resistance

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Friday, 6 February 2015 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 6 : 14-29

At that time, king Herod also heard about Jesus, because His Name had become well-known. Some people said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in Him.” Others thought, “He is Elijah,” and others, “He is a Prophet like the prophets of times past.”

When Herod was told of this, he thought, “I had John beheaded, yet he has risen from the dead!” For this is what had happened : Herod had ordered John to be arrested, and had had him bound and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod had married her, and John had told him, “It is not right for you to live with your brother’s wife.”

So Herodias held a grudge against John; and wanted to kill him, but she could not, because Herod respected John. He knew John to be an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And he liked listening to him, although he became very disturbed, whenever he heard him.

Herodias had her chance on Herod’s birthday, when he gave a dinner for all the senior government officials, military chiefs, and the leaders of Galilee. On that occasion the daughter of Herodias came in and danced; and she delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you.”

And he went so far as to say with many oaths, “I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” The mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried to the king and made her request, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but he would not refuse in front of his guests because of his oaths. So he sent one of the bodyguards with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded John in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl. And the girl have it to her mother.

When John’s disciples heard of this, they came and took his body and buried it.

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Sunday, 16 February 2014 : 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Our Lord is perfect, and He is good in all of His doings and dealings. He came to straighten our path, and make good again our status, that we will be shown the way to true salvation in God. For we mankind over time had grown to be lax, proud, and disobedient. Instead of following what God wants from us, we tend to walk on our own path, and ignore all of His calls towards us.

That was why we veered away from God’s path, and walked towards damnation with the devil. The devil was only very glad that we would come towards him instead of the Lord, and that was why he lured us even more towards himself, that just as he is to suffer, we also will suffer with him. We twist the law of God to suit our own purposes.

That was why Jesus came to straighten things out, to clarify what the Lord truly wanted from each one of us. The Pharisees, the scribes and teachers of the Law had abandoned the true meaning of the law of God, for their own version of the law, twisted with human pride, arrogance and ignorance. They filled the law of God with many corruptions and unnecessary burdens that they piled up on the people.

They hid the law behind layers after layers of unnecessary and burdensome rituals and observations, and they themselves revelled in the glory they have gained and the praise given to them by the people for their supposed piety and observation of the law. They therefore prevented the people of God from realising the true meaning of the law, deceiving the people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this world did not know Christ and they have rejected Him, even among His own people, and foremost of all those of course were the Pharisees and their parties. This was because there was no God in their hearts. Their hearts were filled with things and pleasures of this world. The world today is no different. The allures and pleasures of this world had corrupted many, and closed their hearts away from God.

These things distract us from God and what He wants from us. As often mentioned, what God wants from us is not blind or meaningless obedience and obeisance. What God wants from us is love and faith. He wants from us devotion and true and unbridled love. That was why He gave us Jesus, as a proof of His love and to teach His love to us.

The Lord Jesus explained that the laws that God had given to mankind should not be taken just at the face value or be taken from granted. The law of God is all about love, just as God Himself is Love. And this love is to love one another as fellow children of God and loving God Himself who is our Father. And it is this truth that Jesus came for, not to destroy or obliterate the old laws revealed to Moses, but to straighten it and clarify the meaning behind it.

Jesus came to perfect the law of God revealed to Moses. He came to erase all the corruptions of the world added over the centuries by the people of God in their ignorance and arrogance, and bring the law once again to its true purpose. Yes, the law of God as I have often mentioned, was not meant to enslave God’s people or to punish them.

Brethren, let us all heed the call of our Lord delivered to us through Jesus, that we should return to His fold, and seeking God and His love rather than our own glory and prestige as the Pharisees had done in the past. Let us focus on loving the Lord and following His ways, making sure that first of all we seek to understand what God wants from each one of us.

Let us dull the edge of our pride and arrogance, and sharpen the edge of our humility. We should seek the wisdom of God and trust in His words rather than in the words of men. Lead a good and pure life, and seek what is good instead of what is wicked in the eyes of the Lord. Do not commit sin as Jesus had said, and avoid any licentiousness and evil.

