priest homily

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Thursday, 4 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of Parish Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the famous St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, specifically our parish priests. He was also known by his name of the Cure of Ars, from the role he played in his dwelling at Ars in France, where he worked many works of wonders and miracles among the people of God through his hard work and dedication.

In the Scripture readings today, we heard about the covenant and the promise that God had made through His prophet Jeremiah, that He would renew the covenant with His people and bring them together again as one people, and gather them in His love into His embrace. And this was taken in the context that the people of God had been brought low and many were brought into exile in the land of their enemies, having sinned many times before the Lord.

And brothers and sisters in Christ, today we also heard in the Gospel, the famous exchange between Jesus and His disciples, primarily St. Peter, who professed his renewed faith to the Lord, proclaiming without hesitation that Jesus his Master, is the Son of the Living God, the Messiah, and the Lord of all. This is something which many others, the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and even among the disciples themselves, found hard to believe.

And Jesus entrusted all of His flock to him, whom He charged to be the leader of the whole Church which He established upon this world, founded upon that same faith which St. Peter had proclaimed before all that day. And He charged him with the care of the keys to the kingdom of heaven, with the responsibility to bind and unbind the souls of mankind to the Lord, that is the mission of the Church.

And how is this relevant to what we are celebrating today as the feast day of St. John Vianney? St. John Vianney is an example for all the priests, all those who have devoted themselves to the Lord. He has given himself in service to those who are the least and the weakest in the society, and he has delivered many great sermons, calling on many people to repent their sins and to find their way back to the Lord.

He cured the hearts of the faithful, and brought them back from the darkness and back into the light. He stirred the hearts of sinners that they might hearken to the word and the calling of God, which sounded in their hearts, and pulled them back from the edge of the precipice leading to hell. And thus, in this manner, St. John Vianney embodied that calling and that mission which Jesus our Lord had entrusted to St. Peter.

Our priests and our devoted servants of God are all precious to us, and they are the ones who are our bridges, the ones who help us to encounter the Lord, much as He is the One Who is the bridge between us sinful men and the Father in Heaven. They do not have an easy life, and as we all should understand, being priests and devoted servants of God is difficult, as challenges after challenges shall come their way.

Therefore today, as we celebrate together the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, let us all pray for our priests, all those who have devoted their lives and given themselves to care for God’s people, and to gather as many souls as possible to the salvation in God. Let us all devote ourselves as well in similar manner and commit ourselves to support our faithful priests, that their works will lead to even greater impact in bringing God’s beloved but wayward people back into His embrace.

May God help us all, and may He awaken in us all as well, the spirit of service and dedication, and hopefully that some of us may take up the challenge and the calling He had made unto us, that we too may have new priests and holy servants of God arising from our ranks. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 3 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard again yet another message of hope, telling us that God does not forget His people, His beloved ones. He would gather them back to the loving embrace of His presence, and He will not let them to be lost again. And all these was told in our first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in the context that the old kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been destroyed and the people of God had been cast into exile.

In such a situation, indeed it would be very easy for someone to despair and to lose hope. But God reminded His people that no matter what, even though they were the ones who had first been disloyal and disobedient to Him, He is always loyal and will not abandon His people, unless they were the ones who continued to defy Him and continued to resist Him and refused to accept His love and grace.

God also tested the faith of the Canaanite woman in the Gospel today, as Jesus apparently refused to heal the daughter of the woman, who was beset by evil spirits. It may seem how adamant and heartless Jesus was when He rejected the woman’s begging and pleas for Him to heal her daughter, even to the point of pointing out that it was not right to let the dogs eat up the food from the master’s table.

But what Jesus was doing, in fact was to point out how the society of the Jews worked at that time. There was a very explicit form of prejudice against those non-Jewish people, who were considered by the Jews as those who were not deserving of God’s love and salvation. They considered themselves as the chosen people and the chosen race because their father was Abraham, and they felt that entitlement because of their descent from the father of many nations.

And thus, they thought of themselves as deserving of God’s many graces and blessings, while all the other people were not deserving, like that of a dog who should not be given even the scraps of food from the master’s table. But the woman did not give up, even when she was told off in the same manner as all the prejudices of the Jews had done to her and her people.

