Reflection of the Bible

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Tuesday, 4 September 2018 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings presented to us a deep mystery of our faith and an issue which often comes into our minds, whenever we try to understand the Lord and His works in the midst of our lives. In our attempt to perceive God and His presence, we are often frustrated because we cannot seem to feel or to understand His works amongst us.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, he explained in great detail how the Spirit of God is in work in all, and it is through the Spirit of God, that is the Holy Spirit, that we have received the revelation of God’s truth, and even then, only the Spirit Himself has the fullness of revelation and truth, such that even for us Christians, we are still not yet endowed with the fullness of truth.

And St. Paul mentioned in the same Epistle passage that a spiritual experience is required for the faithful to be able to understand and to appreciate what God has done in our midst. A spiritual experience and conversion is required, and not just on the intellectual or psychological level. Those who do not have the spiritual experience and understanding, will not be able to understand the great depth of God’s mysteries and truth, unless they receive this experience, that is faith.

We see in our world today, plenty of skepticism and even opposition against God, as many of us mankind are focused on what exists on the material world and on the tangible plane, and ignoring what exists on the spiritual plane and existence. That is why we have many people who tried to use evidences and misusing scientific knowledge and discoveries in order to disprove the existence of God. But the Lord, Our God cannot be proven in existence just merely on the physical, psychological and intellectual areas alone, for in order to understand Him, and know Him, we must delve deeper into the depth of our spirit.

For our spirits were given to us by God, placed in us as part of the gift of life we have received from Him. While our physical flesh and existence are mortal and temporary, but our spiritual existence and self is eternal. While our physical self can be destroyed and erased from existence by earthly forces and by death, nothing can destroy our existence in the spirit and in our soul.

That is why, now, we should look upon what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, of the moment when the Lord Jesus cast out a demon inside a possessed person while He taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. This happened right after He was chased out of His own village of Nazareth, as mentioned in yesterday’s Gospel reading, when He proclaimed to the people of Nazareth that all the prophecies of the prophets were fulfilled in Him, as the Messiah of God.

By comparing the two occasions, we can see a great irony in how, the people of God, even those who knew Him the most, the people of His own hometown in Nazareth, could not recognise Him and even rejected Him, refusing to listen to Him or to obey Him, but an evil spirit, a demon, possessing a person, immediately recognised Him for Who He is, and spoke openly before the people of the true identity of Jesus Christ, not just the Messiah, but also the Son of God.

Why is this so? That is because the man recognises someone based on what his eyes can see, and what his ears can hear, and what his senses can perceive, but the spirit recognises by what the spirit itself understands, for all things were created by God, and were all good and perfect in the beginning. All the Angels and even fallen angels and demons were created by God, together with all of creation. But the fallen angels and demons fell from grace, and through their disobedience against God, were cast out of heaven.

Yet, they still have to recognise God for Who He is, and regardless of their rebellion and prideful disobedience, they cannot go against the power of the Lord, Who is still their true Lord and Master. Even Satan himself, the great enemy, has to bend his knee at the Holy Name of Our Lord, and at every mention of Our Lord’s Name, Jesus Christ, even Satan has to submit to God’s will and power. That is why the evil spirit recognised and acknowledged the Lord’s power at that time in Capernaum.

Why was it then that the people failed to recognise God in their midst? That is because their hearts and minds were too full of pride and other distractions which prevented them from truly being able to recognise God’s presence among them. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were distracted by their pride and their desire to maintain their teaching authority, that they refused to allow the Lord’s truth to enter their hearts, seeing Jesus as a Rival instead of as the Teacher.

The others were too distracted by the many temptations in life, by misinformations of the Pharisees, or by their inability to internalise what they have seen in order to recognise the presence of God in their midst. They did not yet have faith in them, and that was why, they failed to recognise Him even though they have seen all the miracles that God had performed in their midst. They have closed their hearts and minds to Him, and they did not allow Him to have place in their hearts.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what shall we do with our lives then? Are we going to follow the examples of the people in Capernaum and all those others who have not been able to realise the presence of God in their midst? Are we going to be so distracted with the many distractions in this life, that we end up not being able to recognise God being present in our midst? Let us all reexamine our lives and think of what we should have done from now on, that we will become true disciples and followers of Our God.

Let us all deepen our spiritual relationship with the Lord, and spend more time to develop a genuine and true faith in Him, by the means of prayers and devotions, through which we may communicate with God, allowing Him to reveal to us the truth and the knowledge about His love and His will for us. Let us all draw ever closer to the Lord, and may all of us come to know the Lord more closely day after day.

May the Lord continue to watch over us, protect us, and guide us. May He allow us all to see the fullness of His loving works in our midst, and that we may grow ever deeper in holiness and love for Him and for our fellow men. May God bless us all and all of our works and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 3 September 2018 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture passages we listened to the words of the Lord, speaking to us about the matter of the revelation of His truth, which He revealed to us through first, the prophets and messengers, and later on, in its fullness of truth, through the Lord Jesus, Our Lord and God. He came to us with the Good News of His salvation, that we may come to know of His love and saving grace.

