Polish saints

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Tuesday, 22 October 2024 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to seek the Lord, His love and compassionate mercy, at all times, and for us all not to be afraid to come towards Him, as God is and has always been full of mercy and compassion, wanting each and every one of us to be reconciled and reunited with Him. We must never be afraid because through His Son, Our Lord has opened for us the path to eternal life and true happiness with Him, and what we all now need is for us to embrace this love and mercy, and we have to answer Him calling each and every one of us in the depths of our hearts. We must always be prepared for the Lord Who can come at any time on us, and we may have to reckon our lives and actions, and account for everything that we have done and whatever it is that we have failed to do.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians in which the Apostle spoke of how God has reconciled us all to Himself, through the actions of His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom God had embraced our human nature and existence, entering into our world to reach out to us and to show His love for us, which He has always generously provided for us, and which He has endeavoured to make tangible and approachable to us through His Son. God has always loved us, His beloved children, which He has kept on doing all throughout time despite our frequent and constant disobedience against Him. He has always kept on His promises and love, giving us assurances, one after another through His many prophets and messengers, and eventually, by the sending of His Son.

Through all that Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had done, we have been called to reconciliation and reunion with our loving God and Father, as His most loving and selfless sacrifice, offering and gift for us from the Cross, at the moment of His Passion and death, has become for us the source of Hope and Joy, the assurance and promise of everlasting life and total liberation from the dominion and power of darkness, sin and all the evils which had ruled over us and dominated us all these while. As the Lord Himself has shown us His love so generously and so wonderfully through Christ, His Son, let us all therefore have truly firm faith and conviction to follow Him wholeheartedly and devoutly, not allowing ourselves to be swayed by temptations or fears in our path in life, in journeying towards Him and following Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord told His disciples and all the people to be always prepared and ever ready at all times, using the comparison to the return of a master to his household, property and servants right after a wedding or function that he was attending, which could not be predicted and anticipated precisely. The Lord used that example to compare to our own situation, representing the Lord our God as the Master, while all of us are the servants in this world, and as the Lord Himself has promised and assured us all, He will return once again in glory, as we all believe, to judge all the living and the dead, and to usher in the eternal kingdom of glory and happiness that He has brought into our midst. No one knows exactly when this will happen, other than the fact that it will certainly happen.

Therefore, it is a very important reminder for us all to live our lives with genuine faith in God and to continue to do our best to practice love in each and every actions of our daily living moments. We should always do our best to proclaim the Lord through our every actions, deeds and interactions in life, in our every words and dealings with those who are around us, and in how we live our lives embodying the faith we have in Christ. Each and every one of us should continue to walk in the path of God’s grace, and also follow the great examples set by our holy predecessors, all of whom have spent many times and moments in difficulties and tribulations, enduring various challenges for the Lord, but they remained truly faithful and committed to Him because they remember the great love and examples which He Himself has shown us through His Son.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of one of the great and holy pastors of the Church, the recent Pope, Pope St. John Paul II, the first Polish Pope and the first one who was not an Italian in over four hundred and fifty years. Pope St. John Paul II was born as Karol Jozef Wojytla in Wadowice in Poland during the time right after the First World War, also known as the Great War at that time. He was born in a devout family, but was faced with a lot of difficulties from early on in his life. He encountered many personal tragedies when he was young, as his mother passed away early, and so was his elder brother due to sickness. His father cared for him well, and the young Karol grew up into a fine young man. However, circumstances would again cause him great tribulations and sufferings, as merely twenty years after the First World War, the Second World War erupted in Europe with the invasion of Poland by the NAZI German state.

This would begin the many years and decades of sufferings and persecutions for the Polish people, first of all by the NAZI Germans who invaded Poland and persecuted not just the Jewish people they then targetted, but many of the non-Jewish Poles as well. The years of war were difficult, and the young Karol also had to contend with losing his beloved father during those years, and it was at that time, that he joined the seminary, preparing for his priestly formation clandestinely and quietly amidst all the conflicts and destruction happening all around due to the NAZI atrocities and the war. Even the young Karol almost lost his life in one occasion, but God’s grace was with him, and he survived through all the challenges, and was eventually ordained as a priest of the Lord after the war. But that was not the end of his challenges and difficulties.

