preaching the faith

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Tuesday, 16 August 2016 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Stephen of Hungary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message of the Holy Scriptures telling us about how difficult it is to follow the Lord and to be the disciples of the kingdom of God, and what is meant to be a true disciple, and what awaits the disciples of the Lord at the end of their earthly life and journey. All these were succinctly presented to us in today’s readings.

In the first reading, the Lord our God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel His servant, telling us about the chastisement He spoke of the prince of Tyre. In that context, we have to understand that Tyre was a city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea known as the home of the Phoenician race, who were well known to be master traders and navigators, controlling much of the trade and the wealth at the time.

And thus, Tyre was incredibly wealthy, and in that great abundance and prosperity, we can imagine that it was very easy for its people and its rulers to fall into the familiar traps of hubris and human pride, as well as greed and unbound desires. But the Lord was not just in fact talking about Tyre and its rulers and its people, rather He was truly referring to all of us as well.

How many of us have become proud of our own achievements, our own intellects, especially in how we are able to beat others in some things, and even worse, that we looked down on others around us just because we think that we are in any way better or superior than them? Remember, brethren, that we are God’s creations, and thus whenever we achieve great things, it is truly not because of our own power and might alone that we have accomplished those deeds.

It is a fact which many of us willingly overlooked, and thus it led us into our hubris and unbounded pride and greed. We mankind are by our nature difficult to satisfy, and once we have something that we like, we tend to want and desire for more and more of that which we like. And this is what often prevented us from reaching towards the kingdom of God, as many obstacles and distractions lie on our path to the Lord.

This was what Jesus meant in the Gospel when He spoke of how the rich and the powerful had great difficulties in entering the kingdom of God, alluding to how it will be easier for a camel to enter through the eyes of a needle rather than those who are endowed with wealth, properties, fame and power. And that is because, as the symbolism Jesus used resounded with us, camels usually lower their heads and necks when they want to enter into a place through a doorway that is shorter than they are.

And that was used by God to symbolise humility and the lack of pride and hubris. Jesus was in fact not attacking or discriminating against the rich and the powerful in what He spoke of in the Gospel today. He was not against the rich and the powerful, but instead was against how mankind tend to use their riches and power the moment they have more of them.

Perhaps in this we should see the examples of St. Stephen of Hungary, also known in Hungary as St. Istvan the Great, the first Christian king of Hungary who brought the whole nation of Hungary to the faith. Previously the kingdom of Hungary followed pagan and barbaric ways until St. Stephen of Hungary, the first. Christian king led the whole nation into the faith.

He helped to convert the whole nation of the Hungarians, and even in his position of power and wealth, as well as fame and greatness as king, he remained humble and committed to his duties and responsibilities as a king and leader of his people. He often helped the poor and the less fortunate in his kingdom, serving their needs and caring for them with love and compassion.

St. Stephen the King of Hungary showed his subjects a good example through his leadership and actions. He showed the love of God to them, and how a faithful ought to act in following the Lord, regardless of their wealth, status and standing in the society. This is a lesson which many of us ought to learn from, that we should not be distracted and be tempted by the wealth and possessions we have, and we should resist those pulling forces trying to sever our relationship with God.

Let us all walk in the footsteps of the Lord, and follow Him through the examples of St. Stephen of Hungary, in how we ought to be responsible and be faithful in our words, actions and deeds, and not be swayed by the temptations of wealth, possessions and worldly glory. Let us confidently venture forth and seek the Lord’s kingdom with renewed zeal and faith. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 15 August 2016 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White (Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, honouring that moment when Mary, the mother of God, was bodily assumed or brought up directly to the presence of God in heaven, in glorious reward for the faith that she had exhibited and professed her whole life, and for her special role as the Bearer of the Saviour of the world.

Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, as she bore within her the New Covenant in Jesus Christ that He has established anew with us. And so sacred is the Holy Ark that is Mary, exemplary in her faith and commitment to God, that God would not want her to suffer the pain of death, which is the consequence for sin. For she was conceived and prepared into the world without sin, and then throughout her life, she had obeyed and followed the Lord in all of His plans for the world and for all mankind, and thus, she deserved that glory which her Son had prepared for her.

And through her, all of us can see the premonition and the preview for our own fate, that is our salvation and the eternal life we can find only in the Lord alone. Mary showed unto us how all of us ought to believe in the Lord, not just in externals and appearances alone, but also deep in the heart and through concrete actions and devotions, by the outpouring of our love and our care for those who are less fortunate and those who are unloved around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what Jesus meant when He told the young man in the Gospel today, of what he needed to do in order to fully follow the Lord in all of His ways. The young man had fulfilled and followed the whole laws of Moses, obeyed the commandments that God had given His people, but yet, he still had that question burning inside of him, as he felt that he still lacked something in him.