However, in the Gospel passage today, we heard of the unfortunate moment when the Lord Jesus went back to His hometown village of Nazareth, where He encountered opposition and rejection from none other than His own fellow countrymen and even perhaps close friends and relatives, all those who have known Him since His youth and lived around Him for many years.

And the Lord Jesus also made the point through His discourse, how prophets and messengers were not welcome in their own lands and homes, and were rejected by those who knew them well. Ironically, it was those who did not know the prophets and the messengers of God, including the example of the Lord Jesus Himself, that were willing to listen to God’s truth.

Now, we must truly wonder, why was it that the prophets and the messengers, including the Lord Jesus Himself were rejected by the people whom they knew well? In order to understand this, then we must understand how human relationships and thinking work. In our own relationships with others, we always want to find out about others, and when we do so, we make ideas, prejudices and bias in our minds, subconsciously.

What does it mean? It means that just as the saying goes, ‘First impression lasts’, we mankind are very easily impressionable by what we see and by what we hear and sense, and therefore, forming an opinion on something or someone almost as immediately as we witness that something or someone. This is what we have done to everyone and everything we encounter in life, as how we judge them by our human intelligence and wisdom.

But what is flawed is that, we often make assumptions and presumptions based on our own limited understanding and limited awareness of what is actually happening. That is what happened to those who rejected the prophets and messengers, just because they thought that they knew those whom God had called to be His servants. They must have argued that just because they knew those who were to be prophet and messengers, then they could not believe the authenticity of what the prophets have taught and declared.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is what happened to the Lord in Nazareth as well. He was, in the eyes of the people of Nazareth, a mere Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph. And a carpenter was a very often overlooked profession, paid lowly and considered as a menial and tough job that no one wanted to do as a profession in their lives, unless they had no choice to do so.

By the standard of that time, carpenters and their families were usually very poor, and because of their poverty, they typically were uneducated. Hence, the people of Nazareth took offence at the Lord Jesus, just simply by the fact that His wisdom, the way He preached and taught to them, and how He had worked His miracles and showed His powers, which words would have reached their ears, could be something that was a reality.

They could not reconcile the fact that all those miracles and wonders, all the wisdom they heard being taught and the truth revealed to them about the fulfilment of the prophecy of the prophets, came about through the mere Son of a carpenter Whom they have seen growing up in their midst. To them, it was an affront and insulting that such things have happened, and they blamed the Lord for that.

In reality, it was their human wisdom and limited understanding, their pride in them that caused them to reject the Lord. They could not stand of being outshone by someone Whom they had known for so many years, Who suddenly revealed Himself as the Messiah of God right in their midst. Thus, they hardened their hearts and shut their ears off, refusing to listen to and accept the truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is often that we are also to blame for the same kind of attitude in our own respective lives. Too often it has been that we mankind are not receptive to suggestions and to the truth of God, just because we think that we know everything or that we cannot be wrong. This attitude caused us to shut ourselves off even from the Lord Who is trying to show us the way to the truth.

Today, we celebrate the feast of the great Pope, Pope St. Gregory the Great, who was remembered for his great piety and dedication to the growth and reform of the Church and the faith. Pope St. Gregory was remembered for his long years of dedication and service to God, as a monk and later on as the Papal ambassador to the Emperor’s court in Constantinople. He was remembered for being a strict yet dedicated and faithful person.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was in truth a very humble person. When he was elected to the office of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as the successor of the Apostle St. Peter, leader of the entire Universal Church, he disavowed publicly any form of worldly ambitions and desires, stating clearly that he would devote his whole life to the service of God alone, and nothing else.

And he was remembered for his great commitment to the fulfilment of God’s works in the Church, in his reform of the Christian worship and liturgy and his great charitable efforts to the poor and to the needy, his fervent and strong opposition against all those who espoused heretical thinkings and teachings. His contributions to the Church were immense and yet, he remained after all, humble and focused towards God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all learn from the good examples shown by Pope St. Gregory the Great, that we may also learn to be humble and to be committed in living our lives with faith and with humility, that we may open our hearts and minds fully to the Lord, Who wants to show us the truth about Himself and yet, many of us have not allowed Him to speak in our hearts and minds because of our pride and stubbornness.

May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to bless us with His truth, that we may come to learn more and more about His love, and therefore, come to love Him even deeper in our own lives. May the Lord be our guide through our lives and show us the way to Himself. Pope St. Gregory the Great, holy servant of God, pray for us. Amen.

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Sunday, 2 September 2018 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we listened to the Scripture passages with regards to the Law and the commandments which God has given to us all, His beloved people, beginning from the time of the Old Testament, when God first revealed His laws and His truth to the people of Israel, descendants of Abraham, whom He had chosen to be the first people He called as His own.

In the first reading today, we heard from the passage taken from the Book of Deuteronomy about the exhortation which Moses, the leader of Israel, gave to the entire people with regards to the Law which God had revealed before the people, and which He had expected the people to follow and obey. It was then also that, it was mentioned how the people must follow the Law without adding or taking away anything from it, but just obey the Law in its complete fullness.