In her humility, and in the faith which she had for the Lord, she humbled herself and lowered herself, that upon the trust which she has in the Lord, she believed that no matter what, her faith in Him would not be shaken. And her faith and begging was such that, the Lord was moved to see such a great piety, one which was no longer present in the heart of the many Jews at the time, even those who followed Him.

And that is an important lesson for all of us. How is our faith in God like? Is it a faith similar to that of the woman? Or is it shaky and weak, easily shaken by worldly temptations and desires? Faith is not just merely proclaiming by words that we believe in God and doing what the Church is asking us to do alone. Faith means that we should put forth all our trust in God, and in our best abilities, try to implement what we have learnt from God in our own actions everyday.

And that means, all of us should seek the Lord, His mercy and forgiveness, by showing mercy and love ourselves. We should not be prejudiced or be biased against our brethren, or think that we are in any way better than them simply because we have been saved. Remember that once we were also still lost in the darkness of the world. Rather, all of mankind are brothers and sisters in the same Lord our God, and it is imperative that as many souls as possible should be saved.

In the end, we have to realise that our roles in the salvation of mankind is important, since it is through our commitment and hard work that the salvation which God had offered us mankind will persist in this world, and it is through us that God often performed His miracles of mercy and wonder. May God then help us to realise this potential in us, and may we grow ever more dedicated to help one another in finding our way to the Lord, our loving God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops or Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called by God through His words in the Scripture, and the centre theme of His calling to us, is for us all to have faith in Him. In the first reading, God spoke to His people through Jeremiah, His prophet, telling them the message of hope in the midst of hopelessness and darkness. He told them that He would restore them to their previous glory and grace, and He would remove from them the shame of their captivity and exile.

This was given in the context that the people of God had long disobeyed Him and preferred to forge their own path, worshipping pagan idols and gods, and committed all sorts of wicked deeds in His sight. They have lost faith in Him, and they have wavered many times, unable to commit themselves to Him. They fell into sin and thus had to endure the consequences of their disobedience.

And yet God still wanted to show them mercy, extending His hands to them and wanting to welcome them back into His embrace. Nevertheless, all of these would come to naught if the same people refused to take up the offer. And sadly that was the case. Many would rather continue in their state of sin and uncertainty rather than to surrender themselves completely to God and His ways.

Then let us all see what we have heard in the Gospel today. The Lord appeared to His disciples who were in the middle of the lake, trapped within a great storm, with high winds and strong waves, threatening to sink the whole ship with them inside. And the disciples were afraid when they saw the Lord for the first time, thinking that He was a ghost.

They were afraid and fearful, and their faith in God wavered, just as how it was in the past, at the time of the prophet Jeremiah. The people of God were unfaithful and they followed their own preferences and paths. And that was just as the disciples in the boat rocked by the strong winds and the strong waves, threatening to sink them. And thus, the temptations of the world were very strong, and pulling the people of God to them, these threatened to bring the people of God into eternal damnation.

But Jesus the Lord came, and He came to His disciples when they were in distress, telling them not to be afraid, for He was there with them. And He stretched out His hand, and called upon St. Peter when he was wavering. St. Peter reached out to the Lord and walked on the water, but his faith in Him wavered, and he was sinking into the water. And God helped him up, and chided him briefly for his doubts. And upon entering the boat, He calmed down the wind and the waves.

In this rich show of symbolism, we saw how in our own present time, the Church is that boat in which all of us the people of God are in. Indeed, the Church is often portrayed as a boat, in how the churches in both Western and Eastern Christendom were constructed, especially in the Eastern traditions. And all of us the people of God are in this boat, journeying across the troubled waters, facing the wind and the waves, that is this world and all of its troubles and challenges.

And just as all peoples when faced with a sinking boat would do, we have a choice, either to stay with the ship or to jump ship into the water, hoping that by jumping into the water we might be saved from sinking. But more often than not, that kind of decision is done out of fear and uncertainty, and lack of faith in the capability of the one guiding the ship to bring the people to safety.

And thus when God Who is the guide of the Church, as its Head, guided us all in His Church, all of us should hold fast and stay faithful and courageous for as long as we are able to. Let us all strengthen our faith in God, and learn to put our complete trust in Him, for even though we have been unfaithful, as it was for the people of Judah and Israel in the past, God is always forever faithful.

Let us all also heed the examples of the saints, St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Peter Julian Eymard, whose examples can be our inspiration in how we live our lives. St. Eusebius of Vercelli was a holy and devoted bishop of the region of Vercelli in Italy, who gave most of his life in the devout service of God. He was a strong believer in the Lord and an ardent defender of His truth against all those who would stir up the faithful by spreading heresies and falsehoods.

