people of God

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Sunday, 3 July 2016 : 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 10 : 1-12, 17-20

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest.”

“Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim : ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know for a certainty that the kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ I tell you, that on the Day of Judgment it will be better for Sodom than for this town.”

The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on Your Name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you.”

“Nonetheless, do not rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest.”

“Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

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Monday, 27 June 2016 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 49 : 16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

You join a thief when you meet one; you keep company with adulterers. You have a mouth of evil and a deceitful tongue.

You speak ill of your brother, and slander your own mother’s son. Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you.

Give this a thought, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces with no one to help you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Monday, 27 June 2016 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Amos 2 : 6-10, 13-16

YHVH says this, “Because Israel has sinned, not once but three times and even more, I will not relent. They sell the just for money and the needy for a pair of sandals; they tread on the head of the poor and trample them upon the dust of the earth, while they silence the right of the afflicted; a man and his father go to the same woman to profane My Holy Name; they stretch out upon garments taken in pledge, beside every altar; they take the wine of those they swindle and are drunk in the house of their God.”

“It was I Who destroyed the Amorites before them, whose height was like the height of the cedar, a people as sturdy as an oak. I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below. It was I Who brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to take possession of the land of the Amorites.”

“Behold, I will crush you to the ground, as a cart does when it is full of sheaves. The swift shall be unable to flee and the strong man shall lose his strength. The warrior shall not save himself nor the bowman stand his ground. The swift of foot shall not escape nor the horseman save himself. Even the most stout-hearted among the warriors shall flee away naked on that day,” says YHVH.

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Sunday, 26 June 2016 : 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 19 : 16b, 19-21

YHVH said to Elijah, “And Elisha, son of Shaphat, from Abel Meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.”

So Elijah left. He found Elisha, son of Shaphat, who was plowing a field of twelve acres and was at the end of the twelfth acre. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah and said, “Let me say goodbye to my father and mother; then I will follow you.”

Elijah said to him, “Return if you want, do not worry about what I did.” However, Elisha turned back, took the yoke of oxen and slew them. He roasted their meat on the pieces of the yoke and gave it to his people who ate of it. After this, he followed Elijah and began ministering to him.

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Saturday, 25 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 73 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 20-21

O God, have You rejected us forever? Why vent Your anger on the sheep of Your own fold? Remember the people You have formed of old, the tribe You have redeemed as Your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion where You once lived.

Climb and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the sanctuary. Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.

Like lumberman felling trees, they smashed the carved panelling with hatchets, hammers and axes. They defiled Your sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of Your Name.

See how they keep Your covenant in the dark caves of the land. Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise Your Name.

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Saturday, 25 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Lamentations 2 : 2, 10-14, 18-19

Without pity YHVH has shattered in Jacob every dwelling. He has torn down in His anger the ramparts of Judah’s daughter. He has thrown her rulers and her king to ground, dishonoured.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit in silence upon the ground, their heads sprinkled with dust, their bodies wrapped in sackcloth, while Jerusalem’s young women bow their heads to the ground. With weeping my eyes are spent; my soul is in torment because of the downfall of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the open spaces of the town.

To their mothers they say, “Where is the bread and wine?” as they faint like wounded men in the streets and public squares, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ arms. To what can I compare you, o daughter of Jerusalem? Who can save or comfort you, o virgin daughter of Zion? Deep as the sea is your affliction, and who can possibly heal you?

Your prophets’ visions were worthless and false. Had they warned of your sins, your fate might have been averted. But what they gave you instead were false, misleading signs. Cry out to the Lord, o wall of the daughter of Zion! Oh, let your tears flow day and night, like a river. Give yourself no relief; grant your eyes no respite.

Get up, cry out in the night, as the evening watches start; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children, who faint with hunger at the corner of every street.

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Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 22-26

After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said, “I am not what you think I am, for after me another one is coming whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.

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Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to me, “You are Israel, My servant. Through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my strength.

And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said, “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

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Thursday, 23 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Kings 24 : 8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. Jehoiachin treated YHVH badly, as his father had done.

At that time, the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to attack Jerusalem, surrounding the city. Nebuchadnezzar came while the city was being besieged by his men. Jehoiachin, king of Judah, surrendered together with his mother, his servants, his leaders and the palace officials. It was the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar captured them and he took away the treasures of the House of YHVH and of the king’s house. He also destroyed all the objects of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the sanctuary of YHVH. So the word of YHVH had spoken, was fulfilled.

