Patron saint of Paris

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Friday, 9 October 2015 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord speaking to us in the Holy Scriptures. God spoke to us about what will happen at the time when He comes again in glory to judge His people and to bring them together once again as one people. On that day, He shall glorify the just and bless those who are righteous, and condemning those who are wicked and who have failed to do as the Lord had taught us to do.

In this, our Lord would like to remind us of the consequences of sin and what will happen to us if we walk on the path of sin and darkness. Those who have done evil shall fear the coming of the day of judgment because it is then that they will be judged for their deeds, and they will be held accountable for everything that they have done, be it good or evil in nature. Indeed, everyone shall be held accountable for all of their actions, and it is in these that we shall find salvation or condemnation.

But we have no need to fear or be excessively worried, for our Lord indeed gave us a chance, by the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our Saviour. Through Him, God gave us a chance and a method of deliverance from the evils that had troubled us all these while. Yes, the evil spirits and the wickedness that dwell in us has caused us so much trouble and made us to do so many bad things in the sight of God.

And yet, the Gospel today is a reminder for us not to be complacent and ignorant of the problems that we may encounter on our way. There is a lesson in the readings today about someone who had been released from the bonds of the evil spirits and then later on became worse due to those evil spirits returning back with an even greater force. This is a lesson on the nature of our faith in the Lord, which should be enduring and be filled with commitment to the Lord.

This means that our faith should be maintained and kept alive and strong. We have to remember that the devil and his fellow fallen angels are always out and about trying to bring about our downfall. And if we do not keep our spiritual defence strong, then the warnings of our Lord will come true for us. This means that we must keep our spiritual and prayer life strong to defend ourselves from the assaults of the evil one.

We must be wary and be vigilant, not to reopen the doors to allow Satan to come again into our hearts. Because at baptism all of us have renounced Satan and cast him out with the help of the power of our Lord, who sanctified the waters of baptism that washed us and made us clean, clean from the taints of sin, and from the tyranny and the hold of the evil spirits.

But this does not mean that we can be idle or be ignorant of all things after that. Our faith does not require us just to believe as some would have it, but instead, it requires an active participation and contributions through good works and deeds, which means that we are actively practicing our faith. We cannot be merely providing lip service of our faith to God, as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had often done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the examples of two saints, whose feast we celebrate on this day, so that we may make ourselves righteous, just and worthy in the sight and in the presence of our Lord. St. Denis, Bishop of Paris, martyr and holy servant of God, was the bishop of what is now Paris, the largest city in France, at that time was the capital of Roman Gaul.

St. Denis was renowned for his great faith and for his great service to the Church, protecting many of the faithful under his care and ministering to them, even during the difficult times of the persecutions under the Roman Emperors who were dead set in destroying the Church and persecuting the faithful. The Roman Emperor Decius was in particular very adamant and passionate in his persecution of Christians.

It was told that eventually he and many other Christians at the time were arrested, tortured and forced to choose between recanting their faith, rejecting their Lord and Master, or die a most painful death. Yet, St. Denis and his faithful flock stayed strong in their faith, and they resisted the efforts of their tortures most admirably. Eventually he was put to death by beheading, separating his head from his body.

Yet, miraculously, even though he had been beheaded, St. Denis continued to live and walk by the grace of God, and holding his own separated head, he continued to preach the truth of Christ, terrifying all those who had persecuted him and the other Christians, and not few of them eventually believed and were converted as well to the truth of Christ.

Then, today we also celebrate the memory of St. John Leonardi, known also as San Giovanni Leonardi, an Italian priest who ministered to the faithful during a time about four centuries ago. He was a founder of a religious order, and was renowned especially for his personal holiness and devotion, both to the Lord and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord and Saviour.

St. John Leonardi through his works and devoted service to the people of God brought about a reversal of the heresy known as the Protestant ‘reformation’. This massive heretical movement had brought about many millions of souls to be lost from the Church and many faced eternal damnation, if not for the works of St. John Leonardi and many other faithful servants of God in what would be known as the Counter-Reformation.

The brave examples of the two saints we celebrate today should be an inspiration to all of us, that if we are truly faithful and devoted to the Lord, we shall show it not just by mere words and profession of faith, but with concrete and real actions, in defending that faith, standing up for the Lord and for our brethren oppressed for their faith, and for loving one another just as our Lord had instructed us.

Let us all therefore renew our faith to the Lord, and commit ourselves to greater devotion to the Lord and His ways. Let us open wide the doors of our hearts to His love and grace, and close the door tight against the devil and his fellow fallen angels. Do not let the evil spirits to come into us again and claim us for damnation. May the Lord protect all of us His people and bless us and our works forever. Amen.

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Friday, 9 October 2015 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 11 : 15-26

At that time, some of the people said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” Others wanted to put Him to the test, by asking Him for a heavenly sign.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.”

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God, has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils.”

“Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me, scatters. When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands, looking for a resting place; and finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.'”

“When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits, even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

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Friday, 9 October 2015 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Psalm)

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

Psalm 9 : 2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9

Let my heart give thanks to the Lord, I yearn to proclaim Your marvellous deeds, and rejoice and exult in You, and sing praise to Your Name, o Most High.

You have turned back the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their names forever. The pagans have sunk into the pit they have dug, their own feet ensnared by the trap they laid.

But the Lord reigns forever, having set up His throne for judgment. He will judge the nations with justice and govern the peoples in righteousness.

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Friday, 9 October 2015 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (First Reading)

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

Joel 1 : 13-15 and Joel 2 : 1-2

Gird yourselves, o priests, and weep; mourn, o ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, o ministers of my God! For the house of your God is deprived of grain and drink offering.

