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Saturday, 12 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the continuation of what Moses had taught the people of Israel during their time of journey through the desert to the Promised Land, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses reminded them of the Covenant which God had established with their ancestors, and exhorted them to continue to keep the same faith which they had, even after the Lord had brought them into the Promised Land, and after they have settled in that land in peace and prosperity.

Yet, as history had shown throughout the Scriptures, the people of Israel had not been faithful. God had blessed them and cared for them in many occasions, through their moments of difficulty, sending them judges to liberate them from their enemies and oppressors, and appointed kings to lead and guide them on the right path. But, still, they continued to disobey the Lord, and even many of the kings and leaders led the people astray.

They were the ones whom the Lord mentioned, as those who had little faith in God, and in His ability to save them from their distress. What applied at the time of Jesus, also applied in the times of the ages past, when the people of Israel repeatedly failed to walk righteously in the path that God had shown them. They instead trusted in their own power and turned to the pagan idols and gods.

This is despite God having shown them His miracles and wonders, after all that He had done for them, and after all the prophets and messengers, and the great deeds and miracles those prophets had performed before them. They refused to repent from their sins and consistently sinned, doing what was abhorrent and wicked in the sight of God and man alike.

At the time of the Lord Jesus, as mentioned in the Gospel today, although the people had seen the miracles and wonders that He had done amongst them, but they were not convinced or had faith in Him. They still had doubts in their hearts, and that was why they were not able to do as the Lord had told them to do. If they truly have faith in Him, they would not be shaken or be doubtful, when the Lord was taken from them at the time of His Passion. As we see, all of the disciples fled when the Lord was arrested by the chief priests.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what is it that the Lord wants to remind us with today's Scripture passages? It is that all of us who follow Him, who call ourselves as Christians must have true and genuine faith in God. We cannot be lukewarm in our faith, or worse still, to have a faith that is just a formality. We either have a faith that is living and genuine, or not to have faith at all. For a lukewarm faith is just as good as a dead and non-existent faith.

All of us must live out our faith with real commitment and action, and we must wholeheartedly believe in the Lord and entrust Him with our very life, in everything we say and do. All of us must obey Him in His laws and commandments, and restrain ourselves from doing what is evil and wicked in the eyes of God. These are the things that we as Christians must do in our lives, as those who are faithful to God.

Then, how should we proceed, brethren? Perhaps, we should heed the examples of today's saint, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, who was widowed at a young age, losing her husband to an accident, leaving her and her four children without a husband and a father. After having settled the matters and the inheritance of her husband, St. Jane Frances de Chantal made a vow of chastity and joined the religious life.

She devoted the rest of her life to the Lord, in her good works and through prayerful dedication, and by founding the Congregation of the Visitation, a new religious order for women who were called to serve the Lord, reaching out to the public and serving the poor and the needy. What she had done at that time was considered revolutionary, as it was not common for women religious to do outreach work such as what she and her companions had done.

Yet, through the examples and the piety which St. Jane Frances de Chantal had shown, all of us should be inspired to live in the same manner, following the Lord with faith, through our real commitment and good works in life. Let us all therefore renew that commitment we must have to the Lord. Let us all be like St. Jane Frances de Chantal and the many other holy men and women of God who have gone before us, and resist the temptations to sin. Let us have a real and living faith, and not be lukewarm any longer in our faith.

May the Lord bless us and strengthen our faith inside us, that our faith, once lukewarm and weak, may become a blazing fire inflamed by the power of the Holy Spirit, guiding us to be ever faithful and devoted in our life. May God be with us always, and may through the intercession of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, the Lord may move our hearts and souls, to desire Him and to seek Him before all else. Amen.

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Friday, 11 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture passages, beginning with the Book of Deuteronomy, from which a passage was taken out as our first reading today. In that passage, we listened as Moses told the people of Israel during their journey towards the Promised Land, as they endured the long period of waiting, forty years, about how God had cared for them and provided for them all those while, despite all of their lack of faith in Him.

Moses was reminding the people with a long exhortation, telling them just how fortunate they have been, for them to have been loved by God, to be chosen by Him to be His people. For indeed, what Moses said was true, as there was never anything like what the Lord had done for His people, Israel, in how He had personally done wonders to free His people through the works of His mighty hands, by the ten great plagues that oppressed the Egyptians and forcing them to let the Israelites go.

And God had opened the Red Sea before His people, a deed never done before by any, allowing them to pass through safely and destroyed their enemies behind them. He established a Covenant with them, renewing the Covenant which God had made with Abraham, their forefather. He gave them His own Laws and commandments, with which He wanted to guide them to live faithfully according to His will, and then delivered these to them through Moses, His servant.

He fed His people with the bread from heaven itself, the manna, which He gave them daily except on the Sabbath day, before which He gave them twice the amount to fend for the day of the Sabbath. Everything was taken care of for them, and God loved them day after day. He destroyed their enemies, the Midianites and the Amalekites as they journeyed through the desert. However, the Israelites refused to believe in God wholeheartedly, and repeatedly, they betrayed Him for other gods, and made constant complaints against Him.

They demanded more and more things, even though God had been so generous with them. They complained that they had not enough to eat or drink, even though God had given them and provided them with what they needed. And that is precisely what the Lord Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today. We may not immediately see the link between the two passages, but what the people of Israel had done, was that they seek to preserve themselves and settle their personal desires and interests, above that of the interests of God.

Jesus our Lord said that those who would preserve their lives and refuse to take up their crosses in life will perish, while those who are willing to accept and take up the crosses of their lives, following the Lord Jesus, while they would suffer and be threatened with destruction, they will triumph in the end, and eternal life and grace will forever be theirs. This is the promise which God had made to all those who are faithful to Him.

