Ordinary Time season

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Thursday, 23 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)

1 Maccabees 2 : 15-29

In the meantime, the king’s representatives, who were forcing the Jews to give up their religion came to Modein to organise a sacred gathering. While many Israelites went to them, Mattathias and his sons drew apart.

The representatives of the king addressed Mattathias, and said to him : “You are one of the leaders of this city, an important and well-known man, and your many children and relatives follow you. Come now, and be the first to fulfil the king’s order, as the men of Judah have already done, and the survivors in Jerusalem as well. You and your sons will be named friends of the king and the king will send you gold, silver and many other gifts.”

But Mattathias answered in a loud voice : “Even if all the nations included in the kingdom should abandon the religion of their ancestors and submit to the order of king Antiochus, I, my sons and my family will remain faithful to the Covenant of our ancestors. May God preserve us from abandoning the Law and its precepts. We will not obey the orders of the king nor turn aside from our religion either to the right or to the left.”

When he finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward, in the sight of everyone, to offer incense on the altar that was built in Modein, according to the king’s decree. When Mattathias saw him, he was fired with zeal. His heart was stirred; and giving vent to his righteous anger, he threw himself on the Jew and cut the man’s throat on the altar. At the same time, he killed the king’s representative who was forcing the people to offer sacrifice; and then tore down the altar. In doing this, he showed his zeal for the Law, as Phinehas had done with Zimri, son of Salu.

Mattathias then began to proclaim loudly in the city : “Everyone who is zealous for the Law and supports the Covenant, come out and follow me!” Immediately, he and his sons fled to the mountains and left behind all they had in the city. Many Jews who looked for justice and wanted to be faithful to the Law went into the desert.

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Wednesday, 22 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scriptures in which we are reminded of the challenges and difficulties that we may have to endure as we carry out our lives faithfully as Christians, that is as those who follow the Lord and walk in His ways. We are also presented with the reminders of what we all need to do in living our lives faithfully as followers of the Lord, that we have to be active and committed in living our lives sincerely and with devotion, in following God as best as we are all able to. Each and every one of us are reminded that without action and contribution in our lives, and without actively living our Christian faith, then we cannot truly be the followers and disciples of Christ.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the Maccabees, in which the sufferings of the seven brothers, sons of the same mother, were recounted to us, the sufferings and persecution which they endured because of their adherence to the Law of God, the Jewish practices and customs that ran contrary to the desires and demands of the Greek King of the Seleucid Empire, at that time, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who imposed a wide-ranging ban on the local practices of the peoples throughout his vast Empire, demanding and enforcing his will that he wanted everyone to follow the ways and practices of the Greeks, abandoning their own faith, beliefs and practices, to become like the Greeks in all things.