For then the Soviets and the Communists took over control over the country and subjugated many Polish Catholics and its leadership to a lot of challenges and persecutions, both officially and unofficially. Father Karol Wojtyla remained rather unassuming and quiet in his ministry among the faithful people of God, and he was particularly popular among the youths and students, a ministry which he continue to carry out faithfully until he was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow by the Pope, and then eventually succeeding as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow. For many years after, the then Archbishop and afterwards Cardinal Wojtyla gradually became the centre of the faithful resistance against the atheist Communist government of Poland, such as a well-known moment when he stood up courageously against the efforts of the Communists to establish a new city, Nowa Huta, without a church, unlike others in Poland. Then Cardinal Wojtyla spent efforts to establish a church there, with the foundation stone blessed by the Pope himself, then Pope St. Paul VI.

Cardinal Wojtyla would then unexpectedly be elected as Pope, succeeding his predecessor, Blessed Pope John Paul I who had just reigned for thirty-three days. His Pontificate was one of the longest in the recent centuries, spanning over twenty-seven years, and during those periods, he continue to dedicate himself faithfully in the Lord, becoming an instrumental figure in the downfall of Communism in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe and also elsewhere around the world, becoming a great world figure and peacemaker in many occasions. In his numerous trips all around the world, visiting many countries and places where no Pope has ever set foot before, even in those places where there were only few Catholics, Pope St. John Paul II showed the great love of God manifested through Christ and His Church to countless people around the world.

Pope St. John Paul II also faced an assassination attempt early in his Pontificate, but he survived, and was well-known for his visit to his would-be assassin, and how he forgave his assailant, praying for him and his conversion. Pope St. John Paul II continued to do many other great things for the good of the Church and the faithful all throughout the world, and even in his final years, when he was faced with a lot of personal sufferings and hardships from his Parkinson’s disease and other complications, he continued to serve the Lord faithfully, becoming the face of God’s love and persistent compassion and mercy to many who were also suffering in this world. To the very end of his life, Pope St. John Paul II continued to remain firm in his conviction and dedication in serving God, and this should be an inspiration to many of us as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the life of Pope St. John Paul II, and also from what we have discussed earlier on from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore ponder upon the great love of God which all of us have had the privilege of receiving so that we may continue to live our lives faithfully in God’s Presence. Let us all continue to dedicate ourselves and our every moments in life with great faith and strive to glorify the Lord ever more by our exemplary lives and actions, following in the good examples that Christ Himself has shown us, and as His saints, like Pope St. John Paul II had done. May the Lord be with us and bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 22 October 2024 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 12 : 35-38

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding. As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him. Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes.”

“Truly, I tell you, he will put an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them. Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!”

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Tuesday, 22 October 2024 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Psalm 84 : 9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Would, that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet, His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

YHVH will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Tuesday, 22 October 2024 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Ephesians 2 : 12-22

At that time, you were without Christ, you did not belong to the community of Israel; the Covenants of God, and His promises, were not for you; you had no hope, and were without God in this world.

But now, in Christ Jesus, and by His Blood, you, who were once far off, have come near. For Christ is our peace; He, Who has made the two people, one; destroying, in His own flesh, the wall – the hatred – which separated us. He abolished the Law, with its commandments and precepts. He made peace, in uniting the two people, in Him; creating, out of the two, one New Man.

He destroyed hatred and reconciled us both to God, through the cross, making the two, one body. He came to proclaim peace; peace to you who were far off, peace to the Jews who were near. Through Him, we – the two people – approach the Father, in one Spirit.

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.

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Wednesday, 14 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that ultimately each and every one of us are beloved by the Lord and none of us are beyond His salvation and grace, as long as we are still willing to cooperate with Him and embrace Him as our loving Father and allowing Him to forgive us from our many sins and trespasses. Each and every one of us have been given many opportunities and chances to repent from our sins and turn away from our wickedness and evils, and God has also given us many assistance and help throughout our journey in life, strengthening our faith and encouraging us through His guidance and the Holy Spirit that He has sent to inflame our hearts with His love and zeal.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which God showed Ezekiel through the heavenly vision he experienced on what the people of Israel in Judah, in Jerusalem and all those who remained in the land of Judah would have to experience and endure, at that time when many among the people of God had been uprooted into exile in far-off and distant lands in Assyria and Babylon. Ezekiel himself witnessed this vision from his exile and time in Babylon during the years when the kingdom of Judah was in its final years of existence. Ezekiel was tasked to deliver the final fate of the kingdom of Judah and its people, to remind the rest of the people of God in exile not to continue to disobey the Lord just as their ancestors had done.

