preaching for Advent

by

Saturday, 12 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the second feast of this month celebrating Mary, the mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, that is Mary, who appeared approximately five hundred years ago to a simple and devout servant of God, St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin at what is known now as the site of Guadalupe, where a great Basilica now stood, the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Mother of our Lord appeared to St. Juan Diego in a series of visions, all of which related the concerns which she had for mankind, for the people of our Lord, her own adopted children by virtue of our Lord Who had entrusted us to her, and how she wanted as many as possible to repent from their ways of sin, and she showed that as our mother, she cares for us and wants for us to be saved and not fall into damnation.

The story of the devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe began with St. Juan Diego himself, who received the visions from the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the place where now stands great the Basilica dedicated to her. She herself asked that a church ought to be built at that site, and this was truly a premonition of the time to come, when countless peoples would pass through its gate, and how through her, many were saved.

St. Juan Diego related what he had seen and heard, the visions he received, and how miraculous things had happened, including the miracle healing of one of his relatives, but the governor and the Archbishop would not believe the visions that St. Juan Diego had received. He asked for a sign and a proof. And when St. Juan Diego related the request to the Blessed Virgin, he was instructed to gather rare flowers that then miraculously grew on the site, and place them into his tilma of cloak.

And after he had returned to the Archbishop, he laid down the flowers before him, and not only that those flowers did not belong among the local flowers, but also that, the tilma that St. Juan Diego wore became imprinted with the image of the mother of God herself, which since then had been known as the image and the icon of our Lady of Guadalupe.

And today, as we commemorate that moment, some of us may ask why we gave so much honour and attention to Mary, even though she was just a human being like us, similar in flesh and blood, and having the same Spirit of God dwelling in us. However, we honour her because firstly, as we have just commemorated another of her feast a few days ago, she was special, for she was conceived without the taint of sin, pure and immaculate since the day of her conception.

She had been prepared ahead by the Lord to be the vessel and the bearer of our Lord, as the Ark of the New Covenant. But it was not just because she was conceived without sin that she is honoured, but because of her actions, where she faithfully carried out her duties and all that has been expected of her and even more, carrying herself properly and faithfully as inspiration for many others.

By looking at her and what she has done, how she had lived her life, how she had loved her Son, Jesus our Lord and Master, and correspondingly, how she also loves all of us her adopted children, as proven by her numerous and countless apparitions to men, in various places and at various times, pleading and calling on them to repentance and to change their ways lest they be swallowed by sin and darkness.

The celebration of our Lady of Guadalupe today is a reminder for us, and a wake up call for many, that all of us ought to reflect on our own lives, on our own actions and deeds. Have we been faithful in what we say, in what we do and in what we commit ourselves in our own lives? Or have we been rather disobedient and following our own hearts’ desires as the first men were, and thus risking falling into sin and damnation.

Let us realise how important it is for us to seek God’s forgiveness for our sins, and for us to do that, we need to have genuine repentance and change of heart, or else, we will remain in the trap of sin, and we will remain in darkness forever. And in this, we have a great ally in the mother of our Lord, Mary, our Lady of Guadalupe. After all, which good and faithful son does not listen to his mother? And Jesus too will surely listen to His mother praying for our sake. Now what matters is, for us to make the effort for the change for the better.

Let us all devote ourselves, our time and our works for the sake of the salvation of our souls. Let us no longer be filled with sin, evil and darkness, but instead replace these with obedience, faith and light. May God Who loves His blessed mother Mary, will love us all too, who devote ourselves with equal love to her. Amen.

by

Friday, 11 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the differences of what God expects, and what men expects. Human expectations and divine expectations often differ in how they clash and in how they are incompatible. The world expects many things, and they are very difficult to please and satisfy, just as the desires of men are great and ever growing.

This was made clear in the Gospel today, in how the prophet and servant of God, John the Baptist came into the world to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, he was seen as a madman whose habits and works resembled those who were uncivilised and barbarous, as he wandered in the desert, eating nothing but wild honey and kept an unkempt appearance.

And then the Lord Jesus when He came into the world, He lived as men were, and He also went to approach the sinners, meeting with them, speaking with them, sitting at a meal with them, eating and drinking together, and through His interactions, He brought the mercy of God upon them. And yet, to the world that is never satisfied, what the Lord Jesus had done was a travesty and horrible to behold.

All these should bring us to the reality that the world is truly hard to please, and will never be pleased at whatever we do as the followers and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. This world is particularly obsessed with appearances, and they feared those whose actions and appearances do not stand with and do not fall into what they deemed as an appropriate and worthy appearance and behaviour.

This is why, especially in today’s world, a place of ever increasing materialism and commercialism, where greed and desires rule the hearts of men, it is important for us all to stand strong in our faith and not to fall into the trap of sin and the desires and greed of our hearts. We must be careful lest we become subservient to our own desires and become like those who live only to be acceptable to the world.