And this king was truly ruthless and determined in his efforts to impose his will on the entire Empire. However, this came to direct conflict with many among the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites living in the regions of Judea, Galilee, Samaria and elsewhere, because they mostly believed in the Lord their God, the one and only true God, and hence, they could not bear themselves to worship other gods, or abandon their Lord and Master for those pagan gods and false idols. The Lord their God was their one and only Master, and remains so, to this very day. All of us also worship the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the One Who had sent unto us, His Beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In that encounter and event described in our first reading today, it was detailed how the king persecuted greatly all those who chose willingly to remain faithful to God, and the seven brothers, each of whom were adamant in their commitment to God and in refusing each of the king’s efforts to sway and persuade, coerce and force them to abandon their faith in the Lord. They chose to suffer and die, one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, and the mother, who had to witness all of these, she also remained firmly faithful to the Lord, encouraging all of them and remaining steadfast with them. Despite everything that the king had tried to do to convince them to do otherwise, none of the seven brothers and the mother betrayed the Lord. They all died as martyrs of the faith.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the parable which the Lord related and told to His disciples and followers, of a variation of the well-known parable of the silver talents. In this parable, we heard of how a man entrusted to his servants some sums of silver talents or pounds, for them to take care of while he went on his journey to a distant land to be crowned king there. Each of the first two servants mentioned invested their silver well, and made good gains from the silver, doubling what they had been entrusted with. Meanwhile, the third and last servant mentioned did not do anything to the silver, and returned it to his master intact as how it was entrusted to him. We heard how those who had done well in investing their silver were rewarded and entrusted with the care of many cities, while the one who had been lazy and did nothing, was punished and his silver taken away, ending up with nothing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this parable has a symbolic meaning in showing us that the Lord has entrusted each and every one of us with various talents, abilities, gifts and opportunities in life, and some of us did receive more than others. However, each one of us are also therefore expected to make good use of those gifts and opportunities, and we should not be idle or ignorant of what we can and should do in using the blessings that God had given to us. And how do we use these blessings and gifts, opportunities and other things that God had granted to us? It is by remaining steadfast and faithful in our lives, in living our lives honourably and worthily in accordance to the path that the Lord Himself has shown and taught to us. All of us have been reminded of this today, and the courage and faith of the seven brothers and their mother mentioned in our first reading today served as one good example of what it means for us to be truly faithful to God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great woman and servant of God, whose faith and devotion to God, and the dedication to Him, to the point of suffering and enduring grievous tribulations for His sake, should be a great inspiration for all of us Christians to follow. St. Cecilia was well-known as the patron saint of musicians, but she is also a great martyr of the Faith, as she had to bear great sufferings for the sake of the Lord, in her obedience to Him and in her steadfastness in refusing to abandon her faith in Him. She was born into Roman nobility and despite her vow of virginity before God, as a Christian, was forced by her family to marry a pagan nobleman named Valerian. St. Cecilia according to tradition, warned Valerian that an Angel of the Lord watched over her and if he tried to violate her sacred virginity, he would be struck down.

Hence, that was also how St. Cecilia managed to convince her husband to become a Christian himself, as when he asked to see the Angel mentioned by St. Cecilia, he did see the Angel of God after he was baptised by the Pope at that time, Pope St. Urban I. At that time, the Christians in Rome and elsewhere throughout the Roman Empire were persecuted for their faith, and this eventually led to the martyrdom of St. Cecilia and her husband, together with other Christians that had been arrested and made to suffer and die, when they refused to betray the Lord and abandon their faith in Him, just like those of the seven brothers mentioned in our first reading passage today. St. Cecilia was one of those great martyrs of the Church, whose courage and dedication to God, and whose commitment to virtue and holiness, and the purity of her sacred virginity, inspired countless Christians throughout history, right up to this day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard all of these courageous and faithful examples of our holy predecessors, let us all therefore as Christians living in our present day world be filled with faith and commitment to God, inspired and strengthened by the virtues and the courage of those who have gone before us. Let us all not be easily swayed or threatened to abandon our faith, and let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord. May the Lord, our loving God and Master, continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey of faith, in our pursuit of His salvation and truth, now and always. May He inspire us all to become great role models and inspirations ourselves, in how we live our lives with great faith and charity. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 19 : 11-28

At that time, Jesus was now near Jerusalem, and the people with Him thought that God’s reign was about to appear. So as they were listening to Him, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country in order to be crowned king, after which he planned to return home. Before he left, he summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver.”

“He said, ‘Put this money to work until I get back.’ But his compatriots, who disliked him, sent a delegation after him with this message, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ He returned, however, appointed as king. At once he sent for the servants, to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made. The first came in, and reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver has earned ten more pounds of silver.'”

“The master replied, ‘Well done, my good servant! Since you have proved yourself faithful in a small matter, I can trust you to take charge of ten cities.’ The second reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver earned five more pounds of silver.’ The master replied, ‘And you, take charge of five cities!'”

“The third came in, and said, ‘Sir, here is your money, which I hid for safekeeping. I was afraid of you, for you are an exacting person : you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.’ The master replied, ‘You worthless servant, I will judge you by your own words! So you knew I was an exacting person, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Why, then, did you not put my money on loan, so that, when I got back, I could have collected it with interest?'”

“Then the master said to those standing by, ‘Take from him that pound, and give it to the one with ten pounds.’ But they objected, ‘Sir, he already has ten pounds!’ The master replied, ‘I tell you, everyone who has will be given more; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for my enemies who did not want me to be their king, bring them in, and execute them right here in front of me!'”

So Jesus spoke, and then He passed on ahead of them, on His way to Jerusalem.

