Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 97 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.
With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White
Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 13-14
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.
One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.
I hope, I am sure, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust in the Lord, be strong and courageous. Yes, put your hope in the Lord!
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 67 : 4-5ac, 6-7ab, 10-11
But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy. Sing to God, open the way to Him who rides upon the clouds.
Father of orphans and protector of widows – such is our God in His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.
Then You gave a rain of blessings to comfort Your weary children. Your people found a dwelling and in Your mercy, o God, You provided for the needy.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Sirach 3 : 19-21, 30-31
The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favour with God. For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give Him glory. Do not seek what is beyond your powers nor search into what is beyond your ability.
As water extinguishes the burning flames, almsgiving obtains pardon for sins. The man who responds by doing good prepares for the future, at the moment of his downfall he will find support.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 96 : 1 and 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12
The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Justice and right are His throne.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.
You who love the Lord, hate evil, for He preserves the lives of His faithful, He delivers them from their foes.
He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are blameless, and give praise to His Holy Name.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Jeremiah 1 : 17-19
But you, get ready for action; stand up and say to them all that I command you. Be not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence!
See, I will make you a fortified city, a pillar of iron with walls of bronze, against all the nations, against the kings and princes of Judah, against the priests and the people of the land.
They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you – it is YHVH who speaks.
Liturgical Colour : White
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we have the continuation of the litany of woes attributed by Christ to the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law, whom Jesus referred as the crooks leading the people of God, not into salvation, but into eternal damnation in hell. They practised not what they had preached, and neither did they keep themselves holy for the Lord, and their prayers were empty litanies of praise for themselves instead of humble supplications for the mercy and forgiveness by the Lord for their sins.
They liked to show off their piety in public prayers, praying openly to God with hands lifted up high even in public places like market places. People would then praise them, honour them, follow them, and even emulate them, for their ‘exemplary’ actions and their ‘piety’. In this sense, they gained worldly glory and worldly power, from the people, and as a result, they left the Lord without glory, and without due honour. They had made themselves even greater than the Lord.
This was what the Lord criticised from them, and rebuked them with the woes given to them. They have also made the Lord as nothing more than a lawgiver or the fearsome God who must be obeyed or else the people would receive punishment for their failure to follow the Law. The Pharisee and the teachers of the Law thought themselves as holy, and looked down on those whom they considered as hopeless ones, the sinners, the prostitutes and the lowest ends of the society.
Yet, it was precisely these people whom the Pharisees had condemned for their sins that in fact had the great humility to reach out with contrite hearts, seeking the forgiveness of the Lord, as many of the sick, the bleeding widow, the prostitutes, had done, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had not done so. They kept their heads upheld high, and hardened their hearts against the Lord and against His people, the very sheep entrusted to them as shepherds to lead towards the Lord, as the chief shepherd.
The Lord who will judge everyone on the last day, will judge them and cast them out of His presence, as they had not ony failed in their given mission to lead the people of God with responsibility and upright ways, but they even brought the people closer to damnation instead of salvation. They had even mocked and opposed those whom the Lord had sent to them to wake them up and remind them of their true task and their true purpose, the purpose of their positions in the society.
Just as their ancestors had opposed, mocked, and slaughtered the prophets and messengers of God, so they had opposed, mocked, questioned, tested, and eventually condemned Christ, the very One sent to this world to redeem it. This was because both them and their ancestors had hardened their hearts and kept the love of God out of their hearts. They turned a deaf ear against the advice of the prophets and their pleading that they change their ways.
Just as their ancestors during their sojourn in the desert, they not only turned away from the Lord their God, but also openly opposed Him and put Him constantly to the test, in the same way as how the Pharisees had tested Jesus many times, desiring and longing for Him to make a mistake that they can capitalise on. Smart? Oh certainly, by human standards, yes indeed, the work of Satan made manifest!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that does not mean however, that wicked men and women has no hope absolutely in salvation in God. They indeed have much opportunity and chance to return to the Lord their God and return towards the path leading to salvation, providing that they really have a total change in their hearts, from one that was hardened against God, into those that are open for the wonders and warmth of His love. And today, as we commemorate the occasion, there is no better example than St. Augustine of Hippo, the great saint and Doctor of the Church.
