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Wednesday, 19 July 2023 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture passages, all of us are reminded that each one of us have been given the revelation of God’s wonders and His truth, His Good News and the fullness of His love, just as He has done through His prophets and messengers, and ultimately through none other than His own Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the One through Whom God has revealed the fullness of His love and compassion, His care and attention to each and every one of us, His beloved children, whom He has cared and shown attention on every single moments, whether in good or terrible times. God has done so much for us that all of us should be cognisant of His generosity and love, which He has patiently showed us all these while.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the moment when Moses was called by God in the land of the Midianites, where he spent his days in exile away from Egypt, where he committed a crime against an Egyptian. Moses was called by God at Mount Horeb, where he went up and saw a miraculous burning bush, where God spoke to him and revealed to him His intentions. God told Moses that he would be sent to the Egyptians and their ruler, the Pharaoh so that He might deliver all of His beloved people from their predicament and slavery, and that God would proclaim His glory and greatness to those who had persecuted and oppressed His chosen ones. Moses listened to the Lord and heard of everything that He would do for the sake of His people, of how He would finally set the things in motion for the salvation and liberation of His beloved ones.

That was therefore how God called Moses to be His servant, and how He would eventually do great deeds amidst His people and among all the Egyptians and many others, who have seen the great might of God displayed in the signs and wonders, and the Ten Great Plagues He sent against the Egyptians, among other great deeds. The Lord revealed to us His love, His patient and compassionate nature, His attention and His great commitment to His beloved ones. And this is what He has also revealed to us through His Son, just as we heard from our Gospel passage today, in which we heard the Lord Jesus speaking to the people and to His followers about how He has been sent into this world to reveal to everyone the love of the Father, and how He, as the Son, revealed the Father’s will and love to all of His beloved people.

As Christians, all of us have received and been entrusted with this same revelation and truth, and we have been called and chosen from among the world to be the receivers and the bearers of God’s great love and truth, His Good News and wonders. That is why, like Moses, all of us have been called to do His will, and to carry out whatever works and to do whatever it is that right in His Presence. All of us are called and entrusted with the gift of our Christian faith and truth, that as those who have believed in these same truths, hopefully we may proclaim them in all of the opportunities that had been provided to us. Each and every one of us are the beacons of God’s light, the bearers of His love and His salvation into this world. It is through us that many others may come to know of the Lord and seek His love and salvation.

Just like Moses had been sent into the land of Egypt to liberate the people of Israel from the slavery to the Egyptians, hence, the Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God, was sent into our midst so that He might deliver us from the slavery to our many sins and wickedness. And through Him, God established His Church, His Presence and Body in this world, calling upon every one of His beloved children to come to Him and to embrace once again the love which He has always lavished upon them. And all of us as Christians are the members of this same Church and Body of Christ, entrusted with the works of evangelisation and the proclamation of God’s Good News and love, which we should indeed embrace wholeheartedly, in our every day living and in every moments, for it is within our power and reach to touch the lives of many others with the love and truth of God.

The question now therefore is, are we willing to commit ourselves to this calling and ministry? Too often many of us Christians are too focused on our own selfish desires and ambitions, our pursuits in life and many other things that can be serious obstacles in our path, in our journey of faith towards the Lord. That is why today we are all reminded of this calling and mission we have, so that amidst our busy lives, actions and works, and among all the things that we are busy and often preoccupied in seeking, we may remember that in whatever we do, we should do it for the sake of the Lord and out of love and faith in Him. We should not spend so much time in seeking worldly things and all the satisfactions of the flesh. Those things do not last forever, and will not bring us true satisfaction and happiness in life, which God alone can give us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why today we should discern our path forward in life and consider carefully how we should continue living our lives with faith. We are truly so fortunate that God has given us so many wonderful blessings, and having loved us so generously all these while. Now, let us all consider and discern what we can do, in our own lives and in whatever areas we are working or living in, so that by our actions and works, by our every words and interactions with one another, we will always be exemplary and ever faithful in every one of our way of living. Let us do our best so that more and more people may come to know the Lord through us, and that more may be persuaded to believe in the Lord and His Good News, His salvation and ways. It is through us that God can call more and more of His lost ones to Him, and we should make good use of the opportunities given to us to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey in life, and empower each and every one of us so that we may indeed grow ever stronger in our faith and trust in Him, and may He continue to bless us and our many works so that by our ever faithful commitment to Him, we will always be filled with His grace and blessings, His love and compassion, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 18 July 2023 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continued with the discourse from the Book of Exodus in our first reading, we are reminded that we should believe in the Lord and trust in His providence, in His guidance and path at all times. That is how we can better walk through this life and the path that He has shown and led us into. Each and every one of us should continue to allow God to help and lead us down the right path in life, listening to Him calling upon us deep within our hearts and minds. Each one of us should listen to the Lord Who has shown us His love and kindness, and Who has constantly reached out to us, seeking to be truly and genuinely reconciled with us, that we, though sinners, may be redeemed and restored to the graceful existence and lives that we have been created for by the Lord from the very beginning.

In our first reading today, we heard about the story of the birth of Moses, the one through whom God would rescue His people, the Israelites, from their enslavement and suffering in the land of Egypt. Back then, the Egyptians had been persecuting and oppressing the Israelites for many years and decades as they feared the great multitude and the growing power of the Israelites, who first came into Egypt during the time of Joseph, who became Regent of all Egypt and safeguarded his family from famine and harm during those years. According to Jewish tradition, by the time Moses was born, the people of Israel had been living in Egypt for around four centuries, and the time was nigh then, in God’s time, to bring His beloved people back to the land which He has promised to them and to their ancestors.