Sadly, however, the attitudes shown by the Israelites can be found too often among us mankind, as many of us often succumb to the temptations of worldly goods, pleasures and wealth, and we often think of ourselves first, and how we can advance our own power, prestige and status in the society, ahead of our obligations to the Lord. And that is why so many of us have fallen into sin, because we are incapable of letting go of all these human desires that we have.

We put our desires for pleasure, for money, for worldly fame and glory, for recognition and renown ahead of our obligation to love and serve the Lord with all of our hearts. And that was what happened to the Israelites, who have been swayed away from their faith in God, and what had also happened to our predecessors throughout the ages.

Satan is always ever active, seeking for new preys to hound upon. He is actively seeking our downfall, by putting in our path many obstacles and hurdles, all sorts of temptations, persuasions and pressure, in order to force us to walk down the path of sin. This is where we truly must be careful, lest we are dragged down to the fires of hell with him, as we disobey God through sin.

We should instead seek and strive to do our best, to overcome those temptations and pressures, and follow what the holy saint, St. Clare of Assisi had shown in her life. Today we mark her memorial and feast day, and all of us Christians should learn from her examples. St. Clare was among those who sought to join the society founded by St. Francis of Assisi, when she was moved by his preaching and works.

It was told that St. Clare gave up everything and followed the Lord, joining the religious nuns in their convent. And when her family tried to force her to return with them, she refused to do so, as she had committed her whole life to the Lord, and adamantly holding fast to her commitment to God. And eventually she continued in her life in the secluded convent, dedicating herself entirely to God through prayer.

And it was told that in one occasion, when the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II came upon the city with the intent of pillaging, St. Clare took up the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance and held it up high above her. Amidst the rushing and the terror of an invading army, one should have run away in fear, but not for St. Clare. She placed her trust in God, her Protector. It was told that the armies who wanted to pillage the city fled away in fear because of what St. Clare had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Clare of Assisi, and emulate her in her deeds and choices in life. She had decided to give herself completely and wholeheartedly to the Lord, and it is that dedication and commitment which we ourselves should imitate in our own lives, and in how we live our faith to the Lord.

Let us all renew our commitment to Him, and let us no longer be swayed or be tempted by worldly temptations, but instead from now on, let us live in accordance with the will of God, and obey all of His laws. May the Lord bless us all, and may He be with us throughout this journey of our faith. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 August 2017 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God reminded us this day, that all of those who sowed meagrely will also reap meagrely, using the parable of the sower and the seeds as a guide to teach all of us His people. The Lord has given us all the blessings and graces in life, so that we may use them for the benefit of one another, and not to serve our own selfish purposes and desires.

What does that mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that we should not be greedy or be haughty in life. We must not think that all the power and glory, all the wealth and blessings we have in this world were due to our own might and power. All of these have in fact been entrusted to us by the Lord our God, to be shared with each other.

In the same passage from the first reading today, from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, God showed us how we ought to become true and committed Christians. It is through our generosity in the giving of ourselves, in the service and love which we show upon our fellow brethren, our willingness to care for each other that lead us to the righteousness in God.

But all of us are too ready to care about ourselves first before others. We always instinctively think that we have to protect our own interests and desires first, before we even think in the slightest manner about others. And this is exactly what the Lord Jesus spoke about in the Gospel passage today. Jesus spoke of those who love their lives, who will in the end lose everything that they tried to protect, and then conversely, those who do not even worry to lay down their lives, who will gain eternal life.

It is again another reminder for us that as Christians, all of us must be selfless, and we must not put forth our personal desires and interests before that of others, and before that of the needs of the general community. Those who want to protect their own lives first, they are too absorbed in their desires and they succumb to the temptations of worldliness.

In another occasion as recorded in the Gospels, the Lord Jesus even said, that all those who loved themselves, or loved their families and friends more than they loved the Lord, those will not be considered worthy of the Lord. Jesus mentioned that because as long as we put ahead our own personal desires and interests, ahead of what the Lord had commanded us to do, that is firstly, to love our Lord with all of our heart and strength, and then, to love our fellow men in the same manner.

A Christian is not selfish, but selfless. A Christian is not haughty and proud, but humble in heart and open in his or her mind, ready to welcome the words of God, through which He spoke to us and let us known His will. And we should perhaps learn from the examples of the holy saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Lawrence, a holy deacon and saint of the Church, who were also martyred for his faith and dedication to God.

St. Lawrence was a deacon of the Church in Rome, entrusted with the care of the faithful people of God in the city of Rome and its surroundings, the heart of Christendom and also the heart of the Roman Empire at the time. The faithful had to serve the Lord and worship Him in secret as the Roman Empire's official pagan religion and faith rejected the teachings of Christianity, and actively persecuted the faithful and the Church.

Thus, St. Lawrence lived and served the Lord at a difficult time, where every single day was indeed a matter of life or death. However, he continued to faithfully serve the Lord's people, ministering to them and obeying the will of God through His Church. And when he, along with the Pope St. Sixtus II and many others of the faithful were arrested by the Roman authorities, he remained strong and resolute in his faith, even unto martyrdom.