And that is because he was still not truly having the Lord inside of him. He has done all the laws and obeyed all the commandments, but do you know that it is possible for one to obey the laws and commandments of God and yet have no God in them? Of course the young man did not do so badly as that. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done exactly that.

These people obeyed the Law and appeared to follow the commandments of God, appearing pious and devout while at the same time having no love for God in their hearts. It is indeed possible for this to happen, as doing them as a routine and doing them genuinely with true love and devotion for God are two sides of the same coin. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did theirs as a routine, and also as a means to garner favour and popularity with the people instead of for the Lord as the Law had intended.

And thus, this is where we should look up to Mary as our example. She placed her full trust in the Lord, even when she knew that the path forward for her would not be an easy one. She let the Lord to bring her to where He wanted her to be. And as the mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord, she devoted herself entirely to Him, giving Him the love that all mothers ought to give their children and even more.

Imagine the pain and sorrow she must have faced while following her Son through all the challenges and the difficulties He faced, and more than all these, was when He walked through the way of the Passion, carrying and bearing His cross through Jerusalem and up the hill to Calvary, where He was crucified, suffered and died for the sake of all.

Yet, through all these, Mary remained faithful and stayed truly faithful to the mission which God had entrusted her. And thus, she became our guiding light, the beacon to lead us to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Through her we can find the best way that leads directly to God and to His salvation. As she was free from the abominable effects of sin, thus it was befitting for her to also escape the sting of sin, that is death.

Yes, we mankind have sinned before God, some small while others had bigger sins. But nevertheless, all of us have disobeyed God and refused to walk in His ways, resulting in sin that leads eventually to death. Yet, our Lord Himself by His glorious resurrection from the dead had shown us that there is a way out of death, that is if we are all faithful to God, and this is affirmed further by the example of Mary, who was brought into the heavenly glory, free from sin.

By sharing in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ through baptism, all of us have been freed from the taint of our original sins. And if we are to believe in Him with all of our heart and devote ourselves completely to Him, then we too shall share the joy of Mary, the joy of the Assumption, as the Lord Himself has promised that all of His faithful ones will not suffer eternal death, but instead receive the eternal life and glory promised to all of the holy people of God, to be forever with Him in heaven.

May the Lord help us, through the guidance and the intercession of His blessed mother Mary, the role model that He had set up for us, so that through her we may be better able to find our way to Him, and thus receive the eternal life and inheritance He has allotted for us all. May God bless us all, and let us all ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed in glory to heaven, to pray for us all at all times. Amen.

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Sunday, 14 August 2016 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the great feast and solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the glory of Heaven, a great occasion instituted and declared as a dogma of the Faith, by the holy and pious Pope Pius XII in the year 1950, just about a century after another dogma declared the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Immaculate Conception refers to the fact that Mary was prepared beforehand by God to be special, to be beyond and above all other men and women, in that she was conceived without any taints of original sin, which has tainted all other mankind ever since sin entered into the hearts of men since the days of Adam and Eve and their disobedience.

Understanding what Immaculate Conception is, and what the meaning of the Assumption is, tied with the role that Mary played in the whole plan of God’s salvation of mankind is important if we are to appreciate how significant the things that we are celebrating today are. And as Christians, truly, we have to appreciate what Mary as the mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, had done.

The Assumption refers to the moment when Mary was taken up into heaven and did not suffer a bodily death on earth. Our fellow brethren in the Eastern Orthodox Church had a similar belief in what is called the Dormition of the Theotokos, as in their tradition, Mary as the mother of God fell into a deep sleep at the end of her earthly life and was taken up into the glory of heaven.

But all these speak about the same thing, that the mother of God did not suffer from an earthly death of the body, but instead was taken up directly by God into the glory of heaven. And lest all those who misunderstood the intention of this event and those who misunderstood the role of Mary complained that we glorified her too much or even accused us of making a deity or a goddess out of her, then we should know more about how Mary is special and so important in the role she played in ensuring our salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we look at the readings of the Sacred Scriptures today, we should see how many of them speak about the Ark of the Covenant of God. It was told in our first reading, from the Book of Chronicles, about the moment when king David wanted to transfer the Ark of God, or the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem.

Festivities, songs and dances were prepared, and a grand welcome was planned to bring in the Ark of the Covenant into the city. And why is that so? Because the Ark of the Covenant is a grand golden vessel containing the two slabs of stone upon which God Himself had touched and on which He had written the Law and the Covenant which He had established with His people. It is a representative of God’s very Presence in this world.

But how does that then relate to Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ? That is because if we know Who Christ is, then certainly we can make that clear link between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. Yes, Mary indeed is also the Ark of the Covenant, as she bore within her the New Covenant of God with mankind, that is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world in order to save the world and right all the wrongs and faults which was in this world. Mankind had erred and through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, they had brought the sundering and the separation between us and God. According to St. Paul, through the act of one man, the whole race of men had been brought low by sin and had to suffer and die. But through the act of another Man, they all have been brought into a new life in God.