St. Augustine of Hippo was truly a great man of the faith, whose works and dedications for the Church were invaluable. He was indeed once a great sinner, ever since he was young. Although he was raised as a Christian by his mother, whom we know as St. Monica, whom feast day we just celebrated yesterday, St. Augustine lapsed and left the Church to follow the heretical Manichaean syncretic religion that was widespread during that time at the late Roman Empire.
St. Augustine early in his life lived a life of pleasure and debauchery, and walked away, far away from the path of righteousness in God. He sought meaning in life, and yet he was not able to find it in all the pleasures of the world that he had experienced. His mother, St. Monica prayed hard for him, that he would return to God, and repent all of his wayward life. She never gave up on him, even though he did all things evil imaginable, seeking the pleasures of the world, and tried to find comfort in reason and rhetorics.
Eventually St. Augustine returned to God and made a full conversion back to the cause of Christ, not least because of the role his mother had played, and even more so, the very conviction by St. Augustine himself as he journeyed through his life, through tumult and times of confusion. In the end, he became a great defender of the faith, the bishop of Hippo, and through his writings, many people, even today, still benefit from his enlightenment on us on our faith, and on the tradition of the faith of the Apostles.
He is truly worthy of his title of the four greatest Doctors of the Church, and indeed a pillar of the Church and the faith. However, do note that he was once too a great sinner. Precisely, brethren, even sinners are not out of range for salvation. Indeed, great saints were often once great sinners too. In fact, as what Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the renowned Archbishop once had said, that the greater the sin one has in them, the closer one is to the throne of God, that is the throne of mercy. With greater sin and greater understanding of one’s sin does bring one to closer realisation of one’s mortality and weakeness, and can spur us into seeking God’s mercy, as St. Augustine had once done.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we who are sinners should follow the example of St. Augustine, who sought God after he had done great sins before God, and who was turned from the path of sin into the path of salvation in God. He felt empty when He lacked God in his heart, and went all the way to find the fulfillment, which eventually he found in God, who gave him true and complete satisfaction and providence. The same too should happen to us, and let us not be like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, whose mouth is full of pious words and prayers, and yet their hearts are empty, lacking God in them.
May St. Augustine of Hippo be our source of inspiration, as does his mother, St. Monica, that we who are in this world, great sinners before God, may acknowledge our unworthiness and our sins, and seek to ask forgiveness from our merciful and loving God, He who is the Divine Mercy, and He who cares and loves for all of His children. St. Augustine, pray for us, intercede for us before God, that just as once He had forgiven you and turned you into a great pillar of the faith, may the same also happen to us. God bless us all with His love. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 138 : 1-3, 4-6
O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is formed in my mouth, You know what it is all about, o Lord. From front to back You hedge me round, shielding me with Your protecting hand. Your knowledge leaves me astounded, it is too high for me to reach.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the warning and reminder from Jesus Christ our Lord, to be ever ready and ever alert on the coming of the kingdom of God, that is the time when God will finally make His move to end all the tyranny of sin and evil, and break the power of Satan for eternity, for a final time. That is the time when Christ comes as a conquering and victorious king, who will reward all who had followed Him faithfully and even suffer for His sake, and also punish those who had opposed Him and barred His way.
Following the Lord is not enough with just being with Him, and being idle. That was exactly what Jesus was referring to, when He mentioned the rebuke of the many, who cannot enter the kingdom of God, because they were unworthy, and because they were unprepared for the coming of the kingdom of God. They are caught asleep when the Lord comes again to claim His people for His own, and the Lord rebukes them and rejects them, denying them the reward He reserves only for those He deems to be worthy.
God is our Father and our Saviour, and He loves all of us very much, without condition. He truly cares for all of us, just like a father loves and cares for his own son, for his own children. He gives His love freely for everyone without exception, to the point that He even gave Himself in flesh and blood, His own Body, through the ultimate sacrifice Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, in His most loving Passion. He endured rejection, mockery, and suffering out of His love for us, that we will not die, die an eternal death in damnation, but may attain life eternal with Him for all ages.