St. Lawrence showed us all, the people of God, that as Christians all of us need to be selfless and be humble, and be generous in our love and care for others, putting the will of God above everything else, and not allowing our personal desires and interests from interfering from our faith in God and from what we ought to be doing as God's faithful disciples.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, by walking in the footsteps of St. Lawrence of Rome, holy deacon and martyr, that by emulating the faith and devotion which he once had in God, we too may be worthy to share the same everlasting inheritance and glory he has received for eternity. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how the people of Israel rebelled against the Lord at the time when they were about to enter into the Promised Land of Canaan after God had led them through the desert from their slavery in Egypt. The scouts who were sent forth to survey the land ahead of the people incited the people to turn against God and against Moses, His servant, charging that they have been led to a land of danger and harm, not trusting in the power and providence of God, which He surely would have given them.

Israel failed to understand that God was with them all the way throughout their journey, even though they have seen in many occasions the great wonders of God, His works and His efforts, from the ten plagues He sent to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh to pressure them to let the Israelites to go free, to the opening of the Red Sea and the destruction of the armies of the Egyptians, to the care and love which He showered them with through the desert, providing them with food and water, protection from their enemies and all others.

That is why God punished them all, by making them to wander through the desert for another forty years, in the process letting all those who have rejected His love to perish in the desert, except for Caleb, the only one among the scouts to remain faithful and trusting in God, as well as Joshua, the faithful right hand man to Moses and his successor as the leader over all of Israel.

They had faith in their own power, their own intellect and their own ways, instead of listening to the Lord and obeying His will. And this is linked to what we have heard in the Gospel passage today, in which we witnessed how our Lord Jesus interacted with a Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman, who was not considered to belong among the people of Israel.

We must have wondered why did the Lord Jesus said such things to the woman, who begged Him to heal her daughter who was possessed by an evil spirit. Why did He rebuke her and seemingly rejected her request to have her daughter healed? And He was even comparing her to the lowly and unworthy dogs begging for the food from the master of the table. Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ?

The truth is that, our Lord Jesus was merely displaying to all of us the reality of the situation at that time, the prejudice and the attitude which the people of Israel, the Jewish people showed against their non-Jewish or also known as Gentiles, neighbours. The Jews looked down on their neighbours because they took pride in their status as the chosen people of God, and looked at others with contempt as if they were unworthy of God's love.

That is why, literally, they treated the pagan nations and the Gentiles as if they were below par, as what Jesus had illustrated in His interaction with the Syro-Phoenician woman. But, the Lord Jesus showed just how faithful that woman had been, much more so than the people of Israel had been. The same case was evident from another part of the Gospels, where the army centurion who was likely to be a Gentile or non-Jew, was praised by the Lord for his faith which the Lord had not seen even among the Jews.

What is the lesson that all of us must learn from what we have heard in today's Scripture passages? It is that we must never have prejudice against others, but instead we must help each other on our journey towards the Lord. There has been plenty of sorrow and suffering caused throughout the history of this world when we mankind showed prejudice to our fellow men, and discriminate, just because we thought that it is right to do so.

The scouts were prejudiced against the inhabitants of Canaan, thinking that because they were all fearsome and powerful, they would rather trust in their own judgment instead of trusting in God's providence, therefore resulting in the people of God falling into sin. Yet, still others used prejudice as a method to achieve their own selfish agenda and objective, one of the worst of which is the Holocaust during the Second World War, a great atrocity against humanity by the NAZI German government.

Today it also happened that we celebrate the feast of one of the many victims of that terrible Holocaust, namely St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also better known by her name, St. Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to the Christian faith, who then joined the religious order of the Discalced Carmelites. She was remembered for her great many works and writings, involvement in the Catholic education and dedication to the Lord.

As the NAZI government of Germany at that time played on the prejudice and racism against the Jewish population, firstly in Germany itself, and then later on, among the countries that they have conquered, gathering all of them to be put into concentration camps and then massacred without mercy, the same would eventually happen to St. Teresa Benedicta, who endured the suffering with grace and faith, believing that God has already planned everything for her, and entrusted everything to God.

We see how mankind could end up committing such cruel acts like murder and genocide, based on their human prejudice alone, when they abandoned God's laws and commandments, and instead putting their trust in their own human judgment and intellect. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross showed all of us how we should then act, against all these prejudices and wickedness, by our total and complete surrender to the Lord and His will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all as Christians be true disciples of the Lord through our every words, actions and deeds. Let us all put our faith in Him, rather than trusting in our own flawed human power, judgment and prejudices. Let us not follow in the footsteps of the Israelites who disobeyed God because of their fears and prejudices, and then, also, as we remember the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman, let us all never be prejudiced against others or look down on anyone just because we think that we are more faithful than them. After all, no matter what, all of us are still the same, brethren, as sinners still needing the healing and mercy from God.

Let us all therefore from now on, commit ourselves to be righteous and true in our every deeds. Let us all not be passive or be ignorant when others are being bullied because of their race, appearance, or any other things. Let us instead be active in helping one another to reach out to the Lord in faith. May the Lord bless us all, and may He empower us to become ever better disciples of His, always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 8 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the passage from the Book of Numbers, telling to us the moment when divisions rocked the community of the people of Israel, with the siblings of Moses, the one whom God appointed to be the leader over the entire people of Israel, trying to stake a claim on leadership and power over the whole community.

Aaron and Miriam resented the fact that even though they were the siblings of Moses, whom God appointed to be leader and to be the one through whom He spoke to Israel, they had no authority or power whatsoever. They were not given the position of honour, even though Aaron was indeed appointed as the leader of the priests, the Levites. In all of these, we can see how human pride and ego had taken the better of both Aaron and Miriam.

Then, in the Gospel today, all of us heard of another confrontation that occurred between Jesus and His disciples with the Pharisees, who in many occasions continued to hound the Lord and follow His works closely, often with contempt and criticism, because in their eyes, what the Lord Jesus and His disciples had done did not conform with their teachings and the way approved by them.

