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Monday, 27 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, through the Scripture readings, we are reminded of the hope that we all have in the Lord, Who will bless us with true joy and happiness. It was just yesterday that we celebrated the joy of expecting our salvation in Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. We remember that while this season of Lent is a time for penitence and repentance from our sins, it is also a time to be joyful, precisely because we all know that God had had mercy on us sinners.

Through God we have received healing for our afflictions and sickness. We may be wondering if we are sick, because to us, we may seem to be perfectly healthy in body and mind. Yes, we may indeed be very healthy, but that is because what we see are just the body and the appearances alone. Deep inside, we are all really sick and filled with all sorts of diseases, all because of our sin.

Yes, as I have often mentioned, sin is the disease and sickness of the soul, and it is the source of all other maladies and sicknesses that affected our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and indeed our entire being. It is because of that sin which afflicted us, each and every one of us that we have had to suffer various things either physically, mentally or spiritually in this world.

Yet, many of us have not realised that God wants us all to be healed. It is often that we think that God is angry at us for having sinned against Him, and therefore we distanced ourselves. We acted as if we are some filthy and unworthy servants, who have disobeyed Him, and incurred His wrath and anger. Thus, we retreat in shame and not daring to show our face before Him.

According to St. John Chrysostom, a great saint of the early Church, all of us ought to realise that it is sin itself that is the problem, and not what we perceive as God being angry at us for having sinned. He said, “Be ashamed when you sin, not when you repent.” Through these words, he wanted to show us that while we often worry about when we want to repent from our sins, because we are afraid of God’s anger and punishment, but if we remain in sin, what will happen to us is far worse than the consequences of our repentance.

All of us have to realise that because of our sins, caused by our lack of faith and discipline, that we fell into temptations and persuasions of the devil, we have been tainted in our body, mind, heart and soul. And as we have been corrupted by sin, we have become unworthy of the Lord, Who is all good and perfect, and can tolerate no sin at all in His presence.

If we insist on being stubborn or being afraid of looking forth to God’s forgiveness, because we are too proud to admit that we have been wrong, that we have sinned, or because of our fear for reprisal, or because we are ashamed and concerned about our appearances and standing in our society, then, brothers and sisters, we should know that because of that failure to repent from our sins we will be led into eternal damnation and condemnation in hell.

Yes, that is the fate that awaits all those who have sinned and refused to repent. All of us mankind have sinned, without exception. Only Christ Himself is completely free from all sin, for He is both God and Man. But that is exactly what He had done for our sake. He gave Himself for us freely out of His free will, desiring to be the perfect and unblemished sacrificial victim, laid on the Altar of the Cross at Calvary, to become our Saviour.

By His blood we have been cleansed and purified, all of us who believe in Him and receive Him wholeheartedly as our Saviour. Yet, time to time again, many of us fall into sin and commit things that are unbecoming of us as Christians, as God’s followers and disciples. That is what this season of Lent is for, a time for us to reflect on our lives and look at all the sinful deeds we have committed.

This is the time for forgiveness, for the changing of hearts and minds, that while once we have been delinquent and disobedient against the will of God, now we can start to devote our energy, time and effort to do what is required of us as Christians. Let us all learn to forgive one another, be charitable in our deeds, giving to the needy and the poor all that they need, sharing our blessings with them.

May this season of Lent be the time for us to be closer to God, and to reevaluate our lives for the better. May each and every one of us be better able to live our lives as true Christians, not just on paper alone, but also through our words and deeds, through real action by which we show love for our fellow brethren, as much as we love the Lord, through Whom we have received healing and forgiveness from our sins and wickedness. May God forgive us all our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the celebration of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, or also known as Laetare Sunday, coming from the word “Laetare” in the beginning of today’s Introit, “Laetare Jerusalem” or “Rejoice, o Jerusalem”. As we celebrate the joyous aspect of Lent, as we await the true joy of Christ coming unto us, that is why the vestments and the liturgical colour used today is rose instead of the usual violet, representing the reality that while Lent is a season of penance, but it is also a season for expecting the coming of the joy of Christ.

Why do we celebrate this joyous occasion, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because at the same time that we remember the upcoming struggles, sufferings and pains that our Lord had to endure during His Passion on the Cross, and throughout the way of suffering, we also remember that all of those had to happen so that we may receive true joy, that is the joy of our salvation and redemption from our sins.

Christ is our true Joy, for He came into this world bearing us hope, the true hope that He alone could bring, and not the false joys present in this world. And we rejoice in Him, because through Him, we have been able to see the light of God shining upon our path, guiding and leading us on our way, that we may be able to find our way and at the same time, freeing ourselves from the attachment and the association we have thus far with the darkness of this world.

Through His light, all of us who believe in Him have been purified from the darkness within us, and in our baptism, we received the lighted candle, which flame came from the Paschal candle, a representation of the light of the Lord’s Resurrection, as the light that overcame the darkness of the world, as on Easter Sunday, the world which once had not known hope, then finally is able to hope again upon the Lord and His light.

In today’s Gospel, we heard how Jesus healed the man who was born blind on the sabbath. He made him able to see once again, and the man was truly filled with joy. He was not able to see, and he could not see the light as most of us could. We always know this world as it is because we are able to see the light around us coming into our eyes. But imagine what would it be like, had we been born blind as the man whom Jesus had healed.

Imagine living in a world where we could not see at all, where no light can be seen, because our eyes were not able to see it. Imagine what kind of joy we would have if our eyes were opened and light entered into our eyes for the very first time. Only then that we can appreciate how joyful it is for the blind man to be able to see again. And he therefore believed in Christ and all that He had done for him.

