Ordinary Time

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Sunday, 6 November 2022 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are called to remember the faith which we have in the Lord, in His love for us and in His guidance, love and compassion for each one for us, and ultimately, His glorious resurrection from the dead and triumph over sin and death, which is also promised to us. Through His own Resurrection from the dead, the Lord showed all of us that His path leads us to an eternity of life and existence with Him. That is what all of us as Christians believe and ought to have faith wholeheartedly in, as the Resurrection of the Lord is truly the most important and central tenet of our entire Christian faith. Without the Resurrection, then there will be no Christianity and the truth which we hold firm in belief in the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Second Book of Maccabees the tale of what happened during the intense persecution of the faithful people of God during the time of the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes who commanded that all the people throughout his kingdom ought to abandon the customs of their ancestors and adapt the Greek ways and ideologies, their gods and idols. This led to intense persecution of the Jewish people who remained faithful to the Lord their God, the one true and only God. As we heard in the first reading passage, the whole entire family consisting of a mother and her seven sons were forced to abandon their faith in God and to commit sin against Him before the king himself, but each one of them courageously resisted the king’s efforts and chose to face suffering and death instead of disobeying the Lord.

The king offered them great riches and affluence, safety and good prospects should they decide to abandon the Lord and embrace the pagan faith of the king and the Greeks. That path would have been very tempting indeed, as the other path would lead to certain painful suffering and death. From the perspective of one who seek only to treasure what they have in the world and do not believe in the resurrection, to choose otherwise would have been folly, as that would have gained them nothing but the destruction of their lives and the end of their existence in a most humiliating and painful way no less. But that was because those people had no faith or trust in God. For those who trust in the Lord and believe in His Resurrection, the life and existence after death is even more important than this earthly life.

Earlier in the previous week, in one of the weekday readings from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, we have all been reminded by the Apostle that our ‘true’ citizenship is in Heaven, and that we should eagerly await the coming of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. St. Paul therefore reminded all of us that our earthly existence, as good or as bad as they may be, are merely temporary, and in the end, what comes after is truly what matters. We have just celebrated Allhallowtide earlier in the last week, in which we rejoice in the glory of all the saints, the holy men and women of God who have merited the glory of Heaven on All Saints’ Day, and also the holy souls in purgatory, the souls of all the faithful departed from this world, our beloved ones and countless others, on All Souls’ Day. On those days we remember those who have gone from this world to the afterlife.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord during His encounter and argument with the Sadducees, who opposed Him and questioned Him regarding the belief in the resurrection from the dead. For context, the Sadducees were one of the two very influential and powerful groups within the Jewish community, the other being the Pharisees. While the Pharisees were the intellectuals and those who were very particular in maintaining the strict observance of the Law of Moses, and was very deep into Jewish culture, customs and beliefs, in the spiritual belief in the resurrection from the dead and in Angels, the Sadducees stood at the other end of the spectrum, as they did not believe in resurrection from the dead, Angels or any other spiritual beings or matters.

The Sadducees were influential group of people composed of elders and all those who were likely very much secularised and back then, Hellenised, and influenced by philosophical thinking and ideas of the Greco-Roman world at that time. They likely saw the world as one that is purely material and they saw their existence in this world as the sole existence they had, and hence, nothing spiritual or whatever cannot be explained by the senses, or any belief in the life after death. The Sadducees made a reference to the case when according to the Law, when a woman’s husband died and they had no child, then one of the deceased husband’s brother by Law was compelled to take the widow as his own wife, and the first child born of that union was considered as the deceased man’s child.

Therefore the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead presented their case before the Lord, questioning Him of what would happen then in the case when all seven brothers passed away before they had any children with the woman, and whose husband the wife would be in the afterlife, she was legally married to all the seven brothers. It was then that the Lord rebuked the Sadducees for their narrow-minded attitude and lack of faith in God, and for their stubborn refusal to believe in the resurrection from the dead. The Lord told them that the way that they thought was essentially very worldly in nature, that they thought only of worldly matters like properties, inheritance, relationships and other things, which led them to question their faith and the truth about the resurrection in the first place.

