Reflection

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Monday, 22 February 2016 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast day of the Church of Rome, that is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, the Patron Saint of Rome, the Heart of Christendom and the seat of the Pope as St. Peter’s successor as the Vicar of Christ on earth. The chair of St. Peter represents his teaching and magisterial authority as the one to whom God had given authority and power as we witnessed in the Scripture readings of today.

The authority of a bishop, leaders of God’s faithful and His flock is represented by his seat, called the Cathedra, which usually is placed in a church which is then called the Cathedral because of the presence of the bishop’s seat there, and that place is the heart of the individual dioceses and archdioceses. And in the same way therefore, the Cathedra Sancti Petri, the seat representing the authority of St. Peter the Apostle is in Rome, in the Cathedral of the Popes.

But the seat itself, as in the physical seat is only a representation of the true authority given by Christ to St. Peter and to his successors on earth. As we heard in the Gospel today, of the moment when Jesus Christ our Lord granted to Peter the authority and power over all of the sheep and flocks of the Lord, as the one in whom the whole Church would be established upon, upon the faith of St. Peter, the rock of faith.

Jesus told him, that he is to be the foundation upon which God would build His Church on earth, with the phrase, Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam Meam, meaning, ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church.’ And He mentioned how not even the gates of hell could prevail against it, and He shall grant him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the authority over us all mankind, that whoever is bound, will be bound in heaven, and those loosened will be lost forever.

Such was the authority given to St. Peter the Apostle, and he and many of his successors carried their duties and responsibilities with commitment and true devotion. Not all of his successors had been faithful, but most had devoted themselves to lead the flocks of the Lord and all of the faithful towards God and towards salvation away from their sins and damnation.

But was St. Peter’s faith exemplary and perfect? Was he perfectly holy and beyond reproach all of his life? No, he was not. He was just a simple and poor fisherman doing his trade at the shores of the Lake of Galilee when the Lord came to him and some others on one day and called him to follow Him. He stumbled quite a few times during the time when he followed Jesus in His mission and works around Judea and Galilee.

Yes, St. Peter was not a perfect man, and neither was he a great, mighty or rich man. He had nothing save for his fishing boat, and even that he left behind when he decided to follow the Lord, abandoning everything for His sake. He betrayed the Lord on one important occasion, when he denied Him for fear of persecution by the Jewish authorities, when these people went to arrest Him. He denied his Lord not just once, but even three times.

And yet, God forgave St. Peter and chose him to be the tool of His work, and not just any tool, but the primary and greatest tool of His work on earth, to be His sole chief representative and leader of all the faithful in His Church. Why is this so, brethren? That is because, God Who knows all the things in one’s hearts and minds, in one’s souls and flesh, knows all things, and knows the faith in each people, and in St. Peter, He found a great faith, unshaken and tested by many trials of doubts and sufferings.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what we have to know is that, God does not despise sinners like us. What He despises are all the sins that we have committed, all the wicked and dark things that we have done in His presence and in the presence of men alike. God hates the sins and not the sinners. He wants us to be reconciled with Him, and to be cleansed from our sins.

Those sins are what separated us from Him and from His grace, and it is these sins that we need to cast away, far far away from us in order for us to find our way to an eventual and complete reunion with our loving God. God chose the ordinary ones who wanted to love Him and devote themselves to Him, and He shall transform these into His greatest servants.

In this season of Lent, today’s feast of the Chair of St. Peter reminded us that, if we are faithful, and if we persevere, even against the rejection of the world and resisting its persecution, enduring pain and suffering for God’s sake, then there is a great hope waiting for all of us. God is looking forward to the conversion of sinners, and there is no greater joy for the Angels and saints in heaven then the conversion of even a once lost soul, who returns to God’s grace.

Let us therefore put our trust in the Lord through His Church, and let us all help support the works of the Church, which God Himself had established on the firm foundation of faith of St. Peter the Apostle, a faith which in itself was once weak and unstable, but which had undergone trials and tribulations, and in God, he was strengthened, and ended up bringing great glory to the Lord. We too can follow in his footsteps and do our best to be faithful to Him.