And this is related to what the Lord Himself presented before His people, in the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. In that Gospel passage, we heard of the frustration and the anger which the Lord felt towards the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who He decried as hypocrites with a shallow and superficial faith in God. This means that they did not keep a true and genuine faith.

He took great issue out of this particularly because those people were the ones entrusted to safeguard and preserve the Law, as well as teaching them to the people that they may keep them from generation to generation. They were the ones who were supposed to safeguard the Law from corruption and perversion of falsehood, and yet, they were the very ones who had corrupted and subverted the Law to their own selfish purposes.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law followed their own interpretation of the Law and the commandments, insisting that the people must follow their version of the Law and the commandments. And their version of the Law demands that everyone must follow all the rigid and unreasonable demands of their interpretation of the Law. They demanded many external observances of the Jewish customs, right to the smallest details.

For example, in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees took great issue and were offended that the disciples of the Lord did not follow the strict requirement of ritual cleansing and washing of oneself before a meal, which in fact involves a great detail of washing sequences, of the whole hands and arms right to the elbow. To the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, because the disciples did not obey the Law in the manner they prescribed, the disciples were considered unclean and unworthy.

That was the same sentiment they likely shared about the Lord Jesus, with Whom they had many issues and clashes throughout the occasions of His ministry. They thought of Him as someone Who is against the Law, even to the point of accusing Him of committing blasphemy against God, and of spreading His supposedly unorthodox teachings and ways among the people.

Yet, what the Lord Jesus taught was the truth, and it was the pure Law of God revealed to the people without the corruption of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the past generations of the people of God. He revealed to everyone the true meaning of what God has given to His people in His Law, the Law of Love, that is the set of ordinances and rules meant to bring the people of God to understand the fullness of His love.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, unlike the laws and rules practiced and propagated by the Pharisees, which were exclusive and punitive in nature, in how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law excluded and were prejudiced against those who did not follow their version of the Law, the true Law of God is inclusive and loving, and was meant to show the people how to love God and to love one another.

The Lord Himself revealed that the entire Law could be summarised into two key commandments, first of which is to love the Lord, Our God with all of our hearts, with all of our minds, with all of our strength. He is the first and foremost One for us to focus our love and attention on, and He must exist at the very core and centre of our lives. This is the key principle of the Law.

And because we love God, Who is so full of love, then naturally we must imitate His love for us mankind, and show the same love towards our fellow men, the second of the two key commandments of the Law. This means that for us to be able to obey the Law in its entirety and in its true intention, we must then internalise the Law and understand what it means for us to be followers of God.

First of all, the Law is a gift from God and is about bringing us closer to God and to help us to know more about Him and to get closer to Him. It is not for the glorification of ourselves just as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done. Those people abused and misused the Law to suit their own desires and to satisfy their human pride. Instead of using the Law to bring the people of God closer to Him, they chased people away from God by their exclusivism and self-righteous attitude.

As the Lord Jesus rightly pointed out in another occasion in the Gospels, the Pharisees, teachers of the Law and others did not observe the Law because they truly understood the Law and its purpose, but rather because they wanted to feel and gain the glory and praise from man, to feel the euphoria and pride of being at the centre of attention and human applauses, when they were praised for their supposed piety and obedience to the Law.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, how about we ourselves? Have we acted in this manner in our own lives? It is a sad reality for the Church, seeing how many of the faithful coming for Mass or any other Church activities, not because they loved God or were filled with the desire to love Him, but because they wanted to be seen by others, vying with each other for prestige, fame and glory. That is also how bickering and rivalry end up creating bitterness and pain in the Church, in many Church ministries and activities.

And when these things happen, we end up causing scandal for our faith, because instead of showing true examples of Christian discipleship and faith, we end up turning people away from the Lord, causing many to be disillusioned with the Church and the faith by our actions. That was exactly what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done as well, turning the people of God seeking His mercy and forgiveness away and misguiding many others from the true path towards God.

Many of us unfortunately do not truly appreciate and understand the importance of obeying the Law of God in our own respective lives. That is why many of us eventually lose our faith and become indifferent. Many of us do not know why we have to come for the Holy Mass on Sundays of the Lord, and we did these just because it is merely an obligation to do so, or for some of us, we were afraid that if we did not obey, we would end up falling into hell.

That is why, it is important, brothers and sisters in Christ, to understand and appreciate both the letter and the spirit of the Law. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as well as many of us only focus on the letter of the Law, but do not understand the spirit of the Law. What is this spirit of the Law? It is the true understanding of what God’s Law means for us, that is to bring us closer to God, to be more like God, to be loving just as the Lord, Our God is full of love.

Therefore, today, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all deeply reflect in our hearts and minds, and be thankful to God for what He has done for us. He has loved us so much, that despite our wretched state, our unworthiness and our disobedience against Him, all the sins we have committed against Him, He was still so full of love and mercy for us, that He gave us all His Law and Commandments. And He gave us His own Beloved Son, through Whom we receive the fullness of truth of the Law, and the perfect proof of His love.

