Ordinary Time

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

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, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 5 : 5-6, 7, 12

You are not a God Who delights in wickedness; evil has no place in You. The arrogant cannot stand before You. You hate all who do evil.

You destroy all who speak falsehood, who thirst for blood and live on lies; all of them YHVH detests.

But for those who take refuge in You, let them ever sing and rejoice. Let Your deliverance shield them, that they may praise You in gladness – those who love Your Name, o YHVH.

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Monday, 5 September 2022 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

1 Corinthians 5 : 1-8

You have become news, with a case of immorality, and such a case, that is not even found among pagans. Yes, one of you has taken, as wife, his own stepmother. And you feel proud! Should you not be in mourning, instead, and expel the one who did such a thing?

For my part, although I am physically absent, my spirit is with you and, as if present, I have already passed sentence on the man who committed such a sin. Let us meet together, you and my spirit, and in the Name of Our Lord Jesus, and with His power, you shall deliver him to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit be saved in the day of Judgment.

This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread. Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

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Sunday, 4 September 2022 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday all of us are reminded and called to recognise the nature of the shortness, fickleness and impermanence of life, as each one of us know and should be aware that our lives whether they be short or long, but in the timescales and span of this world history, it is but a tiny drop amidst the great ocean of time. All of us must be aware that we exist but for just a moment, and yet, in that relatively short existence, each one of us can do so many great and wonderful things should we allow the Lord to lead and guide our path in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the author of the Book of Wisdom speaking of how the wisdom and truth of God are far beyond the ability of man to fully comprehend, even with their greatest abilities, intellect or wisdom. No one can truly understand the Lord unless they entrust themselves to Him, and allow Him to lead and guide them in their journey, allowing His Holy Spirit to enter into us and dwell within us, inspiring us with His love and truth, and allowing us to understand better the true way of the Lord, as it is only by opening ourselves, our hearts and minds to the Lord that we can know Him more and therefore serve Him better in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and the people on the matter of following Him and how He also mentioned the parable of a man who wanted to build a house and a king who wanted to wage a war with another kingdom. Through what we heard in that Gospel passage today, we can clearly see that the Lord told all of us how each and every actions we take, all of them should be well thought of and carefully discerned, so that we may take the correct course of actions and not be hasty in making decisions which may end up causing us to take the wrong decisions and doing the wrong things that lead us into troubles.

The Lord highlighted how following Him will mean that we have to endure sufferings and trials at times, and we have to face rejection and opposition, and hence, carrying our crosses just in the same way that the Lord Himself had to carry His Cross and suffer for the sake of all of us. Just as our Lord Himself has been rejected, oppressed and persecuted, many of us may also therefore face the same persecution and oppression by the world and by all those who disagree with the Lord and His ways, and by all those who refused and still refuse to believe in Him. Such is the reality for us being Christians, as we have to dare to be different from the world, to stand by our faith and the path of the Lord against the often corrupt and immoral ways of this world.

In our second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to Philemon highlighted how he was returning one called Onesimus to him and the other faithful, and mentioning himself as a prisoner for Christ, and this Onesimus was like a godson to St. Paul. Through this seemingly short passage and message from St. Paul, again we can see the reality of our faith, that we may often face trials and struggles, persecutions and hardships just as St. Paul himself had endured, being in prison and treated badly by many for so many years of his ministry as a great missionary of the Christian faith. And yet, at the same time we can also see the great dedication which this Apostle has shown us as well.

In this, brothers and sisters in Christ, after hearing the words of the Scriptures, we are presented with a clear message and reminder from the Lord, that we have to trust in Him in guiding us throughout our lives in following the right path. We should not depend only on our own human strength, judgment and abilities, or else, very soon we will realise that we face such seemingly insurmountable odds and challenges, and we then quickly tend to withdraw from the trials and choose instead to conform to what is acceptable by the world and by everyone, and essentially therefore abandoning our faith and bringing scandal both to the Lord and to His Church.