Therefore, out of His great and unconditional love and compassion for us, He who gave us His life through His flesh and blood, wants us to be righteous, upright and worthy of Him. That is why, He corrects us, punishes us, and rebukes us when we make mistakes in our life, and when we go astray from the path to salvation, when the devil begin to take over our hearts. It is to ensure that we remain in Him and not fall into the temptations of Satan.
It may seem to many of us, that the devil seems to be very friendly to us, and yes, brethren, he will always present his smiling face to us, deceiving us into believing his lies and his alluring tactics. Remember, brethren, that the devil was once Lucifer, the greatest, brightest, and mightiest of all the angels of heaven. It is therefore easy for him to show his ‘bright’ and less sinister side to us, in order to deceive us into sin and disobedience against God, just as he had done with Adam and Eve, our ancestors.
We must always remember, that he is also Satan, the devil, the deceiver, the evil snake, and the great enemy of God and all that is good. We must be careful lest we be tempted and fall into his traps. The devil envies the Lord and all mankind, and he will certainly do his best, and use all the resources at his disposal, in order to make us fall. He had done that to our forefathers, and he will certainly do the same again to all of us.
God had given us His help and assistance to us, through His prophets, His messengers, and His own Son in the end. He gave us much assistance, and gave us His Law through Moses, first to His people Israel, and then to us. the core of that Law is the Ten Commandments, which was made clear by our Lord Jesus, as the commandments of love, the love for God and the love for our fellow men. The purpose of these laws? They are meant to be our guide, and our focus, that we will not be easily swayed by the sweet promises of the devil. Yes, brethren, sweet on the outside but bitter within indeed!
The devil placed many obstacles in our path towards the Lord, and that is why, following the Lord our God will not be easy, and it will not be like a walk in the park. Following our Lord will kean a constant, daily struggle, struggle against evil and all the temptations that threaten to divert us from salvation in God. Yes, as Jesus Himself had said, that following Him means to take up our own crosses and follow Him in carrying His cross to Calvary, yes, to our own Calvary.
To follow the Lord indeed means to die to ourselves, and to die to our sins. It is to die to our old lives with Christ’s own death. We die in this way through our own baptism, when we were welcomed and entered into the Church of God, as one family of the faithful ones. Through that ‘death’ we have also been risen up together with Christ, who had triumphed and conquered death, evil, and broke all the powers of Satan through His glorious Resurrection.
Once again, I will reiterate the great difficulty of following the Lord and to remain obedient to Him, His will, and His love, as the devil uses all the resources in his disposal to prevent us from being saved, to suffer and accompany him for eternity in damnation. He deceives and betrays all who believe in him, but he is sweet and smart in his ways, that we will see him as friend and someone good, but truly, nothing good can come of working with the devil. It is a choice we need to make, between the seemingly tough and challenging path of the Lord, but one that leads to eternal life, or the other path that seems to be easy and enjoyable, but is a path to damnation.
Today, brethren, we celebrate Lay Apostolate Sunday, and the purpose of this celebration is indeed to remain us, indeed all of us who belong to the laity, and also the priests alike, must all be apostles to one another, and ultimately be the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, just as the Apostles of the Lord, who gave their all for the sake of God, and spread the Word of God to the four corners of the world, and even gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel, we too should follow in their footsteps.
Christ had repeatedly warned them and therefore, all of us, that the path that He leads is not easy, and challenges are sure to be plentiful. The world itself will hate us, but we cannot fight back hatred with hate, brothers and sisters. We must reach out to them, reach out with our own love, the love God had given to all of us. That is the meaning of Lay Apostolate, that even all of us who do not belong to the priesthood, that is the laity, all of us, have an important part to play in our Church, in our faith. How? Precisely by making sure that we obey God and His commandments, that is love. Yes, love!