For He gave everything to us, even to the point of suffering and dying for us on the cross, so that by His selfless love, He may bring us all into a new life and existence, no longer burdened by sin, but each and every one of us may be worthy of God and His love, and to receive forever, the fullness of His inheritance and love. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to love us and guide us in our journey of life, that we may reach Him through the guiding hands of the Law He has given us. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 September 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the message of the Sacred Scriptures speaking to us how each and every one of us have been called and chosen by God, and entrusted with a special responsibility, unique for each and every one of us, that for each one of us, we may do our part in taking care of what God has entrusted to us, as His servants and stewards of creation.

Today marks the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which was instituted by our Pope, Francis just in the recent years. This day is a reminder for us, that each and every one of us are God’s stewards and caretakers of what He has created in this world, for our sake. From the Book of Genesis, God has created everything in the universe, and last of all, creating us man in His own image, and entrusted all of creation to our care.

But unfortunately, our first ancestors chose to disobey God instead of obeying what He has commanded them to do. Instead of listening to God and following His ways, and thus, receiving from Him the fullness of the love and grace He intended to give us, we received only suffering and pain, death and destruction as the just punishment and consequences for our disobedience and sins.

And all of these were caused by our greed, our insatiable desires for worldly things. The desires that Adam and Eve had for the knowledge over good and evil, the knowledge that the devil tempted them with, saying that they would be like God, made them to disobey God and to exercise their stewardship with uttermost irresponsibility and lack of proper judgment.

In the Gospel passage today, this is what the Lord spoke of to the people, using the parable of the silver talents to show them what it means to be a true disciple of God, entrusted by Him with the many gifts, and with those gifts, equally many responsibilities according to what gifts and talents that He has given to us, to each and every one of us in our own uniqueness.

In that parable, we heard of a master of servant who gave different amount of silver talents to three of his servants, to one he gave five talents, while to another he gave two talents, and to the last one, he gave one talent of silver. A talent is a large unit of mass used to measure the amount of silver or any other precious metals used at that time. And it is a large amount indeed.

But in how the servants made use of the talent, we can notice a great difference between those who put the silver talent into good use, investing them and gaining returns from them, with the one who hid the silver talent and did nothing with it. The master was pleased with those who made good use of the silver talent and rewarded them with even more of what he owned, to be entrusted to them.

But the one who failed to make good use of the silver talent was punished and suffered because of his refusal to obey the will of his master, and for his failure to make use of what have been given to him. He has been given with something that he could have used for a good use and gained immeasurably more from it, and yet, he consciously and willingly chose not to act on it.

Now, the same fate awaits us, should we fail to use whatever talents and gifts that God has given us, or even abuse it for the wrong purposes. We will be held accountable should we misuse all that God has entrusted to us, in our care of the world around us, as well as in how we interact with one another. Sadly, this is what we mankind have often done in our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us reflect on every moments when we have failed the Lord, by treating our brethren without fairness, and ignoring the plight of the needy and the poor in our midst, when we could have extended a helping hand, and caring for them in whatever way we can, even in small things. How many of us have done this in our own lives?

Let us all from now on make good use of what God has given us, and no longer be filled with greed and desire for ourselves that we end up abusing or making the wrong use of what we have been given and been blessed with in life. Let us all learn to be selfless and loving, in all the things we do, that rather than hiding what God has given us in love and blessings, we share them with others who have little or none of these.

This is our calling as Christians, to be loving and compassionate, to show mercy and love towards our fellow men, as well as care and concern towards our world and all that lives in it, as responsible caretakers and stewards of God’s creations. May the Lord be with us and may He continue to strengthen in us, the love which we ought to have for each other. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 31 August 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the readings of the Scriptures again reminding us the importance for us to listen to God and to trust in His will and obey His commandments, for His ways and wisdom are far greater than the very greatest of our wisdom and intellect, and no human achievement is indeed possible without God’s blessings.

In the first reading today taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, we heard of St. Paul speaking of the truth which the Lord had brought to His people, His wisdom which has been revealed to the whole world. And he pointed out how there were those who refused to listen to the Lord or shutting themselves off from the truth simply because they could not get rid of their pride and arrogance.

And this is related to what we heard in today’s Gospel passage, where we heard the Lord Jesus teaching His disciples by the means of a parable. He spoke to them about the parable of the five wise women and the five foolish women, comparing them to the comparison between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God. The five foolish women represented those who put their trust in human wisdom and refused to obey God’s truth and wisdom.

Meanwhile the five wise women represented all those who trusted in the Lord and obeyed Him. Those who were wise were prepared for the coming of the bridegroom who was delayed in coming, while the ones who were foolish were caught unprepared by the delay and were not ready when the bridegroom suddenly came in the middle of the night. This is actually a reminder of how fleeting and impermanent our human existence is.