Instead, the Lord has called on all of us to carry our crosses in life together with Him. Let us remember how Christ our Lord has suffered for us, and how He willingly endured all of that so that we may be saved and may receive new hope and life, freed from the shackles and bonds of sin and evil. We must remember that while we may carry heavy burdens that is our crosses in life, the difficulties in our Christian journey, our crosses that we carry, but the Lord has done it all earlier on, and He did so for the sake of every single one of us. We have to also realise that our lives in this world, as I mentioned earlier, are short, and we should do whatever we can in this life, to glorify God through them.

The Lord as mentioned also did not leave us alone. He is carrying His Cross with us, suffering with us and strengthening us along the way. He has given to us His Holy Spirit through His Apostles and His Church that the Holy Spirit may show us the way and the wisdom of God. This means that as Christians we should truly entrust ourselves to the Lord, entrusting ourselves in His wisdom and guidance so that in all the things we say and do we will always do what is right and worthy as those called as God’s beloved people and children, namely Christians. We are called and expected to glorify God by our lives and to proclaim Him through everything we say and do, at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now that the Lord has shown us what the path forward for us look like, all of us are reminded to be like the man and the king in the parable mentioned in the Gospel passage today. Knowing what is expected of us and what hardships and trials we may have to endure based on the examples of the past and the history of the Church, we should discern well and carefully on what course of action and path that we want to take. We should resist the temptations to abandon the Lord’s path and to conform to the world and its corruptions. Instead, we should strive to remain ever more faithful in God and allow the Lord to continue to guide our lives and our actions.

Let us all renew our faith and commitment in God, brothers and sisters in Christ, that our every words, actions and deeds may be true testimony of our faith. May all of us always put ourselves in the hands of the Lord, recalling how He has always ever patiently guided us and showed us the way forward. May all of us be motivated and inspired to allow God to lead us down the path of virtue and righteousness, that through Him we may perform ever more wonderful deeds, and be filled with virtuous examples through which many more people may come to believe in the Lord as well, through our faithful testimony of our faith by our lives and actions. May God bless us always in all things, and in all of our good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 4 September 2022 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 25-33

At that time, when large crowds were walking along with Jesus, He turned and said to them, “If you come to Me, unwilling to sacrifice your love for your father and mother, your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters, and indeed yourself, you cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not follow Me, carrying his own cross, cannot be My disciple.”

“Do you build a house without first sitting down to count the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise, if you, have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone will make fun of you : ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'”

“And when a king wages war against another king, does he go to fight without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand can stand against the twenty thousand of his opponent? And if not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers for peace talks. In the same way, none of you may become My disciple, if he does not give up everything he has.”

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Sunday, 4 September 2022 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philemon 9b-10, 12-17

The one talking is Paul, the old man, now prisoner for Christ. And my request is on behalf of Onesimus, whose father I have become while I was in prison.

In returning him to you, I am sending you my own heart. I would have liked to keep him at my side, to serve me on your behalf while I am in prison for the Gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your agreement, nor impose a good deed upon you without your free consent.

Perhaps Onesimus has been parted from you for a while so that you may have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave. For he is very dear brother to me, and he will be even dearer to you. And so, because of our friendship, receive him as if he were I myself.

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Sunday, 4 September 2022 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

You sow them in their time, a dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o YHVH? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of YHVH be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.

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Sunday, 4 September 2022 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Wisdom 9 : 13-18 (Greek Septuagint – Wisdom 9 : 13-18b)

Indeed, who can know the intentions of God? Who can discern the plan of the Lord? For human reasoning is timid, our notions misleading; a perishable body is a burden for the soul and our tent of clay weighs down the active mind.

We are barely able to know about the things of earth and it is a struggle to understand what is close to us; who then may hope to understand heavenly things? Who has ever known Your will unless You first gave Him Wisdom and sent down Your Holy Spirit to him? In this way You directed the human race on the right path; they learnt what pleases You and were saved by Wisdom.

