new world

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Sunday, 23 June 2024 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 5 : 14-17

Indeed, the love of Christ holds us, and we realise, that, if He died for all, all have died. He died for all, so, that, those who live, may live no longer for themselves, but for Him, Who died, and rose again for them. And so, from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard Him in another way.

For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him, the old things have passed away; a new world has come.

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Friday, 5 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Nahum 2 : 1, 3 and Nahum 3 : 1-3, 6-7

See, there on the mountains, the feet of One Who brings Good News, One Who proclaims peace. Judah, celebrate your feasts and carry out your vows. For the wicked have been destroyed, they will not attack you any more. YHVH will now restore Jacob’s magnificence, like Israel’s splendour. For they had been plundered, laid waste as a ravaged vineyard.

Woe to the bloody city, city of lies and booty, o city of unending plunder! But what! Crack of whips, rumble of wheels and clatter of hoofs! See the frenzied chargers, the flashing swords and glittering spears, the heaps of the wounded, the dead and dying – we trip over corpses!

I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make of you a shameful show, so that all who look on you will turn their backs in disgust and say : Nineveh – a city of lust – is in ruins. Who will mourn for her? Where can we find one to comfort her?

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the Holy City coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the Throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed away.”

The One seated on the Throne said, “See, I make all things new.”

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Monday, 16 March 2015 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 65 : 17-21

I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again. Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more.

You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit.

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Tuesday, 9 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the nature of today’s readings are very clear to us. This is because first we must have realised that it talked about the calling of the chief disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord, namely the twelve men selected as the Twelve Apostles, with their names highlighted and explained to us. It seems that this selection brought great honour to the Apostles, who were chosen among many to be the chief among the disciples of the Lord, but as the rest of the readings would tell us, with great honour comes great responsibility.

We heard in the first reading, where St. Paul chastised the faithful in Corinth for their inability to work and live together in faith. He also chastised them for their unruly behaviour, disputes and infighting within the community of the believers, and their apparent inability to settle their own issues and problems, and the mention of the term arbiter, or the one who decides matters much like a judge.

And then in the Gospel again, after Jesus had chosen the Twelve Apostles to be under His care, then it was shown to us how people brought their sick ones and afflicted ones to Jesus and asked Him to heal them. People came from far-off places just to listen to the teachings of Jesus and to be healed by Him, even from areas, if we noticed, that include places where non-Jewish populations were likely those who also came to visit Jesus and listen to Him.

Then the Gospel highlighted yet another aspect of today’s readings, that is on authority, the authority to heal and to judge, as it mentioned how the people tried to touch Jesus, even just the fringe of His cloak, as through these, the people were healed by the very authority that flowed out from Jesus, the Lord and God. Thus, Jesus as Lord and Master of all is the font of power and authority, from whom all authority in this world came from, and there can be no true power or authority if the Lord had not granted them to those whom He deemed worthy.

And how is this related to the calling and the choice of the Twelve Apostles? That is because as I have mentioned before, that the calling to be an Apostle of Jesus, and in fact, even to follow the Lord as a disciple was not an easy one. Neither did it bring honour and glory, for the world had hated Jesus and thus would also hate all those who follow Him. Neither would it be easy, because the world and the forces of darkness would be arrayed against all those who walk in the path of righteousness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why as the chosen Apostles and disciples of the Lord, the Twelve Apostles and their successors, our Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and the priests, as well as those in the religious and priestly orders had great privileges, but also equally if not greater burdens and responsibilities. They serve the people of God, the arbiters of justice as mentioned, the bearers of the teachings and the Good News of the Lord, and the bearers of the Lord’s authority in healing.

It was not an easy task, and challenges await them along and throughout their respective ministries in the Lord. How can we help them then? It is by our contribution and the part we can play in this world, as part of the Church, giving both our time, resources and other form of contributions to help the Lord’s trusted servants. In that we do our part as the children of God and as the members of the Church.

Today we celebrate the feast of a saint, a priest and servant of God whose life is truly exemplary of those who were called by the Lord to be His instrument of love in this world. St. Peter Claver was his name, a Spanish Jesuit priest who was born in Spain during the era of Counter Reformation at about more than four centuries ago, and who joined religious life to dedicate himself to the Lord.

