Purple

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Friday, 21 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that we are all called to focus our attention and our whole lives upon the Lord our God, Who should be the sole focus and reason of our existence. We should not easily allow ourselves to be swayed by the many temptations, coercions, pressures and desires present all around us that we lose our focus and sight on what is truly important, and forgetting that as Christians, we are God’s holy and beloved people, and we should always strive to be worthy of Him at all times, in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions and commitments in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Second Book of Kings of Israel and Judah in which the story of the usurpation done by Queen Athaliah of Judah was told to us, at the time when the Queen Mother Athaliah attempted and successfully managed to seize power in the kingdom for herself after her son, King Ahaziah of Judah was killed by Jehu, the new King of Israel appointed by God. King Ahaziah perished partly because of his sins, in his failures to bring the people of God to obey God’s Law and commandments, but his mother Athaliah committed an even greater sin and wickedness before God and man alike, as we ourselves had heard in our first reading passage today, in how she attempted to eradicate the entirety of the descendants of her son, and the extended family in order to secure power for herself.

Through all of that, Athaliah had committed a truly grave sin before God, for the murders that she had carried out not just one but so many innocent people, not sparing even women and children on this. Why did Athaliah do so? While the full reason and details were not highlighted in the records in the Scriptures but based on other comparable events and similar actions by other figures throughout history pointed to greed and desire for worldly power, glory, fame, ambition for more personal gains among other things. It was likely that Athaliah had one of these as her motive to carry out such heinous acts and wickedness. But through what we heard in these series of events today, we are all reminded that God would always be with His beloved and faithful ones, and while challenges might come upon them, but they would be triumphant in the end.

That was how we heard of the survival of Joash, one of the descendants of the late king and helped him to survive the massacre when all the other relatives and members of the royal family were purged and massacred. Joash was protected by God, saved and helped to be prepared as future king under the guidance of the priest Jehoiada, whom we heard then eventually orchestrating the return of the House of David to power. Through the support of the people and others who disliked Queen Athaliah’s authoritarian rule, that was how Queen Athaliah met her ignominious end, overthrown and punished to death for all the wicked deeds which she had done all those years ago. King Joash of Judah ascended to the throne and restored the rule of the House of David just as God intended it.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord told and warned His disciples not to seek and gather for themselves the treasures of this world, but rather to gather the heavenly and true treasures which they should instead be aiming for. The Lord reminded all of His disciples because some if not many among them might have the wrong idea and aim in following Him, thinking that by walking in His path and gathering around Him, they could gain worldly glory, fame and power, greatness and pleasures of the world. The Lord told them that all the glory, pleasures and ambitions of this world, all of the allures of greatness and wealth cannot truly satisfy us, and they will not last forever, as they will eventually be destroyed and we will not bring them to the life that is to come for us.

It is why each and every one of us should seek to reevaluate our lives and reconsider how we have focused our lives thus far. If we have not been truly faithful to the Lord, and if we have allowed the allures of worldly glory, of pleasures of the flesh and other ambitions to tempt and mislead us, then perhaps it is time for us to abandon all those wicked and evil pursuits, and instead renewing our commitment to live our lives once again worthily of the Lord, by embracing God’s Law and commandments wholeheartedly, and by doing whatever we can so that we may come ever closer to God, and to avoid all those things which had misled and tempted so many of our predecessors, like that of Queen Athaliah, that they all ended up falling into sin and destruction. This is what we must not end up doing, and we must always strive to be ever more faithful to God.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a great servant of God whose life and faith, while may be relatively short compared to many of us, but he has shown us and many of our predecessors what it means for us all to live for the Lord and to be truly faithful to Him. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born into an illustrious cadet branch of the powerful and famous House of Gonzaga in the area of what is now northern part of Italy, and as the eldest son of the family, he would have been guaranteed to gain the great inheritance of his family’s assets, fortune and titles, which were indeed quite substantial. But God had a different plan for St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who was called by God since his rather young age, being touched and inspired to follow the path of the Lord rather than all the wickedness and decadence he had witnessed while he was growing up.

