Reflection of the Bible

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Saturday, 22 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, one week after the celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption. Today traditionally therefore marks the last day of the celebration of the Assumption that used to extend for the entire week in an octave. And today, as we rejoice in the Queenship we recall what we had celebrated earlier in the Assumption of Mary.

Without the Assumption, there can be no celebration today of the Queenship of Mary, because we believe that Mary, who was assumed or taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, is now seated at the right hand of her Son in Heaven, as the Queen of Heaven, or more precisely the Queen Mother of Heaven, by virtue of the Lord Jesus, our God being the King of kings and King of all the Universe. If the Lord is King, then it is common sense that His mother is honoured as the Queen Mother.

Historically, the mother of the king has always been held in high esteem, and this also applied to the old kingdom of Israel, where king Solomon, one of its most famous king, had his mother Bathsheba seated by his side, providing him advice and guidance as the esteemed queen mother of the entire realm. Therefore, it is with this same consideration and tradition that Mary is honoured as Queen, the Queen of Angels, the Queen of All Saints, and the Queen Mother of Heaven.

It highlighted further the special role that Mary played in the history of our salvation, as it was by her full and complete cooperation, submission and obedience to God’s will, her faith and dedication that the Saviour of the world was born into this world. And by her Son’s grace, at the end of her earthly life, she passed through death without suffering for she was never subjected to sin, neither tainted by it, and enter the glory of Heaven as our greatest intercessor.

In Mary we have our Queen and our Mother, our role model and inspiration, our assistance and help in our darkest moments. Mary has always been praying for us, interceding for us sinners because she loves each and every one of us as her own children. The Lord has entrusted us to Mary His mother when He symbolically entrusted His disciple St. John to her as He was about to die on the Cross. And vice versa, we have also been entrusted with Mary as our mother when she was entrusted to the care of St. John the Apostle.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice today at the feast of the Queenship of Mary, our loving Mother and the Mother of our God and Saviour, we are all called to put our trust in our beloved Mother and seek her guidance and her intercession. Being our trusted Mother and the one who is closest to the Lord in Heaven, Mary is indeed our best ally and guide in this struggle we have against sin and in our journey towards God. As it is often said, ‘To Jesus through Mary’. Mary offers us the straightest and most direct path to her Son.

As we celebrate Mary and her Queenship, let us all strive to follow her examples in faith, in dedication and in her total commitment to God, that we may imitate her examples and be good and genuine Christians, that we may faithfully walk in God’s presence and be worthy of the eternal life and glory we are to receive. And Mary is an example of what all the virtuous and righteous people of God will receive, the eternal glory in heaven.

Let us all be obedient to God as Mary did in her life, in her complete acceptance and humility to take up her role as the Mother of the Lord and Saviour, and let us genuinely love the Lord from now on, showing it through our actions and our everyday interactions with each other, in loving those whom we meet in life, our brothers and sisters, especially those who need our love and those who are unloved and ostracised, those who are in darkness and need the love of God.

Let us all be like Mary in faith and let us all be loving as her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord guide us all and may He give us the strength to live our lives faithfully from now on, to the end of time. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of All Saints, Queen of Angels, our Mother and Queen, pray for us! Amen.

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Friday, 21 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us continue with the Scriptural discourse on the renewal of our lives by God, and the call which God has given to each and every one of us to be His followers. He has shown us that to be His disciples, we must all follow Him and obey His Law, and if we are faithful in doing so, then in the end, a new and glorious life with God will await us in the end.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard about the great vision of Ezekiel in which the prophet saw a great valley filled with immense amount of dry bones, symbol of death and destruction. And then God showed Ezekiel a great miracle, as those dry bones came together and were made whole again with muscles and sinews, with skin and came back to the human forms recognisable by man. And last of all, God gave those bodies the breath of His Spirit and the entire valley which was just earlier on filled with multitudes of dry bones, were then full of innumerable multitudes of the living.

Through this wonderful vision God wants to reveal to the prophet Ezekiel that through Him, all of us mankind are to receive new life and glory, free from death, which is the consequence of sin, and which in turn is the consequence of disobedience and unfaithfulness. The Lord therefore led His people into new life, new existence and new hope in Him, as He will forgive them all their sins, cleanse them from their faults and corruptions, returning them to the state of grace they were meant to be before the coming of sin.

However, if we are looking forward to this, then we must also be aware that we must follow God’s path, entrust ourselves to Him, obey His will and His commandments. And this means that we must listen to Him and fulfil His Law, as we heard in our Gospel passage today in which the Lord Jesus answered a Pharisee who asked Him, “Which of the commandments of God is the greatest among them?”, and the Lord succinctly summarised the whole Law into two main and most important Law for us.

And that is first and foremost for us to love the Lord, our God with all of our might, with all of our capacities and capabilities, and with every possible opportunities. And then, we should also show the same love to our fellow brothers and sisters, that we love one another generously, show genuine concern and care for our fellow brethren, and we should reach out to those who need our love so that we help one another to grow ever stronger in love and devotion to God.

It is when we know of God’s love that we may also love Him, and this is why it is important that we practice genuine love in our own lives, in loving one another and showing God’s love in every moments of our lives. Today, we also have a great role model and example, whose faith may inspire us all to be more faithful and to love God with ever greater devotion. As we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Pius X, also known as the Pope of the Holy Eucharist, let us remember his life and the many good and inspiring examples that he has set.

Pope St. Pius X was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto in Riese in northern Italy, in a large family of many children. His family was poor, but his parents valued education for their children, and thus, the young Giuseppe went to school each day, walking a long distance every day to reach his school. While his family were poor, but they were happy and faithful to God. The young Giuseppe studied Latin and eventually advanced further in his studies, and was ordained a priest and became the chaplain and parish priest of several parishes.

It was told how the future Pope St. Pius X helped to restore the dilapidated and poorly managed parish, causing many parishioners who had lapsed from the faith to return, thanks to his efforts and dedication in reaching out to those who were in need of guidance and those who who have been lost to the temptations of sin. He did his best to bring education to the poor and the marginalised, likely remembering his own hardships in attaining education in his early years.