And that Man was Jesus Christ, the One Who had been born through the virgin, Mary, His mother, that by His works, He may bring all mankind back into the loving embrace of God. Through Jesus, a new covenant between God and mankind had been established, while the old covenant had passed away. The old covenant God made with mankind had expired and been replaced anew with one that will last forever.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not the same as the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first place, we are not making Mary to be a goddess or a deity on her own right. Jesus ascended by His own power and might, but Mary was brought up by God into heaven through His will to grant her the singular grace to escape the snares of death. She alone among all mankind not to suffer death.

And why is this so, brethren? That is because as the vessel bearing the Lord of life and He Who have mastered and conquered death, it does not seem appropriate if then His own mother would succumb to it, as death is the consequence for sin, and for someone who has been conceived without the taints of original sin, that is the blessed mother of our Lord, Mary, it is appropriate that our Lord rewarded her with such a privilege.

But in the end, how are all these relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is because we know for sure that Jesus our Lord would not let His mother to suffer death or in any sense, any form of earthly and bodily decay, so thus He will also endeavour to bring us all into the salvation and liberation which He alone can bring unto us. For in Mary we have seen the fullness of God’s faithful promises to us mankind, that He will deliver us all from the snares of sin and from the sting of sin, that is death.

Yet, all these will also require our dedication and commitment. We cannot truly receive the fullness of God’s promise and God’s salvation if we ourselves are the ones who place the barriers and obstacles on our path to attain God’s mercy and grace. God offers us His mercy and forgiveness freely, but we shall find that we are ourselves our greatest enemy. It is our reluctance, our lack of desire to be forgiven, that lack of the sense of regret for our sins that have caused us to remain trapped within that quagmire of sin.

And lastly, we have that one great helper and a source of inspiration to depend on, as we make this journey of faith towards God. Mary herself is our greatest help and our great protector before her Son, our Lord. She is in heaven, interceding for our sake daily, praying for us and for all the beleaguered children of God, whom God had entrusted to her care from the cross.

On this day of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us renew our devotion to the Lord our God through His blessed mother Mary, who has shown us the way forward, by following her examples, faith and piety that we too may receive the same glory which had been accorded to her. We too shall share in the joy of heaven and in the eternal life promised by God to all of His faithful ones. All that we need to do is to really devote ourselves, our time and our efforts in order to serve the Lord our God and follow Him with all of our strength.

May God bless us all and keep us, and may His mercy be poured down upon us, and through His blessed mother Mary, whom we remember today in her glorious Assumption into heaven, let us all look up to her as the great model for our own, and thus we will be more able to proceed forward to the goal of our life, that is to be reunited with God, our loving Lord and Creator at the end of it all. Let us all seek the Lord through Mary, His beloved mother. Mary, Blessed Mother of God assumed into heaven, pray for us. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and St. Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings today spoke to us about what we ought to be doing in order to find righteousness and salvation in our God. And that is for us to abandon our sinful ways and our wicked past, just as what the Lord told His people through His prophet Ezekiel, telling them that while the righteous enjoy the favour of the Lord, but the wicked and those who refused to obey Him, shall receive punishment due for them.

And in order to find righteousness and justice in God, we will have to learn to distance ourselves from all the things that are wicked and that are against the Lord’s ways, as God Himself announced to the prophet Ezekiel, that His faithful people ought to distance themselves from things that can cause fornication and corruption of the body, heart, mind and soul. That means, we should avoid unjust attitudes and behaviours, avoid greed and unbridled desires, avoid all the things that bring us into the trap of sin and thus into our downfall.

Why is this something so important for us to take note of, brethren? That is because, by our nature, we have that tendency to be swayed by our needs and wants, by our desires and by our attachments to the world and its goods. It is easy for us to lose our way going forward as we are presented with many options, many of which lead not to the Lord but instead towards the devil and his false ways.

In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to His disciples to point out to them that very simple fact which we often forget in life. That if we want to follow the Lord our God, then our focus cannot be on other things beside Him. We have too many attachments and concerns in life, and that is a singular most important reason why so many of us were incapable of being devoted and committed servants of our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to heed what Jesus our Lord said to us in the Gospel, that we have to be like that of little children if we are to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And no, it does not mean that we should become childish in our actions and way of life, but rather, we must be as children are when they believe in something and be like them in our faith towards the Lord.

If we have seen children before, talking to them and working with them, we should realise that they are truly clean slate, pure and innocent, untainted by the many concerns and attachments to the world. And these are exactly the very reason why many of us met our downfall and falter on our way to the Lord, as our burdens, the burdens of our attachments weighed us down and held us back.

