religious life

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

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Jeremiah 1 : 1, 4-10

These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

A word of YHVH came to me, “Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you were born I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations!”

I said, “Ah, Lord YHVH! I do not know how to speak; I am still young!” But YHVH replied, “Do not say; ‘I am still young’, for now you will go whatever be the mission I am entrusting to you, and you will speak of whatever I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you – it is YHVH who speaks!”

Then YHVH stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now I have put My words in your mouth. See! Today I give you authority over nations and over kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen about how God cares for us, and indeed, how He takes very good care of us, even after we have sinned and rebelled against Him. And even though this life we have in this world may be difficult and filled with challenges, He will not abandon us or let us walk alone in the darkness.

And today we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict, a well-known saint and monk, who was also known by the name of St. Benedict of Nursia, who founded the Benedictine religious order, and was well-known for his strict rule for his religious order, which entails a strict regimen of prayerful life and life lived in perfect harmony with one another and with God.

But this rule also shows the great values of love, faith, and hope that is instilled in generations of monks and religious, not only in St. Benedict’s religious order, but also many other orders who drew their inspiration from St. Benedict and his works. From this we can see, how this saint was truly a great saint, and how his works had laid a strong foundation of faith for many throughout history.

St. Benedict and many other holy men and women, and many religious and workers of the Lord were truly as what Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today, that is to be like sheep among the wolves, to walk in the path of God amid a worldful worth of sin, temptation and difficulties which Satan placed in our way, to prevent us from reaching salvation in God.

St. Benedict and the many others who came before and after him were all truly faithful and good disciples of the Lord. Not only that they remained faithful amidst all the cunning tricks and lies of the devil in order to subvert all mankind into his cause, but they also worked hard, for the good of all God’s people, and spreading the Good News to the whole world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must follow in the examples of St. Benedict of Nursia, that in our faith we must be truly dedicated to Christ our Lord. We cannot be half-hearted in our faith. Instead, we must ensure that every actions and deeds that we do is in tune with the Lord and His will. We must have a good prayer life and time dedicated for the Lord in our lives. We cannot excuse ourselves of having no time for God.

For if we do not open ourselves to the Lord and allow Him to work His wonders in us, then we risk endangering ourselves by bringing ourselves closer to the corruptions of this world, and yet without God as our anchor for us to hold onto, so that we may not be lost in the torrents and streams of this world. Many of mankind had failed and had fallen on their way to the Lord, all trapped and fell along the way as they got distracted from their true goal in life, that is God.

In this life, mankind are always tempted, every day of their lives. We cannot escape from the allures of the world, and all the good things that Satan used in order to detract us and pull us away from our way towards the Lord, and therefore into damnation. It is easy for us to follow our desires and our needs, and therefore forget about what our Lord had taught us. And this is truly dangerous, brothers and sisters, for we have to remember that, we have just this one chance, and only this chance in life to be freed from the ensnarement of sin.

We need to have a discipline in this life, to control our actions and deeds, so that we may temper our desires, so that we may not be enslaved by them, and therefore will not easily succumb to the temptations of Satan. Therefore, let us follow the example set by St. Benedict and many other holy men who followed after him, and also many those who came before him. We must have a heart shaped and dedicated for love, one that will not bend in the face of evil and its temptations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves to a new life in Christ, one that is founded on light and not on darkness, one that is founded on love and not hatred, and one that is founded on life and not death. Let us all work together, so that we may begin anew in Christ, and live worthily from now on, if we have not done so. May Almighty God guide us and bless us on our way. St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us as well, that we may be more like you in faith. Amen.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 10 : 16-23

Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of Me, so you may witness to them and the pagans.

But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father in you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I assure you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 and 17

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

I know You desire truth in the heart, teach me wisdom in my inmost being. Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hosea 14 : 2-10

Return to your God YHVH, o Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall. Return to YHVH with humble words. Say to Him, “Oh You who show compassion to the fatherless, forgive our debt, be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips.”