Let us contrast this with the actions of the Pharisees and the actions of the teachers of the Law who were also there, and who have not just witnessed that miracle, but many other miracles that Jesus had performed among the people, also in their presence. Yet they have refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, out of all others who have believed in Him. They have seen and yet they rejected the Lord and His good works.

They had not believed because in their pride and arrogance, they have hardened their hearts against God. They were jealous against the Lord Whom they thought to be a rival to their power and influence. As a result, they were blinded by all these prejudices, by all the negativities and all the wickedness they had in their hearts, so that even though they could see with the eyes of their body, the eyes of their hearts were in reality, blind.

They could see light through the eyes of their body, the ones on their head, but they could not see the true Light of the world, which Jesus had brought into this world, Himself. They allowed darkness to enter their hearts and blind them, and thus, they did all the things in opposition to the Lord and His works because of that. As a result, they were not to be the recipients of God’s grace, love and forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what we need to reflect on as we continue to progress through the season of Lent. Have we been open to receive God’s forgiveness in this season and time of mercy? This Lenten season is a time for mercy, and we are always urged to receive God’s mercy, which He gives to all without hesitation and with much love, and we are also urged to forgive one another, yet many of us often forget that while God wants to forgive us and love us once again, but it is we ourselves who are often the greatest obstacles to our forgiveness and therefore, our salvation.

Why is this so? We just have to look at the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These were the elites in the society back then at the time of Jesus and His earthly ministry two millennia ago. They were those who were considered as the nobilities and leaders of their time, and they were physically fit if not very healthy compared to the others in the society, well to do in their lives and were able to provide with themselves without any difficulties.

They looked down on others because they considered themselves superior to them, by their upbringing and by what they saw that they were the guardians of the law of God, the laws of Moses, wearing their long robes and chanting their prayers daily in the marketplaces and in the open areas. They thought that they alone had the grasp over God and His truth, and that was why they oppressed the poor, the sinners like the prostitutes and the tax collectors, thinking that these were people unworthy of God, but they were wrong.

They allowed their pride and arrogance to get in their way, and they closed their hearts when the Lord came to speak the truth to them. They forgot that they too, were sinners and were in need of God and His forgiveness as well. Instead, they committed even more sins, by closing the doors of God’s mercy on those who need them the most. They condemned others as sinners and rebels, while it was their attitude who showed the most rebellious attitudes of all.

They judged others by their appearances, and they also judged themselves by their appearances. But if they can just remember the Book of the prophet Samuel, when God chose His chosen king, David, from among the sons of Jesse, our first reading passage today, they would realise that God sees not by appearances, but He looks deep inside each and every one of our hearts. He knows us all completely inside and outside, and nothing can be hidden from Him.

It is not by our appearances that God had chosen those whom He wishes to call, and we do not choose ourselves to be those whom God will choose. Rather, God chooses whoever He wants to be chosen, and He calls those whom He deems to be worthy to be called. He called David not because he is the strongest or the best among his brothers, in whatever categories that the world commonly attribute to those who are usually chosen, but because God saw in David’s heart, mind and soul, a true and genuine love for Him.

That man who was born blind, might not be able to see the light through the eyes of his body, but the eyes of his heart was truly open and were capable of seeing the light of Christ, which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had failed to do. Now let us ask ourselves, have we been like David or the man born blind in our attitudes in this life we have? Or have we been more like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law instead?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this time of Lent, we are all called to the Lord’s mercy, healing and forgiveness. But we need to overcome all the things that have become obstacles on our way to achieve God’s mercy and grace. We have to overcome our human pride, our fear and our stubbornness, and open the path for God to enter into our hearts and transform us completely.

Let Him enter into ourselves, and let Him heal us just as He had healed the man who was born blind, so that while once we saw everything through the veils of darkness and sin that had engulfed us, now we may be able to pierce through those veils that blinded us, and thus capable of seeing the true light coming from the Lord our God, and now therefore we are able to find our way to the salvation in God. Let us all have that great joy in us, finally being able to see the hope of salvation through Christ.

Let us also help one another, especially those who are still lost on their way to the Lord. Let us all devote our time and effort to draw ever closer to God, and to find the way to the Lord and to be more like Him in all of our words, deeds and actions. Let this be our Lenten commitment and work, and from now on let us all be ever more devoted servants and people of God, Who has loved us all so much, and wants us all to also love Him in the same manner. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 March 2017 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the day which celebrates the moment when the Archangel Gabriel came into the world, to the poor village in Nazareth in the region of Galilee, proclaiming to a young virgin named Mary the Good News which mankind had awaited for a very long time.

On this day we remember that very moment when Mary conceived the Lord Jesus, Son of God Most High and Saviour of all mankind, the moment when she said yes to the Archangel Gabriel, the time when she obeyed the will of God with a perfect humility and devotion, with perfect love and commitment to God. And it was because of this yes, that the world has seen its Saviour and God’s long planned salvation has come to its fruition at last.

It was at this moment, at that time in Nazareth, that the Lord made into motion His long planned plan to save all of us. He has promised His beloved people again and again, that He would send forth His salvation towards them, and the Messiah, or the Saviour would enter into this world, and through Him all the people of God will find their way to the Lord and be saved.

It was thus why Jesus was born into this world, according to the words of the Scripture itself, that as the prophet Isaiah mentioned it in his book, that the new light has dawned upon the world, and all those who are living in the darkness, in this darkened world has seen a great, new light. That light is the light of Christ, Who is the true Light of the world.

God Himself had loved us so much to the point that He sent us none other than His own Beloved Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, God before all ages, Son of God and part of the Holy Trinity into this world, to become our Saviour. In order to do this, He became Incarnate into the flesh of us mankind, that as a Man, at the same time that He is Divine, He may share in our humanity, and lifting up all of our sins and unworthiness, He may bring upon us the reconciliation with God.