That was precisely what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done. They lived not for the Lord God or for the people who had been entrusted to them as shepherds to guide, but they lived for themselves, trying to gain the approval of men over the approval of God. Therefore, many of their actions depended on the approval of men, and for the people to look at them and praise their piety, but yet inside their hearts, there is no God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the path that we all should take. On the contrary, we should heed the examples of Christ our Lord, Who lived not to please the world, but instead to serve the people to whom He had been sent into the world for, to be their Shepherd, their Leader and their King, guiding them to the right paths, and often not worrying about the approval of the world in His actions, but rather serving the truth and seeking the full execution of the truth.

Today we celebrate the feast of a faithful servant of God, Pope St. Damasus I, one of the early Popes, who was a great and pious leader of the faithful, who also did not fear to take certain actions that were unpopular, if these were for the good of the whole Church and for the good of the faithful. He was particularly known for his opposition to heretical teachings such as those espoused by the Arians, and he was also committed to the unity and harmony within the Church.

Pope St. Damasus I helped many segments of the faithful and helped to lay the strong foundation for the Universal Church, fostering active cooperation between the many churches and leaders of the Church, engaging one another actively to help lead the people of God on the way towards their salvation in God. Through his dedication and good works, he had brought about much good for the people of God.

And even though in his position he has the power and great influence over many, but he did not let his ego, human desires or the temptations of Satan to influence his own actions and in how he remained deeply faithful and devoted to the Lord and His ways. He remained humble and all the things that he had done, he did them for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of mankind.

As now we have heard of the examples of Pope St. Damasus I, and in how we also should know how many other saints and faithful servants of our Lord had lived, and heeding the failures and the errors of those who came before us, let us all commit ourselves to renew our faith through action and by our deeds that show our faith in the Lord, by staying true to Him even amidst all the difficult temptations of the world and the persuasions of Satan.

May Almighty God be with us always, and may He always guide our paths, so that we will be able to stay true to our faith, and stand up proudly to defend it and to profess it amidst a world shrouded in darkness. May the light of the Lord, shown through us and our actions, be able to light the path to the salvation in God to one another, and by our works may we bring as many souls as possible to the eternal life in Christ. Amen.

by

Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of the Holy Scriptures, which revealed to us the promise that God had made with us mankind, that He will save us by His coming and by the rescue that He will bring us from all the darkness and the wickedness in the world. And what He wanted is to let us know how His salvation has come upon us, and that there will be great things to come awaiting us at the end of our journeys.

It was through John the Baptist that the world who had awaited for a long time for the arrival of its deliverance, the arrival of the Messiah, listened for the first time the message of hope and also at the same time a warning and a reminder, a call towards repentance and redemption, that mankind who were once sinners and rejected from the grace and the presence of God, were reunited in love with Him.

Indeed, many of us might have lost hope in waiting for the salvation that was promised by our God, and we continued to suffer persecutions, difficulties and challenges, especially if we profess ourselves to be faithful to the Lord and follow His ways. Many of us do not realise that God is working His graces and blessings through us, and by our own actions, we have made it possible for ourselves to attain the salvation in our God.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This means that the Lord Who had made Himself manifest in the world, visible and known to all, has shown us the way to go, that is the path which we are to take if we would like to achieve the salvation of our souls. He has shown us the path and the way, such that all that remains now is really how to execute and work in this.

We have to realise that many of us do call ourselves Christians, but we do not really know what it means to be one. We have heard the Word of God, received His teachings, and we have also professed our faith before Him, but we should really ask ourselves, are these enough? No, it is not enough. Our faith must be much more than just these, for we all should know that faith without good works and actions are meaningless and empty.

God is in fact calling all of us today, just as He had done so in the past, to be more proactive and committed to Him by our works and actions, that we no longer just believe in Him, but we also act on our faith so that our faith becomes an inspiration to others, and through our faith, we spread God’s Good News to the whole world and bring His salvation to all the peoples.

In this season of Advent, we are preparing ourselves for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour into this world. But we have to realise that the best way to prepare for Christmas is not in buying all the decorations and putting them up, that is not in the best Christmas tree we make or the best gifts we wrap for the occasion.

Rather, the best way to prepare for Christmas is through a renewal of our faith and a greater understanding of the role which our Lord and Saviour had come into this world to reveal to us, that we too have our parts to play in the works of salvation. The best way to prepare for Christmas is our commitment to work more for the sake of the Lord, in calling others and as many people as possible, to return to the Lord, and by our actions, guided and rooted in faith, we may bring inspiration to all of them to also walk faithfully in our God.