“Assyria will not save us : No longer shall we look for horses nor ever again shall we say, ‘Our Gods’ to the work of our hands.” I will heal their wavering and love them with all my heart, for My anger has turned from them.

I shall be like dew to Israel, like the lily will he blossom. Like a cedar he will send down his roots; the young shoots will grow and spread. His splendour will be like an olive tree, His fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar. They will dwell in My shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.

What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from Me. Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of YHVH : the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.

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Tuesday, 8 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded yet again that we need to forsake and abandon sin and all its ways, and embrace the Lord and His ways in our respective lives. And it is also important that we rebuke Satan and all of his attempts to convert us to his rebellious cause, as Israel had once done and repeatedly done during their time in the Promised Land, disobeying their Lord and God.

But we cannot do this alone, brothers and sisters. We need guidance and help, and we cannot face the threat of the evil one and all the forces he had arrayed against us all alone. We need support and strength, which our Lord provides us through none other than our holy priests, and also all those who had committed and surrendered themselves to a life wholly dedicated to God and His people.

Today Jesus called on all of us to consider His words, how that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. And let us also discern on the words of the prayer He said, that the Lord would send more and more labourers to work and gain the harvest of the faith for the Lord, and for the good of all of us in this world. This is reflecting exactly the reality of the faith, both in that era, and in the era that had come after that, all the way to this modern time.

For the harvest that Jesus mentioned is the world, and all the people who lives in that world. There is indeed rich harvest to be reaped, and there are truly many souls who long and yearn for the word of God and for salvation to grace them. Many are still in the darkness, and many of them even had been baptised in the Church! Yes, brethren, that is the reality of our Church and the reality of our world today.

In the years and decades after the Second Vatican Council, which happened just about fifty years ago, due to gross misinterpretations of the true meaning and purpose of the Council, many had been misled by the errors and this also unfortunately led to a great decline in the vocations to the priesthood, which resulted in less and less priests, especially young priests, available to help with the needs of the many faithful all over the world, which numbers continue to grow unabated.

In our world today, unlike those times in the past, taking up a religious and consecrated life to God is no longer considered an honour, and in our rapidly changing world, there are increasingly more and more benchmarks of life and successes in life. Mankind as a whole are growing more and more attached to the goodness and the pleasures offered by the world, and coupled with the expectations and prejudices of the society, this led to even graver problems with vocations, and therefore, with the well-being of many of the faithful who are not cared of by the dwindling number of priests.

There are those who seek shortcuts by attempting to ‘adjust’ to the demands of the changing world, but they truly failed to understand the gravity and the reality of the matter. They seek to run away from the problem and from the issue, by proposing to take shortcuts that harm the life of the faithful, in particular the priests, their shepherds. I do not need to elaborate further on this issue, on the matter of ordination of women and allowing priests to have a married life. These are not of our faith, brethren, but these are the suggestions of Satan trying to divide us and destroy us.

The misinterpretations of the Second Vatican Council led to the diluting and loss of the true values and morale integrity in the faith within our society and our Church as a whole. More and more people became lost on their way to God, being disturbed and tempted by the ‘better offers’ of Satan in various means through the world. And this in particular affected many young men, who were then led away from their calling to be servants of God. And this also affected some who had decided to follow the Lord, and then reneged on the decision.

These are the hard truths and realities of our faith and our world, brothers and sisters in Christ. We lose out so many good men to the evil one, and he even tried to corrupt those whom God had made His labourers in faith. And through their fall, many too, would end up falling on their way to the Lord, which can then explain the troubles and the great challenges facing us today.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we all gather our strength and work together to help one another to overcome those challenges, rediscovering the purity and the truths of our faith, long forsaken by many who chose to reconcile with the ways of the world, and the ways of those who were wayward, over maintaining without fail, the deposit of faith in the Holy Mother Church.

Let us all pray especially for our priests, that in everything they do, and in living their difficult but enriching lives, they may commit to always stay pure and totally dedicated to the Lord, as on the day of their sacred ordination. Let us pray, that there will also be many more vocations to the priesthood, that many more young men would open their hearts to God, and allowing Him to do with them according with His will. Let us pray also for more vocations to the religious life, that all those who are called may respond positively and with confidence, for the sake of God and for the love of His people.