Essentially, unless one understands our true nature and purpose in this world, then we are likely bound to fall into the temptations of worldly pleasures and desires. And if we understand and realise just how strong those temptations can be, then we will be more vigilant in resisting the allure of those temptations and evils. The Sadducees were too attached to their worldly desires, ambitions and ego, that they could not detach themselves from those things, and they could not even imagine what life would be without all those things. Hence, they doubted the Lord and refused to believe in Him, even though He has shown them His wisdom and truth, His power and wonders, through the many miracles that He has performed before all of the people, including the Sadducees themselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our existence in this world is to glorify God and to serve Him. We wander in this world precisely because of our disobedience against God as we would remember from the beginning of the Book of Genesis. But that is not something that is permanent, as our separation from God is due to sin, and God Who loves each and every one of us very dearly, has promised, reached out to us and extended to us His salvation through none other than Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour. All these He had done for us so that we may not perish and be lost to Him forever, and that we can be reconciled with Him, once and for all, and be reunited with Him, to enjoy finally what He has always intended for us, to be the partakers in the most generous love and graceful blessings, in the everlasting life with Him.

That was why the Lord sent to us His only Begotten Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Who endured the most painful sufferings, the most humiliating treatment and the worst of rejections and curses from the very ones He had come to save, so that through whatever He had experienced, He may save us all from everlasting death and damnation. He willingly bore upon Himself the burdens and punishments due to our sins, and He endured those pain and bitterness all because He loves us. And by His suffering and death, we are healed, and by offering Himself as the most worthy sacrifice and offering in atonement for our sins, Christ as our Eternal High Priest has opened for us the gates of Heaven and everlasting life. He has conquered sin and death, and then by His glorious Resurrection afterwards, He proved to us all, to all those who doubted Him, that there is indeed life and existence after death.

By His gift to us of His own Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, as we all partake in this Most Holy Communion, we have become parts of His own Body, the Church of God. And thus, we have also become sharers in His Passion, suffering and death. And through that, we have been made to pass through the gates of life and death, and just as the Lord Himself has risen gloriously from the dead, hence, we all too, shall rise with Him, on the last day. This is what we solemnly believe as Christians, as one of the core tenets of our faith. Sin has lead us into separation from God and death as our just punishment, but this is not permanent and everlasting, thanks to God Who has reached out to us and showed us His love. Of course, unfortunately, there are those who reject the Lord’s generous offer of mercy and love, to the very end. It is all these people who will face condemnation and an eternity of suffering in the end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday’s Scripture readings and discourse serve as reminders for us, on whether we have truly appreciated and understood our faith as we should have. How many of us truly believe in the resurrection ourselves? How many of us truly appreciate how important the Lord’s suffering, death and resurrection are to us? And we must not forget that although we may think that we believe in the resurrection, but our actions and deeds, our way of life may speak otherwise. What am I referring to? I am referring to the fact that many among us Christians spent a lot of time and effort, a lot of attention in trying to garner and preserve for ourselves worldly goods and things, spending a lot of effort and time in building up for ourselves a worldly treasure and wealth.

How many of us spent a lot of effort in trying to make ourselves look young, handsome or beautiful, or trying to make ourselves look better and more acceptable by the world? Many of us are often worried of aging and other things, and spent a lot of attention on these. And in doing so, we often neglect our responsibilities as Christians, especially those with regards to our care and love for one another. Some of us even hurt others, manipulate and exploit others just because we want to gain more for ourselves, and all these led to our selfish actions that are unbecoming of us as Christians, as those who profess to believe in God. The Lord has taught us and shown us how we should act and behave, and if we continue to do what we have done, how can we then call ourselves as true and genuine Christians?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, that from now on, we should dedicate our effort and time to serve Him better, to live our lives more worthily, and trust in Him more, knowing that in Him alone lies our hope and the path to eternal joy and bliss. We have to grow more in our faith and trust in Him, so that we may put Him in the centre of our lives and existence. Let us all no longer be distracted by the many things that often keep us away from God’s love and grace. And may the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us, that our faith and belief in Him will ever be stronger, and that we will be worthy of Him, and be reconciled and reunited with Him, in the glory of everlasting life. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 November 2022 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 20 : 27-38

At that time, some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Law Moses told us, ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.'”

“Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact, all seven died leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”

“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when He called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 20 : 27, 34-38

At that time, some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection.

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”

“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when He called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”

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Sunday, 6 November 2022 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 2 : 16 – 2 Thessalonians 3 : 5

May Christ Jesus our Lord Who has loved us, may God our Father, Who in His mercy gives us everlasting comfort and true hope, strengthens you. May He encourage your hearts and make you steadfast in every good work and word.

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the Word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere as it was with you. May God guard us from wicked and evil people, since not everyone has faith. The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and keep you safe from the Evil One.

Besides, we have in the Lord this confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we order you. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

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Sunday, 6 November 2022 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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

Hear a just cause, o Lord, 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.

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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Sunday, 6 November 2022 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Maccabees 7 : 1-2, 9-14

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. One of them, speaking in behalf of all, said, “What do you want to find out from us? We are prepared to die right now rather than break the law of our ancestors.”

At the moment of his last breath, he said, “Murderer, you now dismiss us from life, but the King of this world will raise us up. He will give us eternal life since we die for His laws.” After this, they punished the third brother. He stuck his tongue out when asked to, bravely stretched forth his hands, and even had the courage to say : “I have received these limbs from God, but for love of His laws I now consider them as nothing. For I hope to recover them from God.”

The king and his court were touched by the courage of this young man, so unconcerned about his own sufferings. When this one was dead, they subjected the fourth to the same torture. At the point of death, he cried out, “I would rather die at the hands of mortals, and wait for the promises of God Who will raise us up; you, however, shall have no part in the resurrection of life.”

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to remember that we have to be true and committed in our faith in Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We cannot be easily swayed, distracted and tempted by the many worldly pleasures, coercions, distractions and temptations all around us. We have to remember that often times as Christians we have to make a stand and choice between following and serving God, or to choose following the path of the world, the path of temptation and sin. As long as we remember this, then we are less likely to be drawn or swayed into the wrong path, and we also have to keep in mind that our actions, deeds and works can either inspire others to do the right thing or things that can bring scandal to the Church and our faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful community in Philippi, the Apostle spoke of the need for all of the faithful people of God to put their faith and trust in Him, and to dedicate themselves to the path that He has shown and guided them through. St. Paul told them all that they have to trust in the Lord for His providence, strength and protection. What the Apostle referred to in our first reading today must have been the people’s concerns over what St. Paul had to endure, in his many struggles and trials, in the challenges that he had faced, throughout all those moments and times when he had to brave even great dangers in order to bring the Word of God and the Good News to more and more people.

Yet, the Lord was always with St. Paul and his companions, with the other Apostles and missionaries, all the servants whom God had chosen, called and sent to minister to the people of this world, to call them all back to Himself. The Lord never abandoned or left them all on their own, and even amidst their sufferings, they were still guided by God on their side. And first of all, we must also ever forget the very fact that the Lord Himself, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, had suffered persecution, rejection and death for our sake, for the sake of His love for each and every one of us, and for the truth that He had brought into our midst by His coming into this world, and for the salvation of the whole entire world.

Thus, all the faithful who have shared in the Lord’s own Body and Blood, and become one in the Holy Communion of the faithful, as the one united Church of God, the Body of Christ, are bound to share in His sufferings and rejections, oppressions and challenges as well. The Lord Himself had told His disciples in a few occasions as highlighted in the Gospels, that if the world hated Him, the Lord and Master, then surely the same world will also hate those who are following Him and believing in Him. That is why we must not be surprised that we may have to endure those challenges as well, but we are not alone in that, because God is always by our side, and we must have firm faith in Him or else we will be easily swayed by worldly temptations.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the matter of serving God and Money, continuing from what we have heard yesterday with regards to the parable of the dishonest steward. In that parable, we heard of the steward who had been dishonest and cheated on his master and lord in order to gain more for his own good. However, when the lord found out about his dishonest action, the steward was fired and that same steward did whatever he could and in whatever way he knew, in order to secure a good livelihood for himself after he was fired. Thus, he then cheated his master of even more money by illicitly altering the debts of some of those who owed his master money and goods.

