priestly homily

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Wednesday, 15 June 2016 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of what we as Christians have to do as part of our faith, and God reminds us that whatever we are doing, we should not do it for ourselves, but rather, we have to do it for the sake of the Lord our God. This is what we often tend to forget and which we also tend to overlook.

We just have to look at the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at the time of Jesus, whose teachings do not correspond to the actions which they have taken. They preached one thing, but then in their actions they were not genuine in their faith. Jesus elaborated extensively on that matter, criticising them as hypocrites and those who sought to bring about their own personal glory.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us just see some of the examples. The Pharisees were overly concerned about their appearances and about how the people perceived them and their actions. They feared that the people would abandon them and their teachings for Jesus, Who taught with authority and with truth, and who did not just preach but also practiced what He preached.

And Jesus our Lord was right in criticising them, because their actions were not done for the sake of the Lord and His people, but instead, they were meant for themselves, to advance their own positions and to satisfy their own need and greed. They prayed in public places with a loud voice and with great appearances so that the people would see them and what they were doing, and then praise them and gave them the prestige and honour which they desired for so much.

And when they fasted, they fasted publicly, showing sad and gloomy faces, to show others that they were fasting, just as Jesus mentioned. And He pointed out that in doing so, they risked themselves, or indeed they had purposefully done so, that they again might be noticed by the people. And they gained the satisfaction when people praised them for what they have done, and they grew proud in their hearts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what the Pharisees had done then, are also applicable to us all as well. How often was it throughout our history that we have acted in ways so as to satisfy our own personal desires and wants? And how often is it that men had been so selfish so as they forgot about others around them, or even trample at them in order to fulfil our own needs?

And the most important of all, is that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not give glory to God and neither did they love Him or have true faith for Him when they did all the things they have done. They did it for themselves, and not for God or for His people. And that was exactly why the Lord rebuked them and condemned them harshly for it.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from all that we have heard and discussed today, let us all come to the realisation that each and every one of us as Christians must have genuine and living faith in our God, and this means that we must truly have that devotion for our God, and when we do everything, let us do it for the Lord our God.

May God strengthen our faith and empower us always to be filled with faith, hope and love, so that in all the things we do, we will always be ever faithful to Him, our Lord and God, and be worthy of His life everlasting. Amen.

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Tuesday, 17 May 2016 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of today’s Scripture readings is very clear. It is calling us to reflect on our actions in this world and think about how we should live in order to become better and more devoted followers of our God. It is a call for us to reject the way of this world, the way of greed and pride, and instead embrace the way of love and humility as espoused by the Lord Jesus and which He taught to His disciples and passed down to us through His Church.

It was mentioned by St. James in his Epistle about the discord and the troubles that appeared among the faithful, because of the clashing interests and ways of different peoples, each of whom acted in ways that is in self-preservation and in the fulfilment of the desires of each person. And because those desires are inherently selfish, it is inevitable that it would cause conflict between them.

And he mentioned that this is not the way that the faithful should behave. They must not succumb to the ways of this world. They must learn how to resist the temptations of the flesh, and cast out those ego, pride, selfishness, and all other forms of negativities that prevented them from being found truly worthy in God. We are encouraged as Christians, by the words of St. James, to live a truly Christian love, to show humility and love in all that we do.

A Christian should not be proud or be boastful of his or her own achievements. This is also the message of the Gospel passage today, where Jesus spoke of power and authority, and rebuked the Apostles and disciples for having disputed with each other about who was to be the greatest among them. Christians should not act in ways that show worldliness and in succumbing to such desires and the wishes one have for fame, glory, power, acknowledgement, wealth or any other things that the world desires.

Christians are called to challenge the way that we mankind have lived for all these while. It is unfortunately in our human nature to be proud, greedy, deceitful, filled with anger and wrath, to be desiring things that sometimes are beyond our means. And if we do not get ourselves out of these things and succumb to their pull, it will be hard for us to get out, and it will certainly gather in ourselves all the wickedness and the vile things that this world is feeding us with.

We have been often too distracted in our lives, too many concerns and wants, and there are many obstacles that prevent us from finding that path we need to walk on towards God. And that is because this world is indeed full of distractions and things that prevent us from being able to recognise the Lord present in out lives. This world is offering us many things that seem to be better as compared to following the Lord, and we grow accustomed to these things.

How is this so? We just have to look at the amount of materialism and consumerism that are around us. There are so many advertisements and encouragements for us to satisfy the desires of our flesh, and these serve as the obstacles that prevent us from living as true Christians. Are we able then, to listen to the advice of Jesus, which He told us to help us on our way to Him?

He brought children up to Him, and He told them, that unless they had the faith like those of small children, they would not find their way to the kingdom of God. Why is this so? If we have noticed small children before, they are innocent, kind, good and are willing to learn anything. They are like blank sheets waiting something to be written on them.

