revelation of truth

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel (I Classis) – Monday, 29 September 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Apocalypse 8 : 3, 4

Stetit Angelus juxta aram templi, habens thuribulum aureum in manu sua, et data sunt et incensa multa : et ascendit fumus aromatum in conspectu Dei. Alleluja.

English translation

An angel stood near the altar of the temple, having a golden censer in his hand, and there was given to him much incense, and the smoke of the perfumes ascended before God. Alleluia.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Hostias Tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus, suppliciter deprecantes : ut easdem, angelico pro nobis interveniente suffragio, et placatus accipias, et ad salutem nostram provenire concedas. Per Dominum…

English translation

We offer You sacrifices of praise, o Lord, humbly praying that You may be pleased to receive them, through the angelic intercession in our behalf, and grant that they may avail for our salvation. Through our Lord…

Communion

Daniel 3 : 58

Benedicite, omnes Angeli Domini, Dominum : hymnum dicite et superexaltate eum in saecula.

English translation

All you angels of the Lord, bless the Lord. Sing a hymn, and exalt Him above all forever. Alleluia.

Post-Communion Prayer

Beati Archangeli tui Michaelis intercessione suffulti : supplices te, Domine, deprecamur; ut, quod ore prosequimur, contingamus et mente. Per Dominum…

English translation

Relying upon the intercession of the Blessed Michael, Your Archangel, o Lord, we Your suppliants pray that what we perform with our lips, we may attain with our hearts. Through our Lord…

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel (I Classis) – Monday, 29 September 2014 : Epistle

Lectio libri Apocalypsis Beati Joannis Apostoli – Lesson from the Book of the Apoclypse of Blessed John the Apostle

Apocalypse 1 : 1-5

In diebus illis : Significavit Deus, quae oportet fieri cito, mittens per Angelum suum servo suo Joanni, qui testimonium perhibuit verbo Dei, et testimonium Jesu Christi, quaecumque vidit. Beatus, qui legit et audit verba prophetiae hujus : et servat ea, quae in ea scripta sunt : tempus enim prope est.

Joannes septem ecclesiis, quae sunt in Asia. Gratia vobis et pax ab eo, qui est et qui erat et qui venturus est : et a septem spiritibus, qui in conspectu throni ejus sunt : et a Jesu Christo, qui est testis fidelis, primogenitus mortuorum et Princeps regum terrae, qui dilexit nos et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo.

English translation

In those days God signified the things which must shortly come to pass, sending by His angel to His servant John, who had given testimony to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever things that he had seen. Blessed is he who read and heard the words of this prophecy, and kept those things which are written in it, for the time is at hand.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia : Grace be unto you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, the first Begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, who had loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood.

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Thursday, 25 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; May He prosper the work of our hands.

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Monday, 22 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 8 : 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather he puts it on a lampstand, so that people coming in may see the light. In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret that shall not be known clearly.

“Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

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Sunday, 21 September 2014 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, Catechetical Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and the Evangelist, one of the Four Evangelists who wrote the Four Holy Gospels, together with St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. Consequently, today we also celebrate the occasion of Catechetical Sunday, which if we notice from the name, it refers to catechesis, which is the teaching of the Christian faith, of which no better source is present other than the Four Holy Gospels, one of which was written by St. Matthew.

In these occasions of celebration, we hear the words of the Holy Scriptures, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, where the Lord God exhorted His people through Isaiah to seek for Him and not to wait until it is too late, and in it was also an admonition for the pride and desire of mankind, who often thought of themselves as great and mighty, but they are really no more than the servants and creations of God, who should therefore obey His will and not their own selfish desires.

Then we hear the Psalms which exalted the Lord and all His goodness, and how His love and mercy will embrace all things, as well as all of us, if only that we resolve to seek Him and find Him in our lives, and as the Psalm mentioned, that the Lord’s mercy and love are upon those who call on Him. This is why mankind should stop delaying and being slothful, and begin to walk on the path of repentance to seek for God’s infinite mercy.

In the second reading, taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, he reminded the people of God, of the importance of labour and work, and the benefits one may gain if they do their labour for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of His beloved people, our own brothers and sisters in the Lord. It was also highlighted of the importance of the teaching of the Gospels and the faith to the people of God.

Then finally in the Gospel, as written by St. Matthew, we heard how Jesus taught His followers and the disciples using parables, and in today’s Gospel, the parable of the vineyard owner and the workers. In this parable, the vineyard owner employed many people who were unemployed and idle, and he brought them to work in his vineyard. And when the time comes for them to receive their pay, all of them, regardless of their working hours, they all received the same amount of pay, that is one silver coin each.