He was increasingly called to be a missionary and to embrace God’s calling, living a righteous and virtuous life amidst the commonly practiced way of life among those of his background and class at the time. St. Aloysius Gonzaga spent his time teaching catechism and guiding the younger boys in the faith. He met lots of opposition especially from his father regarding his decision to join a religious congregation, particularly that of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. Despite the many pleas, persuasions, coercions and pressures, none of these could dissuade the young St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and even the tempting promise of secular priesthood and even episcopate, to be a bishop with all of its worldly riches and glory, those things could not change the mind of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

And thus, St. Aloysius Gonzaga chose to abandon and sign-off his inheritance and all worldly glory, and became a member of the Jesuits. During his formation years as a Jesuit, St. Aloysius Gonzaga continued to life a virtuous and holy life, and was committed to care for the sick and the poor, which eventually led to his early death at the young age of twenty-two. At that time, there was a plague raging in Rome, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga got sick from the plague while he was ministering to the sick. And even so, he still pushed himself and forced himself to continue to care for the sick despite his own condition. Eventually his condition worsened, he was administered the Last Rites and passed away. His courageous actions and love for others have truly shown all of us what it truly means for us to be Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best so that our lives may truly be holy and worthy of God, focusing on Him and not on the many temptations of worldly pleasures and all the other things which may tempt and distract us away from the path towards salvation and eternal life in God. Many of our predecessors had fallen into this path, as the earlier example of Queen Athaliah of Judah had shown us. God has given us all the means and the help to lead us towards righteousness in Him, and we should therefore follow the examples of our holy predecessors, like that of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, so that we may truly be good role models and inspirations for one another in our Christian faith and life. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless our every efforts and endeavours in life, and grant us His grace, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 21 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 6 : 19-23

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Do not store up treasures for yourself here, on earth, where moth and rust destroy it; and where thieves can steal it. Store up treasures for yourself with God, where no moth or rust can destroy it, nor thief come and steal it.

For where your treasures are, there, also, will your heart be. The lamp of the body is the eye; if your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light. If your eyes are diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

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Friday, 21 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 131 : 11, 12, 13-14, 17-18

YHVH swore to David a promise, and He will remain true to it : “I will keep your descendants on your throne.”

“If your sons keep My Covenant and the decrees I have taught them; their sons, too, will sit forever upon your throne.”

For YHVH has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling : “This is My resting place forever; this I prefer; here, will I dwell.”

From here, a Saviour shall come forth, a Son of David; here, shall shine forever, the lamp of My Anointed. In shame will I clothe His enemies, but upon His head a crown shall shine.

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Friday, 21 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Kings 11 : 1-4, 9-18, 20

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son had died, she was determined to wipe out all the descendants of the king. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, her nephew, and brought him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and put him with his wet nurse in the bedroom.

Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that the boy was saved. And Joash remained hidden in the house of YHVH for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. In the seventh year, Jehoiada the chief priest, summoned the officers of the royal guard and of the Carites to the house of YHVH. After concluding a pact with them under oath, he showed them the king’s son.

The commanders of the guards did what Jehoiada the priest had told them to do; and they showed up with all their men, those who were to go off duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were to come on duty on that day. Jehoiada entrusted to the officers the spears and shields of king David which were in the house of YHVH. And then the guards stood from the southern corner of the house to the north, surrounding the altar and the house of YHVH.

Then Jehoiada, the priest, brought out the king’s son, crowned him and put the bracelets on him, then proclaimed and consecrated him king. All clapped their hands, shouting and crying out, “Long live the king!” When Athaliah heard the noise of the people, she approached the crowd surrounding the house of YHVH.

The king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters were with him. The people were filled with joy and they were blowing trumpets. On seeing this, Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason, treason!”

Jehoiada the priest commanded the officers, “Surround her and bring her out to the courtyard, and kill anyone who tries to defend her.” He gave this order, because he thought, “She should not die in the house of YHVH.” They brought her out, and when they reached the palace of the king, by the horses’ entrance, there, they killed her.

Jehoiada made a Covenant between YHVH and the king and the people so they would be the people of YHVH. All the citizens went to the temple of Baal and destroyed it. They broke the altars and the images into pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before his altar. Then Jehoiada, the priest, posted guards over the house of YHVH.

All the citizens were happy and the city was at peace. Now regarding Athaliah, she had died by the sword in the king’s palace.

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Thursday, 20 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord speaks to us all through the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for each and every one of us to stay connected with God, Our Lord and Master. Each and every one of us as God’s beloved people must always be connected and attuned with the will of our loving God and Father. It is by being always attuned and connected with the Lord that we may gain the right path in life, and that we will know what we need so that our lives may always honour and proclaim the glory of God. As Christians, we must always be in harmony with the Lord just as our holy predecessors had done, as what the holy prophets and messengers of God had done, as the holy saints, holy men and women of God had lived their lives in a worthy and good way before us.

In our first reading today, we heard the words of the prophet Sirach, who wrote extensively in today’s passage about the great deeds and wonders of the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. Both of these prophets had done great and wonderful deeds amongst the people of God, as they carried out many miracles and signs among the people, calling and reminding all of them to remain true and faithful to the Lord, their God and Master. We heard how Elijah and Elisha both humbled kings and rulers through their deeds, speaking the Word of the Lord, proclaiming His truth to all, bringing down fire from Heaven itself and raising the dead back into life. All these things were proofs that the Lord Himself was with them, and that they were all in God’s favour, fully attuned with God and His will.