May our Almighty God bless us and keep us in His grace, and may He help us to realise that there are still so many things that we can do in order to bring His Good News into this darkened world, that through us and through our works, we may help to bring salvation to as many souls as possible. May God be gracious to us and bless us always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 9 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Who calls all His people to Himself, that they should put their trust, hope and commitment to Him, for His way is salvation, and in Him they will find rest and the solution of their troubles. The Lord reminded us that after all the sufferings and troubles we may encounter on our path of being faithful to Him, we shall find our eternal rest in Him.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God spoke to us through the prophet of the importance our putting our trust less in ourselves and in our own abilities, and placing more trust in the Lord and in what He can do for us. This is what we have to learn and what we have to accustom ourselves to, as in following our own path, or the path shown by the world, only uncertainties lie ahead of us.

We often did not realise that we have so many limitations with us, our shortcomings and vulnerabilities, and yet we are easily swayed with pride and hubris, thinking that whatever good and great things we have achieved, they were due to our own abilities and our own strengths. And as a result, this is why many of us have this tendency today to forget about God and all the good things He has done for us.

And many of us only seek the Lord and try to find Him, begging and beseeching Him whenever we are in distress and in times of difficulty, but when good tines are upon us, many of us readily forget about the Lord and instead become focused on satisfying our ego and our hearts’ desires first above all. And this is why we tend to be swayed away from God, as we only remember God when we are in need, and if what we wanted are not fulfilled by God, we tend to become angry against God.

This is not the way for us to relate to our God, our loving Lord and Father. And neither is the way that follows our own whim and desires. For God is a loving God, Who cares for us all especially because we are His beloved ones, the most beautiful and beloved among all of the things and life that He has created, and yet many of us did not show the love that we ought to give Him.

God has given us so many good things, all the blessings and graces that filled our lives on this earth, and the greatest of all being this life that we have been blessed with, is also a gift from God, and yet many of us do not realise how thankful we are to breathe every single seconds of our lives. Instead, we become preoccupied with ourselves, with our desires and the things that we want in this world, and we fail to give thanks to Him Who had made everything possible for us.

Let us take note of the examples of the saint whose feast day we celebrate on this day, St. Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as St. Juan Diego, a Native American saint whose life was spent in total and complete dedication to God and to His blessed mother Mary. And he also spent many hours in prayer and spiritual devotion, while also being loving and charitable to his brethren around him.

He dedicated his whole life, together with that of his family, his properties and possessions, for the sake of the Lord and His Church. And his piety was truly renowned, and many people became inspired by the faith that St. Diego has shown. And he received many visions and inspirations of faith that helped to deepen his faith and the faith of those who are around him further.

On one occasion, the Blessed Virgin Mary herself appeared to him in a vision telling him to go to a hill and gather flowers that grow on the hill, and wearing his cloak, also known as tilma, he went to the hill and found flowers that did not normally grow on that location. He gathered them back and went back to the governor, to whom St. Juan Diego had related his vision.

The governor doubted the veracity and authenticity of the vision, and he asked for a proof. St. Juan Diego gathered the flowers as a proof as directed by Mary, and when he showed the flowers to the governor, what shocked the governor was not so much the flowers but the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary herself that was printed upon the tilma or the cloak, which from then on were known by its more popular name of our Lady of Guadalupe.

From this example, we can see how the Lord rewards those who are faithful and devoted to Him. And He will bless and love all those who commit themselves to Him in faith. And He will show His favour to all those who belong to Him, and He will never abandon them to the darkness. The examples, the piety and the dedications of St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin should be an inspiration to all of us, to lead a life devoted to the Lord in all things.

Let us all learn to place our trust in the Lord and commit ourselves to live in accordance with the will of God, so that all of our words, deeds and actions will always be pleasing to God, and He Who sees all and knows all, will keep us forever in His grace, and grant us eternal life and happiness that He has promised to all of His beloved ones. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 8 December 2015 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast day of the Church, that is of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast of the Immaculate Conception refers to the moment not when Jesus our Lord was conceived in the womb of His mother, but instead, the moment when Mary herself was conceived without any taint of sin, or immaculate.

Yes, the meaning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception is that Mary, the mother of our Lord and God was specially prepared by God to be a special person, a special being and the special one amongst all of creations, to be free from any taints of sin, pure and free from the darkness of the original sins of men. And the purpose of this is so that as a pure being, she would be worthy to be the vessel to contain the Lord, the Ark of the New Covenant.

Mary was conceived without the taints of original sin, that as a pure vessel, blameless and immaculate, she is worthy to bear the Lord Who came into this world through her, and for nine months, she bore the Lord God of all the Universe inside her, within her womb. For God had been incarnate into flesh, and taking up the flesh of man, He had willingly come upon this world in order to save it.

