Octave of Pentecost

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Tuesday, 26 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today a very clear message is given to us through the Scriptures, that following the Lord and doing His commandments are the best ways to give ourselves and dedicate ourselves to Him, more so than the animal sacrifices of the people of Israel in the past, or compared to series of litanies and prayers that were not done with the full sincerity of the heart.

What God desires from us is the offering of ourselves, of our whole being, that we can be thoroughly devoted in our daily actions to the Lord our God. He does not lead loud prayers, but yet without real action and dedication to the Lord. What He wants is that we should seek to start from even small things in trying to obey the Lord and His commandments. Let us remember always the promise of our Lord Jesus, that all those who have entrusted themselves to Him will not be disappointed.

God is always with all those who have given Him their love and dedication, just as He is forever faithful. This means that if we have left behind all the worldly things and follow the Lord then the Lord will also bless them richly and His grace will be forever with us. To God, those of us who have given up certain things in order to follow Him, have given Him their love and what He asked of them. Therefore, these He will bless with His everlasting graces.

This is a reminder to us all that we should seek the everlasting treasure of heaven rather than the temporary treasures of this world, no matter how enticing and wonderful they are. These include wealth, fame, human praise and affection, and many others that often distract us and wanting us to get more and more of them. This is greed, and it has the tendency of wanting us to get more and even more, and as a result, we become too preoccupied with seeking the treasures of this world, and we forget about the true treasure in heaven.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Philip Neri, a great priest and preacher who lived in what is now part of Italy. St. Philip Neri was a very important figure in the revival of the faith in many parts of Italy, especially in Rome, where he earned his appellation as the Apostle of Rome. He helped many people to overcome their bonds to the corruptions of the world, and he helped reformed the Church and the faith by purging it out of all the heresies and the sins of worldliness which had entered their souls.

St. Philip Neri devoted all of his life to God, and he committed much of his time, helping his brethren who are in need of help, both physically and spiritually. He did not let the temptations of the world to overcome him and get the better of him, but instead, he committed himself ever more strongly to the Lord and gave his all to worship and serve the Lord in all things. That was why by his many works, so many wondrous things had happened, and countless souls had been saved, and many others were also inspired by his examples.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all walk in the footsteps of St. Philip Neri, and also all the saints, by abandoning our attraction towards the tempting things in this world, and by offering all of our beings as worthy offerings to God, that is by loving Him and dedicating ourselves to Him through the acts of love, in accordance with what He had taught us.

May our Almighty God be with us always, guide us and protect us in our ways, so that in all the things we do. May He bless us with all of His goodness, for we have remained faithful and true to Him, despite the challenges and the temptations of the world, so may we all never be lost or separated again from Him. Amen.

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Tuesday, 26 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 10 : 28-31

At that time, Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “We have given up everything to follow You.”

Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward. I say to you : even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time, and in the world to come eternal life.”

“Do pay attention : many who now are the first will be last, and the last, first.”

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Tuesday, 26 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 49 : 5-6, 7-8, 14 and 23

Gather before Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The heavens will proclaim His sentence, for God Himself is the Judge.

Hear, o My people, for I am speaking. I will accuse you, o Israel, I am God, your God! Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

Yet offer to God a sacrifice of thanks, and fulfill your vows to the Most High. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 26 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Sirach (Ecclesiastes) 35 : 1-12

Keeping the Law is worth many offerings. Being faithful to the commandments is like a peace offering. Returning kindness is an offering of fine flour; giving alms is a sacrifice of praise. Renouncing sin pleases the Lord, and shunning injustice is a sacrifice of atonement.

Do not appear before the Lord with empty hands. The commandment requires that you bring an offering. When the offering of the righteous is burnt on the altar, the fat drips down and a fragrant aroma rises to the Most High. The sacrifice of the just man pleases God and will not be forgotten. Honour the Lord with a generous heart and do not be stingy with the first fruits of your harvest.

Offer your gifts with a smiling face and when you pay your tithes do it gladly. Give to the Most High as He has given to you; give generously to the Lord according to what you have; the Lord will repay, He will reward you sevenfold. If you attempt to bribe Him with gifts He will not accept them; do not rely on offerings from dishonest gain. The Lord is judge and shows no partiality.

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Monday, 25 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of today’s Gospel and the readings of the Scripture is very clear indeed, that God is loving and merciful, just as He is understanding and patient in dealing with all of us. And He is calling on us to repentance, to change our ways, by sending reminders after reminders, prophets after prophets, messengers after messengers, and eventually until He came Himself to save us from perdition and condemnation in hell.

In the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes, it was mentioned how God knows all things that we do, be it good or evil. He knows it all, and we cannot hide from Him. All that we do must truly show our faith and devotion to the Lord, or otherwise, our faith in God is meaningless and empty, fake and useless. This is simply what God wants from us, to be true to our faith and to practice them in real life, but indeed, it is truly much more difficult than it seems.

