Reflection of the Bible

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Friday, 1 August 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us listened from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures in which we are reminded of the need for all of us to centre our lives on the Lord, to put our whole activities and everything that we do in Him, so that we will always continue to journey together with Him, doing everything that we can to glorify Him through each and every moments of our lives. We should allow the Lord to lead us in our paths in life and not to be distracted by all sorts of worldly ambitions and desires that may lead us astray through selfishness and sin. Each and every one of us as Christians should always be good role models and examples for one another, to be faithful and worthy bearers of our Christian faith at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the instructions from the Lord to His people through Moses in which He detailed the various Festivals and celebrations that the people should partake in throughout the whole year. There were the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, marking the time of the original Passover in Egypt and its aftermath, when the people of Israel brought unleavened bread with them as they hurried on their way out of Egypt, with no time to wait for the bread to set and to rise with the addition of yeast or leaven. There were also the Festival of the Tents, also known as the Sukkot, which in tradition marked the memorial of the time when the Israelites were travelling in the desert, under the open skies and staying in tents, and how these celebrations ought to be celebrated each year according to the tradition and Law of the Lord.

We heard how the Lord detailed the various rules and expectations on how each of the Festivals were to be celebrated. In general each festivals required the people to put their focus and attention on celebrating the events covered in the Festival and taking a break from their usual daily routines and works, much like the Sabbath that is observed on each week. This observation of those Festivals serve as a reminder for all the people of God that their lives and activities should always be done in God’s Presence and that God should always be at the very heart of all things, being reminded to everyone in each and every one of those celebrations, done periodically so that all may know that God is truly present in their midst, and it is also therefore a reminder for all of us to keep God in our lives and our communities as well.

In our own way of life as Christians, we should also remind ourselves of the important Feasts and celebrations of our faith, which are also partly modelled and inspired from the Jewish feasts and festivals. We should keep in mind that as we continue to progress through the liturgical year, marking important events and celebrations that the Church had placed throughout the year, all of us should continue to focus our attention on the Lord as we live our lives and do our actions and activities. We should not allow ourselves to be so preoccupied by our many busy details, pursuits and ambitions in life so that our daily activities and business ended up distancing us and keeping us away from God. And this is why it is important that we should regularly participate in the daily Mass and taking part in the Sacraments.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was in Nazareth in Galilee, in His hometown. At that time, the Lord was teaching in the synagogue and spoke with great wisdom and eloquence. But the people of Nazareth, many of whom had known the Lord since He was very young, doubted Him and refused to believe in Him simply because they took offense at the fact that He was merely the Son of the town or village carpenter, a profession that was indeed noble but was very lowly considered at that time, and they thought that a mere carpenter’s Son could not have gained such Wisdom and performed such miraculous wonders and works just as they must have heard from their surrounding regions where the Lord performed His works.

This is where we are reminded that our own human prejudices and arrogance can often come in between us and our faith in the Lord. The people of Nazareth thought that they knew it better because they used their own human judgments and ideas instead of trusting and believing in God. And that was why they failed to believe in Him, just as how many others across Galilee and Judea also refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, like those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, as they allowed themselves to be tempted and swayed by their own ego, pride and ambition, refusing to believe that the Lord could have manifested Himself in a mere carpenter’s Son, the Saviour of the whole world, the prophesied King of Kings and Son of David. And yet, the Lord showed them all that this was indeed the truth, and not their prejudices and false ideas.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the famous founder of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists. St. Alphonsus Liguori was born in the southern region of Italy, near the city of Naples as the eldest of the seven children of a naval officer. As his health condition prevented him from joining the military like his father, he was prepared for a career as a lawyer, and then he excelled in his education, gaining doctorates in civil and canon law at the mere age of sixteen. He carried out his legal profession for more than a decade but after having experienced a moment of distress when he lost an important case, he felt the calling to leave behind the law profession and then serving the Lord.

That was how he then joined the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and desiring to become a priest. He managed to gain his father’s permission despite the latter’s initial opposition, but he did not join the congregation of the Oratory as a compromise, and instead, spent time to serve the poor and the marginalised in his home area of Naples. He became a very popular priest due to his simple and yet touching sermons, which were frequented by many people. He was credited with the foundation of the ‘Evening Chapels’, places like chapels where the faithful gathered for prayers and activities, and also other social and communal activities related to the faith, and where more and more people flocked towards as St. Alphonsus continued to do more wonderful works, and many were turned towards God through his homilies and preaching.

Eventually, as he would later be famous for, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a religious congregation that was dedicated to the service of the poor and the marginalised, focusing on the work of preaching and teaching in the slums, countryside and in other places where the last, the lost and the least were gathered in. His foundation of this Order of the Redemptorists were also rooted in the then rampant heresy of Jansenism which focused on excessive moral rigorism and blame on the human nature as sinners. Through his efforts and the Redemptorist missionaries, the faithful were reminded of the great love and mercy of God, the Redeemer of all, Who had indeed died for all of our sins, and calling on all those who had been separated and away from the Church to return to the Lord, their Redeemer.

St. Alphonsus Liguori continued to serve the Lord faithfully in various capacities, as the founder and the leader of the Redemptorists first and foremost, and then later on in his ministry as a bishop when he was appointed by the Pope as the Bishop of Sant’ Agata de Goti in the southern part of Italy. He was a humble man, who tried to refuse the appointment by citing his age and health problems, but eventually obeyed and faithfully dedicated himself to the missions which had been entrusted to him. He reformed the local church, its seminary and formation of the faithful, addressing various abuses of the clergy and the lack of discipline among those priests, while devoting himself to the care of the poor and the needy in his diocese. He also faced hardships and persecution even from his fellow priests, being dismissed from the very Redemptorist congregation he had founded, but he remained firmly faithful to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good life and examples which St. Alphonsus Liguori had shown us all, and as we have been reminded by the readings of the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all strive to put the Lord our God at the very centre of our lives and existence. Let us all be the faithful and worthy bearers of God’s truth and Good News to everyone, and the best way that we can do this is indeed by living our lives most worthily as Christians, in doing everything in accordance to what the Lord Himself had taught and shown us. Let our whole lives bear witness of our great and courageous faith in the Lord, and may God continue to bless us always in everything we do, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 31 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen from this world to be His own beloved and holy people, we have been gathered to become this one flock of the Lord’s faithful, to share together His blessings and graces, to enjoy His love and kindness, all that He has assured and given to us. At the same time we are also reminded that if we do not belong to Him and are apart from Him, we shall be judged and condemned to an eternity in darkness and destruction. Hence, this is why it is important that we should always strive to live our lives worthily and commit ourselves to the Lord in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the last chapter of the Book of Exodus, we heard of the moment when the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered together during the time of their journey from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, at the moment after the Holy Tent of Meeting, or the Tent of God’s Presence had been completed according to the instructions that the Lord had given to them through Moses. At that time, the Lord has been guiding the people day and night on the journey through the desert, but the journey of the Israelites had faced a detour due to their own lack of faith as they doubted the Lord and refused to believe in Him when He led them to the land of Promise, allowing their fears and uncertainties to overcome them and to make them reject God’s assurance and plans for them.

