Most Holy Trinity

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Sunday, 18 October 2015 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday and Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about firstly, from the book of the prophet Isaiah, on the prophecy of the suffering Servant, the Messiah who would suffer for our sins, and who would be given the burden of all of mankind’s faults, and He would be crushed with the grief and the punishment due for our faults, mistakes and sinfulness.

And in the Psalm, we heard about the Lord our God, who is God that is caring and loving towards all those who are faithful to Him, giving His blessings and graces to all those who trust in Him, and who fear Him and give to Him what is due for Him, namely honour, respect and due worship. This is the promise that God gives to all those who keep their faith in Him, that He will not leave them, but bless them and remain with them forever.

And linking to these two readings is what St. Paul mentioned in his letter to the Hebrews, where he highlighted the fact that Jesus, who was crucified, suffered and died for the sake of all the people, is the One true great High Priest of all, who offered not the sacrifice of animals and grains, but a different sacrifice that is His own Body, and His own Blood.

And He offered it not many times, but just once for the sake of the salvation of the whole world. The offering of His own Body and Blood, the offering of His worthy life has been accepted by God, as the one and only perfect sacrifice that is worthy to absolve us all from all the accumulations of our sins. God has given us all this grace and opportunity for us to be freed from the tyranny and hold of sin.

Then finally, in the Gospel today, Jesus spoke about how the way that He has revealed to us is not the path of pride and worldliness, but instead, we have to chart for ourselves a new path and follow a new life according to the will of God our Lord and Father. And this new path is shown by how Jesus rebuked His own disciples, St. James and St. John who asked to be favoured over the others by asking Jesus to give them the favour of sitting on His left and right, essentially a very great honour.

But these two disciples were basically thinking in terms of worldly power and glory, and they were thinking in terms of human glory, fame and honour, but they did not understand the true meaning of God’s Law and intentions for mankind. They thought that to follow Jesus means to share in His glory and honour, as well as majesty and greatness, and this is not surprising, as the normal ways of this world demand that we demand and seek for glory, fame and recognition in the eyes of one another.

After all, in this world, many of those who serve kings and rulers dress nicely and attempt to show that they are the best dressed and best in appearance before their master and trying to garner his or her favour by doing so. And yet, with Jesus, who is truly the King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, things are very different indeed.

For His kingship and kingdom is not of this world, and thus His ways and His methods are different from what we all used to know. If the way of the world is to flaunt greatness, wealth, fame and promote human praise and glory, then the way of our Lord Jesus and King is the way of humility, of loving service and genuine care to all those whom He is Lord over, and that is why He told His disciples, that whoever wants to be great from among His disciples must be a servant to all.

It is too often in this world that mankind uses power and influence to control and to oppress those who are subordinated to them, and they use all these to maintain their power, their privileges and their status, not willing to lose or be reduced in any of them. They desire for ever more and more worldly goods, worldly power, fame and influence, and this is why we mankind by our nature always bicker, enter into conflict and wars, and end up bringing suffering upon another or even resorting to murder and destruction of life.

The Lord teaches us that His way is not the way of greed, or of succumbing to our personal desires and jealousy upon others and what they had and what we do not have with us. He teaches us that to become greater in His eyes does not mean the same as being great in the eyes of the world. On the contrary, the greater a person has become, the more humble he or she should become, and become even less attached to their glory and desires.

It is difficult for us to detach from all these worldliness and human desires, as it is in our human nature to want even more when we already have something with us. And the more we have, the more difficult it is for us to resist that temptation to seek for even more. And the most important reason is that, we mankind are always looking for something that can satisfy our needs and wants, but all the things and goods of this world prove to be unsatisfactory in providing what we need.

After all, all the money and possessions, all the material goods in the world that we have cannot buy for us true happiness and joy. They can only provide us with happiness that is illusory, temporary and impermanent. And as I have just mentioned, that we mankind always grow in our greed and desire as we have more things with us? This is why we can never be satisfied with whatever this world is able to offer.

