Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
Patron saints of Rome
Friday, 3 July 2015 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (First Reading)
Liturgical Colour : Red
Ephesians 2 : 19-22
Now you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people : you are of the household of God. You are the house whose foundations are the Apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus.
In Him the whole structure is joined together and rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you too are being built to become the spiritual sanctuary of God.
Thursday, 2 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about how God healed and forgave the sins of the paralytic man, whom Jesus had made whole and healthy again. And yet the Pharisees and the opponents of the Lord made a lot of noise, complaining that it was blasphemy to think that someone other than God could have forgiven sins.
This was because they failed to understand the true nature of our Lord and His love. For God had loved us so much, and He is indeed Love Himself, so that He was willing to send forth His Son into the world, the one and only begotten Son, who is His Word made into flesh, taking up the appearance and substance of the human body, and yet remained fully divine, so that, by His authority and works, He might bring about healing and salvation for all of us mankind.
This is clearly matched with what had happened long ago at the time of Abraham, when God asked him to sacrifice his own son, Isaac, the one and only promised son which God had promised Abraham when he set out of his homeland to follow Him. The first reading today is actually an affirmation of God’s love, who has done even more than what He had asked of Abraham.
For in his great faith, even though knowing that he would have to kill his son, but he knows that God will certainly find a way for him. And he also knows that even if he did the terrible did, God will raise him up again, as St. Paul had pointed out in one of his epistles. God has the authority for all things, even the things that seem to be impossible for men.
God also did not hold back His only Son, just as Abraham did not hold back his son from God. And while Abraham had such a great faith in God, following and obeying the will of God completely, but God Himself is also ever faithful, to the covenant and promise which He had made with mankind, that He will not abandon us to sin and destruction because of those sins.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, have we been obedient to God, and have we been faithful to Him as Abraham had done? Or have we instead been complaining and ignoring what we all ought to do as the ones with whom God had made His everlasting covenant? This is unfortunately our bad trait, the nature which have caused so many of us to fall into sin.
God has loved us so much, that even though we sinned and disobeyed Him, He did not straight away reject us and cast us into eternal darkness, even though He was fully capable of doing so. He instead gave us new opportunity, a second chance to redeem ourselves, so that by our devotion and actions, we may be redeemed and be brought back into the grace of God.
May Almighty God awaken in all of us, the love which we ought to have for Him. May He bless us and empower us, that we shall be more devoted to the Lord, and may our faith be considered worthy by our loving God, who will then heal us from our afflictions as He had done with the paralytic man. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.
Thursday, 2 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 9 : 1-8
At that time, Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to His hometown. Here they brought a paralysed man to Him, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, My son! Your sins are forgiven.”
Then some teachers of the Law said within themselves, “This Man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking, and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? You must know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”
He then said to the paralysed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home.” The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
Thursday, 2 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 114 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Alleluia! I am pleased that the Lord has heard my voice in supplication, that He has not been deaf to me, the day I called on Him.
When the cords of death entangled me, the snares of the grave laid hold of me, when affliction got the better of me, I called upon the Name of the Lord : “O Lord, save my life!”
Gracious and righteous is the Lord; full of compassion is our God. The Lord protects the simple : He saved me when I was humbled.
He has freed my soul from death, my eyes from weeping, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
Thursday, 2 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Genesis 22 : 1-19
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you.”
Abraham rose early next morning and saddled his donkey and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and set out for the place to which God had directed him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, and he said to the young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He carried in his hand the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, “Father!” And Abraham replied, “Yes, my son?” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham replied, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.”
They went on, the two of them together, until they came to the place to which God had directed them. When Abraham had built the altar and set the wood on it, he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood placed on the altar. He then stretched out his hand to seize the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of YHVH called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.” “Do not lay your hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God, and you have not held back from Me your only son.” Abraham looked around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place ‘The Lord will provide.’ And the saying has lasted to this day.
And the Angel of YHVH called from heaven a second time, “By myself I have sworn, it is YHVH who speaks, because you have done this and not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the lands of their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants because you have obeyed Me.”
So Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba and it was there that Abraham stayed.
Wednesday, 1 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard the readings from the Book of Genesis, telling us how the son of Abraham by his slave, Hagar, was banished together with his mother, the slave Hagar, as there was only one place for the promise of God which would be fulfilled, that is through Isaac, the son of Abraham and his wife, Sarah.
