Papacy

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Friday, 27 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are drawing ever closer to the end of Lent and the celebrations of the Holy Week, when we will be commemorating the most important events of our faith. It is therefore important that we have made the best use out of this time of Lent to prepare ourselves in our body, heart and mind to celebrate together the great celebration of next week and that of Easter.

All of this boils down to one thing, that we have to know what our faith is about, and in what we believe that is our faith. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, whom God begotten from Himself before all ages, and who is part of the Divine Lord, one of the Three Divine Persons of the singular God. That means, we believe in Jesus who is God, and who is also Man at the same time, having assumed the flesh of man, in order to bring about our salvation.

For indeed, there is only One God, and it is to Him that we dedicate all of our beings and all of our devotions. However, we know that by faith, that the Lord is working at all times in order to bring about good to this world and to all of His creations, especially for all of us mankind, His most beloved people. And thus, while the Father creates and governs all of creation, and the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind all things and the source of life, thus, the Son is the most intimate and direct manifestation of God, for He took the form of us all, and became visible to us, as God made Man.

God that was once beyond all things and beyond comprehension had made Himself visible to all, comprehensible and tangible, through Jesus Christ, who was sent into the world, so that all the world might be saved, including all of us today. By taking our own form, and by His showing of perfect obedience as the Son, who is obedient of the Father, He had shown us all mankind a new hope. Yes, a new hope that we have the chance and opportunity to free ourselves from the bonds of sin.

Jesus showed us all the way to reach out to the Lord and to find our way to our salvation, that is by following what Jesus had done, and by listening to what He had taught us and by acting according to what He had said. It is because of our rebelliousness that we have been estranged from receiving the fullness of God’s grace and promise, and so it is by the obedience of Christ that we have been brought to salvation.

St. Paul stated in one of his letters that just as the first Adam had fallen from grace by his disobedience, therefore, the New Adam, that is Christ had redeemed mankind by His own obedience to the Lord, to the will of His Father. On this day, as we reflect on the words of the Holy Scriptures, we all should also reflect on how Christ had lived His earthly life, so that we may also emulate what He had done.

He faced such a great challenge and suffering awaiting Him, and He knew all that would happen to Him. And yet, although He was tempted by His human nature, but He remained completely resolute in His desire to save all of us. Such great was His love for all of us indeed. He persevered through all of the evils and sufferings, all the humiliations and rejections so that we do not have to go through all of them if we indeed fall into hell. He gave us a new chance, a new opportunity in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all not waste this perfect opportunity which had been given to us. We have to take this opportunity and make best use out of it, so that we may be changed and transformed, from a people controlled by our pride and our desires, to become faithful and obedient people of God, following the footsteps of our Lord Himself who had shown us the way.

Indeed, the path would not be easy, and just as Jesus Himself had suffered, we also would suffer as well. There will be plenty of challenges and difficulties awaiting us along the way, and we will be rejected by the world, but we can be assured that our reward will be great beyond compare. Let us therefore look up to the hope which our God had offered us, and let us be grateful for all that He had done for us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 27 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 10 : 31-42

At that time, the Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus, so He said, “I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave Me to do. For which of these do you stone Me?”

The Jews answered, “We are not stoning You for doing a good work, but for insulting God; You are only a Man, and You make Yourself God.” Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law : ‘I said, you are gods?’ So those who received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true. What then should be said of the One anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God?'”

“If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in Me, believe because of the works I do; and know that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Again they tried to arrest Him, but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptised, and there He stayed. Many people came to Jesus and said, “John worked no miracles, but he spoke about You, and everything he said was true.” And many became believers in that place.

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Friday, 27 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

I love You, o Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

A deadly flood surrounded me, devillish torrents rushed at me; caught by the cords of the grave. I was brought to the snares of death.

But I called upon the Lord in my distress, I cried to my God for help; and from His Temple He heard my voice, my cry of grief reached His ears.

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Friday, 27 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 20 : 10-13

I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”

But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind. Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!

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Thursday, 26 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the covenant which God had established with Abraham, the father of many nations and our father in faith. God made the promise which He fulfilled to Abraham, and God never did for once abandon the faithfulness which He had shown since the very first moment He interacted with us. It is always us who have always reneged on our promises and broken our relationship with our Lord.

And God made real, complete and perfect the covenant which He had established by sending His own Son, Jesus, into the world, so that through Him God may make a people who had been lost in the darkness to find their way once again to the Lord. This is what God had wanted to happen with us, and this is also what we all have been awaiting for.

But many of us became lost in our search for the Lord, and our purpose became corrupted, that we lost our sight on the Lord and instead we begin to give in to our human desires and emotions. They were too indignant in their ways and hardened their hearts such that no matter what the Lord had wanted to tell them, they refused to listen to reason.

And with regards to Abraham, who is the father and progenitor of many nations, the people of Israel, the Jews of Jesus’ time had grown to be exclusivist and elitist, in a sense that they thought of themselves as the only ones worthy of God’s grace and salvation, by the fact that they were the direct descendants of Abraham, and thus they thought of themselves as sole heirs of God’s covenant with Abraham.

But Jesus Himself mentioned in another related event to the one in today’s Gospel, that God could easily raise sons and children for Abraham from even rocks and stones. This means that being the children of Abraham alone did not mean anything for us as long as we do not do something to show that we truly deserve to be called the children of Abraham, our father in faith.