By assuming our flesh, through the will of God the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son has united all of our humanity with Himself, as He became our great and true High Priest, offering for our sake and in our place, the perfect sacrificial offering for our sins and wickedness. It is because of His love for us that He had done all of these. He would not want us to fall into hell and damnation there, and therefore, He came into this world for our sake.

But all these were also made possible because of the obedience and the faith of Mary, who placed herself in the hands of God, trusting completely in His will and desires, obeying Him as one who is His servant and handmaiden, with the words, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me as He has willed it.” This basically means, “His will shall be done”, the example of perfect and total obedience. It was at that very moment that God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became Man and took upon Himself the flesh and the nature of mankind.

Let us all ask ourselves in this time of Lent, during this season when we are supposed to spend time reflecting on our lives and take a step back, in order to reevaluate our actions and deeds in life. Are we able to be like Mary in our lives, in our deeds and works? Are we able to follow in her footsteps, in how she responded to the Archangel Gabriel?

Let us not think that just because Mary, the mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, has been conceived and born without the taint of original sin, therefore she is different from any one of us. She also experienced moments of doubt and uncertainty when the Archangel Gabriel suddenly appeared to her and declared to her that she would bear a Child, and the Child is none other than God Himself, and thus, she would become mother of God.

Who would not be surprised when the person heard such a shocking revelation? And yet, even though some doubts and uncertainties came to her in the beginning, as she asked the Archangel Gabriel for clarification on how such thing was possible, as she was still an unmarried virgin, she chose to place her trust in God, and surrendered herself completely to do the will of God.

It is often that we mankind like to do things our own way, and we prefer things to go according to what we have planned and prepared for. We do not like it when things do not go as what we wanted it, but unfortunately, more often than not, that is exactly what happened in reality. And when we tried to make things to go along what we wanted, that is when much bickering, struggles, infighting and animosity came about.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, we are all called to reflect on the state of our souls, on our actions and deeds in this world that had led us into sin and disobedience against God. This is the time for us to find the way to the Lord, by discerning carefully what it is that we need to do in order to draw closer to the Lord our God. And there is indeed no better way to do so, than to follow in the example of Mary, the mother of God.

Let us all learn from the faith which Mary had in the Lord, putting her complete trust in Him, despite all the uncertainties and fears she had, but she remained faithful and obedient, even to the very end. She placed her faith in God, and she followed her Son all the way to Calvary, to the foot of the Cross, waiting patiently at the side of her Son as He completed the work of salvation for which He came into this world for.

May all of us be more like Mary in our ways, our actions, words and deeds. Let us all commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, following the example of Mary and the holy saints of God, so that in all things, we may grow ever closer to God, particularly through this perfect opportunity of Lent, seeking forgiveness for all of our sins and wickedness, that we may find our way to the Lord and receive His grace forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 24 March 2017 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture passages, the call to repentance and reconciliation between us and our God. In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Hosea, we heard the call to repentance and forgiveness from God, Who wants each and every one of us to find our way back to Him, and wants us to be healed from our afflictions, from all of our sins.

That pronunciation made by the prophet Hosea must be understood in the context of the history of the people of Israel, so that we may appreciate just how much is the mercy of God given to the people, who have disobeyed the Lord and therefore lost for a while, the inheritance that God had given to them and to their ancestors. The prophet Hosea lived after the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria.

The people of the northern kingdom have disobeyed God, led by their wayward kings who worshipped the pagan idols and gods, who established new rules in defiance of the laws and precepts that God had given to His people, because of their pride and because of their fear, that the people would turn back towards the southern kingdom of Judah, the kingdom of the house of David.

In their sinful ways, in their idolatry and in their lack of faith, the people of the northern kingdom had fallen into the state of sin, and unrepentant, God had withdrawn His blessings and grace from them, allowing their enemies to rise over them, and eventually for the Assyrians to conquer them and deport them from the lands of their ancestors. The people of God had to live far away in the lands of their exile, with no land to call as their own home.

It is this destitute situation that existed at the time of the prophet Hosea, who then preached God’s mercy and forgiveness that He would extend to all of His people, provided that they all turn their backs to their sinful past, and renew their commitment to their loving God. And this means for each and every one of them to abandon their waywardness, and embrace once again in sincerity, God’s laws and precepts.

How does all of these relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? In truth, all of us are just like the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, who have been tempted, persuaded and convinced by the devil and all of his tempting forces, into sin and all sorts of disobedience against God. All of us who have sinned had been sundered and separated from God’s love, much as the Israelites had fallen from grace then.

We should have ended up in annihilation, humiliation and despair just as how the Israelites had once suffered. But God in His rich and bountiful mercy, in His loving and forgiving heart is willing to forgive us all our sins, as after all, He Who created all of us, and He Who knows all of us by name and Who knows the depths of our hearts, will not hate us but love us with all of His heart and strength.

Yet, it is often we ourselves who refused to be forgiven. God wanted to forgive us our sins, but it is us who placed obstacles and made it difficult for Him to do so, because of our stubbornness, and because of our inability to resist the temptation to sin, to do what is wicked and immoral and wrong in the sight of our God Who loves each and every one of us. That is why many of us are often far from God’s mercy, not because He did not want to forgive us, but rather because we ourselves hesitate or even refuse to be forgiven.

In this time of Lent, all of us have been called by the Lord through His Church to reflect on our own lives and to reevaluate all our actions, words and deeds. When we remember all that we have done thus far, can we consider ourselves to be among those who have listened to the Lord and obeyed His will, laws and commandments? Or have we instead lived persistently in the state of sin and refusing to allow God to forgive us by His mercy?