And to be born into the world, He needs the intermediary of a mother, who is Mary, who bore Him until the time when He was born into the world. And this is why Mary is so special in our faith, not because she is great by her own power or majesty, but because it was through her, her purity and most importantly, her willingness to cooperate with the will of God and her obedience to Him that allowed the works of God’s salvation to be able to reach out to us mankind.

Indeed, Mary had been prepared well beforehand, as an exception, to be created pure and blameless without sin, but nevertheless, as all men are, all of us are still susceptible to sin, and it was the temptations of sin that had made so many people in the past and in the present to fall. But Mary led a worthy and devoted life, and in all of her dealings, in all of her actions, she kept herself immaculate and pure, devoted at all times and obeying the commandments of the Lord in her own life.

And when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and revealed to her the part that she would play in the grand plan of God’s salvation of mankind, indeed a very pivotal and crucial role, she entrusted all of herself and all of her thoughts to God, despite the uncertainties, fears and all the doubts that were in her heart. She surrendered it all to God, by her very own words, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me as He has said.’

This is something that we really should take note of, so that today as as rejoice and celebrate together this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we too may imitate Mary, the mother of our Lord, in all of her actions, in how she lived her life, in complete devotion and commitment to God, and therefore, enable ourselves to examples for one another in leading a righteous life pleasing to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we have to realise that just as Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant, for she bore Christ who is the Master and Lord, Bringer of the new Covenant of God with men, all of us also have our own roles to play as each and every one of us are also bearers of God’s covenant within us. How is this so? Let us all remember that all of us have partaken worthily of God’s own Precious Body and Blood into ourselves.

And as we should heed the words of St. Paul to the faithful, where he spoke of our bodies as the Temples of the Holy Spirit, let us all realise that because God has willed Himself to dwell within us, inside us, each and every one of us, and by the power of His Body and His Blood, becoming united with all of us who share in the Most Holy Eucharist, we have this great grace given to us, and not just great grace, but also great responsibility that will come with it.

Yes, just as we have talked a great length about Mary’s being conceived without any taint of sin, pure and immaculate, and how it is necessary as she was tasked with the great honour of bearing our Lord Himself in flesh and blood inside her womb, as the bearer of the Lord, therefore, all of us, who have the Lord dwelling inside us through the Eucharist, should also keep ourselves pure, holy and immaculate.

Why is this necessary? That is because our Lord Who is all good, perfect and without blemish, should not be made to dwell in a place that is filthy, filled with wickedness and evil, as is when our bodies, our minds, hearts and souls are not filled with love and true faith in the Lord. And when we live a life of wickedness and disobedience against God, then we are inviting trouble for ourselves, as the Lord will not take it lightly against all those who profaned His holy Temple.

Therefore, let us all today make the effort to follow the examples of our blessed mother Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that by following her examples, in her piety and dedication to her Son, and in how she led a life in total commitment and obedience to the will of God, we too may make ourselves worthy to be the Temples of His holy Presence on earth, by abandoning all forms of sin and committing ourselves to do what the Lord wants us all to do.

Let us all renew our commitment to God on this day, and let us ask the intercession of Mary, His mother, so that through her prayers for our sake, sinners like us, God will move His hand to touch our hearts, so that we may be more courageous and dedicated in defending and standing up for our faith and committing ourselves to a life in dedication to Him at all times. May God bless us in all of our endeavours and may His blessed mother Mary pray for us always, especially at the hour of our demise. Amen.

by

Monday, 7 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from our first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard about how God will bless His people who were downtrodden, afflicted, and who had been brought low. God will not abandon His beloved people to the darkness, and He will heal those who have been afflicted and make them whole once again.

We know that the prophet Isaiah lived during turbulent times in the history of the people of God, at the time when the northern kingdom of Israel had just been subjugated and conquered by the Assyrians, and many of its people brought into exile in distant and foreign lands. The same fate would eventually also come to the southern kingdom of Judah, where the people there too would be carted off into exile by their Babylonian conquerors.

Lest these people forgot about their Lord or thought that they had been abandoned and forgotten by their God, the prophet Isaiah reminded them that God Who is ever loving and Who always loves us will always care for them and His beloved ones throughout the ages, and He will succour and bless them accordingly. He shall not allow us who are faithful to be overlooked and forgotten.

And in the Gospel today, we witnessed the perfect manifestation of God’s love which He had spoken and which He had revealed through the prophets. In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He showed Himself in the fullness of His love, that by healing of the paralytic man, He showed His might and authority, in absolving His beloved ones from their afflictions, both of the body and of the spirit.

For as we witnessed in that Gospel passage, we saw how God made it clear to the dissident Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who refused to listen to the Lord and to His truth, that in Him alone lies the healing and the salvation, and in Him alone lies the authority to forgive sins, that is none other than the disease and affliction of our souls.

