path of God

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Saturday, 20 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Timothy 6 : 13-16

Now, in the presence of God, Who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, Who expressed before Pontius Pilate the authentic expression of faith : preserve the revealed message to all. Keep yourself pure and blameless, until the glorious coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, Who God will bring about at the proper time : He, the Magnificent Sovereign, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

To Him, alone, immortal, Who lives in unapproachable light, and Whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him, be honour and power, forever and ever. Amen!

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Friday, 19 September 2025 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

1 Timothy 6 : 2c-12

Teach and stress these things. Whoever teaches in some other way, not following the sound teaching of our Lord Christ Jesus, and true religious instruction, is conceited, and understands nothing. This one is crazy about controversies and discussions, that result in envy, insults, blows and constant arguments between people of depraved minds, and far from the truth. For them, religion is merely for financial gain.

In reality, religion is a treasure, if we are content with what we have. We brought nothing into the world and we will leave it with nothing. Let us, then, be content with having food and clothing. Those who strive to be rich fall into temptations and traps. A lot of foolish and harmful ambitions plunge them into ruin and destruction.

Indeed, the love of money is the root of every evil. Because of this greed, some have wondered away from the faith, bringing on themselves afflictions of every kind. But you, man of God, shun all this. Strive to be holy and godly. Live in faith and love, with endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith and win everlasting life, to which you were called, when you made the good profession of faith, in the presence of so many witnesses.

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Wednesday, 20 September 2023 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang, Martyr, St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Timothy 3 : 14-16

I give you these instructions, although I hope I will see you soon. If I delay, you will know how you ought to conduct yourself in the household of God, that is, the Church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. How great, indeed, is the mystery of divine blessing!

He was shown in the flesh and sanctified by the Spirit; presented to the Angels and proclaimed to all nations. The world believed in Him : He was taken up in glory!

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Sunday, 28 September 2014 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Wenceslaus, Martyr, and St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 24 : 4bc-5, 6-7, 8-9

O Lord, make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour; I hope in You all day long.

Remember Your compassion, o Lord, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

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Thursday, 7 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Xystus II/Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 16 : 13-23

After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them You are John the Baptist, for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Bar-jona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven. And now I say to you : You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.”

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. From that day Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; that He would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that He would be killed and be raised on the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to reproach Him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to You!” But Jesus turned to him and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an obstacle in My path. You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Today is the celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord, that is the moment when it was announced to His mother Mary, that she is to bear the Saviour of the world within her. The Archangel Gabriel came to her to announce to her the Good News. Mary accepted the role she was to play in the salvation of the world.

And the moment she accepted her role, by her own words that she as the handmaid of the Lord obeyed all the will of God, then everything fell into place, and Mary became the Mother of God from then on. That was also the moment when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, upon the acceptance of Mary.

That is why today is chosen by the Church to represent and celebrate the Annunciation, because today, 25 March, is exactly nine months before Christmas, the day when Jesus our Lord was born. Nine months is the time that a baby is in gestation within the womb of the mother. So today, we mark the beginning of our journey of expectation of the Lord at Christmas.

And now we are also progressing through Lent, as we prepare ourselves to remember and celebrate the most holy week in our year, the Holy Week, when Jesus went through the most important moments in His ministry, as He revealed His salvation to all mankind. This we also remember, and we recall His promise, that He will come again a second time, this time to bring eternal happiness to all for good.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us heed the lessons we can gain from the Annunciation, in the devotion and obedience that Mary showed through her honest and pious answer to the Lord and in the obedience she showed to Him when the angel broke the news to her that she is to bear a Child, and therefore tp bear a huge responsibility.

But obedience and faithfulness are often not in the list of things that we do. We often follow our desires and thoughts more than recognising and following the Lord and His commandments. And it is very often for us to just pay a kind of lip-service to the Lord in our observation of the faith.

Simple example is, how many of us when we go for Mass, are actually there fully because we want to be with God, and that we want to spend time with Him in prayer and togetherness? How many of us attend the Mass meaningfully and seriously? Do we come to the Mass to seek the Lord? Or do we do so because we want to chit-chat with our friends or to look for someone in the congregation?

Yes, brethren, even something as simple as attending the Mass can be a chore to us if we are not solid in our faith and devotion to God. That is where we can learn from the Mother of our God, in her faith and solid confidence in God, that she accepted the role that had been entrusted to her, to be the bearer of the Saviour, the Christ.

Let us not be like king Ahaz or those like the Pharisees in their faith. Their faith was not genuine and true because although outwardly in words they mentioned and talked about obeying God, but inside their heart they have no God inside of them. They are like empty cans, looking good still on the outside, but inside they are really empty and unsightly.