He also spent a lot of time ministering and preaching the faith to the people with carefully crafted homilies and sermons, and spent a lot of time in catechising the young, which was told to be so popular that he had to begin evening classes in addition to his daytime classes as they were all fully filled up. For his energy and enthusiasm, his dedication and hard work, his Bishop appointed him as Chancellor and entrusted him with many important work in the diocese.

Eventually he was appointed and ordained as the Bishop of Mantua in northern Italy, in which capacity, he continued to minister passionately to the flock of the Lord placed under his care. He also remained a filial son to his parents, and after his father died, helped to take care of his aged mother, who managed to see her own son honoured and entrusted with the position of the Patriarch of Venice and also elevated to the Cardinalate by the Pope. When his elderly mother passed away, it was her son, Cardinal Sarto who presided over her Requiem.

Even as Cardinal, and later on as the Supreme Pontiff and Pope, Pope St. Pius X remained humble and ever dedicated to his work, in reaching out to the poor and the less fortunate, to the education of young children and to the spiritual growth of the Church and the faithful of all ages and backgrounds. And as Pope he was deeply loved and remembered for his many reforms, in his institution of liturgical reforms especially in the encouragement and expanded use of the Gregorian Chant as the primary sacred music of the Church.

Pope St. Pius X also lowered the age for the reception of Holy Communion that children can be taught to love God and brought closer to Him from the youngest possible age, with proper preparation and catechesis, which is why he is also widely known as the Pope of the Holy Eucharist. He also opposes the heresy of modernism, in attempting to change Church teachings to suit the changing world, and championed the return to the true faith and to restore all things in Christ as how his motto, ‘Instaurare Omnia in Christo’ shows us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Pope St. Pius X has shown us all how we should live our lives with faith, loving God first and foremost, and also loving our fellow brothers and sisters, our parents, our brethren, our family and relatives, our friends and even strangers, all those whom we encounter and interact with. Are we able and willing to live as genuine Christians from now on if we have yet to do so, following in the footsteps of Pope St. Pius X, holy man and servant of God?

Let us all trust our lives to the Lord, and allow God to bless our lives that each and every one of us may grow ever closer to Him and that we will grow ever more righteous and committed in faith, from now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Scripture passages today, we heard of the encouraging story of renewal and salvation that each and every one of us are to receive from God. We are reminded how God desires to make us whole again, cleanse and purify us from our sins, to renew us and to put a new heart and Spirit inside each and every one of us. This is a very clear sign of God’s enduring love for us, and all the more reason why we need to heed His call.

In our Gospel today, we heard a similar theme as we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking of the parable of the king and his son’s wedding banquet which alluded to the call that God has given to all of us His people. In that parable, a king held a grand and magnificent banquet for his son’s wedding, and invited everyone who had been known to the king and therefore, worthy of the joy that the king wanted to share as he celebrated his son’s wedding.

However, those who were invited to the banquet of the king refused to come for the wedding, although everything had been well prepared for them, and they truly ought to have been honoured to be invited as such. But they ignored the king’s invitation, pretended that they were busy and unavailable, found excuses of why they could not attend the wedding banquet to which they had been generously and kindly invited to, and there were even those who persecuted and killed the servants sent to them.

This is a reference and also a sad reminder of how many of us mankind, who are the sharers and invitees to God’s great and wonderful heavenly banquet, and yet, we did not appreciate just how fortunate and blessed we are to be part of this great banquet of the Lord, to be part of His great Covenant and to enjoy the fullness of His grace and love. Instead, we busied ourselves with the many worldly matters and desires, concerns and other things that distracted us.

That is why we rejected His love and mercy, preferring to chart our own path rather than trusting in Him and following Him. We shut ourselves from His generous love and kindness because we thought that we know better how to live our lives. And this is where we need to realise that unless we follow the path that the Lord has shown us, we are likely to fall into sin, and from sin, into eternal darkness and death, for there is no salvation outside God and His Church.

And then, we heard in the same parable, how the king then told his servants to gather everyone they could find, that they filled in the seats that those unworthy guests had refused to fill up earlier on. All the people were gathered into the banquet, from all sorts of places, and whether good or bad. All of these are symbolic of how God’s kingdom and His salvation are truly open to everyone and all have equal chance to receive His inheritance and to be part of His glorious kingdom.

However, we must then take note of how when one of the guests did not turn up in the right garment in attending the wedding, as is customarily expected at the time, and which is surely also expected in our communities today, an the king ordered the guest to be taken out and thrown into the outer darkness. While the turn of events might confuse and surprise some of us, but in fact, this reminds us also that while everyone is welcome and has been called by God to enter into His kingdom, but we must also wear the right ‘garment’ in order to do so.

What does it mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? Just as the Lord said in our first reading today through the prophet Ezekiel that He would renew us and put a new heart and Spirit in us, therefore, this ‘garment’ refers to the new self that we put on, replacing our old selves of sin and darkness. Through baptism, we have been cleansed from the taint and corruption of our original sins, and we have received a new life, sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ.

But we must also remain faithful to that Covenant and path we have chosen in God, as baptism is only just the beginning of a new journey of life, and not a happy ending. Baptism sets us on the right path and direction, but we must maintain our direction by remaining focused on God, and keeping our lives virtuous and filled with faith and love for God, as well as the love for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must not succumb again to the temptations that led us to ignore God’s love and mercy as I mentioned just earlier.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all discern carefully our path in life going forward from now on as we reflect on these Scripture passages today. Have we lived our lives as God has called and taught us to? If we have not, then perhaps it is time indeed for us to take on the ‘garment’ of faith and discard the old sinful self of ours. Today, let us all also be inspired by the good examples set by St. Bernard, a famous and dedicated holy saint of God, a holy man and Abbot.

St. Bernard, also known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a renowned Abbot who was instrumental in the major reform in the monastic practices in the early Medieval era, especially among the Benedictine monks that St. Bernard was an Abbot of, and he was also renowned for his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, St. Bernard was instrumental in his efforts opposing heretical teachings and also in improving the then increasingly lax spirituality, discipline and morality among not just the monks, but also the general Christian population.