But the ones who worked for long hours complained before the owner, and they complained to the owner for unjust treatment compared to those who worked very little hours. They argued for the fact that they have been given the same pay although they worked for much longer. The owner then admonished them for their grumbling, and mentioned that they should have been thankful that they have been given the opportunity to work and receive the reward as everyone else had, regardless of the amount.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we look at it more closely and reflect more intently on the meaning of the words of the Scripture which we have heard today, it should be obvious that God wants us to know about the nature of salvation, and how we can play a part in that work of salvation, and therefore having a part in the salvation of one another, ensuring the security of all of us together in Christ.

The Gospel refers to how the Lord is truly willing to seek out those who are lost from Him, and the owner of the vineyard is Himself the Lord. The unemployed men and the idle ones represent mankind who still live in the darkness of the world and sundered from the Lord their God. The reward that the men received symbolised the promise of salvation and eternal life which God had revealed and vowed to us through Jesus.

And the time of which the men were called refers to none other than the opportunities in life for us, which are plenty, from the beginning and early days of our lives, until even the eleventh hour, and the time near the end. God is actively seeking for us, just as the vineyard owner was actively seeking for employees as he went around the city to look for the unemployed, that is those who are still lost among mankind.

And just as all mankind are equal in the sight of God, regardless of their status, wealth, influence, fame, power and all other things often attached to us, we are all the same before God without any embellishments. And this is perfectly shown in the Gospel, as the owner paid the workers equally without any consideration for the amount of work or for any virtues, and all were paid a silver coin each, just as all of us have equal part in our divine inheritance that is life eternal.

Brethren, it is in our nature to always want more and seek more, and we always think that all of our efforts are definitely ought to be paid, and the world itself had supported this, by enhancing in our minds the thought such that when we do more and put more effort, we are conditioned to demand for more and feel that it is justified for us to demand for more, in accordance to what we did.

Does this seem familiar somehow? Yes, precisely because it exists in our world, and it is indeed the force behind the economical progress and how the economy works in our world. Yes, it is the same as capitalism, in the system where supply and demand controls everything. And that is why we always desire and seek more, because in this system, when it is unbridled and uncontrolled, can lead to excessive materialism and desire for things of the world.

And these are what precisely made it so difficult for many of us to be saved, that is many among mankind, because we are so easily tempted by the goods and the wonders that are in the world, that Satan made that very good opportunity to steer us away from salvation in God. We end up doing things to satisfy our desire and greed for more goodness and pleasures of the world, as shown by the grumbling of those workers who came early to work in the owner’s vineyard. We have much to learn in terms of sharing with one another God’s love and blessing, and not to just be concerned about our own benefits.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this we should learn that our Lord loves us all without exception, even the greatest of sinners. There is always hope in the conversion of sinners, and even the greatest sinner can eventually be turned to the way of the Lord to become the greatest of the saints. Indeed, many great saints were themselves once great sinners. What matters is that they repent from their sinful ways and embrace the ways of the Lord.

St. Matthew himself was once a hated tax collector, a profession which was reviled in the society, and they were seen by their Jewish society as traitors and evil, as those who seemingly collaborated with the Roman, the masters of the world at the time, in oppressing the people with the taxes imposed on them. Yet, St. Matthew, despite the good promises of the job, and the security in life it provided him, he left everything and followed Jesus, and eventually became one of the four great Evangelists who recorded the life and works of Jesus our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we commemorate the occasions I mentioned earlier for today, we have to always be reminded that we have our roles to play in this world today, that is to embrace, seek out and welcome those who hunger for the truth and the Good News of Christ in the Holy Gospels, and that is why we even celebrate today as the Catechetical Sunday, where we together as the Church, seek to spread the words of salvation of our Lord to all the ends of the earth.

Let us not be proud of our achievements or be greedy for more acclamations for what we had accomplished in life and in our faith. Instead, let us look with love upon those who have less or none, and especially those who have less or none of the faith. Let us not be jealous of them when the Lord offers them the same salvation He had also offered us. Let us rather help each other and together as brothers and sisters in the same Lord, equal in the eyes of God, enter the kingdom of heaven as one people, to praise and worship Him forever more.

