the evil one, he seemed to be heading directly towards destruction and eternal damnation, but this was not what the Lord had in plan for him.

The Lord called Saul on the way to Damascus, revealing Himself and His truth to this wayward son, who eventually repented and was baptised by Ananias, the disciple of Christ. When Ananias laid his hands on Saul to heal him from his physical blindness, a scale which had covered his eyes fell off and he could see again, but then, this together with his baptism shortly later did not constitute just the opening of the physical eyes and senses, but eventually also the spiritual senses, allowing him to receive and understand what the Lord had in store for him and mankind.

This was how the great enemy of the Church and the faithful was completely transformed to become the greatest champion of the Lord and the bravest defender of the faith. No longer acting against God and His people, instead he preached about the Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ with a renewed purpose and zeal, calling many others to repent and follow in his footsteps. This is the purpose of his letters, which we heard today, that is to call mankind to repent and to love God sincerely once again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to reflect on our own lives, whether we have been following the Lord and whether we have done what is expected from us to do, as His followers, His children and as members of His living Church, the Body of Christ. Have we done our parts to help in the evangelisation and the conversion of many who still lived in darkness? Remember that just like the deaf and dumb man whose ears and tongues were opened, and like St. Paul whose eyes were opened and allowed to see again, we too have been restored in the fullness of our senses, not just physical but also spiritual.

We have our part to play in order to be witnesses of our faith. We should follow the example of St. Paul who spoke up for his faith and who proclaimed to many others in great humility, the honour and chance he had been given with by the Lord, who had called Him from the darkness into the light, giving him a new lease of life and a promise of life eternal in Him.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we also celebrate today the feast of St. Bartholomew, also known once as Nathaniel, a righteous man who was called by Jesus to be His disciple and Apostle, and who faithfully exercised his part to play in God’s plan of salvation even unto his martyrdom and death in the defense of his faith, let us all also follow in the footsteps of these saints. We have also been called by the Lord, given much by the Lord, and we ought therefore give back to Him what we can give, by showing our dedication to others, sharing our faith with those who have little or none.

May Almighty God therefore guide us in our goodness and works. May He be with us and grant us courage to speak up for our faith, that those who listen to us may also believe, and those who see our deeds and actions may also decide to be the followers of the Lord, and thus bringing more souls towards the salvation in God alone, that what we experienced at our baptism may also be experienced by others, removing the blindness of our body and soul, and enabling us all to experience the love of God. God be with us all, always and forever. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 24 August 2014 : Offertory Prayer, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Postcommunion Prayer

Offertory Prayer

Exaltabo Te, Domine, quoniam suscepisti me, nec delectasti inimicos meos super me : Domine, clamavi ad Te, et sanasti me.

English translation

I will extol You, o Lord, for You had upheld me, and You had not made my enemies to rejoice over me. O Lord, I have cried to You, and You have healed me.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Respice, Domine, quaesumus, nostram propitius servitutem : ut, quod offerimus, sit tibi munus acceptum, et sit nostrae fragilitatis subsidium. Per Dominum…

English translation

Look with mercy, we beseech You, o Lord, upon our homage, that the gift we offer may be accepted by You and be the support of our frailty. Through our Lord…

Communion

Honora Dominum de tua substantia, et de primitiis frugum tuarum : et implebuntur horrea tua saturitate, et vino torcularia redundabunt.

English translation

Honour the Lord with your substance, and with the first of all your fruits. And your barns shall be filled with abundance, and your presses shall run over with wine.

Postcommunion Prayer

Sentiamus, quaesumus, Domine, tui perceptione sacramenti, subsidium mentis et corporis : ut, in utroque salvati, caelestis remedii plenitudine gloriemur. Per Dominum…

English translation

By receiving Your sacrament, we beseech You, o Lord, that we may experience help in soul and body, that, being saved in both, we may glory in the fullness of our heavenly remedy. Through our Lord…

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Thursday, 21 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of a great saint, the Pope of the Holy Eucharist as he is famously known, namely Pope St. Pius X, the first Pope to be elected in the twentieth century, and a great reformer of the faith who brought great rejuvenation both to the Church and to God’s people. Pope St. Pius X had done a great deal of goodness for the Lord and His people, and the effects of what He had done can still be clearly felt today.

Pope St. Pius X was the one who reformed much of the liturgy and the celebration of worship in the Church, and he made the Gregorian chant once again the predominant hymn and song used in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through his contributions, he made the liturgy of worship to God much richer and more beneficial for the growth of the faith and devotion among the faithful. Numerous other contributions he had made to the benefit of God’s people.

And his greatest contribution was the great improvement in the accessibility and focus on the Most Holy Eucharist, the very Precious Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who had given us these freely as He offered Himself humbly to the Lord as the sacrifice for the sake of our salvation, which we celebrate regularly in the Holy Mass. This is the centre of our faith, and the very foundation of what we believe in God.

In addition, if we today know the Holy Communion as something we always do every time we attend the Holy Mass, and if we can remember the time when we first received the Holy Communion in our early youth, then all of these could be attributed to the works of this holy Pope, Pope St. Pius X, and this is why he is also known famously as the Pope of the Eucharist. Why is this so? Let me elaborate further.

Pope St. Pius X encouraged frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist by the faithful, and he also lowered the minimum age required for the reception of the first Holy Communion, bringing the Lord closer to even young children. This reminds us clearly of what the Lord Jesus had said to His disciples and followers, that all of us ought to imitate the faith of children, and we should not prevent children from coming to the Lord.