However, the Pharisees had become drunk with the temptation of worldly power and glory. They occupied the upper strata of the society at that time, and they were highly esteemed, and even feared by the others in the society. They had the influence and the power to even dictate the life of others, as those appointed to be the guardians of the laws and customs of the Jewish people. But, they have misused the authority granted to them and ended up opposing God's good works, just as Aaron and Miriam had risen up against God and Moses.

In all of these, we see the dangers of the temptation of worldly power, the ego that lies inside each and every one of us, which is a great obstacle on our path to reach the Lord. The devil is always active in his efforts to tempt us with power, worldly glory, fame and all other forms of persuasions, through which he convinced us that all that we have attained in life are due to our own power and might.

But we must know that all of us humans are intrinsically greedy and filled with ego, ambition and desires, and unbridled power can corrupt us in heart and mind, as we end up as what Aaron and Miriam had done, desiring control, glory and prestige of the position that they desired, and as what the Pharisees had done, in jealously guarding the power, authority and the prestige which they had attained in the society, refusing to let even the Lord Who came to bring His truth to the people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all remember what the Lord said in the Gospel today, that all those that do not belong to God shall be uprooted and destroyed, all those who have refused to obey the Lord and walk in His ways and instead preferring to follow their own standards and ways. Let us not be taken over by our ego and by our greed, and instead, let us actively seek to be true Christians, who is humble, obedient and loving in all of our actions and deeds.

Let us all follow the example of St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans after their founder. St. Dominic is one of the most influential and well-known saints, remembered for his hard work and evangelisation drive among the people of God, and he worked hard to convert many people who have fallen into heresy, particularly in what is now southern France, where the Albigensian heresy was at its height at that time.

He founded the Dominicans as a religious order, gathering many other people who were willing to give their lives for the sake of the Lord, doing His will and caring for His people, by teaching them the Word of God. They travelled frequently, preaching the faith to the people through words as well as through actions, in their many works of charity among the people, resulting in many souls being saved from damnation due to heresy and sin.

The hard work of St. Dominic and his companions, and many other holy men and women of God throughout the ages are reminders that we as Christians are also able to do the same in our own respective lives. It is too often that we have been preoccupied with our attempts to bring more wealth, power, fame and glory upon ourselves, at the expense of our relationship with God, distancing ourselves from Him because of our sins.

Let us therefore strive to do more in our lives, to devote ourselves to the Lord and His cause. Let us commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, that we will no longer seek personal glory or worldly pleasures, but instead, following the examples of St. Dominic and the many other holy men and women who had gone before us to the glory of heaven, by doing God's holy will, we too may be worthy to share in the glory of the saints in heaven. Let us cast aside our pride and therefore be worthy in the sight of God, our Lord and loving Master. Amen.

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Monday, 7 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened first of all to the story of how the people of God, the Israelites, complained against the Lord and His servant Moses, for having brought them out from the land of Egypt, where they were enslaved by the Egyptians for many years. God saved them all through His mighty power, and through Moses, His servant, He led them out of the land of their slavery into the desert and journeying towards the Promised Land.

But the people were not accustomed to such a journey, and despite all the things that God had done before them, and which He had done for their sake, they refused to obey Him and grumbled against Him. They did all sorts of things in opposition to God, including even in raising up a pagan idol, specifically a golden calf which they claimed to be their god. They grumbled that at least in Egypt, they would be able to enjoy food and had enough to drink, even if they were enslaved.

Even though God had given them the very bread from heaven, in the form of manna, every day without fail, providing them food without end, and also clear and sweet water to drink in the middle of a vast desert, protecting them from their enemies and crushing all those who plotted for the destruction of His people, but the Israelites continued to harden their hearts and they refused to listen to Him, or to Moses.

And in the first reading which we have today, therefore, we heard how Moses reached his breaking point, the moment of his despair and helplessness, having been assaulted and pressured by all those who have complained against him and against God's laws. He was tasked to lead God's people through the desert on their journey to the Promised Land, and yet, it seemed that the journey was really not an easy one at all. He was frustrated, and went on to share his frustrations with the Lord.

This in fact ties in perfectly well with what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, when we heard about the moment when the disciples were assaulted with great waves and strong winds, as they boarded the ship on their journey across the lake of Galilee. Jesus was not with them, and the disciples were scared at the winds and the waves, their courage surely faltered in the midst of such a storm, which in another Gospel passage, when Jesus was indeed with them, they cried out to Him, fearing for their lives.

When they saw Jesus walking on the sea in the midst of the waves, they refused to believe that He was indeed Whom they had seen. Jesus had indeed walked on the sea towards them, but they thought that the One they saw could not have been the Lord, but instead a ghost. This was pretty much just as how the Israelites refused to believe in God, even though they had seen the wonders and the works of God.

These stories and lessons from the past are reminders for each and every one of us Christians, that our path in life will not be an easy one, but instead will be filled with many obstacles, challenges and difficulties. We will encounter moments of difficulty, temptations from various sources and the pressure will be exerted upon us to make us to give up this journey and struggle that we do in order to reach out to the Lord.

The story of Jesus walking on the sea in the middle of a great storm itself is rich in representations and meanings, through which God wants us to understand better His intentions for us. The disciples represent all of us the followers of Christ, all Christians who have been gathered together, in the Church of God, which is often represented as a boat or a ship. The great waves and the winds represent the challenges and the forces arrayed by the world against us.