St. Eusebius of Vercelli lived at a turbulent time, and although at that time, Christianity had become a tolerated faith in the Roman Empire, and more and more people accepted the Lord as their Saviour, but there were many heresies and false teachings abound, threatening to sunder the Church and condemn many of the faithful people of God into oblivion.

He worked hard to convince the people to return from their erroneous path, and many responded in kind, following him back to the safety and the good embrace of their Lord and God. He helped many people to reconcile themselves with the Church and the Lord, rejected the heresies which they had come to believe, and instead embraced the truth and the fullness of the magisterium teaching of the Church.

Similarly, St. Peter Julian Eymard also devoted his life to the Lord, to bring the Good News to the people, promoting the devotion to the Lord, especially to His Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament, adoring the Lord in all things, and calling all those who have sinned to repent and return to the embrace of the Lord through the Church.

He helped to establish two congregations of religious life whose aims were to bring the people of God closer to Him through the pious and strong devotion to the Eucharist. And many people responded in kind, devoting themselves to the Lord and changing their ways, and therefore many were brought to the salvation of God through what this holy saint has done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on the words of the Holy Scriptures and on the examples of these holy saints, let us all do the same with our own lives, as all of us can also do what they have done. Let us stay committed and remain faithful to God, despite the challenges and the temptations calling us to do otherwise. Let us remain true to God through His Church, and help many others to remain firmly rooted in faith, that each and every one of us may be saved.

May God, our Lord and Saviour, our loving Father and Redeemer, may He bless us all and keep us forevermore in His grace, and may He never forget about us in our moments of distress, but come to us, and may we take up His offer of salvation, change our ways and go forth to meet Him in the salvation and eternal life He promised all those who are faithful to Him. Amen.

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Monday, 1 August 2016 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the messages from the Holy Scriptures, from the first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, where Jeremiah was up against the false prophets trying to obtain the favour of the king of Judah by trying to satisfy him and made him happy by providing him with false prophecies.

Those false prophets tried to discredit Jeremiah, plotting against him by portraying him as a doom-bringer and as a pariah, who kept telling bad news one after another, while they portrayed a less negative picture of what was to come. But the prophet Jeremiah did not back down, and instead, he continued to persist to show the people who have disobeyed God about just how much they have erred.

And despite the opposition and the stubbornness of the people, the prophet did not give up. For it was God’s love that drove him to work harder for the sake of the people who had been lost in the darkness, that they might be able to find their way back to the Lord, their loving God. God so loved the world, that even though they have sinned and committed such wickedness before Him, He was still willing to love them and to show His care for them.

And this is visible in the Gospel today, where we heard that famous story of how Jesus our Lord fed the entirety of the five thousand men and likely even many more thousands of women and children in that great crowd which had followed Him to listen to Him. In this, we saw how great is the love and compassion that the Lord has for us all, His beloved people.

He showed pity and compassion, seeing how many of those people who followed Him and were hungry and without food. He provided for them, cared for them, and thus showed the infinite greatness and the endless breadth of His wonderful love and mercy. And yet, it was the same people who also called for Him to be crucified. Yes, the very same people who hailed Jesus as King and Lord, also called for Him to be crucified.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? God has loved us so much, and yet why was it that in many occasions, from the time of Jeremiah to the time of Jesus our Lord, that they had done so much to bring God’s anger upon themselves? Not only that they refused His love and grace, but they also continued to live in a state of sin and disgrace. They have not listened to the Lord and continued to live in the darkness because of the absence of God from their hearts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all ask ourselves, how do we then stand in this matter? Where do we find ourselves in this issue? Is God truly in our hearts? Are His laws and precepts ours, and did we do all that we can to obey them? If the answers we have to all of these is no, then perhaps we should look at what the holy servant of God, St. Alphonsus Liguori had done.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, our saint of the day, was a holy bishop and a devoted servant of God. He was known around the world as the founder of the religious order now known as the Redemptorists, who devoted themselves to the redemption of mankind, and to the salvation of the many people who had lived in the darkness of sin, by bringing God’s light and truth upon them.