How is that so? First of all, many of us live our lives in this world with the intention to satisfy our own desires and wants. We live our lives seeking for things that make us happy such as having more money, more material goods, more prestige, fame, glory and other parameters of ‘success’ as defined by the world.

And quite a few among us were obsessed with attaining more and more of those indicators of worldly success and to satisfy our ever growing desire. We must know, brethren, that we mankind are very difficult to satisfy with any sorts of worldly goodness and temptations, for the more that we have and gained, the more it is that we desire, for even more of what we have gained.

We must remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that it does not matter how much money we accumulate, or how much prestige and fame we gather in the community and the society, or how many possessions and things we have with us, but none of these will matter when we are called to face the day of reckoning, when we encounter the moment of our death as the Lord willed it.

All of us spend much of our time trying to enrich ourselves in various ways, and to gather for ourselves as many worldly satisfactions as we could gather. But in the end, none of these could give us the chance to live even a moment longer than the time given to us by the Lord. And in the end of it all, many of us would come to regret that we have not done what we should have done, and instead, falling into temptation, we sinned against God and disobeyed Him.

As a result, many have fallen into damnation out of our inability to resist the many temptations the devil has prepared against us, and out of our own lack of commitment to the Lord, as well as our lack of preparation, that we are caught unprepared when the time comes for each one of us to give an account of what we have done and what we have failed to do in our respective lives.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard our Scripture passages today, let us all spend some time to reflect on each and every one of our lives today. Let us all think of how we can improve our lives by living them more closely attuned with the Lord, and by devoting ourselves ever more to the Lord, Our God. Let us all seek to be more faithful, from now on, by truly living up to our faith in each and every action we do.

May the Lord strengthen us in our faith and affirm us in our commitment to live each and every day of our lives with us all being ever ready and ever prepared whenever it is the Lord wants to call us to Himself. We are called to be holy just as Our Lord is holy. Therefore, let us from now on be true Christians, filled with God’s love and faith. Let us all put our complete trust in Him and not in our worldly strengths. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 August 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded of our obligations as Christians to be true to our faith, and to be worthy and ready at all times for the Lord, Our God. Each and every one of us, as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, have been sanctified and made worthy by the Lord Jesus Himself, Who has given His own Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and sent us the Holy Spirit.

He has given us the rich and wonderful inheritance of His grace and many blessings, and all these He has given us because of His love for us all. All of us have been entrusted by God with the stewardship of our own lives in this world, entrusted with the many things we have possessed in this life, as His stewards and caretakers of this world. And this is related to what we have heard in our Gospel passage today.

In the Gospel today, we heard about the parable of the faithful and unfaithful steward, in which the contrast was placed before those who heard the Lord, between a prudent and good servant of a master, who obeyed the master’s commands and desires, and did all that he was supposed to do, and then, with a wicked and unfaithful servant, who did not obey the commands of his master, but delayed in doing what he was supposed to do.

The good steward and servant did not delay in doing the will of his master, putting his master’s will and expectations above that of his own ones. But the bad and wicked servant enjoyed life and abused his authority and position, and put his own desires and wishes first above that of his master’s. And he even took pride in thinking that he was safe, as he thought that his master would be delayed in returning.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in what we have heard and learnt from the Gospel passage, all of us are reminded not to be like the bad, wicked and lazy servant, who only thought about himself and his own needs. In his selfishness and pride, he has led himself into his own downfall. The master caught the lazy servant unprepared, and sent him to his own doom.

Now, this is a reminder for us all, that we must be ever prepared and ever ready for the reckoning of our lives, as we must realise just how fragile our human life and existence is. All of us will one day, sooner or later experience death, that is the ending of our mortal and earthly existence. And at that moment, we will be judged on our actions and deeds in life, our obedience and disobedience against God, our fulfilment or failure to fulfil God’s will.

Now, do we want the fate like that of the wicked and lazy servant, who was caught unprepared by his master when he suddenly returned? The same fate will be ours should we ignore God’s reminders and calling for us, to repent and turn away from our sinful ways. If we do not actively resist the temptations of life and all sorts of pleasures and distractions that the devil placed on our path, then we will end up falling badly in our journey of faith.

Let us all remember this, brothers and sisters in Christ, the suffering of those who have rejected and disobeyed God, and refused to listen to Him. Let us all seek the Lord from now on with all of our hearts and with all of our strength. May God be with us all, and may He continue to watch over us and strengthen us, that we will always walk faithfully in His path, and not fall into the temptation of human pride and greed. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 August 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Passion of St. John the Baptist, which marks the moment when St. John the Baptist suffered and endured death because of his righteousness and courage against the king Herod of Galilee. St. John the Baptist spoke up against the king on his adulterous behaviour with Herodias, his deceased brother’s wife, and as a result he was put in prison.

St. John the Baptist was the one whom God sent into this world to be the Herald of the Messiah, the one who would proclaim the coming of the Saviour of the world and the one who would prepare the way for the coming of Christ. He called many people to repent from their sins, and baptised them with water in the River Jordan. He spoke up against the sins and wickedness of the people, and called them to turn away from those sins.