And through Jesus, the paralytic could walk again, the blind could see again, the deaf could hear again, the mute could speak again, and most importantly, the sinners were forgiven of their sins and made pure and clean once again. We have to realise that out of all those afflictions, none of those that afflict the body is lasting and can bring us eternal harm, except that of sin.

Did we know that sin is a disease and an affliction upon us? It is a disease that slowly corrupts and destroys our souls, our minds, our hearts and eventually our bodies and our whole beings as well. And ever since mankind first disobeyed the Lord, the sin of disobedience entered into our hearts, and we have sinned ever since, whether be it small or significant sins.

What we have to understand is that in God we can find the healing and the redemption from all of our sins, the healing that will make us whole again and remove from us the taint of darkness that had kept us separated from God. But in order to do this, we have to really commit ourselves to Him, and we have to strive and persevere to lead a worthy life from now on, sinning no more, but devoting ourselves fully to the way of the Lord.

Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Ambrose, one of the great fathers of the Church, one of the original Doctors of the Church, an important pillar of the Church especially in those areas which were then under the Western Roman Empire. He was the longtime Bishop of Milan, a very devout and courageous servant of God, who did not even fear the secular authorities and the forces of the world as he went about carrying out his mission.

St. Ambrose was once a secular official, a governor of the region which now encompasses the city of Milan and the surrounding areas, until at that time, the Arian and heretical bishop of Milan died, and a successor was required. As both the heretics and the faithful factions of the Church were unable to find a consensus on the candidate suitable, the choice fell to St. Ambrose who was acclaimed by the faithful as the new Bishop of Milan.

St. Ambrose immediately cast himself into the role he had been appointed to, and he championed the cause of the orthodox teachings of the Church, banishing and casting out all of the heretics from the governance and guidance in the Church, and imploring them to repent and to change their ways, and eventually many did repent and be forgiven of their trespasses in espousing heresy against God and His Church.

He even went up against the Empress Justina, who was known to be a follower of the Arian heresy, and implored her to change her ways, and when she refused and tried to depose St. Ambrose, St. Ambrose publicly chastised her in front of the faithful, and he persevered in maintaining the truth in God’s Church. And on another occasion, when the Roman Emperor Theodosius erred by instigating a great massacre of peoples in the city of Thessalonica, St. Ambrose excommunicated the Emperor and would not allow him to receive the Sacraments until he publicly repented for his sins and made a public confession.

In this, as we see the examples of St. Ambrose, we see how God showed His mercy to us through His many good servants, the prophets, the Apostles, the disciples of Christ, our bishops and priests. To the latter, God had, through His Apostles, gave the power and the authority to forgive sins, that through them and their works, they might absolve a people still living in sin and darkness.

But forgiveness does not come without repentance, and this is a fact that we must always remember. We cannot expect the forgiveness for our sins if we do not commit ourselves to change our ways and to devote ourselves to the Lord. The paralytic man was healed, and many other people Jesus had healed, was healed because they desired to be healed and they wanted to make that commitment to not sin anymore and to lead a good life from then on.

Therefore, during this season of Advent, let it be a time for us all to change ourselves, to be a better person, sinning no more but from now on be a faithful and committed disciple and follower of our God. Let us use this time of preparation, to prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas with true joy and devotion, that we will always put Christ at the centre of everything, at the centre of our focus and celebrations. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

by

Sunday, 6 December 2015 : Second Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are presented with the clear messages from the Sacred Scriptures, which told us the essences of Advent, what it means to have this Advent season before the coming of the Christmas season, and what we should do in this Advent time in order to make it meaningful and good, useful and relevant for our salvation.

As we have discussed on the previous Sunday, the season of Advent came from its name Adventus, which means the coming, the heralded arrival of the Messiah, and the waiting that happened before it truly came to fruition, the expectation and the hope of mankind throughout the ages, awaiting for the salvation that had been promised to them by the Lord Himself, that He would succour them from all the evils and the darkness that had enslaved them for so long.

And in this time of Advent, we remember the moment of waiting, of expectation of the Lord’s coming by those who lived before His time, when they have yet to know of the Good News and the Saviour, hoping that one day God would reveal to them the truth about their salvation, after their disobedience had sundered them all apart from the Lord’s grace, and cast them out from the worthiness of being received in the holy presence of God.

And although now we have known the Saviour, Who have been revealed to us through Jesus, the Saviour Himself, it does not mean that we can rest easy and ignore everything else. Indeed, God had saved us all through His Saviour, by His sacrifice on the cross, but just as His salvation is offered freely to us, we have to make sure that we ourselves are worthy of the salvation which He had offered us.