That was why they were forced to wander in the desert for forty years long to atone for their sins. And yet, the Lord still cared for His people and remained with them, no matter what, as He continued to show His Presence among them, by descending upon them at the Holy Tent, the Holy Tent of God’s Presence, enthroned among the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant. This was the Holy of Holies within the Holy Tent of God, which would later be replicated when King Solomon built a great Temple for God in Jerusalem. This Holy of Holies is the epicentre and heart of God’s Holy Presence among His people, a tangible reminder of God Who has always been there for His beloved ones, those whom He had called and chosen. And today we are being reminded of this because all of us as Christians, we have been made God’s Holy Temple, the Temple of His Holy Presence.

Each and every one of us have received the Lord Himself in the Flesh, as we received from Him the ultimate gift of His love for us, the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist, His very own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood that He has given to us. And because of this, God Himself has dwelled within us, and we have become parts and members of God’s one Church, His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. And God made us all to be the ones in whom He dwelled, in our hearts and in our whole beings, that we are truly the Temple of His Holy Presence, just like the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant once resided, and where God descended in His Holy Presence, to dwell among His people. He is now enthroned in our hearts, and is truly present in each and every one of us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus teaching more to His disciples and followers with the parables and stories to highlight and explain what the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is all about. And He told them all of how the Kingdom of Heaven is truly open to all, using the comparison to a net that is thrown wide, gathering everyone in, highlighting how each and every one of us, God’s beloved people, all of mankind, have been beloved equally by God, from the smallest to the greatest amongst us, and to even the greatest of sinners, to those whom we may consider to be unworthy of God. Each one of us, though sinners, are called to God’s grace, to embrace His love and compassionate mercy.

However, at the same time, we are reminded that we have to be good, worthy and righteous in our lives and deeds so that we may truly be worthy of everything that God has prepared for us. Unless we heed His words and embrace our calling to live lives that are truly attuned to the Lord and in accordance with His will, we may find ourselves being found wanting because we lacked the faith and the commitment to live faithfully in the Lord’s path. And that is why we are reminded of this, that we should not remain idle in our faith and way of life. We must turn away from the path of sin and wickedness, from all the temptations of this world, from all the unhealthy attachments which we have for the ambitions and the desires of this world, for all sins and wickedness around us.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the famous founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. St. Ignatius of Loyola was born as Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola in the castle of Loyola, where he got his epithet from, to a family of minor nobles. His early life was rather turbulent with lots of conflicts, a lot of changes and losses, and he grew through his youth thinking that he would become a great warrior, pursuing ambitions of knighthood and chivalry, as he served in the military, fighting wars and battles that were rampant and frequent at that time. He pursued worldly glory, fame and was ambitious, but he felt something was lacking in his life as he kept on fighting battles after battles, wars after wars.

And at one moment when he was injured due to being struck by a cannonball, he had to be put out of action for a while, and while healing from his injuries and recuperating, he was seeking for the tales of chivalry and knighthood to satisfy his boredom. But only books on the lives of the saints were available to him, and his experiences reading through them made St. Ignatius of Loyola to go through a moment of conversion, changing his life and path forever. It was from that moment on, that St. Ignatius of Loyola no longer sought worldly glory and ambitions, and instead, he began a new path, seeking for the conversion of hearts and souls. This eventually led to the establishment of the Society of Jesus, as St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered together others who were also passionate about the salvation of souls as he had been.

That was how St. Ignatius of Loyola spearheaded the effort of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits in taking part in the Counter-Reformation efforts, at a time of great upheaval for the Church, when the Church and the whole Christendom was under great threat from external threats and from within, as at that time, the Church was wrecked and divided by the then raging Protestant reformation and other divisions, while the rising forces of the Ottoman Turks were rampaging across Christendom, conquering many countries where Christians were living in, and at times even threatened the heart of Christendom in Rome and Central Europe. The Jesuits were at the forefront of the efforts of the Church in combatting the heresies and also reaching to the many people who had not believed in the Lord, as they were also sent out to many missions around the world to spread the Good News.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the life and examples of St. Ignatius of Loyola and his fellow Jesuits in doing the will of God and in proclaiming the Good News and truth of God, and reminded of the fact that each and every one of us are the Holy Temples of God’s Holy Presence, let us all therefore seek to live our lives worthily in the manner that the Lord Himself has shown and taught us. Let us all continue to strive and persevere in our faith, doing our best to glorify Him by our faithful and worthy lives. May He continue to bless us all in our every good endeavours and efforts, and may He continue to strengthen us in our journey of faith, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that God has given each and every one of us truly great blessings and graces, all the wonders that He had done for us, all the great things that He had prepared and intended for us. That is why we should never take them for granted and ignore what God has provided to us, or to settle for things that are less in value, in worldly ambitions and pursuits that can distract and keep us away from following the Lord wholeheartedly. We should always remember that each and every one of us as God’s holy and beloved people are meant for greatness in life, and we are all expected to seek our true treasures in life that we can find in the Lord alone.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the account of Moses descending down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets with his whole face and countenance transformed from his encounter with God, as his face reflects the bright radiance of God. Moses was one of the very few in the Old Testament who had encountered God and lived, as it was believed that God’s glory and righteousness would have destroyed a person should he or she be in the presence of God and look upon His holy and glorious face. But Moses looked upon God in the face and was there atop Mount Sinai where God descended and wrote on the tablets of the Ten Commandments, while revealing to him His Law and commandments to be passed to the Israelites.

In this case, God has given His people, all the Law and commandments by which He wanted to teach all of them how they could obey and follow Him faithfully and wholeheartedly, and not be distracted by worldly temptations and vices. Through Moses He had shown the people that His path and His ways are truly holy and worthy, while the path of worldliness, all of the people’s disobedience and wickedness, all sorts of licentiousness and evils are truly wicked, just as how prior to this occasion depicted today from the Book of Exodus, the Israelites rebelled against the Lord by erecting for themselves a golden calf idol and treating it as their ‘god’, instead of trusting in the same Lord and God Who had saved them and led them all out from the land of their slavery in Egypt.