The gate to heaven is narrow, brethren, and that is why it is a narrow way. But with love, and with God’s love behind us, nothing is impossible. Yes, what is impossible for man is possible for God. For from men’s perspective, we had been far too dirty and unworthy of the perfection of heaven to have even the slightest hope of redemption, and yet, through Christ, the manifestation of Divine light, we have been promised salvation, as long as we remain faithful to Him and keep true to His path.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today resolve, and indeed, vow to do our best, for the Church of God, for our brethren in need. Show them our great love, care, and compassion. Extend our hands towards them, and accept them into our embrace. The door is narrow, but to all of us who love, and who obey the Word of God, it is not narrow, brethren, but it is wide open for us! And do not forget to pray and support our priests, because just as we have much tasks to do ahead of us, to secure our salvation and the salvation of others in Christ through our actions and deeds, our priests have even greater responsibility. Continue to pray for them, support them in any way we can, while we continue to play our own part and contribute to the work of salvation, the good works of our Lord, made evident in this world, through us, His children and His apostles. God be with us, and bless us all always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the very heart of our faith as how it was explained by Jesus Himself. The Law and commandments of the Lord, the entirety of the divine laws itself had been summed up as love. Yes, love for both God and for our fellow men. All the laws and the rules God had given to His people through Moses and the prophets, are really about showing our love to both He who created us and our fellow brethren, the same children of God.
The entirety of the laws and regulations God had given His people was indeed to guide them that they know what to do in their lives, and will not fall easily into the traps of Satan. Indeed, ever since mankind rebelled against God during the days of Adam and Eve, our ancestors, mankind had ever been under the thrall of the evil one. God who liberated His people from the tyranny of the Pharaohs and the Egyptians therefore also want to free His people from the true slavemasters, that is Satan.
However, liberating His people would not have been easy, as we have been corrupted by sin, and evil had darkened our hearts. We have therefore been rendered unworthy of our Lord and Creator, who is good and perfect. We had shunned the love of God for the temptations of Satan. That was evident even after God had shown His power and brought His people out of the land of Egypt into the Promised Land He promised them and eventually gave them.
Those laws are meant to remind and keep the people in the ways of the Lord, that they will truly grow to be worthy of God, and be worthy of being God’s children and chosen ones. Sadly, by the time of Jesus, the laws had been taken out of its original purpose and context, ending up in the law being observed for the sake of being observed, that is the Law had become an obligation rather than something that truly lives in the hearts of mankind.
The Law of God had instead become a set of rituals that people followed, but the Lord is not in their hearts, because what they are observing is the law of men instead of the law of love, the true Law. That was what Jesus was trying to rectify by teaching the truth about God and His Law. He showed us that the Law is actually not about following rituals or a set of rules, and if we disobey them, we will be punished. The Law was truly God’s love for us, showing all of us, how to love Him and become His loving children.
Jesus reminded His disciples, the people of God, and ultimately all of us today, that the Law must truly live within each one of our hearts. Yes, the Law of love, our love for God, and our love for our fellow men, for everyone without exception. That was the main points that Jesus wanted to stress to each one of us, to keep God’s commandments, not just within us, but also in our actions, our words, and our deeds.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Rose of Lima, also known as St. Rosa of Lima. She is the very first saint from the Americas, the New World. St. Rose of Lima was born in Lima, Peru, in the then Spanish America. She was truly a devout and dedicated servant of God, who was greatly inspired by her faith to do more in the service of God and her fellow brethren. She vowed to remain pure and holy all her life, by pledging a virgin life before God, and despite her parents’ objection, she continued to do her best to pursue her passion in life, that is God.
She prayed fervently and worked with love, sharing her love with everyone she met and everyone she worked with. St. Rose also even wore a silver crown with thorns to remind her of the suffering of Christ wearing the crown of thorns during His Passion, that she would be ever mindful of the suffering and love Christ had shown to her and all of us in order to save us. In St. Rose of Lima, we can indeed see the extent of the love and dedication she had for God and also for her fellow men. This is what the Lord wants from us, and this is the only way that we cam truly follow God’s commandments, not by obeying rules or observing rituals, but by loving one another and loving God, just as St. Rose of Lima had shown us through her own life examples.
We have to devote ourselves to the Lord unconditionally as St. Rose had done, and as Ruth, the holy woman and ancestor of David had done, as we read in the First Reading today. We have to truly give ourselves fully to God, the gift of our hearts, our soul, and all of our beings, that we truly reflect God in all the things that we do, that we truly obey His will and His commandments, and therefore, be made worthy of Him once again, and deserve the eternal reward of life and glory in heaven, which Christ had prepared for us. May the Lord bless us, and through the example and intercession of St. Rose of Lima, may we all be inspired to love God better, serve God better, and commit ourselves more to Him, and do the same to our fellow brothers and sisters. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 