Are we able to believe in the Lord just as the children had believed? The faith of a child is pure and true, and when they believe in something, they will hold on to that faith and to that belief. Whereas many of us are easy to turn away our beliefs and faith, for something else, just as what many of us did, ditching the Lord behind for the gain of our own flesh, the pleasures of that same flesh, and for the tempting gains of money, fame, possessions and worldly glory.

Let us then look at the examples of the two holy saints and servants of God whose feast we are celebrating on this day. Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus were renowned elders and leaders of the Church at the time of the early Church, during the time when the Church was still under the persecution and attack from the Roman Empire and its government.

Pope St. Pontian was the leader of the Universal Church at that time, while St. Hippolytus was supported by some segments in the Church to become the Bishop of Rome in opposition to Pope St. Pontian. The struggle and tension between the two of them were quite bad for some time, with both sides accusing each other of trying to divide the Church and the faithful.

But in the end, Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus agreed to lay down their differences for the sake of the faithful and the Church, and it also happened during the time of a particularly vicious and cruel persecution of the Church by the Roman Emperor Valerian. They were both arrested and put into great suffering and were exiled, where eventually they were martyred for their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the example of these two saints, we can see how our human desires and wants can become great obstacles on our journey and path towards the Lord. These can cause divisions and intrigue to arise among the faithful and in the Church. And certainly, from what we have learnt, we should also endeavour to reject the temptations of the flesh, the allures of the world, and instead, do what we can in order to help one another to find our way to the Lord and to His salvation.

Let us all cultivate and strengthen our faith, so that it may grow stronger in us, and with stronger faith, may all of us be united ever more closely and intimately with our God, and in all the things that we say and do, let us do them for the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Friday, 12 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about God Who told His people through His prophet Ezekiel, how He was disappointed at them for having broken their covenant with Him, not having been faithful despite having been blessed and taken care of for many years, the nourishing and the caring love with which God had patiently provided for through many, many years.

But the people of God were incapable of remaining firm and faithful to the covenant which they have established with God. Instead, they became wayward and gave themselves to the temptations of the world. They prostituted themselves and put themselves into the temptation of money and the pleasures of the flesh. And thus, in the Gospel today, Jesus offered a scathing rebuke of what they and their ancestors had done.

And it is a particular topic which many of us have been found wanting, lacking knowledge in, or be totally indifferent in, while it is a very important of our faith. And what is it I was referring to, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is about the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage. And we know that marriage and the institution of the family has come under many attacks in the recent years and decades.

The reason why our resolution to keep marriage holy and good is that as Jesus had said that we are all obstinate people, easily swayed by persuasion and by temptations of the devil. We give in easily to the pleasures of the flesh, so much so that we ended up being distracted and becoming unfaithful and wayward. The people sought for divorces and annulment of their marriages and committed many other wicked sins because of their inability to resist such advances.

If we have not been faithful even to our own spouse, and thus to our own families, and seek to break those bonds, then how can we be faithful to the Lord our God? That is why it is not surprising that we have been unfaithful and wayward in our lives. If we cannot be entrusted with small and simple matters, how can we be expected to be trusted with larger and greater matters? That was exactly what Jesus said to His disciples as well.

It is important to remember this, as the family and the institution of marriage are the bedrock foundations of our Faith and our Church. Take away those foundations, and the whole edifice, the whole structure will fall down and be destroyed. And that is why the enemies of the Church are so adamant in trying to undermine those important foundations of our faith and our Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore heed the examples of the holy saints, especially the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, a holy woman whose faith was exemplary, who devoted her entire life serving the Lord and His people, committing herself to holiness and to a life of piety, free from the temptations of sin, and free from the wickedness of the world.

Once, she was married to a loving husband and had a wonderful family and married life. But disease and other things took many of her families from her, including her husband and children. But instead of being drowned and being incapacitated with sorrow, and rather than giving herself into the ways of debauchery, or by committing adultery through remarriage, she devoted herself to the Lord and joined a prayerful life committed to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Jane Frances de Chantal showed the great example of how one ought to be faithful and be devoted towards the Lord. She served the Lord and the poor, the weak and the downtrodden of the society, even founding a religious order composed of like-minded women who wanted to devote themselves to a life of chastity.

May the Lord help us and guide us so that we may find our way to Him, that we may be able to follow in the footsteps of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, keeping us holy and committed to the sanctity of life designed for us by the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the clear theme of today’s Scripture readings is compassion and forgiveness, which God has shown unto us His people, and therefore, we too are expected to show the same compassion and forgiving nature as the Lord had done, in our own dealings with others around us. That is the key message that I want all of us to heed today, especially when we live in a world that is increasingly unforgiving in nature.

In the first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, God spoke to Ezekiel that he might convey His intention to His people, that because of their sinfulness and wickedness, they have brought ruin upon themselves and brought about their exile and humiliation among the nations. They have been shamed and brought low and their enemies took advantage on them.