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Wednesday, 22 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 16 : 1, 5-6, 8 and 15

Hear a just cause, o YHVH, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer, for there is no deceit on my lips.

Hold firm my steps upon Your path, that my feet may not stumble. I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word.

Keep me as the apple of Your eye; under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.

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Wednesday, 22 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Maccabees 7 : 1, 20-31

It happened also that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king had them scourged and flogged to force them to eat the flesh of a pig which was prohibited by the Law.

More than all of them, their mother ought to be admired and remembered. She saw her seven sons die in a single day. But she endured it even with joy for she had put her hope in the Lord. Full of a noble sense of honour, she encouraged each one of them in the language of their ancestors. Her woman’s heart was moved by manly courage, so she told them :

“I wonder how you were born of me; it was not I who gave you breath and life, nor I who ordered the matter of your body. The Creator of the world Who formed man in the beginning and ordered the unfolding of all creation shall in His mercy, give you back breath and life, since you now despise them for the love of His laws.”

Antiochus thought she was making fun of him and suspected that she had insulted him. As the youngest was still alive, the king tried to win him over not only with his words, but even promised to make him rich and happy, if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors. He would make him his Friend and appoint him to a high position in the kingdom.

But as the young man did not pay him any attention, the king ordered the mother to be brought in. He urged her to advise her son in order to save his life. After being asked twice by the king, she agreed to persuade her son. She bent over him and fooled the cruel tyrant by saying in her ancestral language : “My son, have pity on me. For nine months I carried you in my womb and suckled you for three years; I raised you up and educated you until this day.”

“I ask you now, my son, that when you see the heavens, the earth and all that is in it, you know that God made all this from nothing, and the human race as well. Do not fear these executioners, but make yourself worthy of your brothers – accept death that you may again meet your brothers in the time of mercy.”

When she finished speaking, the young man said, “What are you waiting for? I do not obey the king’s order but the precepts of the Law given by Moses to our ancestors. And you who have devised such tortures against the Hebrews, shall not escape the hands of God.”

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Tuesday, 21 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorating the moment when Mary, the Mother of God, was presented at the Temple of Jerusalem, the House of God in accordance to the rules and ways of the Law of God. She was presented and consecrated to God, as a prefigurement of the role that she would later on play in the history of our salvation. Indeed, Mary has been prepared and set aside by the Lord from the very beginning, from before she was even conceived, to be the one to bring forth the salvation into the world. She was set aside, made special, and by the singular grace of God, she was spared from the corruption of original sin and all the taints and corruptions of sin henceforth, that she was truly conceived without sin.

This is what the Church has taught and preserved from the very beginning, in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In that Dogma, the Church teaches that Mary had been spared from the effects of sin, which had afflicted us from the very beginning of time, when our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey the Lord and embraced the path of sin, the path that Satan had offered and tempted them with. All mankind had been afflicted by the corruption and have to suffer the consequences of sin ever since, that is death. However, Mary was prepared special by the Lord because she has a particular destiny and purpose, that is to become the one to bear the Saviour of the whole world, as the Mother of God herself.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Zechariah in which the prophet spoke of God’s words and reassurance for all of His people that He would send them His salvation, and everyone of them would rejoice once again because He would dwell among them once again, and that they would be saved from their predicament and troubles. The Lord would once again dwell among His people, just as He had done in the days past, when the Ark of the Covenant was in the first Temple of God built by King Solomon. Ever since the people disobeyed the Lord and abandoned Him for the pagan gods and idols, they had been cast out and punished, but the Lord never did abandon or neglect them. He still continued to send out messengers, prophets and helpers in order to help and guide them in their path towards Him.