Be pure and holy just as our Lord is holy. Be good and faithful in His ways and listen to Him when He speaks to us. God spoke to us in the silence of our hearts, but silence is a rare occasion these days. Our world is too noisy with distractions and allure of pleasures and filled with temptations that keep us away from the Lord.

Let us therefore then take the time for God, and spend some time with Him regularly. Seek Him, and ask Him what He desires from us. He wants our love, obedience with clear understanding, and devotion. Time is one of the things we can certainly spend for His sake. If we remain in Him and keep ourselves faithful, we will be strong against whatever temptations of sin or any attempt by the devil to derail us from the path of salvation.

Keep ourselves free from sin, for sin is the gateway to destruction and eternal damnation. Sin prevents us from receiving the grace of God. May our Lord therefore strengthen the faith and love inside of us, that we may resist sin and remain in the favour of God. May He bless us all forever and ever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 31 December 2013 : Seventh Day of the Christmas Octave, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and this Word was made flesh, that it came into the world and dwell among us. Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Gospel proclaimed to us the truth about Christ and His coming into the world, and what the truth is about the Messiah and His ways.

For, as St. John the Evangelist warned us, in his first letter, that there are antichrist and false prophets who came into this world to mislead us and distract us from the true teachings and the way of the Lord, revealed in Jesus His Son. There are those who taught that Jesus is not God, and that even He is not the Holy One of God, or even that He worked with the power of the evil spirit, and many other.

And there were also those who proclaimed themselves as the Messiah and misled the people of God, both before and after the coming of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. That is the truth as proclaimed by the Holy Apostles and martyrs who risked their lived to keep true the revelations as we heard today in the Gospel.

The truth about Jesus is that He is God, and therefore He is Love for God is Love. That was why He came down upon us, incarnate into flesh. He was the Word of God, and of the same essence as God. He was one third of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was there before time and before all ages, not created, perfect and one in unity, in perfect unity and love as One and only True God with three characteristics.

God the Creator, God the Word, and God the Spirit. These are the persona unified perfectly in God. If you all read the first chapter of the very first book in the Holy Bible, that is the Book of Genesis, you will understand it easily. It was written that once there was nothing and the Spirit of God floats in that nothingness. Then God who was there from the very beginning, and who exists outside of time, spoke and with His Word, made things to be created into existence.

All of those involved are one and the same God, the Creator who is the Father, the Word who is the Son, whom we later know as Jesus, and the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Spirit. That is the reality of our faith, that we believe in One and only One God, but God who in Him exists three distinct yet unified persona, in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All three of them cannot be separated from each other and they are One in God. Through His own Word, He decreed the universe and all creations into existence. Thus, through that Word of God, we and all the things around us were created. And because He created us, and because His nature is love, He cannot deny us the love He has for us. We have sinned when our ancestors chose to listen to Satan instead of the Lord, and therefore we should have deserves damnation and destruction as our fate.

We have been made unworthy of God because of our rebelliousness, and we who have been tainted by sin should have had no place in the kingdom of God. But God being God, and loving us deeply, gave us a new chance, that is the only way out of the predicament that we were in. That way is in Jesus, who came into this world, the Word who was God and was with God, but emptied Himself of all His glory and descend into this world as one of us.

This is the truth about the Lord, our Christ, the Saviour, the Messiah of the world. Satan certainly did not stay quiet or idle during the works of Christ, but he worked hard to undermine the works of the Lord, and as a result, sent many deceivers to deceive and distract the people of God from the true salvation in Jesus Christ.

Today we celebrate a saint whose feast is the last we have on the year. Pope St. Silvester I or Sylvester I was the leader of the Universal Church as the Bishop of Rome at the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine during the late Roman Empire period. He succeeded the Pope Miltiades, during whose reign as Pope the Edict of Milan was signed by the Emperor, which ended the state persecution against Christians.

