Ordinary Time season

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Tuesday, 12 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

Colossians 2 : 6-15

If you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, let Him be your doctrine. Be rooted and built up in Him; let faith be your principle, as you were taught, and your thanksgiving, overflowing.

See that no one deceives you with philosophy or any hollow discourse; these are merely human doctrines, not inspired by Christ, but by the wisdom of this world. For in Him, dwells the fullness of God, in bodily form. He is the Head of all cosmic power and authority, and, in Him, you have everything.

In Christ Jesus, you were given a circumcision, but not by human hands, which removed completely from you the carnal body : I refer to baptism. On receiving it, you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with Him, for having believed in the power of God, Who raised Him from the dead.

You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that, and nailed it to the cross. Victorious through the cross, He stripped the rulers and authorities of their power, humbled them before the eyes of the whole world, and dragged them behind Him, as prisoners.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son. He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God.

And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! That is, Father! You yourself are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Ephesians 1 : 3-6

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing. God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us, in love, to be His adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness, which He granted us His beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the challenges and hardships that we may encounter amidst our lives in faith, as we are carrying out our responsibilities and works as Christians, in the midst of our communities and areas of life, where we may face opposition and resistance, rejection and even persecution for all that we do for God’s sake. But all those things should not discourage us from following the Lord and His path, as each and every one of us are reminded to remain firm in our faith and to be ever more committed to do our best, in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and in being great role models and inspirations for one another, in how we live our lives in the path that God has shown and taught us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, we heard of the words of the Apostles in encouraging and strengthening the disciples, followers and the faithful people of God there in that city and region, in how each and every one of them should continue to do what is right, just and virtuous in the sight of God, as they had done, despite the many challenges and trials that they might face in doing so, citing his own experiences and examples in how he himself had served the Lord faithfully, enduring hardships, trials, challenges and persecutions throughout his whole life, works and ministry. St. Paul’s life and ministry were truly great inspiration and help for many other early Christians who were facing similar trials and hardships.

These, together with the many other lives and examples of the early Church martyrs and saints, reminded the early Christian faithful that they should not easily give up the struggle in proclaiming the Good News and the truth of God, as the Lord has provided all of them with the strength, courage and guidance through His Holy Spirit and through the help and inspiration that they have received through their fellow Christian brethren. They were all called to have faith in the Lord and to trust in Him, because in Him alone that they all can gain full and complete satisfaction and deliverance from their troubles and hardships. God did not abandon them to the darkness and evil, and He was always with them throughout their journey, and thus all of us are also reminded to do the same as well, that is to put our full trust and faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord healed a man who suffered from a paralysis of his right hand, in which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were closely following Him to hear His teachings and in the case of His healing of the paralysed man, they were there to see if the Lord would heal the man on the day of the Sabbath, with the intention to accuse Him if He did so. This was because the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at that time were very much focused and preoccupied with very strict and rigid understanding and interpretation of the Jewish Law and customs, which saw them enforcing and applying the very harsh and restrictive provisions and customs of the Law on the people of God. This enforcement and rigidity went as much as prohibiting even any good actions from being done on the Sabbath day.

The Day of the Sabbath itself was instituted by the Lord and were passed to His people because He wanted all of them to keep in mind His Law and precepts, and not to be swayed and tempted by the many worldly distractions and attachments, that they forgot about the Lord, His Law and commandments, and all that they had to do as disciples, followers and holy people of God. The Sabbath day was a holy day dedicated to the Lord, so that every members of God’s people may remember their obligation and calling to serve Him, and to focus and reorientate their lives back to God, and not to lose sight on what truly matters in their lives. It was a holy day akin to how we celebrate Sunday, the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection each week.

However, what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law enforced were wrong, as they caused people to become inconvenienced and troubled because of their stubbornness in not allowing even good deeds and works to be done. The Lord pointed out that folly and the wickedness of such way of observing the Law, by asking them plainly on what was allowed on the day of the Sabbath, ‘To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’, which implied that if they were to do nothing, then it was also in fact a violation of God’s Law and commandments, as the Lord was there to heal the man, and to help him regain his health back once again, not allowing him to suffer more, even a single day more.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all can see from the Scripture passages today, each one of us may have to face hardships, challenges, trials and persecutions as part of our journey in life and as we live our lives faithfully as Christians in our world today. If our Lord Himself had faced such intense scrutiny and opposition, challenges and rejection, it is only natural that we may encounter similar kind of experience in our own lives. All of us as Christians are after all called to carry our crosses in life and follow the Lord. Each one of us are expected to do our part in doing God’s will and in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and we should do our part in walking down the path that He has shown us, and led us through. We must not be easily swayed by the temptations of the world.