St. Peter Claver was particularly noted for his great piety and dedication as well as having a mind of great intellectual quality, and he dedicated this in his works, as he embarked on the mission to evangelise and preach the Good News in the New World, in what is today Latin America, then known as Spanish America, the colony of the Spanish Empire in the New World.

In those colonies and territories, there are four groups of people, namely first the administrators and Spanish lords who came from the Old World, from Spain and they were the greatest and the most influential in the society, then the colonists from Spain and the Old World, who had settled in the land and bore children there. Then below them we have the native indigenous populations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and the American Indians, who had lived in the land before the arrival of the Europeans.

And at the bottom of all in the society were the slaves, who were mostly of African origin, captured and brought to the New World to be used as slaves in various menial works that treated them as things less than human. And it was to this group in particular that St. Peter Claver dedicated himself. And St. Peter Claver was against slavery, which is an abomination among men, the practice of making others subservient to certain people, which is unacceptable to our faith.

Therefore, St. Peter Claver followed the footsteps of the Apostles and faithfully carried out his duties as the Lord had appointed him to, that is to serve the people of God humbly and courageously, especially the least among them, those who were oppressed and disadvantaged against, and lead them into a new and better life, founded on the teachings of the faith, through his ardent opposition against slavery of any kind.

St. Peter Claver also ministered to them, healing them body and soul, listening to their problems and assisting with those who were sick. And in this, his actions are exemplary for us all, not just for the priests and the ordained ministers, but also for all those in the laity. In following his examples and works, we truly can become better Christians, by embodying and practicing what we believe in our actions and deeds in life.

May Almighty God thus bless us this day, that we may grow stronger in faith, hope and love, so that we may walk in the footsteps of the saints, the disciples and the Apostles, people You have chosen from among the people and made holy so that we who witnessed their works may also be inspired to seek holiness in You. God be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 1 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 47 : 1-9, 12

The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water coming out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastwards. The Temple faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the Temple, from the south side of the altar.

He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing the east and there I saw the stream coming from the south side. The Man had a measuring cord in His hand. As He went towards the east He measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water which was up to my ankles.

He measured off another thousand cubits and made me cross the water which came to my knees. He measured off another thousand cubits and we crossed the water which was up to my waist. When He had again measured a thousand cubits, I could not cross the torrent for it had swollen to a depth which was impossible to cross without swimming.

The Man then said to me, “Son of man, did you see?” He led me on further and then brought me back to the bank of the river. There I saw a number of trees on both sides of the river. He said to me, “This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become wholesome.

Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in it; fish will be plentiful and the sea water will become fresh. Wherever it flows, life will abound. Near the river on both banks there will be all kinds of fruit trees with foliage that will not  wither and fruit that will never fail; each month they will bear a fresh crop because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.

 

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Thursday, 12 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Mass of our Lady)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, to commemorate the apparition of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, in the land of the New World, in Guadalupe, in the present day Mexico. The Blessed Virgin and her apparition that would come to be known as the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to several people including to a peasant named Juan Diego, whom first promoted the devotion to our Lady in that new land. Many miracles and healing could be attributed to our Lady of Guadalupe, even until today at the site.

The Lady of Guadalupe, was a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her Immaculate Conception, and also identified as the woman of the Book of the Revelation, that is the woman crowned by stars whom the devil in the form of a red dragon, would want to swallow whole. Therefore, our Lady of Guadalupe represented the vision of hope to the world darkened with evil, for it is through this blessed woman, that the hope of this world was to come from, in Jesus.

The devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is widespread in the New World, even today, and many continued to ask for her intercession and for her guidance towards her beloved Son. Through her, as promised and prophesied by the prophets, the One Saviour, Immanuel, God-is-with-us, was brought into this world, to be its light and guidance, so that all of us will once again live in the light and not in darkness.

In Mary a great strength was present, in her character and in her faith to God. She did not question the will of God but obeyed fully and willingly. Mary accepted her part in the plan of salvation, saying to the Lord, that she is His handmaid and servant, and therefore everything ought to happen as God wills it. It is truly not easy to find a faith such as Mary’s, and we too ought to follow her examples.