As mentioned in yesterday’s reading from the Book of Exodus, the Pharaoh of Egypt sought to destroy and eradicate the Israelites as a people, by ordering the destruction of all the sons of the Israelite slaves, decreeing that all of those sons of the Israelites had to be cast into the Nile River and therefore killed. But God was with His people, providing for them, and some Egyptians, two midwives according to the tradition, were sympathetic to the Israelites and rescued many Israelite young male children from their fated destruction. Moses himself was spared from the River Nile and destruction as no less than Pharaoh’s own daughter noticed him and took and treated him as her own son. Thus, this was how the Lord began to put the things in motion for the salvation and liberation of His people, that would be fulfilled when Moses grew up and eventually led the Israelites back to their Promised Land.

This of course did not come easy, as we heard in today’s first reading passage, Moses had to flee to the land of the Midianites for a while as he killed an Egyptian when that person oppressed one of his fellow Israelites. Moses had to toil in foreign lands, and when he later on came back to Egypt at the behest of God’s call and mission, he had to struggle against Egypt and its Pharaoh, who adamantly refused to let the Israelites go free. He had to face a lot of struggles and trials, difficulties and challenges amidst his ministry, and even later on during the Exodus and journey from Egypt, he had to contend with the disobedience, lack of faith and stubbornness from the people that he led patiently to the land of their ancestors. Moses did not have it easy, and neither did the Lord Himself, when He came into this world, in His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

As we also heard then from our Gospel passage today, the Lord Himself was frustrated with the lack of faith, stubbornness and disobedience of His people, that He proclaimed those words against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. If we are familiar with these places’ names, that is because those were exactly the places where the Lord performed many of His miracles and works. Yet, despite the Lord’s miracles and wonders, the Wisdom and authority of His teachings and words, many among the people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law among them, who have constantly and stubbornly refused to listen to the Lord’s continuous effort to reach out to them and to all the other people, even to the point of purposefully finding ways to put obstacles and hardships in the path of the Lord and His disciples.

In the face of all these stubborn refusals and resistance, the Lord therefore expressed His sadness and frustrations, and reminded all of His disciples and followers, and everyone else that unless they listen to Him and His truth, then they may end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin and rebellion against God, which will lead them into their downfall and destruction. The righteous ones will gain entry into God’s everlasting kingdom and gain true joy from the Lord while those who are wicked and unfaithful will have nothing in the end but damnation and destruction in hell because of their disobedience and refusal to believe in God. As we heard from our Scripture passages today, we are reminded of just how fortunate and blessed we are that God has sent us His deliverance through His Son, that He has endeavoured to deliver us all from the tyranny and enslavement by sin, just as Moses, by the hand of God, delivered the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

That is why all of us should do our best today so that we may once again turn towards the Lord with renewed faith and zeal, and be filled with the strong desire to love Him and to serve Him in all occasions. All of us are reminded to walk ever more faithfully in His presence, and to do what we can so that we may indeed be truly faithful and dedicated to Him in all things. All of us should not abandon the Lord for other things in life, for all the worldly pursuits and ambitions, all the greed and human desires that can lead us astray in our path. Each one of us should do what we can in order to commit ourselves to the Lord in the same manner that He Himself has committed Himself to us through the Covenant that He has made with each one of us. All of us have been blessed and are so fortunate for having received this grace.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be renewed and strengthened in faith, at all times. May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey and lives, so that in everything we say and do, we will always do our best to glorify Him by our lives, through our every words, actions and deeds. May God be with us all, His beloved people, so that just as He has rescued the Israelites from the slavery under the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, thus He may also rescue us all from our predicament and our enslavement by sin and evil. May God bless our every good works and efforts, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 17 July 2023 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard from the Scriptures the beginning of the discourse on the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, we are all reminded that as God’s beloved people, each and every one of us are ultimately beloved and precious to the Lord, and no matter what challenges or trials that we may encounter in our lives, we will still receive the fullness of His providence and help, and we have nothing to fear about if we remain faithful to Him. Of course this also reminds us that at the same time, we are also called to remember that we cannot expect that sufferings and hardships will not be part and parcel of our lives if we are faithful to the Lord, contrary to the beliefs of some amongst us. Following the Lord requires great commitment, and there will likely be time when we may need to make sacrifices and to endure hardships for the Lord’s sake.

In our first reading today, we heard, as mentioned, the story of the moment when the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had stayed in Egypt, were persecuted and oppressed by the Egyptians and their ruler, the Pharaoh, who did not know of the great deeds that Joseph had done for the sake of the Egyptians. The Pharaoh and the Egyptians became fearful of the great numbers and the power of the Israelites, who were living in their midst, and hence, enslaved them and put them to harsh works, treating them as less than human beings, mistreated and exploited, and as we heard, that the Pharaoh even attempted to eradicate all of them eventually by trying to kill off all the sons born to the Israelites, throwing them into the Nile, hoping that eventually, no Israelites would be left, and the remnants of those people might be assimilated among the Egyptians.

The people of Israel then truly suffered and had to endure a lot of humiliations and hardships, as they had to borne a lot of hard work and tough moments in the midst of them being enslaved and forced to build many monuments, cities and other projects of the Egyptians. They were not, however, forgotten by the Lord, their God and Master, Who has always remembered the Covenant which He has made with His servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He remembered His people, His beloved chosen ones, who have struggled and toiled in foreign lands, and in His momentous time, He sent unto them Moses, His servant, to lead them out of the land of their enslavement, and to bring them all, free from all bondage and slavery, into the land promised to their ancestors and forefathers.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus Himself mentioned something similar in His words and revelations to His disciples, as He told them that His coming into this world, was not meant to bring about an era of peace and joy, without conflict and without suffering. His coming into this world would instead bring about divisions and hardships for all those who endeavoured to follow Him and commit themselves to walk in His ways. This is contrary to the popular belief at that time regarding the Messiah and His coming, in which many of the people believed that the Messiah, the Son of David, would come to restore the kingdom of Israel and become a King over all of them, liberating them from their oppressors and bringing them into an era of glory and peace, much like during the great era of the reigns of King David and King Solomon.