Do not wait until the last minute to seek the Lord, too, for we do not know when the time is up for us. If we are late, then there is no more opportunity for us, and we will suffer for eternity together with Satan and his fellow fallen angels. Let us pray that this will not be our fate, and thus let none be lost in the darkness. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 September 2014 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, Catechetical Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

At that time, Jesus said, “This story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven : A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard.”

“He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the town square, he said to them, ‘You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went.”

“The owner went out at midday, and again at three in the afternoon, and he did the same. Finally he went out at the last working hour – the eleventh hour – and he saw others standing there. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stay idle the whole day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said, ‘Go and work in my vineyard.'”

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up, and were each given a silver coin.”

“When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, each received a silver coin. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner. They said, ‘These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.'”

“The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on one silver coin per day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you envious when I am kind?'”

“So will it be : the last will be first.”

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Saturday, 20 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr; St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr; St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 8 : 4-15

As a great crowd gathered, and people came to Jesus from every town, He began teaching them with a story : “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water.

Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked Him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.”

“Now, this is the point of the parable : The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it, but immediately the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he does not want them to believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial.”

“Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it in a gentle and generous mind, and persevering patiently, they bear fruit.”

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Thursday, 18 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the First Reading that is the letter written by St. Paul to the faithful and the Church in Corinth, which places the emphasis on the truth and nature about Christ our Lord, who has died and then risen from the dead, in the glory of His resurrection, so that all who believed in His resurrection from the dead will also therefore partake in His divine glory.

Then in the Gospel today, we heard how Jesus encountered both a Pharisee and a sinful woman, likely a prostitute, who met together in a visit of Jesus to the house of the Pharisee. We are then shown what happened in that encounter, when the sinful woman tearfully served the Lord with a jar of perfume, anointing His feet and washing it clean with her tears, while the Pharisee looked upon the action in disgust.

In this we can see clearly the nature of God, that is love and mercy, which He extended to all of His beloved ones, especially to those who are still living in the darkness away from His saving light and grace. Jesus made it clear to the Pharisee, that the Lord never wants to condemn the sinners and those who have erred in their ways. Rather, He wants to call these back into His embrace and love.

When someone like the Pharisee began to put so much emphasis on criticism and condemnation of others rather than on love and mercy, then it will cause them to lose sight on the true focus of our faith. Our faith must be based on love and mercy, and also hope, not just for ourselves but also for those who are around us. We cannot separate them from each other, but they are intertwined closely.

Therefore, we should not follow the example of the Pharisee who was quick to judge upon others, and who condemned and made assumptions on others based merely only on what he saw and thought of others and also of himself. He thought of himself and his fellow Pharisees as the righteous ones, but yet they did not believe in Jesus, and even were brutally opposed to Him, while the woman, a sinful woman, realised the truth in Jesus and did all she can to serve Him and she did all she can to beg for mercy from the Lord.

The Pharisee acted all high and mighty as if he was already saved and guaranteed eternal life in the Lord. However, in fact, as Jesus mentioned, due to his actions and prejudice against others, he was in fact negligent in his faith, and his reward would be little while his punishment great. Meanwhile, the repentant woman would receive great reward for her humility and love for God, and she would be lifted up, for she believed that Christ is the Lord, just as the Apostles have believed it.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the key message of this day’s Scripture readings is that we must always seek the Lord in our lives, and love Him with all our hearts. We cannot act as if we deserve salvation just because we consider ourselves righteous, and we cannot act like the Pharisee, who condemned others who he thought as not being as pious as himself.

Let us all come together to a greater realisation that we all need to grow deeper in faith in the Lord, so that we may come closer to His throne of mercy, seeking Him with all of our hearts just like the sinful woman, who in her great sincerity and humility, desired to be reunited with Jesus the Lord and be forgiven from her great sins. Let us all come to greater realisation that we are sinners, and it is through the love and mercy of God that we are made whole once again and be forgiven from our sins.

May Almighty God strengthen us and give us new hope through His own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who died for us out of His great love, so that all who believe in Him may not die, but live eternal in the grace of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 15 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 19 : 25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom He loved, He said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “There is your mother.”

And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Alternative reading

Luke 2 : 33-35

Jesus’ father and mother wondered at what was said about the Child.

Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother, “Know this : your Son is a sign, a sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

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Thursday, 11 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the readings from the Scriptures and the Holy Gospel, on the importance of love in our lives in this world. Without love, that is genuine love, we cannot survive in this world, and we will have no part in the inheritance of our Lord and God, who is Love. Love is the key to solve many problems in this world, as without love, hatred and violence reign free and supreme.