May the Lord bless us all, forgive us all our sins, and strengthen ever our love and commitment for Him, that through our many works and devotions in this world, we may show forth the truth about God to the nations, and walk in the footsteps of the Apostles to bring forth His Good News into the world. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Second Sunday of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in our first reading from the Book of Genesis, of the covenant which God had made with Abraham, the father of many nations and our father in faith. God established His everlasting covenant with him and with his descendants because of the faith and the righteousness that he had constantly showed Him.

God showed His love and His favour to those who have been faithful to Him, and Abraham showed to us how the faithful will earn a place of honour among those whom God has blessed and favoured. All those who have listened to God and who have walked in His path has no need to fear, since God Himself will protect them, and He shall send His Angels to guard them from harm and to keep them in His path.

In the second reading, St. Paul reminded the faithful and the Church that those who followed the ways of the world were heading towards ruin and destruction, and they shall face damnation in hell. And he reminded them that those who are in the Church belong to God’s kingdom, and they therefore are bound by the covenant which God had established with them, and thus, they have to fulfil their part of the covenant.

God has always been faithful, but have we always been faithful as well? We should ask this question to ourselves as we go through this season of Lent. More often than not we are not faithful, and we often waver in our commitment to our part of the covenant, and we often were swayed by the temptations of this world and the temptations of pleasure and other things that keep us from staying in the right path towards the Lord.

In the Gospel today, we heard about our Lord Jesus Who was transfigured in glory, Who revealed His true glory among His three disciples, and He showed His light that shone brightly without compare, and in that account about the Transfiguration, we see how God is always faithful to His covenant, which He had first established with Abraham, and which He then maintained and renewed with His servants David and then the people after that, through His prophets and messengers.

God promised Abraham greatness and eternal grace to him and his descendants, and He promised David that his kingdom will never end, and his descendants shall sit on his throne forever. And all these were fulfilled in Jesus, Son of God, Son of Abraham, Son of David, the Heir of the throne of David and the Saviour of the whole race of mankind, all the children of Abraham.

Those who would believe in Him, and put their faith in Him, and those who commit themselves to obey Him and His teachings, shall not be disappointed, for if they honour their part of the covenant, God too shall reward them with everlasting grace and blessings. The Transfiguration has two important lessons and meanings for us, and it is important that we take note of them.

Firstly, through the transfiguration of His earthly flesh, Jesus our Lord showed that all the faithful ones in God shall also be transformed in body, mind and soul and receive the glory of heaven which has been promised and intended for them. They shall share the glory of the Lord, and everything wicked and impure will be cast out from them. They shall enjoy forever the fruits of the covenant that they have established with God and managed to maintain faithfully.

And then, Jesus Who was transfigured did not remain in that mountain for long. The three disciples of Jesus, Peter, James and John wanted to build three tents for Jesus, Elijah and Moses, because they enjoyed being in the presence of the glory of God. They felt the safety and the security, the comfort of being in the presence of God, as they would have feared no evil and obstacles on their path.

But Jesus told them that in order to follow Him, and to be truly faithful to the covenant of God, then one must realise that the ways of this world are not always in accordance or in harmony with the ways of the Lord. On the other hand, conflict will always arise whenever we are to choose the Lord and His ways over that of the approved ways of the world.

But we must not be afraid or be hesitant as many people had done in the past. If we are truly faithful to the Lord and to the covenant which He had established with us and our ancestors, then He will ensure that nothing will harm our eternal soul. Yes, indeed, suffering and pain may come upon our flesh, our earthly bodies that may be subjected under the powers of the world, but nothing can harm our soul but God alone.

If we want to follow the Lord our God, and accept the covenant which He had created for us, and which He is fulfilling with us, even now, then He shall bless us with eternal life, eternal happiness and glory with Him, but it will not be an easy path for us. It requires total commitment and devotion, as Jesus Himself had fulfilled His end of the covenant, by suffering a great deal and being crucified for our own sins.