But the Lord told all of His disciples that His coming into this world in fact would bring about opposition and rejection even from among those whom the Lord had entrusted the guardianship over the people, as well as others, who refused to believe in Him and in His truth. The Lord came into this world bringing with Him revelation of truth which would bring about great change and even discomfort for all those who have been accustomed to the ways of the world, and that was precisely why those same religious leaders and elders, such as the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, opposed the Lord and refused to believe in Him, despite having listened to His wisdom and truth and despite having experienced and witnessed His many signs, miracles and wonders.

All that the Lord had predicted would indeed come true as He Himself was to be persecuted, and put to death for the sins of the people, to die on His Cross for us, betrayed and abandoned, humiliated and persecuted by those very same ones that He had come into this world to save. And just as the Lord had been persecuted and oppressed, hence the same things would happen to His disciples and followers as well. They encountered many challenges and trials throughout their works and ministries, and not few among the disciples of the Lord, such as most of the Apostles and many Church fathers, saints, holy men and women of God faced persecution and oppression, at times even from their own families and close relatives, as many of the tales of the martyrs and their lives could attest to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the significance of all these therefore to us? They remind us that each and every one of us as Christians must always be ready to give it all to God, and we have to be strong in case sufferings and hardships were to come our way. We should not blame the Lord or ourselves, and neither should we blame others for our predicaments and sufferings. Instead, we should continue to be faithful to the Lord and trust in Him and His love and providence, and we should do our best to be great role models, sources of inspiration and strength for one another, and be the support and help for each other, especially for those who are suffering and without means of help and support from anyone, so that we may indeed be there for them, helping them and journeying together with them, as fellow children of the same God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, our Creator and Master, continue to strengthen us all in faith, and guide us in our journey of faith through life. May He empower each and every one of us so that we may indeed proclaim His truth and Good News at all times, and glorify Him always by our exemplary lives. May our faith in Him remain strong and vibrant, undimmed by the challenges and trials in life that we may have to face. Amen.

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Sunday, 16 July 2023 : Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded to sow the seeds of faith within us, the seeds that the Lord has given and sown in us through His Word. Through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, all of us have received the Word of God’s salvation, His truth and Good News, manifested before us. He is the Sower, Who has sown the good seeds within each and every one of us, in this fertile field that is this world. All of us who have heeded His call and received His truth and Good News should endeavour and do our best to make this faith within us to grow and to prosper so that everyone who knows us and all those who witness our works and actions, interacting and dealing with us will come to know that we truly belong to God, and know Him through the fruits of our faith, richly shown and grown from our fertile selves.

In our first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people through Isaiah, Who mentioned interestingly of how His Word would be sent into this world the way that rain and snow descend from the heavens to the earth, which was indeed a premonition and prefigurement of what was to come. The Word of God, the Divine Word and Son of God, one of the members of the Holy Trinity, was truly incarnate and made flesh, becoming the Son of Man, just as the Lord Himself predicted, coming into this world to fulfil His will, that is to bring about the full and complete reconciliation of all of God’s beloved people, all mankind, by bringing all of them close to Him through His adoption of our human nature, making His love to become tangible, accessible and approachable to us.

And truly His coming into this world has brought about a great change to all things, just as St. Paul poetically described it in our second reading today, in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome. The Apostle spoke of the coming of the salvation of God, which had been sent into our midst, and how through Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, all of us have received the pledge and assurance of eternal life, if we keep our faith and trust in Him. Each and every one of us as Christians have received this truth and Good News from the Lord Himself, passed down through His Church, and in us we have received the wonderful words of grace and hope, and the promise of eternal life, although at the moment we may be facing a lot of hardships and struggles, challenges and trials in life, as we continue to live our lives in our world today.

That is why all of us should heed the words of the Lord Who reminded each and every one of us that all of us should indeed welcome the words of God’s truth and Good News into our hearts and minds, as all of us have been made to be the bearers of His words and truth, His teachings and His ways, the seeds of faith that He has sown in us. By His patient love and care, He has given us all the provisions to help us in our journey towards full and complete reconciliation with our loving God and Creator. He has sown in us the seeds of faith, on what is hopefully a fertile place where those seeds can grow well and strong, and became in us the foundation for the faith that is both vibrant and strong, enduring and lasting, and faith that inspires others all around us, which therefore becomes faith that is truly living, real and genuine within us, and not faith that is mere formality and dead.

This is where that famous parable of the sower can enlighten us, as we are reminded of what happened to the seeds that sower had sown, and fallen in different places. As the Lord Himself explained to His disciples, that the seeds that landed by the roadside are like those who heard the word of God and then allowed the devil and all the evil ones, represented by the birds that came to eat those seeds, to take the gift of faith and the words of God away from them. We also heard how those seeds that fell on the rocky and barren ground could not grow properly or have roots that support them well, and hence were the plants were scorched and killed, as a reminder that if we do not provide the good conditions in our lives, in our way of living and in our attitudes in life, then it may be rather difficult for us to grow in faith and commitment to God, and it may be difficult for us to remain firm in our path of righteousness and faith.

Then, we also heard of those seeds that fell in the midst of the brambles and thorns, the weeds that choked the life out of the germinating seedlings and plants. Those are indeed the temptations and the things present all around us which may cause us to be swayed and tempted into the wrong paths in life, where the faith and the truth of God’s Good News within us may not be strong enough for us to restrain ourselves and to resist those temptations. Only the seeds that fell on the rich and fertile soil managed to grow into healthy, great and fruitful plants, those that bore fruits thirty, sixty and even hundred-fold of what had been planted there. The Lord Himself told His disciples that this is what happens to all those who received the word of God, internalised and understood them, and allow the message of the truth and their faith to transform them, that they all grow magnificently in their lives with faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why all of us are called and reminded to provide a good and fertile ‘soil’ for these seeds of faith, which means that we should do our very best to nurture in us a good and worthy attitude in life, disposition and focus, so that we may truly prioritise what is truly important in our lives, that is our faith in the Lord, Who should also be the main focus and emphasis of our every lives. Our actions, works and interactions should all be linked and focused on the Lord such that in our every words, deeds and actions, in all the things we say and do, we will always proclaim the glory of God and do things for His greater glory, and for the good of everyone, and not just for our own selfish desires and ambitions, unlike what many people all around the world tend to do. We must provide therefore this ‘fertile’ ground upon which our faith may grow and blossom, and we need to make the effort to do so.