Our faith in God cannot be like this, brethren, because we have to be sincere and genuine in our devotion, and that means, firstly we have to put our trust in God, but we also have to walk the talk, that is we have to practice our faith and make it living. We cannot just pay lip service to God, but we have to take the initiative and be proactive.

Let us all, brothers and sisters, keep this in mind that Jesus will come again, just as He had come before into this world. So, when He comes again, can we show to Him that our faith is genuine? Can we show Him that we obey the Lord and His commandments as His mother did? If we do so, and are able to show such things, then we will be fine.

May the Lord, whose coming is announced on this day of the Annunciation, continue to guide us, so that we may always walk in His path, never turning left or right. Amen.

 

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Saturday, 22 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Today we heard the well-known parable of the prodigal son, which I am certain that at some point of your life, you have heard it at least once. In this parable, God is compared to a loving and forgiving father, whose younger son had gone wayward and lost, and when that son returned to him, the father rejoiced and welcomed him back with full of love.

And indeed our God is like that, and He is indeed our Father, who loves us and cares for us, whose thoughts are centred ever on us every day and every moment in time. He looks always onto us, and wants us to be once again reunited with Him. And we are the prodigal sons, and also like the elder son of the father.

For we all have sinned before God, and committing what is evil in His eyes, and very often in our lives, we have disobeyed His law and His will, and instead following our own desires and our own forged path, which we built on our desires as well as on the foundations laid down by Satan. We were corrupted by the world and brought away from the way of truth.

It is easy for us to relate with the younger son, for we know that in this world, there are plenty and indeed almost limitless availability for human pleasures and goodness to satisfy our desires and our greed for such things. And that was exactly what happened to the younger son, who squandered the hard-earned wealth of his father, which was his inheritance, on loose living.

I am sure that in one way or another, this also happened to us. We gave in to the increasingly aggressive world, which indeed increases its attacks on us and our faithful living, by multiplying the number of pleasures and goodness that it tries to bring to us, seducing us to a lifestyle that is signified by excessive consumption and blatant disobedience of God’s will.

In this world, it is increasingly difficult for us to live without being bombarded daily by the increasing amount of advertisements and promotions on the good things of this world, the amenities and joys of life, all the components of a materialistic and hedonistic lifestyle. How many of us are not aware of the offers on the latest gadgets and jewelries? How many of us are not aware of the lucrative deals being offered?

But the key message that we ought to know today is that, regardless of all these, we all have hope, because God who is our Father is always waiting for us, like the father of the prodigal son, ever eager to see his long lost son to return to his side. The prodigal and sinful son realised that he had sinned against God and his father, by committing all that he had done. And this is indeed a very important moment that we all have to note.

It is this realisation, and coupled by the desire to return to his father, which propelled the prodigal son on his difficult journey home, to return to the love of his father. But had the son not realised his sinfulness, even in his difficult times, he would just be dead in that foreign land, and his death would not have been mourned by any. He would have died among the animals, without honour and be shamed forever in darkness.

The same therefore will happen to us, if we do not realise the depth and gravity of our sins, and if we continue to walk in the path of the wicked, following our hearts’s desire rather than following the Lord our God. We will suffer for eternity in shame, regret and hopelessness in hell, where there will be no light, no pleasure, and no happiness but only sorrow, regret and darkness.

So it is important for us to realise our sins, know them, and seek God for absolution and forgiveness, humbly asking Him to forgive us and promise to change our ways and sin no more, just as the prodigal son sought the forgiveness of his father, and then be received back into the fullness of love that his father has prepared for him, which God too had prepared for us.

And lastly, we who have been saved by our baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, are also like the elder son. We have been deemed as righteous and we remain in the house of the father, God our Father because of our faith in His Son. But that does not mean that we have the right to condemn all those who are still wayward. Remember that we are all sinners who still need to be saved by the grace of God through our actions.

Instead, let us help one another, especially those who are still in the darkness. Let us bring them to the light of God, by showing it through our own deeds and actions, that they may believe in us, children of the light, that they too will follow our path, to become children of God.

May our Lord who loves us, and who forgives and welcomes His prodigal sons back to His side, continue to love us, watch over us, and guide us that we may always walk righteously and faithfully on His path. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 October 2013 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

The Lord is love, and He cares for us like a father cares for his children. That is no mere love, but unconditional love, a form of pure love between individuals that is corrupted neither by worldly desires nor by our personal desires. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that, in essence, is what the love and dedication the Lord our God has for us, as our Father and Creator, and as our friend and caretaker.