It is easy for us to stumble and to panic, if we do not have a strong faith in the Lord, as the Israelites at the time of Moses, and the disciples of the Lord Jesus had done, when they were faced with difficulties and challenges from various sources. But the Lord is in fact always with us, guiding us and journeying with us, only that we often did not realise that He had done so.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because we are too focused on ourselves, on our needs and desires, on our own personal human ambitions and wants, which resulted in our inability to shake off the temptations of the world, which Satan always constantly place on our path in order to tempt us into sin, and therefore, to disobey God.

There will always be storms and obstacles in our path, but if we keep our faith in God strong, we will be able to persevere through and find our way forward to Him. This is where we should seek to learn from the examples of the holy Pope St. Sixtus II and his fellow companions, martyrs of the faith and defenders of the Church of God, and St. Cajetan, a holy and devout servant of God, a holy priest of God.

Pope St. Sixtus II lived during a turbulent time of the Church, at a time when the faithful and the Church were persecuted terribly by the Roman authorities. The Roman Emperor Valerian declared a wide-ranging and massive persecution of the Christian faith, and Pope St. Sixtus II led the faithful through that difficult time. It was told that he and many other priests, deacons and the faithful were arrested, imprisoned and eventually ended in their martyrdom, refusing to give up their faith.

Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was a renowned priest who was remembered for his hard works among the people, especially his efforts to help the people who have financial difficulties, establishing institutions that champion the cause of the poor, and place the needs of the less fortunate ahead of profit-seeking and greed. He ministered to the poor and the needy, showing to all of us what each and every one of us can do in order to become better Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples of the faith and dedication of the holy martyrs, Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions, as well as the generosity and charity shown by St. Cajetan, the holy priest of God should inspire each and every one of us Christians to live more and more faithfully in accordance with the will of God, obeying His laws and commandments, and placing our trust in Him.

No matter what, our faith in God must remain strong, for He is ever faithful and loving towards us. Let us all no longer be deterred by the challenges and obstacles we may encounter in life, and let us no longer be dictated by the whim of our human desires and greed, but instead, let us walk only in the path of God from now on, letting go of those things that have hindered us all these while, and find our way to God through perseverance and hard work.

May the Lord help us in our endeavours, and may He bless our works. Let us ask the holy saints, Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions, and St. Cajetan for their intercession before God. Pray for us, o holy saints, that we may overcome our obstacles in life, and persevere in faith as you all had, that one day we may glorify God together with all of you in the eternal glory of heaven. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 August 2017 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time and the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we celebrate not just the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, but also the great occasion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. On this occasion, we remember the time when our Lord Jesus Christ was revealed in the fullness of His glory and divinity before His disciples at the Mount Tabor, in the presence of three of His disciples, St. Peter, St. James and St. John.

The occasion the Transfiguration of the Lord is truly rich with numerous symbolisms that are very significant to our faith, as it is a great revelation of not only just Who our Lord Jesus truly was, but also what the purpose of His coming into this world was, and He also showed us all an example of what all of us as Christians must do in our own respective lives.

First of all, the Transfiguration was the moment when Jesus revealed the fullness of His divine glory before mankind, represented by His own Apostles. It was where He revealed that He was not just merely a Man, the Son of Man, but instead, He was also at the same time, the Divine Son of God, Who was incarnate in the flesh through His mother Mary. Thus, Christ has two natures, Man and Divine, perfectly united in the person of Jesus Christ.

He revealed the fullness of His divine glory, as the Son of God and Saviour of all, Who then met with Moses and Elijah during that moment of Transfiguration, another important revelation and symbolism that all of us should take note of. Moses and Elijah each represents the two important tenets and aspects of the faith, namely the Law of God, for Moses was the one through whom God made known His laws to His people, while Elijah represents the prophets of God, who laboured to reveal and teach the Word of God to the people.

This is an important representation of Christ as the embodiment and fulfilment of both the Law and the Prophecies of the prophets. The Law of God was made perfect in Christ, Who revealed to His people the true meaning of the Law, teaching them what is the true purpose of the Law and how all of us mankind are able to live according to the Law, in order to love the Lord our God, by loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Then, Christ is also the the perfect fulfilment of the prophecies which had been spoken by the many prophets and messengers of God, through whom God had made known His will to His people across the ages. God has promised His salvation to His people, to redeem them from the chains of sin. This is a promise which He had made from the beginning of time, from when our first ancestors first sinned against Him because of the temptation by Satan.

And thus, Jesus Christ our Lord was born through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, to be the One through Whom God would fulfil His long promised salvation, and as the keystone and centrepiece in the entirety of God's grand plan of salvation and liberation for us all, His most beloved people. It was through His loving sacrifice on the cross, bearing the burden of our sins and faults that He has shown this love for us, and it is through the cross that God brought us all a new hope in Him.

Mankind have long lived in the darkness, the darkness of ignorance and the darkness of their sins and disobedience against God. The lies and wickedness of the devil have covered us, and we have been corrupted by those sins and faults which we committed in life. But deep in our hearts, all of us truly groaned for the opportunity and filled with the hope that one day all of us can be freed from the tyranny of sin and evil. And yet, it is too often that temptations of the world and the persuasions of the devil and his allies have kept us from being able to listen to this desire, the desire for us to receive God's salvation and be freed.

Thus, to all those who have seen the glory of the Lord Jesus Transfigured before their eyes, they must have seen in Him the long awaited promise of God, through the piercing light and the exceedingly bright white garments and the Body of the Lord that shone forth, as God is the True Light, Light of the world, Whose light penetrates the darkness of evil and wickedness, and Whose light is terror to evildoers and wicked people, yet a tender and loving source of hope for all those who cling on to hope in Him.