He did not mince his words when he spoke up against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who came to him and questioned the origin of his teachings and baptism, calling those people as brood of vipers. He acted in the same way towards the king and his entourage, speaking out on the king’s adulterous behaviour and actions. This was what St. John the Baptist had done, even though surely he must have known that it would have landed him in prison.

In the first reading today, God spoke to His prophet Jeremiah, whom He sent to the people of Judah during the last years of existence of the kingdom of Judah just prior to the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem. He promised and reassured the prophet that He would be with him, even when the whole world rose up against him, and despite all the challenges he had to endure.

And today, we are reminded that we can indeed learn from these experiences the servants of God had endured. First of all, we are reminded that God is always with us, and He is always on our side, even when things are not in our favour, or when seemingly everything goes against us in our lives. Many of us did not dare or were reluctant and hesitating in fulfilling God’s commandments, because we were afraid of the opposition against us.

It is natural for us to feel fear and insecurity from all these oppositions and challenges. No one, no matter how courageous or brave, will not be affected by fear in their hearts, as it is part of our human weaknesses and nature. But that is why, as Christians, all of us must remember that God is always by our side, no matter what happens. Sometimes it is just that we do not realise how He has done His works in our midst.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is also important that we also take note how easily we can fall into temptations, and therefore, fall into sin. That was what happened to the people living at the time of the prophet Jeremiah, as well as to king Herod. The people living in Judah at that time lived wickedly, following the unlawful practices of their neighbours, enticed by worldly wealth and power.

And as we all just discussed, king Herod gave in to the temptation of his flesh, the temptation of worldly beauty and sexual pleasures in committing adultery with Herodias, his deceased brother’s wife, who already had a child. Herodias herself also likely gave in to the temptation of power and glory, by agreeing to enter into an inappropriate relationship with king Herod.

We heard how Herod fell to the temptation when the daughter of Herodias danced before Herod. He was so swayed and tempted that he made easy promises that he did not think about carefully beforehand. In the end, because of that action, he ended up committing the sin of murder, when Herodias asked her daughter to ask Herod to bring her the head of St. John the Baptist on a plate right there and then.

This is where we need to be vigilant, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we guard ourselves against the advances of the devil and his forces, who are always trying to strike at us at every available opportunity, to bring us down through temptations and the many traps they carefully laid down in our path towards God and His salvation. Let us all keep this in mind as we live our lives in this world.

May the Lord strengthen us in our faith, that we may follow in the footsteps of St. John the Baptist, his courageous servant, that we will not be easily tempted and swayed by the temptations of this world, and remain true to our faith despite the challenges and difficulties we may encounter for being faithful to the Lord. May He empower us all to become His good and faithful disciples, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 August 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings we listened to the word of God speaking to us about the importance for us to stay true to our faith in the Lord, no matter what distractions or temptations that may come in our way. We should not be easily swayed by worldly desires and concerns, that we end up being corrupted by our greed and desires, by our ego and pride, and therefore end up falling into sin.

In the first reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Thessalonica in Greece stated to them that they must not easily be alarmed or be discouraged by what some people might be hearing, especially if these ran contrary to the Gospel and the truth that the Apostles had brought into their midst. He reminded them to be strong and to remain true to the faith which they have received from the hands of the Apostles.

This would come to be important as in time to come, there were many heresies and false teachings that came among the people of God, which brought down many of the faithful, and including even priests and bishops who came to believe in all those falsehoods and wrong teachings. Heresies and syncretic teachings such as Arianism, Gnosticism, Monophysitism, Manichaeanism, and many others, including more recent examples, have caused many souls to be lost to the Lord.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, in His series of condemnations for those who were entrusted with the care and guidance over the people of God. They were supposed to show care and concern for the fate of the Israelites, but they have failed to fulfil their obligation and supposed duty. Instead, they abused their power and influence for their own uses and selfish purposes.

They imposed harsh rules and regulations on the people, expecting them to follow their standard and practices of the Law, but they did all these, in order to be praised more by the people, to be respected and even feared, as the only authority that was available in teaching the people. Even though their interpretation of the Law and God’s commandments were wrong and misguided, but they refused to listen to the Lord Who came to right the wrongs they have committed.

Faced with such great challenges and difficulties, the Church and many of the faithful people of God struggled. Many people fell, and even from within the hierarchy of the Church itself fell into the heresies and became spreaders of the lies and terrible falsehoods instead. And yet, while many have fallen, but equally many have recovered from the fall and returned to the true faith in God.

And today we celebrate the feast of one great and renowned saint, whose life was the perfect example of that experience of falling into sin and to the lies of the devil, and returning back to the faith with a repentance and conversion of heart. St. Augustine of Hippo, also known as St. Augustine the Great is one of the most well-known and respected saints of Christendom, considered as one of the four original Doctors of the Church.