That means, they have no worries or concerns, wishes or desires that are obstacles in our path as we try to reach out to the Lord. They were still pure and good, innocent and blameless, while we ourselves have been tainted by the many things in this world that are pulling us away from God and His ways. Jesus told us all that we need to get rid of these distractions so that we may be able to reorientate ourselves and find our way to the Lord.

And the best way to do this is through prayer, devotion, commitment both to our God and to our fellow brethren around us. This means that we should practice our faith in our lives, showing love to one another, rejecting selfish ways and attitudes, and clear our hearts and minds from vicious and vile desires. We have to be disciplined in our own lives, focusing all of our efforts to do what is good and righteous in the sight of God.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to God, and may all of us, in all of our actions, be able to draw closer to the salvation which God has promised to all those who kept their faith in Him. Let us all do our best in order to be ever more devoted and committed children and follower of our God, having pure and genuine faith Him, and resist the temptations and the lies of the world. May God bless us all in our endeavours, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 27 November 2014 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come ever closer to the end of our liturgical year this year and as we look forward to this Sunday, when we will celebrate the beginning of the next liturgical year, with the beginning of the season of Advent, we come together to listen to the usual heeding and warnings from the Scriptures, on the imminent and inevitable coming of the end times.

In the first reading from the Book of the Revelations of St. John the Evangelist, we hear about the downfall of the great city of Babylon, which is the representation of all the evils in the world, the power and authority of Satan over the nations and over all the worldly forces, resources and desires. The use of the name Babylon to represent the ultimate force of evil is linked to the fact that the first to destroy Jerusalem and its holy Temple, was the Babylonians, under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar.

The people of Israel at the time was humiliated, their cities destroyed, chief of which was Jerusalem and its Temple, and they were brought to exile and slavery in Babylon for many years. They suffered tremendously being away from their homeland, their country, and scattered among nations, having to go through the humiliation by the other nations who mock them in their exile.

Thus in the same way, the faithful people of God will suffer, as the ways of this world, under the control of Satan and his angels, are diametrically opposite to the ways of the Lord. If we follow the Lord and profess our faith in Him, then we are on a direct collision course with the ways of Satan, who will then send all of his might and forces to destroy us, to humiliate us, and to make us suffer, as the Israelites had in the past.

The tribulation of the faithful will continue and increase in intensity before the coming of the Lord, just as Jesus had mentioned in the Gospel today. Jesus was speaking about the downfall and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans which would happen a few decades after His death and resurrection. However, in the same way, He was in fact also referring to what will also happen at the end times, when He will come again.

The coming of the end of time is not known to us, and only the Lord Himself knows of when He will come again and judge this world. But those who know His ways and those who understand His teachings will know better rather than to fear or be worried of what will happen in the future. For fear and worry indeed do not bring anything beneficial to us, and instead they may prove to be our downfall.

How often is it that we heard, brothers and sisters, that there are those who are so paralysed with fear and worry that they were unable to do anything, and just sit there to await their fates? This is exactly what will also happen to us, if we let our fear or worry cloud our judgment and ability to live our faith with great sincerity, courage, and with proactive attitude. Just ask ourselves a question, if we are crossing a road, and a large truck is out of control and speeding rapidly towards us, what shall we do?

We have clear choices in that situation, brothers and sisters on Christ. It is either that we allow our fear, indecision and worry to overcome us, and therefore paralysing us in fear, unable to move or to decide any action. The truck will then surely hit us and we will perish. Instead, what we should indeed do, when presented with this dilemma, is for us to take immediate action, to wake up from our slumber and inaction, from indecisiveness and hesitation, and make a move.

And in the same way therefore, all of us who have put our trust in the Lord, shall gain our salvation. It is not by inaction or passivity that our faith has saved us, but through real and concrete action, which we need to take every single day of our lives, no matter in how small an action that is. Our faith must be a genuine and living faith, founded on actions filled with love, that is love for our neighbours and brethren around us, and ultimately, the love we must have for God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listen to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, first let us all be reminded of the future coming of our Lord and Saviour, and how we should be prepared for such an eventuality. And then we have to realise that we have been gifted with much blessings and graces, through which we can make a lot of difference, not just for ourselves but also for many others around us, helping them to resist and to overcome the temptations of the world and the lies of evil.

We have no need to fear, brethren, for our Lord will be triumphant and victorious. The final victory will be His, and everything shall bow before Him, even Satan and his allies in the works of evil. Thus the great Babylon will fall and never to rise again, and the faithful will claim their place in the great victory of the Lord and partake in His celebrations. For a race of people once thought lost to Him, will finally be reunited forever with Him.

Let us all thus reaffirm our faith in the Lord, not by mere words or passivity, but with real and concrete actions of love, whenever and wherever we can and whenever we are in the position to help each other, and to show our love to those around us who need it. Then, we will be justified in our faith and our Lord will reward us with life everlasting and to share with Him the glory of heaven. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/26/thursday-27-november-2014-34th-week-of-ordinary-time-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/26/thursday-27-november-2014-34th-week-of-ordinary-time-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/26/thursday-27-november-2014-34th-week-of-ordinary-time-gospel-reading/