That is why all of us should do our best to nurture our faith and our love for God, so that in each and every moments of our lives, we may come ever closer to the Lord and His truth, His compassionate love and salvation. All of us should always strive to be fruitful in our lives and faith, that by our every good works and actions, we may truly be faithful disciples and missionaries of our Christian faith, that through us, many more may come to be saved. May the Lord be with us always and may He help us and strengthen us in our path so that we may continue to bear richly the fruits of our faith. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 15 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that God always loves each and every one of us, more than any others among His creation, and all of us are truly precious to Him, and hence, we have no need to be afraid or fearful at all, particularly when we are perhaps encountering challenges and difficulties. The Lord is always there by our side, providing and caring for us, even when we often do not realise it and even when we often do not know that He is there for us. The Lord has shown us all His promise from time to time, and never ceases to surprise us all just how dedicated He has always been to the Covenant and to the promises that He has made and established with us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of how both Jacob and Joseph reached the end of their lives in the land of Egypt, in the story that capped and concluded the Book of Genesis and its accounts of the lives of the forefathers of the Israelites before the time of the Exodus. Jacob was already old by the time he was reunited with his long-lost son, Joseph, and he passed away surrounded by his many sons and children, and gave them all his blessings, the blessings that God has assured and given to him and his ancestors. We heard of how Jacob was buried back together with Abraham and Isaac, his forefathers in the Promised Land, and how the brothers of Joseph were reassured by Joseph himself that he would care for them and not seeking revenge against them.

God would indeed bless Jacob and his descendants, and just as Joseph was about to pass on from this life, we heard from him the words that he spoke to his descendants and relatives, asking him to bring his bones back to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land that God had promised to his forefathers, foretelling the coming of God’s time when He would lead them all out from the land of Egypt and back to the Promised Land, as how it would indeed happen during the Exodus hundreds of years later. The Lord would indeed remember His promises, and brought all of His people out from Egypt, and led them back patiently through the desert despite their many transgressions and wicked deeds, under the leadership and guidance of Moses, until they finally reached the land promised to them, while renewing His Covenant with them.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the matter of trusting in the Lord and not needing to fear the evil and the darkness, or the challenges and the sufferings that the disciples might have to endure as part of their work and ministry. The Lord reassured them using the parables to explain to them how they were part of the greater things and have the assurances of the guidance of God, by comparing the wicked ones and those who oppressed them with the evil ones, led by the princes of demons like Beelzebul. Such a mention was made because those princes of demons were imperfect, wicked and flawed, as compared to the perfection and the power of God, to Whom even those demons and wicked ones had to submit themselves.

The Lord also used the parable of the light and how that light will uncover everything that is hidden in the dark, showing that the truth of God cannot be hidden or be oppressed by anyone. Even if the disciples in the future will be facing hardships, trials and obstacles amidst their ministry, but they will always have the Lord by their side, and nothing can stop them from proclaiming the Good News of God. They should not be afraid of all those who could harm them physically, all the oppressions and the hardships that they would have to endure from the many persecutions they would have to face from the worldly authorities, because all those things cannot harm them in a lasting manner.

This is contrasted to what will happen to us if we choose to side with the world and all the evil temptations which may lead us to good reprieve from hardships and persecutions, but in the end, we may fall away from the path that the Lord has shown us, essentially leading us to our downfall and destruction. However, this is what many of us may choose to do when we are faced with fear and uncertainties in life, threats and dangers that can lead us down the wrong path and into damnation. We are often worried because we are concerned about our well-being and livelihood, but we forgot that the Lord has always been watching over us, caring for us and in the end, we will be satisfied because of His providence and compassionate care. Sometimes we focus so much on ourselves and our needs and desires that we became blinded and unable to see God’s love being shown to us in our midst.

That is why today we are reminded that we should renew our trust and faith in God, and learn to follow His path and examples, while resisting the temptations of the world and the pressures all around us which may try to force us to succumb to those temptations and abandon our faith in the Lord. That is why today we should look upon the great faith shown by our predecessors, all those servants of God, disciples and followers of the Lord who had given their all in order to serve Him. Today we celebrate the feast of one of those servants of God, namely St. Bonaventure, a renowned Franciscan bishop, theologian and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, who was later on declared as one of the Doctors of the Church for his great contributions to the Christian faith and the Church, as well as his commitment to Church reforms.

He joined the Franciscan Order and had an interaction with its founder, the other renowned saint, St. Francis of Assisi. He wrote extensively on theological matters, so much so that he was known well as the ‘Seraphic Doctor’ by his contemporaries and later Church theologians. He was also elected as the leader of the Franciscan Order as its Minister General, and was instrumental in guiding the order through its works and principles, and at the same time also involving himself in greater and wider whole Church reforms. He was elevated to the Cardinalate by the Pope for his influential efforts and works in securing his election, and in his many other contributions to the good of the Church and the faithful people of God. The great examples of St. Bonaventure still inspired many people right even up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today therefore be strengthened and encouraged by the great examples and inspirations shown by St. Bonaventure and the many other holy men and women of God, whose lives have been truly worthy of Him, so that we too may follow in their footsteps. May the Lord continue to strengthen and guide us in our path, in our faithful commitment to His cause, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 14 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scriptures reminding us all of the calling that all of us have received as Christians, in following God and in entrusting ourselves and our lives to do whatever it is that He has commanded us all to do. God has given each and every one of us the commission and the responsibilities to proclaim His truth and the Good News to all the nations. That is why all of us have been guided to His path, with God’s calling, His words and will revealed within our hearts and minds, that show unto us the way to His salvation and grace, and so that many more people may come to know of the Lord and His path, by our example and inspiration, by our actions and guidance for all those around us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis we heard how God reassured Jacob when he was about to embark on the journey to the land of Egypt, upon hearing the joyous news that Joseph, one of his beloved sons, had not died but in fact lived and had become the great Regent of all Egypt. Jacob was uncertain and unsure when it was all true, and whether it was for him to go to Egypt, but the Lord reassured Jacob, telling him that it had been His plan all along, how He had sent Joseph ahead of everyone else in his family so that he could take good care of them in the land of Egypt during the time of great famine and hardships, so that the whole nation of God’s chosen people, descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, might prosper and flourish, grow and became great just as He has promised to Jacob and his forefathers.