For this woman, despite being conceived and born without sin, and remaining pure all of her life, did not boast of her purity and special status before others. Instead, she remained humble, even knowing if she would become the Mother of God Himself, incarnate into flesh through her participation. She was indeed Blessed, as Elizabeth her cousin proclaimed her during the visitation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind, when they first sinned against Him, that a woman would come to bring forth salvation to mankind, crushing the head of Satan under her feet. Not by her own power and might, but through the Son born from her, Jesus our Messiah, our Lord.

The Lord elevates her to a special position among mankind, not only because of her role as the bearer of the Messiah, but also because of her obedience and her attitude towards the will of God. But she is still human like us and not divine. It is a misconception for many, both outside and even inside the Church, that we worship her as a divine being. Yet, Mary is blessed among women, among all mankind, and she is our role model.

Mary is our role model, the greatest of the saints, and her life examples are exemplary. Her role in the plan of salvation is indeed intended for us to follow and emulate. So today, as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and as we continue to proceed through the blessed season of Advent, we are reminded of the role that Mary has in the salvation of mankind, with our time now of preparing to celebrate the coming of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us draw ever closer to the Lord, through the life and example of Mary His mother, who appeared to the people of Mexico in Guadalupe, that all of us will also be able to be like her, following the Lord, committing ourselves to the laws and precepts of the Lord, and be righteous and true in the eyes of God.

May the Lord our God who bless us with Mary His mother, whom He entrusted to us as our mother, continue to bless us, watch over us, and may through her intercession, we will be drawn ever closer to salvation in her Son. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent, Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Patron of Missions, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White (Priests)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate mission, the work of the servants of God, following what the Lord has commissioned His disciples to do. The Lord has commanded His disciples to spread all over the earth, and spread the Good News, the Good News of Jesus, which come with the Lord Himself as He came incarnate into Man.

The disciples went around many places, telling many people about the Saviour who had come to save them all. The Lord commissioned them to make disciples of all the nations, and baptise them, to mark them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, the Most holy God. Only those who have been marked with such sign of baptism will belong to God and be saved.

The disciples of the Lord laboured hard for the conversion and therefore the salvation of many, sharing with them the words and the revelations that they had received from the Lord as witnesses of the Good News. The disciples worked hard and served the people of God without cease and without fear, and they even went through great suffering, persecution, and rejection, eventually suffering death, in the defense of their faith.

Their works did not end there, since the disciples of the Lord appointed their successors, chosen from the people of God, the bishops and the priests, and the countless others who have helped to spread the Good News to the people over many millenia. They persevered for the Lord, accepted in some places but rejected in others. Tortured for their faith but did not recant, and remained faithful even to the end, as the Apostles had done themselves.

These are the realities about the missionaries, who continued the mission given to them by the Lord. They persevered through similar difficulties and challenges as the Apostles and the other disciples of Christ had faced in the past. Even today, thousands and tens of thousands of missionaries spread around the globe toil daily for the salvation of souls.

These missionaries spread the Good News and become its witnesses, by serving the poor, spending time with the lonely and the unloved, as well as reaching out to those who had yet to receive the word of God, and knock at the hearts of those who had turned away from the Lord. Their task is not an easy one, and yet they persevered through, out of their love for the Lord and His people.

Today, we ought to pray for them and give thanks to God for these wonderful missionaries, for the gift of their courage and persistence in the service of God. We celebrate today the feast of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missions and missionaries. He was once a great missionary himself, travelling to many countries especially in East and Southeast Asia regions, establishing the foundation for many future missionaries that would follow him.

St. Francis Xavier was the co-founder of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, today the largest religious congregation in the world, he founded it with St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. He was once a man who dedicated his life to pleasures of the world and other debaucheries, and yet, after an encounter with St. Ignatius, he found his life’s meaning in Jesus, seeking to serve Him with zeal.

St. Francis Xavier is particularly interested in spreading the word of God and the news of salvation to far off lands, and to the lands of pagans. At that time, the new discoveries of the wider world beyond the world the people had once known, opened massive opportunity for evangelisation and conversion of many to the true faith. Many people and cultures whom the faith had not touched before, then had the opportunity through the wider exploration of the world. Following along these explorations were the missionaries, many of them Jesuits, including St. Francis Xavier himself.