St. Alphonsus Liguori devoted himself to God’s service, giving himself to the poorest, weakest and the least fortunate ones in the society. He worked hard among the sick and the dying, and knowing that he alone could not do much to help the many people who have suffered, he founded that Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known now as the Redemptorist order, to gather together all those who have similar minds and goals to him, that all of them may work together for the sake of God’s people.

Let us all follow his examples, and seek the Lord with all of our might. Our hearts should be turned to God and should be attuned to Him. We should do our best so that we may be ever closer to God, and leave behind our doubts, our fears and our lack of faith, which were the obstacles that had prevented many from following the Lord in the past. May St. Alphonsus Liguori intercede for us, and may he help us to keep ourselves faithful in this journey towards the Lord our saving God. Amen.

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Sunday, 31 July 2016 : 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we heard a very strong theme in the Scripture Readings, which told us about the impermanence of all things. Beginning from the Book of Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, the one speaking in the Book told about the uselessness of and meaninglessness of the many things which we have in life.

And this ties in nicely with what we heard in the Gospel passage today, where our Lord Jesus Himself spoke to His disciples about the cautiousness that people should adopt in the way of their life, lest they be trapped into the trap of human greed and pride. The parable which Jesus told His disciples, reflected clearly this warning, should any of us fall into the temptations of worldly pleasures and desires.

In that parable, Jesus spoke about a rich man who had many possessions, barns after barns of crops and the results of bountiful harvest, which he stored until they were all in full capacity. And he planned to tear those barns down and create even bigger barns so that he might accumulate even more crops, grains and thus wealth. And thus he in his moments of pride and self-praise thought that he would gain even more and became greater, but he forgot that he is not the master of his life.

Indeed, all of us, each and every one of us are accountable to the One Who is the only Master of all our lives, the Lord and Master of all. He alone has the jurisdiction and power over us, over our life which we have no control over. And yet, many of us unfortunately fell into the thinking that we have that illusory degree of control, and thinking that we can do what we like with our lives because we should get what we want in this life.

But in case we think in that manner, then we should know that such a way of thinking is mistaken. Let us just ask ourselves, how often is it that we go out of our way to seek for more things in this world which satisfy our wants and our ego? How many of us spend much time just so that we may gain more of the wealth of the world for its various reasons?

Indeed in this world there are uses for our possessions and our wealth. We do use them for a variety of purposes, and in many cases, even for good purposes. But when that becomes an addiction and a pursuit of the flesh, then it is where the pursuit of more worldliness becomes our greatest obstacle on this path in which we are walking towards God now.

We are all mortals, all of whom live at the mercy and at the will of God. It is God Who gave us life and it is God again Who will take it back, when He calls us all to return to Him, and receive the judgment, whether we are worthy to receive His promised glory, or if we are unworthy and thus should be cast out into the utter darkness and eternal suffering in hell.

This is the fact that many of us are unaware of. We continue our pursuit of wealth, fame and human pride, satisfying our ego and wants, but at what price? Are all these going to be any help for us at the end? Just a gust of wind, a bonfire of flames, the shaking of the earth, the power of rust and other worldly forces, and in the blink of an eye, all of these may perish.

If we put our trust in these perishable things, then are we not then like those whom the Lord mentioned in another parable, that we built our houses upon the weak foundations of sand? One moment and everything may just come tumbling down. That is how meaningless and useless it is for us to be so preoccupied with worldly things that do not last, that we end up forgetting about our true goal in life, that is the Lord our God.

If we put our trust in God, we surely will not be disappointed, for God Himself is forever faithful to His people. And to all those who keep their faith in Him, He will also show His grace and love. And that was what exactly happened to the great saint whose feast happened to be on this day as well, the great founder of the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuit order, that is St. Ignatius of Loyola.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born into a Spanish noble family, a family of high esteem and prestige, of high social status and expectation. And as a member and heir of that family, he was brought up in a life of privilege, and grew up aspiring for greater honour and glory for himself. And thus he became a knight and went through battles after battles seeking greater glory for himself.

But during one of the battles, at the siege of the castle called Pamplona in northeastern Spain, he was injured and therefore was left out of much of the battle. And at that time, he had a revelation and received the calling from God which changed his life forever. From then on, he devoted himself to a new cause, one that was far more worthy than what he did previously.

Instead of seeking personal glory and honour, St. Ignatius of Loyola from then on sought to bring forth the greater glory of God, as shown in his personal motto, which is also the motto of the Jesuits, that is ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’ or ‘For the Greater Glory of God’. It was no longer human glory and worldly desires that St. Ignatius of Loyola sought for, but instead the true treasure that can be found in God alone.

