Queen of Sweden

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Saturday, 23 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words from the Holy Scriptures regarding the way of those who were full of empty words and gestures, who have no love for the Lord in their hearts. These people spoke loudly and proclaimed loudly that they belonged to God but in reality, they did not love Him but themselves. They did not do what the Lord wanted of them, and instead incited scandal for His holy Name because of their actions.

In the Gospel today, we heard Jesus our Lord Who told His disciples a parable, about how the enemy sowed weeds among a field of wheat such that weeds grew alongside the wheat and became entangled with them. If they were to remove the weeds at that moment, then the wheat would also be removed with them and they would die. Instead, the master asked his workers to remove them only after all of them had grown fully that they might be separated without killing the wheat.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that our God is very patient indeed, and He is always trying to help us and give us new opportunities and chances. But this does not mean that we should go and try out His patience, or wait until the time has run out for us. God is the master of the harvest, while the harvest is all of us living in the field, that is the world.

Then what are the weeds? The weeds are wickedness and vile things which we commit in this life, things that are not wanted by God, just as farmers do not want weeds to destroy their crops. The wheat are good and pious deeds, all the things which are done in accordance to the Law and to the will of God. Just as they are intertwined, thus all of us have good and bad deeds in us. Goodness and justice came from God, while our vile and wicked deeds came from Satan.

Now, if we have God in us, living deep in our hearts, whatever we do and all of our actions will be noticeably influenced by the presence of God in us. If our heart is evil, wicked and rotten, then there will be wickedness and evil in our actions, deeds and words as well. It is important that we keep ourselves pure and blameless, in our hearts by rejecting the lures of sin and by deepening our relationship with God.

Indeed, temptations will be abound, and there will be many challenges as we proceed on with this life, as we will be pulled in many directions and tempted to abandon this path which we have embarked on and get onto an easier and slacker path. We abandon our journey towards the Lord for the simple reprieve and to safeguard our own desires and purposes.

This is just as how in another parable, the parable of the sower, Jesus mentioned that only the seeds that fell on the rich soil were able to grow bountifully and successfully, while the other seeds were eaten up by the birds of the air, or scorched by the sun, or choked by the growing thistles and bushes around them. In this, we see how the ‘weeds’ that is those evils and wickedness in our heart can affect us adversely if we do not do anything about them. The concerns, worries that we have, as well as the tempting alternatives presented by the world have made us to be tainted and corrupted, unworthy of the Lord.

Now let us all ask ourselves sincerely in the heart. Do we want to be weeds or do we rather be considered as wheat? At the end of time, will we be considered as weeds or rather as wheat? When the Angels come to bring us to the judgment of the Lord, will He cast us out of His presence because of our disobedience and wickedness, or will He welcome us all due to our righteousness and faith?

The choice is ours alone, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is up to us to choose how we would live our lives, and how we would act in this life. Do we do things that are in accordance of the way taught to us by the Lord? Or do we rather do things for our own desires and convenience? This is an important matter for us to take note of and to reflect, lest we be dragged in deeper and deeper into damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all see the examples of St. Bridget of Sweden, the saint whose feast we celebrate today. St. Bridget of Sweden was a renowned holy woman who devoted herself to God and to the service of the people around her, and she helped the establishment of several religious orders which foundation were accredited to her.

St. Bridget of Sweden served the poor and the weak in her society, and she engaged in many acts of charity and love for her fellow brethren, while teaching them all about the Lord their God. She would gone on to Rome in a pilgrimage, desiring to help even more people, and as she stayed in Rome afterwards, she was a prominent figure in the reform of the Church and in the strengthening of the faith and spirituality of the Church.

St. Bridget received many visions of the Lord throughout her life, and as her devotion to Him was strengthened because of what she had seen, she came to receive even more visions through which Jesus our Lord revealed to her the love which He had for His people, even though in their sinfulness and wicked life, they have rejected Him and spurned His love.

Through St. Bridget and the many other holy saints, holy men and women who have walked among us throughout the ages, God wants to call us and welcome us back into His embrace, and yet many of us openly and actively refused His call. But all these require hard work and perseverance. We have to be strong and we have to resist that pull of sin and that pull of evil and wickedness which are trying to steer us away from the salvation in God.

Let us all work together, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us all work together to help each other in finding our way to the Lord. Let us devote ourselves anew to Him and hesitate no longer in walking in His path, even though the odds may be stacked up against us, and even though challenges are abundant on our path, we should not give up, for giving up means that we may fall into eternal damnation and suffering.

May God be our guide, and may He help us in our journey towards Him. May we all endeavour to purify ourselves from all the taints of sin, that we may be freed from the entanglement of the weeds of evil and sin, and therefore be brought worthy to the holy presence of our Lord and God. May the Lord bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 23 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 13 : 24-30

At that time, Jesus told His disciples another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seeds in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”

“When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared. Then the servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field! Where did the weeds come from?'”