Instead, all of us should do our best to commit ourselves to be better and more faithful Christians in all things. We should do our best so that we may always be exemplary in our way of life, in loving our fellow brothers and sisters in the midst of our communities. Let our lives and actions be inspirations for everyone all around us so that by our every commitment and dedication, we may truly be worthy of God and His grace. May God be with us always and may He empower all of us, that we may be ever stronger in faith and in our conviction to love and serve Him in all of our actions regardless of the hardships and challenges that we may have to face in our path, in our every moments in life, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 6-11

At that time, on another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralysed right hand, and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched Him : Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to the man, “Get up, and stand in the middle.” Then He spoke to them, “I want to ask you : what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And Jesus looked around at them all.

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other. But they were furious, and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 61 : 6-7, 9

Find rest in God alone, o my soul; from Him, comes my hope. He alone, is my Rock and my Salvation; with Him as my Stronghold, I shall not be overcome.

Trust in Him at all times, my people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is our refuge.

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Monday, 11 September 2023 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 1 : 24 – Colossians 2 : 3

At present, I rejoice when I suffer for you; I complete, in my own flesh, what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the Church. For I am serving the Church since God entrusted to me the ministry to make the word of God fully known.

I mean that mysterious plan that, for centuries and generations, remained secret, and which God has now revealed to His holy ones. God willed to make known to them the riches, and even the glory, that His mysterious plan reserved for the pagan nations : Christ is in you, the hope for glory.

This Christ, we preach. We warn, and teach everyone true wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect, in Christ. For this cause I labour and struggle, with the energy of Christ working powerfully in me. I want you to know how I strive for you, for those of Laodicea, and for so many who have not met me personally.

I pray, that all may be encouraged. May you be established in love, that you may obtain all the riches of a full understanding, and know the mystery of God, Christ Himself. For, in Him, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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Sunday, 10 September 2023 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are called and reminded to turn away from the path of sin and evil, and return once again to the Lord’s loving embrace, to His Presence, and in order to do that, we will have to reject the wicked ways of the world, all the temptations to sin and to disobey the Lord. The Lord has reminded us constantly to keep ourselves away from those that brought us damnation and ruin, and we are reminded not to fall into those traps that Satan and his fellow forces of evil have constantly laid in our path in life. We must remain firm in our faith and commitment to God, and not easily be swayed by the falsehoods and sweet lies of those who seek our destruction, and also help one another to remain faithful in God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the words of the Lord to His people, the Israelites, who have often disobeyed Him and disregarded His Law and commandments. The Lord told them all through Ezekiel of the time of great distress in which they would have to endure and suffer hardships and troubles, because they have not lived their lives faithfully and had committed all sorts of wickedness in the world, which was truly unbecoming of their status of God’s chosen and beloved people, as a race that God had first called and chosen to be His own, by their rebellious attitudes and all the stubborn and hardened heart which they had kept against God and His messengers, all those whom He had sent to them to remind them and help them in their journey and lives.

That was why those people had wrought their own doom and destruction, as they have not walked in the path of their forefathers who had obeyed the Lord. They had abandoned the One Who has always cared for them and loved them, regardless of their iniquities and sins. Yet, the Lord continued to seek after them, reached out to them, patiently tried to lead them all back to Himself, gathering them from the places where they had been scattered to by their own folly and wickedness. He desired that every one of His beloved children and people, that is all of us, to be reconciled with Himself, now that His love for all of us, the children of mankind, has been revealed to us. All of us have been given the guidance and help from the Lord, through His Church, His messengers and servants, and the Law and commandments He has shown us so that we may find our way to His salvation and grace.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, in which the Apostle reminded the faithful people of God in Rome that each and every one of them should always heed the Law and commandments of God, which has been revealed and explained in their fullness by the Lord Himself, and which St. Paul stressed again to the faithful, that the Law and all the whole commandments, are all about Love, the love that we all must have for the Lord, and which we should also have for our fellow brethren, to our families, relatives and friends, and even to those whom we do not know, to the acquaintances and strangers we met in our daily lives and moments in this world.

