Ordinary Time

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Sunday, 3 July 2022 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we gather together to celebrate the Eucharist, all of us are reminded through the readings of the Scriptures of the calling of the Lord, Who has told us of His love, grace and kindness, and also called on us to be the witnesses of this same love and compassion to our world today. Through the Scripture passages we have heard today, we are all reminded that as members of the Church of God, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, we are all sharing in the same mission that God has entrusted to us His Church. And that mission is for us to proclaim His truth and love to all the people of all the nations, so that more and more may come to believe in God and be saved.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people through Isaiah, the prophet who delivered unto them the hopeful words of the coming of God’s salvation, the coming of the Saviour or the Messiah of God, which would later on come true in the coming of Christ into this world. The words of God’s salvation and truth have been revealed to His people, telling them that despite all the trials and challenges they have faced and were going to face, the Lord would one day show His saving help and bring them deliverance much in the same manner as how He had once freed their ancestors from the land of Egypt.

Back then, during the time of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the nation of Israel had been long divided into two parts, the northern kingdom, called Israel, centred in Samaria and the southern kingdom, called Judah, centred in Jerusalem, the City of God. And by that time, the northern kingdom had been crushed and utterly destroyed by the Assyrians, who destroyed Samaria and carried off most of its populations to far-off exile in Assyria, Babylon and beyond. And thus, the people of God was scattered all over the world, exiled from and losing their homeland, the land that God had given to their ancestors.

All these were due to the disobedience and infidelity of the people who often hardened their hearts and minds against God. God sent them many prophets and messengers, to remind them, guide them and help them to find their way back so that they might be reconciled with Him. Yet, many of these prophets, messengers and servants of God were persecuted, rejected and killed, all because they told the people of the sins and wickedness that they had committed before God and men alike. The Lord has shown His kindness and mercy, His ever generous love and compassion, and that was met by many of the people with apathy and indifference, or even hostility and stubbornness.

Yet, God never ceased to love His people, and still continued to reach out to them. He called on all of them to return to Him, to repent from their sinful ways and to embrace once again His ways. The Lord called on all to be His disciples and followers, which He had done through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, through Whom the prophecies of Isaiah and the many other prophets came true. Through Christ, His Son, God revealed to us how He calls on all of us, not just the Jewish people, who were the direct descendants of the people of Israel and Judah, but also the whole entire world, the entire race of mankind, to be His people.

That was what St. Paul made clear in our second reading today, in the Epistle that he wrote to the Church and the faithful in the region of Galatia in Asia Minor. At that time, during the early Church, one of the common problems facing the Church is the divide and the disagreements existing between the Jewish converts to the Christian faith and those Gentiles who became believers, and each group frequently differed in their understanding of what the Church and the Christian faith is all about. Hence, that led to much controversies and even bitter divisions that hurt the unity of the Church, the Body of Christ, and endangering the fate of many souls.

Hence, St. Paul yet again reminded the people that each and every one of them are members of the same Church, having been called and chosen, and having decided to put their faith in the Lord and in His salvation. They should no longer be divided or be hostile against each other, or be exclusive and stubborn in their attitudes, in thinking that each one of them or their groups were better than the others, or that their way should prevail over that of other different ways and paths of believing in God. St. Paul reminded all the Christian faithful, and hence all of us today, that we are truly one people, one flock in one Church, worshipping the same one only True God.

This truth is what the Lord wanted to propagate to the whole world, as He sent out His disciples as we heard in our Gospel passage today, two by two as they went on their missions, to preach the Good News and to prepare the way for the Lord. In that Gospel passage today, we are reminded yet once again of the primary mission of the Church, which is evangelisation. The Church, composed of all of the faithful people of God, the priesthood and the laity, all alike, all have been entrusted with the same mission, and that is to proclaim the Good News of God, His salvation and to bring all peoples of all the nations to God, that they may all come to believe in God.

However, this cannot happen unless each and every one of us first live our lives well in accordance to the way which the Lord Himself had revealed to us. If we ourselves did not live our lives in the way that the Lord had taught us to do, then how can we proclaim His truth and ways to others? In fact, as it had happened many times throughout the history of the Church, the actions of those who were hypocrites and those who claimed outwardly to be Christians and yet were most un-Christian-like in their actions, words, deeds and way of life, had driven more and more people away from the Lord. That happens even right up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the Scripture readings that we have received and discussed earlier on, we are all called to remember that our lives ought to be reflection of our Lord’s truth and love, and we are all called to build an authentic community of believers, in which each and every one of us from every segments of the Church, in our various communities and groups, all of us are filled with the love of God, and with the desire to spread the Good News and the love of God to all people. And to that extent, all of us have to embody our beliefs in our every words, actions and deeds, to the best of our abilities, so that all who see us and witness our actions and works may believe in God as well through us.