Let us all renew our commitment to God, one way or another, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us deepen our relationship with Him, and learn to understand what is it that He truly wants from us. He wants us to love Him back just as much as He had loved us first with unconditional love. And then He wants us to show the same love to our fellow brethren, to be genuine and sincere in our compassion and love for those around us who are in need of our love and care.

May the Lord help us all to persevere in faith and to grow stronger in love, both for our brethren and for our loving God. May He empower each and every one of us that we may truly be worthy of being called the children of God, God’s beloved people. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 March 2017 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture passages that speak to us about the need for us to follow and obey the Lord, and not to harden our hearts and minds against Him, as what some of our predecessors had done, and exemplified by the examples of the Israelites and those who lived during the time of Jesus and His earthly ministry.

God had done so many good things for His people Israel, liberating them from the Pharaoh and from the Egyptians, allowing them to pass unharmed through the sea, and caring for them throughout their journey in the desert. He provided for them food and water, and all that they ever needed were taken care of. Such was the love which God had shown His people, and He wanted them to do only one thing.

And that thing is to obey His commandments and laws, to be righteous just as He is righteous, to be holy just as He is holy. But they were easily swayed by the temptations of their flesh, which caused them to fall into sin, and into disobedience against God. They hardened their hearts and minds against God, that even though He has loved them so tenderly and cared for them so graciously, they complained and grumbled against Him.

In the same manner, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were the elders and leaders of the people of God, who were entrusted with the leadership and guidance of the people, as they were supposedly the best educated and the ones most knowledgeable about the Law of God. Yet, in their pride and in their closed hearts and minds, they refused to believe in the One Whom God had sent into the world in order to bring His truth to them, Jesus.

They went so far as to accuse Jesus of colluding with the forces of the devil, through Beelzebul, one of the princes of demons, in His miraculous works and actions. That is when Jesus firmly rebuked them and chided them for their hard-hearted attitude, and in their refusal to open their minds to the Lord, even to the point of spreading and telling lies for the sake of trying to undermine the good works of our Lord, just because they were jealous of the influence and attention which Jesus was getting for His actions.

We may think that all of these things only happened to the groups of people we have mentioned, and will not happen to us. However, in reality, if we think about it again carefully, there are many occasions in our respective lives, when we shut ourselves from God, because we are too busy with our worldly dealings and works. Sometimes we do not realise it, but we can be too busy to know that God wants to come to us and enter into our lives.

We can shut our hearts and minds from God, because we are so self-centred and concerned so much about our own well being and worldly cares, that we end up shutting ourselves from our brethren as well. This is what we as Christians must not do, or else we will end up as those who call themselves as Christians, but are such in name only, and in their hearts, they do not have God inside them.

During this time of Lent, it is important that we use this opportunity to think about our lives, and reflect on how we have lived our lives thus far, through all of our actions and deeds, through our words and all that we have acted in this life, in how we approach and live with our fellow brethren, and how we have chosen our actions. We really need to ask ourselves, if we have allowed God to be the mover of our lives, or whether we have put Him aside, replaced by our attachment and obsession with worldliness.

Perhaps, in this matter we can also follow the examples of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, a holy bishop and a devoted Spanish missionary, who became the Archbishop of Lima in what is now modern day Peru. He was thoroughly devoted to God, and gave himself completely to the mission to which he has been called. He preached among the natives and the people who have not yet heard the word of God, and he converted many people to the faith.

However, he did not have it easy at all. He had to go on very long journeys to go around his vast Archdiocese, visiting his people in various places, from the deepest parts of the jungle, with all of its associated risks and dangers, to the steep hills and mountains, to the deserts and dry lands, encountering hostile tribes and dangers along his way.

But St. Turibius de Mogrovejo did not give up despite all of those challenges. We may be wondering what is the reason for his strong resolve and commitment. St. Turibius de Mogrovejo had God as his source of strength and resolve. He put his trust in God, and that was how he was able to persevere through all the difficult times and through all the challenging moments.

Are we able to follow the Lord in the same way as St. Turibius de Mogrovejo had done? Are we able to commit our lives to Him, and to do good deeds as that holy saint had done? It is entirely up to us, if we want to allow God to be our foundation and our strength, putting our trust completely in Him. But, we really need to allow Him to come into our hearts and allow Him to transform our lives, that we may truly be His in heart, mind, body and soul.

Let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, devoting our effort and our time to serve Him, by loving one another, our fellow brethren, and commit ourselves to do what is good in the sight of God. In that way, we are loving God with sincerity and genuine intentions, and God will reward us with His grace and love in the end of it all. May the Lord strengthen our faith and empower us all in our faith. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 March 2017 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of God’s laws and commandments, which He had given to all of us as guidance and help for us to go through with this life, as guidelines for us to follow and to obey, so that our lives will be in accordance to how the Lord wants them to be, righteous and just, so that we will be found worthy in the eyes of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard how Moses told the people of Israel that they have been blessed far more than that of the other nations, because they have received God’s laws and commandments, which God had given them not to punish them, persecute them or to give them unnecessary burden, but instead to keep them safe, to be protected, and to be able to find their way safely through the darkened world, that they would not lose their way.

It is by the great grace of God that we have received such privilege to follow the laws and commandments God gave, but many of us did not realised just how blessed we are, for we often think of God’s laws as burdens and unnecessary things for us to do. In fact, many of us have that misconception, that Jesus came so that we no longer have to worry about anything, that as long as we believe in Him, then we are certain of being saved and be in the state of grace.

Unfortunately, as what Jesus our Lord Himself mentioned at the Gospel passage today, He came into this world not to undo or overcome the Law with a different set of laws and commandments, but instead, to fulfil it and to complete it with perfection, beyond all other things that mankind had added to the Law, all their imperfect human laws, rules and regulations.

