Roman martyrs

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Monday, 1 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 1-12

At that time, using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad.”

“In due time he sent a servant to receive from the tenants his share of the fruit. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed. Again the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.”

“He sent another and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others : some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, ‘They will respect my son.'”

“But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures : ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?'”

They wanted to arrest Him, for they realised that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.

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Monday, 1 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are for his family, there his integrity will remain. He is for the righteous a light in darkness. He is kind, merciful and upright.

It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever.

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Monday, 1 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Tobit 1 : 3 and Tobit 2 : 1b-8

I, Tobit, have walked in the ways of truth and justice all the days of my life; I have given many alms to my brethren and to those of my countrymen who were deported with me to Nineveh, a city in the country of the Assyrians.

At the feast of Pentecost, the sacred feast of the Seven Weeks, they prepared a good meal for me and I sat down to eat. I saw the many dishes and said to my son : “Go and bring as many as you can find of our relatives who are in need and who remember the Lord. I will wait here for them.”

When Tobias returned, he said : “Father, one of ours has been strangled and thrown into the public square.” Before I ate anything, I hurried out and carried this man into the house and waited till sunset to bury him. When I returned home I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. I remembered the prophecy which Amos uttered against Bethel : ‘Your feasts will be turned into mourning. All your songs will be turned into lamentations,’ and I wept.”

After sunset I went out and, after I had dug a trench, I buried the man. My neighbours mocked me, saying : “He no longer fears to be put to death for doing that; he had to flee but look he is again burying the dead.”

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Tuesday, 12 May 2015 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martrys, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how God is ever faithful and how He will always provide for all those who continue to cling on to Him and not swayed by the tides of the world. In the first reading we heard how St. Paul and Silas his companion were freed from prison by a great earthquake when their enemies plotted against them to destroy them, and in the process the jailer himself was converted to the faith.

And in the Gospel we heard how our Lord Jesus promised the coming of the Helper, the Advocate and the Guide of all things, that is the Holy Spirit, which He would send to His Apostles and therefore to His Church after His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. This is to remind us that while this coming Thursday we are going to commemorate our Lord’s glorious ascension into heaven, He is always with us wherever we are.

God dwells in us and He is always with us, and even though we are always disobedient and rebellious, but He is ever faithful. And to all those who keep their faith in Him, He will grant such great favours and graces so as to mark them apart from all others who have not given Him their love and dedication. So we are truly very fortunate if we can count ourselves as one of the faithful ones of God.

God is always with His people, with all of His children that is all of us. He is always on our side, blessing us and giving us His graces from time to time. We have to think about this every time we breathe and have life, every single day of our life. Remember that the Lord, who is Lord and Master of all life have been so gracious and kind so as to overlook our sins and faults, to give us the opportunity for repentance.

It is very easy for the Lord to just destroy us and cast us away from His presence forever. After all, we all have betrayed His trust and His love, and chose to side with Satan and rebel together with him. But His love for us overcomes His anger at us, and His wrath is overcome by the care and pity which He has for us, His children, who are like lost sheep wandering in the darkness of this world.

Thus, He has called us out of this darkness, and to those of us whom He had called, He also entrusted us to call our brethren out of the same darkness. That is why, He gave us His Spirit, which encourages us and gives us the strength and will to overcome all the forms of indecision, fear and apathy, so that we all may help one another to be ever closer to our Lord and be saved by His mercy and grace.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Nereus, St. Achilleus and St. Pancras, all of whom are martyrs of the faith. They are all the holy defenders of the faith, who did not give up their faith despite the threat of persecution and death by those who were opposed to the Lord and to the truth they were preaching by their words and actions. St. Achilleus and St. Nereus were members of the Roman army while St. Nereus was a noble who all lived at the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, infamous for his great and harsh persecution of all Christians.

St. Nereus and St. Achilleus was once pagan soldiers who took part in the persecution of the faithful, but after witnessing the example of the faith of many those whom they have persecuted, they themselves became believers and refused to obey anymore orders to persecute the faithful ones. As a result, they were tortured and put to great suffering, until eventually they were beheaded for their refusal to embrace the pagan gods.

St. Pancras was a young noble who was baptised at a young age and who led an exemplary Christian life, donating his goods and possessions to the poor and practicing the faith in his actions, and although he was discovered because of this, he refused to recant his faith in God despite being offered much wealth and power by the Emperor himself. As such, he was also beheaded for his faith after great sufferings.

All the holy martyrs might have met their death and end at the hands of their persecutors and those who do not believe in God, but they receive great and rich rewards in heaven, and through their bravery, courage and examples, they inspired countless others to believe in God and thus saved many more souls for the Lord.

These things are examples that we can adopt and discern on, as we all have also been called to walk in the same path that they have walked. It does not mean that we must antagonise others and face martyrdom, but rather that we all have to trust the Lord fully and completely, and place all of our hope in Him, and be courageous and proactive in how we live out our faith.

May Almighty God guide us and strengthen us in our faith, that by the Holy Spirit which He had sent us, we may become ever more courageous and stronger in our commitment and devotion to spread the word of God to many more people and thus lead more people towards salvation and new life in God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 May 2015 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martrys, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 16 : 5-11

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “But now I am going to the One who sent Me, and none of you asks Me where I am going; instead you are overcome with grief, because of what I have said. Believe Me, it is better for you that I go away, because as long as I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you.”