Thus that was how Jacob was convinced to go to Egypt with his whole entire family, and was reunited with Joseph at last. God took good care of Jacob, Joseph and their whole family, and fulfilled everything that He has promised to all of them. Even later on when their descendants, the Israelites were mistreated and enslaved by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, the Lord was always with them and did not forget about them. He sent them Moses whom He had entrusted with the mission to liberate His people, and in the well-known story of the Exodus from Egypt, we are all aware of how God brought His beloved ones out of the land where they suffered and were enslaved. God has always been faithful to the Covenant that He has established with His faithful ones, and this was no exception.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the instructions that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples as He sent them out to carry out their missions and works among the people, to do God’s will and to proclaim the Good News, so that they might know what they were sent to do, and also what they might have to endure and face amidst the mission and works they carried out, the challenges, trials, rejections and persecutions, and all the things which might be obstacles and stumbling blocks in the way of those who follow the Lord and His ways. The Lord told them upfront that their journey might be fruitful and good in some occasions, but might also be challenging and tough in others, and they might have to stand up for their faith from time to time, and defend their beliefs before others. But the Lord told them that they truly had nothing to be worried about.

The Lord Himself reassured them that He would be with them and that the Holy Spirit would guide them and strengthen them, and that the Wisdom of God, His eloquence and truth would empower them that they would be able to make a stand and outwit those who oppose them, as long as they keep their faith and trust in the Lord. He reassured and reminded them that just as they would have to suffer, He Himself would suffer the rejection of the world, the persecutions and the hardships, which we all know too well, of how the Lord embraced His Cross willingly, rejected and betrayed by His own people and even His followers, condemned to death for a sin that He did not commit, and bore the burden of our innumerable sins and faults so that through Him all of us might be truly and fully reconciled with God, and receive from Him the fullness of pardon and grace.

That is why today, all of us as Christians, we are all reminded of God’s calling for us in our respective lives. Each and every one of us have been entrusted with the grace of God’s blessings, and we have received His most generous love. He has called on all of us to share these blessings and all the graces we have received with one another, and to proclaim the truth and salvation that He has brought into our midst so that we may truly be His faithful and great missionaries and disciples, in proclaiming His truth, Good News and love to all the people all over the world, even in our smallest and most insignificant actions and works. All of us as Christians are called to

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Camillus de Lellis, a holy and devoted man of God, who as a priest was remembered for his great care for his great care and compassion for the sick and the dying, and for all who were wounded and hospitalised, based on his own prior experiences, when he was fighting in the military prior to joining the priesthood, where a leg injury and also bad experiences, attitude and problems, that included his aggressive nature and excessive gambling, eventually led him to seek the Lord through the assistance of a Capuchin friar who patiently helped St. Camillus de Lellis to find his way to the Lord. Through that conversion, this sinful man turned into a new life as a priest and man of God eventually felt the calling to serve the Lord and His people in greater ways.

He founded the Order of Clerks Regular, Ministers of the Infirm, also known today as the Camillians after their founder, which members dedicate themselves to the care of the sick and the wounded, assisting in wars and conflicts, and in the care of all those who were not able to take care of themselves. St. Camillus de Lellis himself suffered from ailments and hardships throughout his life and ministry, but he did not let all of those things to dissuade or discourage him from continuing to carry out his works, in reaching out to the sick and suffering, and all to those who were less fortunate, actions that inspired many other people to join and help out in his cause, through his patient efforts and works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the great and inspiring examples set by St. Camillus de Lellis and those that the Lord’s disciples had done, let us all therefore help one another to be strong and firm in our own faith as well. Let us all be good role models and inspirations for each other in faith, so that in our every works and actions, in our every good efforts and endeavours, we will always help to lead others ever closer to God, and that we will always be ready to walk in the path that the Lord has shown us, even if things may seem to be really challenging and difficult for us. May God be with us always, as He has always been with His beloved ones, and may He bless our every step forward as we carry on living our lives with faith and commitment to Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 13 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each one of us are reminded that each and every one of us have been sent by God to proclaim His truth and Good News, which He has revealed to all of us, so that we may tell everyone of His great kindness and love, and of everything which He has done for our sake, in loving us and in caring for us. All of us have been blessed to be so beloved by God and to be the ones who have received His favour, and hence, we all should follow Him wholeheartedly and do our very best to honour Him and to profess our faith in Him, by our exemplary lives and actions. Through all of these we will allow more and more people to come to believe in God and His truth, and many more will come to be saved. Of course, not everyone may end up believing in Him, but this does not mean that we should not try.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of Genesis we heard of the story of how Joseph, the son of Jacob or Israel, was reunited with all of his brothers, the other sons of Jacob, as we continue on with the discourse of the story of Abraham and his descendants. Joseph, who was at that time the great Regent of all Egypt, the second most powerful person in that land after the ruler, the Pharaoh himself, recognised his brothers who came to Egypt seeking for sustenance and food, during the seven years of great famine and hardships. He tested his brothers and arranged such that they would bring to him his beloved younger brother Benjamin. Thus, that was how Joseph was reunited with his long separated brothers, which happened because of the other brothers’ jealousy that led to them selling Joseph off to the slavers that brought him to Egypt.