Through that parable, the Lord wanted us all to know that the temptations of the world such as money and other forms of material possessions are truly dangerous, and they can easily lead us down the wrong path if we are not vigilant or do whatever we can to resist those temptations. And as I mentioned in yesterday’s discourse, it is not that those money or material possessions themselves that are evil, as they can very well be used for good use and purposes too. However, it is actually our obsession and unhealthy attachments to them that is the true culprit for our downfall, and our inability to be truly faithful to God, because our hearts are divided between those things we desire and God. And often times we sidelined God and chose other things instead of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let today’s Scripture passages be reminders for each one of us so that we may truly carefully reflect upon our lives, our choice of actions and path in life. Are we going to continue to choose the path of worldliness, worldly desires and ambitions, desires and greed, and are we going to continue to sideline God in our lives and instead be focused on our wants and desires? Or are we going to reevaluate our priorities in life and begin to attribute a much more important place for the Lord in our lives, that is at the very heart and centre, and as the focus of our whole lives and existence? This is what we seriously have to consider as we remind ourselves of these Scripture passages we heard today and whatever we have discussed just earlier on.

Let us all make a commitment and renew our conviction to live ever more worthily of God from now on, prioritising Him in our lives and actions. Let us no longer be swayed or tempted by all sorts of attachment to worldliness and desires, ambitions, pride or ego. Let us all be purified in our hearts and minds, and be strengthened by God, that through His grace we may always ever strive to be faithful and committed to Him. May God be with us all, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Luke 16 : 9-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “And so I tell you : use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones.”

“So if you have been dishonest in handling filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, “You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what is highly esteemed by human beings is loathed by God.”

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 5-6, 8a and 9

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever.

His heart is confident, he needs not fear, he gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Philippians 4 : 10-19

I rejoice in the Lord because of your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me before, but you had no opportunity to show it. I do not say this because of being in want; I have learnt to manage with what I have. I know what it is to be in want and what it is to have plenty. I am trained for both : to be hungry or satisfied, to have much or little. I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me.

However you did right in sharing my trials. You Philippians, remember that in the beginning, when we first preached the Gospel, after I left Macedonia you alone opened for me a debit and credit account, and when I was in Thessalonica, twice you sent me what I needed.

It is not your gift that I value but rather the interest increasing in your own account. Now I have enough and more than enough with everything Epaphroditus brought me on your behalf and which I received as “fragrant offerings pleasing to God.” God Himself will provide you with everything you need, according to His riches, and show you His generosity in Christ Jesus.

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Friday, 4 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture passages, we are all reminded of the Lord calling on us to follow Him and to do His will. Each and every one of us as Christians have been charged and entrusted with the capacity, the gifts, abilities and opportunities for us to contribute our actions and deeds, our works and efforts for the missions and other things that the Lord has given us, that by our faithful commitment and actions, we may indeed fulfil our roles as the Lord’s beloved people and flock, whom He had appointed to be His stewards and servants, to be the stewards and guardians of His creation.

Each and every one of us have been given the various responsibilities in our different areas of expertise, in our various circumstances, groups, and in whatever things that we are doing in life. No two Christians will have the same exact set of responsibilities, mission, ministry and calling, as each one of us are going to have a distinct path in life, although some of us may have more similarities than others, while some have very different paths that God had led them into. In the end, what matters is that each one of us are called through our missions and ministries, through the opportunities that God has granted us, to do whatever we can in contributing to all that He had entrusted us to do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and to the faithful community there, the Apostle spoke about the need for all Christians to adhere to the path and the teachings which the Lord their God has shown all of them, that they all should be genuine in their faith and way of life. They should not follow the path of worldliness or be distracted by the many worldly temptations all around them. The same reminder applies to us all as well, brothers and sisters, as in this day, even in our own communities, we have always faced those same challenges and trials, oppositions and difficulties. As Christians, we are expected to do the will of God, and to carry out the missions that He has entrusted to us, with all of our hearts and strength.