Pope St. Silvester I worked hard to strengthen the Church and rebuilt the faith after centuries and past decades of persecution against Christians. He oversaw the period of great revival of the fortunes of the faith, from one that is constantly persecuted and chased by the state authorities and the pagans, into one that is eventually becoming the state faith of the Empire.

His piety and hard work to consolidate the position of the faith as the guiding beacon for many people, and for helping the pious Emperor Constantine to build up the foundations for the Universal Church in converting millions and more to the cause of the Lord made him a great saint of the Church. Yet, as we celebrate what he had achieved, we must remain wary of the devices and works of the devil aimed at disturbing the good works that Pope St. Silvester I and the other saints had initiated.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we end this year of our Lord 2013, let us look forward to the new year with a new and rejuvenated faith, that we will continue to remain faithful to the Lord and His ways, and not be swayed by the temptations of evil, no matter how attractive they are. Reject the devil as firmly as Jesus had rejected him and cast him away from His side. Reject any false prophet bearing the lies and falsehoods of Satan.

May the Lord strengthen our faith and empower us, to be better able to resist Satan and his temptations on us. That we will remain ever faithful in Jesus, our Lord, the true, one and only Saviour of the world. Amen.

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Friday, 11 October 2013 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are urged to be vigilant and ever trusting in God our Lord and Saviour. That we will remain faithful to Him and uphold ever strongly His commandments and laws within our hearts, anchoring ourselves within His love, so that the power of Satan will no longer prevail over us.

Christ had come into the world to save mankind from the hands of evil, and through His own death on the cross and His glorious resurrection, He had snatched us away from the hands of the enemy, and cast away the evil spirits and the demons that resided within each one of us, the spirits of temptation, lust, desire, greed, pride, sloth, and the spirits of other sinfulness. These Christ had cast out of us who believe in Him and who had been baptised and accepted into His Church.

But this does not mean that forever we will be out of danger, and that by the faith we had in Christ when we were saved is enough for us, and we need not do anything anymore. Some may argue that did Christ not say that we are saved by our faith, or citing the example of those who had been saved by faith? Then why do we need to do something even after we are saved?

That is because, brethren, our faith in God is not a dead faith and neither it is constant. A faith that is not supported with concrete actions of love, compassion, kindness, and dedication to God and fellow men is just as good as dead, or at least a dying faith. This kind of faith is not what the Lord wants from each one of us. What He wants from us is that faith which is living and dynamic, which is shown through our love, in our actions, that shows to the Lord our God, that our faith in Him is genuine and enduring, and not just mere words and promises!

After all, brothers and sisters in Christ, as unfaithful and rebellious we and our ancestors were, God did not turn away from His love towards us, and He constantly looked upon us with utmost mercy and compassion. And He who is ever faithful did not lie or offer false promises when He promised salvation, an eternal salvation and freedom from the powers of death and evil to our ancestors.

He made it truly a concrete and undeniable promise, through the coming of Himself, through Jesus His Son, the Word of God made flesh, into this world. That He was willing to come down upon us, to be one like us, to be the teacher of faith and love to us, and finally to die on the cross for our sake, were proof enough of His everlasting faith and love for us. If He had done so, we whom He had chosen to be His children, should also then do the same.

Satan, our former jailer and slave master, is not happy with us being released from our bondage to him and to sin. That is precisely what the death and resurrection of Christ had done for us. The evil one, ever mischievous and evil, does not give up on us, but instead intensified his attacks on us, sending evil spirits and temptations along our way, to turn us from the Lord, and make us betray the covenant we have made and renewed with God.

When we were baptised and accepted into the Church, we had been made clean, from our former dirty state. The waters of baptism cleanses us from the filth of sin within us, and God came to reside within each one of us saved in the Lord. However, as Christ Himself mentioned, that the evil spirit who left someone and then return, finding a clean room inside us, will be bound to come with more vicious evil spirits to destroy us, and to make us even worse than before.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, from today on, we ought to heed the warnings God had given us through Jesus our Lord, that we will not be swayed by the forces and temptations of Satan, and that we will keep strong the fortress of faith that is our heart and our body, that we will never again allow the spirits of wickedness, that is the evil spirits, to ever come again into us and reside within us.