Ever since sin entered into the hearts of men, we have been estranged and separated from the love of our God, and from His presence. And as long as this is the case for us, there is no hope for us all. And that was why God sent us Jesus, as the fulfillment of His long awaited promise, and the proof of how God was faithful to His covenant with us. Through Jesus, our eyes and senses were opened, and we receive the fullness of God’s truth.

And that truth is that God loves us, and He wants us to be converted and changed from our sinful ways. He wants us to break free from the trap of our pride and arrogance, from the lures of our desires and greed, so that we may come to the realisation of our sinful nature, so that we would also not be like the people of Israel, who closed their hearts against the Lord’s call through Jesus our Lord, as they were deep in their pride and in their desires.

This Lent is a time for us, the perfect time for us to look deep into ourselves and reflect on our own actions. It is a time for us to take action and make a difference in our own lives. Let us all heed our Lord’s call and be genuine in our love and devotion to Him, and let us answer His call to mercy and forgiveness. Let us all influence one another and help each other that we may all draw ever closer to His forgiveness. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 26 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 51-59

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.”

The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”

Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word.”

“As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.”

The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.

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Thursday, 26 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Thursday, 26 March 2015 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 17 : 3-9

Abram fell face down and God said to him, “This is My covenant with you : you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants.”

“And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between Myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land you are living in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession and I will be the God of your race.”

God said to Abraham, “For your part, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.”

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Wednesday, 25 March 2015 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a very great feast day of the Church, commemorating nine months before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the moment when our Lord Jesus was conceived, and when the Divine Word and Son of God was incarnate into flesh, and assumed the form of Man through the intermediary of His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who played a key role in today’s celebrations.

On this day, we commemorate also that day when the Archangel Gabriel came to the small, poor and humble village of Nazareth in Galilee, to break the news regarding the end of the long wait for the coming of the Lord’s Promised Messiah, the Good News announced to the world through Mary. And thus, the Feast is called the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord, because on that day, His arrival and entry into the world was first announced.

And today, the theme of our Scripture readings is obedience, and obedience that entails true and genuine desire to obey the will of God and to listen to what the Lord wants from us. In the past, people used to observe the Law and obey all of its commandments in great detail, even to the details of what kind of animals should be sacrificed for a certain purpose, and that by doing so, the people thought that they were devout and pious in the eyes of the Lord.

Unfortunately, such devotions, while necessary and good, but if they are not based upon good and strong foundations, as well as upon good understanding of the will of God, then it is very easy for us to be misled and to lose the meaning of what we are doing for our faith. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did exactly that, as were so many people even in the Church for many years.

They were focused on the wrong thing, and they thought that by doing all of the complicated and various rituals, they had fulfilled what God had wanted. They thought that by imposing strict discipline on the faith and by enforcing the punishment which the laws of Moses stated as should be done to certain kinds of sinners, they had brought joy the Lord. But the fact is, that they were sorely mistaken.

How does all these relate to the event of the Annunciation of our Lord? This is because we have been wayward and lost our way so many times that our Lord Himself had willingly decided to come down Himself in order to save us from destruction. He has promised this salvation ever since the beginning of time, at the time when our first ancestors fell into sin.

If we take note of what took place then, we would realise that God had promised mankind that He will make the Woman crush the head of the snake, even while the snake bites on the heels of the child. All these represent what has happened to us all mankind, and what God had done about that. The snake is the devil and all of his devices, sin and wickedness, all of which are threatening to destroy the children of God that is all of us.

But the Lord did not let Satan to have his way with us freely as he wanted it. He gave us all a hope, since that time, and which He constantly renewed through the prophets and His messengers, the hope for salvation which was to come. He never abandoned those whom He loved so dearly. It is often we are the ones who abandoned Him first. He is ever faithful and ever loving.

Thus after a long wait, today we heard about how made that promise to come to the perfect fulfillment through Jesus, who came into the world in order to save it. It is what the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is all about, that is the announcing of the great Good News of our Lord’s salvation in Jesus to the whole world through the Archangel Gabriel, who revealed it to the world through Mary, the Mother of our Lord. She is the Woman through whom the Salvation of this world would come and thus crush the dominion of Satan.

Therefore, on this day, as we reflect on the nature of this feast day and celebration, let us all come to realise how great is the love which our Lord had shown us all, the mercy He wants to give us so that we will not suffer from our rebelliousness. Let us all realise that all that He wants from us is our love and devotion, that we give all our hearts to Him in sincere devotion.

That is more important for Him than all other forms of devotions. That does not mean that we do not need prayer or neglect our devotions in the Mass and others. On the other hand, these are truly very necessary. But if we do not comprehend their significance and how these can help us to be closer to our Lord, and if we do not have the love for God in our hearts in the first place, then all of those are meaningless.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our devotion and commitment to the Lord today. Let us all show sincerity in our faith towards Him, and do not just pay lip service any longer to Him. Instead, let us all truly mean our faith, and practice it in our lives, in our every actions. Let us all make whatever remaining time we have in this season of Lent to be a meaningful one. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 March 2015 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name of Mary.

The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus.”

“He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.