offerings

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Sunday, 25 August 2013 : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lay Apostolate Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 66 : 18-21

Now I am going to gather the nations of every tongue, and they will witness My glory, for I will perform a wonderful thing among them. Then I will send some of their survivors to the nations – Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moscheck, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan – to the distant islands where no one has ever heard of Me or seen My glory. They will proclaim My glory among the nations.

They will bring your kindred from all the nations as an offering to YHVH on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on camels to My holy mountain in Jerusalem, says YHVH, just as the Israelites bring oblations in clean vessels to the house of YHVH. Then I will choose priests and Levites even from them, says YHVH.

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Friday, 14 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.

At any moment we carry in our person the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.

We have received the same spirit of faith referred to in Scripture that says : ‘I believed and so I spoke.’ We also believe and so we speak. We know that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and bring us, with you, into His presence.

Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters, today we are reminded, as we should, on the importance of love and harmony in our relationship with one another. We are brothers and sisters to one another, as all of us are the same children of God. Before God, we are all the same, regardless of where we came from, our wealth, our possessions, our race, and other things that seems to divide us, and differentiate us.

That is why brothers and sisters, we must build a harmonious relationship between one another, and base that relationship in love and peace. But too often, we place ourselves and our greed before that, and we do not look at our brothers and sisters with love, not even those who are family to us, and therefore, less still those who are unknown to us.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, a well-known saint, a Franciscan friar. He was a great teacher of the faith, and a humble man, but even more importantly, he was a man of peace, just as St. Francis, the founder of his order was. St. Anthony was committed to love and peace between individuals and reflected that in his life, which he gave into the service of mankind.

Like all the saints and other holy people of God, St. Anthony reflect the true life and offering that God wants from all of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, God wants our love, and He does not want the offerings that we place on the altar, like that of Israel of old. What He wants from us is the love from our hearts, a pure offering in His eyes, and that we live in perfect love and peace with one another, as we are brothers and sisters, all created by Him, our Creator.

That is what our faith is truly about, that we should reflect in ourselves the light of Christ, the light of love, hope, faith, and peace, that everyone who sees us, and all the things that we do will know that we are the children of God, because we practice what God has taught us through Christ, that is both to love Him with all our hearts, our minds, and our souls, and also to do the same to our neighbours, our brethren.

Sadly though, many of us in our world no longer preach the Gospel of love and peace through our deeds and our actions. We have been blinded by the evils of this world, that is hatred, jealousy, and greed, so that we no longer love our fellow brothers and sisters, but instead incite violence, anger, and hatred between one another. War, injustice, oppression, and vengeance are just some of the fruits of these evils, which today we know, brothers and sisters, are all around us.

I want to bring to your attention, the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Syria, who had been in turmoil for many years, and whose people had been subjected to a civil war between competing politicians and the powerful ones, for their own purposes and objectives, but which cause immense suffering for the people. Brothers no longer look upon each other as brothers, and neither do sisters. Families and friendships are divided and devastated. Truly, our Lord would certainly be sad to look at all these.

Injustice is also rampant in our society today, brothers and sisters, how we often treat people unequally, favouring some while treating others unfairly and badly, just because of certain objectives and desires that we possess within us. Some because of greed, some because of lust, and some because of other desires and evils. Even I am sure, brothers and sisters, that some of us had often encountered these, and even be part of these in our own lives!

If we continue to walk down this path of evil and destruction, our God will not look kindly upon us, for He is a friend of the poor, the lonely, the unloved, and the hated ones, the least ones whom we often exploit and hate, but to the Lord they are beloved. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect on our lives, on our actions, whether we have lived true to the Gospel of our Lord, and His call for us to be filled with love and peace.

May we follow in the footsteps of St. Anthony of Padua and the holy saints, that we can be transformed, from beings of evil, hatred, prejudice, and violence, into beings of love, justice, and peace. How wonderful will our world become, if only everyone dedicate themselves to the cause of peace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 2 June 2013 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (First Reading)

Genesis 14 : 18-20

Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth! And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands!”

And Abram gave him a tenth part of everything.

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Monday, 29 April 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor (First Reading)

Acts 14 : 5-18

A move was made by pagans and Jews, together with their leaders, to harm the apostles and to stone them. But Paul and Barnabas learnt of this and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside, where they continued preaching the Good News.

Paul and Barnabas spent a fairly long time at Lystra. There was a crippled man in Lystra who had never been able to stand or walk. One day, as he was listening to the preaching, Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved.

So, he spoke to him in a loud voice, “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to stand up on your feet!” And the man stood up and began to walk around.

When the people saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come to us in human likeness!” They named Barnabas Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.

Even the priest of the Temple of Zeus, which stood outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gate; together with the people, He wanted to offer sacrifice to them.

When Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garments to show their indignation and rushed into the crowd, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are human beings with the same weaknesses you have and we are now telling you to turn away from these useless things to the living God who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them.”

“In past generations He allowed each nation to go its own way, though He never stopped making Himself known; for He is continually doing good, giving your rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providing you with food and filling your hearts with gladness.”

Even these words could hardly keep the crowd from offering sacrifice to them.

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Monday, 22 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 11 : 1-18

News came to the apostles and the brothers and sisters in Judea that even foreigners had received the Word of God. So, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, these Jewish believers began to argue with him, “You went to the home of uncircumcised people and ate with them!”

So Peter began to give them the facts as they had happened, “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when, in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet came down from the sky and drew near to me, landing on the ground by its four corners. As I stared at it, I saw four-legged creatures of the earth, wild beasts and reptiles, and birds of the sky.”

“Then I heard a voice saying to me : ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ I replied, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No common or unclean creature has ever entered my mouth.’ A second time the voice from the heavens spoke, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all drawn up into the sky.”

“At that moment, three men, who had been sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were staying. The Spirit instructed me to go with them without hesitation; so these six brothers came along with me and we entered into the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and telling him : ‘Send someone to Joppa and fetch Simon, also known as Peter. He will bring you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.'”

“I had begun to address them when suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as it had come upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said : ‘John baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ If, then, God had given them the same gift that He had given us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to resist God?”

When they heard this, they set their minds at rest and praised God saying, “Then God has granted life-giving repentance to the pagan nations as well.”

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Monday, 8 April 2013 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Second Reading)

Hebrews 10 : 4-10

Never will the blood of bulls and goats take away these sins. This is why on entering the world, Christ says : ‘You did not desire sacrifice and offering; You were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said : ‘Here I am. It was written of Me in the scroll. I will do Your will, o God.”

First He says : ‘Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire nor were You pleased with them – although they were required by the Law.’ Then He says : ‘Here I am to do Your will.’

This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified once and for all by the sacrifice of the Body of Christ Jesus.

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Saturday, 9 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Frances of Rome, Religious (First Reading)

Hosea 6 : 1-6

Come, let us return to YHVH. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; He has struck us down, but He will bind up our wounds. Two days later He will bring us back to life; on the third day, He will raise us up, and we shall live in His presence.

Let us strive to know YHVH. His coming is as certain as the dawn; His judgment will burst forth like the light; He will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth.

O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of My mouth.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.

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Tuesday, 29 January 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Psalm 39 : 2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11

With resolve I waited for the Lord; He listened and heard me beg.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and be awed, and put their trust in the Lord.

Sacrifice and oblation you did not desire; this You had me understand.

Burnt offering and sin offering you do not require.

Then I said, “Here I come!”

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

I have not locked up in my heart Your saving help, but have spoken about it – Your deliverance and Your faithfulness.

I have made no secret of Your truth and of Your kindness in the great assembly.