Let us all hence seek the Lord wholeheartedly from now on, doing our best in whatever capacity we have now, and in all the opportunities that God had provided us. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us all and bless us in our every good efforts and endeavours, and may all of us be ever more worthy to walk in His Presence and to be with Him, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 July 2022 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 10 : 1-12, 17-20

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest.”

“Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim : ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know for a certainty that the kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

“I tell you, that on the Day of Judgment it will be better for Sodom than for this town.”

The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on Your Name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice, rather, than your names are written in heaven.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

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Sunday, 3 July 2022 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 6 : 14-18

For me, I do not wish to take pride in anything, except in the cross of Christ Jesus, Our Lord. Through Him, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Let us no longer speak of the circumcised and of non-Jews, but of a new creation. Let those who live according to this rule receive peace and mercy : they are the Israel of God! Let no one trouble me any longer : for my part, I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.

May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 July 2022 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a, 16 and 20

Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory to His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”

All the earth bows down to You, making music in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans.

He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.

All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.

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Sunday, 3 July 2022 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 66 : 10-14c

Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.

For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you. At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish.

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Saturday, 2 July 2022 : 13th 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 all called to embrace the new life in God and leave behind our past existence that is defiled and corrupted by sin. God has called us all into this new existence and provided us with the path to follow, so that through Him, we shall find the way to the true happiness and everlasting joy which we can find only through the Lord alone. That is why He has always tried His best to reach out to us, helping us and guiding us to find our way back to Him, and so that we will not be lost to eternity of suffering and darkness.

In our first reading today, the Lord continued to speak to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel through His prophet Amos. He told them all of the coming of good days once again through His guidance and help, that those people who would be enduring persecution and exile because of their sins and disobedience, would one day return to their homeland, their descendants and all, when all of them have returned to the Lord and been reconciled with Him. This showed that God in truth, truly loved His people, even though they had sinned against Him and been stubborn in their ways.

Prior to this, if we have paid attention to some of the earlier passages taken from the same Book of the prophet Amos earlier in the week, we will realise that God had proclaimed the destruction and the downfall of the northern kingdom of Israel, all because of their wickedness and disobedience. And because of all the refusal and stubbornness of the people in continuing to walk down the path of sin, they would have to endure the bitter consequences, the humiliations and the sufferings due to them because of their wickedness. But this is not what the Lord truly desired or wanted from them.

As mentioned, the Lord loves each and every one of us, because we are all His beloved ones. However, our sins are great barriers and obstacles in the path that we are walking towards Him. And as long as we continue to remain in the state of sin, in disobedience against God, as what happened to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel of the time of Amos, we will suffer the consequences of those sins. But what we all must know and be aware about is that if we turn away from sin and willingly accept God’s forgiveness and mercy, then the path to His grace and love will be opened to us.

We have God Who is always ever generous with His mercy and kindness, and all that remains is for us to commit ourselves to Him and the path that He has shown before us. The question is then, how willing are we to follow Him and to embrace His mercy and forgiveness? If God has been so generous with His mercy, and promised even those who have rebelled against Him, the promise of redemption and true happiness, then we may wonder why is it then that so many of us are still yet in the state of sin and rebellion against God?

That is because of our pride, our ego, our stubbornness and all those things that prevented us from seeking God’s love and mercy. We hardened our hearts and minds against the Lord because we are too proud and blinded by our hubris and inability to accept the fact that we can make mistakes and that we are imperfect, corrupted by sin. We need God to help lead us out of the darkness, and it is only with God’s help alone that we can find our way towards the light and the hope that He offers us freely and generously all these while, waiting for us to take up on His offer.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord Jesus speaking to the disciples of St. John the Baptist and to His disciples, using the parable of the wine and the wineskin, and the cloth and the patch. The disciples of St. John the Baptist were questioning the Lord’s disciples on why they were not fasting in the same manner as the Pharisees and the disciples of St. John themselves. This was where the Lord told them all the parable, to highlight the fact that His way is the new way that superseded the old path that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were following, especially in the strict and excessive misapplication and misunderstanding of the Law of God.

That is yet another calling from the Lord for us to change our way of life and to embrace Him with renewed faith and commitment. Each one of us have to do our best to do God’s will and to turn our back to our sinful past, such that by our repentance and by the change in our way of life, we may truly be worthy of God, and like the Israelites in the past, we may come to share in the Lord’s glorious inheritance and promises, His grace and love once again. God is ever so merciful and forgiving, and all that remains is for us to loosen the doors of our hearts and minds, to welcome God into our midst and embrace Him wholeheartedly from now on.

May God be with us always, and may He bless each and every one of us, strengthening and guiding us in our journey throughout our lives. May He remain with us and be our Hope and the source of our inspiration, that we may always ever seek to glorify Him by our worthy lives and actions. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 July 2022 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 9 : 14-17

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it, that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then, they will fast.”