The Israelites were reminded of the Covenant which God had made with all of them, and how God had been so kind in extending to all of them His mercy and love, all the compassion that He has shown them so generously despite the disobedience and rebelliousness that His people has shown Him. He has always been loving and forgiving to all of them, and He wanted all of them to return to Him and to be reconciled fully with Him. That is why He has also never given up on any one of us, loving us all generously and wonderfully in the same way. Just as the Israelites were God’s first chosen people, now all of us Christians, who have become parts of God’s Church, are also God’s holy, beloved and chosen people, and we are all equally beloved in the same way. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist,
we heard of the parables which the Lord Jesus used to highlight what the Kingdom of Heaven is like to His disciples and followers and to all others who were listening to Him. The Lord used the parables to help His audience to understand better what He wanted to tell them, comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to that of a great treasure hidden in the field, or to a pearl of great value. Through those parables, it is indeed clear that the Lord wanted to highlight the great importance of being part of the Kingdom of God, and for us all, it is being part of God’s Church, His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, together with all the Law and commandments that God had given to us all.

Through His gift of His beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, God Himself had made His Kingdom and Dominion tangible in this world, establishing His Church in our midst, gathering all of us, the lost sheep of the Lord’s flock, scattered all over the whole world in darkness with His light and hope, so that all of us may once again be together as one flock of Christ, our One and True Good Shepherd, the One through Whom we have received the assurance and hope of God’s salvation and eternal life. Through Christ Himself we have also received the true revelation of God’s Law and commandments, of their meaning and purpose, and how we all can truly obey the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly in the manner that He wants from us, to be truly loving and committed to Him at all times.

As Christians, all of us should always seek the Lord and aim to make our lives truly worthy of Him by living our faith with sincerity and commitment, in the manner of how we love ourselves and our fellow brothers and sisters, in how we interact with each other, with our loved ones and even with all those whom we encounter daily in life. Through God’s Law and commandments, including the Ten Commandments that are at the core of our beliefs, we are all expected to love the Lord our God in the same manner that He has shown and given to us, in His infinite and ever enduring love, in how we love everyone around us, from those whom we loved and also to all those whom we encounter, even strangers and even to those who persecuted and hated us. That is what Christ Himself has shown us by Him loving and forgiving even those who have persecuted and oppressed Him.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Chrysologus, a holy bishop, servant of God and a Doctor of the Church. St. Peter Chrysologus was born in the region of northern Italy during the waning years of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, in the early fifth century, and he eventually became a deacon and rose to the position of archdeacon in the Church. St. Peter Chrysologus was then appointed by the Pope as the Bishop of Ravenna, and this happened according to the Church tradition due to the vision which the Pope received by inspiration, and the man in his vision as the next Bishop of Ravenna was none other than St. Peter Chrysologus himself. He was ordained as a priest and then bishop, and became the faithful shepherd of the flock in that city and region.

He was known as ‘Chrysologus’ or the ‘Golden-worded’ because of his great and yet simple, eloquent and inspiring homilies, which touched the hearts and minds of so many among the faithful that he was known later as the ‘Doctor of Homilies’ and was made not just as a saint of the Church but also revered as one of the few honoured as Doctors of the Church. He devoted his time and effort to minister to his flock in Ravenna and to others beyond, in defending the true, orthodox Christian faith against all the heresies that were then quite rampant throughout the Christendom. He encouraged the faithful to deepen their relationship with God through daily reception of the Holy Eucharist and devotions to the Blessed Mother of God, among other spiritual activities and works. He spent the rest of his life as a faithful bishop and servant of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard from today’s Scripture readings and inspired by the examples and the life of St. Peter Chrysologus, let us all therefore do our very best in our own lives, in each and every moments so that we may be good role models and examples to everyone around us. Let us all be the good and worthy beacons of God’s light and hope, His love and compassion, and bring forth His truth and Good News to all those whom we encounter in our daily lives, with our loved ones and everyone else. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha, St. Mary and St. Lazarus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Martha, St. Mary and St. Lazarus, the friends of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who were also counter among His close disciples and followers. St. Martha and St. Mary were known in how they hosted the Lord in their house during one of His visits and how they mourned for their brother, St. Lazarus, who was very sick in one occasion and then passed away before the Lord arrived to where they were living near Jerusalem. It was then that the Lord showed His power and resurrected Lazarus from the dead, and the three of them likely continued to be part of the Lord’s disciples and were actively involved in the early Church.

In our first reading today, we heard from the first Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which the Apostle spoke about God’s love and how this great and most wonderful love has been manifested and shown to us all in the most tangible and real way through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Himself, Jesus Christ. This echoes what St. John himself also recorded in his Gospel, in the encounter between the Lord and Nicodemus the faithful Pharisee, with Jesus saying to the latter that ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave us all His only Begotten Son, so that through Him all may have hope and assurance of eternal life, and that everyone will not perish, but all those who trust in Him will have eternal life through Him.’

And it is by this perfect manifestation of God’s love in the flesh that we are shown by Christ Himself and everything that He had done for us of the perfect love of God and that indeed, the nature of God is Love. We must also understand that in the past, during the time of the Old Testament, God was often seen as a distant and mighty figure Who only showed Himself to a select few like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Elijah among some others. He was also often depicted as a God that punished the wicked and those who have disobeyed Him, and through the Law and commandments which He had given His people, He was seen as a God Who rewarded the faithful and the just, and Who despised the wicked and those who did not belong among those whom He had chosen.

But the Lord Jesus showed us the true nature of God, that is Love, and this is Love that is truly boundless and selfless, a most wonderful and gracious Love which God has shown unto us all, as He did not spare even His own Begotten Son to be given to us, and not only that, but this same Son of God was offered to us so that through His own actions, in showing the Love of God to everyone, even to those whom the Jewish people shunned and rejected, to the oppressed and the marginalised, and to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people, that God’s truly universal and boundless Love is known to us. And by His willing embrace of the Cross, the sufferings and punishments that should have been ours because of our sins, the Lord Jesus, our Saviour showed us all the ultimate manifestation and proof of God’s ever enduring and infinite Love. That is why, truly, God is Love.dus

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which we heard of the account of the resurrection of the dead St. Lazarus when he passed away from the sickness that he suffered from. His sisters, St. Martha and St. Mary were devastated by what happened, but they had faith in the Lord and trusted in Him when He finally came to their place, and the Lord reassured them all that He is the Resurrection, the Master of Life and Death, and hence, by the power of God, Christ resurrected St. Lazarus and used that experience and miracle as yet another proof of what the Lord had planned to do through Him, and revealing further the truth about God and His ever enduring love for all of us, prefiguring the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ Himself, through which God’s Love for us have been made truly evident.