They could not have done all those things and great deeds, signs and wonders without God’s blessings, grace and power. Through God, they were strengthened and empowered, so that despite the challenges and trials that they often had to face alone against the many oppositions and persecutions they encountered, and against all the stubbornness and wickedness of the people that they had been sent to, who had always been hard-hearted, stubborn and wicked, refusing to listen to the words of the Lord and resisting His efforts to reach out to them and to be reconciled with them. But the Lord never gave up on all of them, and He sent His prophets to them to help them in their path and journey towards Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Himself teaching His disciples and followers on how they all ought to pray to their Lord and God, to their Heavenly Father, Whom as I mentioned, has always loved each and every one of us like His own beloved children, as we are all truly indeed His children, the ones whom He had loved from the very beginning, blessed and intended to share all the glorious inheritance and graces which He has prepared for all of us. We are reminded through this prayer which we often say and recite, and yet, may forget the true importance and significance, highlighting and renewing for us the relationship which we have with Our Lord and Father, Who has always been with us all these while.

The Lord told His disciples that prayer is not all about making loud prayers and words, all the litanies and recitations, but rather one that is made from the heart, with genuine desire and pure intention to speak, communicate and spend quality and precious time with the Lord, our loving Father and Creator. However, many people did not know how to pray properly, and instead of praying in the right way, we end up spending lots of time uttering words of prayers but without meaning them, either because we think that saying more words mean that God will be more likely to listen to us and to do what we want, and we often also want to impose our will on God, demanding that He has to do something to fulfil what we asked of Him.

But this is where we are wrong, brothers and sisters in Christ. First of all, we must remember that we are the creatures and followers of the Lord, and in no way God has to follow our whims and desires. On the contrary, everything in this world happens by God’s will, and there are many things that are beyond our control and is known to God alone. Our prayers should not be all about us asking or worse still, demanding that God must do something for us or on our behalf. God truly has already known what is in our hearts and minds, as He is indeed Almighty, omnipotent and omniscient, and He knows everything in all of our hearts and minds, without exception, even the darkest and deepest secrets that we have, and even things which we may not be aware of.

Then why do we then still ask of these of the Lord in our prayers? If God has known everything that we want, desire or need, then surely there is no need for us to communicate it to Him? Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is exactly where we must understand that God wants us to communicate with Him and to develop a strong, vibrant and lasting relationship with Him, a relationship that is truly healthy and developing, through our commitment of time and effort, by communicating with Him from our hearts and through our words. Through all of these, our prayers and actions, we make our faith and relationship with God tangible and real, and they serve to remind us all that we are truly God’s beloved children, His holy and righteous people.

That is why the Lord Jesus taught His disciples and therefore all of us how we ought to pray, so that through our prayers, correctly and worthily done, we may grow ever stronger in our faith and relationship with God. Our prayers should always be filled with thanksgiving and glorification of God, just as how the Pater Noster, Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer has begun, to thank God for each and every moments of our lives, which are truly filled with His blessings and graces. We thank Him for His constant presence in our lives and for His perseverance and commitment in loving us. We also then ask Him to continue to provide us all in whatever we need and to forgive us all our sins, faults and trespasses to one another, ever remembering how merciful and loving He has been towards us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore develop a good, healthy and vibrant prayer life from now on. Let us all continue to live faithfully and harmoniously with the Lord, attuning ourselves ever more closely to the Lord and adhering ever more faithfully to His teachings, His Law and commandments. May He continue to bless us all in our every efforts and deeds, and may He empower us all to be ever more courageous and faithful in all things, and at all times. May the Lord be with us all, His beloved children and people, His holy Church, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will, be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.”

“Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”

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Thursday, 20 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

Fire goes before Him, burning His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth watches and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

Shame on worshippers of idols, on those proud of their worthless images. Let all spirits bow before Him.

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Thursday, 20 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sirach 48 : 1-15 (Greek Septuagint – Sirach 48 : 1-14)

Then came the prophet Elijah, like a fire, his words a burning torch. He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number. Speaking in the Name of the Lord he closed down the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.

How marvellous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal? By the word of the Most High you brought a dead man back to life; you brought kings to destruction and thrust famous men from their beds. You heard a rebuke at Sinai and sentences of punishment at Horeb; you anointed kings to be avengers and prophets to succeed you.