In this season of Lent, shall we commit ourselves anew to the Lord, to His laws and precepts, and to obey Him in all things as the part we need to do as our part of the covenant? God offered us His love and mercy, but He has also granted us the free will to choose whether we want to embrace His love and mercy, or whether we prefer to choose the world and its wickedness, and all the temptations of pleasure instead of the love of God.

May God help us to remain faithful to Him and to His covenant with us. May He strengthen our faith and our resolve to live in accordance with what He had wanted us to live in, and may all of us grow stronger in our love and devotion for Him. May Almighty God bless us all and forgive us our sins, and may He grant us the gift of everlasting life in our righteousness. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of the laws and commandments that God had put in place for us, through His servant Moses, through His prophets and messengers, that all of us should obey them and act in the fulfilment of the precepts and the will of the Lord. This means that we should not do things that contradict the Law and the ways of the Lord, and in all things, we should devote ourselves to the righteousness as the Lord had shown us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, but we have to take note that we cannot become like robots in our faith, which means that we must not believe blindly or believing without understanding the true meanings of our faith. If we believe for the sake of believing or if we believe because we were told to do so, and see it as an obligation, then brethren, I fear that we still have a long way to go to become truly the disciples and followers of our Lord worthy of Him.

In the example which our Lord Jesus gave us today, He gave us the example of those who love only their friends and relatives, meaning that they love only those who love them back, as opposed to those who love everyone without discrimination, meaning that they will even love all those who have hated them, disliked them, treated them badly and spoke all kinds of evils and wicked things about them.

What Jesus our Lord mentioned was in fact, the essence of true and pure love. This kind of love is love that does not expect returns or rewards, and neither does it require any prerequisites or conditions. This is unconditional, selfless and perfect love, the same kind of love which our Lord Jesus Himself had shown us as an example to all of us how we should love Him and love one another as well.

For Jesus had given Himself up on the cross, allowing Himself to die for our sake, to suffer for our sake, that even though we were all sinners, wicked and unrepentant, He was willing to die for us, so that through His death and through His perfect love, we may find a way to Him, and by His resurrection, be reunited with Him in love, within the grace and within the loving embrace of God.

And by His many other works and examples, and through His teachings to His Apostles and followers, He had given us the examples of how we should love one another, and how we should interact with others, be it those who love us and care for us, and for those who hated us, who despised us, who cursed us, and who treated us badly. These too we should love and care regardless of what they had done for us.

Therefore, in this season of Lent, all of us have been challenged to love one another, even those who have not loved us back first. Our love must be unconditional and demanding for no reward or returns. We are all called to greater mercy and charity during this period of time, turning our hearts and minds away from selfishness, and growing deeper in our commitment to love God and His people.

Let us all pray together, and work together as one people, belonging to the one and only Church of God, to be filled with love and with the goodness of God, in this season of Lent. Let us all be converted to God, and seek to be reunited with our Lord, and may by our actions, all of us can be made whole and worthy once again. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 19 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the Scripture readings about the importance of being righteous in our actions in life, and how important it is for us to remain committed to the righteousness in our lives. God wanted to show us that no one is truly beyond redemption, and there is hope for us all, as long as we are willing to commit ourselves to the way of our Lord.

There is no such thing as immediate damnation until it is too late for us or if we constantly and repeatedly refused the offer of mercy from God. And there is also no such thing as privileged status for us if we are righteous, and if we are not careful or if we do not stay vigilant, we may easily fall back into sin, and therefore back into damnation and the risk of hellfire.

God wanted us to know that our faith cannot be one that is passive and without action. And neither can our faith be contradicted by our actions that do not show our faith, and instead bring about scandal because of our wickedness. Instead, we have to live our lives filled with real action based on our faith, and in all of our dealings and actions, they must be filled with the grace of God and in accordance with God’s commandments.

In this season of Lent, have we all done what is expected from us as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord our God? Have we done the actions that show us as true Christians not just on paper, but also through real and concrete acts as well? This is the perfect opportunity for us to take up our crosses and follow our Lord, and proving through our dedication and commitment, to be faithful to God in all things.