“But if I go away, it is to send Him to you, and when He comes, He will vindicate the truth before a sinful world; and He will vindicate the paths of righteousness and justice. What is the world’s sin, in regard to Me? Disbelief. What is the path of righteousness? It is the path I walk, by which I go to the Father; and you shall see Me no more.”

“What is the path of justice? It is the path on which the prince of this world will always stand condemned.”

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Tuesday, 12 May 2015 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martrys, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

You save me from the wrath of my foes, with Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.

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Tuesday, 12 May 2015 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martrys, and St. Pancras, Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 16 : 22-34

So the Jews set the crowd against Paul and Silas and the officials tore the clothes off them and ordered them to be flogged. And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately all the doors flew open and the chains of all the prisoners fell off.

The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.” The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved.” Then they spoke the word of God to him and to all his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he and his whole household were baptised at once. He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in God.

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the words of the parable of the prodigal son, the well known story which most of us are certainly familiar with. This is a story of God’s rich love and mercy, and His tender forgiveness for our faults and sins. It is meant to awaken us up to our sins and to help us realise how if we continue in our sinful ways, then we are essentially driving ourselves to annihilation.

The father represents God, who is indeed our Father who created us and cared for us greatly. The elder son represents those of us who have been called and saved from the evils of the world, that means also those of us who are already accepted into the Church through baptism. The younger son represents all those who are still lost in the entanglement of sin and in the darkness of the world.

But this does not mean that the younger son do not have anything in common with us. In fact, so long as we still continue to commit sin, be it big or small, we are still like the younger son, and we are still lost in a way. Remember, brethren, that sin is truly very dangerous, and what is at stake here is nothing else but the very fate of our souls, that means either we end up in eternal joy with our Father in heaven, or that we are forever lost and suffer for eternity for the lack of our Father’s love.

For that is indeed the fate that could have awaited the younger son when he encountered trouble in the foreign lands. He lost or used up all of his money and possessions, and he had to work in a pig farm just so that he might survive, and having no food to eat, he truly suffered and no one even let him to eat the food that the pigs ate.

We have to take note that the younger son made a choice at that point, that is to face up to the truth and reality, admit his mistakes and return to his father. He could have chosen to remain in exile, and most likely in that case that he would have died, if he was too shameful to admit his mistakes, or otherwise too proud to do so. It was his choice to humble himself and to find his way back to his father.

This is to show us that it is also our choice, whether we are to remain in sin and wickedness, and either are too afraid to seek the Lord because we fear His wrath, or too proud to admit our sinfulness, then we are doomed. We should be like the younger son, that prodigal son, who have sinned and showed great remorse, asking for his father’s forgiveness.

His humility and desire to be forgiven bore fruit, and he was received back by his father with love and compassion. He regained his place of honour and his past sins and wickedness were forgiven. Thus, it will be the same with us, if we sincerely and honestly seek God’s forgiveness. God will accept us back into His presence, and He will bless us again with His grace.

And we should also take note of the actions of the elder son, who was jealous of the treatment and attention which his father apparently gave to his wayward younger brother, giving him many things and rewards which he himself had not received before. This is the attitude we should not have, and indeed which we have to avoid. We who have been saved by the grace of God, and have been accepted as a member of His body, must not despise all those who are still filled with wickedness and sin.

Do not judge others, for it is only God who can rightfully judge others. If we judge others, then we too are liable to be judged, for we too are sinners, and daily, we struggle against sin, sometimes successfully while on other times, unsuccessfully. It is therefore, that we all should care for those among us, our own brethren who are still lost in the darkness. And instead of despising them and looking down on them, we should really be helping them to find their way to the Lord.

Today we also celebrate the feast day of the holy martyrs, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity. Both saints were martyrs who died during the days of the pagan Roman Empire, who persecuted the people of the Faith harshly and severely. Many were hunted down and killed, and many of them were also subjected to severe punishment and torture in order to make them recant their Faith, but most refused to do so, and therefore died as martyrs of the Faith.

Similarly with St. Felicity and Perpetua who were martyred for their Faith. They did not give up their faith and trust in the Lord for temporary worldly relief, but instead they met their end of life in this world with joy and full acceptance, and therefore receive the holy gifts of our Lord, the proof that in martyrdom and in all other things, God always loves us and care for all those who have faith in Him.

St. Perpetua and Felicity both knew that if they abandoned the Lord and embraced the sins of the world, they would be safe. But they threw far, far away their human desires and instead they put their complete trust in the Lord, depending only on His love and mercy. And in the end, for their faith, they received great rewards of everlasting life and happiness.

Therefore, inspired by the example of the prodigal son and the courage of the two holy martyrs, let us use the opportunity given to us in this season of Lent, in order to change our ways, and seek the Lord in true and sincere repentance, that like the prodigal son, we may change our ways and avoid destruction due to the sins we have committed. Let us all return to our Father, our Lord and God with sincere love and full of commitment and dedication to Him. God be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable : “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.”

“Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land.”

“So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.