“He answered them, ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them, ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers : Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, then gather the wheat into my barn.'”

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Saturday, 23 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Psalm)

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

Psalm 83 : 3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11

My soul years, pines, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, at Your altars, o Lord of hosts, my King and my God!

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy the pilgrims whom You strengthen, they go from strength to strength.

One day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be left at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

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Saturday, 23 July 2016 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (First Reading)

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

Jeremiah 7 : 1-11

These words were spoken by YHVH, to Jeremiah, “Stand at the gate of YHVH’s house and proclaim this in a loud voice : Listen to what YHVH says, all you people of Judah (who enter these gates to worship YHVH). YHVH the God of Israel says this : Amend your ways and your deeds and I will stay with you in this place. Rely not on empty words such as : ‘Look, the Temple of YHVH! The Temple of YHVH! This is the Temple of YHVH!'”

“It is far better for you to amend your ways and act justly with all. Do not abuse the stranger, orphan or widow or shed innocent blood in this place or follow false gods to your own ruin. Then I will stay with you in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors in times past and forever.”

“But you trust in deceptive and useless words. You steal, kill, take the wife of your neighbour; you swear falsely, worship Baal and follow foreign gods who are not yours. Then, after doing all these horrible things, you come and stand before Me in this Temple that bears My Name and say, ‘Now we are safe.'”

“Is this house on which rests My Name a den of thieves? I have seen this Myself – it is YHVH Who speaks.”

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how Jesus spoke to the people in parables, using stories and examples that link to the meaning which He wanted to convey to the people. And in the Gospel He explained how He told these parables because of the stubbornness of the people and their refusal to believe, even though they have seen the many great works of the Lord.

And this is linked to what we heard in the first reading today from the Book of Exodus, which told us about the moment after Israel had been brought out of Egypt into the presence of God at His holy mountain, Mount Horeb, where they would encounter the Lord, and renewed the covenant which God had established with their ancestors.

And we know how the people of Israel rebelled against God during that occasion. Moses went up the mountain to speak with God and to receive His commandments and laws, and the people below having seen Moses gone for many days to the mountain, obscured by the clouds of the glory of God, lost faith in the Lord and in Moses, and they forced Aaron his brother to make for them a god of gold, the golden calf.

In direct defiance and disobedience against God, even after they have seen the glorious works and power of God who freed them from slavery in Egypt, the people sinned by abandoning their God and sought for themselves a pagan idol that had done nothing for them. This was a great insult to the Lord, who punished all those who have rebelled against Him and did not repent from their mistakes.

Throughout the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, we see repeatedly how the people of God continued in their sinful ways many, many times, and despite having been shown the works and the blessings of God numerous times, their hearts and minds were often unfazed. God did not cease to call on His people to follow Him, but there were indeed too many times when they did not obey Him and refused to listen to His call.

Thus, for their indignant behaviour and stubbornness, God also refused to reveal the fullness of His truth, and held it back for those who are truly willing to listen to Him and walk in His ways. He only showed the fullness of His truth to those who were willing to commit themselves fully to Him, such as the Apostles, the saints and martyrs of the faith, many of whom had their faith tested in tribulation by sword and fire, by persecution and oppression, and by the pain of death.

We should consider ourselves fortunate, for we have received the revelation of God’s truth through the Church and we received therefore the teachings of our Lord passed down through the Apostles and the disciples. Yet, by our own nature, we can still be wayward, and we can still close ourselves from the love of God and acting in the same way as that of our predecessors.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day let us all reflect on our own actions. Have all of us been truly faithful to our Lord, and have we listened to Him and obeyed His will? Or have we rather followed the pagan idols and gods of wealth, money, possessions and worldly goods? Today let us look at the examples shown by St. Bridget of Sweden, whose feast we celebrate on this day.

St. Bridget of Sweden was born during the Middle Ages, and she was married into a noble Swedish family, and gained a high prestige life during her time as a member of the noble family, whose descendants were counted among the queens and prominent saints of that country. But all these did not get her to be proud and haughty, and instead these made her even more committed to help others around her using what she had to assist those who were poor and suffering.

She joined religious life after her husband was deceased, and she ventured to help many of the poor and less fortunate in the society around her. And she travelled in well-known pilgrimages to sites such as Jerusalem and Rome to garner support for her efforts to help the plight of the poor. She was renowned for her great piety and dedication to the Lord and to her fellow men, even though she was born into privilege and had once lived a life in power.

The examples and the charitable works of St. Bridget of Sweden should inspire us all to live like she had done, resisting the temptations of the flesh and this world, and instead seek to devote ourselves in faith to the Lord our God. The choice is ours alone, whether we would be like the people of God of old, who have seen what great things the Lord had done, and refused to believe, or for us to accept Him as our Lord and God.

God will bless all those who have kept their faith in Him, and He will graciously grant the needs of those who placed their trust in Him. Thus, let us all pray so that He may strengthen in us the faith which we ought to have for Him. Let us all devote ourselves ever more to our Lord and God who had given so much for our sake.