If we continue to dwell in the darkness and live in the state of sin, disobeying the laws and the commandments of God, then when the time comes, as Jesus had said to His disciples, He will not recognise us and He will reject us, condemning us into the eternal suffering in hell for our disobedience. This will come on the day of Judgment, when He will come again to separate His faithful flock from all those who have refused to listen to Him.

This is an important message that all of us have to take heed, the meaning and the purpose of the Advent season, the time when we ought to reflect on the way we have lived our lives, as a moment when we really should find a moment to step back from our busy life schedules and think about our actions and our devotion to the Lord, on whether our faith in Him had been really genuine, or if it is merely superficial and without real love for the Lord.

What does Advent mean for us? It is a time for reminding us of the waiting before the coming of the Messiah, and indeed, we know that He will come again a second time, just as He had promised, and therefore, all of us are not preparing just for all the festivities and the celebrations of Christmas, or all the revelry, the gift exchanges and the merrymaking, the food and the drinks that are associated with Christmas, but we are preparing for the true joy that will be ours if we ready ourselves to welcome our Lord when He comes again in His glory.

Advent therefore is a time not just for preparation to buy all the gifts that we are to exchange and to give others during Christmas, and it is certainly not a time for us to go to the shopping centres and look out for the best dresses to wear on our Christmas celebrations, to look good on others when we visit the houses on the Christmas Day. Rather, it must be a time when we truly look deep into ourselves, reflect and pray for discernment, that we will be able to celebrate this Christmas with Christ at the very heart of our celebrations.

The season of Advent is a time for us to change ourselves for the better, if we have not already done so. It is a time for us to repent and to turn away from our sins. In the Gospel reading today, St. John the Baptist, who heralded the coming of the Lord and Saviour, preached about the need for repentance, for mankind to turn their back against the wickedness and the evils that they had committed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should heed St. John’s warning, as many of us even now are still unaware or are unable to appreciate the importance of Christmas to us. We are often so preoccupied with ourselves, with all the glories, wonders and pleasures of this world that we ended up being distracted and tempted by all those things. We become selfish and self-indulgent, seeking to satisfy ourselves and our own needs first before that of others.

In this, let us learn from the examples of St. Nicholas of Myra, a saint and holy bishop whose feast we also celebrate on this very day. He was in fact what was behind the inspiration for the commercial Christmas figure of Santa Claus, the elderly figure in red and white who gives presents to children and to all the families on the Christmas night, which inspired countless commercial products related to the celebrations of Christmas.

This is where we must be careful too, lest we are brought to the materialistic and commercialistic culture of how the world wants to celebrate Christmas according to them. Indeed, the real St. Nicholas of Myra liked to give gifts to children and this is likely where the myth of Santa Claus began. But the world had overlooked all that St. Nicholas of Myra had done for the Church and the faithful and focused instead on the wrong things to suit their own selfish purposes.

St. Nicholas of Myra was known to be present at the very first Ecumenical Council of the Church held at the city of Nicaea in the year of our Lord 325. St. Nicholas was known to be a very devout man, who was committed to serving his flock in the region of Myra, and he was also concerned about the faith of many of the faithful throughout the entire Universal Church.

When at that Ecumenical Council, the heresiarch Arius, who proposed the teachings of Arianism, contrary to the truth of God, by denying the divinity of Christ, and when he spoke to the Council trying to explain his ideas and teachings, those nonsense heresy so enraged St. Nicholas of Myra that he literally went up from his seat and punched Arius the heresiarch in the face.

We see how Arius, who had been corrupted by his own human desires, and by his own selfishness, had misled countless souls into damnation, as many other heresiarchs had done before and after his time, both outside and even inside the Church. And unchecked, these heresies and aberrations bring great harm to mankind and to all the people of God. In this, we have to heed the example of St. Nicholas of Myra, courageous in loving one another, courageous in giving, and courageous in defending his faith against the heresies of men.

Let us all therefore make this Advent season a truly meaningful one, by committing ourselves anew to our God and to His ways. Let us all be loving and be charitable, sharing our blessings with those who have less or none, so that the joy of Christmas will not be ours alone, but be shared with the whole world, so that the world that sees the Light of Christ, will be called to repentance and redemption in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God be with us all. Amen.

by

Saturday, 5 December 2015 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings today speak to us about the hope which we have in the Lord, the happiness and true joy, the salvation and goodness that we shall enjoy because of the faith and devotion which we have in the Lord. And when God comes again to gather His faithful ones, He will bless us with the eternal life and grace He had promised us.

But in the meanwhile, as we still await the day of our salvation, we have to heed what Jesus our Lord had said in the Gospel today. Many people in this world today, as it was in the past, still dwell in darkness and they were unable to find their way to the Lord. And it falls to us to do something in order to help one another, so that all of us will be found worthy in the end when the Lord comes again.