He encountered many difficulties throughout his life and ministry, but all these did not hinder or discourage St. Bernard in his dedication to the Lord and His Church. In time, his efforts began to bear fruit as more and more people came to be attracted by his reforms, and many began to commit themselves to monastic life following the rigorous reforms enacted by St. Bernard for stricter discipline and deeper spiritual life.

St. Bernard even attracted his own family members to join religious life, and through his other efforts, his many writings and contributions, he inspired many others through his faith and dedication, and was even instrumental in making peace among states and kingdoms that were then feuding and in conflict with each other. And through all these and many other deeds, St. Bernard of Clairvaux has shown us, what it means for us to live with faith, and to wear our ‘garment’ of faith with joy and pride.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all proceed forth in life, with a new heart and Spirit filled with love and devotion to God. Let us all grow ever stronger in faith, and be ever more committed, each and every moments of our lives, to be good Christians, to be faithful children of God, and to be worthy to enter into the eternal kingdom of God. May God be with us always and guide us all into eternal life that He has prepared for us. Amen.

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Wednesday, 19 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard the Lord and His desire to call all of us to His presence, to care for us and love us wholeheartedly as He has always done, to be reconciled to us, all of His people who had been scattered due to our sins and disobedience, and as a result, became separated from the fullness of His love and grace. God wants each and every one of us to find our way to Him, to be loved again and to be righteous and good once again.

He showed through the prophet Ezekiel how God would take into account all those who have misled the people into sin, into the path of darkness and disobedience, as those who had been entrusted with the well-being and guidance of the people were lax and untrustworthy in their work, and those leaders and guides had instead pleased themselves and sought to fulfil their own selfish desires and wishes, and used their own positions to their own advantage.

All of these together are reminders for us how the Lord loves each and every one of us generously, and He has always cared for each and every one of us without exception. He has always been patient with us and kind towards us all these while. But it is often us who are making it difficult for God to help in the journey and struggle towards salvation and eternal life. The Lord nonetheless still patiently cared for us and showed His care and concern all these while, willing to forgive us and welcome us back if we are sincere in our repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Gospel passage today we then heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the parable of the workers of a vineyard, where the lord and master of the vineyard went out to many places seeking workers for his vineyard, and calling on all whom he encountered to work there. The workers laboured at the vineyard while the master went out again at the sixth hour, ninth hour and even up to the eleventh hour, the last hour before the conclusion of the work day.

And as we heard, those who worked earlier and were called earlier thought and expected that they would receive more pay than those who came later than them, only to be disappointed and grumbled among themselves because every single workers regardless of how long they have worked, all received the same reward of one piece of silver coin. But the Lord then rebuked these ungrateful workers, how he had called them to work and provided them with employment, and also as agreed, he had paid them all as agreed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we heard in this parable, the Lord wants us all to know that each and every one of us are equally beloved by God, regardless whether we have responded to His call first or heeded His call earlier than others. It does not mean that just because we followed God first then we are better and superior to those who follow Him later, and this definitely do not give us the right to look down on others. Even those whom God called at the last hour, like the ones called on the eleventh hour, have the same right to receive the fullness of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Unfortunately, this is what had happened to the same shepherds of the people of God whom the Lord mentioned in His words to the prophet Ezekiel. The many leaders of the Israelites, and for example, many among the Pharisees and the priests, the elders and the teachers of the Law who looked down on those who they deemed to be not as pious or worthy as they were, in the sense that those people did not follow the strict adherence and observance of the Law as the Pharisees had followed.

And in their ego and hubris they forgot purpose of their existence and responsibility as shepherds of the people. Instead of helping and guiding the lost sheep of the Lord to find their way to return to their loving Master, they closed the gates and prevented them from returning, and misleading them through their own misconceived and misinterpreted version of the Law. This is why the Lord chastised them such and spoke out against all these unfaithful and irresponsible servants.

We are therefore reminded, brothers and sisters in Christ, to be humble in life and to centre our lives and existence on God, and not on ourselves. And instead of trumpeting our own piety and achievements, let us all be aware of just how sinful each and every one of us have been, regardless the seriousness and magnitude of our sins. For sin is sin, and sin, unless forgiven by God, and repented with full sincerity on our part, sin will lead us into eternal suffering and death.

Are we able and willing to follow the Lord wholeheartedly without pride, arrogance, ego and greed, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we able and willing to help one another in faith and in persevering through the many challenges and trials in life, instead of condemning and being judgmental against others? Let us all today look then on the good examples set by the saint whose feast we celebrate this day, namely St. John Eudes, holy and dedicated priest of God.

St. John Eudes dedicated his life to God from early in his life, when he was just fourteen and made his First Holy Communion, and made a vow of chastity to God. He then joined as a religious member of the Oratorians after studying for a moment under the tutelage of the Jesuits. He then dedicated himself for many years as a priest, in ministering to the people and he was noted for his persistent care for the sick and those who were less privileged in the community.

In the years to come, he would come to be noted for his missionary efforts and powerful preaching, which would see him in hundreds of parishes and churches, preaching the word of God to many people, including even nobles and kings throughout Christendom. St. John Eudes was also remembered then for his efforts in reforming the seminaries and the spiritual growth of both the priests and laity alike, helping in championing the reforms of the education of the faithful.

Later on, as St. John Eudes founded the two religious orders of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge and also the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, known better as the Eudists after their founder, this holy and dedicated man of God continued tirelessly to reach out to many people, especially those who are spiritually troubled and those who are in need of help and assistance in living their faith. Many people would be saved by the efforts of St. John Eudes and the members of his congregations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to follow in the footsteps of St. John Eudes, the holy priest of God, in his faithfulness and in his love for his fellow brethren, reaching out to those who are in need of help, especially those struggling with their faith. Let us all follow in his footsteps and in the path set by our innumerable holy predecessors, realising that all of us have been called to holiness in God, even the worst of sinners. Let us all seek Him, with all of our hearts from now on, that we may truly glorify Him by our lives. May God bless each and every one of us now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 18 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of the Lord’s steadfastness in protecting all those who are faithful to Him, and how those who are wicked and unfaithful, those who oppress the faithful will not have their way forever, as sooner or later, the day of reckoning will come for them, justice will be served to them, and the righteous ones will triumph in the end together with God. This is what we can be sure of, as God Himself has guaranteed it, and history has also proven this right.