On the contrary, what truly can provide us with true happiness and satisfaction, is the satisfaction that comes from the Lord alone. It is only God alone who can give us and provide us with true happiness, that is by the provision of His words, His Law, His truth and His perfect love, that He fills us up with, that all of us are needing right now, to liberate us from our own sinfulness, stubbornness, and inability to live in accordance to the way of the Lord.

This is why, on this day, the Feast of St. Luke the Apostle and Evangelist, we should all reflect on the Holy Gospels, which the Apostles had written and composed by the power of the Holy Spirit, to provide us with God’s truth and love, through the words they have written in the Four holy Gospels. The Gospels and the entirety of the Holy Scriptures are the repository and evidence of the truth and the words of God that all of us have heard, witnessed and shared, and thus we believe in Him from whom the words came.

And as today is also the celebration of the Mission Sunday, by this we should all realise that all of us are the bearers of God’s Gospel to the world, for there are indeed many of those our brethren, who are still living in the darkness of this world, and which by our actions and deeds, we may bring the revelation of God’s truth to them, so that they may be saved too, just as we have been saved.

Many of us mankind are still living in ignorance of the truth of the Lord, blinded by darkness and sin, and the light provided by the truth in the Gospels are truly necessary for us all to be able to liberate one another from the effects of darkness that had covered our souls and bring all of us into the light of Christ our Lord. It is the mission which our Lord had given and entrusted to all of us, to bring His light to the nations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all remember the mission which our Lord Jesus Christ had given to all of His disciples before the time when He was about to depart back from this world to His heavenly Father. This mission is that all of us bring all mankind, from all the nations and from the whole world, to receive baptism in the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And the way to do this is by proclaiming God’s truth, the truth of His words and the light of His truth by practicing our faith in our own actions, and showing our adherence and faith in God’s truth by showing these through all that we do to our fellow men, and through our commitment to the Lord and His ways. Let us all be missionaries of the Faith to one another, and in particular to those who lives are still in darkness, and who still have yet to hear the word and the truth of God.

May Almighty God be with us always, bless us all in our endeavours and works, so that in all the things that we say and do, we may bring more souls closer to the salvation in God. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 October 2015 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday and Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 35-45

At that time, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to Him, “Master, we want You to grant us what we are going to ask of You.” And He said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, when You come in Your glory.”

But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptised in the way I am baptised?” They answered, “We can.” And Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptised in the way that I am baptised; but to sit at My right hand or at My left is not Mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”

On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John. Jesus then called them to Him and said, “As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and their great ones oppress them. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all.”

“Think of the Son of Man, who has not come to be serve but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Mark 10 : 42-45

Jesus then called them to Him and said, “As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and their great ones oppress them. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all.”

“Think of the Son of Man, who has not come to be serve but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Sunday, 18 October 2015 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday and Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 4 : 14-16

We have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, Who has entered heaven. Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning.

Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy and, through His favour, help in due time.

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Sunday, 18 October 2015 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday and Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 32 : 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.

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Sunday, 18 October 2015 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday and Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 53 : 10-11

Yet it was the will of YHVH to crush Him with grief. When He makes Himself an offering for sin, He will have a long life and see His descendants. Through Him the will of YHVH is done.

For the anguish He suffered, He will see the light and obtain perfect knowledge. My Just Servant will justify the multitude; He will bear and take away their guilt.

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Saturday, 17 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of the Holy Scriptures, speaking to us about the grace and blessings that shall await all those who keep and maintain their faith in God, and the curses and the condemnations that await all those who have veered away from the path towards the Lord and towards salvation.

The example of Abraham, our forefather in faith was used, in his obedience and exemplary actions and life, which were filled with the obedience and the trust which he showed to God, the complete faith and trust that he had shown, which made his descendants to become truly blessed by God’s grace. This is done so to inspire all of us to strive for righteousness and justice, and therefore become eligible to enjoy forever God’s love and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have been called to a new life of repentance, of redemption and of forgiveness. All of us have been called out of the pit of darkness, misery and wickedness, and we are all called into the life filled with God’s justice and grace, which can become a reality only if all of us gather together and work together to achieve that goal of salvation in God.