May God bless us all with love, hope and faith, that we may rediscover the zeal of faith that we had lost, in the confusion over the misinterpretations of the Second Vatican Council’s true intentions. God bless our priests too, and may He guide them all the days of their life. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to comforting words of the readings from the Holy Scriptures and in particular the Holy Gospels how the Lord is with us, and He is on our side at all times, and through Him salvation of all mankind, that is all of us, will come to us. He will succour and save us from our fate that was death and bring us into life. This He promised us and made full through Jesus His Son.

For we are all the Church of God, that is part of His Body. Remember that Jesus mentioned, that we are the Body of Christ the Church, and He is the Head of that Body? Therefore all of us who had been baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Trinity, and became part of the Church are indeed united intimately and very closely to Christ, who is also the Bridegroom of the Church.

The Gospel today highlighted how the disciples ought not to be sorrowful or to fast in agony because the Lord is with them. Yes, and that is what we should also do, brothers and sisters. We ought to be joyful and rejoice because God is with us and He will not leave us, even if we are to abandon Him, because He is always faithful. But if we choose to ignore and abandon Him, then we will have no part in Him when He comes again in glory.

We are often like unfaithful wives, who abandoned our husbands when things did not go our way, and we seek other sources of pleasures and comforts, which corrupts us and turn us away from God. We abandon God for the idols of this world, the idol of money, of possessions, of worldly glory and passions, and the pull of power and pride which darkens our heart and keep it away from the light of Christ.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony Zaccaria, a priest and a zealous fighter of the faith, fully and completely faithful to the Lord, and in total dedication to His cause. He was part of the early Counter Reformation efforts of the Church in fighting against the heresy of the Protestant ‘reformation’, when mankind were misled by their human desires and pride, to break away from the unity of the Body of Christ and instead seek human glory and praise.

St. Anthony Zaccaria was truly devoted to the Lord and to his fellow men, giving himself totally in service to them in love and genuine faith. He preached the Good News of the Lord to many and reached out to them to bring them out into the dignity and glory of the light of God. He preached and fought for the purity of the faith, and introduced to the people strict and close devotions to the Lord through prayers and penitence.

He also founded three different religious orders, through which many people ended up following the Lord as he had once done, and which took part in defending the faith and the Church against the heresies of the Protestant rebels of the false reformation. He was truly committed to return the unity to the Body of Christ in the Church, casting away all the iniquities and sins of the people of God, and returning faithfully to the embrace of our loving God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too today in this world must continue the hard and good works of St. Anthony Zaccaria, in defending our faith and the Church of God and all of God’s holy and beloved people. We cannot be idle and be ignorant in this age filled with danger and evil, where Satan lurked within the hearts of the faithful, waiting for the right moment to lure and drag many souls into hellfire with him.

Let us all be vigilant and strong, and with the intercession of St. Anthony Zaccaria, let us make this world a better place and a place for all the faithful to truly love God and devote themselves to Him with all of their hearts, that united as one, they may together glorify the Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church and. Lord of all the faithful. God bless us all, and be with us always till the end of time. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 9 : 14-17

Then the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you do not put new wine in old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine in fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

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Saturday, 5 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Psalm)

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

Psalm 84 : 9, 11-12, 13-14

Would that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints – lest they come back to their folly.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Saturday, 5 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (First Reading)

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

Amos 9 : 11-15

“On that day I shall restore the fallen hut of David and wall up its breaches and raise its ruined walls and so build it as in days of old. They shall conquer the remnant of Edom and the neighbouring nations upon which My Name has been called.” Thus says YHVH, the One who will do this.

YHVH says also, “The days are coming when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes overtake the sower. The mountains shall drip sweet wine and all the hills shall melt. I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel; they will rebuild the desolate cities and dwell in them.”

“They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will have orchards and eat their fruit. I shall plant them in their own country and they shall never again be rooted up from the land which I have given them,” says YHVH your God.