We are all called to bring forth peace, harmony and love among peoples, between ourselves and our brethren and neighbours around us, in our own families, in our own societies and communities, that everyone may live with one another in peace, and in harmony to do the will of God, and by loving and caring for one another, we may bring each other closer to God.

It is important for us to keep ourselves pure and far away from sin, and even though temptations to sin will always be there, but if we put forth the effort of our bodies, hearts and minds, together as one people of God, and if we help each other, surely then we will be better able to resist the temptations of sin and better able to reject with certainty the lies of Satan.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord this Lent, and let us all work together, to keep ourselves and our actions pure and righteous before God. Let us not give any chance for Satan to infiltrate our hearts and tempt us to sin, but cast him out and reject him with firm faith, knowing that if we follow him, we are heading to eternal damnation.

May God help us in this journey and this life, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, and that we may find our way to Him and be saved from the certain destruction awaiting those who have not been faithful to Him. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 18 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we see the truth behind the love that God has for all of us. He is a Father to all of us, for He had created us all. And just as all fathers love their children, therefore, He too loves all of us, and even more than fathers do love their children. And He will not abandon His children in times of need, but He will succour us and protect us from everlasting harm.

And Jesus in the Gospel today made clear of this fact, that God will care for His children well, and He will not bring them to harm or bring them into trouble. If we only would ask when we are in trouble, and sincerely opening ourselves and our hearts to Him, then He will succour us and help us for sure. If we seek Him and try to find help in Him, then help will be given to us.

In the first reading today, we heard about the Queen Esther of Persia, a Jew who became the queen of the Persian Emperor, at the time when the enemies of the people of God were trying to bring about their destruction. The people of Israel were in very dire straits indeed, as the order of death and destruction had been placed on them, under the laws of the Persians and the Medians, which could not be revoked, and the enemies of the Lord and His people were then rejoicing for the coming destruction of Israel.

Therefore, at that time, Queen Esther sought the help of the Lord, praying and seeking His divine protection, beseeching the love which God has for His people and begging for Him to intercede for their sake, in tears and in in humble supplications, in mourning and in sorrow, and the Lord heard the prayers of Esther and the people of Israel, doomed to death and destruction, and yet God Who loved them would not let that fate to befall them.

How are these relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is very relevant as all of us in our own respective lives on earth, and as we continue living on in this world, we all have our own troubles, difficulties, challenges and obstacles. And we all have no one better to turn to in case of difficulties, than our Lord Himself. He is the only One Who shall not abandon us in times of difficulties. Friends and even families may abandon us, but not God.

And yet there is one thing that all of us need to remember and take note of, and that is the need for us to reach out to the Lord, to be proactive, seeking Him, asking Him and finding Him, and we should not forget that while we must humble ourselves before Him, but we should not be afraid to approach Him, as He loves us all, and there is nothing worse than us being lost just because we are afraid to bring about God’s anger if we seek Him.

This season of Lent is the perfect time and moment for our conversion and for our renewal. Let us draw closer to God, and let us be courageous to speak to Him and to ask Him for His mercy and help, but at the same time, let us all also be committed fully to change ourselves for the better, abandoning our sinful ways and finding our way to the Lord. Let us all be saved and be freed from our sins, and find our way to the Lord, our loving God and Father. Amen.

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Wednesday, 17 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the story from the prophet Jonah, where he was sent to the city and to the people of Nineveh, the great city and capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire, the world superpower at the time. The Assyrians conquered many nations, and they enslaved many of the peoples around them, and they grew mighty and proud with their achievements.

But the Lord knew of their pride and haughtiness, and he sent Jonah to them to warn them of their impending destruction because of whatever sins and wickedness that they have committed. And the prophet Jonah did just as what he was told to do, and preached the word of God to the people of Nineveh. He told them that catastrophe and destruction would soon come to claim the whole city and all who dwelled in it.

What was remarkable and noteworthy was how the people of Nineveh, from the king and the greatest nobles, to the humblest and the smallest of the people, all turned from their evil ways and repented, hoping that God would spare them the destruction He had intended for them. And so sincere was their desire to repent and to change their wicked ways, that God had mercy on them, forgave them and gave them a new chance.