And that is what each and every one of us are reminded and called to do in this world. As Christians, all of us must be loving just as our Lord and God is Love. If we do not love as we should have, to those whom we are called to love, then how can we call ourselves as Christians? How can we be one of the faithful disciples and followers of Our Lord, if we do not truly embody our faith in our every actions and words, in our every efforts and endeavours, how can we be truly faithful and committed to God? That is why this Sunday, we are reminded, also through our Gospel passage today, to be always concerned and caring to others all around us, even to those amongst us who are wayward and those who have fallen from grace.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and telling them to be kind to one another and to help each other avoid the path of sin and evil, in our common responsibility to guide one another in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and in following Him in each and every things that He had taught us to do. We heard of how God told us to point out each others’ errors and faults fraternally, with the intention of helping each other to grow to be better and more faithful, virtuous and good people of the faith, so that we may know the errors of our ways, and strive to do what is right and just in the sight of God and man alike. As Christians, we must always be charitable and concerned for one another, as that is part of our calling in life. We must always seek to do what God had taught and commanded us to do, to carry out His will, and make good use of what we have been blessed with, for the good of each other.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, many of us and our predecessors often fell into wicked and sinful paths because we allowed ourselves to be swayed by worldly attachments and temptations, which led us to turn away and be distracted from the path towards God and His salvation, from the right path that God has shown us. We have often allowed pride and ego, our desires and all those temptations to pull us away from the virtuous and just path, into the path towards our downfall and destruction. If we are not careful, we may end up falling deeper and deeper into this slippery path, and from which we may eventually regret when it is already too late for us. Hence, these constant reminders that we have received from the Lord through His Church and the Scriptures serve as important calls and check for each one of us so that we do not continue to walk down the path towards ruin and evil, but turn instead once again towards God with all of our hearts and might.

Are we able to do so, brothers and sisters? Are we willing to make the commitment to walk down the path that He has shown us? There may be lots of trials, challenges and hardships on the way, but as long as we trust in the Lord and believe in Him and His providence, and be ever willing to help one another with genuine love and care, all of us will be able to weather through those many challenges and hardships together as one united people beloved by God, as those whom God had called, chosen and blessed. As parts and members of God’s Church, we are all parts and members of the same Body of Christ, and all of us ought to be united in love and purpose, and hence, what we have been reminded today through the Scriptures, remind us that each one of us have important parts to play in ensuring that all of us remain firmly faithful and committed to God at all times.

Let our every words, actions and deeds inspire others around us, and help everyone to remain in love with God, and to be filled with the same love for our fellow brethren as well. Let us be exemplary in how we live our lives, that we should love God first and foremost with all our might, in doing what He has taught us to do at all times, and then, to do the same to those around us, to show care, concern and love even in the smallest things. We should strive to always be concerned for the ones who need our help and assistance, in whatever ways, and in sharing the joy and blessings that God has given each one of us. That is how we truly and fully live our lives as Christians, in being great role models, inspirations and shining beacons of our faith in this world, to bring God’s light, Good News and truth into this world darkened by sin.

May God bless us always in our every good efforts and endeavours, in our every words, actions and deeds, that more and more people may come to believe in Him through us. May He guide us all and strengthen the love and faith within us, so that His Church may always grow ever more abundantly in love and grace, in our loving interactions with one another, as one people united in faith and love, in Christ. Amen.

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Sunday, 10 September 2023 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 18 : 15-20

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If your brother has sinned against you, go and point out the fault to him, when the two of you are alone; and if he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

“And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard him as a pagan, or a tax collector. I say to you : whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound.”

“In like manner, I say to you, if, on earth, two of you agree in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by My heavenly Father; for where two or there are gathered in My Name, I am there, among them.”

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Sunday, 10 September 2023 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 13 : 8-10

Do not be in debt to anyone. Let this be the only debt of one to another : Love. The one who loves his or her neighbour fulfils the Law. For the commandments : Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covet, and whatever else, are summarised in this one : You will love your neighbour as yourself.

Love cannot do the neighbour any harm; so love fulfils the whole Law.

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Sunday, 10 September 2023 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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

Come, let us sing to YHVH, 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 YHVH, 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.

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Sunday, 10 September 2023 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezekiel 33 : 7-9

The skies will darken and the stars become dim; I will veil the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give its light. Because of you, I will darken all the lights in the sky and cover the earth in darkness, word of YHVH.

Many nations will grieve when I spread the news of your fall, even people you do not know.