At that time, the prophecy would come true, as Ezekiel and his fellow exiles went ahead of the rest when the king of Babylon first ransacked Jerusalem and Judah and brought part of the people to exile. The remainders led by king Zedekiah of Judah and his people held onto Jerusalem for a while longer, and when they rebelled haughtily thinking that they could trust in the power of men rather than God, they were crushed.

Thus ended the glorious kingdom established by Saul and made strong by David and Solomon, the faithful kings who followed the Lord and devoted themselves in faith to lead the people of God. For the waywardness of the people and their kings that followed after, the sins of Jerusalem and Judah piled up to such an extent that in the end, they suffered the consequences of their sins and disobedience.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to listen to what Jesus our Lord mentioned in the Gospel. He told His disciples about the servant who was indebted to his master, and who was about to pay the consequences of his debt, by being sold into slavery with all of his family and his possessions. But the servant begged the master for mercy, and the master did have mercy on him, not only forgiving him from all his debts, he also set him free.

Yet, that same servant, after he had been set free and forgiven from his heavy debts, went to another servant who in turn owned him some money, albeit far less than what he himself ever owed his master. And when that servant begged for mercy and forgiveness, for him to be patient while he tried to gather the money to pay him back, the wicked servant refused and sent the other, poor servant to be tortured and to suffer.

In this parable, the master is the Lord our God, Who shows mercy to all those who beg Him to forgive them, as long as they are sincere in desiring the mercy and the forgiveness of God. And the servants represent us all mankind, of all our various needs and kinds, who serve the Lord, and then who committed mistakes and sins in our lives, that is our debt to our true Lord and Master.

And just as that servant did not forgive the debt of those who were indebted to him, we mankind also often keep grudges and vengeance, and we also found that it was not easy to forgive those who have wronged us. We tend to keep our negative judgment and prejudice on others, and that resulted in our inability to appreciate the greatness of God’s love and compassion for us.

We cannot just profess that we believe in God, and yet in our actions, our very deeds and dealings, we have too much ego in us and we have too much pride and hate in us to be able to learn to forgive each other and to love one another without ulterior motive, resulting in the Lord condemning our own actions and deeds because through them we have not followed what our Lord had done to us.

God has forgiven us, but yet we do not forgive our brethren? Let us then take note at what we often pray as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Pater Noster. There is that part which mentioned the petition we gave to the Lord, for Him to forgive us our sins and trespasses, just as He has forgiven us first our own sins and trespasses before Him. If we want to be forgiven, then we must forgive those who have sinned against us first, and also to ask for forgiveness if we have wronged someone else.

Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, a renowned holy woman and one of the greatest saints of her time. St. Clare was a pious and devoted woman who gave her life to serve the people of God and the Church, as a member of the Franciscan order, as one of the first followers of the renowned St. Francis of Assisi, sharing in his passion and desire to help the poorest and the weakest in the society.

She helped to establish the Order of Poor Ladies, the female counterpart of the Franciscan order, helping to gather like-minded and devoted young ladies who wanted to give their lives in commitment to the service of the people of God, grounded on faith, charity and service. And she led the efforts of the new order, by leading the devout women in the service to the poor, in evangelising the word of God to the sinners, and to serve God in all possible ways.

It was told in what is now a very famous and renowned story that once the army of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II during one of his many wars in Italy, came to the convent where St. Clare and her followers lived and worked. And St. Clare, not fearing for her life in the face of the bloodthirsty and angry soldiers, picked up the holy monstrance bearing inside it the Most Precious Body of our Lord, lifted it high up above her head just as the soldiers barged into the chapel.

And so terrified the soldiers were at the Real Presence of our Lord, that they fled the place and left the city unharmed without striking at the people. And thus, we saw how God showed His love and mercy to His people, for He will care for those who kept their faith in Him, and He will never abandon them. Therefore, let us follow the examples of St. Clare and the other holy saints, and devote ourselves anew to the Lord.

May the Lord bless us and keep us, and may He strengthen our faith that we may find our way to Him, with the strong belief and conviction that He will always be with us to the end, never leaving us in the darkness. May He bring us into the light and bless us forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 10 August 2016 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of a major figure in the Church, namely the feast of the holy saint and martyr, St. Lawrence the Deacon, the deacon of Rome and one of its greatest and most exemplary saints. He is an example and inspiration to us, based on how he had lived, how he had carried through the mission which Christ had entrusted him with, and how he faced death with courage and hope.

St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons serving the holy city of Rome under the Pontificate of Pope St. Sixtus II, with whom he eventually was martyred under the particularly vicious persecution of all Christians by the Roman Emperor Valerian. And in that position, as the leader of the seven deacons of Rome or the Archdeacon of Rome, he was entrusted with the care and the management of the Church’s effort and assignment to the poor, the sick and the less privileged.

