Sacred Liturgy

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Monday, 21 December 2015 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 39-45

At that time, Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and Blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Monday, 21 December 2015 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 32 : 2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Give thanks to the Lord on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His holy Name.

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Monday, 21 December 2015 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Song of Songs 2 : 8-14

The voice of my lover! Behold He comes, springing across the mountains, jumping over the hills, like a gazelle or a young stag. Now He stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My lover speaks to me, “Arise, My love, My beautiful one! Come, the winter is gone, the rains are over. Flowers have appeared on earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard. The fig tree forms its early fruit, the vines in blossom are fragrant.”

“Arise, My beautiful one, come with Me, My love, come. O My dove in the rocky cleft, in the secret places of the cliff, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice. Your face – how lovely! Your voice – how sweet!”

Alternative reading

Zephaniah 3 : 14-18a

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving Warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love. For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast. I will drive away the evil I warned you about.

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Sunday, 20 December 2015 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this last Sunday before Christmas, all of us are invited to reflect on the theme of Love, after we have gone through Peace, Hope and Joy in the previous Sundays. These aspects are the aspects of true Christmas celebration, and indeed, out of all of them, Love is the greatest of them all and the most important one as well.

Today’s Scripture readings are diverse from its origins and meanings, but all of them speak about the same thing, that is, our God is Love, and He loves us all, and through His Love made manifest and real, we received Christ our Lord, Jesus the Saviour, through Whom all of us see for ourselves, witness for ourselves and receive for ourselves, the eternal covenant of love which God had established once and for all with us, for all eternity.

God had given us His love unconditionally, perfect and pure, for He loves us all since the moment when He created us, only for us all to abandon Him and to reject His love, preferring to walk on our own paths towards doom and destruction, listening instead to the lies and surrendering ourselves to the temptations of the devil who desires not our good but our downfall together with him in eternal damnation.

We may think that God demands from us many things, to be perfect in all things and to be good in all things, but this is not what He wanted from us. At least not when this leads to an obsession with doing what is proper and right, instead of truly understanding what is God’s will for all of us. This has happened before among the people of God, namely with the Pharisees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law.

These people were entrusted the care of the sheep and the flock of the Lord, as the appointed shepherds who were given the authority to teach the faith and to lead the people of God to find their way to Him. But they misunderstood God’s intentions, and they thought of God as a demanding God Who wants absolute obedience to the letter of the Law.

To this end they ended up enforcing the Law on the people of God. Indeed, the Law of God is something that we mankind must obey, but obedience must also come with understanding of the intention of the Law. The Law was not given to us in order to punish us or to make our lives difficult, but instead God gave His Law because He loves all of us, and He knows how easily we could be swayed and tempted to follow the devil and his ways.

The Law was meant to bring discipline to the people of God, especially if we noticed in the Old Testament how unruly and rebellious the people of Israel were, as they from time to time again betrayed and abandoned their Lord Who had loved them, protected them and cared for them, for the pagan gods of their neighbours. Yet, they misunderstood the Law as something rigid and something unbending, as something to be done and to be feared.

And over time, the sacrifices of animals, sin offerings and the peace offerings and many other kind of sacrifices which details we can read in the Book of Leviticus, became the focal point of the faith of the Israelites, but after having done these for so long, many became so accustomed to them, that in truth, the reason, the understanding and the meaning behind them were already lost to them.

And the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in the various parts of the New Testament, especially in the Gospels went against Jesus and His disciples many times, because they greatly disapproved what He had done, in seeming contravention and disobedience of the Law of God, such as healing people on the Sabbath, not washing ritually before having a meal, and various other points of contention they raised against Him.

But they totally missed the point and failed to see that all these laws, rules and regulations were made because of the sole intention of bringing mankind ever closer to God, that if they have erred, they have a guide which can lead them back to the Lord and to reawaken once again the love which they ought to have for the Lord. This is the meaning of the Law, which is love.

And in the Gospel today we heard about Mary, the mother of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who was visiting her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, the Herald of Christ. Elizabeth uttered the words that would today be in our prayer, the Hail Mary, or Ave Maria, which started with these words, “Hail Mary, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst women…”

This means that Mary who was truly great and honoured in our faith, blessed among all women and indeed among all mankind, not just because she had been prepared specifically to be the Mother of our Lord, conceived pure without sin, but even more importantly, because of her faith and because of her obedience to the will of God, and the fulfilment of the Law with true intention.