God did not carry out the sentence which had been intended for them, and He spared them from the destruction which He had designed on them because of their repentance, and He had mercy on them. God forgave them their sins as an example to all mankind, that if they too, are to turn their back to the sins and wickedness of their past, they have a chance at salvation and redemption in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the people in our Gospel today, and chided particularly the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law because of their refusal to believe in what the Lord Jesus Himself had come into this world to reveal to them, and despite all the good things and the miraculous wonders He had performed before their very own eyes.

And the people of Nineveh who did not even see what Jesus or what God Himself had done, and they neither saw anything performed by Jonah, as it was not mentioned that Jonah performed any miraculous deeds in that city, and yet they all believed, repented and changed their ways. They did not see and yet they believed, and for their faith, they were justified by God.

Remember what Jesus told one of His disciples, Thomas, who initially did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, when He appeared to him on one occasion? Thomas had not believed until Jesus had risen from the dead and Jesus said that while his faith was indeed good, as he believed, unlike those who had seen all the miracles Jesus had performed and refused to believe, but better still are those who have not seen and yet believed.

And the people whom Jesus rebuked did not believe, no matter what, and they asked for signs from Him. And Jesus replied that the only sign He would show is the sign of Jonah, and we knew how Jonah was swallowed by a whale for three days and three nights, before he was then released at the seashore. In the same way therefore, Jesus had died and then was buried in the earth for three days before on the third day He rose from the dead.

And how is this significant for us, brethren? This Lent, we are all called to be believers, and not just any believers, but true believers of our Lord in faith and in action. Let us be inspired by the examples of the holy saints whose feast we celebrate today, namely that of the seven Holy Founders of the Servite order, who were faithful servants of God, who devoted themselves to the service of God and of His people.

The seven holy founders were once merchants of the city of Florence, during the height of the medieval era, who left everything they had, that they might discover the Lord, and they led a new life of poverty and penance, withdrawing and turning their backs completely against the sins and wickedness of their past lives. They led a life of virtue and purity justified by God.

Many people followed their examples, and they helped establish what would be known as the Servite order. They obeyed the Lord and served Him faithfully, helping to lead the people of God back to Himself. They did not have a smooth journey however, as challenges and rejections came their way, but they remained faithful and they met the challenges with full faith in the Lord.

Through these examples, the dedication and commitment of the founders of the Servite order, let us all also follow in their footsteps, and let us all renew our own commitment to God, and let us all in this season of Lent be ever filled more and more with the righteousness and justified actions, that we will draw ever closer to God and to His mercy and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 16 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about God Who came into this world to bring it to salvation, and we heard about God Who is indeed our loving Father, Who always look down at us from heaven above, and He Who does not abandon us in times of distress. God is our Father, Who cares for us all just as all fathers care for their children.

God does not let us all to suffer alone in the darkness, and He Who created us with love, wants all of us to be reunited with Him and to be gathered back into His embrace and into His presence, no longer scattered and lost, but reunited and be freed from our bonds of sin and from our attachment and defilement by wickedness and by the darkness of this world.

And through Jesus, God had made His love evident and real in this world. He was the Son of God, Whom He had granted to the world, that all of us mankind might be saved through His works and intercession. And Jesus then showed us all how to pray to our Lord and Father, Who is always listening to us and to our petitions and words, because He is indeed longing to speak with us, to converse with us and to communicate with us.

And in this season of Lent, all of us should spend more time with our Father in heaven, praying to Him and speaking with Him, spending our moments with Him and withdrawing ourselves for a while from the daily business and the daily occupations we had, that we may discern and reflect from our encounter with the Lord in prayer. That is the problem with many of us, that we have spent way too short a time in prayer.

But whenever we pray, do we pray in the proper way, brethren? Or were our prayers filled instead with litany of wishes, petitions, desires, wants, or even demands? This is what our prayers tended to be, and many of us might even have the misconception that when we pray, we are asking the Lord to do us a favour, or even that He would listen to us and grant us what we asked of Him.