And he worked hard to fulfil that assignment, caring for the least of the society, all those who have no food to eat and no one to love them. When the Emperor called for the execution of all the faithful and their leaders, he also called for the confiscation of all the properties of the Church, to be taken up into the Empire’s treasury. And St. Lawrence, knowing that they would also take away all those that had been set aside for the poor, gave all the wealth to the poor as fast as he could so that the Emperor and his forces would not be able to seize them.

In the end, defiant and adamant towards the end, he refused to give in to the Emperor and his demands, and when forced to reveal where the treasures of the Church to be seized, he showed the poor, the sick and the dying as the true treasures of the Church, saying defiantly that they all are far richer and wealthier than the Emperor and the whole state would ever be. And thus, he met his end, his death with pride and complete faith in the Lord.

And it is that steadfast faith in the Lord which all of us should emulate as well. At a time when it is difficult for us to remain steady in faith and commit ourselves to the Lord, we should hold fast to the teachings of the Church and believe wholeheartedly, knowing how to trust the Lord with all our heart, for it is He alone Who will ever be faithful, and He will guard us all and bless us all.

And we have to heed what is always said, that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. This came directly from the saying of Jesus in today’s Gospel, that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will not rise up and germinate into a new wheat plant, but remain a seed that is without any use. This is a reminder of Christ’s own mission to save us mankind, that by dying for us, He raised us up into the life everlasting prepared for us, but at the same time, it reminds us of the challenges and difficulties that will be ours to bear if we choose to follow the Lord.

Thus, being a Christian is not easy, brothers and sisters in Christ. It requires commitment, dedication and hard work. If we think that being a Christian does not entail much, or is easy and manageable, then perhaps we have not been truly devoted to the Lord at all, or that our faith in Him is lukewarm, and we ignore whatever opportunities that had been presented to us, to act as how Christians should act.

It means also that all of us today have that same mission which our Lord had given to His Apostles, and we need to embrace that mission with zeal and courage, knowing that it is only through us and through our works that we may save our brethren, especially those who are still lost to the Lord and those who still live in the darkness of sin and evil.

St. Lawrence and the many other saints and martyrs of the Faith have been our inspiration because they showed us how to live as true Christians, not scared or intimidated in the face of darkness. Instead, they went forward and faced those who refused to believe in the Lord and persecuted them, and showed to all what it meant to be a follower of God, inspiring legions and many more others who saw what they have done and became a believer as well.

Thus, it is also a calling for us all to also be exemplary in our deeds, that all who see us will know that we belong to the Lord, and they too may believe in Him through us, and our reward at the end of days will be great and bountiful. May God help us in this endeavour and bless us every day of our lives. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Holy Scriptures speaking to us about what we ought to do in order to be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven and receive fully the blessings and graces of God promised to His faithful ones. And that was made very clear in what we heard in the Gospel today.

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus told His disciples, that unless their faith be like those of the little children, they would have no part in the kingdom of heaven promised to them. Unless they welcomed the dear little children in His Name, they would have no part in His glory and inheritance. And if they misled these children into the darkness, their punishment and fate will be even more severe than otherwise.

And at the same time, He also told them of how God is like the loving shepherd who cares for all of his sheep without exception. And when even just one of the hundred sheep was lost, the shepherd went out of his way, doing what he could do best to bring that lost sheep back, so that it would not perish out of the reach of his love. When he found the sheep, he would celebrate and rejoice greatly.

Thus, in the same manner, we are the sheep of the Lord, who are part of the same flock which He has led and guided, through the intermediary of His servants, the prophets and leaders whom He had appointed over all of His people, those who had been sent into the world with the message calling all of mankind to return to the Lord, their one and only true God.

And we are lost in this world, lost in the darkness, lost and being unable to find our way to reach out to the Lord because of the veil of darkness, the veil of confusion, discord and unbelief which Satan and his allies had placed over our eyes, over our senses, over our minds, over our hearts, and over our souls, preventing us from seeing the truth, and remaining blind in the darkness.

And how did they do this? It is by playing and manipulating our fears, our desires and wants, that they have done these so excellently to the extent that many of us became wayward and committed many grievous sins and wicked deeds. We have put ourselves, our ego, our desires and all other obstacles in front of us, preventing ourselves from being able to reach out to the Lord, Who is trying to help us and to pull us out of this darkness, this trap.

And that is why He told His disciples, and thus all of us, that our faith must be like that of those little children who believed in Him wholeheartedly without any reservation. In case we are not aware of it, children are innocent until a certain age when they begin to be formed in their thoughts and moral ideas by those who are around them. And thus, when they believe in the Lord, they truly give it their all and believe in Him.