That is because we mankind are naturally predisposed to temptations of the world, such as possessions, human greed, lust, desire for the pleasures of the flesh and of this world. What we heard in the Gospel today, about a rich man who asked Jesus on how to follow Him and eventually failed because he was unable to leave his riches behind, does not mean that we have to literally sell everything we have and follow the Lord.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because firstly, if everyone does this, then the world as we know it today will no longer function, as we cannot have everybody surrendering all their possessions at once. Rather, what the Lord Jesus wanted to show us is that, instead of condemning the rich and casting them aside as those who deserved punishment, God wanted to show that everyone is equal before Him, whether rich or poor.

Being rich is not a fault in itself, but being rich has its disadvantages, as we all know that wealth and possessions can detract us from our faith in the Lord, and instead we may grow more drawn into those worldliness and become distracted and corrupted by those worldliness. We must be aware that riches, wealth and possessions themselves are not inherently evil but indeed neutral, yet it was because of our human weaknesses and greed, that we end up being controlled by our desires.

That attachment that grows between us and our possessions end up becoming the undoing for all of us. It is this attachment and its unhealthy results, the obsession and desire for even more, that our Lord Jesus Christ is warning us about. As long as we prize our possessions and things of this world higher than we prize our Lord, then the way forward is closed for us. We will not be able to proceed further on the path towards salvation, and worse still, the dangers of hell may be ever before us.

All of us should have the aim to overcome the temptations of the world and resist the lure of the pleasures of the world and the flesh. And in order to help us all, we should all reflect on the lives of the three saints whom we are celebrating today, namely St. Bede the Venerable, Pope St. Gregory VII and St. Mary Magdalena de’ Pazzi.

St. Bede the Venerable was an English monk and holy man, who had given almost all his life in the service of God. He had entered the monastery since his youth, and after he had completed his education, he decided to continue to serve the Lord with all of his strength. His many works and writings would become a source of knowledge and inspiration to all those who followed after him, and even for us today.

And just as St. Bede the Venerable had given all of his life in the service of God, without regards for himself, Pope St. Gregory VII was a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church in his wide-ranging reforms affecting all structures and members of the Church, resisting and combatting heresies and the sins of money or simony which had infiltrated and corrupted the Church and many of its members.

Pope St. Gregory VII also enforced rigorous rules on celibacy and other codes of conduct for clergy and laity alike, to help them to remain focused on the task at hand, that is to serve the Lord and not to be distracted, tempted or corrupted by the things of this world and by the temptations of the evil one. He also resisted the attempts by the worldly and secular authorities from trying to corrupt the faith and its practices, and he remained ardent and unbending despite the challenges of the evil ones.

And lastly, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was born a noble woman from a very rich and influential family in Renaissance era Italy. She was born into great wealth and status, and yet, she decided to give it all up, so that she might follow the Lord with all of her heart and her strength, joining the convent at a young age. Later on, she began receiving visions from the Lord, and as a mystic, her reputation spread far and wide.

All these holy saints are inspirations for us, that they have rejected the lures and temptations of the world and focus their sight and attention on the Lord alone. It does not mean that we have to throw away or give away everything that we have, but it means that we must not let these control our lives, and we must not let ourselves to succumb to the desires of our heart, if it not the desire to love our Lord all the more.

Let us all remind ourselves and remind one another, to be ever better disciples of our Lord and show it through real actions and deeds. Let us be ever faithful, and may our Lord who sees our genuine and sincere faith, lead us into the life everlasting He had promised all those who faithfully followed Him. Amen.

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Monday, 25 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Mark 10 : 17-27

At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.”

The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”

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Monday, 25 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 6, 7

Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom the Lord sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To the Lord I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin, You removed my guilt.

So let the faithful ones pray to You in time of distress; the overflowing waters will not reach them.

You are my refuge; You protect me from distress and surround me with songs of deliverance.

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Monday, 25 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Sirach (Ecclesiastes) 17 : 20-29

Their misdeeds cannot be hidden from Him, all their sins are before the Lord. He holds a man’s almsgiving dear as a priceless signet ring; He cherishes a good deed like the apple of His eye.

One day He will rise and reward them; He will place their prize on their heads. He allows those who repent to return; He comforts those whose hopes are fading. Be converted to the Lord and give up your sins, plead with Him to lessen your offense. Return to the Almighty, turn aside from wrongdoing and totally detest evil.

For who in the grave will praise the Almighty, if the living do not give Him glory? The dead man is as if he did not exist and cannot give praise; he who has life and health can praise the Lord. How great is the mercy of the lord and His forgiveness for those who turn to Him!