Then, in another alternative Gospel passage for today, we heard as mentioned earlier, the moment when the Lord went to visit the house of St. Martha and St. Mary, and we heard how He was being hosted and welcomed by the two sisters in different ways. St. Martha was very busy preparing the welcome, presumably cooking the meals and the various food to welcome the Lord in the kitchen, doing all the chores and works, while St. Mary stayed by the side of the Lord, listening to Him speaking and teaching to her. Each one of them were welcoming the Lord in their own way, and neither one was wrong, as what St. Martha did was certainly done out of the desire to make the Lord happy and feel welcomed in her house. But the Lord did point out to her when she got agitated at her sister and asked the Lord to tell her to help in her chores, that she should not allow her preoccupations with all those chores and works to distract her from what truly matters, that is the Lord Himself and to spend time with Him.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all then be reminded as always by God’s ever enduring and wonderful love for each and every one of us. Let us all continue to remember all the good things, blessings and wonders which the Lord had done for us, in loving and caring for us so patiently and wonderfully even when we have not reciprocated that love and attention, and when we continue to disobey and disregard Him in our many worldly pursuits and ambitions. Let us all realise that as Christians, our first priority is to serve the Lord and to follow Him and His path at all times, and to glorify Him and His Holy Name through our exemplary actions, words and deeds, through our every interactions with each other and with everyone we encounter daily in life.

May the examples and faith of St. Martha, St. Mary and St. Lazarus, especially in the love and hospitality that St. Martha had shown, in all the efforts she had put into welcoming the Lord, and in the attentiveness and focus which St. Mary had given to the Lord, her time and presence, so that all of us may also do the same in our own respective lives. Many of us have certainly not put the Lord as our true priority in life, remembering Him only when we need Him or when things are convenient for us. Let us all instead strive from now on to commit ourselves more wholeheartedly to the Lord, remembering always the love that He has always had for us, in each and every moment. Let us always be ready to thank Him for everything that He had done for us. St. Martha, St. Mary and St. Lazarus, pray for all of us! Amen.

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Monday, 28 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the sins that we have often committed against God in our disobedience and refusal to follow His ways and paths, and the potential of what we have been provided by the Lord, in the gift of reconciliation, forgiveness and atonement which He has generously laid out before us all so that we may be truly reconciled with our loving God by the forgiveness of our many sins, wickedness and evil deeds. That is what the Lord wants each and every one of us to do in our lives, to return once again to Him and to embrace fully the love which He has for each one of us, to be truly worthy of everything that God has promised and guaranteed for us, eternal life and true joy with Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus the account of the rebellion of the people of God, the Israelites against their own Lord and God with their choice to establish for themselves at Mount Sinai, at the Mountain of God no less, a golden calf idol that they called as their ‘god’ and as the one who led them out of the land of Egypt. And moreover, this happened shortly after the Lord Himself had just established His Covenant with all of them through Moses, if we recalled the reading from last week’s Book of Exodus, where Moses led the Israelites to God’s holy Mountain and gathered them there, and God made His Covenant with the Israelites with the blood of the slaughtered animal sacrifices offered on the Altar that they built there.

Instead of remaining faithful, the Israelites complained and grumbled when Moses then went up the mountain to speak with God and to receive His Law and commandments. This happened for a period of forty days, and many among the people complained and thought that Moses might have been dead. That was why they pushed or even rather forced Aaron, Moses’ brother who had been his spokesperson to make a golden calf idol to be their god over them, and why a golden calf? That was because by that time, the Israelites had been living in Egypt for a period of four hundred and thirty years, and in those more than four centuries living in Egypt, they certainly were very well accustomed to seeing Egyptian gods and idols, one of which was the Apis bull associated with the Egyptian gods Ptah and Osiris.

We saw how little faith that the Israelites had in God even though they had witnessed firsthand everything that God had done for them, in all the works and wonders He had done before them, all the Ten Great Plagues that God had sent against the Egyptians on their behalf, how they had spared all of them from the plague of death afflicting all the firstborn of the Egyptians, how He opened the sea itself before them and allowing them to pass through the sea unharmed and protected, while crushing the armies and chariots of the Pharaoh behind them as He made the sea to return once again to its position. God had done so many things for His people, and yet, this was how they treated Him, betraying and abandoning Him for a pagan idol that they made to be a ‘god’ over all of them when things were hard and uncertain for them.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus telling His disciples using parables to teach them about the kingdom of Heaven or the kingdom of God. Using these parables the Lord wanted all of them to know that the kingdom of Heaven that has in fact materialised itself in this world through what He has brought into this world, in the community of believers that He has established, and eventually would firm up through the establishment of His Church. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church of God, the same One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that exists today is that Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven in this world, this tangible union of all the faithful people of God, all united by the same faith and purpose, and by the Communion of all the believers through the Eucharist.

Using the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the flour and yeast, the Lord wanted to tell all the people who were listening to Him that even though faith might be small and weak at first, but given the right conditions and guidance, this kind of faith can truly grow mightily and result in truly many wonderful deeds, by which one can impact so many others positively in the faith. And the Lord liked to use parables to reach out to even the most marginalised and the poorest in the society, those who were uneducated and yet knowledgeable in the manner of agriculture and production of bread, by which the two parables made very good sense and meaning for them, and therefore, making it clear to them what God had intended for them to know. This also made what the Lord Himself had said true, that it was in fact the most knowledgeable and intelligent ones like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who hardened their hearts and refused to believe in God.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us need to provide for ourselves an environment where we can truly nurture our Christian faith and way of life, so that by nurturing this faith in us, we may grow ever stronger in our faith and dedication to God. Just like the mustard seed that require the right conditions to germinate and then grow, to flourish into the large mustard tree, and just like the yeast placed within the dough made with flour must have the right condition in order to allow the dough to rise therefore, there is also the need for the right condition for our faith to grow stronger within us. Each and every one of us as Christians should always strive to live our lives worthily in the manner that God has shown and taught us, His Law and commandments, and not be distracted and tempted as the Israelites had done in the past. Let us always be faithful and committed to the Covenant which God had made with us.