“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you do not put new wine into old wine skins. If you do, the wine skins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine into fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

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Saturday, 2 July 2022 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 84 : 9, 11-12, 13-14

Would, that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints – lest they come back to their folly.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

YHVH will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Saturday, 2 July 2022 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Amos 9 : 11-15

On that day, I shall restore the fallen hut of David and wall up its breaches, and raise its ruined walls; and so built it as in days of old. They shall conquer the remnant of Edom, and the neighbouring nations, upon which My Name has been called.” Thus says YHVH, the One Who will do this.

YHVH says also, “The days are coming when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes overtake the sower. The mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall melt. I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel; they will rebuild the desolate cities and dwell in them.”

“They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will have orchards and eat their fruit. I shall plant them in their own country and they shall never again be rooted up from the land which I have given them,” says YHVH your God.

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Friday, 1 July 2022 : 13th 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 called to reflect on the need for all of us to have a changed attitude in life, in our actions and in how we live our lives as Christians, that we may truly follow the Lord in the way that we are expected to, in being good Christians and good disciples of the Lord. Each and every one of us are called to abandon our pride, ego and haughtiness, and instead entrust ourselves to God with humility and obedience, and with faith and commitment that we ought to show Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Amos, regarding the words of the Lord warning the people of Israel once again, just as we have heard over the past few days, of the coming day of judgment and retribution over them. The prophet Amos was sent by God to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, so that through him those people who had shown their disobedience and wickedness against God may repent and turn away from their sinful ways. Unfortunately, those same people whom God had given many chances, like that of their ancestors continued to rebel against God and even persecuted the prophets like Amos.

Hence, it was by their own stubborn attitudes and actions that they were to be condemned, those who refused to believe in God and chose to walk in the path of sin and darkness. God has always ever been patient in reaching out to those whom He loved, and yet, it was those same people who often rejected Him and refused to believe in Him. The Lord has been ever so generous in His love and mercy, but unless we as His people refused to be stubborn any longer and turn at last towards Him with contrite and sorrowful hearts and minds, filled with regret for our sins and the desire to embrace God and His love, then there will be no way forward for us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of the encounter and confrontation between the Lord and the members of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were questioning and criticising Him regarding how He chose to approach the tax collectors and those who were belonging to their group, coming to the house of Levi, one of the tax collectors and mingling among them, and not only that but even having dinner in that same house. This was an act that according to the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Law of God, would have made one unclean and unworthy.

That was because the tax collectors were seen as belonging among the worst of the Jewish community at that time. For their work in collecting taxes on behalf of the Romans and others, they were despised and hated by many among the people, and those like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also considered them as traitors to their own people and country. Back then, the Jewish people were a proud people who had then recently been independent under their own rule, until they were brought under the reign and dominion of the Romans, who imposed taxes on the Jewish people as they did to other people throughout the Empire as a sign of their reign and rule.

Hence, the tax collectors were deeply reviled and hated, and considered as the scum of the society. That was why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law could not possibly have believed why the Lord Jesus would want to have any business with those tax collectors, less still coming into their midst and having meal with them. This was exactly where they forgot that God’s love for each and every one of us, who are sinners, is truly boundless. He could have destroyed us for our many sins and evils, but as He did in the past by sending prophets, messengers and more, one after another to help His people to return to Him, hence, He still continues to do so, again and again, with those tax collectors and others considered by many to be unclean and unworthy.

As He Himself said that He came to seek those who were in need of help, those who were without guidance and were lost, like how a shepherd went off his way to look for his lost sheep. He considers every single one of us as His beloved ones, whom He truly loves equally. The Lord wants us to know that through Him alone there is hope and salvation, and how He desires for us to find that healing and reconciliation in Him. But if we continue to be stubborn and continue to persistently close our hearts and minds to Him, then unfortunately there may be no way forward for us.

We have to be willing to allow the Lord to come and enter into our hearts and minds so that He may heal us like what the tax collectors did. They welcomed the Lord and were willing to listen to Him, unlike what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in shutting their ears, hearts and minds against Him. Certainly many among the tax collectors became believers, and one of them left everything behind to become a follower of the Lord, and who then became one of His great Apostles and as one of the Four Evangelists, known as St. Matthew the Apostle. It shows us how God can transform great sinners into great saints, but that requires commitment from the sinner’s side, to change their lives and follow the Lord faithfully.

Let us all therefore discard from ourselves all traces of pride, ego, haughtiness and selfishness, of all the thoughts we have in debasing and being judgmental to others simply because we think that we are better than they are. Each and every one of us are called to be more like Christ, in our humility and willingness to obey the will of God. Let us all seek the Lord with renewed faith and passion, to walk in His Presence with ever greater commitment from now on. May God be with us always, and may He empower us all to live faithfully ever in His path, now and always. Amen.