God was with Joseph and He guided him, made him successful and great, but he remembered who he was and how God had helped and provided for him. Hence, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and forgave all those who have sold him off to slavery and those who have caused him to experience sufferings and hardships, revealing before them all how God had protected him and been with him all the way, and how He has planned and willed all of these, that the evil intents of Joseph’s brothers had been turned into one of fortune for Joseph and his brothers, for their whole entire families. God sent Joseph into Egypt so that over there he could perform His good works among the people and save countless people and lives from destruction because of the famine and great hardships that would come upon the land.

That sending of Joseph into the land of Egypt was kind of reminiscent of what we later then heard from our Gospel passage today, in which we heard how the Lord sent forth His disciples and followers to go before Him and to do His works and ministry. He sent them all in pairs, two by two, to reach out to the many people that were in need of care and help, and through this, God had shown His most wonderful and amazing love being manifested in the flesh, in reality and truth. God was always with His disciples that even though they encountered many challenges and hardships, rejection and even persecution through many moments and occasions throughout their respective ministries, but by God’s grace all of them continued to thrive and the impact of their works and efforts helped to establish and strengthen the community of the faithful people of God, the Church.

The Lord instructed the disciples on what they should do, and told them what they ought to do if they were welcomed in a certain place or if they were rejected instead. This would indeed come to good use as the Apostles and the many other missionaries, disciples of the Lord embarked on mission works and efforts to proclaim the Good News of the Lord, His truth and salvation. There were many of those who welcomed the disciples and listened to them, following the path that they had set and becoming the followers of the Lord, as Christians. However, there were also those who refused to follow the Lord and resisted the efforts and the works of the Apostles and the many missionaries who had been sent to proclaim the Good News to them, those who persecuted the faithful and oppressed the Church of God.

That is why we are reminded this day that all of us are called to continue the works of the Apostles and the many missionaries and servants of the Lord, in doing the works and efforts of the Lord and His Church, in order to proclaim courageously the salvation of God in the midst of our communities and among the people of God, especially to those who have not yet known Him. All of us have been given the truth, the knowledge and understanding, the Wisdom of the Lord so that we may truly live our lives with faith and to be exemplary in faith, that our every actions, words and deeds may truly be a reflection of our beliefs and our confession of faith, which we have made before Him and others. If we ourselves have not truly and sincerely believed in the Lord, and lived our lives according to our Christian faith and calling, how can we then expect others to believe in Him?

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Henry, also known as Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, the paramount secular ruler of Christendom during the High Middle Ages, who lived and reigned exactly a millennium ago from this day. St. Henry was renowned for his great piety and dedication to God, for his love for the Law and precepts of God and for his obedience to the Church. St. Henry spent a lot of effort and time in caring for the needs of his subjects, and all those who have been put under his dominion, and at the same time, he was also ever active in promoting the cause of the Church and that of the Christian faith, by establishing Church institutions and by giving his full support on the mission of the Church and the work of evangelisation, which saw great success in the continued growth of the Church and more and more pagans being converted to the true faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are therefore called to follow the Lord more faithfully following the great examples of our holy predecessors, like that of St. Henry, Holy Roman Emperor, and like that of the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, and also the patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob, who had obeyed the Lord and entrusted himself to His providence. Let us all therefore do whatever we can in order to walk ever more devoutly and with greater commitment in the presence of God, proclaiming His truth and love at all times. May God bless us all and our every good works and endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of the responsibilities and the obligations that each one of us have received from the Lord, in our various vocations and callings, in whatever it is that God has called us to do with our lives. All of us have been entrusted by the Lord with various gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities, through which all of us can carry out God’s good works and proclaim His Good News in the midst of our communities and among our circle of friends and to all those whom we encounter in life. Each one of us are given the trust to do what we can with those gifts and abilities, to glorify God and to do His will, just as our Scripture passages today have told and reminded us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis of the story of Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob who also known as Israel, and in this case, Joseph had been sold off by his own brothers who resented him for having dreamt of things that indicated that they would all bow down to him and subordinated themselves to him. Little did they all realise that Joseph had actually been blessed with the gift of vision from the Lord, a gift that God would make use of in guiding Joseph in preparing the path for them, for his whole family, to be safeguarded and provided for many years in the future, when great famine would rampage the whole known world back then.

Despite having been betrayed and sold off by his brothers to the slavers of Midian, and brough to Egypt against his will, Joseph was guided and protected by the Lord, who helped him in his hour of need, when he was imprisoned for having been falsely accused of impropriety by one of the Pharaoh’s officials named Potiphar, even though Joseph was innocent of the crime he was accused of. Joseph was freed from prison and given very important positions in the Egyptian kingdom after he managed to interpret correctly the dreams of the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt. God, Who has given Joseph the gift of dreams and the interpretation of dreams, helped Joseph to leave behind his difficult years of slavery behind, and to regain his honour, freedom and life back.

It is on the backdrop of these events that we heard of today’s first reading passage, that when the seven years of great famine came after seven years of great abundance just as what the Pharaoh’s dreams had foretold through Joseph’s interpretations, the whole family of Israel, the family of Jacob and his sons, suffered the same famine, and in the threat of being exterminated due to the adverse conditions, the brothers of Joseph came to the land of Egypt, doing exactly what they had been shown doing in the dream of the once young Joseph. Joseph tested his brothers and wanted to see their sincerity and in order to be reunited with his beloved younger brother, Benjamin, hence, Joseph, as the Regent of all Egypt and the second most powerful person in Egypt, arranged for the things to be carried out as they were.

In summary, after going through all these things and carrying out his plans, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and told them that everything that they had done, all were done in the end to fulfil God’s will. God sent Joseph ahead of his family, and all of his brothers, so that he could prepare the place for them in Egypt, a fact that none including Joseph himself could have known or foretold. We can clearly see through this example that God has always watched over us, and entrusted to us at the same time, the calling and the vocation, the responsibility and the charge to do what He wants us to do with our lives, in whatever opportunities and places, areas and circumstances that we have been placed in.