May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God and Father, continue to help and guide us all in our journey through life, helping us to remain strong and courageous amidst the challenges in life and the struggles that we may be experiencing in each and every moments. We should continue to have faith in the Lord, no matter how tough or difficult things may be for us, so that we ourselves may be good inspirations and examples for everyone around us. Let us all be truly faithful and worthy beacons of God’s light, truth and Good News, showing His love and compassion to everyone we encounter in life. Let us all bring the hope of salvation in the Lord to everyone, and through our examples, lead more and more towards Him, ever being faithful and committed to God at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 27 July 2025 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures that we are all called to remember the great love that God our Father has always consistently shown us, the most generous love which He has always given to each and every one of us regardless of our background and what we have done in our lives, whatever sins and wickedness that we have committed. God is always willing to love us and to show us all His most generous compassion, His kindness and patient care for all of us. God has provided us all the patient and ever enduring care and love of a Father, and like a father caring for all of his children, He has always been reaching out to us to help us find our way to Him, and to help correct us when we lose our way and fall into sin.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of the punishment that God was sending against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was told to us, and we heard how Abraham pleaded with the Lord for the sake of Lot, his nephew, who was then dwelling in that region together with his family. Abraham asked the Lord to reconsider His decision on behalf of his cousin and any other people who were counted among the righteous still living in those two cities who might also therefore perish in the destruction. Abraham pleaded with the Lord asking Him to remember His love for His people, for all those whom He had created out of love, that He would not destroy those who have loved Him as well.

That was how Abraham kept on pleading with the Lord, kept on asking until he asked Him to spare those two cities as long as there were even only ten people who were righteous there, and God gave Abraham His words on this. Unfortunately, as it eventually turned out, there were not even ten people who were righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, and only Lot and his immediate family were considered as such. But God did not abandon them in their hour of need, and in fact He immediately sent His Angels there to rescue them out before He was to send His destruction upon those two cities. Once again, this is how God showed His love to us all mankind, through all of the actions He had done for us, whether we realised it or not.

In addition, we should also not be prejudiced or judgmental as what people would have done against those they perceive were the sins of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The word Sodom had been misunderstood and misinterpreted for a long time, leading to the word ‘sodomy’ and used to judge and treat those who have same-sex attraction and relationships, thinking that God will punish all those who do so. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were not such, and the fact that Lot himself offered his daughters to spare his visitors from the lust of the townspeople said as much, that their sins against God were that of lust in general and not referring to a specific attraction, and as some scholars had mentioned, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah treated Lot as an outsider, and they did what they did to attack him, and the two Angels sent to rescue him, whom they saw as more outsiders they despised. God loves all of His children, regardless of their background and differences, and we have to remember this fact, always.

In our second reading this Sunday, we then heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Colossae in Asia Minor, in what is today part of Turkey in which the Apostle spoke of the matter how all of us God’s faithful people, we have received great grace and blessings from God through the baptism that we have gone through, having been made parts of the Church of God, the Body of Christ, the communion of all those who believe in Christ. And through Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, all of us have been led to safety and liberation from our fated destruction, just as Lot and his family had once been saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by the hands of the Lord acting to save them out of their predicament.

As St. Paul the Apostle mentioned, we were all dead and we should have been destroyed due to our many sins and wickedness, but through Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and through everything which He had done for our sake, in the most selfless and wonderful sacrifice which He had offered on His Cross for us, in breaking His Most Precious Body and pouring out His Most Precious Blood for our salvation, as the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, offered for our redemption, all of us have received the sure assurance of God’s grace and salvation, the promise of everlasting life and true happiness which we can achieve through the Lord alone. And through everything that God, our most loving Father, Creator and Master had done, we have indeed been rescued from certain destruction and damnation, showing us all the straight path to eternal life.

Then, our Gospel passage this Sunday from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray to the Lord, teaching them the prayer that is known as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ or Pater Noster, the perfect prayer that all of us should model our prayers after, filled with true faith and dedication to God our loving Father, praising and glorifying Him above all things and entrusting ourselves completely to His will and desires, knowing that we can completely trust in God and be assured that He will do everything that He knows we need, even when we ourselves may not realise or be aware of what we truly need in our lives. And He also taught us through that prayer how to ask the Father to grant us His blessings, our daily bread, and also to forgive one another our sins just in the same way that the Father has forgiven us ours.

Through this perfect prayer we are all reminded once again that we are truly fortunate to have a most loving Father Whom we can always ask in any circumstances and at any time. We can always seek the Lord and approach the Throne of His mercy, compassion and love. As such, we should not take God’s ever enduring and patient love for granted, all the kindness that He has always shown us. We should indeed appreciate and be thankful of everything that God had done for us, and continue to put our trust and faith in Him. After all, the Lord Himself said that, as our loving Father, He will not give us something harmful when we ask of Him, and He will always provide us with everything we need, and He will do so gladly, and He wants us all to call upon Him and to seek Him and His help.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to be ever more faithful to the Lord, our most loving God and Father, thanking Him ever always at all times for all the love that He has generously shown us. Let us all continue to serve Him faithfully and do our best to glorify Him and His Name by our lives, our every actions and deeds, and in our every interactions with each other. Like Abraham, who truly shows love and compassion in his actions, let us all also be loving and compassionate in all things, caring for everyone around us, and in not being judgmental against others whom we may deem or think to be less worthy of God than us. Remember that we are all sinners, and we all need God’s mercy, and instead, we should indeed show genuine love of God all the more to one another.

May the Lord continue to bless us all with His loving care and compassionate kindness, and may He continue to provide us with our needs, guarding us all from harm and leading us all towards the path to eternal life. May God bless our journey and every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 July 2025 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and therefore they were also the grandparents of the Lord, as Mary is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. And we remember them today in particular because of their great faith and virtues in life, becoming good examples and role models in bringing up Mary to be a faithful and most worthy woman, to be the one whom God has shown His great favour to, in becoming the Mother and Bearer of the Son of God Most High Himself, to be the worthy Mother of God, the one through whom salvation has been revealed to all of us in this world.

Not much was known about the lives and activities of St. Joachim and St. Anne as both of them were not recorded in the four canonical Gospels, but they were recorded in other extra-Biblical sources and in the Apostolic traditions, as belonging to the tribe of Judah and Levi both. St. Joachim, the father of Mary came from the Tribe of Judah, and in some Apostolic traditions, it was believed that Jesus our Lord got His legal status as the Heir of David from both St. Joseph and Mary herself, and the latter through St. Joachim. Meanwhile, Mary’s mother, St. Anne, came from the Tribe of Levi, the tribe dedicated to the Lord to provide the members of the priests serving Him, and therefore, Mary had close connections to the priestly caste at that time through her mother.