Are we able to do the same as well? We may not because of our various commitments and all the things that kept us back, held us back from being able to give it all for the Lord our God. And that was where sin came into our hearts and corrupted us, trying to pull us away and sunder us away from the Lord and His love. And in this, perhaps today we should seek to understand and follow what the great saint we celebrate today had done in her own life.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, or much more famously known throughout the world as St. Edith Stein was a Jewish convert to the Christian faith. She was born as an ardent Jewish believer, but grew to believe in the Lord after having read the works of another great saint, the Carmelite saint, St. Teresa of Jesus. She studied her writings thoroughly, and in the process, came to believe in the Lord and gave herself to be baptised into the faith, and eventually, after many years of struggle, joined the religious order of the Carmelites as well.

At that time, as she lived in Germany, where the tide was rising against the Jewish population in the NAZI dominated government of Adolf Hitler, threats and dangers grew more and more vivid every single day on St. Edith Stein and many other Jews living under their tyranny. Even throughout the war, when her life was in constant danger, she continued to write and gave encouragement to the faithful and to the oppressed people of God, never to give up for the Lord Who loves them all would be with them.

To the very end, St. Edith Stein gave it her all to serve the Lord. She gave it all even to the very end, encouraging and strengthening the faith of all those who wavered and those who suffered grievously by persecutions and all the forces applied against the faithful by those who were wicked and evil. She withstood all the challenges, and willingly gave up her life, when she and many others were brutally murdered by the NAZI forces in the concentration camps.

The zeal and courage of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Edith Stein, should be our example and inspiration as well. We should learn to walk in her footsteps, be strong and be courageous in our faith. Let us no longer be hesitant in following the Lord our God, but give it our all to serve Him, rejecting all the worldly temptations and all the lies of Satan that had no value in them.

May God bless us all and strengthen us, and may He, our Good Shepherd, care for us all just as He had cared for His servant, St. Edith Stein, and the many other people throughout the world, throughout the ages, who suffered because of their faith in Him. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Monday, 8 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message of the Scripture, beginning with what we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, describing how he was called by the Lord to become the servant and the messenger of His will to the people of Israel in exile in Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel saw the Lord in all of His glory, and he saw the truth about the One Whom he worshipped and praised.

And through what he had seen in the vision, Ezekiel was called by God to be His mouthpiece to Israel, calling them to repent from their sins and to leave behind their sinful ways, following instead the way of the Lord, their God, the only way which guarantees the salvation of their souls. The Lord wanted to forgive His people who have betrayed Him and disobeyed Him, and thus He called on Ezekiel to be that instrument of His salvation.

And in the Gospel today we heard about the Lord Who spoke to His disciples regarding the apparent conflict between obeying the Lord and obeying the laws of men. There seemed to be a conflict between the obligations to pay tax to the Temple and to obey the Lord, Who needs no tax or payment from us, but just our love and devotion. The Lord made it clear that we should just obey things as they are, so long as these do not contradict our faith.

And how do these relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is because very often we do not follow the Lord because of that conflict that are existing between ourselves and our worldly ways, with the ways of the Lord. It is often that we cannot commit ourselves because we thought that if we follow the Lord, then we will be closing our opportunities and chances in this world.

Many of us said no to the Lord because we wanted to settle our own lives first, or that we could not commit ourselves fully to serve Him and His purposes because we are concerned with our own wants and desires in this world. We are often in our comfort zones, unable to move out of those comfort zone, worrying about the challenges and the difficulties that we may face if we walk beyond that security and comfort we have in life.

But we have to realise that, for many of us, our lives are not perfect. There are many of us who live in poverty and great sufferings every single day of our lives. We have that commitment to each other, to love those who have little or none, and share whatever blessings we have with them, so that everyone may have enough for themselves and not suffer from hunger or thirst, of from the lack of love. And that is the essence of what being a Christian is truly about.

And perhaps that is why we should heed the examples of St. Dominic, the holy priest and saint whose life was truly exemplary and great, as a devoted servant of our God, who disposed of the ways of the world and sin, in order to attain the greater glory found in God alone. And having found his way to God, he endeavoured to bring many more people, many more souls to the presence of God, followed by many who thought in the same manner, which was the reason for the now famous Dominican religious order.

St. Dominic was a Spanish priest and friar, who was renowned for his great and moving sermons and homilies, through which he called many people to repent from their sins and to obey the Lord their God. It was told that he had devoted himself to the Lord since the years of his youth, and he worked very hard, after joining the priesthood, working among the heretics of the Cathar heresy in order to convert them back into the true faith in God.

He gathered many people with the same aim and the same desire to bring their fellow brethren back into the loving embrace of God, focusing on preaching and the teaching of the truth in order to dispel the falsehoods and lies of Satan. And thus, the Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers, was born. St. Dominic spearheaded its efforts to bring the people of God back to a disciplined life in the faith, and a life where it is often filled with difficulties and challenges.