What does this mean? Over time, the Law of God had become corrupted and twisted by how the people of God utilised it and perceived it, and the divine laws of God had been subverted and overcome by the concerns and rules of man, established by the people themselves, as how they interpreted the Law of God. But this over time resulted in the Law itself losing its true meaning and purpose, and that was why Jesus was often so critical at the Pharisees and at the teachers of the Law, because they imposed their version of God’s law, and yet in their actions and deeds, they do not belong to God.

And in all of these, we have to come to an understanding of what God’s law is truly about, brothers and sisters in Christ. The Law of God is the Law of love, which God had given to us to teach us about love, through which all of us mankind will be able to find our way to our Lord and loving God. He wanted to teach us love, and that is why He sent us the ultimate form of His love, Jesus, through Whom He endeavoured to save us all, His beloved children.

And He did not just say it out, but He indeed showed it by His own example, the perfect example of love shown through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Jesus Himself mentioned that there is no better love than for someone to lay down his life for a friend, and that was exactly what He had done, for all of us, His beloved people, His dear friends, His children.

As He has loved us and showed us that great love, all of us should therefore love Him in the same manner that He has loved us. That is the first of God’s great commandments, that all of us ought to love God with all of our heart, with all of our strength, with all of our minds and hearts, to be His servant and His people filled with love, genuine love, both for God and also for our fellow brethren.

In this season of Lent, all of us Christians are called to be more loving, forgiving and be gracious in all of our ways. All of us are called to follow the Lord in His loving ways, by obeying what He had taught us to do. Let us all reflect on our actions and deeds. Have we all been faithful to the Lord in the way that we should do? Have all of us been loving and forgiving just as our God has loved us and as how He was willing to forgive us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, using the opportunity granted to us to change our ways and to rediscover the way towards God’s righteousness. May all of us draw ever closer to God, and follow Him in all things. May the Lord empower us and strengthen us in faith, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 March 2017 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, all of us heard about the great mercy of God, which He had shown to all of us mankind throughout time, from time to time, again and again, even though we have constantly sinned against Him. Forgiveness is the theme of today’s readings, and it is just perfect given that now we are in the midst of the season of Lent, the season and time for repentance and seeking for forgiveness.

It is a time for us to turn away from our sins and from our wickedness, as Azariah in the first reading today, taken from the Book of Daniel had mentioned before God, that the people of Israel had sinned grievously before the Lord, having failed to fulfil and obey His commandments, becoming wayward and fell into the temptations of the world, resulting in their own destruction and banishment from the lands which God had given to them and their ancestors.

Azariah made his prayer along with his two compatriots during the time when the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar persecuted the faithful, especially the three of them, who were servants to the king, but refused the king’s commands to worship him and the golden statue of himself as their god. They were thrown into a huge fire chamber, expected to perish in the flames, alone in the foreign land, having no rights for themselves, for they have sinned against God and God supposedly had abandoned them.

But Azariah prayed for God to forgive them for their sins, and he prayed on behalf of the people of Israel, who sought to repent from their sinful ways and turn once more to the ways of the Lord. And God did listen to their prayers, for even though He was angry at the sins of the people of Israel and Judah, for all their wickedness and rebelliousness, He still loved all of them just as much as He has loved and were pleased with the faith of Abraham, their forefather.

And we see just the very real representation of that mercy which God extended to His people. Not only that He rescued Azariah and his two compatriots from danger, not allowing the flame to harm them, but He also extended His mercy to all of His people, bringing them back from their exile and returning them to their own lands under Cyrus the Persian Emperor, but eventually, He fulfilled the promise that He Himself had made to all mankind at the beginning of time.

Mankind had fallen into sin by disobedience, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and listened instead to the sweet lies of Satan. They should have deserved complete annihilation, but God gave them a second chance, a new lease of life. Even though they suffered in the world and death had reigned over them, but God promised them all a Saviour Who would deliver all of them from their sufferings and back into His grace.

Thus, Jesus came into the world in order to save it, as it was mentioned in the famous passage from the Gospel of St. John, that God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, into this world so that He may save it and all of us mankind, and redeem us from our sins, liberating us from death and annihilation, into the eternal glory and life He has prepared for all of us.

In the Gospel today, He told His disciples to forgive the sins and mistakes that others had made unto us, echoing what He Himself said in His prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, with the words, “Forgive us our sins just as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” This is a reminder for us that, as the parable Jesus told His disciples showed, that we have to forgive each other first, then God will forgive us our sins as well.

Why is this so? In the parable, we heard how the lord forgave the debts of the man who owed him a lot of money, but then that same man refused to forgive the debts of those who owed him money, which is a lot less than what he himself owed to his lord. First of all, what he had done is hypocritical, he did not do what his master had done. Then, he did not show appreciation of just how great is the grace which had been shown him, as the lord angrily pointed out to him.

How does this relate to us? Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, whenever we are angry at our friends who have hurt us, we must remember that we ourselves in one way or another may have hurt others, be it the same person or different. If we cannot overcome this anger and choose to persecute or make others suffer because of our anger, then we have to remember that whatever sins we have, God is willing to forgive all of them, provided that we are willing to repent.

Our sins are so much greater than whatever wicked things we have done to each other. And yet, God is willing to forgive us when we desire to be forgiven. Shall we not do the same for our brethren who wants us to forgive them? And shall we also seek forgiveness for all the wrongs that we have done? Much sorrows and pain has been caused by the desire for people to revenge each other, and if we can only overcome our anger and desire for vengeance, then this world will indeed become so much better.

Let us all follow in the example of Azariah, who humbly sought for forgiveness from God. Let us all use this perfect opportunity during this season of Lent, first of all to repent from our sins and to change our ways, and also to forgive each other all that we have inflicted upon the other, be it pain, sorrow, anguish, and any forms of discomfort that we have either consciously or unconsciously caused to one another.

