Post Pentecost

by

Thursday, 23 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Jeremiah 2 : 1-3, 7-8, 12-13

A word of YHVH came to me, “Go and shout this in the hearing of Jerusalem. This is YHVH’s word : I remember your kindness as a youth, the love of your bridal days, when you followed Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to YHVH, the first fruits of His harvest. All who ate of it had to pay and misfortune fell on them – it is YHVH Who speaks.”

“I brought you to a fertile land to eat of the choicest fruit. As soon as you came you defiled My land and dishonoured My heritage! The priests did not ask, ‘Where is YHVH?’ The masters of My teaching did not know Me; the pastors of My people betrayed Me; the prophets followed worthless idols and spoke in the name of Baal.”

“Be aghast at that, o heavens! Shudder, be utterly appalled – it is YHVH Who speaks – for My people have done two evils : they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to dig for themselves leaking cisterns that hold no water!”

by

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 : Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, one of the most prominent follower of the Lord and considered as an equal of the Twelve Apostles. Ever since the Year of Our Lord 2016, this celebration which was initially a Memorial in the General Roman Calendar had been elevated to the rank of Feast, and acknowledgement of St. Mary Magdalene as a very important figure in the Church as the Apostle of the Apostles.

This brings us to the question, ‘What is an Apostle?’ The word Apostle itself came from the Greek word ‘Apostolos’ or ‘one that is sent off’ with the emphasis on the action of being sent off for a particular purpose and mission. Therefore, an Apostle is someone who had been called and entrusted with important assignment, and has also therefore been sent forth to fulfil that assignment. This is opposed to the term ‘disciple’ which has the connotation and meaning of a follower, that may or may not have that specific mission of being sent off to fulfil the mission of God.

And this is significant because as we know and which our Gospel passage reminded us today, it was St. Mary Magdalene who first saw the Lord after His Resurrection, and she initially grieved over the fact that the Body of the Lord had disappeared, thinking that the Body had been stolen and not realising that He had risen from the dead. And when the Lord appeared before her, she believed in Him and she did what the Lord said to her, ‘Go to My brothers and say to them, I am ascending to My Father, Who is your Father, to My God, Who is your God.’

That was how St. Mary Magdalene then went to the Twelve Apostles and the other disciples, delivering to them the news of the Lord’s Resurrection, how everything He had said would happen came true. This is why St. Mary Magdalene is the Apostle of the Apostles, as she was the one who delivered the truth and the Good News to the Apostles. She was the one sent off by the Lord to be the first to bear the Good News to others. Through her, the Apostles came to know of the Lord’s resurrection.

This is why St. Mary Magdalene is such an important person and a significant influence in the history of the Church. But this is not just because she had been the first to see the Risen Lord and brought this news to the Apostles, but even more significantly, if we had seen how she had been transformed from someone whom no one would have thought to be worth saving or even worth a look. By Church and Apostolic traditions, St. Mary Magdalene was often associated with the woman from whom the Lord had cast out seven demons, and others also associated her to the repentant prostitute.

Regardless, Church traditions and history agreed that St. Mary Magdalene had been greatly transformed by her faith in the Lord and her life was changed after she followed the Lord and abandoned her past life of sin. Here was a great sinner whom the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have been very quick in condemning as those who were unworthy and sinful before God. Yet, as we know, she did not just have great transformation in life, but was entrusted to be the first to know the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Scripture today and remember the life and contributions of St. Mary Magdalene, we are brought to attention to the important fact that each and every one of us also have the potential and opportunity to be like her, to follow her example and her conviction and desire in serving the Lord. We are also sinners just like her, and regardless whether our sins are great or small, sin is still sin and sin is a stumbling block in our path towards eternal life and true joy in Christ.

But as St. Mary Magdalene showed us, that there is indeed no saint without a past, and no sinner without a future. Saints like St. Mary Magdalene were also sinners just like us, and they were also human and erred just as we have also erred and made mistakes in life. What is important and what truly mattered was that they listened to the Lord and embraced His love and mercy when He called on them, and they turned their back to sin and lived a virtuous and just life from then on.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are therefore called to look through our lives and see how we can follow in the footsteps of St. Mary Magdalene, turn ourselves towards God and sin no more. We are called to be inspired by her faith and love for God, also showed by the other holy men and women of God, the saints and martyrs. Let us strive to commit ourselves to a new life and existence, one that is no longer controlled by sin. And let us also proclaim the love and truth of God by our lives, that more and more people will come to believe in God, just as St. Mary Magdalene helped to inspire faith in the Apostles.