Certainly, St. Dominic himself led by example, living frugally and acted in accordance with the laws of the Lord. He became an inspiration to many people across many ages, and we too should walk in his footsteps. We as Christians need to work together and overcome that fear and reluctance we have. Do not fear and do not be worried, for God will take care of us of all that we need.

Let us all work together and go forth confidently, filled with faith, zeal and love for God. Let us all help one another to reach out to the Lord our God, and achieve together the justification and salvation which He had promised all those who kept their faith in Him. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 7 August 2016 : 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the message of the Holy Scriptures is very clear and vivid, telling us all about faith, the true faith which all of us ought to have for the Lord our God, just as our father in faith, Abraham, had that great faith and commitment for the Lord. Faith is not just about saying that we believe in the Lord or making empty promises and dedications, but instead, is a living and active commitment.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of Wisdom, the Lord made it clear to His people that He has established that covenant with their ancestors, and He will stand by it, so long as they themselves also show the same faith and commitment to the same covenant. Otherwise, if they are unfaithful, then they shall have no part in the inheritance and in the greatness that God had promised those who keep their part of the covenant.

In the Gospel today, Jesus our Lord spoke to His disciples about the parable of the five wise women and five unwise women, as well as the parable of the faithful steward and the unfaithful and wicked steward. In both these occasions, we clearly see that there is a choice for us to pick from, either for us to be faithful to the Lord in His ways, and be ever prepared and be ready to welcome the Lord when He comes and prove our faith to Him, or for us to ignore Him and not doing what He has asked us all to do.

Indeed, it is much easier for us to follow the second path, that is not to do what the Lord had asked us to do, ignore His missions and ways, and continue on with what we and the world think is right. But such a path may lead us into the wilderness of the darkness of the world, and thus we may be lost, and forever lost indeed from the guidance and the light of God.

The devil and all of his allies are not willing to see us prosper and be happy in our saved state in the Lord. They would not stay silent and do nothing while we go on towards our salvation and eternal life in God. Instead, they will do all that they can in order to disrupt us, distract us and pull us away from the way to God, and bringing upon us many temptations and lies, they hope to lure us into our downfall, that we may fall together into oblivion with them.

But we are far better than that, brothers and sisters in Christ, if we look at the examples of Abraham, our father in faith as told by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, whose life was wholly and completely dedicated to the Lord our God. He was a rich and influential man who lived in the region far away from the land now known as Israel, but God called him one day and he heeded the call, leaving behind everything he knew of and abandoned his past life, and with all of his belongings, travelled to where God had led him to.

And in times of difficulty and uncertainty, God stayed with him, and he also stayed faithful to God. When it was asked by God that he should sacrifice to Him his own beloved son, Isaac, who was none other the son whom God had promised him, Abraham did not hesitate, and he went up the mountain to sacrifice his own son, only to be stopped by God, Who had seen his great and undying faith, and thus blessed him all the more.

The example of Abraham, our father in faith served us in the sense that through him we see and we have a witness of how God rewarded His faithful servants. God blessed His servants, from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, and then to Moses and the judges, and king David and Solomon the faithful ones, and many other good servants, prophets and all those who kept their faith in the Lord.

But those who had rejected Him or ignored His warnings, had nothing other than contempt and condemnation. Those wicked ones refused to obey the Lord and they had had their fill. They will face the final judgment and receive eternal damnation as their share, since while God had given them many opportunities and even blessed them profusely, they still refused to acknowledge His love and instead betrayed Him for the pagan idols and their sinful ways.

Then how is this relevant to us? Let us ask ourselves then, are we following the examples of Abraham, our father in faith, or do we follow instead the examples of the wickedness of the people of Israel over the ages? Do we follow their rebelliousness and refusal to obey the Law of the Lord instead of the faithfulness of the prophets and the servants of our Lord?

All of us have a choice, and this choice is a very important one indeed, for what is at stake is none other than the fate of our very own souls. Do we choose to be like the wise women and the faithful steward who did all they can in order to prepare themselves to welcome the Lord and His coming? Or do we rather choose to be like the unwise women and the wicked and lazy steward who were lazy and were rather distracted with merrymaking rather than obeying their Master?

Let us all understand the importance of this matter, especially with regards to the time and opportunities that we have in this life. If we think that we can delay and wait for the time when we will finally change our ways, then know that God is our Master and He is the Master over all of our lives. He alone knows when our earthly life will come to an end, not us.

There are many things that we can control in our life, however we have no control over our life. We cannot extend our lives longer than it has been decreed by the Lord. If we wait until this time is up, then we have no more chance for ourselves. Let us ask ourselves, would we rather live in the eternal glory of God while at the moment suffering temporarily the persecution and the challenges by the world? Or would we rather live for the moment, but then forsaking the chance at eternal glory?

May God help us to discern our path well, that we may eventually be able to find our way to Him, and not to be distracted and be lost in the darkness. May the Lord help us to find our way to Him, and may He bless us in this forevermore. Amen.