First of all, we heard of the story from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today, in which we heard of the prophecy and also the warning regarding the prince of the city of Tyre. Contextually and historically, the city of Tyre was the heartland of the Phoenicians and the centre of their vast maritime empire that spread far and wide. Tyre itself was very rich and the centre of a great trading network which earned its rulers vast fortune and great power.

That great wealth and power, coupled with the fact that the city of Tyre stood on an island separated by a stretch of sea from the land, with its strong maritime forces made Tyre and its rulers to be almost invincible and had nothing to fear from its enemies. And this is where then our first reading passage came in, as God revealed for all of its power and might, Tyre would also still falter and fail, as what was to be proven a few centuries afterwards when Tyre was conquered and destroyed by the forces of King Alexander the Great of Macedon.

Many of us know about Alexander the Great, his life and conquests, and his amazing military victories, in which he led his armies in defeating and conquering the entirety of the vast Persian Empire, and in the midst of that, he laid siege to the city of Tyre, destroyed its navy and other forces, starved the city and eventually, built a land bridge that ever since then connected Tyre to the mainland, and the city was eventually conquered, its people subjugated and enslaved, its buildings and riches destroyed and plundered. All happened just as the Lord had revealed about it earlier.

All of these are reminders for each and every one of us that we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by earthly goods and pleasures, by worldly desires and material concerns, by all sorts of things and temptations that will often prevent us from living righteously before God, and end up suffering like what Tyre and its proud people suffered. Tyre and its might depended on itself and its worldly glory, and they dwelled in their hubris and ego, and in the end, they were humbled and crushed.

This is related to what we then heard in our Gospel passage today, as we heard the Lord spoke of how difficult it is for those who are rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and how it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. This is not referring to an actual eye of a needle, but a metaphor that related to the fact that there is an actual gate called the Needle’s Eye gate in Jerusalem that is so small that a camel had to had its burdens and loads removed, and then stoop down its head and neck to be able to pass through the gate.

The reference to the camel passing through the gate called the ‘Needle’s Eye Gate’ is a symbolic message to the people that as the camel had to be rid of its burdens and stoop down to pass through the gate, thus, we mankind had to divest ourselves off our many ‘baggages’ in life and humble ourselves before we can enter into the kingdom of God. And when the Lord said that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven, it is not a condemnation of the rich, but rather, as I often mentioned, the attachments that we have to worldly things, and the rich are usually all the more susceptible to these.

Yes, the Lord did not say that the rich are bad, terrible or wicked, but rather, because they have more of these ‘baggages’, the ‘baggages’ of material possessions, of fame and influence, of worldly concerns, of worldly glory, of pride and ego, of our many desires in life, all these ‘baggages’, which are obstacles in our path towards God, are even more difficult to overcome for those who are rich and powerful. Yet, there are those who have managed to overcome, as we certainly know throughout history, those who are rich and powerful who were kind and generous, and there were saints that came from their midst.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us are reminded by today’s words of God to be ever vigilant and to guard ourselves against the temptations of pride and greed, that we will not be easily swayed by those that sought to bring us down by tempting us with all sorts of worldly pleasures I mentioned earlier on. Do not let the devil from manipulating us and attacking us by using all these against us. Instead, let us remove ourselves from any unhealthy attachments and obsessions in life, that we may be able to overcome the obstacles in our path towards God.

May the Lord continue to guide us all in this journey of life, and may He strengthen us all and give us the necessary strength and courage in life that we may persevere in faith despite the challenges we encounter and that we may be worthy of God and the eternal life He has prepared for each and every one of us who are faithful to Him. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 17 August 2020 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded that all these while, by our many sins, our disobedience and refusal to believe in God and in His laws and commandments, we have incurred God’s wrath and anger, just as how He had been angry at His people Israel, as described in our first reading today, as well as our Psalm, and how He chastised and disciplined them that they all might learn their lesson.

We heard from the first reading today, the words of the Lord addressed to His people in exile through the prophet Ezekiel, as the prophet showed them what would happen to the remnants of Israel in Judah and Jerusalem, how the whole kingdom, its king and people, the city and the proud Temple of God built by king Solomon, would all be crushed and conquered by the Babylonians. What was once the pride of all Israel, were to be torn down and destroyed, all because of their infidelity and disobedience.

This however does not mean that God did not care about His people, as if He truly did not care about us, or even hate us, then it would have been a simple matter for Him to let us all be destroyed, as such is the just punishment and consequences for our sins. On the contrary, it was exactly because He cares for us and loves us all dearly that He chastised and punished His people in the past, just as a loving father who truly loved his children would discipline his children while still loving them with all of his heart.

Let us all look at it from this perspective, brothers and sisters. God does not want us to fall deeper and deeper into sin, and that is why, where possible, He calls us, He guides us, and at times, if necessary, chastises and disciplines us, so that we will realise the errors of our ways. After all, in the end, which is better for us, to be suffering for a short while and realising the errors in our ways and turning back to the right path, or to enjoy the life as we know of and embrace all sorts of sins and wickedness, only to suffer for eternity?

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, He gave us all His Law and commandments. But the Law by itself is not enough, as we also must have the heart and the right attitude in our lives. And this is what we focus on in our Gospel passage today. When a man came up to the Lord Jesus and asked Him what he ought to do in order to attain eternal life, the Lord told him to obey the commandments of God and which the man, likely being a faithful adherent to the Law, obeyed in full, all the commandments that God had given in the Ten Commandments.

But then, when the Lord told him to leave behind his possessions and give them all to the poor, and follow Him wholeheartedly, the man suddenly became very sad and dejected, and went away in sorrow. All these are examples and what the Lord highlighted in the case when we may obey the Law of God, do what He has taught us to do, and yet, we have no genuine love and devotion to Him. It is possible to obey the Law of God and yet, having no genuine faith.

That is because, one can fulfil an act even without meaning what he or she had done. The man who came to the Lord obviously obeyed and followed the Law well, but when the Lord asked him to leave behind his worldly possessions and he immediately slumped and became dejected, these showed that the man loved those things more than God, that he could not even consider leaving one for the other. And this is also why many of us were unable to follow the Lord faithfully, erred and fell into sin as the Israelites had done in the old days.