According to tradition and our Catholic Dogma, we believe that Mary was conceived without the taint of original sin, the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, and she was born to her and St. Joachim as the eldest daughter, and hence, according to the Law of Moses, she was presented to the Lord according to the sacred traditions, at the Temple of God. Mary henceforth remained as a truly faithful servant of God, living her life full of virtue and in the fullness of God’s grace, until the appointed time when the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her and telling her the role that she was to play as the Mother of the Son of God, the one to bear the Messiah within her. In that meantime, certainly she was brought up well by her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, whose memory we venerate today.

Let us all then look upon the readings of the Sacred Scriptures to reflect more carefully upon what the Lord has revealed to us, so that we can better appreciate today’s celebration and its relevance to our lives. In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the moment when God established His Covenant with His people through Moses, the one that God had appointed to lead all of His people Israel to journey to the land promised for them. And there at Mount Sinai, the holy Mountain of God’s Presence, God made a pact with His people, that they all would be His people, His beloved ones, obeying His Law and commandments, rules and precepts as He would reveal to them through Moses, and that He would be their God, their loving Father and Master.

And Moses sealed that Covenant between God and His people at the Altar established there at Mount Sinai, with the blood of the sacrifices offered to God, and the blood sprinkled on the people as mark of the Covenant which God had made with all of them. This marked the solemn commitment between God and His people, which He had sealed and made clear before everyone, that Israel was indeed God’s beloved and chosen people, a people that He Himself had rescued and brought out from their slavery in the land of Egypt. That is what God had promised to His people and to their ancestors, and He showed His love and faithfulness through this commitment, showing how He will always take care of those whom He has loved so generously and wonderfully, without limits and ever patiently doing so at all times.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the teachings of the Lord to His disciples using the parable of the kingdom of Heaven, comparing the kingdom of Heaven to the works of a man who sowed good seeds in his field, and how an enemy came and sowed bad seeds of weeds in between those good seeds. Those good plants and crops ended up growing together with the unwanted weeds, but the truth is that, as the Lord used this comparison to highlight His ideas and teachings, He wanted to tell everyone that God is truly so good and loving that He allowed both the good and evil ones, the righteous and the wicked to grow along, side by side with each other.

At that time, and as it is still valid today, certain plants considered as weeds were actually related if not similar to the crop plants that were planted in the field. The reason why those plants were considered as weeds were simply because they did not provide the farmers with the products that they desired, and they were therefore competing for the important resources and nutrients needed by the crops desired by the farmers. Some of those weeds might even be the less productive variants of the crops planted by the farmers. Therefore, one interpretation of this parable is such that it shows how the Lord our God is so kind, loving and compassionate to all, that no one is truly beyond God’s love and redemption, that even the wicked and worst of sinners have been given chances and opportunities by the Lord to come back to Him and embrace His love once again.

That was precisely what He had done with those whom He had called and chosen, first the Israelites, and now all of us who have been called by Him to be His disciples and His followers. All of us are sinners and have disobeyed Him, sinning and doing things against His will, and yet, He has always been so patient in loving us and showing us all His compassion and His enduring attention and desire to care for us, regardless of everything that we have done. He has always made His love, mercy and forgiveness available to us, giving us all the means for us to reach out to Him, sending us help and assistance in many means and avenues so that as many as us as possible can be saved and reunited with Him, and not be lost to Him to eternal damnation. And we should all indeed appreciate the great and enduring love that God has for each one of us, and for the Covenant He had made with all of us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

Today, in conjunction with this celebration of this Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, as the Grandparents of Our Lord and Saviour, we also celebrate the World Day of the Grandparents and the Elderly, which was instituted by the late Pope Francis so that we may remember and honour our grandparents who have taken care of us and shown us their great love even in their old age, and also other elderly people in general, all those who have lived their lives well and have shown us their wisdom and good examples. Let us all pray and take good care of them in their golden years, and make sure that they are not forgotten and abandoned, just as the Lord Himself never abandoned any one of us. Let our love for our elderly and our grandparents be the hallmark and good examples of our Christian love and identity, at all times.

May the Lord continue to help us all to be good and faithful Christians in all things, and inspired by the good and virtuous examples of St. Joachim and St. Anne, let us all show genuine love to everyone, and in particular to our grandparents and the elderly people around us. May God bless our every good and loving efforts, at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 25 July 2025 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates together the occasion of the Feast of St. James the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles and one of the three who were always brought by the Lord to His important events and works, together with his brother, St. John the Apostle, and with St. Peter the Apostle. This St. James is also known as St. James the Greater and must not be confused with other St. James, such as St. James the Lesser or St. James, son of Alphaeus, or with St. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem who was also associated with the Lord as one of His brothers, likely one of the sons of St. Joseph from prior marriage. St. James the Apostle that we celebrate today is St. James, son of Zebedee, the elder brother of St. John the Apostle.

Let us all now first look upon our Scripture passages today, beginning with our first reading today, where we heard of the account from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Corinth where the Apostle spoke of the hope that each and every one of the faithful and holy people of God ought to have with them, trusting in the Lord and in His Providence so that all of us who believe in Him will not lose faith in Him and will not lose hope, knowing that in the Lord there is always hope and renewal, consolation and true happiness that no one and nothing else can provide to us. The Lord will always be with His people that while they may have to encounter sufferings and challenges in life, trials and difficulties, and all sorts of obstacles but those things will not crush them or utterly defeat them as long as the Lord is by their side.

And God is also ever always faithful to the Covenant which He had made with all of us, His beloved ones, all the promises and reassurances that He has provided to us. He has never been wrong in all the things that He has said, He was never fickle or untrustworthy, He is always ever loyal even when we ourselves have been disobedient, disloyal and untrustworthy. God is always ever consistent in loving us, and He chose to willingly bear the burden of that Cross as the ultimate proof of His consistency and love, His faithfulness to the Covenant He made with us, and why we too should trust in God and in His Providence, that through our genuine and strong faith in all that God provides us, we will always remain truly attuned to Him, not being easily swayed by all sorts of temptations and presents around us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the moment when St. James and St. John together with their mother came before the Lord and asked Him for a special favour, for the two of them to be granted a seat by the Lord’s left and right in His Kingdom. This reflects the general and common understanding of the role of the Messiah or the Saviour promised by God at that time. At that time, many among the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites, the chosen people of God, thought that the Messiah would come into their midst as the mighty Heir of David, a conquering King that would lead all the people of God in a great war of liberation and crusade, freeing themselves from their Roman overlords adn then restoring the Kingdom of Israel as how it was in the days of David and Solomon.