It was exactly through Mary that God and His salvation has come into this world, because as we all know and are going to prepare to celebrate later in Advent and Christmas, by the will of the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Word of God Himself has become flesh, incarnate into Man, and was conceived in the hallowed womb of Mary, to become a Child and born of her. And because of this, it is essential that she is hallowed and made to be worthy of God Himself being present within her. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because linking to the Ark of the Covenant which I mentioned just earlier, which is representing God’s Holy Presence among His people, Mary is the New Ark of the New Covenant which God would make and establish with His people, through the Son to be born of Mary’s womb, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The original Ark of the Covenant contained the two stone tablets upon which the Law of God had been inscribed and written, the Ten Commandments as we are all familiar with, as well as the manna, the heavenly bread with which the Lord fed His people, the Israelites, throughout the entirety of their forty years long sojourn and travel from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land, as well as the Staff of Aaron, the staff of priestly authority and leadership, with which God had performed many of His signs and wonders through Moses and Aaron, and which represented the leadership of God’s people. And it was upon this Ark of the Covenant, crafted from the finest materials and decorated with the golden Cherubim on top, that the Lord descended upon His people, seated upon the Ark, and hence, becoming the very tangible sign of His Presence in this world.

Then, comparing this to what the Lord would bring forth through Mary, there is an even far greater Covenant and things that happened than the original Ark of the Covenant. The original Ark of the Covenant, which was made from the finest materials and wrought with human hands, was so holy that no one was allowed to directly touch it, and in one instance, when one of the priests accidentally touched it, he was immediately struck dead. Why is that so? That is because God is so Holy and perfect that no sin and imperfection, corruption and evil may exist in His Presence and remain. Hence, the same logic applies as well to Mary, who was to become the vessel of God Himself, this time truly present and tangible in the flesh, in His Holy Presence, the Almighty and all-Holy God descending into our world through Mary. That was why, she was set aside and hallowed, Immaculate, free from any taints of sin throughout her life, being full of God’s grace.

Now, on this day, as we commemorate this Feast of the Presentation of Mary, the Blessed Mother of God, let us all therefore look upon Mary, the one through whom God had done so many great and wonderful works, in bringing forth His salvation into this world. What is important is, we must also realise that Mary is not just worthy of veneration, honour and following because of her having been set aside by the Lord to be the holy vessel for Our Lord and Saviour, but she herself had lived her life worthily of the Lord, at all times throughout her life. She has shown what it means for us to live a good, holy and worthy Christian living, in all of our lives, our words, actions and deeds. And she is therefore a great inspiration and role model for all of us, just as she has also always encouraged us to remain true and faithful to the Lord as our loving Mother.

When the Lord in our Gospel passage today was talking about those who follow the Lord, obey His will and Law are those who are His mother and family members, He was not actually disrespecting His own Mother, who was there waiting on Him and following Him. Rather, on the contrary, the Lord was actually pointing to everyone who listened to Him, to follow the examples of His own loving Mother in all the things that they say and do. Therefore, all of us should also do the same in our own lives, in doing what the Lord has told and taught us to do, in living our lives, carrying out our actions and interactions, with the Lord as the focus and emphasis in them. Let our lives be the shining beacons of God’s light and truth, His love and compassion to others, that more and more may come to know Him as His love.

May the Lord, our loving God and Master continue to love us and strengthen us in faith, and may through the good examples and inspirations of His Blessed Mother, Mary, who is our mother too, we all may come ever closer to the Lord and His Holy Presence. May all of us be blessed in our every good efforts and endeavours, all for the greater glory of God, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 12 : 46-50

At that time, while Jesus was talking to the people, His mother and His brothers wanted to speak to Him, and they waited outside. So someone said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside; they want to speak with You.”

Jesus answered, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look! Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

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Tuesday, 21 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (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.

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Tuesday, 21 November 2023 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Zechariah 2 : 14-17

Sing and rejoice, o daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell among you,” says YHVH. “On that day, many nations will join YHVH and be My people, but My dwelling is among you.”

The people of Judah will be for YHVH as His portion in His holy land. He will choose Jerusalem again. Keep still in YHVH’s presence, for He comes, having risen from His holy dwelling.

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Monday, 20 November 2023 : 33rd 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 love which God has shown to us, despite our sufferings, trials and challenges that we are constantly facing throughout our lives. We must always put our faith and trust in the Lord, and do not give up following Him because in Him alone we shall find true solace, help and consolation, freedom and liberation from all of our troubles and difficulties. We must always remind one another these truth and facts, that despite the challenges and hardships that we may have to encounter and endure in this world and in our lives, we will not easily be tempted and swayed to the wrong path, that is to give up on our faith and to conform to the ways of the world in order to save ourselves.

