Passiontide

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Friday, 12 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rapidly approach the beginning of the Holy Week of Our Lord’s Passion, commemorating the suffering, death and eventually resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the nature of the Scripture readings chosen for the occasion increasingly reflect the deeper understanding and ties to the mysteries of the Lord’s Passion, and how He fulfilled the mission that He has been sent into this world for, through the laying down of His life on the cross.

In the first reading today, we heard the story from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, where the persecution and plotting against the prophet by his enemies and all who opposed him were laid bare before us. They all opposed him and the forces that were combined against him were immense. He was treated as a doomsayer, a traitor and someone who ought to be killed for having spoken the truth of God before them, that is for exposing and pointing out their wickedness.

The prophet Jeremiah however trusted in God and placed himself completely in His mercy and loving care, knowing that despite all the opposition He had to endure and the challenges and difficulties He had to face, the Lord was always faithful, and would always be, and to trust in Him would lead to a true joy in the end, joy that surpasses all sufferings, pains and challenges that one had to encounter and endure.

In the same way therefore, in the Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus was also treated in a similar manner by those who opposed Him, those who contended that He was spreading lies and blasphemies, and refused to believe in all that He had told them to do. The Lord Jesus experienced the same rejection, ridicule and persecution as Jeremiah had once experienced, but He also trusted completely in the plan that His heavenly Father had placed on Him.

It was indeed tough, difficult and painful, and that was why, Jesus before He faced His Passion and suffering on the cross, agonised so much in His humanity over all that He had to endure, the pain and the whole weight and burden of the cross, that is not just the physical weight of the wooden cross, but even more so, the entirety of the unimaginably heavy burden of mankind’s sins. And yet, He obeyed the Father’s will perfectly, and by that obedience, brought unto us the promised eternal salvation and life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during this time and season of Lent, we have been urged to remember our own sinfulness, our own unworthiness before God because of our sins, and how we have been called to renew our faith and our lives through dedication and commitment of our lives from now on, so that while once we may have done what was wicked and evil in the sight of God, but now we become a new people with a new heart, mind and purpose.

Yes, indeed, the path forward if we choose to walk down this path will be difficult and arduous, as the prophet Jeremiah’s life and our Lord Jesus Himself have evidently shown us. But this is where we need to learn to overcome our attachments to the world and all the temptations that often surround us and overwhelm us with desire, ego, pride and all sorts of things that led us into disobedience and sin against God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach and enter into this holiest week and period of time in our liturgical year, let us all prepare ourselves in body, heart, mind and soul, in our entire and whole being, to be able to celebrate the sacred mysteries of the Passion, suffering, death and resurrection of Our Lord meaningfully and faithfully, that by deepening our understanding of our faith and by committing ourselves further to God, we may be ever more worthy to receive the eternal glory that He has promised to all of us mankind.

May the Lord be our guide, and may He help us in our journey of faith, that each and every one of us may draw ever closer to Him and be worthy to receive the everlasting inheritance He has promised to all those who are faithful in Him. May He bless us always in our daily lives and in all of our actions and works in life. Amen.

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Friday, 12 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 10 : 31-42

At that time, the Jews then 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, 12 April 2019 : 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, 12 April 2019 : 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, 11 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding us of the Covenant which God has established with each and every one of us, the children of Abraham by faith. Abraham was prominently mentioned in the first reading today taken from the Book of Genesis, in which the Covenant of God with him was mentioned, all the promises that God had made before him, how He would make him the father of many nations, and how his descendants would be innumerable and became great nations.

And Abraham were favoured by God with such a great promise because of his faith in God, his steadfastness and willingness to obey and to follow the will of God. That was why out of many other men and women of his time, God chose Abraham to be the instrument of His will and the partaker of His Covenant. To him was granted a son, even at his old age, and when his wife could not possibly have borne him any more children, as the proof and concrete sign of God’s faithfulness.

It was ironic therefore, that in the Gospel passage today, when the Lord came to fulfil the fullness of His promises to the descendants of Abraham, many among those same descendants refused to believe in Him, and in the good works and the truth that He was proclaiming and performing in their midst. Instead, they accused Him of collaborating with evil spirits and committing blasphemy before God, in their own opinion.

The people claimed that the Lord could not have been true in what He spoke, because they were unable to see the wisdom of God being revealed in the person of Jesus. They were amazed and in fact enraged when they heard Jesus saying that He was there even before Abraham was, and they thought of Him as merely a Man and nothing else. Some among them even thought of the Lord Jesus as a heretic, a dangerous influence that must be removed.

In this occasion therefore, we saw two very different attitudes and expressions between the attitude of Abraham, who was faithful and committed to God, and the attitude of the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham who lacked faith in God and who refused to believe in the One Whom He had sent into the world, into their midst. We saw how mankind had succumbed so deeply into sin, that those sins hardened their hearts and minds, and prevented them from coming closer to God and His truth.

In this case, we saw the contrast between the humility of Abraham in accepting God’s plans for him, and the pride of his descendants who refused to acknowledge the truth of God being revealed before their very eyes. And that pride brought danger to them, for it made them stubborn and even ardently opposing the Lord’s efforts and wanting to kill Him for His supposed ‘blasphemy’ in their opinion.

And therefore, through the passages of the Scriptures we have received and heard today, we are reminded that we have been presented with many choices of actions in our daily lives. We can choose to obey the Lord and to follow His commandments and laws just as Abraham, our father in faith has done, or we can instead indulge in our own worldly desires and in our own ego and pride, as the Israelites did, many times throughout history, including at the time of Jesus, in how they disobeyed God and opposed His good works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be aware that if we choose to follow in the path of Christ, as we should, we will likely encounter the same opposition and challenges as the Lord Himself has faced. It is indeed much easier for us to be wicked than to be righteous, to be prideful rather than to be humble, to be filled with anger, hatred, lust and jealousy rather than to be filled with love, compassion and mercy.