Let us grow stronger in our love both for one another and also for God, and let us be sincere in our desire and effort to be forgiven. Let us all sin no more, but from now on put our complete trust in God and in His merciful heart. He will forgive us all surely, and He will bless us and bring us to His eternal glory. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Monday, 20 March 2017 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great solemnity and feast of St. Joseph, the Foster-father of our Lord Jesus Christ by the virtue of his marriage to Mary, the mother of God. While it was through both Joseph and Mary that the Lord Jesus was born into the family of the descendants of Israel and Abraham, it was through St. Joseph that the Lord was the rightful heir of David, the great king of Israel.

In the genealogy of Jesus, it was mentioned His descent from Adam and Abraham, as well as the descent from David through the line of the kings of Israel and Judah, and down to the ancestors of our Lord to the time when the Lord deemed it right for His glorious Saviour Jesus to enter into the world, at the end of the genealogy mentioned, as the perfect fulfilment of God’s promise to all of His people throughout the ages. God is indeed forever faithful.

When mankind first fell into sin at the time of Adam and his wife, Eve, God promised to mankind that He will save them from the evils of Satan, the great enemy who had tempted and deceived our ancestors to sin against God. He promised a deliverance that was to come through the sons of man, through the Woman who would bear the salvation for the whole world. All these were fulfilled through Mary, who bore Jesus the Son of Man and Son of God, Saviour of all mankind.

But God did not stop there, and He renewed His promises made to our forefathers, beginning from Abraham, the father of many nations, with whom God first made a Covenant with His people. God promised Abraham and called him to follow Him, that He will bless him because of his great faith and obedience to His ways and His laws.

God kept His word and gave the son which He had promised Abraham, through whom He became the father of many nations and peoples, many tribes and groups, and eventually, the Lord also fulfilled His promise to Abraham, that the glory of his name will remain forever, for among his descendants, the Lord and Master of the Universe Himself is counted among them.

And to David, the descendant of Abraham and Israel, God had given the kingship over Israel as He had promised to him, because of his great faith and obedience to God, over that of Saul, who was the first king of Israel but who was disobedient and committed grave sins against God. God promised David that his descendants will remain on the throne of Israel forever, and his kingdom will be forever firm.

It might seem that God did not fulfil this promise when the kingdom of Israel was torn apart into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and when the line of the kings ended in Judah as the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and ended the southern kingdom of Judah. However, in reality, God fulfilled the promise He had made yet again with the coming of Christ, Who is the Heir of David through St. Joseph, and He reestablished the kingdom which God had given to David, and this time, His kingdom will never end.

Through Jesus God had fulfilled the promises He had made to all mankind, in the past, present and in the future to come. Through St. Joseph, God had made Himself to be the Heir to all that God had promised to all of our forefathers, from the time of Adam, to Abraham, to David, and ultimately to all of us. God is always faithful, and He did not abandon us to our sins and to our destruction.

And St. Joseph as the foster-father of our Lord Jesus, besides giving Him the means to be the Heir of David and Abraham, he was also very crucial for our Lord especially in the early years of His life on earth. For it was St. Joseph, in the Gospels we read, who protected Him from all those who was looking for His death, from Herod the Great who wanted Jesus dead as He was a rival to his own kingship, and all other dangers and difficulties.

St. Joseph was a hardworking and patient man, a righteous and just person, who obeyed the Lord and His precepts, who was a role model and an exemplary father to Jesus our Lord, Who in His humanity was born a fragile baby in Bethlehem, Who needed to learn the tools and trade, the ways of this world. And St. Joseph, together with Mary, His mother certainly provided all that the young Jesus needed.

In the person of St. Joseph, we can see the qualities of the faithful people of God in the past, namely Abraham, whose faith in God was so great, that he placed his complete trust in Him. St. Joseph trusted in God in His plans, even though Mary, when she was still just betrothed to him, conceived a Child without any intercourse with him. But he placed his full trust in God, and carried out his obligations as a father just as much as if Jesus is his own biological son.

St. Joseph is the head of the Holy Family, of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He did his duties as a loving and faithful father, filled with love, care and concern for Jesus and Mary, even though these two persona often surpassed him in renown and he was often eclipsed by their importance. He committed himself to the care of the young Jesus, equipping Him with what He needed in life, and thus He grew well and blessed by God, ready for His mission.

The commitment which St. Joseph gave to his mission made him a great model for all of us Christians throughout the world, and just as he watched closely over the young Jesus, he still indeed continues to watch over the whole Church that Jesus had established in this world, as the great patron saint and protector of the whole Universal Church, a title and role that the Church itself had officially recognised as belonging to the great patron saint, St. Joseph, whose feast and honour we remember today.

Let us all reflect on all the good deeds St. Joseph had done, and how the Lord has also loved us all and how He has been faithful to all of His promises throughout the ages, all being fulfilled through Christ His Messiah, through Whom all of us have received the promise of everlasting life by our faith in Him. In this time of preparation, during this season of Lent, let us redouble our efforts to live faithfully as St. Joseph had been faithful, be more charitable and loving to our brethren, particularly those who are in need.

Let us show love to our fellow brethren, and let us turn our backs to our sinful past, and instead embrace a new future blessed by God. Let us all also ask for the intercession of St. Joseph, that he will pray for our sake, for the Church that his foster Son Jesus had established in this world, that God will continue to protect it and bless all of its works. May God bless us all and His Church. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 March 2017 : Third Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we progress through the third Sunday of this season of Lent, today we are reminded of God’s love and grace, which He had given us all so generously to all of us His people from time to time, and through which He had granted us the grace of salvation by sending none other than His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into this world, so that all who believe in Him may be saved and have eternal life through Him.