Instead, let us affirm our love and dedication for the Lord our God, through whom we had been made clean and worthy of the eternal glory of heaven. Let Jesus Christ our Lord be the Master of our house, that is our body, heart, and soul, and not Satan the deceiver. Cast him out of our house and welcome instead the loving and compassionate Lord our God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 7 October 2013 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate an important Marian feast, a day dedicated to the Mother of God, Mary, the lady and our mother. Today, in particular, we celebrate an aspect of her that we often find to be ubiquitous in our faith and devotions, that is the holy rosary, the linked beads in chain, that we use to guide us in our prayer.

What is the rosary and what is its significance in our faith, and how does it affect us in our journey of faith in this world and beyond? The rosary is a weapon, a spiritual weapon in a spiritual warfare between the forces of evil led by the devil, against us, the children of the light, the beloved ones of God. This devotion was introduced by Mary herself, when she appeared to St. Dominic, who was then the first to recommend the devotion of the rosary to the people of God.

We often take the rosary for granted, and instead of taking the devotion seriously, we said the prayers without meaning and said the words faster than even the bullet trains! That is exactly what happened if we do not truly understand the usefulness and the purpose of the holy rosary, which is a potent weapon, a spiritual weapon, in the spiritual warfare constantly fought between us and the devil and his servants.

Then how did this feast of our Lady of the Rosary come about? This feast originated in the late sixteenth century, after the great victory of the forces of the faithful, fighting against the forces of the devil, represented by the Muslim forces of the expansionist Ottoman Turk Empire. This battle is the Battle of Lepanto, which happened on this date, today, in the year 1571.

This great victory marked a great turning point in the history of Christendom, where the faithful are no longer on the defensive, after the enemy was dealt a massive defeat by the power of God. Pope St. Pius V, the Pope at the time, decided to commemorate the great victory by dedicating it to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that the victory over the enemy was made possible.

In the same way therefore, today, through the rosary as our weapon, the spiritual weapon, we would like to celebrate our victory and triumph against the evil one and his forces of darkness, as we, the children of the light, had triumphed against the darkness, much like the victorious Christian vanguards at the Battle of Lepanto more than four centuries ago.

Nevertheless, brethren, even though we have been victorious, as through Mary and her Son Jesus, whose sacrifice on the cross dealt the evil one a complete and thorough defeat, but the devil still has plenty of tools under his sleeves. He continues to marshall his forces of darkness to harass us, especially those who are most vulnerable, those whose faith are wavering and weakened.

The devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus our Lord and God, through the holy rosary is a potent tool to prevent this from happening, that is to prevent our brethren to fall into the temptation of Satan and his angels, the fallen ones. The rosary, as I mentioned, is a powerful weapon in this constant spiritual warfare raging daily around us, where angels and devils fight for the sake of our soul, for its salvation or damnation.

Through meaningful and devoted praying of the holy rosary, we invoke the protection of the angels sent by Jesus our Lord, through the intercession of His blessed mother Mary, hearing the prayer we have made through the rosary in complete devotion and love. The Lord will certainly not abandon us to the forces of the enemy. He will smite them and cast them away from us, His beloved children.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, the rosary, in which we pray the prayers dedicated to the Lord and His mother Mary, emulate the Marian virtues of obedience and love, which we ought to follow and emulate ourselves. Through her obedience and love, we have Jesus who came into this world, and we have a hope, hope of salvation and eternal life in Him.

This rosary is our spiritual weapon and also our spiritual defender, a breastplate of faith and devotion, protecting us from the threats of the evil one and his forces. Let us therefore, spread the habit of praying the rosary meaningfully and devoutly, to all around us, especially to those among us whose faith is wavering. May the Lord continue to watch over us, and may His blessed mother Mary continue to intercede for us, for our salvation, as we continue to offer her and her Son, our love and devotion through the rose of the holy rosary. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 September 2013 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the Lord who told His disciples on their mission and how they should perform it. We also listened to how the Lord was merciful to His people, even after they have transgressed against Him and disobeyed His commandments, causing great disappointments to Him who has loved us so much.