That is why when we do not get what we wanted, then we become angry at God, and we even abandon Him for some other things which we think as those that can provide us with what we wanted. But this is not what we ought to be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ. In this season of Lent, a season of renewal, repentance and forgiveness, it is a time for us to understand what it truly means to pray to our Lord and God.

To pray to God means to open ourselves, our hearts, minds and entire being to God, so that He may come in us and speak deep in our hearts. God is always trying to contact us, to touch us and to impact us with His words, and He desires always to communicate with us, for that is what prayer is, that is communication between us and God. And just as in our communication with each other, we talk and at the same time also listen to another person we are talking to, we should be doing the same with the Lord our God too.

That is why we should see how our Lord Jesus prayed to His Father in heaven, which we know now as the Lord’s Prayer, or the Pater Noster, the prayer addressed to God Who is our Father. When we pray, we should first give glory to God, and thank Him for all the blessings which we had received from Him, and even if we are in the direst and the most difficult of moments, we should still always be thankful for the very life which He had given to us.

Let us all rediscover our faith in this time, the time of mercy and forgiveness, and let us approach our Lord, God our Father, and spend more time with Him, communicating and talking with Him in prayer, a pure prayer not made up of our petitions, wishes and wants, but rather a prayer of the love and desire which we have to be loved by our Lord, and to receive His everlasting mercy.

May God bless us and strengthen our resolve to lead an ever more righteous life in this season of Lent and beyond, and may He keep us strong in our faith as always. May He keep us on the path to salvation and everlasting life. Amen.

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Monday, 15 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture readings which told us about the Last Judgment, where Jesus told the people about what would happen at the end of time, when the Lord will come again to judge all creation and all mankind, both the living and the dead. And the fate of those who are to be judged, including all of us, will depend on what had been done and what had not been done.

In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard about how God through Moses His servant, reminded His people of the importance of obeying the Law in their actions and deeds, and not to do things that lead to sin and to disobedience against Him. They were reminded not to commit sinful things before the Lord, such as being oppressive and show injustice to one another.

What we heard about is the reminder God gave His people not to commit the sins of action, namely, the actions that show disobedience to God, such as stealing, murder, jealousy, hatred, adultery and many other forms of wicked things that mankind often do, in disregard of God’s commandments. And indeed, all of us should make sure that we keep ourselves free from such actions, and resist the temptation to do those abominable things and acts.

However, we also have to take note what our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people in the Gospel today. The Lord Himself, the Great Judge revealed to the separated people, the good and the wicked, what He looks for in finding righteousness and worthiness to receive the eternal inheritance and grace He promised to all those whom He deemed to be worthy.

We often forget of the fact and reality that sin is not just about what we have done and committed. And it was not just the bad things we committed that brought us to sin, such as murder, stealing, lust and all the other forms of sins, but also things that we have failed to do, especially if we are fully capable of doing them, and yet we consciously ignore them and choose not to do what we ought to do.

This is the sin of inaction, the sin of apathy and sloth, the sin caused by our refusal to take action and to do something, when it is clearly possible and available for us to do good deeds for the sake of others who are around us. And this is just as bad and wicked as doing something that is vile and detestable before God.

Just imagine how many people have been deprived of good things, or have suffered because of our refusal to act, because of our ignorance and apathy. Imagine that in this world itself, if there are just more people who would share their blessings with each other, and care for those who have little or none, then there would be so much fewer cases of hunger, sickness, death and all the things that inflict the poor and the destitute among us.

We mankind have been given the capacity by God, through the blessings He had granted us, through the gifts and talents He had given to us, and through the opportunities that He had laid on our path, to be light, shepherds, and guide to our brethren, helping one another in their earthly lives, and guiding one another on our path together to reach out to the Lord our God.

If we do not do what the Lord had commanded us to do, and which He reminded us all yet again in today’s readings, then we can have no part in His inheritance, and that is why those who have failed to do as the Lord had taught us to do, failing to love, to care, to give our love to the poor and to the less fortunate, shall suffer the fate of those whom God had rejected and cast out from His presence into the eternal damnation.