But early in his life, St. Augustine lived a life of debauchery, immorality and sin. He was not a Christian unlike his mother, St. Monica, whose feast we celebrated just yesterday. St. Monica prayed hard for the conversion of her son, who lived in a state of great sin and committing adultery, even to the point of having a son out of wedlock. But St. Monica did not give up on her son, and continued to pray for him, knowing that God would also never abandon His people.

St. Augustine turned to Manichaeanism following the examples of his peers and through the enticing nature of its worldly teachings. But in the end, he did not find true satisfaction and joy in the false ways of the Manichaeans, and through the works of St. Ambrose of Milan, another one of the four great Doctors of the Church and by St. Monica’s intercession, St. Augustine eventually repented his sinful ways and turned to the Lord.

It was through this long journey of repentance and faith, that many of the faithful living throughout the ages, even until this very day, benefitted through the many great works of St. Augustine of Hippo, who after turning away from his past, sinful ways, turned to be a great champion and protector of the true Christian faith or orthodoxy. He wrote extensively and preached in many occasions, inspiring many future generations of Christian leaders and teachers to continue keeping the fullness of truth as preserved in the Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, all of us are called to follow in their footsteps, in the courage of the saints and all of our predecessors. Let us all remain true to the fullness of truth of God, found in the Church alone, that by its sacred traditions and the preservation of the rightful interpretation of the Holy Scriptures through the Holy Spirit, by the teachings of St. Augustine and the many other holy and committed teachers of the truth, we may remain ever faithful and remain true in our dedication to the Lord, despite all the challenge we may encounter in life.

May the Lord be with us always, that each and every one of us will find the courage like that shown St. Augustine, to acknowledge just how sinful we have been, and how we are in need of God’s healing and mercy. Let us all turn to the Lord with all of our hearts, and live a renewed existence in faith. May God bless us all and our endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 27 August 2018 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the readings from the Scripture through which we are reminded that God is truly amazing in all of the plans that He has for each and every one of us. And it is only by listening to Him and obeying His will that we will find true satisfaction, joy and comfort in life. For all that the world can offer us, there is nothing that can truly satisfy us except God alone.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, St. Paul thanked God for all the faith which the people had shown in Him despite all the persecutions, difficulties and challenges they encountered in life. It was indeed a difficult time to live as Christians, as the early Christians were shunned and opposed by the Jews, and were looked with disdain and suspicion by the Greeks and the Romans alike.

But St. Paul encouraged them all that God would work wonders through them and He would strengthen them and make them worthy to be His disciples and followers. And the time would come when He would glorify the faithful for the obedience which they had shown in many occasions. This is a reminder that God never abandoned His people, and that He still loves each and every one of us, and desires that all of us can be reconciled with Him.

This is when the Lord Jesus came in through the action that He highlighted in today’s Gospel passage. He harshly rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their self-serving, selfish and self-centred attitude in dealing with their faith as well as in how they exercised the authority entrusted to them over the people of God. He rebuked them for their lack of true and genuine faith, as their faith expressions were merely, for most, a self-serving attitude.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law essentially have given in to the temptations of the world. They gave in to their pride, when they refused to believe in the truth and the Good News that the Lord Jesus had brought before them and the people. And their desire for power, for recognition, fame and status within the society was likely the reason for their constant and stubborn refusal to believe in God’s truth, despite all that they have seen and witnessed.

The Lord essentially told us all, that to be Christians, we must be prepared to face rejection, suffering, challenges, difficulties and trials along our journey of faith. But God also assured us, that He will never abandon us. If He has not abandoned even sinners and all those who have disobeyed Him, then all the more He will not abandon us all, who kept our faith in Him. God always loves us all, and to those who have fallen into sin, He always gives a second chance.

Today, it happens that appropriately, we also celebrate the feast of St. Monica, known especially because she was the mother of another great saint, St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the four original Doctors of the Church. St. Monica was remembered as a loving mother and a devout and prayerful Christian, whose attention in life could not be anything less than the fate of her own son’s soul.

This came about at the time when St. Augustine, St. Monica’s son, was still young. Although St. Monica was a Christian, but her husband and her son were not. And living in a world filled with hedonistic pursuits and worldly pleasures, it was inevitable that St. Augustine fell into those temptations and lived in a state of great sin. But St. Monica did not give up on her son, as well as her husband.

She prayed and prayed, day after day, for their conversion and desire to embrace the Christian faith. Eventually, her unceasing prayers and efforts bore fruits, as first, her husband had a change of heart and confessed the Christian faith, and then her son also had a change of heart and became a Christian as well. That was how St. Augustine eventually became a great saint in the Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by what St. Monica had shown, in her dedication and never-giving up attitude towards her son, St. Augustine. Let us all also show the same love, care and concern towards our brethren, especially all those who have fallen into the traps of sin along their journey towards God. Let us help each other in our way towards God. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 August 2018 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, all of us are brought to attention to mankind’s frequent disobedience against God’s will and our stubbornness in refusing to listen to Him and to believe in Him wholeheartedly. From the Scripture passages we read, we listened again and again to our ancestors’ tendency to turn away from God and to abandon Him for other, more appealing things for them.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of Joshua, the leader of Israel after Moses, it was told that many years after the Lord had led His people to settle in the Promised Land of Canaan, and after He had driven away the pagans who used to live in those lands. But, what likely happened was that, the people of Israel started to wander off from the path which God had set before them.