It may be somewhat confusing, given that we may ask why the Lord was so cruel to this young son of Abraham, Ishmael, who was cast out together with his mother, Hagar into the desert to fend off on their own. However, if we read the passages more carefully, we should notice how God cared for them and loved them too, giving them means to survive and live on their own, promising even that the sons of Ishmael would become great nations on their own.
What would be more significant was that the two sons of Abraham by different mothers would represent two different covenants and traditions, a fact which St. Paul himself had noted and stated in his epistles. There had indeed been two covenants, one that was the former covenant, which God had established with Abraham and his descendants, while the other covenant dealt with the covenant that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself established through His death on the cross, the New covenant and promise of God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the banishing of the older son of Abraham represented the banishing of the old order, the old covenant that no longer had power and authority, for it had been superseded by the new covenant which God established through Jesus our Lord, by His suffering and death on the cross. The older son of Abraham also represented by the men possessed by the demons in Gadara, for yet another interpretation of its meaning.
Just as God allowed Ishmael to live for a time with Isaac before he was banished, thus the same also applied to the demons who inhabited the men before they were cast out. They were asking Jesus why He came to torture and destroy them before their time came. The dominion of the demons, Satan and all of his angels over us came about because of our sins, and because we have sinned, then we fell under the tyranny of Satan and his angels, through our sins.
And the time which the demons mentioned, was the time of reckoning, when God would reclaim all those who have been lost to Him and reclaim them for His glory. This time would come at the end of time, when God would cast down Satan and his fellow fallen angels, together with all those who have rejected His salvation, into the eternal suffering and destruction in hellfire.
Those of us who believe in the Lord, have accepted Him in the covenant which He had brought to us, the new covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ. No longer would we be under the old covenant which had been broken by our own sinfulness and rebelliousness, represented by the banishment of Ishmael, but we are now the partakers of the Lord’s new covenant which He established with us by His death on the cross.
And therefore, the blessing of God comes to us who belong to this covenant, and the grace of God fills us to the brim, just as God blessed Abraham and his descendants through Isaac. This new covenant has been fulfilled in has and sealed with the Blood and Sacrifice of our Lord. The wholeness of its rich gifts and blessings will be ours, if we keep our end of the covenant, that is by being faithful to the Lord our God.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be partakers of the new covenant which our Lord had established with us with His love. Let us all receive the fullness of God’s love and grace, which He offers freely to all those who keep His Law and commandments, and therefore keep their end of the covenant alive and strong. May God bless us all and keep us in faith to Him. God be with us all now and forever. Amen.
Wednesday, 1 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 8 : 28-34
At that time, when Jesus reached Gadara, on the other side, He was met by two men, possessed by devils, who came out from the tombs. They were so fierce that no one dared to pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What do You want with us, You, Son of God? Have You come to torture us before the time?”
At some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. So the demons begged Him, “If You drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.” Jesus ordered them, “Go!” So the demons left and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.
The men in charge of them ran off to the town, where they told the whole story, also what had happened to the men possessed with the demons. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their area.
Wednesday, 1 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 33 : 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress. The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him.
Revere the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.
Come, listen to me, my children; I will show you how to fear the Lord. If you desire long life, if you want to enjoy prosperity.
Wednesday, 1 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)
Liturgical Colour : Green
Genesis 21 : 5, 8-20
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. The child grew and on the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast. Sarah saw the child that Hagar, the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, mocking her son and she said to Abraham, “Send this slave girl and her son away; the child of this slave must not share the inheritance with my son, Isaac.”
This matter distressed Abraham because it concerned his son, but God said to him, “Do not be worried about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to Sarah and do whatever she says, because the race which is called by your name will spring from Isaac. But from the son of your servant I will also form a nation, for he too is your offspring.”
Abraham rose early next morning and gave bread and a skin bag of water to Hagar. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She went off and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. When there was no more water in the skin, she pushed the boy under one of the bushes, and then went and sat down about a hundred yards away, for she thought, “I cannot bear to see my son die.”
But as she sat there, the child began to wail. God heard him and the Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying. Get up, pick the boy up and hold him safely, for I will make him into a great nation.”
God then opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness and became an expert archer.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 