Let us all therefore, during this season of Lent, make use of the opportunities which have been given to us, so that we may become ever more committed to become faithful servants of God, not just in mere words alone, but also through real and concrete actions. May the Lord our God strengthen the faith in each one of us, and awaken in us the strong desire to be courageous in standing up to our faith through action and good works, especially in this time of Lent. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate our first Sunday in the season of Lent, we always hear about the temptation of Jesus Christ our Lord in the desert by the devil, who tried to tempt Him three times without avail, and who then retreated, trying to undermine the works of the Lord in another way. This temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ is tied closely to our own observation of this Lenten period, and also to the history of our faith.

Mankind, ever since the days of Adam and Eve, our forebears and ancestors, had been afflicted with the disease of sin, as Satan managed to tempt them to disobey the Lord and by making use of our human desires to subvert us and to turn us against God, by disobeying His commandments, and by selfishly giving in to our desires. Satan had many weapons, and his greatest one is our pride, our greed and our insatiable desire to fulfil ourselves and our wants.

In the Gospel, as we heard about Jesus being tempted three times, we are heeded to take note of our weaknesses, and our vulnerabilities, which Satan and his agents can easily take advantage of, in their attempt to destroy us and bring us into the eternal darkness with them. First of all, is the temptation of our stomach, the needs and wants of our body, our flesh, the temptation of food and greed.

We all know that all living things require food in order to continue living and to survive, and without food we will eventually die of starvation and hunger. But we should also be aware of the distinction and the growing gap between the rich and the poor in our world today. All of us are indeed aware, and we should have indeed heard about how many of the poor people in places and parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even in the developed countries and regions, who had not enough food even to sustain themselves, less still for their children and for their families.

And yet, we also know that there are many excesses that people in our time today had committed, squandering much money and wealth in pursuit of good food and good lifestyle, a lifestyle of hedonism and excess, where a lot of waste and a lot of injustice are being done to those who have little or even none for themselves, even to keep themselves alive. And yet, there are those who rejoice, revel at themselves and feast on top of the suffering of others.

This Lent, we are fasting because we ought to resist the temptation of our flesh. Our human needs and wants is such that, hunger and starvation can lead men to hurt or even kill one another, in order to get what we need and want. If we do not restrain ourselves, then surely we shall fall into the deep trap of sin that Satan has prepared for us. Thus, let us heed what Jesus said, that we do not live on bread or food alone, as these give us just what we need in this earthly life, but we should put our trust in the word of God, our true sustenance, for it is through the Word that we can find our way to salvation.

But we have to be careful, lest the devil used our lack of understanding of God’s words in order to deceive us and tempt us further. We saw how the devil was trying to use the verses from the Scriptures to tempt Jesus to show Himself to the people, by jumping off from the pinnacle of the Temple. Indeed, the verse meant that God will protect His people, and He will send His Angels to protect us from harm, but if we test God and try to see if He really will protect us, that means we have no faith in Him.

And the second temptation was also the temptation of pride, for we mankind are all inherently vulnerable to this trait, the pride and haughtiness in each and everyone of us. We see in many people, the desire to be recognised and to be praised, so that someone will praise us and recognise us for what we have done. But at times, we can be so desperate or our desire for such things may be so great, in the end, we lose sight and focus on what we ought to do, and again, we bring harm to others.

We see how people fight and jostle with one another, either with cunning, or trickery, with words of mouth, or even through physical violence, just so that they can have an edge over another people, and gain what they desire, that is power, honour, glory, fame and many others. And this is what the devil tried to tempt Jesu with, in his third attempt, as he brought Him to the highest mountain, offering all the kingdoms of the earth if Jesus would only worship him as lord.

But Jesus was not swayed, and He was not tempted. He knew that power, human praise, fame and glory, all forms of other temptations in the world were superficial and illusory in nature. They do not give lasting satisfaction and happiness, which can only be truly found in God alone. Power in particular is very dangerous, as the saying goes, that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This means that if we allow ourselves to be tempted, and to seek more things for ourselves, in power and all the goods the world is offering us, then we will only get ourselves dragged deeper and deeper into the darkness, and we will never be satisfied ourselves. We should already know that, it is our tendency that once we have something that we desire, we tend to desire even more.