The essence of what we heard today is the nature of love, and how our love should be. Our love must be genuine and true, and it must be wholesome. It cannot be love that brings joy to some and yet causes pain to others. To us mankind, it is the latter kind of love that we often encounter, and we ought to know that this is no love.

Love is when we are able to free ourselves from deceit and evil within our hearts, and be able to look beyond the veil of darkness that surround us, which include the feeling of fear, hatred, jealousy and prejudice which prevent us from truly loving as we should have loved. Love is when we can love and care for everyone, no matter whether they return our love or whether they have loved us first.

Love must be unconditional, in that when we love we should not expect the love we give to be returned. And therefore, it is not right if we demand that the love we have given ought to be repaid with similar kind of love. This kind of love is not a perfect love as Jesus had taught us, but rather it is love with benefits, that is we are likely to continue to love as long as it benefits us, but we are then likely to stop that love and care once the condition becomes unfavourable for us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there is much violence and hatred in this world, and these are not easy to be overcome. There is much effort required if we are to overcome these sinister forces threatening to split mankind apart and pit brethren against their own brothers and their own sisters. Why is this so? This is because there are many temptations in the world, the idols of mankind.

If St. Paul in the first reading today, in his letter to the faithful in Corinth said that the faithful should not consume food that had been offered to the pagan idols, said such in a very devoted attempt to ensure that those whose sensitivities were affected by such action be not allowed to fall again into sin, then we too in our own behaviours in this world should avoid all the fornications of our body and soul to sin.

How so? It may seem that in today’s world, in most of the world the old pagan worship of idols with offerings of food and other forms of sacrifices are no longer prevalent, and thus this can be deceiving to many of us. We often do not realise that in the absence of those idols, other, new idols had risen up to take their place in corrupting mankind and bringing them further and further away from salvation in God.

Money, power, influence and others in this world are all these new idols. They are what many in the world toil for, work for, and in many instances even to fight with one another, even with those dear to them, so that they can be closer to these new ‘idols’ and get more of them in the world. And we all should know that they are the main cause of wars, conflicts, and violence prevalent throughout the world.

If mankind continue to worship these idols of money, power, influence and others out there in the world, then there will be no end to suffering for mankind, and the world will slide ever further into chaos and darkness. That is why we have so much anger and violence in the world, so much suffering and people in difficulties, and why so many people have their rights violated against by those with power.

And if we recall today, that this day we remembered thirteen years ago was a great tragedy that befell a nation, that is the United States of America when two large jets were hijacked by extremists and then flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The resulting destruction caused thousands of deaths and many more injured and not just that, for the families of those who were lost, they still grieved even until today.

In this regrettable and horrible event, we can see clearly that above all the bickering and all the conspiracy theories, above all the disputes and the attacks which one side attack the other with, and above all of that, it is the innocent ones who suffer, both in the site of the event itself, where thousands lay dead, and in the aftermath, in the wars that followed which caused even more death on both sides in the conflict.

Mankind are often fighting over what they want, and they seek more and more in this life. We are by nature difficult to satisfy, and if we do not leash our desire, we risk having the attitude of doing anything in order to get at our goal. And hence, that is why we committed violence, show hatred to others, and not easily satisfied even though we have been given plenty.

This is because in many of us, if not most, we lack love in our hearts. This is not the love as the world knows it. Love as the world knows it is exactly the kind of love that care only for the benefit of the self, a selfish love, which when it had served its purpose, then it turns into hatred, evil and destruction. What we urgently need to have with us, is the kind of love that Jesus had taught us and shown us, an unconditional and true love.

This love is such that it is not a selfish one, but a genuine love for others. Love that asks for no returns or reciprocation, as Jesus mentioned. And this love also overcomes hate and prejudice. Jesus taught us that we should forgive one another, no matter what kind of pain we have received from another. This is a crucial key on how to break that continuous and self-sustaining cycle of violence and evil.

If we repay violence, anger and hatred with equal violence, anger and hatred, then we are merely perpetuating the cycle, and in fact we add even more negativity by committing evil on others ourselves. Rather, Jesus taught us to love, and therefore, through that love, instead of evil, the love that is pure and unconditional may begin to heal the broken souls and hearts of mankind filled with hatred and darkness.

Therefore, as we remember those who perished on this day thirteen years ago, let us all learn to love and forgive, and to pray for all those who are still committing acts of violence, anger and hatred throughout the world, that they too may learn of the love of Christ, be converted to His life and gain salvation in Him. God bless us all, and may He give us His love, that we too may love each other and Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strengths. Amen.