Those who have not been faithful to God, who refused to listen to the word of God, and those who have gone astray in their lives, walking in their own paths in disobedience to the Law of God, will receive the wrath and anger of God, and God shall reject them, just as they themselves had rejected Him first. God is merely reciprocating the hatred and the unwillingness of those who have not given their love to Him. Yet, if these people were to repent and change their ways, God will readily show His infinite mercy and love to them.

God is ever loving and merciful, but this does not mean that He readily tolerates our sins and wickedness. He loves each and every one of us personally and as His beloved children and creation, but He does not love our sins and our wrongdoings. He hates all forms of sins and injustice, all forms of malice and wickedness, all forms of evil and all the darkness that lie in our actions.

If we persist in retaining all those sins and darkness, then certainly all of us will be condemned and prevented from reaching salvation in the Lord. This is because those sins and wicked things in our words and actions are barriers and obstacles that stop us from finding our way to the Lord. Those sins are what preventing us from receiving the fullness of God’s grace and blessings, and they kept us away from the light, remaining in the darkness and the abyss.

This is why, we ought to reflect on our own actions and deeds, and we should think about what we have done in this life, so that we may realise the current state of our being, whether we stand in righteousness and grace of God, or whether we are in danger of falling into the condemnation of eternal hell. Thus, we ought to heed the example of a holy man and saint whose feast day we celebrate on this day.

Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the second bishop and leader of the faithful in Antioch, a great city of Christendom in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was counted among the birthplaces of Christianity, as the place where the faithful were first called as Christianoi, or Christians. It was the place where the Church was established by St. Peter the Apostle, the Vicar of Christ, who later went on to establish the Church in Rome.

St. Ignatius of Antioch was his successor as the second Bishop of Antioch, and he helped to continue the establishment of the Church in Antioch and beyond, caring for the spiritual and overall well-being of his flock, giving them examples to follow and exhorting them to be always faithful to God and His ways, and resist the temptations of worldly goods and human greed.

Eventually, St. Ignatius of Antioch shared in the suffering of Christ our Lord, when he and the other Christians were persecuted under the orders of the civil authorities of the Roman Empire. The Emperor and the officials of the Roman state opposed the Christians and their teachings of truth, and they attempted to snuff out the light of the Church at its young stage of growth.

Nevertheless, St. Ignatius of Antioch remained resolute and committed to the evangelisation and spreading of God’s Good News of the Gospel, and he suffered death and martyrdom knowing that the works he had begun would be carried on by those who came after him, and his martyrdom served as an inspiration for countless others to also pick up their crosses and follow the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us on this day reflect once again on our own lives. We have a clear choice on whether to obey the Lord and His ways, walking in His righteousness and justice, and practicing His will and commandments in all of our words and actions, or whether we want to follow he devil and all of his errors and lies.

Let us all take concrete actions in our lives, so that in all the things we do and say, we will show a renewed effort of loving and serving the Lord our God, with all of our hearts’ strength. May the Lord have mercy on us all, forgive us all our sins, and bring us into everlasting life. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 12 : 8-12

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies Me before others will be denied before the angels of God.”

“There will be pardon for the one who criticises the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit. When you are brought before the synagogues, and before governors and rulers, do not worry about how you will defend yourself, or what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.”

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Saturday, 17 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 104 : 6-7, 8-9, 42-43

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

For He remembered His promise to Abraham, His servant. So He led forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with singing.

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Saturday, 17 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 4 : 13, 16-18

If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendants, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith.

For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed. Abraham is the father of all of us, as it is written : I will make you father of many nations. He is our father in the eyes of Him who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence what does not yet exist, for this is the God in whom he believed.

Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told : See how many will be your descendants.

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Friday, 16 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the readings from the Holy Scriptures speaking on the theme of forgiveness, and how those who have been forgiven by God shall receive great grace and blessings, as they will be counted among those whom God is pleased with, and they shall inherit the fullness of God’s grace and love.