St. Francis Xavier went as a missionary, firstly to India, where he accomplished much in establishing the works of God in that land, converting many to the faith in God. Then he went on to spread the Good News to many lands, all over the Far East, establishing communities of the faithful and sending missionaries to these lands. He himself led the effort as a vanguard for the faith.

St. Francis Xavier followed in the footsteps of the Apostles and laboured through rejections and even storms at sea to spread the Good News to many souls which he laboured to save. St. Francis Xavier persevered through all of them and went on undeterred to save even more souls. He travelled far to Malacca, to the islands of the Moluccas, to Macau, and even to Japan. He did not get as much success as the works he had done in India, because of oppositions from local rulers, but nevertheless he continued his works.

It was St. Francis Xavier’s dream to be able to preach and spread the Good News in China. But before he managed to do that, he passed away along the way. He had indeed passed before us, but until today, his spirit, the spirit of zealous and courageous missionary, never died, and continues to burn in the many missionaries that followed after St. Francis Xavier.

Therefore, brethren, today, let us commemorate our missionaries, past and present. Do not forget to pray for them, that they will continue to persevere in the mission they had embarked on. Let us pray that God will continue to guide them, watch over them, and empower them. And finally, we too, brothers and sisters in Christ, we too are called to be missionaries. The mission that Jesus had given to His disciples also applies to us.

We do not have to make difficult journeys and hard works in the way the missionaries had done. We can do things even as simple as making our own homes, our own families, and our own societies, the people around us, to make. God the centre of our own lives, and through our own actions, words, and deeds, we too can be missionaries, the living witnesses of the faith in God.

May the Lord continue to bless us, empower us, and strengthen us with a burning zeal, in order to continue to proclaim Him in the world, to be witnesses of God’s Good News to the world. Amen.

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Thursday, 24 October 2013 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ warns us today, of the implications of following Him and dedicating ourselves to Him. He highlighted that it will not be an easy path for us, if we choose to follow Him, and oppositions will likely always stand in our way. The other path, that is the alternative path, is easier to take, but it is also a path that leads to ruin and eternal damnation.

The Lord our God had rescued us from the hands of the devil, and rescued us from the depth of our sinfulness, lifting us up to a new life in holiness and glory. He had done that, none other through the sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus, on the cross. This event of salvation, through the Passion of Christ, highlights the very purpose of the coming of Christ into this world. Christ did not come into this world just for nothing. He came into this world to save it, and save it by no other means other than through the shedding of His blood, and the laying down of His life.

This event also highlights the kind of reception the people have on Jesus, how throughout the ministry of Jesus, while there are many who were glad of His coming, and praised Him as their King, there are also many of those who opposed Him and placed many obstacles in His path, blocking His good works and slandered against Him.

Particularly, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were among the most vicious and stubborn of all of God’s enemies. They rejected God and His ways, preferring their own human and worldly strengths and power. The Lord came into the world, and ever since He began His ministry, He had been faced with all kinds of rejection and even sometimes violent, opposition. Many tested Him and asked Him all sorts of questions doubting His authority as the Messiah and the Son of God.

That is because Satan sowed the seed of distrust and lack of faith in the hearts of these men, because he did not wish to lose his grip on us, which he had once had in complete dominion. The Lord Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross had broken us free from that deadly grip, and set us well on the path towards salvation. Ever since that, Satan no longer has any power over us, for we have been freed from the slavery he had imposed on us.

Yet, do not be mistaken, brothers and sisters, because the Lord our God is a loving God and the Lord of peace. One may easily be misled by the reading today, especially that of the Gospel, that the Lord brings about division and discord. That is a lie that Satan has for us, especially those among us whose faith are weak. The devil himself is the one who sowed those discords and divisions among the people of God, by planting his agents and his seeds of evil, even within the people whom we know well, even within our families and circles of friends.