This is just like how the Lord Jesus in our Gospel passage today having sent out His disciples to carry out His works among the people, choosing twelve among all of them to be His chief disciples, as the Twelve Apostles, who were introduced to us all by name. Each and every one of them had been entrusted by the Lord with a certain mission, and later on, except for the traitor Judas Iscariot, they would go on to proclaim the truth and Good News of God in various places, in distant realms and facing many struggles and encountering successes both. Through them and their dedication, the Lord has performed many great and wonderful works, reaching out to many people throughout the world, revealing the salvation and love, and the many promises that He has always reassured His people, His faithful ones.

That is why today, all of us who have heard these words from the Scriptures and received these reminders from the Lord are all encouraged and exhorted to do what we can in order to follow the Lord to whatever and wherever that He is leading us towards. All of us have been entrusted with the various gifts, talents, opportunities and blessings from God, and it is now up to us whether we can make good use of all of them for the sake and for the good of everyone all around us, such that in everything which we say and do, we will always bring glory to God, and we will be good role models and inspiration for one another. We must remember that each one of us have the capacity for great and worthy things, as well as for wicked and vile things, and what matters is our choice and the decisions that we make, on whether we want to follow the Lord and obey His will, or whether we prefer to walk down the path of sin and disobedience against God.

Let us therefore spend some time today to discern our path going forward in life. Let us think carefully how we should carry on living our lives, in our every actions and works, in our every words and deeds, so that we will always strive to do God’s will at all and every possible opportunities. Let us all make good use of the talents, abilities and gifts, the many opportunities and blessings that we have been given that we may always be filled with God’s grace and love, and be ever closer to Him, worthy of His saving grace and Presence. May God bless our every good works and efforts, our every good endeavours for His greater glory. Amen.

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Tuesday, 11 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us have been called and chosen by God to be His disciples and followers, as those whom He has shown His favour and blessings on, and of us, He therefore requires our commitment and efforts, contributions and dedication, just as He has committed Himself to the Covenant which He has established with all of us. All of us are truly blessed to have been given this opportunity and grace by God, Who has always patiently loved us and cared for each one of us, without exception. None of us are truly beyond God’s love and attention, and none of us can be separated from the most wonderful love of God unless it is we ourselves who have constantly and repeatedly rejected and refused His love and kindness.

In our first reading passage today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the moment when Jacob, the ancestor and forefather of all the Israelites, came back to the Promised Land of Canaan with his wives and children, with his whole family and possessions, and in the region of Bethel, where Jacob had once passed through on his way to flee from his brother’s wrath, he encountered the Lord Himself, Who was disguised in the form of a great Man, that struggled with Jacob till the daybreak. That was how Jacob became known as Israel, as one who has struggled and brawled with the Lord Himself and prevailed. God therefore showed His reassurance and guidance to Jacob, reminding him of His ever presence and providence throughout the path that Jacob had walked through, and how He would continue to affirm and bless him and his descendants just as He has promised them all.

At that time, Jacob had spent many years in the land of Harran beyond the Euphrates River, in serving Laban, his uncle, and he has grown rich and great, with many children that God has blessed him with. Jacob brought his family back to his ancestral lands, to return to his father Isaac and hopefully to reconcile with his brother Esau, whom he had fled from. That God has blessed him such was a proof of His faithfulness to the Covenant which He has made with His loved ones. Jacob and his descendants would become the chosen people of God, the Israelites, who would prosper greatly and gained the grace of God. He called on them therefore to put their trust and faith in Him, and to continue to live ever more faithfully in His Presence, following His commands and walking in the path that He has revealed before them.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord performing His miracles and wonders, as He healed two blind men and then cast out the evil spirits and demons from a man who had been struck dumb because of the demonic possession. The people hailed the Lord Jesus for His works, rejoicing because such great miracles and wonders had not been seen among the people before. Truly, Christ was the love and promises of God made manifest in the flesh, the Divine Word Incarnate, the Son of God, Who came into our midst bearing the will and desire of His Heavenly Father, our Lord and Master, Who sought to be reconciled and reunited with us all. Yet, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law disparaged Him and refused to believe in Him, and even went on to the point of accusing Him falsely of colluding with the prince of demons in His works.

Now, we all can see there just how stubborn some of the people of God could be, all because of their pride and ego, their unbridled desires and ambitions, through which they had been blinded and their thoughts muddled. Those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests were easily swayed by the temptations of worldly desires and wants, so much so that they were willing to persecute the Lord for crimes and faults that He did not do, and to put obstacles and trials in His path simply because they saw Him as a rival to their power, influence and privileges. Yet, the Lord was still patient in showing His love and care even to those who have rejected and refused to believe in Him. We are all truly undeserving of God’s love, and yet, just as He has affirmed His love to Jacob and to our forefathers, He has renewed this love to us all.

That is why as Christians, all of us whom God had called and chosen, and made to be His own beloved and precious ones, all of us are called to commit ourselves to the Lord in the way that our righteous and holy predecessors had done, just as they all have committed their lives to God, and did what the Lord had commanded and asked them to do. This is something that is easier said than done, just as the Lord Himself in our Gospel passage today had said, asking His disciples to pray and ask the Master of the harvest to send the labourers to gather His harvest, as the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. This highlights to us just how few of us have truly dedicated ourselves to follow Him, and if only more people are willing to entrust themselves to the Lord, then there would have been more people who will come to know of the Lord, His love and truth, through us and our good examples.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great and renowned saint whose life can and should indeed be a source of great inspiration for all of us as Christians, as God’s beloved people. St. Benedict, also known as St. Benedict of Nursia, was the founder of the Benedictine Order, and is also the Patron Saint of Europe, whose influence and works lasts till this very day in the large number of religious organisations, institutions that are directly descended from his original Benedictine Order, as well as the many other religious institutes that follow his Rule of St. Benedict, as well as countless others who had devoted themselves to the Lord while following the examples and inspirations of this great saint and man of God. St. Benedict is indeed a great role model for us in how each and every one of us ought to live our lives as devout and committed Christians.