And why is it so important for us to follow the path of righteousness and repentance from our sins? That is because history itself had shown that the righteous were blessed and brought into greatness, like Abraham, our father in faith and the forefather of many nations, and David, the king of Israel raised from humble origin of a shepherd to become the ruler of a great nation, and whose descendants rule forever, and through Christ, the heir of David, his kingdom is made secure eternally.

Meanwhile, the wicked had no share in the glory promised by the Lord, and for all their worldly glory and greatness, for all their boasts and haughtiness, they were not remembered and they left no legacy of their greatness on earth, save for ruins and emptiness, as well as burnt husks of possessions, material and wealth they left behind in this world.

It is in our human nature for us to act in ways that are selfish, self-glorifying, hypocritical and self-praising, that is to fill up our own human ego and pride, our own desires and greed, to bring pleasures to our own body and flesh, and to mortify and corrupt our existence, our minds, hearts and souls, with the corruption of sin and darkness. And it is these things that had caused us to fall and fail in our path to attain God’s mercy and salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to reevaluate our actions, words and deeds, and ask ourselves whether the things we have done in our lives are truly just and rightful, or wrong and wicked in the sight of God and men alike. If we have not been faithful or dedicated in our lives and actions, then truly, we always have that opportunity to rediscover ourselves and commit ourselves into actions that bring about God’s grace upon us.

The righteous and the saints, the holy ones of God did not always lead a holy and just life, and their lives were far from perfect. Even saints and blessed ones were once sinners as well, and they have committed sinful deeds before, just as no man was free from sin, save for Jesus Christ our Lord. Even Abraham once also did not have enough faith in the Lord at one moment, when he took Hagar, his maid to be his wife, as suggested by Sara, his wife.

And king David of Israel, as faithful and devoted as he was, he was once tempted by his lust and desire to take the wife of another as his own, as how he obtained Bathsheba, his wife, the mother of Solomon, by plotting the murder of her first husband, the captain Uriah. Such was the extent of his sin, plotting the murder of another to fulfil his own selfish wishes.

But he repented and atoned for his sins, just as Abraham, who disowned his maid and sent her off with the son she bore for him, and for king David, he sincerely repented for his sins, and having made a turnaround in his life, he was forgiven and given a new chance, where he continued to be a great king and honoured and glorified. This is the promise God has given to all those who have followed Him and rejected the path of Satan.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Hedwig, also known as Jadwiga of Poland, the Queen of Poland and the last of her dynasty. She was one of the greatest rulers in the Polish history, who was very devoted to her people, caring for the poor and the less fortunate in her kingdom, and giving all she could do to help those who have been left unloved and oppressed.

St. Jadwiga devoted her time for her people, the sheep that have been placed under her care by the Lord, entrusted to her care and love. St. Jadwiga showed many of us how to become a good follower and disciple of the Lord our God, living righteously, with faith and dedication, and by caring and loving for one another, especially the last, the lost and the least.

Meanwhile, today we also celebrate the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who popularised and promoted the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which today is a major devotion and a central tenet and part of the Church and our faith. The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is centred upon the loving heart of our God, whose most wonderful heart is filled with great and rich mercy and care for all of us, His beloved ones.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is a very devoted servant of God, who devoted her life to a complete spiritual life committed with prayer and steadfastness in her life lived with the full grace and obedience to the will of God. She received many visions from the Lord, and most profoundly, this vision spoke of the most loving heart and the love which pours out of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Knowing the love and the care, the compassion and the grace that are flowing out from the Most Sacred Heart of our Lord, then we truly should appreciate what a good Master and Lord that we have, and let us all appreciate the opportunities and chances which He has provided us with, and let us all not be filled with pride or haughtiness, opening our hearts and minds to God’s grace and love.

Let us all commit ourselves therefore to a new life that is filled not with greed, desire, jealousy or anger, but with love, compassion, care for others and sympathy, that we may always be justified and rightful in our actions and deeds. May Almighty God bless us all, forgive us all our sins, for us poor sinners, and bring us to the everlasting life He has promised all those who hold fast to Him. Amen.