Old Testament

by

Tuesday, 7 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour!

He has looked upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!

From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

by

Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jonah 2 : 3, 4, 5, 8

In my distress I cried to YHVH, and He answered me; from the belly of the netherworld You heard my voice when I called.

You cast me into the abyss, into the very heart of the sea, and the currents swirled about me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over, engulfing me.

Then I thought : I have been cast out from Your presence, but I keep on looking to Your holy Temple.

When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered YHVH, and before You, rose my prayer up to Your holy Temple.

by

Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

by

Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

by

Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Habakkuk 1 : 2-3 and Habakkuk 2 : 2-4

YHVH, how long will I cry for help while You pay no attention to me? I denounce the oppression and You do not save. Why do You make me see injustice? Are You pleased to look on tyranny? All I see is outrage, violence and quarrels.

Then YHVH answered me and said, “Write down the vision, inscribe it on tablets so it can be easily read, since this is a vision for an appointed time; it will not fail but will be fulfilled in due time. If it delays, wait for it, for it will come, and will not be deterred. Look : I do not look with favour on the one who gives way; the upright, on the other hand, will live by his faithfulness.”

by

Saturday, 4 October 2025 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 68 : 33-35, 36-37

Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For YHVH hears the needy; and does not despise those in captivity. Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and whatever moves in them.

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. His people shall dwell in the land and possess it; the children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His Name will dwell in it.

by

Saturday, 4 October 2025 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Baruch 4 : 5-12, 27-29

Take courage, my people, you who preserve the memory of Israel. You have been sold to the nations but not for your destruction; because you had aroused the anger of God, you were delivered to your enemies. For you displeased your Creator in sacrificing to demons and not to God. You have forgotten the Eternal God, the One Who nourished you.

You have filled Jerusalem with sadness, she who brought you up. For she saw the anger of God fall on you and she said, “Listen, you neighbouring cities of Zion, God has sent me a great sorrow. I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal One brought on them. I had nurtured them in joy; with tears and sadness I saw them leave. Let no one rejoice on seeing me a widow and abandoned by all. Because of the sins of my children I am now alone, because they have turned away from the Law of God.”

Take courage, my children, cry out to God, for He Who sent you into exile will remember you. Thus, as you distanced yourself from God, return to Him and seek Him ten times more earnestly. For He Who caused these evils to fall on you will bring you salvation and eternal joy.

by

Friday, 3 October 2025 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 78 : 1-2, 3-5, 8, 9

O God, the pagans have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy Temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given Your servants’ corpses to the birds, and the flesh of Your saints, to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out the blood of Your faithful, like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbours. How long will this last, o YHVH? Will You be angry forever? Will Your wrath always burn to avenge Your rights?

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us, for the sake of Your Name.

by

Friday, 3 October 2025 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Baruch 1 : 15-22

You will say : May everyone recognise the justice of our God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem – our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and our fathers, because we have sinned before the Lord.

We have disobeyed Him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed the commandments which the Lord had put before us. From the day that the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and we have rebelled against Him instead of listening to His voice.

Because of this, from the day on which the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the Lord pronounced by Moses, His servant, have dogged our footsteps right down to the present day.

We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God speaking through the words of the prophets whom He sent to us, but each one of us followed his perverted heart, serving false gods and doing what displeases the Lord our God.

by

Thursday, 2 October 2025 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, remembering all those faithful and committed servants of God, the Guardian Angels whom God had tasked and committed to us, to protect and to guide us all in our respective paths in life. God has always been concerned with us and our well-being and He does not leave us all alone in our struggles and difficulties in life, especially in our daily struggles against sin and against the spiritual warfare ever always raging around us, the forces of Satan, the evil ones arrayed against us. That is why He sent us all those Angels to stand guard by our side, to provide us the spiritual guidance and support during times of difficulties and troubles.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus we heard of the Lord Himself speaking to His chosen people, the people of Israel, whom He had led with His mighty hands and power out of the land of Egypt, delivering them from the hands of their enemies and protecting them throughout their way. The Lord reminded His people through Moses, His servant that He would never leave them alone, and His Angels would always stand by them, protecting them in their time of need, against all the forces arrayed against them. Therefore that is also the same assurance which the Lord gave to all of us as well, His beloved people, those whom He had called and chosen from this world to be His own people like those Israelites in the past.

Essentially this reminds us all that we are never alone in the struggle against sin and evil, no matter how mighty are the forces of those arrayed against us. There are indeed many of those who seek our destruction, but none of these can stand and last against those that the Lord had sent to guard us, the Angels of God, the Guardian Angels that He has given to each and every one of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, each one of us have a Guardian Angel standing by our side, guarding us as mentioned against all those forces of evil. Our Guardian Angel is always there when we are facing difficult choices in life, as the one gently nudging us to stay strong in our faith and trust in the Lord despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face and endure.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, in which He told the disciples clearly about what it truly means to be His disciples and followers. Just as I have mentioned yesterday in a related Gospel passage about the faith and attitudes of little children who came to the Lord, the disciples of the Lord often quarrelled and debated among themselves about who among them was the greatest among them all and who would be worthy of God’s kingdom and glory. However, as they kept on disagreeing and debating among themselves, they missed the point and the truth about what it truly meant for them to follow the Lord.

They ended up focusing on themselves and their desires, their ambitions and wants, all of which would distract them from truly being able to commit themselves to the Lord. They were so engrossed on their desires for greatness and glory that they forgot the true essence and meaning of following the Lord. For the context, so that we understand better the motivation behind those disciples, we must understand that the general perception and expectation that the people had on the coming of the Messiah, the One Whom God would send to His people in order to save and rescue them from destruction, was that this same Messiah would lead them into glorious triumph against their enemies, and would restore the Kingdom of Israel as how it was during the days of King David and King Solomon.

Hence, many of those disciples might have harboured the ambition of being close to the Lord so that they would receive the bounties and the benefits of being trusted associates and collaborators of the Lord, that when He won those glorious victories and triumphs that they expected, they too would share in this glory and fame, and they would have expected worldly comforts, pleasures and glories, but the reality is that this is not what the Lord intended for those who followed Him. The reality was that those who followed Him would suffer the same challenges, persecutions and trials that He Himself would be suffering from. And that was why He reminded all of them that they should be humble and simple like those little children, whose love and devotion to Him were indeed pure and uncorrupted, untainted by worldly desires.

And that is why all of us should always hold firmly to our faith in the Lord and be more like those little children in our faith and belief in God. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by various worldly temptations and desired that can lead us further and further away from God and His path. Let us thank the Lord for having been with us throughout all the struggles and challenges that we have to face in our respective parts and areas in life. Let us thank Him for having blessed us in our works and endeavours, and for having given us reassurances, guidance, help and strength, especially by giving us our Guardian Angels to guide and protect us in our path and journey towards Him.

Let us all therefore thank our Guardian Angels at all times, for having been there for us, even in our darkest and most difficult moments. Let us all pray to our Holy Guardian Angels with the popular prayer, ‘Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here, ever this day and night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.’ Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us always and be with us at all times, in our journey towards God. Amen.