Much blessings and graces He had prepared for us, and He had prepared His angels to come and serve to our needs. It does not mean that ever since we have sinned against God, then we are forever cut out of His loving embrace. In fact, He brings us even closer towards Himself and tries His best to return us to the path of the righteous that we will live in glory and not die in condemnation.

All these He had generously prepared for us, and everything is ready to be unleashed upon us, awaiting only for our call to Him. Just like a father and his children, that if the children call out for the father in need of something, that father will rush immediately to his children’s side, leaving everything that he is currently doing, and ready to deliver to his children, his help and his undying love.

Such is the nature of God’s love for us, and we are truly special to Him, each and every one of us. The Lord needs us only to call out to Him. Yes, we only need to ask and knock at His doors, and He will certainly answer us. What we need is simply to come and approach Him with an open heart, open for His love and care for us. If we do not knock, or if we are afraid to approach Him because of our fear for His anger, then we will never gain access to the Lord’s unfailing help.

The Lord also does not punish us or rebuke us without a clear reason, and neither did He punish us because He took pleasure in seeing our suffering and pain. On the contrary, what He truly wished from us is our liberation from sin, and the chains of slavery which had bounded us to sin from the beginning of time.

He admonishes us and punishes us like a father punishing his child, driven not by hatred or anger, but by love, genuine love he has for his child. Therefore, in the same way, God who is our Father also loves us so dearly that, in order to prevent us from falling again into sin and therefore risk losing us for eternity to damnation in hell, He makes Himself available for us, to seek, to knock at His door, and to seek for His love and mercy.

We have to remember the fundamental thing that, we belong to the Lord, and therefore, it is natural that He wants us to behave exactly like what He expects of us, that is to be good and loving just as He is good and loving. He, as our eternal Father certainly will not let harm or evil come to us. He will use all within His power to deliver us from the hands of Satan, and He will make sure that we remain in the light.

That is why, brethren, let us, from now on, commit ourselves to love the Lord our God and Father ever more, and no longer walk in the path of sin and darkness, but instead walk in the light with God. May the Lord who loves us with all of His heart, continue to love us and empower us with His love, that we too may love Him in the same way, as well as loving our fellow brothers and sisters, the same children of God.

For too long we have belonged in the darkness, and it is time for us to rise up and walk towards God’s love. Let us wait no longer and instead accept the offer of the Lord’s salvation, He who extended His hands for us all, that we may walk in His path and be saved, in eternal life of bliss and joy in heaven. May God Almighty and ever-loving Lord continue to strengthen us with His love, protecting us and caring for us, admonishing us whenever we err in our path, but at the same time, giving us hope for eternal salvation in Him.

God be with us all and may He open His door, the door of His love to us, just as we open the doors of our heart to His loving presence. Amen.

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Tuesday, 27 August 2013 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 23 : 23-26

Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You do not forget the mint, anise, and cumin seeds when you demand the tenth of everything, but then you forget what is most fundamental in the Law : justice, mercy, and faith. These you must practice, instead of neglecting them. Blind guides! You strain out a mosquito, but swallow a camel.

Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You fill the plate and the cup with theft and violence, and then pronounce a blessing over them. Blind Pharisee! Purify the inside first, then the outside too will be purified.

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Sunday, 25 August 2013 : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lay Apostolate Sunday (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the warning and reminder from Jesus Christ our Lord, to be ever ready and ever alert on the coming of the kingdom of God, that is the time when God will finally make His move to end all the tyranny of sin and evil, and break the power of Satan for eternity, for a final time. That is the time when Christ comes as a conquering and victorious king, who will reward all who had followed Him faithfully and even suffer for His sake, and also punish those who had opposed Him and barred His way.

Following the Lord is not enough with just being with Him, and being idle. That was exactly what Jesus was referring to, when He mentioned the rebuke of the many, who cannot enter the kingdom of God, because they were unworthy, and because they were unprepared for the coming of the kingdom of God. They are caught asleep when the Lord comes again to claim His people for His own, and the Lord rebukes them and rejects them, denying them the reward He reserves only for those He deems to be worthy.

God is our Father and our Saviour, and He loves all of us very much, without condition. He truly cares for all of us, just like a father loves and cares for his own son, for his own children. He gives His love freely for everyone without exception, to the point that He even gave Himself in flesh and blood, His own Body, through the ultimate sacrifice Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, in His most loving Passion. He endured rejection, mockery, and suffering out of His love for us, that we will not die, die an eternal death in damnation, but may attain life eternal with Him for all ages.

Therefore, out of His great and unconditional love and compassion for us, He who gave us His life through His flesh and blood, wants us to be righteous, upright and worthy of Him. That is why, He corrects us, punishes us, and rebukes us when we make mistakes in our life, and when we go astray from the path to salvation, when the devil begin to take over our hearts. It is to ensure that we remain in Him and not fall into the temptations of Satan.