In our first reading passage today, taken from the Book of the Maccabees, we heard the beginning of the historic account of the Maccabean Revolt and what made that revolt happened in the first place. We heard the context of the political and societal events that happened at that time, when the Jewish people, the descendants of God’s first chosen people, the Israelites, were under the dominion of the Greek kings, especially the Seleucids. Back then, as our world history would share with us, the region was under the rule of the Greek successors of Alexander the Great, who had conquered the Persian Empire and imposed Greek hegemony over much of the region. The Seleucids and the Ptolemies were among these successor rulers, and at that time, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid King was the ruler of the region of Syria and Judea.

This same King Antiochus IV Epiphanes instituted a new harsh policy intended to unite his fractitious and expansive Empire, by enforcing Greek practices and religious customs upon all of the diverse groups of people in his Empire. This resulted in the Jewish people being persecuted for following the Law of God and for their practices and worship of the Lord. As we heard in that first reading account today, many were coerced, forced, encouraged and even threatened to follow the Greek ways and customs. Not only that, but as recorded in that same account, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his forces even violated the sanctity of God’s House, the Temple of Jerusalem, ransacking it and establishing altars dedicated to the pagan Greek gods there, destroying the Book of the Law of God and other aspects of the faith in God.

Essentially, what this Greek King had done was an attempt to destroy completely the faith in the Lord, and to turn everyone into the same worship and ways of the Greeks, in a vain and mistaken effort to unite his kingdom and to bolster his forces and might. Quite a few of the Jewish people acquiesced to the demands and efforts of the King, converting into the pagan ways and practices, but there were also those who refused to obey the king’s demands, and began to launch a campaign of resistance and opposition to the king, which was the advent of the Maccabean Revolt. The Maccabees belong to a family of priests, the sons of Mattathias, who rose in opposition to King Antiochus’ religious and ethnic policies, and hence, resisted the efforts and attempts by the Greek King to impose the Greek and pagan customs, and eventually, the Lord was with their forces, and while the people of God had to endure many trials and challenges, in the end, the faithful won a great victory against their enemies.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the account of the moment when the Lord encounter near Jericho a blind man who sought Him to heal him from the blindness that he had suffered from. The blind man cried out to the Lord, ‘Son of David!’ referring to Him as the One Whom the Lord had promised to be the Messiah or Saviour of the world. In proclaiming the Lord as such, the blind man had made such a profound and public expression of his faith before everyone. And we heard how despite the efforts from those around the Lord to silence him and to ridicule him, the blind man cried out the louder and sought the Lord even more fervently. This was then rewarded by the Lord, Who healed the blind man, and made him to be able to see once again. It was the blind man’s faith in God that had saved him.

In relating to our first reading passage today, the people of God during the time and reign of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his successors suffered greatly during the Maccabean Revolt, and not few lost their lives in the process. Yet, in the end, after a long period of struggle and dedication to God, the people of God finally had their freedom and liberation from the tyrants, and managed to regain back their ability to worship the Lord openly and freely, in the period known as the Hasmonean Kingdom, about a century or so before the coming of Christ. This was a proof that God was truly with His people, and those who are faithful to Him, just like that blind man who ceaselessly and courageously sought healing from the Lord, and was healed from his ailment in the end.

Therefore, all of us should take note that this is what we are reminded to do, to be ever faithful to the Lord and to follow Him wholeheartedly, and to keep our faith in Him regardless of the challenges, trials and difficulties that we may encounter in our lives’ journey. We must not allow the hardships, challenges and temptations present all around us to dissuade us from remaining faithful to God and we must not be easily swayed to abandon our faith in God in exchange for temporary respite and comfort in the world, for it is in the Lord alone that there is hope of eternal life and salvation, while if we follow the path of the world, we are likely going to fall into the path towards damnation and eternal suffering, for those who have condemned themselves by their sins and wickedness, in Hell.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to live our lives as Christians as best as possible, and encourage one another, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, to remain steadfast in our faith. Let our words and actions be the concrete examples and inspirations of our Christian faith at all times, and let us all be the shining beacons of God’s light and truth, His love and compassion towards all of us. May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us all, and be with us all in this journey, and bless our every good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.