The Lord does not mean literally that we must sell everything and abandon everything that we have and give them all to the poor. There are indeed those who chose to follow that path, as they gave everything and entered into religious life or other forms of vocations that dedicated themselves completely to God. Rather, what He wanted to convey to us is that we must not allow ourselves be easily swayed by the temptations of earthly goods and worldly possessions, of pleasures and comfort we have in life.

It is not the possessions and material goods themselves that are bad, brothers and sisters in Christ. For we can indeed use them for both good and evil purposes alike, and the choice lies on our hands on how we decide to make use of them. It is the attachments and indeed, the unhealthy obsessions we have over all of those things that are bad for us. The Lord does not want us to be owned and controlled by our desires for worldly materials and pleasures.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on all these which we have heard from the Scripture passages today, let us all discern how we are to proceed moving on in our lives. Are we able to follow the Lord wholeheartedly as we should have, giving ourselves in deep devotion and commitment to Him, no longer shackled by the temptations of worldly pleasures and desires, but instead, dedicating ourselves that in each and every moments of our lives, in our respective capacities, we will always glorify God by our actions and deeds?

Let us all draw ever closer to God and remain faithful as always to His laws and commandments. Let us all seek Him with ever greater devotion, and give ourselves to His cause from now on. May the Lord, our loving Father forgive us our sins and gather us all, His scattered children, back into His embrace, and welcome us all into the glorious new and eternal life that we will receive in the kingdom of Heaven. May God bless us, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 16 August 2020 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday each and every one of us are called to listen to the Lord and to open our hearts and minds to welcome Him, for He has indeed called all of us to follow Him, from all the nations, without bias and without prejudice based on race, culture, or by any other parameters and traits we often categorise people in. God wants us to know that we are all equally beloved by God, without exception.

In order to appreciate better the significance of our Scripture readings and the context of our reflection today, we need to understand that for many of the Israelites and their descendants, up to the time of the Lord Jesus and beyond, they saw themselves as God’s chosen ones, as the only ones who deserve salvation and the glory of God, while other peoples, the pagan nations and peoples, all of them would be destroyed and crushed, unless they accepted the Law of Moses in its entirety, essentially becoming one with the Israelites in culture and way of life.

In our first reading today, we heard the words of the Lord spoken through His prophet Isaiah, in which it was explicitly mentioned that the Lord has called foreigners, those so-called pagan people to follow Him and to walk in His path, to preserve His Law and commandments, and how His House will become the house of prayer for all the nations. He spoke of the time where people from all the places and from all countries will come together to glorify God, no longer divided by the mark of their race, origin or by any other parameters.

In our Gospel today, we heard something related when we listened to the story of the Lord Jesus and His interactions with a Syro-Phoenician woman, a non-Jew and Gentile, who came to Him begging Him to heal her daughter who was tormented and suffered from a demonic attack. But the Lord strangely seemed aloof and ignored her pleas saying that He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel, and even sounded very patronising to her and said bluntly, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and give it to the puppies or dogs.”

This has the strong connotation and example of how the Jewish people looked at their neighbours and treated them, so much so that the non-Jewish people were even treated as less than human and insultingly referred to as dogs. But the Lord did not intend to hurt or humiliate the woman when He said such things, rather He actually wanted to make an example of just how terrible were the prejudice and biases that existed in the community at that time.

And the Lord also wanted to show all the people and His disciples that the woman, despite the supposed ‘humiliation and degrading treatment’ still had faith even more powerful than the faith of those who called themselves the children of Israel. She trusted the Lord and had faith in Him and even humbled herself before Him and everyone saying, that even puppies and dogs eat of the crumbs of the bread that fall from the master’s table. This is a faith that surpassed the lack of faith showed by many among the Jews who had witnessed the Lord and His works, and refused to believe or even opposed Him.

Then, in the second reading today we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Rome, of the Apostle speaking of his calling as the Apostle to the pagan nations and peoples. St. Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles precisely because of this, as he put his emphasis in evangelising to the pagans, in reaching out not only to the Jews, but also the Greeks, the Romans and all the people to whom he had ministered during his many years of travel all around the Mediterranean region.

St. Paul spoke of how he called many among the pagans to embrace the ways of the Lord, and the frustrations he had in the refusal of many among God’s own people, the Jews and the others living in Judea, Galilee and the Jewish diaspora to believe in God and in His truth. Some among the Jews became the earliest Christians and they, indeed, the Apostles and many of the important disciples of the Lord, were the first foundations of the Church.

But there were great opposition from the chief priests, from many among the members of the Sanhedrin, that is the majority of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were opposed to the Lord Jesus, His teachings and works, who adamantly refused to listen to the words of the truth, and preferred to oppress those who spoke of the truth, that is the followers of the Lord. And it was these things that truly frustrated St. Paul, as it was also evident that many among the Jews took great pride in their status as a chosen race as mentioned earlier.

This prevailing attitude made it difficult for the early Christians as if we read the Acts of the Apostles, as the Jewish converts to the Christian faith initially demanded that all the observances of the laws of Moses and the rigour of the Pharisees’ way of observing the Law be kept as a fundamental aspect of the Church teachings and laws. The problem being that to demand of such imposition to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people were impractical and impossible.

For example, the practice of circumcision and dietary restrictions would be very difficult to implement among the non-Jewish peoples, as the former in particular was seen as a barbaric practice by the Greeks and the Romans, and which in fact had caused tension between the two peoples in the past before. And the strict dietary restrictions of the old Jewish laws were often not compatible to the practices and customs of the Gentiles.

To demand that the Gentiles adopt the practices of the Jewish people wholesale was in fact tantamount to the lingering feeling of superiority that the Israelites and their descendants had in relations to the other, often considered pagan peoples. They argued that unless they adopted the ways of the Jews, then the Gentiles were not worthy of the salvation and grace of God. And this is what St. Paul wanted to dispel, and the whole Church agreed under the leadership of the Apostles, not to impose the excessive old Mosaic laws, but only the most fundamental aspects of the Law, as revealed to the Church by Christ.