May the Lord be with us and may He help us to get out of the temptation of sin, just as He had once showed mercy and love for St. Mary Magdalene. May He strengthen each and every one of us that we may be able to live in a renewed existence with ever greater faith. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 : Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 1-2, 11-18

Now, on the first day after the Sabbath, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone blocking the tomb had been moved away. She ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two Angels in white, sitting where the Body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have put Him.” As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognise Him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

She thought it was the gardener and answered Him, “Lord, if You have taken Him away, tell me where You have put Him, and I will go and remove Him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned, and said to Him, “Rabboni!” – which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them : I am ascending to My Father, Who is your Father, to My God, Who is your God.”

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what He said to me.”

by

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 : Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 62 : 2abc, 2d-4, 5-6, 8-9

O God, You are my God, it is You I seek; for You, my body longs and my soul thirsts.

As a dry and weary land without water. Thus have I gazed upon You in the Sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

I will praise You as long as I live, lift up my hands and call on Your Name. As with the richest food, my soul will feast; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

For You have been my help; I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

by

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 : Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle of the Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Song of Songs 3 : 1-4a

On my bed at night I looked for the one I love, I sought him without finding him; I called him and he did not answer. I will rise and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek the love of my heart…

I sought him without finding him; the watchmen came upon me, those who patrol the city. “Have you seen the love of my heart?” As soon as I left them, I found the love of my heart.

Alternative reading

2 Corinthians 5 : 14-17

Indeed, the love of Christ holds us, and we realise, that, if He died for all, all have died. He died for all, so, that, those who live, may live no longer for themselves, but for Him, Who died, and rose again for them. And so, from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard Him in another way.

For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him, the old things have passed away; a new world has come.

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures in which we are being reminded again of God’s amazing and most generous mercy and His desire to forgive all of us our sins. He has always been loving and kind towards us, but unfortunately it has been us who have been constantly stubborn and refused to listen to Him and His truth. We have ignored His reach towards us in love, and we have ignored His compassion and chose to remain enslaved to sin.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Micah, we heard the words of the prophet Micah uttering a prayer before God, the prayer for God’s love and mercy, for Him to show kindness to His people and forgiveness to the trespasses and the mistakes that they had committed. The prophet Micah was particularly known and remembered for his words calling on the Israelites to reevaluate their lives and to be good and righteous once again in their lives.

That is why the prophet Micah reminded the people of just how kind and loving God has been, how patient He had been throughout all of their history even when they have disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him for so many times and on so many occasions. God has always been willing to be reconciled with us. And through all these, His love for us has been unwavering even to the point of giving Himself for our sake.

God has even then given Himself to us, through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Master and Saviour. He, the Divine Word Incarnate, was conceived and born through His mother Mary into this world, and by that, all of us have shared in His humanity, and we became, through our baptism, His brothers and sisters, and members of His Church, the parts of the same Body of Christ, of which Christ Himself is the Head.

In our Gospel today, we are reminded of this fact further as the Lord mentioned before the disciples and the people, how all those who follow Him, obey Him and His father’s will, are His brothers and sisters, parts of His family. This reminds us again and again how all of us are truly beloved by God, for God Himself had adopted us all as His own sons and daughters through Christ, in Whose death we share the death to our past sins and in Whose resurrection, we share the new life of our resurrection into this new existence in Christ.

However, we need to remember again what the Lord said, that those who have done the will of God are the mothers, brothers and sisters of the Lord. This means that each and every one of us are truly called to walk with God, to go forth with Him in faith, to obey Him and His will, and to be genuine and truthful in how we devote ourselves and commit ourselves to the Lord, in each and every moments of our lives.

However, it is important for us to take note that, there are many obstacles and challenges we are facing in our path, as we encounter many temptations, distractions and pressures in life to disobey God, to follow and conform to the accepted ways and norms of the world, the path of sin, of selfishness and evil, those ways that lead us to seek the pleasures of life and the pursuit of material wealth and goods. It is a challenge for all of us to resist these temptations, and remain focused to walk down the right path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we can be inspired by the example and faith showed by St. Lawrence of Brindisi, an Italian priest and member of the Capuchin Franciscan religious order. St. Lawrence of Brindisi was remembered for his scholarly work and contributions to the Church that made him to be recognised as one of the Doctors of the Church. He was remembered for his brilliant talent in language learning and his role therefore in diplomacy at that time, as papal nuncio, emissary and diplomat in various occasions.

However, it was often overlooked that the brilliance of his works was also brought about by the amazing sensitivity and care that he showed to his fellow men, the sensitivity and connection which he had towards his fellow brothers and sisters, that in all of his efforts and works, he always had the Lord and his fellow men first and foremost in his minds and thoughts. His role as a diplomat helped to defuse tensions and troubles between nations and peoples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, all of us heard all these wonderful reminders of God’s love and kindness, and how all of us have been so blessed to be considered as the Lord’s own sons and daughters. But are we willing to commit ourselves to Him as we should? To walk with Him and to devote ourselves to the path that He has shown us? Are we willing to embrace Him fully and to put Him first and foremost in our lives?