The Lord spoke about the parable of the harvest and the workers, where He spoke of the field and the harvest that is ready to be gathered, and yet there were no labourers to collect the harvest. These were meant to show us about how in this world there are so many opportunities for us to do great and good works, and yet, we have not capitalise on the opportunities given to us, and the abilities given to us, to help each other to reach out to the Lord and His salvation.

The field here refers to this world, the vast fields of the earth, all of its people, all of the communities, societies, all the nations and the groups that are in this world. The master of the field, the Lord of the harvest is the Lord our God Who owns the world and all that is in it. The labourers and the workers that God had referred to in the Gospel actually refer to all of us, who are God’s people, His servants in this world.

What our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to convey to us is that we who follow the Lord has this obligation to go forth and beyond from our comfort zone, and go to harvest the fruits of the Lord’s labour on earth. The opportunity mentioned was how so many people are waiting in this world, to hear and to witness the Good News of the Lord, and yet as long as no one is available to bring to them the Good News, they will be ignorant of the truth forever.

And all of us, to whom God had revealed His truth, and to whom the teachings of the Lord had been taught, by the Church, therefore have the responsibility of passing on what we have known to those who have yet to know. And if we think the way to do so, is just by preaching and stating the truth to others about the Lord, then we are really mistaken.

For the best way to spread the Good News and the Lord’s truth is by practicing it ourselves. No one will believe in whatever we preach about God if we ourselves do not practice what we preach. No one will believe in us if our actions show contrary to what we have said. Indeed, it will only serve to scandalise God and to make people further away from salvation.

We have been called by the Lord to be His workers and servants, to help Him to gather all the rich harvests of this world, that is the souls to be saved from the clutches of the devil, from the tyranny and enslavement by sin and death. It is our task and responsibility to not let these fall into the darkness, but let us all work together, as one people, and as the members of God’s holy Church, to bring all mankind to eternal life and salvation which can be found only in God.

May Almighty God be with us always, and may He bless us and strengthen us, that we may be able to carry out our duties as His workers and servants, that we can help gather as many souls as possible, out from the jaws of death and from the claws of sin, and into the blessing of eternal light and the glorious life found in the Lord, forevermore. Amen.

by

Friday, 4 December 2015 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings told us about the merits of keeping up faith in the Lord, and the importance of keeping hope in Him Who cares for us and Who blesses us all daily with life and all its goodness. It is a reminder that we do not live alone or suffer in this life alone in this world, but rather we have our Lord Who is constantly with us, guiding us and protecting us.

God never failed His people and He had never, and will never ever break the promises He had made. He had promised to bring us all mankind into His salvation, and that is precisely what He will do. He always fulfil whatever He had promised, and He will always love us all, no matter how sinful and wicked we were. Yet, it was always us mankind who have disappointed Him, rejecting the love which He had shown us, and spurning His care and compassion for us.

Let us just ask ourselves, to look into our own lives and how we have acted in this life. How often is it that we put God aside and forget about Him in the pursuit of our own selfish goals and desires? It is in our nature to be focused only on ourselves and ignore all other things. And we do not remember God until the time when we actually ‘need’ Him.

Yes, do we remember God in our good times? Maybe sometimes we do, but do we give Him thanks for every blessings He had granted us? Or did we just take all of His kindness for granted? This is the tendency that all of us have, that we tend to gloat and be proud of our own achievements, and glorify ourselves in front of others, praising our deeds and greatness, but not giving due thanks to God for all the things which He had blessed us with.

First of all, are we thankful of this life which God had granted us? Have we shown gratitude for every breath we take, the allowance we have been given by the Lord to live in this world and to enjoy all the good things we have and possess? All the graces and blessings of this world have been made available to us, and yet, many of us were not thankful, and instead we demand more, and we even become angry at God for not listening to our wants and wishes.

This is why it is important for us to understand in this season of Advent, the importance of rediscovering our true focus in the Lord. It is important for us to prepare ourselves thoroughly to be able to welcome our Lord’s coming properly and with piety, as we go on to celebrate Christmas in the coming few weeks’ time. Otherwise, our Christmas celebration will become empty and meaningless, and our joy will become illusory and merely satisfying the desires of our flesh rather than truly bringing us true joy in Christ our Lord.

Let us in all this, heed the examples and the life of St. John Damascene, or St. John of Damascus, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John Damascene was a devoted monk and priest of the Lord in what is now Syria, hailing from Damascus, which would become his appellation in the years to come. He was committed to the Lord and showed his great faith by commissioning numerous writings and works that helped to prevent the faithful from following erroneous teachings and heresies.