The Lord showed through His Transfiguration a glimpse into our own future state of grace, for all of us are indeed called to become like Christ, and all of us who have made ourselves worthy through our actions and deeds in life, will receive God's grace and love, and we will be, in accordance with the words of the Scriptures, transformed wholly, body and soul, our entire being, to be like the Lord, and to rejoice and share with Him in His glory forevermore.

Just as the Lord had assumed the flesh of Man by coming down upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord, therefore, by assuming His humanity, He has united us all to Him, all of us who seek Him and desire to be with Him, and just as He is glorified in His Transfiguration, we too shall also be glorified together with Him, at the time when He will come again to gather all of those whom He deems to be worthy of Him and His grace.

To us, the best examples of how we can best understand this is like that of the saints of the Church, whose deeds and actions in life are still remembered and honoured even to this very day. The saints shone with glory and greatness, but not because of their own greatness and power, but because they shine with the glory of God and the righteousness found in them. They lived in accordance with God's will and therefore, God glorified them all and lifted them up to share with Him the glory of heaven.

The saints are like the stained glass in our churches. The stained glass on their own without light do not look beautiful or shiny, and they are just like any other glass, dark and devoid of goodness. Yet, when light shines upon them and pass through them, all of us who see the light through the stained glass see the great beauty of the stained glass, just as the saints were glorified because of what God had done through them in this world.

This Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is a reminder to all of us that God is calling us to be thoroughly transformed in our respective lives, to adhere faithfully to His ways and obey His laws wholeheartedly. We are called to walk in the footsteps of the saints and martyrs who have preceded us, and now are in the glory of heaven. They were themselves once sinners too, just like us, and yet, they listened to the Lord speaking in their hearts, calling them to righteousness.

And they responded with action, following the Lord and obeying Him, just as God reminded His disciples, that Jesus, is His Beloved Son, and that they ought to listen to Him. That is how the saints end up where they are now, because they followed the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they made themselves to be His faithful servants through which He exercised His good works among His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all no longer be trapped in the darkness of sin, and strive to be freed from the chains of slavery, the slavery of sin and worldly desires, the chains of greed and hatred, of jealousy and anger, all of which had weighed us down and threatened to bring us down into the damnation in hell. Let us all instead put our trust in the Transfigured Lord, He Who had revealed His truth to us, so that we may know it, and see through Him, what we will become should we walk in His footsteps.

Yet, let us not forget, that the story of the Transfiguration of our Lord ended with a stark reminder for us, that we must not be complacent nor must we expect a life that is easy and without challenges. The three Apostles, St. Peter, St. James and St. John wanted to stay on at the Mount Tabor, in the glory of the Transfigured Christ. They wanted to pitch tents for the Lord, Moses and Elijah, so that they might continue to revel in the glory of the Lord.

But, the Lord did not have it that way. He knew that He had to go down the mountain, leaving behind His glory and the moment of His glorious revealing in His Transfiguration. He knew that going down the mountain would mean travelling on to Jerusalem and from then on to suffer the Passion, bearing the heavy cross on His shoulders, on which was laid the burdens of all of mankind's sins and faults.

Nonetheless, He went on, going down the mountain, showing His disciples by example, that firstly, for the sake of His love for His people, He was willing to shed away all of the glory of His divinity to be ridiculed and mocked, to be scourged and battered with blows, all for the sake of His love for us. Who else would have been willing to endure such punishment for our sake?

And He showed perfect humility and obedience to the will of God, His Father. All other men would have succumbed to the temptation of power and worldly glory, as Christ stood up there on the mountain, the temptation must have been great for Him to show forth His might unto the world. Yet, He humbly stepped down from that glory, and as shown in various other occasions, He always listened to the will of God His Father, and obeyed Him, even unto taking up the cross and dying for us.

Are we all able to imitate the examples of Christ in that manner? Many of us are too proud and filled with personal ego and desires, to be able to submit to the will of God. Instead, we want to bring glory to ourselves, and to gain good things for ourselves, often at the expense of others who have to suffer because of our desires and greed. This is what we cannot do, brothers and sisters in Christ. All of us must seek to be humble as Christ was, and allow God to enter into our hearts that we may be transformed.

It is often that we close our hearts to the Lord because of that pride, as we are unable to admit that we have been wrong or mistaken in our ways, that we have been sinful and wicked in our deeds. Yet, if we continue to harden our hearts, the only ones who will lose will be us, as we will end up persisting in our ways of sin. We should instead pray for the grace of humility, to listen obediently to the word of God and know His will, and what it is that He wants us to do. We should throw away the shackles placed on us by our pride and ego, and seek to become more like Christ day after day.

May the Lord, Who in His glorious Transfiguration has revealed to us the truth about Himself, help us to be ever closer to Him, to be more like Him day after day, that we will be transformed completely from the creatures of darkness we were once, to be the glorious children of God, worthy of Him and the eternal glory He has prepared for us, to be like the holy men and women, the holy saints who have gone before us to the eternal glory of God. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the memorial day and feast of the dedication of one of the Papal Major Basilicas in Rome, namely the Basilica of St. Mary Major, or known also as Santa Maria Maggiore. This is one of the four most important churches in Christendom, and the only one named in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary among the four.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore was built on a site which was donated to the Church in the early days of the emancipation and liberation of Christian worship and faith among the faithful, at the time following the toleration of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine. It was told that the site where the Basilica now stands was indicated to the nobleman who owned the land, who vowed to donate his possessions, as he was without a child and heir, to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And miraculously, at the height of summer in Rome, told be this very date, the fifth day of August, snows fell on the site atop a hill on which the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore or St. Mary Major now stands. Thereafter, the land was dedicated to the Church, and a great church and Basilica was built there. The Church was named as such because it was the largest of all the churches and parishes in Rome that was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now, why is it that we place so much honour and glory upon Mary? There are indeed many of those who would slander the Church and attack our beliefs just because they thought that we are idolising Mary and making her as if she is a goddess and a deity equivalent to God. But all of these in fact came about because of a gross misunderstanding of what it is that all of us Christian believe about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and thus the Mother of God.