In today’s first reading, we heard about the rebelliousness of the people of Israel who grumbled and complained against God and His servant, Moses, complaining that they would suffer to death from hunger and thirst in the desert. They were angry against Moses and God for having brought them out of the land of Egypt, where they had suffered for over four hundred and fifty years in slavery, but in that instance, many of them wondered that if they had stayed in the land of Egypt, then they would at least have food to eat and water to drink.

They doubted God’s love and providence, even after they had seen how God had liberated them with His mighty power, bringing down the proud Pharaoh and the Egyptians, humbling them with His ten plagues over Egypt, and even after He had opened the Red Sea before them, allowing them to walk barefoot through the seabed, and crushed their enemies before them by allowing the sea to go back to its place as the Egyptian chariots passed through.

They doubted His love even after He had taken care of them for very long during their journey through the desert, even after He had fed them daily with the sweet manna, bread from Heaven itself, and also gave them large birds and fowls every evening to eat. He also gave them water even from the rocks, the clearest and finest quality water to drink in the middle of the desert, where nothing should have existed, not even water and food.

But they were not thankful to God, and instead, they grumbled and complained, and even wanted to kill Moses. They also raised even a golden idol, precisely a golden calf to be god over them when they were impatient waiting for Moses who went up the mountain of God at Horeb for forty days and forty nights. These are just among the many things which showed the disobedience of Israel throughout their time in the desert.

They have placed the desires of their flesh ahead of their faith in God. They placed the demands of their stomachs and bodies beyond their obligation and responsibility to worship the Lord and remaining true to Him in all things. They abandoned God just because they were not able to restrain the demands of their flesh, the desire to eat and drink, and of all other worldly things, which had tempted them to sin.

In this time of Lent, all of us are called by God to reevaluate our lives, our priorities and all of our actions. Let us all ask ourselves, what is it that we are living for in this world? Many of us have spent many hours working and indeed, toiling hard worrying about how we are to eat and drink everyday, and what we are going to do with our lives, with our wealth and possessions, worrying about our hard-earned wealth and even desiring more of what we already had.

This is what many of us mankind often do, and we are so preoccupied with our daily living that we are unable to see that in all of our pursuits for these things, we have lost the focus of our lives, and we are looking for the wrong things in life. What do I mean with this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that while we seek to build for ourselves worldly treasures, we often forget that all the things we now possess will not last forever.

Whatever we have now, can be gone in just a flash of a moment. We are concerned with the demands of our flesh and our bodies, much as the Israelites had done in the past, but we forgot that while we worry about this and that, in reality, we do not really need all of these. Many of the things we now enjoy in this world are illusions and diversions that keep us away from finding the true joy that can be found in God alone.

That is because, even though we worry about many things in life, all that we need in life have been taken care of by none other than the Lord our God Himself. He has provided us all that we need, the life we have, which is a gift from Him, and also all the other times that He had blessed us with all the good things in life, but which we did not notice to be the grace given to us from God.

Like the people of Israel, who have been blessed bountifully by God, many of us often do not realise that God had done so much for us. We often take God, His love and grace for us for granted, and when we are in trouble, we often complained that God has not been there for us, which is exactly as what the Israelites had done, and like what we often do as well. How often is it that we feel angry at God for not giving us what we want?

This is where we must realise that what we want is often not God truly willed for us. We have always sought for things of this world, for food, for sustenance, for money, for pleasures of the flesh and the body, for sexual gratification, for recognition among the people, for fame and renown, and for all other things which we often crave and desire for, but which cannot satisfy us.

For we all should know that all of these worldly things bring no lasting satisfaction because when we have a taste of these things, we will desire and crave for even more. Such is the extent of our human greed and desire. And that is why in the Gospel today, when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman, He pointed out that she had had five husbands, and the current one that she had was not even her husband!

When we mankind are unable to restrain ourselves, and place our trust in the things of this world, in our wealth, in our money, in our appearances and bodily pleasures, that is when we start to slide into the quicksand of sin which pulls us steadily deeper and deeper until we are unable to escape, unless we make the conscious effort to stand up and say no to sin and to our weaknesses.

Jesus said that those who believe in Him will be able to draw living water from Him, for He is the Living Water, the source of all life and satisfaction, which refers also to the time when Israel was in the desert and God gave them all that they need. If only that they placed their complete trust in God, instead of grumbling and complaining because they could not get what they wanted, they would have been perfectly happy living in the grace of God.

Now let us all ask ourselves, is God at the centre of our lives? Is He the reason why we continue to do our work and our action in this life, from day after day? If God is not at the centre of all the things we say and do, we will soon realise that whatever we are doing are meaningless and mundane, and that is when we begin to lose faith in God and in our life. Do we want to be like those who are never able to be satisfied, constantly seeking something better for themselves, or do we rather want to be with God, and enjoy His grace and love?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this blessed time and season of Lent, all of us are called to repent from our sins and turn from our worldliness, from all the things that have kept us away from God and His love. We are called to let go of our human pride, from our desires, from our selfishness, all the things that have become serious obstacles on our path to God’s grace.

Let us reorientate our lives completely, so that Jesus our Lord is at the heart of our very being and existence. Through our penance and repentance, let us humbly seek forgiveness for all the times that we have been angry at Him, thinking that He had ignored us and our pleas. Let us all realise just how much He had loved us all, and through understanding of God’s love, let us show the same love to each other, through our almsgiving and kindness to those who are less fortunate than us.