This again does not mean that we should respond to the discord and divisions with equally great passion for such discords and divisions. It is in our human nature for us to be angry and to hate others, and it is easy for us to take part in that discord, and therefore creating even greater divisions and suffering for one another. Do not give Satan the satisfaction of seeing us being divided against one another and hating one another, even as we have faith in God.

That is why, it is important that we put the Lord’s commandments into practice, and by following His examples. This is done through love and forgiveness. We have to be able to love and commit ourselves to love, especially those who had caused us pain, suffering, and hurt, and be ready to forgive them for what they had done. In this way, our love will flow out from us, and then shared with our fellow brethren, and therefore, with love we can change the state of ourselves, our family, and our brethren around us, ending the division Satan had caused, and bring everyone together with God, in love and perfect harmony.

Remember that our Lord Himself forgave those who had handed Him over to His executors and jailors. He had prayed that the Father would forgive all those who had done such terrible deeds towards Him, that He will not take into account their sins. If our Lord Himself had shown us the example, then we too ought to follow in His footsteps.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret, a bishop and religious who founded the religious order of the Claretians. St. Anthony Mary Claret was a man who joined the priesthood and then went on to do many good works for the sake of the faith. He did many charitable works, and was particularly caring for the poor and the abandoned in the society, and during his ministry, he visited and founded hospitals and other charitable organisations dedicated to the care of these least among us.

Even after being chosen and made as an Archbishop in an important see in the New World, that is of Cuba, St. Anthony Mary Claret remained dedicated to his works and to the cause of the poor, the weak, and the less fortunate. He founded a religious congregation, known well as the Claretians, whose aims and works conform to that of St. Anthony Mary Claret, and his focus on service to the people of God.

After he chose to retire from his position, he preached widely and worked hard to maintain the adherence of many to the true faith, and was very successful in this manner, especially through his extensive writing and publications. He even helped the Pope himself to convene and plan for the First Vatican Council, which was designed to deal with errors and heresies within the Church and affirm the obedience to the true and orthodox Christian faith.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us show the world, the love of God given to mankind, that through our words, our deeds, and our actions, just as those of St. Anthony Mary Claret and those who followed in his footsteps can be the beacons of light, hope, and love, piercing through the dark veil spread by Satan over all of us, in attempt to divide us through lies and fabrications, that we will hurt one another and therefore sin before God.

Let us ask St. Anthony Mary Claret for his intercession, and may the Lord too strengthen us in our devotion and love for Him, that we may love Him greatly and tenderly at all times, until the end of our days and until we are reunited again with Him in the glory of heaven. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 5 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mass of the Dedication of a Basilica)

Numbers 11 : 4b-15

“Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and garlic. Now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to look at, nothing but manna.”

Now the manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bedellium. The people went about gathering it up and then ground it between millstones or pounded it in a mortar. They boiled it in a pot and made cakes with it which tasted like cakes made with oil. As soon as dew fell at night in the camp, the manna came with it.

Moses heard the people crying, family by family at the entrance to their tent and YHVH became very angry. This displeased Moses. Then Moses said to YHVH, “Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Is it because You do not love me that You burdened me with this people? Did I conceive all these people and did I give them birth?

And now You want me to carry them in my bosom as a nurse carries an infant, to the land You promised on oath to their fathers? Where would I get meat for all these people, when they cry to me saying : ‘Give us meat that we may eat?’ I cannot, myself alone, carry all these people; the burden is too heavy for me. Kill me rather than treat me like this, I beg of You, if You look kindly on me, and let me not see Your anger.”

 

Alternative Reading (From the Mass for the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

 

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband. A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed away.” The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”

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Monday, 22 July 2013 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene (First Reading)

Song of Songs 3 : 1-4a

On my bed at night I looked for the One I love, I sought Him without finding Him; I called Him and He did not answer. I will rise and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek the love of my heart…

I sought Him without finding Him; the watchmen came upon me, those who patrol the city. “Have you seen the love of my heart?” As soon as I left them, I found the love of my heart.

 

Alternative Reading

 

2 Corinthians 5 : 14-17

Indeed the love of Christ holds us and we realise that if He died for all, all have died. He died for all so that those who live may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them.

And so from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard Him in another way. For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For Him the old things have passed away; a new world has come.