That was why God showed Ezekiel the vision of His glory passing through Jerusalem, as His Presence passed through out of the Temple, the House that King Solomon once built for Him, out of the city of God’s people, the city which had seen the lamentations of many prophets and messengers of God, persecuted and martyred for their faith in Him throughout the many centuries since the Temple was established. It was the coming of God’s judgment over all those who have profaned His Holy Name, desecrated His Holy Temple and House, rejected His messengers and servants who had kept on bringing to them the patient and ever enduring love of God, which He had kept on manifesting and reminding His people throughout the centuries since He brought them to settle in the land that He has granted to them.

It is a reminder for each and every one of us as well that while God is ever loving, forgiving, compassionate and kind towards us, and while He is always ever patient with His care and love towards each one of us, but we must not take this love for granted, and we must also realise that while He loves each one of us generously but He despises our sins and wickedness, all the things which we had done, which were all against the righteousness, justice and virtues which He has shown and taught us to do. The sins and wickedness that the people of Israel had done in the past all had to be accounted for, and God therefore told them through Ezekiel that they would have to bear witness and suffer the destruction of their city and kingdom, everything that they had found to be precious.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew about the Lord Jesus Who told His disciples to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with one another. He told them to get their fellow brethren to be forgiven and to be reconciled to the Church, especially when they had erred and become wayward in their paths and ways. God again showed His great mercy, forgiveness and love, calling on all of His people to return to Him, and He has provided us with the ways and means to embrace this great mercy, love and forgiveness. However, sin in all of its form is wicked and evil, and has no place before the Lord, and hence, we must reject those sins which we have committed, or else, they will keep us separated from God and His grace.

That is why we are reminded that we have been given the free will and the freedom to choose our path and course in life, on whether we want to follow the path of righteousness and God’s grace, or whether we prefer to continue walking down the path of sin and disobedience against God. If we continue to disobey the Lord and sin against Him, then we must realise that in the end there will be nothing left for us but destruction and damnation, eternal separation from God just as how those people in Judah had suffered from their sins and disobedience against God. However, if we choose to repent from our sins and return to the Lord once again with renewed love and commitment towards Him, we will then be blessed and be reconciled, reunited and returned to His Holy Presence.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a renowned Polish priest who was remembered for his great faith and piety as a missionary to many people in different parts of the world, and then finally in his perseverance and courage in faith in the face of great persecutions and hardships, as he faced the tyranny and the evils of the NAZI German regime during the Second World War, eventually dying as a martyr of the faith and became a great inspiration and role model for everyone of us. He was born in Poland and had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary since early on in his life, which eventually pushed him to dedicate himself to the Conventual Franciscans, a religious order founded upon the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, where he became its member and eventually was ordained as a priest. Throughout all those years, St. Maximilian Kolbe championed and promoted strong devotions to the Blessed Mother of God.

St. Maximilian Kolbe would then assemble the Militia Immaculatae, or the Army of the Immaculate One, a powerful missionary movement centred upon the devotion to Mary, which worked hard for the conversion of sinners and the propagation of the faith, through their ceaseless prayers and missionary efforts, outreach and works among the people. He also founded the related publication Knight of the Immaculata dedicated to the propagation of the messages and ideals of his devotion. Then, St. Maximilian Kolbe undertook a period of six years of mission in East Asia, working first in Shanghai and then in Japan, as well as in India, performing missionary efforts and works before returning to Poland before the beginning of the Second World War. During that terrible war, many people suffered and St. Maximilian Kolbe helped many people through his connections and resources to hide from the terrors and tyranny of the NAZI regime.