St. John of Damascus also stood up for his faith against heretics and all those seeking to destroy the Church, including the infidels which by that time had conquered the lands where St. John lived. More and more persecutions and harsh treatment against the faithful ensued, but St. John Damascene remained as a bright light amidst all the darkness, and his works became an inspiration to many of the faithful, both those who were around him and those further beyond, including us all living today.

Through St. John of Damascus, God showed us that to become one of His disciples and faithful ones, we cannot just live in accordance to our wishes and satisfying our own desires. There will be times when we will be challenged to stand up for our faith and to defend it before others who seek to destroy the Faith and persecute the faithful.

In that case, will we be able to put forth our strength and our commitment to the Lord as St. John Damascene had done? St. John had put his trust in the Lord, and even though he often encountered difficult times, but the strength which he drew from the Lord allowed him to persevere on and to keep on trying to help the cause of the Lord, and show God’s love and truth to more and more people.

Therefore, now the challenge comes to us, as the present day disciples of our Lord. Are we able to commit ourselves to the Lord and to recognise all the good things that God had done for us, His people? God had protected St. John of Damascus, and all of His other faithful ones, and blessed them in various ways. Even though they were in trouble and in difficulties, but God did not leave them alone.

God will bless us and strengthen us at all times, and when challenges come our way, He will help us and protect us. Now we must understand His love and seek to be able to show our gratitude to Him Who had given so much for us. Let us all draw closer to our God, and as we go on through this season of Advent, let us all prepare ourselves mentally, spiritually and physically so that all of our beings may be able to celebrate with true joy the celebration of Christmas. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Thursday, 3 December 2015 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we remember in our memory the great saint and missionary, St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of missions and the saint whose many works had allowed for the propagation of the faith and the spreading of the Church throughout many parts of the world, including and especially that of Asia and its many regions.

St. Francis Xavier is a role model for us all, and many still walked and followed in his footsteps even after all these years. After all, without his contributions, there would not be the Church in the many parts of Asia, such as India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indochina, Indonesian Archipelago, China and further beyond even up to Japan. This great saint is one of the many saints whose efforts spearheaded the evangelising mission of the Church to the many peoples who have not yet heard about the Lord.

And in his journeys he encountered many difficulties, challenges, and even rejections by the people to whom he was going to minister and preach. There were those who refused to listen to the word that he preached, the Good News that he had carried with him, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But all these did not make St. Francis Xavier and his fellow missionaries to give up, and instead he tried all the harder.

What we heard in the Scripture readings today are the exhortations and reminders for us that as a follower and disciple of our Lord, we all have certain obligations and missions that have been entrusted to us. And one of our chief tasks is for us to be witnesses of God’s truth and the Good News of His salvation, and preach these to the people, in particular those who have not yet heard of them, or to those who have fallen and failed along the way.

And we cannot think that the works of St. Francis Xavier and all those missionaries who have toiled and laboured hard for God and for His people are done and completed. The work is always there, and there is always likely something for us to do, for the sake of those who are still lost and who are still unable to find their way to reach out to the Lord.

We are the new missionaries of our own time, just as it becomes the obligation of all the faithful to testify for their faith and become witnesses for our Lord, and be the bearers of His salvation to many more people. In this we have to heed the mission which God had entrusted to His Apostles and to the other disciples just before He was about to leave and ascend into Heaven.

His command was so that all the nations will receive the baptism of the Lord and that they will listen to the Good News and believe in all that the disciples of the Lord, as the witnesses God has appointed to be those who will be able to testify the truths that Jesus Himself had revealed to the whole world. And through us, many good works will be done for the greater glory of God and for our own salvation.

As those who have been called and chosen from the world to be the followers of Christ, we cannot profess to be ignorant of the plight of those who have not yet attained salvation in the Lord because they have not yet heard or witnessed the Good News of our God. Instead, it is our duty and obligation to show them the way to the Lord. We have to do our best, so that we may each other be able to find our way to the eternal life God had promised all of His faithful.

Therefore, as we prepare for the coming of the joyous and festive season of Christmas, let us all also take note that we should not forget about the less fortunate and those who are weak, sick and dying. Rather, let us all share whatever goods and blessings we have with one another, so that we can enjoy together and celebrate together the spirit of Christmas, that is thanksgiving for all the goodness and love God had shown us all.

Let us all imitate Him in all of our words, deeds and actions, so that in all the things we do, we will inspire many others, those who look at us, hear us and witness our acts, will see God’s works being done through us. In the footsteps of the missionaries like St. Francis Xavier, we as the new missionaries of the Lord should practice what we believe in, or else no one will believe in what we preach or teach to them.

Let us all lead by example and be inspiration to others around us, inspired by St. Francis Xavier and his works. Let us all devote ourselves, our time and our commitment to bring God’s Good News to more and more people, so that more and more souls can be saved from death and damnation, and be brought together as one people into the glory of Heaven. God bless us all. Amen.