Let us all reflect on these as we continue to progress through life. Let us all seek the Lord with a renewed faith and conviction. May the Lord also be our guide and our strength throughout this difficult and challenging journey, that hopefully, we will be able to remain faithful and remain firm in our love for Him with each and every passing moments in life. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 12 : 46-50

At that time, while Jesus was talking to the people, His mother and His brothers wanted to speak to Him, and they waited outside. So someone said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside; they want to speak with You.”

Jesus answered, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look! Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Psalm 84 : 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

You have favoured Your land, o YHVH; You have brought back the exiles of Jacob. You have forgiven the sin of Your people; You have pardoned their offences. You have withdrawn Your wrath and turned from Your burning rage.

But restore us, God our Saviour; put away, altogether, Your indignation. Will Your anger be ever with us, carried over to all generations?

Will You not give us life anew, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us, o YHVH, Your unfailing love, and grant us Your saving help.

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Micah 7 : 14-15, 18-20

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, shepherd the flock of Your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when You went out of Egypt. Show us Your wonders.

Who is a God like You, Who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of His inheritance? Who is like You Whose anger does not last? For You delight in merciful forgiveness. Once again You will show us Your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

by

Monday, 20 July 2020 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the lamentations of the Lord for the unbelief and the stubbornness of many of His people in them not having faith in Him. The Lord through His prophet Micah spoke out His displeasure at the people who seemingly had forgotten the mighty and wonderful deeds by which He has rescued their ancestors and their predecessors, and instead, betraying Him by siding with the pagan gods and idols.

And in our Gospel today, there is yet another example of this stubbornness and lack of faith, as the Lord was confronted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who doubted Him and wanted to keep on testing Him, asking Him for miracles, signs and wonders. The fact was that they had seen many such miracles and signs as they followed the Lord persistently throughout His ministry, in their futile yet constant attempts to undermine His good works.

They were the most learned and those considered the most intelligent and wisest among all the people, and yet, ironically, they were the ones who were the most stubborn and resistant to accepting the truth of the Lord. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because they were blinded and impeded by their own ego and pride, their own ambition and sense of superiority, their own worldly attachments and concerns that tied them down.

No matter how many signs and miracles the Lord performed before them, it would be meaningless unless they get rid from themselves the pride and hubris, the ego and ambition in their hearts and minds. People had sinned and fallen into sin from time immemorial just as the Israelites in the past had sinned because of this great fault and sin of pride, which had ensnared so many people and prevented them from attaining salvation in God.

That is why it is worth noting the Lord’s mention of the city of Nineveh and Jonah, as well as that of the Queen of the South and king Solomon, in the same Gospel passage today. The city of Nineveh was the great capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire that had conquered hundreds of nations and peoples, and yet, when the Lord sent the prophet Jonah to their midst to proclaim their upcoming judgment and destruction, the whole city and the mighty king humbled and lowered themselves, putting on sackcloth and mourning before God.

In the same way, the Queen of the South, also known as the Queen of Sheba, who was a powerful ruler of a rich and influential country in the time of king Solomon, with vast wealth and great wisdom of her own, humbled herself before God and His chosen king Solomon, when she came to behold the greatness of God showed through Solomon, his wisdom, glory and kingdom. She paid homage to the king of Israel and praised God for His wondrous deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture readings today therefore, we are reminded that pride and ego, ambition and greed, attachments to the world and material goods will earn us nothing but our own failure and downfall. The path to seek the Lord’s salvation and true happiness is by humility and faith, by love for God and by realising that we all need the Lord and need to put Him at the centre of our lives.

This is why we should also seek the Lord and be inspired by one of His faithful servants, our predecessor, namely St. Apollinaris, a bishop and martyr of the Church. St. Apollinaris was one of the earliest Church leaders and was the Bishop of Ravenna in what is today northeastern Italy. St. Apollinaris by tradition was appointed to his position by St. Peter himself and he was remembered chiefly for his leadership of the Christian people during the time when the Church was persecuted by the Roman authorities.

St. Apollinaris remained firm in his faith despite the persecutions and dedicated himself to serve the flock even in situations of danger. He cared for them and continued to minister among them, and his sufferings, arrest and trials, during which he endured many bitter sufferings and persecutions for the sake of the Lord, all these did not hinder him from giving himself to serve the Church and the faithful people of God, even unto martyrdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded by the faithful and good examples of St. Apollinaris and many other faithful servants of God, and through their great inspirations, all of us are called to follow the Lord and to devote ourselves as much as possible, and to entrust ourselves to the Lord, not to be prideful and filled with ego, but rather be humble and to be filled with the multitudes of God’s love and to have genuine faith and commitment towards Him in life.

May the Lord bless each and every one of us, and may He give us all the courage and strength to follow Him faithfully and to devote our time, effort and attention to walk in His path, at all times. May the Lord guide us and lead us into the right path, leading us into His greater glory, now and forevermore. Amen.