This eventually led to the arrest and incarceration of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was then eventually transferred to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. In that concentration camp, St. Maximilian Kolbe continued to minister to the inmates as a priest, despite all the beatings and sufferings that he had to suffer from. And eventually, in July of the year 1941, when a prisoner escaped from the concentration camp, and the deputy camp commander ordered ten prisoners to be starved to death as punishment and warning for the rest of the inmates, a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek cried out, ‘My wife! My children’ which therefore prompted St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was there, to volunteer and take the man’s place to be executed by being starved to death. St. Maximilian Kolbe faced his final moments and death with peace, and when he was put to death by lethal injection in the end, having survived the starvation period, he remained calm and composed, surrendering everything to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard and discussed in our Scripture passages earlier, in everything that we have also discussed from the life and examples of St. Maximilian Kolbe, let us all therefore strive as Christians to abandon our sinful attitudes and actions, embracing once again God’s love and grace, His forgiveness and mercy, not taking all these for granted. Let us all also follow in the footsteps of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who has truly shown his love both for the Lord and for his fellow men, as a most exemplary Christian, and whose examples we should also follow as well. Let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and put our faith and trust completely in God from now on. Holy martyr, St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us sinners! Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 18 : 15-20

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If your brother has sinned against you, go and point out the fault to him, when the two of you are alone; and if he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

“And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard him as a pagan, or a tax collector. I say to you : whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound.”

“In like manner, I say to you, if, on earth, two of you agree in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by My heavenly Father; for where two or there are gathered in My Name, I am there, among them.”

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Wednesday, 14 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 112 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Praise, o servants of YHVH, praise the Name of YHVH! Blessed be the Name of YHVH now and forever!

From eastern lands to the western islands, may the Name of YHVH be praised! YHVH is exalted over the nations; His glory above the heavens.

Who is like YHVH our God, Who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?

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Wednesday, 14 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ezekiel 9 : 1-7 and Ezekiel 10 : 18-22

Then He shouted loudly in my ears saying, “The punishment of the city is near; see, each one of these has in his hand his instrument of destruction.” And six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each one with his instrument of destruction. With them was a man clothed in linen, with writing material at his side. They came; and stopped near the altar of bronze.

Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from the Cherubim, where It rested; and went to the threshold of the House. YHVH called to the man clothed in linen; who had the material for writing at his side; and He said to him, “Pass through the centre of the city, through Jerusalem, and trace a cross on the forehead of the men who sigh and groan, because of all the abominations committed in it.”

I heard Him say to the others, “Now you may pass through the city, after him, and strike. Your eyes shall not look with pity; show no mercy! Do away with them all – old men, young men, virgins, children and women – but do not touch anyone marked with a cross.”

And, as they were told to begin with the Sanctuary, they struck the elders who were in front of the Temple. YHVH said to them, “Let the courts be filled with the slain and the Temple be defiled with their blood : Go out!” They went and slew the people in the city.

The glory of YHVH went from above the threshold of the House and went, to rest on the Cherubim. Then the Cherubim left, opening their wings and rising above the earth in my sight; and the wheels went with them. They halted at the east gate of the House of YHVH; and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them.

These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar. I recognised them as Cherubim. Each had four faces, each had four wings; and they had what seemed like human hands under their wings. As for the appearance of their faces, they were the faces I had seen by the river Chebar, the same likeness. Each one went straight ahead.

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Scriptures, we are all reminded that as God’s people, each and every one of us are called to be genuine in our Christian way of life and devotion to God. All of us must live our lives in the manner that the Lord has taught us all, or else we are truly no better than hypocrites and unbelievers, and unworthy of calling ourselves as Christians, or God’s children and holy people. He wants each and every one of us to rediscover this faith and zeal that we all ought to have within us, especially through the faithful and dedicated observance of this holy and blessed season and time of Lent, a time of reflection, discernment and reconciliation between us and God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the Lord telling His people through Moses and His servants, that the people of Israel had been called and chosen from among the nations to be His own people, as the first of those whom He had called, to walk in His path and to devote themselves to Him. That was why He gave them all His Law and commandments, His precepts and taught them His ways and the truth. Unfortunately, the people of God were stubborn and often gave in to their desires and worldly attachments, and ended up causing them to sin many times in many occasions, unable to resist those temptations and get rid from themselves their stubbornness and attachments to worldly things. The Lord reminded all of His people that just as much as He has blessed and loved them, they also have the obligation and the requirement to obey the Law and the commandments that God has given them.