Let us realise that because God lives in us, and because He is with us, we can do all things in He Who strengthens us, which is the words spoken by St. Paul in praise of God, the source of our life and our strength. May this time of Lent become the time for our redemption and for us to rejuvenate our faith in the Lord, that as we grow ever stronger in our faith, we may draw strength to persevere in this life and be ever righteous to the end. May God, the source of our life, the eternal Spring of Life, be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 18 March 2017 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding us that God is loving, and He is filled with mercy for His people, as He desires to forgive all those who have wronged Him, all who have betrayed Him and left Him behind, as what the parable of the prodigal son would have told us, that famous story on forgiveness and mercy, as told by Jesus our Lord.

Most if not all of us should be quite familiar with the story, which we have heard since our childhood, or in our catechism classes, or through reading the Scriptures. But how many of us truly understand its meaning and its significance? How many of us can relate ourselves and our own experiences with that story of the prodigal son, who was forgiven by his father?
In that parable, we heard how the prodigal son left his father after getting his share of the inheritance, and squandered off all his wealth and possessions on lavish living. In the end, he had no money left with him, and all of his friends who used to be with him left him behind. He suffered terribly in that foreign land, and no one would want to help him, even his friends. He had to endure the most difficult of conditions, and even shamed by working at the lowest possible places as a caretaker of pigs in a farm.

In the end, the prodigal son decided to go back to his father, seeking to humbly seek his forgiveness and even wanted to declare before his father that after having committed such a shameful act, and after having sinned in such a manner, he could no longer be called the son of his father. Instead, he wanted to be treated just as one of his father’s slaves.

But his father would have none of that, and ordered his servants that his younger son should be dressed up in the finest of clothes and a feast be prepared for his sake, celebrating his return from the faraway lands. He was indeed dressed up and treated with a treatment equal to that of the son and heir of a king. Then we heard about how the elder son was angry at his father after having heard of the treatment which the prodigal younger son had received.

In all of these, we can see ourselves, and how we relate ourselves with God and one another. The parable is a very good representation of our very own selves, our lives and our actions in this world. The father is a representation of God, while the prodigal son represents all those who have sinned and who have been separated from God and His love. How about the elder son? The elder son represents those who have remained true and faithful to the ways of the Lord.

First of all, the prodigal son is just like us, who have wandered off from the way of the Lord, seeking other things and other pleasures of life instead of the love of God, just as how the younger son looking to venture to a far off land. Yet, his father allowed him to do so, the loving God, Who loves each and every one of us, because He loved us. He gives us a free will and a freedom to choose our path forward.

But in our sins and in our weaknesses, in our frailties and in our easy fall into temptations, we have fallen into a miserable state just as the prodigal son did. And when we are in trouble, people who do not truly love us or care for us will leave us behind. They are like Satan and his angels, who pretended to be our friends, but when we have fallen into sin, they will laugh at our folly and marvel at our downfall and misery.

There is only One Who will remember us and continue to love us, and that is God. Even though we have wandered off, rebelled, and disobeyed Him, He will continue to love us, just as the father continued to think about the prodigal son. But we must remember what the prodigal son had done. As wrong and mistaken as he had been, he had resolved and decided to humble himself and sought his father, returning to the father who loved him.

This is where many of us mankind have faltered, because we have not been able to overcome one thing that often stands in the way of our salvation. And what is that, brethren? It is pride, our very own human pride. From our pride, came stubbornness and all the other things that have prevented us from seeking God and His forgiveness. First of all, we think that whatever we do, God will forgive us without our need to make the effort to seek for repentance, and this is the sin of presumption according to the renowned St. Cyprian of Carthage.

And presumption came from our pride, in our thought that we cannot have done any mistake, that we cannot have been wrong, even in our despicable state of sin and wickedness. This is what all of us must resist and overcome, brothers and sisters in Christ, or otherwise, we will continue to fall and end up in eternal damnation of hell. Let us seek instead to follow the path of the prodigal son, who humbly sought the forgiveness of his father.

And as we all can see, the father forgave his prodigal and wayward son, just as God is ever ready to forgive us and to welcome us back. We must not be afraid to seek God the Father for His forgiveness, for there is a second great sin, according to St. Cyprian, and that is the sin of despair, which is ultimately also born out of our human pride. We think and assume that our sins are so great that God will not forgive us, but God will forgive us if only we make the effort to overcome our sins and repent from them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to realise that God is ever merciful and loving, especially to all of us who have sinned and fallen into sin. But God’s mercy will not have any effect on us, unless we consciously put in the effort to make that mercy useful and meaningful to us. God wants to forgive us, but do we want to be forgiven? And are we able to commit to the commitment to sin no more and lead a righteous life from now on?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, during this season of Lent, we need to spend some time to reflect on our own lives and our actions. We need to reevaluate our lives and actions, and we need to renew our lives in the same manner as the prodigal son. Are we able to overcome our pride, our stubbornness and all the obstacles that had prevented us from reaching out to God and His mercy?

Now, we also then need to take note of the action of the elder son, who became angry at the return of the younger, prodigal son. Jesus through that action was rebuking the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who have often hampered the return of sinners to God’s grace, because they thought that sinners were incapable of being forgiven by God, and because they thought that they alone deserved God’s love.

As Christians, and as those to whom God had given His grace, we cannot have this kind of attitude. First of all, we need to know that God loves everyone, all sinners alike, and we have to remember that all of us are sinners after all, in need of God’s mercy. We must always be vigilant lest we fall back into our sinful ways. And therefore, we should not think that we alone deserve God’s grace, but rather, we should help open the path to God’s mercy to those who are in need of our help.

Let us therefore guide one another, and help each other to remain faithful to God and true to His ways, by showing our faith through our words, actions and deeds, so that all of us may be saved together, and receive once again God’s love and grace. May all of us walk in the path of the prodigal son, and humbly seek forgiveness for our sins, and may all of us be able to commit to repent from our sins, and do good from now onwards. Amen.