And this is why we abstain, and do penitential works, during this season of Lent. It was not just a mere obligation or something we have to do as part of our observation of the laws of the Church and the faith. If we look at it as that, then our focus is wrong, and what we have done will avail little at helping us to strive for God’s salvation.

Instead, we have to do what we must do in this period of Lent with proper understanding and with good faith, so that whatever we do, we do it because of our love for the Lord, and the deep and burning desire in our hearts to be cleansed of our sins and wickedness, and the desire to reject Satan and all of his lies, and be freed from our enslavement to our pride, to our greed and all forms of the temptations of the flesh and the heart.

Let us all follow our Lord Jesus’ examples, resisting the devil and all of his temptations, and through our actions during this time of Lent, let us all grow stronger in faith, and spiritually, so that we will grow more capable of resisting the advances of evil and all of its forces in the time to come. Let us all love one another, giving alms and helping those who are less fortunate than us during this time, sharing whatever goods, food or care that we have, so that all of us will be able to live comfortably and harmoniously in this world.

May Almighty God bless us and forgive us our sins, and may this season of Lent be a fruitful one in the salvation of our souls. Amen.

by

Saturday, 13 February 2016 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all presented with God Who loves us all mankind, all sinners and unworthy before Him, and yet, He decided to pick us up, and bring us from the darkness where we were lost in, and bring us back into the light with Him. He went forth into this world, looking for sinners and all those who have been afflicted by the sickness of sin.

Yes, sin is a disease, as I have often mentioned, that it strikes at the depth of our soul, afflicting everything from our mind, our hearts and our bodies, ending up corrupting our beings, that in such a state, we are not worthy of the Lord, because we have been defiled by the sins that we committed, by the slander that we have uttered, and by the disobedience and betrayal which we have done against the Lord our God.

But lest all of us should be dismayed or lose our hope in despair, let us all know that despite all of our sins, and despite the fact that God despises all forms of sins, which are abominations and wicked things before Him, but His love for us is even greater than all that. And this is why He was willing to show mercy to us, even to the greatest of sinners, seeking them out and bringing them out of darkness.

We should heed how Jesus called Levi, the tax collector, whom He called from his tax office, and Levi indeed heeded the call, leaving everything behind, his occupation, his money, career, family and all that he had, and followed God from then on. And from then on, he served God faithfully, and became whom we know as St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist, the writer of one of the four Holy Gospels through which we would come to know the truth of our Lord.

And in another occasion, I am sure that we would have heard about how Jesus our Lord also healed and cast out demons from the woman who had seven demons in her, who then left everything behind in order to follow Him. It was believed that St. Mary Magdalene, the faithful woman who followed Jesus, and to whom He first showed Himself after His resurrection, was this woman.

And there are many other occasions where Jesus healed people who were sick, possessed by demons and filled with sin, exhorting and reminding them not to sin again, and urged them to henceforth walk in the path of the Lord. And many of these people were to later on suffer persecution in the Name of the Lord, and dying in the defence of their faith.

We can see through all these, how even saints themselves were once sinners, just as we have sinned against God. No one was born perfect, and all of us, in one way or another, have committed errors, be it big or small, before the Lord our God. But what differentiates those who were condemned and those who received the glory of heaven in sainthood, is that the action of those who have received God’s glory have justified them.

And this action is that, they chose righteousness and justice over sin, over wickedness, and selflessness over selfishness. They have turned their backs to sin, and they abandoned all the past mistakes that they had done, and turned completely to the Lord their God, and from then on, doing only what was pleasing to God. Then, we too should indeed follow in their footsteps and be inspired by what they have done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore today renew our commitment to God, and in all of our ways, let us all be ever closer to Him and obey Him in all of our dealings and actions. Let us in this period of Lent, turn ourselves away from evil and wickedness, and open the doors of our heart to the works of mercy and to the love of our God. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.