He wanted His disciples to be the true messengers of the Gospel, to be the bearers of the Lord’s message to the world, by their ministry among them, to the people who have yet to receive the Good News of the Lord. Therefore, as Christ had asked of His disciples as their mission before He departed from this world, the same too is expected of us today, we, who are the present day disciples and followers of Christ.

Into His disciples, Christ had given the same authority He possessed, the power that He has over evils and diseases, the teaching authority and the revelation of the Word of God and the Law. That is the same power and authority that had been passed down to our Church leaders, the bishops and the priests, to heal those who are hurt, and to help all of us on our way towards the Lord in salvation.

Armed with these gifts and endowment, the Lord sent them forth into the world, to the people of God, especially those who still lived in the depths of their sins. They were sent in pairs and went from place to place, visiting each of them and telling them on the Good News of salvation. They were to live humbly and act humbly, as the servants of God, that they would remain pure in their intentions, and would not veer away from their mission.

Yes, indeed, that is because mankind is inherently weak, especially against the temptations of the world. In our vulnerability lies a great risk, that we will misuse what we have been given, and use them for wickedness instead of using them for things that we are supposed to do, as the servants and children of God. That was what many of us today had done, and even among our priests and bishops, the shepherds appointed over us.

We either neglect the mission God had entrusted us with, and instead following the ways of the world, we live in wickedness and darkness, and we often drag even others with us into darkness. And the leaders of the faithful had also sometimes went wayward and caused much harm and divisions within the Church in various ways. This neglect and abandonment of the works that we ought to do, cause disruption and come against the plan that God has for each of us.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are urged to get rid of the worldly distractions in our lives and in our mission as the bringer of the Good News to mankind. We are urged to forgo things that may steer us away from our true purpose in life, that is to love one another and to love the Lord our God. It is very easy for us to lose our purpose, if we put out focus in the wrong things, such as money, possessions, and in worldly desires.

As I have often mentioned, that money, wealth, and material goods are not in themselves bad or evil. It is a fuel for evil or for good depending on how we utilise them, the way that we use them. We can use them for love and charity, as well as for selfishness and evil. It is in our hands that they can become tool for good or for bad. However, indeed, mankind often use them disproportionately for negative purposes, because the temptation of the devil is indeed very great.

Therefore, brethren, it is important for us to avoid falling into the same trap of the devil, that we do not become ensnared with the false promises of pleasure and money, that we end up cursed and damned because we failed to look away from the temporary pleasures the devil has offered. What we need is prayer, a good and vibrant prayer life that we have a strong faith, that whatever the devil offers us, we will be able to resist.

It is also important for us to love, and to serve our community, especially to our brethren in need, that we reinforce in ourselves the love God has given us. And not only that, in doing so, we also obey the commands of Jesus our Lord, who had sent His disciples to serve all the children of God, giving to them their love, care, and attention.

Let us all be faithful, loving, and committed to the Lord, that we can truly carry out His will and the mission He had entrusted us all with, to love sincerely, and to resist all the approaches of Satan, using whatever graces we have given with, especially in material possessions, wisely and carefully, for the good and benefits of one another. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 30 August 2013 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-8

For the rest, brothers, we ask you in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, and we urge you to live in a way that pleases God, just as you have learnt from us. This you do, but try to do still more. You know the instructions we gave you on behalf of the Lord Jesus : the will of God for you is to become holy and not to have unlawful sex.

Let each of you behave towards his wife as a holy and respectful husband, rather than being led by lust, as are pagans who do not know God. In this matter, let no one offend or wrong a brother. The Lord will do justice in all these things, as we have warned and shown you.

God has called us to live, not in impurity but in holiness, and those who do not heed this instruction disobey, not a human, but God Himself who gives you His Holy Spirit.