May Almighty God, through the intercession of St. Bridget of Sweden, help us on this path of life, that we may find Him and be blessed by His grace forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 13 : 10-17

At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has, will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has.”

“That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand. In the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled : However much you hear, you do not understand; however much you see, you do not perceive.”

“For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”

“For I tell you that many prophets and upright people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.”

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Daniel 3 : 52a, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Exodus 19 : 1-2, 9-11, 16-20b

Exactly two months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. They arrived there coming from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

YHVH spoke to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud so that the people may hear Me speaking with you and trust you always.” Then Moses related to YHVH what the people had said. Again YHVH spoke to Moses, “Go to the people and have them sanctified today and tomorrow; let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day YHVH will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses then made the people leave the camp to meet God and stand at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because YHVH had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently, while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder. When YHVH had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit.

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Wednesday, 23 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded again of the need for us to grow in our faith, and learn to trust God in all the things He had planned and willed for each one of us in our respective lives. The Gospel today told us about the parable of the sower and the how various fates of the seeds were told, telling us in fact what happens to the faith within us if we respond or do not respond to it in a proper way.

Then in the first reading today we heard about the calling of the prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord had chosen to be His prophet and His messenger to the errant and disobedient people of God. The tasks facing Jeremiah were truly massive and difficult, and it was a great undertaking and responsibility which God had entrusted him to do. Jeremiah was right to be hesitant and to be uncertain about himself, as most men will do, but God showed how He will take care of him and guide him along the way.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, should expect the same kind of things to happen to us in our own lives. We should not be so concerned about our lives, and about what will happen to us on daily basis, to the point that we forget the various wonderful things that we may be able to do with all of our abilities and time that we have on our hands.

Each of us had been entrusted with the gift of faith, hope and love by God. All of us who are His children have been given these great gifts within us. Yes, these are the seeds, the very same seeds that Jesus had figuratively mentioned in His parable of the seeds and the sower. What happens to these gifts, and whether they languish in misuse and abandonment, or whether they grow mightily and wonderfully to become inspiration for all to see, is truly depending on our own actions in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we make good use of our faith in us, it will only grow. Then, if we share the hope in us and use it to bring hope to others, and if we love one another, and show others how to love, we all may only grow in standing before our Lord and God. This is exactly what happened when the seeds fell on the rich and fertile soil, where the seeds grow mighty and produce a great bounty beyond all expectations.

Yes, if we are truly faithful and practice that faith in our lives, then we shall reap rich rewards at the end of our lives. However, that is not an easy feat to do. There are numerous challenges that we will face in our lives. There are difficulties that are laid on our paths, if we choose the path of the Lord. But as we all know, and especially as all farmers and sowers should be familiar with, there is no easy way out or shortcut to get a bountiful harvest. Hard work and effort is required.

We have to make the effort to put out the weeds and all those that threaten to kill the progress and growth of the seed and the plant. Those weeds are the temptations of the flesh, and the pleasures of this world which seek to corrupt is and turn us away from the true and correct path in life. We have to destroy and cast away all these weeds from our lives, that they may not choke us with worries and selfishness.

Then we also have to grow deep roots, that we may avoid being crushed by the challenges and problems of this world. The deep roots of our faith will be necessary for us to draw strength from God, that our faith may not stumble and fall against the forces of darkness and evil arrayed against us. If our roots are not deep, that we will be easily swayed by Satan and his sweet lies.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden, also known as St. Brigitta, who was a Swedish lady who was a mother and dedicated family woman, who bore many children, and eventually, after the death of her husband, with the support of her daughter, she joined holy and devoted life to God. She established several religious vocations and orders, inspiring many to follow her examples.

St. Bridget of Sweden herself was very devoted to God, not just in words but also through concrete action. She devoted herself to love her neighbours and others around her, giving herself into charitable acts and works. She also inspired many by her pilgrimages, in which eventually she went to Rome and settled in the city of the Holy Apostles.

St. Bridget of Sweden faced many difficulties in her life, and she experienced rejection and refusal from many people, including accusations and harassment. However, she remained steadfast in her faith and in her total dedication to the Lord. And that was why, today, she was the perfect example for all of us in how we should live out our lives, and how we carry out ourselves that we may grow stronger in faith, hope and love.

Therefore, let us pray and hope devotedly to God, that He may bless us with strength and guidance, that the seeds of faith that God had sown in us will flourish and grow great, that in the end, we may be all found worthy of our Lord. May Almighty God bless us and guide us on our way. May He strengthen our faith always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 23 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 13 : 1-9

That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. Many people gathered around Him, so He got in a boat, and sat down, while the crowds stood on the shore; and He spoke to them in parables about many things.

Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep. But as soon as the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no roots.”

“Again other seeds fell among thistles, and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop : some a hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!”