And St. Paul also did not condemn his people, the Jews, unlike what many Christians later on would wrongly practice. Many misunderstood the context of the Church teachings and the words of the Apostles into actions against the Jewish people which resulted in centuries of suffering and oppression for many among them. Instead, as he said in our second reading today, that his people, by their ‘jealousy over the the success of the ministry of St. Paul and the Apostles in bringing to righteousness the pagan peoples’ might themselves be saved as well.

Yes, and this means that while the people of Israel were the first ones called and chosen by God, they are by no means the exclusive benefactors of God’s grace and blessings. God created the entire human race because He loved all of them, and through and from the people of Israel, He therefore raised His Saviour, His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the bearer of the Good News of salvation, calling everyone, all the children of man, to the reconciliation with God.

One fundamental value that we must always keep in mind is the fact that each and every one of us are equal before God and are equally beloved by God. It is therefore not right for any one of us to be prejudiced, to be biased and act in ways that cause hurt and suffering for others just because we consider ourselves as superior or better compared to the other person, race or nation. And it is especially all the more important that as Christians, as God’s own beloved children, we put this as one of the cornerstones of our lives and actions.

This means that as the followers of Christ, we must treat one another equally, with love and with genuine concern for each other. We must not fall into the temptations of pride, ego and greed, all of which encouraged us to look inward, being selfish and self-promoting, seeking our personal joy and satisfaction over that of others. And it is sad indeed to see the history of our world, how people have acted unjustly on one another, persecuted and oppressed others, manipulated and extorted others.

Many people had suffered and died in the various racial and ethnic genocides that happened, wars and conflicts fought over our preference to focus on our differences and disagreements. People hurt one another because they deemed themselves to better and looking down at the others. In such a condition, obviously how can anyone expect to live peacefully and harmoniously with each other? As our long history has proven it, there had been so much sorrow and pain suffered all these while.

And in our world today, it is sad to see a rising tide of intolerance and selfishness once again, worst still at a time when we all need to be more united than ever. When the terrible pandemic swept all over the world, killing many and ruining many people’s livelihood, we saw how people are attributing blame on each other, and targetted people who had historically been discriminated against, and blamed or even attacked those who are different from them, deemed inferior and less worthy.

We heard how communities were threatened with rifts and disagreements, riots and troubles that occurred, when historic hurts and pains of unequal treatments, of prejudices and biases came to the surface again especially when everyone is under great pressure during these days. At the time when we need to be more united than ever, the devil is reaping dividends by sowing seeds of dissension and conflict among us. And unfortunately, many of us Christians are part of these as well.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, as we reflect upon the passages of the Scripture and internalise their message, we need to re-evaluate our lives and way of living, especially if we have discriminated against others before, looking down on others and thinking highly of ourselves and our faith. Let us first of all remember that the Lord loves every one of us equally and without bias or distinction. If God has done so, then why can’t we do the same then?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all as Christians be exemplary in our actions, in genuinely loving and caring our fellow brothers and sisters without bias and prejudice. Let us all seek the Lord with all of our hearts and minds together, that we truly may serve Him with faith, and together as one people, one Church of God envisioned by St. Paul, let us all go joyfully to God and His heavenly kingdom. May God, our loving Father continue to love us and bless us, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 15 August 2020 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering the moment when Mary, the Mother of God at the end of her earthly existence, was brought up body and soul into the glory of heaven, what is known as the ‘Assumption’ of Mary. This day we celebrate the moment when Mary enter the heavenly glory prepared for her by her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Pope Pius XII declared the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year of Our Lord 1950, just 70 years ago, but this did not mean that the Assumption of Mary is a new concept of our faith. Rather, it is a formal declaration that this important tenet of our faith is truly and undeniably part of our Christian deposit of faith, which our brethren in the Eastern Church also celebrate as the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, essentially the same in concept and purpose.

When we talk of the Assumption or the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes we confuse it with the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. The difference between the two is such that while the Lord ascended into Heaven by His own power, will and might, Mary is assumed into Heaven, by the will and power of God, and not by her own power, will or might. She received this great grace by virtue of her motherhood of the Lord, her being the Mother of God Most High, the Son of God and Saviour of all.

For the Lord Jesus is the conqueror of sin and death, by His suffering and death on the cross, in which He offered Himself as the perfect and loving sacrifice in atonement for our sins and faults. He triumphed over death through His Resurrection, showing that death, which is the consequence of sin, has no more power over us as long as we put our trust in God as Our Lord and Saviour. He has showed us the path forward beyond death and into a new life of eternal glory prepared for us.

And because of this, as I mentioned earlier, according to the traditions of the Church from the earliest history and beginning of the Church, Christians have always believed that Mary, the Mother of God, did not suffer death unlike all of us, as after all, how can the Mother of the One Who conquered death and triumphed over it by His resurrection be herself subjected to the same death? This is also linked to the strong belief in Mary’s Immaculate and sinless state, as from the earliest days of the Church, it has also been a belief of the Church that Mary was conceived without sin, the Immaculate Conception, and remained free from sin afterwards.

Mary was unique and special, by the singular grace of God because she was to be the new and infinitely better Ark of the Covenant. And just as the original Ark was crafted from the finest and most precious of earthly materials, thus, the New Ark, of the New Covenant was to be far exceeding the old Ark, by the pure and sinless state of this perfect New Ark, crafted not by the hands of any man, but by the hands of God Himself. Thus, that is why later on the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and in turn the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary came to be formalised by the Church.

The Assumption is a logical outcome of the belief in the Immaculate Conception, again because death is the consequence for sin, and although every man has to suffer death because we have sinned, no matter how small our sins are, but Mary, having been conceived without sin, was never tainted or corrupted by sin at all, and therefore, logically death did not just have any power over her, but she should not suffer death because she never sinned in the first place.

There are two major schools of thought on what exactly happened in the Assumption of Mary into heaven, both with Mary ending up in the glory of Heaven, by the side of her Son, interceding for us as she is still doing to this day. One is that Mary did die, because she shared in the death of her Son, and not death because of the punishment or consequence for her sins, which did not exist. She loved her Son so much that she shared in her Son’s death, but her body did not rot or perish. Rather, she was put to sleep and then, body and soul, assumed into Heaven.