And when he gathered together like-minded people, he helped to establish one of the most influential and largest contributor to the efforts of the Church in combatting and countering the terrible heresies and damages of the so-called Protestant ‘reformation’. In the Counter-Reformation, St. Ignatius of Loyola and his Jesuit order were often at the forefront of the effort to reclaim many souls back for the Lord.

St. Ignatius of Loyola and many others who have followed in his footsteps have made their choice, to abandon behind the worldly desires of the flesh, and to take up their crosses and follow the Lord their God. Shall we all also follow the same then? Shall we not also reject the temptations of the devil, who tempted us with the temptations of pleasure and flesh to distract us from finding our true treasure in God?

May the Lord help us in discerning our path and help strengthen our faith, so that we may devote ourselves more to the Lord, and commit ourselves thoroughly to His ways. May He bless our endeavours and may He strengthen us always, be our Guide and help us to reach Him at the end of our journey. May St. Ignatius of Loyola also be our intercessor and be our inspiration on how we ought to live our lives. For the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 July 2016 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the message of the Sacred Scriptures, telling us about the persecution that were up against the faithful people of God, foremost of which were against the prophets and holy servants of God, Jeremiah and St. John the Baptist, both of whom suffered from the persecution by the forces of the world who rejected the Lord and His message.

In the first reading, we heard about how the people and the powerful men of Judah plotted against Jeremiah for all of his supposed annoyance by his repeated doom messages and they treated him as a nuisance. Those people trusted in their power, and in the belief that they would be able to stand up against the Babylonians who were about to destroy the remnants of their kingdom, while continuing to live in sin.

What Jeremiah warned them was that the anger of God against their sins and wickedness would bring them to the fate which he had foretold to them. But as we all know how human nature works, no one is happy or welcoming to hear bad and evil news. They would not bend their ego and they refused to know that they were in such a bad state and that something would be required from them to change their ways and for them to abandon their sinful past.

Thus, it was the same as well in the Gospel we heard today. What we heard today in the Gospel is a classic example of how men and their worldly needs triumphed over their need for faith and obedience to God and His ways. King Herod Agrippa, the king of Galilee at that time, lived in a state of great sin because he illegally married and lived with the wife of his deceased brother, Philip.

In order to understand this, we should see deeper into the background and context, especially in the society at that time. One may be quick to point out that there seems to be a discrepancy between what St. John the Baptist had said to Herod and what the Sadducees said to Jesus, when they were debating about the resurrection. According to them, the laws of Moses stated that a woman need to marry her husband’s brother in order to carry on his lineage.

However, if we read carefully, that was because the husband died without having a child with the wife. In Herod’s case, it was likely that Herodias, his brother’s wife whom he married, had already had a daughter with his brother, who was the girl dancing in the presence of Herod and his guests. And thus, what he had committed, both Herod and Herodias, was tantamount to adultery and great sin before God and men alike.

And it was the anger and resentment shown by Herodias which had caused the suffering of the servant of God, St. John the Baptist, and how eventually he was martyred in prison. It was suffice to conclude that Herodias must have resented the man of God because he spoke ill about her unnatural and sinful relation with the brother of her own deceased husband, committing adultery. She must have been afraid that her position as the royal consort would be threatened.

It was the same as how it was at the time of the kingdom of Judah, at the time of the prophet Jeremiah. The people placed their trust in their own strength rather than in God, and they thought that they had everything in their control. And when Jeremiah came and proclaimed their errors, they hardened their hearts and refused to believe in, preferring to move forward in their own error.

Thus the world hated the Lord and His ways, because its ways are not compatible with His ways. And therefore, all of us who follow the Lord, will thus also face the consequences of the opposition of the world. We may be persecuted and may face difficulties along our path, but yet we should not be afraid. If God is on our side, then there is nothing we should be afraid of.

Today let us all heed the example of St. Peter Chrysologus, the saint whose feast we celebrate on this day. St. Peter Chrysologus was a great bishop of Ravenna, who was renowned for his oratorical abilities. That was why he was known as Chrysologus or ‘golden-worded’. He was known for his preaching skills and for his hard work in spreading the faith, in combatting heresies and false teachings.