Nebuchadnezzar carried off into exile all the leaders and prominent men, the blacksmiths and locksmiths, all the men of valour fit for war. A total of ten thousand were exiled to Babylon. Only the poorest sector of the population was left. Nebuchadnezzar also carried away Jehoiachin, with his mother, his wives, the ministers of the palace, and the prominent men of the land.

So all the prominent people, numbering seven thousand, the blacksmiths, numbering a thousand, and all the men fit for war were deported to Babylon by the king of Babylon. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king of Jerusalem, in place of Jehoiachin. And he changed his name to Zedekiah.

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Tuesday, 21 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Jesus Who reminded all of us that the path to the Lord and His salvation is difficult and tough, and the gate to His presence is narrow. And many would not be able to enter into the kingdom of God. Those who manage to enter are those whose faith have been tested by trials and tribulations and yet they remain faithful to the very end without doubt and without falling into temptation.

And we have an excellent example of this from the Old Testament, as we heard today how the king Hezekiah of Judah, the faithful king of God’s people stood up against Sennacherib, the great and very mighty king of Assyria, feared all over the known world at that time due to his great conquests and his ruthlessness. Sennacherib brought all of his armies to strike at Jerusalem, which stood defiantly against the Assyrian forces.

And Sennacherib taunted Hezekiah and the people of Judah, boasting of his many conquests and his many triumphs, and how all of them were not saved by their gods and idols, and were delivered into his hands. He boasted that neither the Lord our God, the God of Israel would be able to save Jerusalem and Judah from Sennacherib and his mighty armies.

But Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not falter in their faith in God. They knew that God has been faithful to His covenant, and He would not abandon His people in their time of need. And unlike the other gods and idols which were mere creations of men and their hands, the Lord God of Israel is the one and only true God Who created all and rules over all, even over the Assyrians and Sennacherib.

And God delivered Hezekiah and Judah through His mighty power, saving them for they have stood by Him faithfully to the end, even amidst such a great odds stacked against them. He sent His mighty Angel to slay most if not all of Sennacherib’s mighty army. The mighty and great army of the Assyrians has been humbled and destroyed.

We were told that a hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers of the Assyrians perished that day, and this told us that the army which besieged Jerusalem was very great indeed. And this was at the time when Hezekiah would likely not be able to barely muster even ten thousand men to defend his kingdom. And thus we see again how great is the victory that God would give to His faithful ones over the wicked.

And Sennacherib would return in total shame to Nineveh, his capital, having his armies destroyed and his aim of conquering Jerusalem unfulfilled. And he met his end, murdered by two of his own sons who killed him in the temple of his gods. In the end, from this history, we can see how many people would not enter into the glory of God but end up in defeat and destruction.

Only those who keep their faith and stand fast amidst the darkness will triumph in the end. Those who have been true to God will be richly rewarded. And thus all of us have to persevere in faith and devote ourselves to the Lord in all things. And perhaps the saint whose feast we are celebrating today can give us hints on how we ought to live our lives faithfully and gain righteousness in God.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga was the scion of a noble family who was expected to be the successor to his father’s noble titles and rights, as well as possessions and wealth. And from early on in his life, he has been prepared for that role to be the head of the noble house. He was given military training and good education, but deep in St. Aloysius Gonzaga’s heart, the seeds of love and devotion for the Lord began to take root and grow deep.

St. Aloysius witnessed the terrible nature of the conflicts that raged on in Italy and Spain during his youth at that time, when wars and conflicts were commonplace, and where conflicts between noble houses and families were numerous. As such, he witnessed how two of his brothers were killed in that conflict, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga began questioning his aim and direction in life, which eventually led to his desire to become a Jesuit.

And although his father was firmly against the decision, but St. Aloysius Gonzaga was truly firm and committed in his decision. Eventually he became a Jesuit, leaving behind all his rights to succeed to the titles and properties of his ancestors, and gave himself wholly to the service of God and His people. He served the poor, the sick and the dying, including those who are affected by the epidemics that were raging at that time.

And it was in the midst of that faithful service that St. Aloysius Gonzaga himself was affected by the sickness, became weak and dying himself. But to the very end, he still desired and indeed, still ministered to the poor and the sick to whom he had devoted his life to. And after his death immediately many miracles attributed to him were reported. And thus we see how God reward His righteous ones with glory and grace.

And looking at the glory of the saints in heaven, we too shall receive the same glory that the saints have received. And thus, let us all commit ourselves to the work of God, and let us all strive to be ever righteous and just in all things, that we may receive the salvation promised to us by our God. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.