This means that they ought to do what the Lord had taught them to do, distancing themselves from sinful practices and ways. The Lord has given them His Law and the Ten Commandments to guide them in their path so that they would have something to hold onto in their lives, amidst the many trials, challenges, temptations and many different pressures for them to conform to the worldly ways and paths, and abandoning God’s path and truth. Indeed, to live our lives in the manner acceptable and appropriate for the Lord is not something that is easily done, and more often than not we will realise, just as our ancestors and predecessors had discovered before us, that to be a faithful Christian is something that is easier said than done, and that there are a lot of challenges and difficulties that await in our path, in obeying and observing God’s Law and commandments in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, which also serves as a reminder for us all, that as the followers and disciples of the Lord, we must always remember to love one another and to be full of compassion and love even to those who did not love us back, and those who despise us. That is the challenge which the Lord has also given us all as Christians, to be different from the world, which is definitely more used to us loving those who love us, those who benefit us and those who care for us, and also putting ourselves ahead of others. As Christians, on the contrary, the Lord taught us all to put others before ourselves, and to do whatever we can to reach out to others with genuine and pure love, and He Himself has shown us this by His own example, which we remember particularly during this time of Lent.

I am referring to the suffering and the trials that the Lord Himself would willingly endure and suffer for our sake during His Passion, as He picked up His Cross and brought it up all the way to the Hill of Golgotha, or Calvary, where He endured all the pain, humiliation and the worst of sufferings so that by His sufferings, in His Passion, He might lead us all into freedom, by bearing upon His own shoulders, all the multitudes of our sins and the punishments for them, to die on our behalf and becoming for us the perfect offering of pure love, to atone for all the sins of the whole world. He endured all of that out of His ever present and patient love for each and every one of us, desiring to see us forgiven and reconciled with His heavenly Father, that none of us hopefully will be lost to the damnation of hell due to our many and innumerable sins.

That is why during this time and season of Lent, all of us are called to remember God’s ever generous love for us, and His rich and compassionate mercy, remembering how He has always provided for all of His beloved ones, and even for those who have betrayed and abandoned Him. The Lord chose to willingly suffer and die for everyone, and not only for those who have already loved Him. He went out of His way, seeking all those who have been lost to Him, those who indulged in sin and wickedness of life, and refused to listen to Him, reaching out to them patiently, each time, so that hopefully they might listen to reason and His truth, and be converted, and be reconciled with Him. This is what He has done to each and every one of us as well. No one is truly beyond God’s mercy, forgiveness and love, unless we ourselves choose to reject Him to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, let us all continue to discern our way of life and see in what way we can be better and more committed disciples and followers of His, and we can do this by following the good examples set by our holy predecessors, one of which, whose feast we are celebrating today, is St. Casimir of Poland. St. Casimir was a Royal Prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, who was known for his great piety and devotion to God, as well as charity and care for the needy and the poor in the kingdom from his early age. He was remembered for his exemplary faith and actions, his chaste and holy lifestyle at a time when it was common for someone in his status to embrace a debauched and hedonistic way of life. St. Casimir dedicated his life to the end to the glory of God, and despite dying in a relatively early age due to tuberculosis, the example of his holiness and dedication to God continue to inspire many people right up to this day.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, can we follow the good examples of St. Casimir and many other of our holy predecessors in how we ought to live our lives? In this season and time of Lent, let us all reorientate our lives and redirect our focus in life back towards the Lord, Whom we should put right at the very centre of our lives. Let us all turn towards Him with faith, and do whatever we can to serve Him faithfully each day and at every moments given to us. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us all and may He empower each and every one of us to be ever better and stronger in our desire to serve Him, and to do His will, at all times. May God bless us always, in our every actions, deeds and efforts, to glorify Him by our lives, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You have heard that it was said : Love your neighbour and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you : love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and He gives rain to both the just and the unjust.”

“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”