With that consideration, what Pope St. Pius X had done was truly exemplary, allowing children, provided that they are at an age when they are already able to discern about the Lord, to receive the Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist, certainly at an age significantly younger than what was previously stipulated and practiced in the Church. This helps many of the youths and children to be close to the Lord for the important years when their faiths in God are developing and taking roots.

And ultimately, today we will focus on the role of this holy man and shepherd of the Church, in how he transformed and brought the Lord and His fullness of truth into the centre of the faithful’s attention, by emphasizing strongly on the importance of worship and the properness in worship of the Lord, in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which we also celebrate today, but which in many places had notably dropped in terms of our ability to appreciate how important it is to properly worship the Lord.

This relates precisely to the reading of today, in which Jesus told His disciples a parable, which described the wedding feast organised by a king for his son, and how the guests whom the king had invited to the feast refused to come to the feast prepared for them. Those guests were given what they had deserved, and they were cast down.

And when the king invited new groups of people who were then invited to the wedding banquet, he found someone who was not wearing the garments appropriate for the wedding feast, and consequently he was thrown out of the banquet and cast into the darkness to suffer the penalty of his actions and his ignorance.

How is this relevant to us and our faith? Precisely because the Holy Mass is the wedding banquet of the Lord, when the Lord comes to be one with us and to dwell among us, none other than through His Most Holy Presence in the Eucharist, bread and wine transformed completely into the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And our focus should indeed be on the action of the guest who had come into the banquet not wearing the appropriate wedding garment. This in fact reflects on those among us, and many of us indeed, who did not take the celebration of the sacrifice of our Lord seriously. It reflects clearly on our part when we are not serious about our part in the celebration of the Holy Mass. And in particular, in the recent years, more and more abuses of worship and of the celebration has occurred.

How many of us would come to the Church properly dressed and with a proper heart and mind? That means, how many of us actually prepare ourselves thoroughly to attend the Holy Mass and participate with the fullness of our hearts? Many of us often did not do so, and conveniently ignored these, and ended up physically and spiritually unprepared to be with the Lord in the Mass. In this, we are no different from the person who attended the king’s banquet without a proper clothing.

The Mass is truly great and holy, because in it we celebrate the very sacrifice that our Lord had made that day on the hill of Calvary, when He was hung on the cross between the heavens and earth, and for what? For our sake, brethren, that is for our salvation. He died so that He may break us free from the bonds of death and destruction that await us and bring us into life. And in that, He offered Himself through the Body and Blood He gave us, which through His priests, who transformed the bread and wine into that of our Lord’s Body and Blood for us to receive and eat, and drink.

If it is the Lord Himself who is present in the Holy Mass, then why did we not worship Him? Why did we not respect Him? Why did we blaspheme against Him by our words and actions? And why did we ignore Him and attend to our own needs and to our own human arrogance? I am talking about how many people increasingly lost their focus, and especially in the Mass, and they end up not worshipping God and His love, but instead praising themselves.

This is evident from the rise of unorthodox and heretical practices in the Holy Mass, which in many places, particularly in the West, but also widespread in other places, of inappropriate actions by both the laity and the priests, who did not give glory to God through their actions, but instead glorify and praise themselves. The practices of ‘liturgical dance’, speaking in tongues, use of inappropriate music in the celebration of the Mass and many other liturgical abuses of the Mass, unlike the attitude of the man without a proper garment in the banquet.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this great occasion of the feast of Pope St. Pius X, let us ask for his kind intercession and help, so that the Lord may strengthen the faith in us, and hopefully we may learn to know how to properly prepare and place ourselves in the worship of our great Lord and God. Let us all redirect our attention away from ourselves back towards the Lord. Let us all restore the solemnity and holiness in the celebration of the Holy Mass. Let us all work together to make our celebration of the Mass be truly heaven on earth, and get rid of any forms of abuses that still mar our spirit of celebration of this great banquet of the Lord.

May Almighty God guide us on our efforts, strengthen our faith and renew in us the love that we have for Him. Let us strive to make our worship a true worship once again, gaining inspiration from what Pope St. Pius X had once done for the good of the souls of the faithful. God be with us all. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 August 2014 : Offertory Prayer, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Postcommunion Prayer

Offertory Prayer

Ad Te, Domine, levavi animam meam : Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam : neque irrideant me inimici mei : etenim universi, qui Te exspectant, non confundentur.

English translation

To You, o Lord, I have lifted up my soul. In You, o my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed and neither let my enemies laugh at me. For none of them that wait on You shall be confounded.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Tibi, Domine, sacrificia dicata reddantur : quae sic ad honorem Nominis Tui deferenda tribuisti, ut eadem remedia fieri nostra praestares. Per Dominum…

English translation

Let the sacrifices dedicated to You, o Lord, be rendered back, since You had given them to be presented for the honour of Your Name, so that in them You might afford us a remedy for all of our ills. Through our Lord…

Communion

Acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblationes et holocausta, super altare Tuum, Domine.

English translation

You would accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and holocausts upon Your altar, o Lord.

Postcommunion Prayer

Quaesumus, Domine, Deus noster : ut, quos divinis reparare non desinis sacramentis, Tuis non destituas benignus auxiliis. Per Dominum…

English translation

O Lord, our God, we pray that in Your loving kindness, You would not deprive of Your assistance, those whom You ceased not to restore with the divine sacraments. Through our Lord…