St. Peter Chrysologus spoke in the same manner as the prophet Jeremiah and the servant of God, St. John the Baptist. He spoke the truth of God to the people, and he spoke with great clarity in his many sermons, calling the people of God to repentance and to turn themselves to the Lord their God. Of course he did not have it easy, as challenges from those who refused to believe, the heretics who refused to repent and all others had been obstacles to his works.

But he did not give up, and he continued to preach and to minister to the people who had been entrusted to him. And in the end, he gained for the Church many souls who otherwise would have been lost. In the same manner, no matter how difficult it was, the prophet Jeremiah and St. John the Baptist never quit, never gave up on the missions given to them, and persevered on to end.

We have to learn to be more like them, brethren. We have to learn to be devoted to God as they were, and we must renew that love which all of us ought to show to the Lord our God. The world and all who are against God will persecute us, just as they have persecuted and rejected the Lord and His servants. We have to rise above the persecution by the world, and persevere to do our best to be faithful and devoted in all things.

Let us all recommit this life we have and offer it to the Lord, and let us from now on follow His ways and His laws. May we all grow closer and more devoted to the Lord, and be faithful always in His presence. May God bless us all in our endeavours and strengthen our faith in Him. Amen.

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Friday, 29 July 2016 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of St. Martha, one of the close friends of our Lord Jesus Christ, who went with Him and provided support to Him and His disciples. She was one of the holy women mentioned in the Gospels and in the Bible. But in the beginning, which story we heard today, she kind of lost her focus and attention on the Lord, when she welcomed the Lord for the first time into her house.

St. Martha was so busy with her chores, preparing everything for the benefit of her guests, while her sister Mary sat at the side of the Lord, listening to Him as He spoke and taught her and others there about the Lord. When St. Martha complained to the Lord that her sister was leaving her to do all the work and preparation alone, He rebuked her by saying that in her business, she had forgotten about the most important thing of all, as she was distracted by all the things she was doing.

It was not that St. Martha was doing something wrong or wicked in the sight of God, and neither was it that she intentionally ignored the Lord or refused to listen to His teachings, but rather, because of all the things that occupied her, all these things have distracted her, shut her off from the Lord, made her unable to appreciate and sense the importance of what the Lord is telling Mary and the other disciples.

Let us all ask ourselves, have we been like St. Martha? How many of us in our own lives have those occasions when the Lord called on us, and yet we ignored Him, tried to shut Him off, or trying to walk away from Him. God has been so kind to us so as to provide us with so many good things, including the best gift of all, the gift of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all of our salvation and redemption.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God has given us the best of everything, and He even provided us with all that we need. But we tend to surround ourselves, either intentionally or unintentionally with the many things and occupations in this world that distract us from our true goal in finding our way to the Lord. Be it money, pleasures of the flesh, the temptation of power and human praise, worldly fame and many other things, we are often distracted by them.

We are so busy in our pursuit for money, possessions and other things. Just think about it, brethren, how many times is it in our lives that we place our focus on the wrong things? We spend hours after many hours trying to get for ourselves ever more comfortable lives, and we desire many things, all the things that this world are pushing upon us, all the materialism weighing down upon us, and all the temptations that the devil is trying to drown us with.

Sometimes, it is good for us to take a step back and reflect. Yes, we should reflect about many things, not least of which is the actions we take in this life, and the choices which we made. Let us ask ourselves, do we choose what we want, or do we rather choose the Lord? Which one is more trustworthy, to put our trust in the Lord or to put our trust in our feeble human power?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we all live in this important time when all that we do and everything that we have are influenced heavily by how we choose our focus in life. We have to discern and be careful in thinking and deciding how we are to devote our time and attention. Do we want to put our trust in the untrustworthy and easily lost treasures of this world, or do we rather trust in the promise of salvation from the One Who is always forever faithful?

We should be like St. Martha, who was once so busied by the daily chores and routines, by worries and other things that she was not able to see the Lord and understand Him. But eventually, she became an ardent believer, that when her brother Lazarus died from an illness, she trusted that Jesus would heal him and bring him back even from death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, may the Lord bless us and help us. May He keep us and strengthen our faith, so that we may draw ever closer to Him and find our way to His glory and presence. May we all receive worthily the promise of eternal salvation and life that God had promised all those who placed their trust in Him. Let the examples and lessons of St. Martha and the other holy saints of God be our guide and example. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 28 July 2016 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Lord speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, about He Who is like the potter working on the clay on his hands. In the same way therefore, the Lord also moulded and guided the people whom He had chosen as a potter moulded the pottery from an unappealing mass of clay into an amazing and beautiful piece of art.