We honour Mary because she is the mother of our God, since we believe that Jesus, her Son, is the Word of God and Son of God, Divine Incarnate Who assumed the flesh of Man through His mother Mary who gave Him His humanity as He was conceived in her womb and grew in her for the nine months of His presence before He was born into the world.

Mary is therefore the Ark of the New Covenant, for she carried within her the New Covenant which God established with us all His people, through Christ, Whose death on the cross and the shedding of His Blood, as the Lamb of Sacrifice, offered to God a perfect offering for the absolution of our sins, and seal the Covenant which He established anew with all of us, one that will last for eternity.

Just as the original Ark of the Covenant contained within it the sacred Commandments and Laws of God, the sign of His Covenant with Israel, Mary as the New Ark is far more precious, for unlike the original Ark made from wood, gold and other precious materials, made by the hands of men, Mary was created by God Himself, and as our Christian faith explained, she was was created and conceived without any taints of original sin.

But that is not just the only reason why we honour Mary above any other human beings, as the greatest among the ones whom God had created, above all saints and other holy men and women. We do not honour Mary just because she was made special and conceived immaculate without sin, but because throughout her life, she has also continued to keep her life pure and worthy of God, devoting herself completely to the Lord.

Mary is our role model in life, because she has been faithful and true all her life, true to her devotion and commitment to her Son, that she followed Him through, from the moment He was conceived in her womb, to His birth, and then through His growing years and childhood, showing as great love and care as a mother can possibly give to her child. She followed through, even through difficult moments, and walked with her Son to the cross at Calvary.

The faith and dedication which Mary had is truly exemplary for all of us, and we should all follow in her footsteps. As the Lord Jesus Himself mentioned in the Gospel today, that all those who have kept the word of God and practiced the word of God in their lives will truly be blessed, therefore, Mary who showed us all the way to the Lord, had been obedient and committed to the Lord all her life.

She placed her full and complete trust in God, and obeyed all of His words and commandments, placing herself in His hands, entrusting all that He had planned to do for all mankind through her. How many of us are able to achieve this total surrender of oneself as Mary, the mother of our Lord has done? How many of us are able to answer the Lord as firmly and faithfully as Mary had answered the revelation of the Archangel Gabriel? To have the Lord's will be done upon us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we all rejoice together in the memory of the dedication of the great Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Santa Maria Maggiore, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, by looking at the examples shown through the faith of Mary, the mother of God. Let us all walk in her footsteps and learn to persevere in our faith, just as she had persevered to walk through the agonising journey of accompanying her Son in His great Passion and suffering.

Let us all seek to be closer to God, through Mary, for it is indeed through Mary, that we will be able to find the surest and the best way to reach out to the Lord, His salvation and the eternal glory He has promised all those who believed in Him. May Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for us and intercede for us always at the presence of her Son in heaven. Pray for us, o Holy Mother of God. Amen.

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Friday, 4 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest, Patron of All Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard first of all the reading from the Book of Leviticus, in which God dictated to His people the important dates and feast throughout the entire year, a constant reminder that God is always with His people, and we who have been loved by God and blessed by His graces, must also love Him and dedicate ourselves, our efforts and indeed, our entire beings to Him.

Yet, many of us tend to forget these obligations that we have to Him. We do not recognise the work of God among us, and His presence among us. In the Gospel today, all of us have heard how the people of Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus rejected Him, just because they thought that He was a fraud and a trickster, Who because of His humble family origin as the Son of a carpenter, Joseph, His foster father, then He could not have done all the wondrous things which He had done.

That was despite all the miracles and wonders He had performed among them in the neighbouring areas of Capernaum and Bethsaida. But the people of Nazareth preferred to give in to their human pride and ego, to their human intellect and wisdom, and to their limited understanding of the divine truth. They refused to accept the fact that One Who have walked among them and One Whom they had seen growing up from a mere Child, could be the Messiah and Saviour of the whole world, and less still, God Himself, Divine Incarnate.

They have hardened their hearts against God and forgot their obligation to Him. Yet, He still wanted to absolve them their sins, and therefore, He showed forth His mercy and love through Christ, by His merciful and loving works among us, and by His ultimate loving sacrifice on the cross, through which He opened wide for us all, the path to eternal life and glory, if we are to be reconciled with Him and be faithful in Him, walking in His path.

That is why, He, as our Good Shepherd, wants us all His sheep to be reunited with Him, and He therefore awakened in many of His followers, the desire and the calling to follow in His footsteps as shepherds to His flock, to help and guide those sheep on their way to their one and only True Master, Jesus Christ our Lord. They are the successors of the first shepherds, the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, whom God had appointed to be His holy priests.

Today, all of us celebrate together the feast day of the patron of all the holy priests of God. He is St. John Maria Vianney, also known by his nickname, the Cure of Ars. St. John Vianney was known far and wide, even until today, as a holy and devoted priest, who was pious in all of his deeds, and utterly dedicated to the Lord and to His people, among whom he had performed many wonders and miracles, tending to the poor and the sick, both those who are physically and spiritually afflicted.