As St. Paul mentioned in that same passage, all of us as Christians belong to God, as the citizens of Heaven. And because Heaven is our ultimate destination, therefore each one of us must live according to God’s ways. How can we call ourselves as Christians if the way we live, how we act and interact with one another contradict directly what we profess to believe in? Doing so is essentially marking us as hypocrites, who belief in one thing and yet acting in another way. Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, we are expected to be faithful and committed to God, not just in name or appearances only, but in everything we say and act, they all have to be reflective of God’s truth, love and grace. And we have to do what God has told and asked us all to do, through the various responsibilities, opportunities and missions that He has entrusted to us.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Lord Himself the words of His parable to the people and the disciples as He wanted to teach them and show them what they were all expected to do as His followers. Through this parable of the dishonest steward, which many of us should be quite familiar with, the Lord wanted to highlight to us first and foremost, that each one of us are truly the stewards of the Lord, the stewards entrusted with the care of this world that we are living in today, as per what He had told man at the beginning of creation in the Book of Genesis. While He granted mankind the rule and guardianship of the world, He also entrusted it to their care, and hence, each one of us are the stewards of God’s creation.

Now, that parable of the dishonest steward reminds all of us, of the dangers of ‘money’ that is worldly temptations and pleasures, allures and goods, all of which can distract, mislead and tempt us away from the right path. But we must also understand that money, material goods, properties and all the things we have in this world are by themselves actually not evil. They are not harmful on their own, but it is our attachments to them, our unhealthy obsession over them that led to a lot of harm and troubles, a lot of wickedness and evil in our behaviour and actions. Just as the dishonest steward cheating his master in order to save himself, to provide a means for him to live after he was fired, therefore, in many occasions, all those worldly things and possessions had caused many people to mistreat and manipulate others, or even causing extortion and exploitation of our fellow brothers and sisters.

Clearly, this is not what we as Christians are expected to do, and that is not what our Christian identity and action should be. If we are truly God’s people and followers, and if we truly believe in Him, with all of our heart and strength, then naturally we should be like Him, in how He loves us all so generously and tenderly, that He is willing to do everything for us, showing us a most selfless love by giving us His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Lord and Saviour, and to die for us on the Cross, that through all of that, we may be reconciled with Him, and saved from all of our troubles and from the clutches of the evil ones, and from the path to damnation. That is what Christians are expected to do, to be filled with the love of God, and not with the selfish love of ourselves and our own desires.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, and a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. And today as we rejoice in the memory of this great and renowned saint, hopefully we can be inspired by the many good examples set by this great servant of God, and emulate his examples in how he exercise great stewardship over whatever it is that God had entrusted under his care, in all the missions and works that he had done throughout his life. St. Charles Borromeo was a brilliant young nobleman who completed his studies and was eventually made as a Cardinal of the Church by his uncle, who was elected as Pope. In his capacity as Cardinal, he assisted the Pope in the many areas of governance of the Church. He helped the Church reforms, rooting out worldly excesses and corruptions from among the clergy and the members of the Church.

He was also later on appointed to be the Archbishop of Milan, which after Rome was probably the most influential and important Episcopal See. As Archbishop of Milan, St. Charles Borromeo launched a great campaign of reform in rooting out the debauched corruptions and condition in which the clergy and laity of the Milanese See had ended up in after many decades without proper leadership as previous archbishops had not resided in Milan at all. St. Charles Borromeo rooted out all those lingering corruptions and worldliness that had crept into the very heart of the Church, leading the faithful on a path towards renewal and rejuvenation of their faith. He pressed on despite the challenges and trials that he had to encounter along the way, and he did not give up his struggle and hard work to the end.

And as Archbishop and Cardinal, he still remained humble and simple in his lifestyle, contrary to the many other people of his class and office. He dedicated much of his time to visit the poor and care for the sick, establishing institutions, hospitals and schools for the betterment of his flock. He spent a lot of time and effort to care for the sick and dying when a plague struck at Milan and the surrounding regions even when the ruler and the local governors all fled from the area, leaving the sick and the poor to fend for themselves. St. Charles Borromeo dedicated his life for the sake of those who have been entrusted to him as we have heard, and this should be what each one of us should be doing as well, as faithful and dedicated Christians, throughout our lives. As he had done, let us all make good use of whatever opportunities and gifts God had granted us all, as stewards of His creation.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey of faith through life. May He empower us all with courage, strength and perseverance to live ever more faithfully in accordance to the path that He has led and guided us through. May God bless us all and may He remain with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.