In order to understand this, we should link what we know of a potter’s job with what we also heard at the Gospel today regarding the kingdom of heaven likened to a big fishing net thrown into the sea, where the good fish are gathered and kept, while the bad and unwanted fish are thrown back into the sea or are destroyed. And in this, a comparison was made in terms of gathering what is good and throwing away what is wicked and undesirable.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we make parallels between these parables and stories with our own life, then surely we will be able to spot many things that are in accordance with how we ourselves live our lives. If our lives as mentioned is compared to a potter’s vase, with the Lord our God as our potter and shaper, then indeed, we should follow His lead in His guidance for us in how we ought to live our lives.

Let us ask ourselves, that if we go out to find and buy a flower vase or a pot, will we not look for the finest and the best quality vase or pot, so that when we have them, we may be proud and may boast of the great quality and the beauty of the flower vase or pot? Then if we are clay in the sight of God, should He not then also want to make us to be the most beautiful and precious piece of pottery, one that is worthy of His glory?

But unfortunately, while God wants to make us all the beautiful reflection of His love and glory, it is we ourselves who resist such attempts by God. We resisted Him and rejected Him, spurned His love and sought other things to worship and love. Thus, we are like clay that refused to set and harden, and we accumulate filthy impurities in us, which makes us ugly and wicked, which is the taint of sin.

Let us ask ourselves, is this what we want for ourselves? Do we want ourselves to be that ugly and imperfect pottery at the end? Indeed, we as humans as we are, we have our imperfections, as well as our weaknesses. But the question is, do we embrace these imperfections, or do we rather turn ourselves to God’s loving embrace and seek His help to free us from all these wicked things? Shall we not endeavour to reject sin in all of its forms?

The lesson for us from today’s Gospel is important, because as Jesus told His disciples, the Angels will come at the end of time, and pick up the good wheat while throwing away all of the bad and evil weeds into the fire to be burnt. The Angels of God will come to us and when at that time, we are considered to be unworthy, then it is too late for us, and the fate of punishment and suffering will be upon us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us act from now on, and commit ourselves to change our ways, and devote ourselves to seek the Lord and walk in His ways from now on. Let us not lose our sight on the goal ahead, that is for us to be with the Lord, and devote ourselves, heart and soul to Him alone, that at the end of it all, each and every one of us will be good, worthy and beautiful in His sight, and be welcomed into His eternal glory. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 27 July 2016 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the readings from the Scripture tell us about turning away from our evil and wicked ways, and then seek the Lord with all of our hearts. From the first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard about the Lord Who promised His people that He would forgive them and welcome them back if they had a change of heart and were willing to leave behind their sinful ways and regret their past mistakes.

In this, we see God in His merciful love, which He is offering to all of us mankind. To the people of the kingdom of Judah, He had also offered the same mercy and forgiveness. Yet, as they refused to repent and continued in their sins, worshipping pagan gods and idols and brought profanation upon the holy altar of God. They refused to bend their knees and to obey the Lord, and for that, they suffered the consequences of their disobedience.

They have placed their bet in the world and in their own power, and they got what they had dealt with. But the Lord is always trying to give us a chance, and trying all the time to bring as many of us as possible back to His loving embrace. And that was why He gave us His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to bring to us the full revelation of truth about Him, His love and what we all should do to be saved.

And all of this is revealed in the Gospel today, as Jesus spoke of the parable of the treasure and the kingdom of God. In that parable, Jesus likened the kingdom of God with the treasure, which all of us should aspire for and should look for. The kingdom of God is likened to a pearl of great and unsurpassable quality, a pearl of such excellence and price that all who see it should hearken to it and get it.

And this is the problem which many of us have, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is often that we do not know what is the true treasure of our life. Instead, we end up looking for the wrong treasures in this life, either because of ignorance, or because of the temptations and persuasions we faced, from the community, from the norms of our world and all the other things that pushed us to seek all the worldly things instead of finding our way to the Lord.