How is that so? St. Benedict was the son of a Roman noble in what is now part of Italy, who was well-educated in his youth but became disillusioned with the excesses of worldliness, and beginning to seek a new life of being a hermit and monk. Thus, he began to live in seclusion, away from the glory and temptations of the world, in which he continued to grow in wisdom and holiness, and in his love and commitment for God, which drew many to be attracted to his way of life, establishing the foundation for the later Benedictine Order and the flourishing of religious life and monasteries all throughout Christendom. Through St. Benedict and his great examples in faith and commitment to God, many came to seek the Lord and abandon the excesses of this world, in exchange for the true happiness that one can find in God alone. Thus was how many were called to God and His salvation by the great faith and examples shown by St. Benedict.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to commit ourselves to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, and to dedicate ourselves each day and at every moment, so that we may indeed be worthy followers and disciples of our Lord, inspired by His holy servants like St. Benedict and many others? Are we able to entrust ourselves to His cause, and do whatever we can to glorify the Lord by our lives? May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us, and may He empower us all to live ever more worthily in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 10 July 2023 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that we are all the beloved people of God, and He always provides for us, and has always been with us, journeying with us and guiding us throughout the way, in our lives and beyond. God has never abandoned us even in the moments of our greatest hardships and difficulties, and He has always been faithful to the Covenant and true to the promises that He has established and made with us and our ancestors. We must always trust in the Lord and believe in everything that He will do for our sake, in helping and providing for us all in our time and moments of greatest need. God is always with us at all times, even when we do not realise this.

In our first reading today, we heard from the story of Jacob who was on his way in exile, fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau after he has taken away his inheritance and the blessing that his father Isaac had meant to give to the elder brother. Jacob was by himself, an exile from his own family and homeland, at Bethel, where he laid down his head and slept. God showed Jacob a great heavenly vision, showing him His might and power, and how He was with him, and would be with him throughout his path and journey forward, reaffirming with him the same promises that He had made with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, in the Covenant that God Himself has made and established with Abraham and his descendants.

God reaffirmed that everything would come true just as He has promised them all to Jacob and his descendants, and he would receive the land that was promised to him, despite his then predicament and uncertainty. And thus, Jacob also renewed the Covenant by promising to God that if God would guide him through his difficult moments and through the struggles that he would be facing, upon his return, he would dedicate that place to God, and true enough, indeed, that God really guided Jacob, helped him to survive those difficult years afterwards, providing him with a woman whom he truly loved, in Rachel, and through her and Jacob’s other wife, he would have twelve sons, and other children, becoming great in wealth and status.

God did guide Jacob and his whole family back to the promised land, and Jacob made good of his promise, building an altar to God there in that place, and that place was henceforth known as Bethel thereon, because of Jacob’s vision detailed in our first reading today, and because of God’s providence for His people in their time and hour of need. We are assured as we have always been, by the Lord’s constant presence in our midst, in guiding and helping us so that we may find our path in life. We must always trust in Him and follow Him faithfully, even amidst the challenges and hardships that we may have to face in our journey through life. Jacob could not have known what he would have to experience and to endure in the years after the events at Bethel, but he remained steadfast in entrusting himself to God, and his faith was indeed greatly rewarded, in God’s good time.

In our Gospel passage today, we all heard of the time when the Lord Jesus miraculously healed a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding issue for more than twelve years as well as miraculously raising the daughter of a synagogue official from the dead, in the presence of many witnesses who were present then. From those accounts and examples, we can clearly see how the Lord has always shown His care and providence for us, and how He has never abandoned us, but continuously and patiently loving us, and how nothing is truly impossible for Him to do, that when we have given up hope in any earthly means of sustenance and provision, the Lord’s providence never failed. In whatever things we encounter, in our many hardships and challenges that we have had to face, if we put our trust in the Lord, in the end, we shall be triumphant with Him.

That woman who had been suffering from the bleeding problems, likely one that was related to her reproductive organs, must have truly suffered a lot, not just physically but also socially, as according to the old Jewish laws and customs, a woman who was suffering or experiencing bleeding or discharge was considered as unclean and was therefore unable to join the greater community of the people of God until their bleeding or discharge had ceased. And since she had been suffering the problem for over twelve years, she must have either had to endure being ostracised, shunned and cut out for that whole period, or she must have had to hide her condition from others, out of fear and shame, and the treatments that she might have to face, should everyone were to know of her condition, which was why she was looking for the Lord in secret. But her faith in the Lord saved her, and she was healed because she truly believed that the Lord could heal her.

Meanwhile, with regards to the daughter of the synagogue official, who was very sick and eventually passed away before the Lord reached her place, it was the faith that her father, the synagogue official, which was identified as Jairus in another Gospel, which saved her. He trusted in the Lord and sought for him when he needed help, just like that of the woman who was suffering from the haemorrhage. Like Jacob their forefather, they both turned towards the Lord when there was no other hope or means for healing and help, and God showed them His most wonderful and eminent love and compassion, His providence and help, by raising Jairus’ daughter back to life, and healing the woman from her bleeding issue, when no other worldly or earthly means had been possible, while at the same time showing that He was indeed God in the flesh, Son of God and Son of Man alike.

Now, we also have to take note that I do not mean that we do not have to suffer or endure hardships if we are to follow the Lord. All those whom I had mentioned, particularly Jacob and the woman who had bleeding problems, both had to endure hardships, cast out and exiled, endured scorn and difficulties for many long years. Yet, they persevered and endured in faith, and in the end, trusted in the Lord, Who showed them His most wonderful love and care, in providing for them and in guiding them towards true joy and freedom, blessed anew and strengthened once again by His hands. Thus, in the same manner, each one of us must also be prepared to face hardships and challenges, and we have to be always ready to stand up for our faith, and to persevere through despite the trials and challenges that we may face, in our paths going forward.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us, and may He always be with us, journeying with us and guiding us as He has always done so far, that no matter what hardships and trials we may have to face, we will always put our trust and faith in Him at all times. May He be with us always and be with His Church in all circumstances, and bless us all and our many good works, our good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.