It was likely that they began to embrace the pagan idols and the pagan worship as practiced by their neighbours. It was also possible that some of the Israelites intermarried with the local Canaanites, who then persuaded them to worship the gods of their ancestors. At the time that this article was referring to, Joshua was already very old, and at the end of his earthly life.

He called the whole people of Israel to gather and place before them the choice, that is either to be with God and to be obedient to all of their commandments, or to walk away from Him to be with the pagan idols and rejecting all the promises and graces God has given them. And Joshua made it very clear also that being faithful to God requires a commitment, and he committed himself and his whole family to God. And the Israelites seemingly did the same as well.

Unfortunately, if we read on the next part of the Bible in the Book of Judges, it was apparent that the Israelites did not keep their words and neither did they keep their end of the agreement and commitment, as they fell into pagan worship and rejection of God’s laws and commandments. Generations after generations, God raised up Judges to help and guide His people to return to Him, but again and again they fell into temptation.

This happened throughout the time of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah as well. God sent His prophets to remind the people of their obligation to serve Him and to obey His laws and commandments, but many of them hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to believe in God and even persecuted the prophets and messengers sent into their midst.

Then in the second reading today, we heard St. Paul speaking to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus through his Epistle to them. He spoke regarding the matter of husband and wife who have been united through the sacred bond of matrimony, and how it is important that both parties devote themselves towards each other. He mentioned that wives ought to be obedient and loving towards their husband, while the husbands ought to show care and love for their wives.

And in that same Epistle, St. Paul was making a lot of connections between the relationship of husbands and wives, and the relationship that Christ has with His Church. This is a reminder that in our marriage and in our families, there is a need for commitment and dedication by either side of the party. Marriage and family are not just something that we can take lightly.

Unfortunately, as shown throughout the Old and New Testament, as well as throughout the history of mankind and even among us Christians, there were indeed many obstacles to the building of good familial relationships and matrimonial unions. There were many obstacles and challenges facing those who build up families, that caused break-ups and destruction of those families, with many children entangled in the midst of those unfortunate tragedies.

And many of us are tempted by our eyes and by our flesh’s desires for sexual impropriety and immoral acts, especially in our ever increasingly hostile environment, where love and relationships become more and more commercialised, trivialised and all sorts of immoral and inappropriate relationships are promoted by the world around us. Many among us fell into these traps laid down in our path by the devil.

And lastly, the Gospel passage today showed us just how the Lord’s truth fell on deaf ears and stubborn hearts. When He told them that He is the Bread of Life Who came down from heaven, and that all those who eat of His Body and drink His Blood will have eternal life, many among the people who followed Jesus left Him, because they could not find in themselves the courage, the faith and the open-mindedness to accept the truth of God.

They could not accept the truth because they were still thinking mostly in worldly terms, and think that they knew it better than the truth presented by the Lord. They left Him behind because they could not dedicate themselves with the faith and commitment required of them. Even the Apostles and some of the disciples were also taken aback by what the Lord presented before them, but they remained faithful to Him and continued to follow Him, putting their trust in Him.

Brothers and sisters, all of these ought to remind us that as Christians, each and every one of us will inevitably face challenges, difficulties, oppositions and even persecutions from those who we encounter in life. And it is in fact often that those who are closest to us, will also cause us trouble and to be divided in ourselves. I am sure many of us have experienced before, the feeling of being torn between our obedience to God and our desire to be accepted by others, by our community and by the world.

This is where we need to stand up for our faith, although indeed as Christians evidently we also need to approach the issue with charity and grace. We cannot be easily swayed by the demands and the desires of the world, that we end up having no anchor of faith in God, or ending up being swallowed by those desires and by our ego and greed. This is what Satan intended to do with us, brothers and sisters! He wants to drag us down with him into eternal damnation.

The best way to confront this issue, is of course not through open confrontation or conflict. Rather, we should focus ourselves on God and reorientate ourselves to live our lives in accordance with His laws and commandments. We should strive to be righteous and just in each and every one of our actions, and to be exemplary in faith. Through all of these, we will draw closer to God and be beacons of faith for others to follow.

Let us therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, be examples and guides for one another, that each and every one of us may be able to find our way to God and to His saving grace. Let us all seek Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strength, and resist all the temptations that threaten to prevent us from finding our way to God. Let us therefore pray, that God will continue to strengthen us in faith, and to persevere in the midst of those challenges.

Should we falter and fall, let us take it as an opportunity for us to rebound back, and to repent wholeheartedly from our shortcomings and mistakes, turning back to God with a contrite and loving heart, rather than doubling down our sins. May the Lord be our strength and be our inspiration, that in each and every challenges we face in life, in each and every opposition we may encounter, we will always find joy knowing that despite what we may suffer from, we always walk in God’s presence and faithfully in His ways. Amen.