Another school of thought is that, Mary was directly assumed into Heaven, body and soul, without even passing through any form of death at all. But regardless of how exactly the Assumption of Mary happened, the fact is that Mary is now up there in Heaven, having been assumed body and soul, and reigning with her Son as the Queen Mother of Heaven, seated by her Son’s side as His confident and beloved Mother, and as our greatest intercessor.

Through Mary, His mother, the Lord wants to show us and affirm to us that faith in Him will only lead to an eternal glory and a new and eternal life, one that is free from the taints and shackles of sin and death. And through the Assumption, the Lord wants to show us the foretaste of heavenly glory for us, as it is told that in the end of days, all of us will be raised from death, and in body and soul, joining God in the eternity of glory, while those who reject God and His mercy, will be thrown, body and soul into eternal darkness and suffering.

Mary is the shining beacon of hope reminding us all what will happen to those who are virtuous and faithful, as Mary did not just merit this great honour because she is the Mother of God and conceived without sin, but because throughout life she remained free from sin, and completely dedicated to God because of the love she has for Him, obeying His Law, and later on, giving herself completely and committed herself to loving her Son, following Him all the way to the foot of the cross.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? As I said earlier, God has shown us the sure promise of eternal life, a new life and existence no longer darkened by sin and suffering, filled with true and everlasting joy. However, all of these will only come to be when we follow the Lord and commit ourselves to Him wholeheartedly the way Mary has done in her own life. We can certainly do this if we strive and try our best, but the important question is, are we willing to do it?

Especially more than ever, during these difficult days and times, when the whole world is facing so many great challenges and trials, so many people were without hope and light in their lives, the Assumption of Mary is the beacon of hope that after everything that happened, we must not give in to those fears and uncertainties, but all the more we must trust in God and have faith in Him, looking at our blessed Mother, Mary for inspiration and example.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we mark this great and wonderful celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, let us all reinspect our lives and look deep into ourselves, into our every actions and how we have lived our faith life all these while. Let us all look forward with hope to our own future entry into the eternal life of glory with God, by taking the concrete steps to live righteously with faith in God just as Mary had done in her own life.

May the Lord be with us and guide us, and through Mary, His mother’s constant intercession and help, more and more of us, the children of mankind, may come closer to God and receive the love and grace of God, and come closer to achieving the desired reconciliation and reunion with God, by which we will forever enjoy the fullness of God’s love. O Mary, Holy Mother of God, assumed in glory, body and soul into Heaven, pray for all of us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Friday, 14 August 2020 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, tonight we celebrate the Vigil of the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering the moment when Mary, the Mother of God at the end of her earthly existence, was brought up body and soul into the glory of heaven, what is known as the ‘Assumption’ of Mary. Tonight we celebrate the moment when Mary enter the heavenly glory prepared for her by her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

When we talk of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sometimes we confuse it with the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. The difference between the two is such that while the Lord ascended into Heaven by His own power, will and might, Mary is assumed into Heaven, by the will and power of God, and not by her own power, will or might. She received this great grace by virtue of her motherhood of the Lord, her being the Mother of God Most High, the Son of God and Saviour of all.

For the Lord Jesus is the conqueror of sin and death, by His suffering and death on the cross, in which He offered Himself as the perfect and loving sacrifice in atonement for our sins and faults. He triumphed over death through His Resurrection, showing that death, which is the consequence of sin, has no more power over us as long as we put our trust in God as Our Lord and Saviour. He has showed us the path forward beyond death and into a new life of eternal glory prepared for us.

And because of this, according to the traditions of the Church from the earliest history and beginning of the Church, Christians have always believed that Mary, the Mother of God, did not suffer death unlike all of us, as after all, how can the Mother of the One Who conquered death and triumphed over it by His resurrection be herself subjected to the same death? This is also linked to the strong belief in Mary’s Immaculate and sinless state, as from the earliest days of the Church, it has also been a belief of the Church that Mary was conceived without sin, the Immaculate Conception, and remained free from sin afterwards.

Mary was unique and special, by the singular grace of God because she was to be the new and infinitely better Ark of the Covenant. And just as the original Ark was crafted from the finest and most precious of earthly materials, thus, the New Ark, of the New Covenant was to be far exceeding the old Ark, by the pure and sinless state of this perfect New Ark, crafted not by the hands of any man, but by the hands of God Himself. Thus, that is why later on the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and in turn the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary came to be formalised by the Church.

The Assumption is a logical outcome of the belief in the Immaculate Conception, again because death is the consequence for sin, and although every man has to suffer death because we have sinned, no matter how small our sins are, but Mary, having been conceived without sin, was never tainted or corrupted by sin at all, and therefore, logically death did not just have any power over her, but she should not suffer death because she never sinned in the first place.

There are two major schools of thought on what exactly happened in the Assumption of Mary into heaven, both with Mary ending up in the glory of Heaven, by the side of her Son, interceding for us as she is still doing to this day. One is that Mary did die, because she shared in the death of her Son, and not death because of the punishment or consequence for her sins, which did not exist. She loved her Son so much that she shared in her Son’s death, but her body did not rot or perish. Rather, she was put to sleep and then, body and soul, assumed into Heaven.

Another school of thought is that, Mary was directly assumed into Heaven, body and soul, without even passing through any form of death at all. But regardless of how exactly the Assumption of Mary happened, the fact is that Mary is now up there in Heaven, having been assumed body and soul, and reigning with her Son as the Queen Mother of Heaven, seated by her Son’s side as His confident and beloved Mother, and as our greatest intercessor.

Through Mary, His mother, the Lord wants to show us and affirm to us that faith in Him will only lead to an eternal glory and a new and eternal life, one that is free from the taints and shackles of sin and death. And through the Assumption, the Lord wants to show us the foretaste of heavenly glory for us, as it is told that in the end of days, all of us will be raised from death, and in body and soul, joining God in the eternity of glory, while those who reject God and His mercy, will be thrown, body and soul into eternal darkness and suffering.