That was why both St. James and St. John, when they went with their mother to ask for favour and position in Christ’s Kingdom, they were in fact referring to this earthly and worldly kingdom that many fellow Jewish people had been looking forward to. And as two among the three disciples that the Lord had always brought with Him on His important events and works, they had a good chance to gain special favours ahead of those other disciples, and becoming the trusted right hand men of the King. But they were still thinking in worldly terms, in worldly ambitions and glory, and all the pursuits of worldly power that were actually fleeting in nature. And that was why the Lord Jesus told them that things actually did not work in the manner that they had visualised or understood it, and being His followers is not about worldly glory and greatness, but faith and trust in Him, and readiness to share in the sufferings of the Lord.

Now, let us all examine the Apostolic ministry of St. James the Apostle after he and the other Apostles had been commissioned, entrusted and sent forth by the Lord to evangelise and spread His Good News, truth and salvation to all the people of all the nations. St. James, according to Apostolic traditions and hagiographies, went to the region of Hispania, the present day parts of Spain and Portugal, a region that at the time of the Lord was a rather distant place, being at the two extreme ends of the Roman Empire as compared to Judea and Jerusalem. Yet, despite the great distance and the challenges that he might have faced and encountered, that did not deter St. James from doing his best in his ministry and work of evangelisation.

He preached the Good News to the people of the region of Hispania, planting the seeds of the faith in that area, and in the miraculous occasion of Our Lady of the Pillar, it was told that when his evangelisation works encountered great obstacles and he was demoralised, at the banks of the River Ebro in Hispania, St. James encountered a vision of Mary, the Blessed Mother of God, who likely then still alive, appearing before him surrounded by a mighty host of a thousand Angels of God, and encouraging him, while at the same time also calling on him to return to Jerusalem where his presence was needed. That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, while the famous tomb and shrine of St. James is located at Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, the place of his ministry, but he was martyred in Jerusalem in Judea as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

It was in Jerusalem that he was arrested with the other Apostles and under the order from King Herod Agrippa I, the then king of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, he was beheaded, which the king did in order to please and satisfy the Jewish leaders, the members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council. That was how this faithful Apostle and great servant of God met the end of his life, in service to God and in great courage in carrying out the commands of the Lord. And as we can see, he did indeed drink of the cup of suffering that the Lord Himself had drunk, dying in martyrdom for his faith. His true glory and joy came not with the glory of the world that he and his brother had once sought, but through true faith and dedication to their Lord and Saviour.

Let us all continue to be inspired by the examples and faith of St. James the Apostle, and let us all do our very best so that in our own lives, in each and every one of our own actions, we will continue to be faithful to God, be committed to Him in all things, and strive to glorify Him by our every lives and every things we have, in our every actions, words and deeds. May all of our efforts, good endeavours and works continue to inspire everyone around us, and that we may be good and worthy beacons of God’s light and truth, His Good News and love, to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 24 July 2025 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the revelation of God’s truth and Good News, the love which He has shown most generously to us, and we should not take for granted what God has revealed and shown to us through His Church, as many in the past would have wanted the opportunity and chance to listen to what we have heard and to experience what we all have experienced, and yet, they were unable to do so. We have been blessed with these great graces and blessings from God and we ought to be ever thankful and appreciative of what He has done for us. We must not forget that we are all as Christians, are God’s holy and beloved people, all called to holiness and virtuous lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the continuation of the account of the journey of the Israelites from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan was told to us. And today, we heard about how God brought His people to the mountain that He had made sacred, the Mountain of God at Mount Sinai. It was there that the Lord Himself would make a Covenant with all of the people of Israel, renewing and strengthening the Covenant which He had made with Abraham, the Covenant that God would be the God of all the Israelites, and that all the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, would become the people of God, the people that God had called and chosen, and made to be His own beloved ones.

At Mount Sinai, God revealed Himself before all the people from the mountain, all covered in the glory of His majesty, with rolling clouds and thunder, to the awe of all the people who had been gathered at the foot of the mountain. But the Lord called on all of them through Moses to come closer to Him and not to be afraid, because despite all the glory of His majesty and power, but God is also a loving and compassionate God, Who truly loves all of His people, showing them all His love and kindness, and wanting them all to be partakers of His Covenant. And that was how Israel came to be marked by God at Mount Sinai, through a new Covenant that He made with them, a commitment and pact between God and His people.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the disciples asking the Lord on why He kept on teaching using parables and stories rather than speaking plainly and clearly, and the Lord responded to them saying that there were many people at that time who had not believed in Him no matter how much He had said and how He had shown the great Wisdom of God through His teachings, echoing and fulfilling everything that the prophets of God had prophesied and predicted before. Christ our Lord did not allow even the opposition and the hardened hearts and minds of those who opposed Him, like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law to dissuade Him from continuing with His ministry and works.

And the point of Him mentioning about the use of parables and how those who have wanted to believe would indeed believe and open their hearts and minds to listen to God, while those who refused to believe would close their hearts and minds to the Lord’s words, teachings, and even miracles and signs before their own eyes because unless they change their attitudes and stop hardening their hearts and minds, blinded by their ego and pride, their arrogance and their obsession with earthly desires and ambitions, all of which prevented them from listening with open minds and hearts. This was why they were so seemingly so adamant in opposing the Lord and even if the Lord spoke clearly and in the manner that was easiest to understand, He would still be rejected and treated with disdain.

At the same time, the Lord also used those parables to educate and reveal His intentions to the uneducated and those who were not learnt in the intellectual ways of the world. And those people were often marginalised because of their seeming lack of knowledge and their occupation in working in the physical labour like agriculture and farming, shepherding of flocks of goats and sheep, fishermen catching the fishes and other marine goods in the lakes, rivers and the sea, and others, to whom the parables which the Lord were using, were in fact relevant and easily understood as opposed to using lots of words and complicated terms and words. And it was in fact many among these people who were supposedly less knowledgeable and educated that in the end, believed in the Lord and had faith in Him.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Sharbel Makhluf, also known as St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite saint who was renowned much around the world for the many miracles and wonders that happened through his intercessions and at his tomb, long after he has passed away. St. Charbel Makhlouf was raised in a pious house, and while his biological father passed on very early in his life, his mother remarried with a man who eventually joined the Maronite Catholic priesthood and became the local parish priest. St. Charbel himself also joined the priesthood and became a monk in a monastery in what is today present day Lebanon. As a hermit and monk, he spent a lot of his time living in seclusion, in prayer and contemplation with God, which he did for the last twenty-three years of his life.