It may seem to many of us, that the devil seems to be very friendly to us, and yes, brethren, he will always present his smiling face to us, deceiving us into believing his lies and his alluring tactics. Remember, brethren, that the devil was once Lucifer, the greatest, brightest, and mightiest of all the angels of heaven. It is therefore easy for him to show his ‘bright’ and less sinister side to us, in order to deceive us into sin and disobedience against God, just as he had done with Adam and Eve, our ancestors.

We must always remember, that he is also Satan, the devil, the deceiver, the evil snake, and the great enemy of God and all that is good. We must be careful lest we be tempted and fall into his traps. The devil envies the Lord and all mankind, and he will certainly do his best, and use all the resources at his disposal, in order to make us fall. He had done that to our forefathers, and he will certainly do the same again to all of us.

God had given us His help and assistance to us, through His prophets, His messengers, and His own Son in the end. He gave us much assistance, and gave us His Law through Moses, first to His people Israel, and then to us. the core of that Law is the Ten Commandments, which was made clear by our Lord Jesus, as the commandments of love, the love for God and the love for our fellow men. The purpose of these laws? They are meant to be our guide, and our focus, that we will not be easily swayed by the sweet promises of the devil. Yes, brethren, sweet on the outside but bitter within indeed!

The devil placed many obstacles in our path towards the Lord, and that is why, following the Lord our God will not be easy, and it will not be like a walk in the park. Following our Lord will kean a constant, daily struggle, struggle against evil and all the temptations that threaten to divert us from salvation in God. Yes, as Jesus Himself had said, that following Him means to take up our own crosses and follow Him in carrying His cross to Calvary, yes, to our own Calvary.

To follow the Lord indeed means to die to ourselves, and to die to our sins. It is to die to our old lives with Christ’s own death. We die in this way through our own baptism, when we were welcomed and entered into the Church of God, as one family of the faithful ones. Through that ‘death’ we have also been risen up together with Christ, who had triumphed and conquered death, evil, and broke all the powers of Satan through His glorious Resurrection.

Once again, I will reiterate the great difficulty of following the Lord and to remain obedient to Him, His will, and His love, as the devil uses all the resources in his disposal to prevent us from being saved, to suffer and accompany him for eternity in damnation. He deceives and betrays all who believe in him, but he is sweet and smart in his ways, that we will see him as friend and someone good, but truly, nothing good can come of working with the devil. It is a choice we need to make, between the seemingly tough and challenging path of the Lord, but one that leads to eternal life, or the other path that seems to be easy and enjoyable, but is a path to damnation.

Today, brethren, we celebrate Lay Apostolate Sunday, and the purpose of this celebration is indeed to remain us, indeed all of us who belong to the laity, and also the priests alike, must all be apostles to one another, and ultimately be the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, just as the Apostles of the Lord, who gave their all for the sake of God, and spread the Word of God to the four corners of the world, and even gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel, we too should follow in their footsteps.

Christ had repeatedly warned them and therefore, all of us, that the path that He leads is not easy, and challenges are sure to be plentiful. The world itself will hate us, but we cannot fight back hatred with hate, brothers and sisters. We must reach out to them, reach out with our own love, the love God had given to all of us. That is the meaning of Lay Apostolate, that even all of us who do not belong to the priesthood, that is the laity, all of us, have an important part to play in our Church, in our faith. How? Precisely by making sure that we obey God and His commandments, that is love. Yes, love!

The gate to heaven is narrow, brethren, and that is why it is a narrow way. But with love, and with God’s love behind us, nothing is impossible. Yes, what is impossible for man is possible for God. For from men’s perspective, we had been far too dirty and unworthy of the perfection of heaven to have even the slightest hope of redemption, and yet, through Christ, the manifestation of Divine light, we have been promised salvation, as long as we remain faithful to Him and keep true to His path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today resolve, and indeed, vow to do our best, for the Church of God, for our brethren in need. Show them our great love, care, and compassion. Extend our hands towards them, and accept them into our embrace. The door is narrow, but to all of us who love, and who obey the Word of God, it is not narrow, brethren, but it is wide open for us! And do not forget to pray and support our priests, because just as we have much tasks to do ahead of us, to secure our salvation and the salvation of others in Christ through our actions and deeds, our priests have even greater responsibility. Continue to pray for them, support them in any way we can, while we continue to play our own part and contribute to the work of salvation, the good works of our Lord, made evident in this world, through us, His children and His apostles. God be with us, and bless us all always. Amen.