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Saturday, 3 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all constantly being reminded as we have been this whole week, to entrust ourselves to God’s wisdom and not to human wisdom and ways, to put our faith in God and His providence and not to depend on human ingenuity, power and strength. The Lord has shown us the path forward in life, and we should believe in Him and commit ourselves to His cause, allowing Him to lead and guide us down the right path, and not to allow ourselves to be distracted by worldly temptations and persuasions, all those that are able to cause us to be drawn away from the path towards God and His truth.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth regarding the importance of remaining vigilant against the temptations of pride and desire, of hubris, ego and ambition that can easily mislead them away from the path towards the Lord. The Apostle spoke against those who were divided against each other, being prejudiced against their fellow brothers and sisters simply because they had differences in opinions and thoughts. At that time, the community of the faithful in Corinth were divided among several groups due to the different preferences they had between following the different missionaries and leaders like St. Paul himself, as well as Apollos, the famous Jewish Christian preacher, and others.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Lord Himself speaking to the Pharisees and others regarding the matter of the Law of the Sabbath which the Pharisees found issue with Him and His disciples when the latter were picking the grains of the field to be eaten as they were very hungry. The Pharisees adopted a very strict and rigid view of the Law and they imposed this view and version of the Law on the people, looking down on those who did not obey the Lord the way that they had done it. They criticised others whom they deemed to be unworthy while praising and looking highly on themselves, considering them as the only ones worthy of God.

It was there that the Lord made the same reminder to all of us, that we must not fall into this temptation of pride and desire, the temptation of our ego and greed which can become the source of our downfall into sin. For through their preoccupation and obsession with their rigorous observation of the Law, that had led to them idolising themselves and being self-centred instead of focusing their attention on God. The Lord and His truth no longer became the focal point of their actions and lives, and as such, they became further and further away from God’s path, and dragged many others into the wrong paths in life.

That is why each and every one of us have been constantly reminded throughout this week to guard ourselves against all sorts of temptations found in our world. We should not easily succumb to the pressures and the temptations found all around us, all of which can drag us deep into the trap of sin and evil. We must constantly be vigilant and ready to resist the pleasures and e allures of wickedness, and strive to do our best to be ever faithful to God at all times and in all things. We are all reminded today that each and every one of us have been called to a new, holy existence through God and His Son. And we can do so by looking upon the examples set by the Lord Himself, His Apostles and our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, one of the great Popes, a great servant of God and reformer, who dedicated himself to the greater glory of God. Pope St. Gregory the Great reformed the Church in many different ways, reformed the Roman clergy and also influenced the greater Church community, purifying them from the excesses and corruptions of the world, enforcing a new and more rigorous practice and discipline in the Christian community. Pope St. Gregory the Great also spent his time and effort in expanding the reach of the Church and the Christian faith, sending out many missionaries to spread the Good News of God to more and more people all around the world.

Pope St. Gregory the Great spent a lot of time reforming the way the Church worshipped as well, laying the foundations of what would later be known as the Gregorian Chant, and also regulated the liturgy into a more synchronous form, and also brought the Church liturgy both in the West and the East to be more coordinated and laid the foundations of what today would become the Holy Mass as well as the Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Church. He wrote extensively in various letters and also other works, in opposing the various heresies of the day and in helping to guide the members of the faithful to turn back towards the Lord with faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to and remember the words of the Scripture and as we remember the great deeds and works, the faith and dedication with which Pope St. Gregory the Great had committed himself, each and every one of us are reminded to live our lives to the fullest, in the path that God has shown us, obeying Him and focusing our attention on Him and not to ourselves, distancing ourselves from the temptations of worldly glory and greatness, and turning away from the allures of worldly excesses and ambitions, of pride and immorality, of hubris and human greed. All of us should guard ourselves against all those temptations and do our best to inspire one another to remain true in faith in God in the way that Pope St. Gregory the Great himself had inspired us.

Let us all therefore seek the Lord with all our heart, committing ourselves at all times to glorify Him by our lives. Let us all renew our commitment to serve Him with zeal and dedication, that we will always put God as the priority and focus of our lives. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 6 : 1-5

At that time, one Sabbath Jesus was going through a field of grain, and His disciples began to pick heads of grain, crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”

Then Jesus spoke up and asked them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering, and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.”

And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath.”