Proclaim a fast, call an assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land into the house of your God, and cry out to YHVH, “What a dreadful day – the day of YHVH that draws near and comes as ruin from the Almighty!”

YHVH said, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all dwellers in the land tremble, for the day of YHVH is coming. Yes, the day is fast approaching – a day of gloom and darkness, a day of clouds and blackness. A vast and mighty army comes, like dawn spreading over the mountain, such as has never occurred before nor will happen again in the future.”

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Thursday, 9 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are both reminded of the fact that temptations are always around us and they will always threaten to sever us from the connection of love which is between us and our God. St. Paul in his letter to the faithful and the Church in Galatia rebuked the people severely, after their unfaithfulness and submission to their human desire and the pleasures of the flesh, abandoning what is good for what is wicked and evil.

And the rest of the readings, including the Gospel as written by St. Luke mentioned how God is like our Father, who cared for us and loved us so much, that He would indeed give us all many things that we need, and we have nothing to worry about or fear, for our God will be with us and guide us. What we need is to have faith in Him, and put our trust completely in Him, rather than in the worldly things which the evil one is trying very hard to impose upon us.

But many of us do not know how to ask God our Father for what we need. Instead, as we grow, we become more and more affected by the world and all its corruptions, resulting in us becoming like a spoilt child, crying and causing wreckage all around us whenever what we want is not fulfilled. Thus is the same with our attitude in life, and how we live our faith life.

Just like the faithful in Galatia at the time of St. Paul, we often let go of our restraint and faith, taking pleasure in indulging ourselves with the goods of the world, with the pleasures of the flesh, so that we who were once good and faithful, had been defiled by the darkness of the evils we had committed. This resulted in us being separated from the grace and love of God, and if nothing is done, we will indeed come under great threat of damnation before us.

Therefore, what Jesus wanted to tell His disciples, and as well as what He wants to tell us through them, is that we ought to follow the Lord, not just with empty lip-service or superficial faith, but also through real and concrete devotion, filled with the acts of faith. And in that faith, we ought to listen to God, and know what our Lord and loving Father wants from us. He cares for us, and He will love us and bless us if we devote ourselves completely and entirely to Him, turning away from our ways of sin and evil.

Today we celebrate the lives of two great saints, whose life may indeed inspire us on how we ought to live out our faith. They are St. Denis, whose name is the patronymic for the Basilica of St. Denis in Paris, France today. St. Denis and his companions in faith were martyred approximately at the time of the reign of the Emperor Decian of the Roman Empire in the middle of the third century after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, St. John Leonardi, also known as St. Giovanni Leonardi is an Italian priest who lived during the Counter Reformation era in Italy, where he was a crucial member of the efforts of the Church to reclaim countless souls from the heretical and misguided lead of the so-called ‘reformation’ by the Protestant heretics and schismatics. He also founded a community of the faithful, in which he led the effort to strengthen the foundations of their faith, by living in good devotion to the Lord and to His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. John Leonardi devoted himself to the education and guidance of youths and many others, so that they might find their way towards the Lord, through sincere and devout commitment to prayerful life and loving acts to others, so that by such cultivation of good deeds and efforts, those whom St. John Leonardi had touched may find the salvation of their souls in God.

Meanwhile, St. Denis was the evangeliser sent by the Pope in Rome to the faithful and the community of the people in Gaul, the Roman province now known as France, where he was sent with several other priests and preachers to bring many souls to the Faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. During his ministry there, the Roman Emperor at the time, Emperor Decius, carried out an Empire-wide persecution of the faithful, in what was later known as the Decian persecution, where many martyrs of the Faith were born.

St. Denis and his companions were arrested, rounded up and imprisoned, before they were brought for execution for their faith and for their evangelising works. St. Denis was beheaded, but even so, even after he was beheaded, he was able to walk holding up his own separated head on his hands, and continued to walk, speak and preach the word of God until a few kilometres away from his execution place. This miracle of the speaking head after beheading, or cephalophore was widely witnessed and reported by contemporaries.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we see in their examples, the love and devotion which God has for all those who put their trust and faith in Him, that these people who depended on Him will not be disappointed. They will be blessed and bountiful will be their reward, just as St. Denis received through his perseverance and martyrdom, a just reward of heavenly glory and eternal life, as well as St. John Leonardi, through his works and devotion towards the salvation of souls.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all keep always in mind that we need to preserve this faith which we received from God, and follow the Lord in all things, casting away all of the pride within our hearts, all of the wicked and unworthy desires for the pleasures of the flesh, so that we, as the children of God, may find our way to the Lord, our Father, and gain salvation in Him, He who loves us all and wants us reunited with Him.

May Almighty God, our Father, continue to watch closely over us, protect us from the assaults of Satan and his angels, and guide us through towards eternal life in Him. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 9 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 11 : 5-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is travelling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside, ‘Do not bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I cannot get up and give you anything.'”

“But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need. And so I say to you, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.'”

“If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

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Thursday, 9 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 1 : 69-70, 71-72, 73-75

In the house of David His servant, He has raised up for us a victorious Saviour; as He promised through His prophets of old.

Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of our foes. He has shown mercy to our fathers; and remembered His holy covenant.

The oath He swore to Abraham, our father, to deliver us from the enemy, that we might serve Him fearlessly, as a holy and righteous people, all the days of our lives.

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Thursday, 9 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 3 : 1-5

How foolish you are, Galatians! How could they bewitch you after Jesus Christ has been presented to you as crucified? I shall ask you only this : Did you receive the Spirit by the practice of the Law, or by believing the message? How can you be such fools : you begin with the Spirit and end up with the flesh!

So you have experienced all this in vain! Would that it were not so! Did God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you, because of your observance of the Law or because you believed in His message?