Mary is the shining beacon of hope reminding us all what will happen to those who are virtuous and faithful, as Mary did not just merit this great honour because she is the Mother of God and conceived without sin, but because throughout life she remained free from sin, and completely dedicated to God because of the love she has for Him, obeying His Law, and later on, giving herself completely and committed herself to loving her Son, following Him all the way to the foot of the cross.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? As I said earlier, God has shown us the sure promise of eternal life, a new life and existence no longer darkened by sin and suffering, filled with true and everlasting joy. However, all of these will only come to be when we follow the Lord and commit ourselves to Him wholeheartedly the way Mary has done in her own life. We can certainly do this if we strive and try our best, but the important question is, are we willing to do it?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we mark the Vigil beginning this great celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, let us all reinspect our lives and look deep into ourselves, into our every actions and how we have lived our faith life all these while. Let us all look forward with hope to our own future entry into the eternal life of glory with God, by taking the concrete steps to live righteously with faith in God just as Mary had done in her own life.

May the Lord be with us and guide us, and through Mary, His mother’s constant intercession and help, more and more of us, the children of mankind, may come closer to God and receive the love and grace of God, and come closer to achieving the desired reconciliation and reunion with God, by which we will forever enjoy the fullness of God’s love. O Mary, Holy Mother of God, assumed in glory, body and soul into Heaven, pray for all of us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Friday, 14 August 2020 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded that we need to listen to God and put our trust in Him, and appreciate the wonderful love with which He has blessed us all these while, loving us so tenderly and generously that despite our many infidelities, our many betrayals and disobedience against Him, He still looks out for us and cares for us, and still wants us all to walk down the right path in life.

In our first reading today, all of us heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the Lord spoke at length about how His people had sinned greatly against Him, how they had disobeyed Him and sold themselves to the pagan idols and gods, worshipping those abominations instead of worshipping the true God, how they had persecuted His prophets and all those whom He had sent to them to remind them and call them to return to Him.

And yet, despite all of these, the Lord said through Ezekiel, that even in their most vulnerable moments, when they were completely troubled, humiliated and naked, He came by their side, clothed them and took care of them, just as how He had patiently watched over them for all those years without fail. And yet again, although God had blessed His people such and made them wonderful, but they chose to squander their blessings and beauty to commit sin against God and all sorts of evil.

Through all of these we can see how God had been so caring and patient towards us that He is willing to endure all these nonsense from us, and still provide for us and give us what we need. He will always uphold the Covenant that He has established with us as He has promised and nothing can separate us from the love and mercy of God, that is except our own stubborn rejection of His love and mercy, by which we closed ourselves from God and continued to fall deeper and deeper into sin.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord spoke to His disciples on the matter of divorce, as some among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were asking Him on the matter of divorce and what ought to be done as the Law of God handed down to Moses did allow for divorce to be done. And then the Lord immediately revealed how the allowance for the divorce was made only because the people was so stubborn in their ways and in refusing to follow the Lord’s ways, and some concessions were probably made to prevent the people from falling even further into sin.

But the Lord showed how God never intended for the people to treat their lives and actions into mere formality, as He wants all of them to love and to be true to their faith in whatever that He has called them to. This means that all of us are called to lead a God-centred life in our respective calling and way of life, just as He presented in today’s Gospel passage, in calling on all of us to do what the Lord has called us to do in our lives, in our various callings and vocations in life.

The Lord said how there are those who are destined for married life, while others were destined for a life of virginity and singlehood, dedicated to God, and all of these callings and vocations of life are all noble and good in their own accord, as how the Lord meant for them to be. What matters is that we love God, and devote ourselves to Him by being righteous, good and virtuous in life, and today, we have a perfect inspiration on how to do this, through the examples set by St. Maximilian Kolbe, a renowned holy saint and martyr of the faith.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and member of the Conventual Franciscans, who was chiefly remembered for his death in the concentration camp under the NAZI Germany tyranny. He was a longtime missionary, working for many years in distant lands after he joined the Franciscans and became a priest. He worked in Japan for quite a few years, evangelising and spreading the word of God, continuing the efforts he had begun when he was in Poland with the organisation Maria Immaculata, aimed at opposing the enemies of the Church and calling them to repentance through faith.

St. Maximilian Kolbe established monasteries in Japan and also in India during his missionary years, before he returned to Poland not long before the outbreak of the Second World War which would come to engulf not just Poland but the entirety of Europe and much of the world. As we know today, this war surpassed all others in ferocity and brutality, as millions and many more perished from many brutal actions of states and all those who disregarded the sanctity of human life and existence.

Although St. Maximilian Kolbe himself had German ancestry, which could have earned him the right of equal treatment with the citizens of NAZI Germany at the time, he refused to cooperate with the oppressors and those who brutally treated and killed many, and worked to hide and provide shelter to many of those who were oppressed, especially the Jews who were unable to escape, and were prime targets in the ethnic cleansing and genocide efforts of the NAZIs.

This led to the eventual forced closure of the monastery in which St. Maximilian Kolbe operated, together with some other friars, he was arrested and put into prison for the secret anti-German activities they carried out in defending the dignity of human life and also their opposition to war and the German actions. He was then transferred to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, and there, he continued to minister to the people imprisoned there in the camp as a priest, despite the harassments and humiliations he had to endure daily.

And when a prisoner managed to escape from the concentration camp, the Germans forced ten people to be punished by starving to death to deter further attempts at escape. A Polish man who was selected cried out ‘My wife! My children!’, knowing that he was about to die, only for St. Maximilian Kolbe to step in and offered himself in exchange for the man. St. Maximilian Kolbe chose freely to die, in his love for his fellow brother, who was grieving over not being able to see his family anymore, and thus, died in martyrdom, a martyr of justice and faith, a martyr of love and mercy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Maximilian Kolbe has shown us all what true Christian love and true Christian faith are all about. He showed us the same love that God has shown us, one that is pure, genuine and selfless, the love with which He has cared for us, provided for us and being patient with us all despite our infidelities and lack of faith. Are we able to love God with the same love and dedication? Are we able to love one another in the same way too?

These are the questions that we really should ask ourselves as we evaluate our direction in life, in our approach towards righteousness and in distancing ourselves from our past sinfulness and all the things that had brought us into sin. Let us all be inspired by the faith and love showed by St. Maximilian Kolbe and strive hard to be true and faithful disciples of the Lord, filled with love for God, first and foremost, and for our fellow brothers and sisters. May God be with us all and bless us, now and always. Amen.