You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. It was written that you should be the one to calm God’s anger in the future, before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live. Such was Elijah, taken up in a whirlwind, and Elisha was filled with his spirit. During his life no leader could shake him, no one dominated him. Nothing was too difficult for him and even in death his body prophesied. In life he worked wonders, in death his deeds were amazing.

Despite all this, the people were not converted and did not turn away from sin; not until they were deported far from their country and scattered over the earth.

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Wednesday, 19 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard from the Sacred Scriptures of the need for each and every one of us to listen to the Lord and embrace God’s calling in our lives. Each and every one of us have been given the mission and the various responsibilities depending on what the Lord had led us through, the paths He has shown us into, and everything that He has presented to us. The Lord has called us all to go forth to the people of all the nations, to proclaim His truth and love, His Good News and salvation, to bring more and more people ever closer to Him and to embrace all of us once again, delivering us from the destruction and darkness due to our sins.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Second Book of Kings of Israel and Judah, of the moment when the prophet Elijah, who had spent a long time in arduous works among the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, was taken up into Heaven on a great flaming chariot, and then Elisha began his own ministry as the successor of Elijah among the Israelites. We heard how Elijah and Elisha obeyed God’s call and commands, and how God worked His miracles and signs through those two great prophets, if we were to read the rest of the story of their works in the Book of Kings and elsewhere. God had called them to do His will, and they dedicated themselves wholeheartedly and completely to His cause.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples from the Gospel of St. Matthew regarding how they should not make a show of their faith and piety, to seek fame and glory for the good and faithful things they carried out, or else, they might be tempted by the temptations of pride and ego, of desires, greed and ambition, all of which might mislead them into the path of evil and sin. This is why each and every one of us are reminded today to keep away from these temptations and to remind ourselves that everything that we say and do, we should always centre and focus them upon the Lord, lest we may be swayed and tempted to think that everything are due to our own greatness and power.

As Christians, it is imperative that our lives are always centred and focused on the Lord, and that in everything that we say and do, we will always obey God’s will, His Law and commandments. The prophets like Elijah and Elisha, and the disciples of the Lord all have given us great examples of how they all did everything for the greater glory of God, and truly have great and genuine faith in the Lord, and not merely making appearances or show of faith. All of us therefore should do the same as well in our own lives. We should always remind ourselves that we exist for the Lord, and everything we carry out in life should always be pleasing to Him, and in accordance with His will.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Philip Minh and his companions in holy martyrdom, recalling all their great deeds and works, and all their faith and perseverance amidst the many trials and challenges that they would have to endure in the midst of their respective lives and ministries, living at a time when being a Christian can truly be dangerous and life-threatening. They were all living, ministering and working in the region of Vietnam during the past two and three centuries when the then government was hostile to the Christian faith and teachings, and saw the efforts and works of Christian missionaries with great suspicion and hostility.

St. Philip Minh himself was born in Vietnam and went on to be formed as a seminarian at the College General in Penang for a number of years before being ordained as a Catholic priest and returning to Vietnam to proclaim the Good News and salvation in God to his fellow countrymen. Together with other, mostly French missionaries from the same congregation he belonged to, the Paris Foreign Missions Society or the M.E.P., their works and ministry managed to spread the Christian faith and truth to more and more people, but this was met with great hostility and opposition, oppressions and persecutions from the government that viewed the missionaries and the Christian faith as dangerous foreign influences.

Thus, St. Philip Minh and the other missionaries faced a lot of hardships throughout their ministry, facing challenges one after another, obstacles and eventually arrest and tortures, which the authorities placed upon the local Christians to force them to recant their faith, and to punish the foreign missionaries and the local priests alike for having preached the Gospels and the Christian teachings in Vietnam. But none of these could dissuade or discourage the faithful and courageous missionaries and servants of God, who continued to labour hard for the sake of the Lord, and remained faithful to the very end. St. Philip Minh himself was beheaded for his faith in the Lord, along with his many companions in martyrdom, throughout the difficult decades and centuries when Christianity was harshly persecuted, but their examples and faith continued to inspire many throughout history.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the examples and inspirations from the great life and works of our holy predecessors, the prophets Elijah and Elisha, as well as the great and holy martyrs, St. Philip Minh and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam, let us all therefore as the holy and beloved children of God, as His disciples and followers, continue to strive and do our best in our respective lives to do what we can to glorify the Lord by our lives, and to put Him first and foremost in all things, and to carry out His will and commands in our world today, in whatever that He has called us to do, and whatever He has entrusted to us. May the Lord continue to bless us in everything we say and do, and be with us all His Church, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 19 June 2024 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 6 : 1-6, 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is with you in secret; and your Father Who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this : they have already been paid in full.”

“When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father Who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”