Let us ask ourselves, what is the worth of all the money and possessions that we gathered? What is the worth of all the fame and the praise we heaped upon ourselves? All of these will not be of good use to us at the time when we leave this world behind to our judgment. Yes, we should know that we are not going to carry our wealth or all the human fame and praises with us. It is only our deeds and actions that will be our sole proof to be shown to God.

Thus, we should heed what our Lord Jesus said on another occasion, asking us not to put our trust or gather treasures for ourselves that can be destroyed by fire, or by water, or by rust or by moth and other worldly forces. Rather, build for ourselves the true treasures of the kingdom of heaven, the incomparable pearl of great quality, by doing what God has asked us to do, by obeying His laws and commandments, loving Him and our fellow brethren.

May God help us on our journey, and may He strengthen our faith that we may not stumble along the way and be tempted into sin again. But let us renew our commitment to live faithfully with our God, and strive to be ever faithful and be ever righteous in His presence. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 26 July 2016 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard about the lamentation about the kingdom of Judah, how that kingdom has been overrun and has been abandoned by the favour of God, awaiting its final days and downfall. It was far from what it was like during the glorious days of kings David and Solomon.

And all of that was caused by the disobedience of the people of God, who have grown to trust their wealth and power more than they trust in God. And as a result, they have also wandered off away from the path that God had set for them. They have disobeyed His precepts, tortured and rejected His prophets and messengers, and they have lived in debauchery and wicked life, led by many of their kings who were unfaithful.

And thus God has abandoned His people to their enemies, allowing them to tear at them and made them suffer, as the just punishment and consequences for their lack of faith in Him. But it does not mean that He entirely despised them or did not care for them, as we have to understand that what God despises is the sins that we have committed, the wicked things that tainted us all in the body, heart and soul.

God loves all of us His children. We are the most beloved and precious of His creations. Yet, it pained Him to see that His beloved children abandoned Him and chose rather to be with the false gods and idols which they deemed to be their gods instead of their only one and only true God. He loves us all in person, and He cares for each and every one of us, but it is the sins that we have committed which separated us from Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why in the Gospel passage today, we heard about the Lord Jesus Who spoke to His disciples about the parable of the wheat and the weed. The Lord is the sower, Who sowed good seeds in our hearts, as we are all the fertile lands and grounds upon which God had given His grace and blessings. But the devil sowed the seeds of division and confusion, hoping that these would strangle the faith inside of us and trap us with the snares of sin.

If we allow these seeds to grow and develop, then I am afraid that over time it will grow to ensnare us and make it difficult for us to be faithful and loyal disciple of our Lord and God. Temptations and falsehoods of the devil are plentiful, and these are the things that will help those wicked seeds to grow, while preventing the growth or suffocating the growth of the seeds of faith inside each and every one of us.

And thus, perhaps it is good for us to take note of the examples of the two great and venerable saints whose feast we are celebrating today. They are none other than the parents of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, making them to be the grandparents of our Lord and Saviour. St. Joachim and St. Anne were the parents of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, and through their devout and good life as well as their good care of Mary, they have played a great part in the Lord’s plan of salvation.

Indeed, Mary had been conceived without sin, as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, a centre tenet of our faith has told us, but it is equally important that she was brought up in a good family with a devout and faithful upbringing, which certainly St. Joachim and St. Anne had done for their daughter. This then highlights to us the importance of our own Christian families in the strengthening of the faith in each and every one of us.

Many of us do not realise it, but the family is a very important part of the Church, one of the strong pillars that helped to hold it all together. Without a stable and good family structure, and without a family that devote itself to the Lord and actively promote devotions and commitment towards God, then I am afraid that was the very reason why so many Christians had erred and been led into the falsehoods and the temptations of the devil.

Instead, as Christians, especially those of us in the families of Christ, each and every one of us, be it as a father, or as a mother, as a brother or a sister, as sons and daughters, all of us have a role to play in our Christian families. We are the foundations of the Church, as the saying goes that a family who prays together, stays together. If our families are run and kept as how Mary’s family was, and later on, as how the Holy Family was like, then surely there will be no problem.

The confusion and the wickedness spread by the devil can only grow when the situation and condition is ripe for such a growth, namely in situations where parental care is lacking, and where the Christian values that are supposed to be inculcated since young through the family are absent. Certainly, we do not want this to happen.

Therefore, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord by strengthening our families, filled with faith, and devote ourselves anew. May God bless us all and keep us all in His grace, and may His blessings and graces be upon us always, now and forever. Amen.