It was told that thousands upon thousands came to see St. John Vianney, to confess their multitudes of sins, to confide themselves to his care and love, and to seek to be forgiven from their trespasses and wickedness. Many were healed of their afflictions and even had the evil spirits cast out from them. He encountered many difficulties throughout his mission in the parish church of Ars, where he was assigned to, and from which he gained his fame as the Cure of Ars, the caretaker and guide of the people entrusted to him.

Many people came to him seeking God's love and mercy, and St. John Vianney faithfully and patiently fulfilled his duties and obligations, as part of his vocation of priesthood. He showed all of us the exemplary role of a priest, whom God had called and chosen from among His followers and disciples, to be His representatives in this world, as our priests have been ordained and given the same power that God had given to His disciples, to forgive sins and to bring His blessings upon the people.

And they are the links that God had established between Himself and us. The holy and devout priests are those who have shown the concrete love and presence of God among us, through their tireless dedication, commitment and piety, by which they imitated the High Priest of all, Jesus Christ. For Christ Himself had served His people, loving them and caring for them even when those same people rejected Him, ridiculed Him and refused to allow Him to love them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on this, on the life and commitment of St. John Vianney as I have just mentioned, and the love of Christ our Lord for us. Let us then strive to be ever more committed and faithful Christians, no longer lukewarm in our faith, or acting as the people of Nazareth had done, in turning away from the Lord and trusting more in their own human wisdom and power. Let us all walk ever more faithfully in God's path, following the footsteps of the holy saints and guided by our holy priests.

And for those of us whom God had called to be His priests, let us all discern well and carefully in our hearts, that we may be able to make a carefully thought and planned choice, that there will be many among us who will walk in the footsteps of St. John Vianney, holy priest and Patron saint of all priests. Let us all learn from his examples, and make ourselves ever more devoted and committed servants and followers of our God. St. John Vianney, pray for us all, God's beloved people. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are reminded of God's love for us, beginning from what we have heard in the first reading, taken from the Book of Exodus, in which we heard about how Moses commissioned and dedicated the Holy Tent of Meeting, which would become the centre and focus of the community of Israel as they journeyed through the desert for forty years, and also later on once they were in the Promised Land.

For the Holy Tent of Meeting was the house of God Himself, Who have willingly come down to dwell among His people, through the Covenant He had established with them, and through the Law which He had passed onto them through Moses. He had become their God, and they had become His people. It was God's love for them which allowed this to happen, and therefore, all of us who have received such a great honour and grace should be happy and be joyful.

And yet, at the same time, we are also reminded through the Gospel passage today, that God's love for us also require us to love Him in the same manner. He has unconditionally given us all His love, by reaching out to us even when we are still sinners and unworthy of Him. He gave us the opportunities in order to redeem ourselves, and to turn away from our wickedness and rebellious ways. But, if we ourselves refuse to turn away from those sins, and close our hearts against Him, then what the Lord Jesus spoke of in the Gospel passage today will come true.

The Lord spoke of the kingdom of heaven in a parable, comparing it to a huge fishing net, gathering many fishes of all types and kinds, of all sizes and shapes. This corresponds to how the Lord wants to gather all the people, of all races and from all the nations, to come to Him and to be reconciled with Him. This is why He sent forth His Apostles and disciples with the command, 'Go and make disciples of all the nations, and baptise them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!'.

However, many of us do not remain true and faithful to our faith, and we often failed to obey the commandments of God. We put the priority to our own selfish desires and succumbing to our greed, and thus ignoring what we should have done in life, that is to be committed and dedicated to God in all of our words, actions and deeds. Instead, we let our desires to take control over us, dictating our actions, causing conflict, pain and suffering on others at times just so that we may satisfy our own needs.

As a result, we have become the bad fishes, which in accordance to the Gospel passage, will be disposed of at the time when the Lord came to judge all of us. The Angels of God would be the ones to sort out the good from the bad, and while the good ones will end up being chosen as they are considered worthy, the bad ones will be discarded and destroyed.

In the same way therefore, unless we change our way of life, that we obey the Lord and His laws, we will end up leading ourselves down the way towards eternal damnation and suffering in hell, where there will be no escape or hope for salvation. The Lord might have indeed shown us all His love and mercy, unconditional and generous, but if we have closed the doors of our hearts to these, then the Lord Himself will also reject us at the time of reckoning.

What is it then, that we all as Christians need to do? All of us must be faithful to the Covenant which God had made with us all. Just as He made the Covenant with Israel with the help of Moses, He had made another, everlasting and true Covenant through none other than the loving sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. And a Covenant is a pact made between two parties, that requires both of them to be faithful to the Covenant.

Therefore, as the Lord our God is always faithful to His Covenant with us, for He cannot possibly lie or be untruthful about what He has promised us all, now it falls unto us His people, that we should do our part to fulfil the part we have in our Covenant with God. And how do we do that, brothers and sisters? It is by our showing of love to one another, by being merciful to our fellow men, forgiving one another our faults, and by showing tender care and compassion to the poor and to the sick.

Let us all not be deterred by the amount of hard work that we need to put in, in order for us to be worthy of God. For it is indeed going to be quite challenging for us to lead a life that is dedicated to God, and is considered righteous before God. Yet, if we make the effort to do so, and consciously begin to do what the Lord had taught us to do, even in small and simple things, slowly all of us will put ourselves firmly on the path towards God's salvation and grace.

May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to guide us through this journey we have in life, that we may always strive to be faithful to the Covenant which He had established with us, and so that we will be found worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and the eternal life and glory God had prepared for all those who are faithful to Him. Let us all be truly faithful, not just in mere words, but also through all of our deeds and actions in life. Amen.