Today, therefore, we ought to listen to the story of the life of St. Stanislas, a holy bishop and servant of God, and also a martyr of the Church and the faith. St. Stanislas was a Polish bishop who stood up courageously against the ruler of Poland at the time, king Boleslaw the Brave. The king and his nobles were not living righteously and were enacting laws and regulations that were corrupt. St. Stanislaw himself chastised the king for his sexual immorality and lack of proper conduct as a ruler.

The king was so angered by the bishop’s opposition to his rule and his policies, that he tried to have him killed, only for St. Stanislas to be even firmer in his opposition to the king’s waywardness. Eventually, the holy and devout servant of God was martyred at the hand of the king himself, when the men the king sent to slaughter him refused to lay their hands on the holy bishop. And thus, a faithful servant of God fell for defending his faith, and yet, be assured that his reward in heaven and everlasting life is unimaginably great.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to be inspired by the faith of both Abraham, our father in faith and that of St. Stanislas, holy servant of God and faithful defender of the faith. Let us all purge from ourselves all taints of sin, of ego and pride, of anger and jealousy, of hatred, greed and worldly desires. Let us all instead fill ourselves with humility, with love and compassion in our hearts, and with the burning desire to love God and put Him at the centre of our lives from now on. May the Lord always be our guide, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (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, 11 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (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, 11 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (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, 10 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings we heard about the story of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and the three friends of the prophet Daniel, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. In that story, we heard how the king of Babylon built a great golden statue of his own image, and commanded all of his people and all those under his dominion to worship the great golden statue as himself.

But the three men, the friends of Daniel refused to abandon their worship and faith in God, the Lord and one true God of all. While literally everyone else submitted to the king’s commands, even begrudgingly, at the pain of suffering and death, but three men refused to bow down and remained firm in their conviction to be faithful to God and not worshipping any other gods or idols. They made the king very angry and he ordered them to be thrown into the blazing furnace.

The three men believed wholeheartedly in God, and they trusted in Him, that He would not abandon His faithful ones to destruction. And even if the king did destroy their body and existence, but God would not allow their eternal soul to be destroyed, for God alone has authority over our eternal souls. That is why, even though the three of them, who were counted among exiles and slaves of the king, for they were conquered and defeated by the Babylonians, and slavery was a common fate at the time, but in truth they were truly free.

This ought to be contrasted with what we heard in our Gospel passage today, as the Lord Jesus confronted many of the people who doubted Him and refused to believe in the truth and in the good works that He has performed in their midst. They contended that they were the sons and daughters of Abraham, as those who have been born of the race of Israel, born into the community of the Israelites, descendants of Israel of old, and because of that, they were free.

This must be understood in the context of what the Lord said. The Lord said that because of sin, man has been enslaved and lived in bondage to sin, but the Israelites misunderstood and thought that He was referring to an actual, physical state of slavery as was understood at the time, or to the slavery of their ancestors in the land of Egypt. As compared to that time, the Israelites were relatively free, as even though they came under the domination of the Roman Empire, but they had ample autonomy and freedom.

But the Lord rebuked them for their misunderstanding and lack of faith in God. They did not realise that their stubbornness in their opposition to the good works of God done through Christ, and their constant prideful attitudes were only hurting themselves, and keeping themselves enslaved to the power of sin. Instead, the Lord was showing them the true path, the same one that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had taken, that is the path of faith.

The people who opposed Jesus indeed did not worship idols and statues like that of the people of Daniel’s time. However, they did not realise that they have made idols out of various other things in their lives, such as money, power, possessions, societal influence and fame, glory and human praise, and many others, that the Lord often criticised the people for. They might indeed appear outwardly pious, and yet, in their hearts, there was no love for God.

And it was those attachments to sin that prevented them from becoming truly free, the path that the Lord Jesus was showing to all of them. And the devil is indeed busy at work, trying to prevent us all from attaining this true freedom in Christ. For if everyone become free, then he, our slavemaster, will no longer have any slaves to dominate over. And that is why Satan makes the path of false freedom, that is the path of sin, much more appealing and attractive, as compared to the path of faith.

That was the same choice that the three friends of Daniel faced. They had to face a very difficult choice, of choosing between the obviously much easier path of accepting the king’s commands and bending the knee to worship the abomination, and receive from the king much favours, graces and good things, even pleasures and joys in life, or to choose the much more difficult and painful path of remaining true to their faith in God, and perish.

But they showed their courage and mettle, and they remained firm in their faith and in their choice, and this is what each and every one of us Christians are called to do in our lives as well. We are faced with choices all the time throughout our lives, to choose between following and doing what is convenient and good for us, and yet, disobeying God’s commandments and causing us to sin, or to choose to remain faithful, even despite challenges, disapproval from others and even those who are close to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the coming of the Holy Week, let us remember that we should unite ourselves with Christ and with all of our holy predecessors, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in our obedience to God’s will and in our willingness and conviction to live our lives in accordance with His ways from now on. Let us all turn to God and focus ourselves entirely towards Him, and let us all be faithful from now on, in all of our words, actions and deeds.

May the Lord give us the strength and courage to continue to persevere down this path of faith, and journey together with Him, as we carry up our crosses in life, together with Christ, Who chose the difficult path of suffering, and die for us on the cross, that by His death, and by us sharing in His death, He may restore to us all the gift of eternal life and glory. Amen.

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Wednesday, 10 April 2019 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

At that time, Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying : You will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One Who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself Who sent Me.”