While the life of St. Charbel Makhlouf might have seemed very ordinary and uneventful, it was his great faith and dedication to God that made him to be truly extraordinary. In his dedication and commitment to live a truly holy life and life dedicated to prayer, he has become even after his passing an inspiration to many others around them. It was at his tomb that many miracles occurred, and many who had asked for the intercession of St. Charbel Makhlouf saw their prayers answered. Many flocked to seek the intercession and miracles of the saint, even from among those who were non-Christians. Through this great grace that God has granted us, via the intercession of the wonderful St. Charbel Makhlouf, let us all be inspired to follow the Lord as he had done.

May the Lord continue to inspire and strengthen us all in faith, giving us the courage and strength to be His faithful disciples and followers at all times. May He bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, strengthening us with the guidance and help in persevering through all the challenges and trials in life, and remain with us always as He has ever done, all these while. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 23 July 2025 : 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, today as we all gather together to reflect upon the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the great love and providence which God has given to each and every one of us, and how this love has been shown to us most generously through what He had done to us mankind throughout history, and how He has indeed sowed the seeds of His love in us, the seeds of our faith and trust in Him, and the seeds of hope, which He has provided to us so that we may all grow ever stronger in our faith, hope and love, in our commitment and dedication as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen to be His own, as the ones whom He had made holy so that we may be truly worthy of Him and everything that He has prepared for us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus of the account of the time when the Israelites were journeying through the desert, continuing from the account of the Exodus and liberation of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt that we have heard in the past few weekdays. In that account of what happened, the people of Israel had been journeying hungry and thirsty through the dry and lifeless desert, and they began to complain against God and Moses for having brought them all out of the land of Egypt, where they had been enslaved by the Egyptians before. They complained that although they were enslaved but at least they had good food and good things to drink in Egypt, and they would rather be slaves instead of dying there in the desert.

This attitude, which would be repeated again and again throughout Israel’s long sojourn in the desert showed the lack of genuine and strong faith in God. They kept on grumbling and complaining despite having seen God’s signs and wonders, His miracles and power being shown before them when He was liberating them from the hands of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, when He opened the sea itself before them to walk through the seabed, dry and safe, and crushing the forces and chariots of Pharaoh afterwards, among other mighty deeds He had done. And we heard how despite the complaints and grumblings that His people had made, God was still very patient in loving them and in caring for them, promising that He would send them food and sustenance throughout their time and journey in the desert.

That was how the Israelites came to be sustained and nourished by the manna, the heavenly bread that came down upon them on every morning except on the morning of the Sabbath days. They also received another sustenance through the flock of birds that the Lord sent to them every evening. Through all of these we can see just how great and loving God is towards all those who are beloved to Him. He always provides for the needs of those who are dear to Him, caring for them to the best way possible, leading them all to the path of grace and happiness. He never breaks His promises and reassurances, and we are reminded to be ever more faithful and committed to the Lord at all times, and no longer allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by the pressures and the fears in our hearts and minds that may lead us astray as they had done to the Israelites.

From our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the well-known parable of the sower in which the Lord used the example of the sower spreading his seeds in various places to highlight His intentions in teaching His disciples and others about providing for ourselves favourable and good conditions for our faith to grow so that we may grow ever stronger in our faith and love for God, that as Christians we may be ever more committed in following the Lord, our most loving God and Master. In that parable, the Lord spoke of a sower who actually represented the Lord Himself, the One Who sowed the seeds of faith, hope and love in the hearts and minds of many in this world, that is represented by the field and the other places that the seeds have been sown.

And what we heard from the parable of the sower is very important because it is related to the behaviour of the Israelites back then during the time of their Exodus and journey towards the Promised Land of Canaan. They did not have much faith in the Lord precisely because they were like those seeds which fell on the roadside or on the barren and rocky soil or on the good soil but with thorns and brambles surrounding them, which means that their faith in the Lord was not cultivated in a truly fertile ‘soil’ that is a commitment to a loving and good relationship with God. That was why they lost their faith in the Lord so quickly, especially when they were facing troubles and difficulties in their journey, leading them to complain and being ungrateful despite everything that God had done for them.

Yes, even after they had been given the manna and the flocks of bird to eat daily, and also good quality water to drink throughout their journey, they still complained nonetheless, and they could not be truly happy because they sought what was material and earthly in their desires, and not trusting in God Who has always loved them and provided for them throughout their whole journey. That would be what we may experience as well if we do not have true and genuine faith in the Lord, and if we do not put Him as an emphasis and focus in our lives. Each and every one of us as Christians should always strive and seek for things that are beyond this world and not to seek or desire for worldly glory and ambitions in this life.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Bridget of Sweden, who was born into a family of nobility in medieval Sweden. She was born in the early fourteenth century, and had a rather usual early life, being married to another nobleman, having several children, one of whom, St. Catherine of Sweden, was also honoured as a saint. When she was widowed by her husband’s death, she became the member of the Third Order of St. Francis, serving the needs of the poor and the less fortunate. St. Bridget herself also established the religious order later known as the Bridgettines, the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, a joint community of men and women dedicated to the care of the needy and the poor, those who are suffering and sick.

She also made many well-known pilgrimages to Rome starting with the Jubilee Year in 1350. Then subsequently, she made more pilgrimages to Rome and worked hard among the people there, caring for the need of those who were troubled by sickness and other maladies. She continued to dedicate herself wholeheartedly to the Lord to the end of her life and inspired many others to do the same as well. She received many visions from the Lord and was a renowned mystic in her own right, and many of her experiences and visions were documented, serving as inspiration for many more people beyond her time and reach. And all of us should also be inspired by her great faith and commitment in loving the poor and caring for the need of those who are sick and less fortunate, in whatever means and capacities we can contribute.

May the Lord continue to help us to appreciate all the love that He has given us, and inspired by the examples and faith shown by our holy predecessors like St. Bridget of Sweden among others, let us all continue to nurture in us a heart that is truly centred on the Lord and commit ourselves with ever greater conviction and faith to serve and follow the Lord at all times. If we provide this fertile ground by which the Lord’s truth, His Good News and teachings can be sowed and nurtured, then surely we will bear rich fruits of our faith and grow ever stronger in virtue and charity, and be good inspiration and example to others, and be worthy beacons of God’s light, now and always. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.