Mary’s faith is an example for all of us, as even though the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel to her must really be a shock to her as it was revealed to her the role she was to play in the history of salvation, as the bearer of the new Covenant of Love which God would establish with His beloved people. This was certainly not an easy task, and that required a commitment beyond belief, and yet, Mary entrusted herself to God and gave in herself to the will of God.

She kept faithful and carried on her role as the mother of our Saviour, and she followed her Son through times of good and difficulty, and as prophesied by Simeon, the faithful servant of God, her own heart would be pierced with a sword, the sword of pain and sorrow, when she saw her own Son dying and suffering terrible persecution, dying on the cross.

But she remained faithful to the end and beyond. And in this her faith is an example for us, as the love and devotion which she shows for the Lord, is what the Lord truly wanted from us. God wants from us not the offerings of sacrifices, pledges of money and material wealth, or anything similar to those. Just as He has loved us in everything, we too should love Him in the same way.

And love is not about the kind of love that we may be familiar with, for the love that this world knows, the kind of secular love is selfish, and it is often intertwined and linked with the desires of men’s hearts. The kind of love that God has, and which He had given us, is a perfect and selfless love, love that is unconditional, and which He has offered freely for us even though we have sinned against Him and rejected Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day let us all reflect on this love which God has shown us and which we need to give Him as well, the expression of love from our hearts, so that our Christmas celebration will be truly meaningful, for this Christmas will not just be about the gifts and all the glamours of the world, but rather, instead it is the celebration of God’s love which He had shown and made perfect through Christ.

May God bless us all and keep us all in His grace, and may He strengthen us all in our faith, so that we may draw ever closer to Him. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 20 December 2015 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 39-45

At that time, Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and Blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Sunday, 20 December 2015 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hebrews 10 : 5-10

This is why on entering the world, Christ says : You did not desire sacrifice and offering; You were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said : “Here I am. It was written of me in the scroll. I will do Your will, o God.”

First He says : Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire nor were You pleased with them – although they were required by the Law. Then He says : Here I am to do Your will.

This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified once and for all by the sacrifice of the body of Christ Jesus.

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Sunday, 20 December 2015 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 79 : 2ac and 3bc, 15-16, 18-19

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

Turn again, o Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

But lay Your hand on Your instrument, on the Son of Man Whom You make strong for Yourself. Then we will never turn away from You; give us life, and we will call on Your Name.

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Sunday, 20 December 2015 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Micah 5 : 1-4a

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the One Who is to rule over Israel. For He comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

YHVH, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she who is to give birth has given birth. Then the rest of His deported brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand and shepherd His flock with the strength of YHVH, in the glorious Name of YHVH, His God. They will live safely while He wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be Peace.

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Saturday, 19 December 2015 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about God’s proclamation of the coming of His salvation to His people which He made through two of His servants, the first of which is Samson, who was famous for his great strength and courage, and which we often know as someone who combatted against lions and triumphed against them, and then also St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah, who prepared the way for the coming of the world’s Saviour.

On this day, we heard the message of hope, amidst all the darkness of the world. For at the time of Samson’s conception and birth, the people of Israel had been subjugated by the Philistines, a warlike people who constantly waged wars against the people of God, enslaved them and brought them much suffering. And the people of God longed for liberation and cried out for God’s mercy, and the Lord heard them.

And through Samson, God worked His power, just as He once through Moses worked to liberate His people from the suffering and enslavement by the Egyptians. With His power and might He brought His own people out of Egypt into the land which He had promised to their ancestors, and then at the time of Samson, when the people of God were again in trouble and were persecuted, God made His will manifest through Samson, to whom He granted the strength to defeat the Philistines.

And then, in order to fulfil all the promises which He had made to mankind since the beginning of time, He sent once and for all, the Final and Great Deliverer and Saviour, through Whom all of mankind, all of creation would be made free from the greatest slavery to have ever implicated us, that is the slavery of our souls by sin, and by the wickedness and the evils which the devil had planted in us through his temptations and lies.

While the slavery of the people of Israel by the Egyptians, their subjugation by their neighbours, the Philistines, and the Assyrians and the Babylonians in the later era were painful and difficult for the people of God, but these only affected the body and not the eternal soul. And while these people might inflict pain on the body and the flesh, but they could not harm the soul, and eventually the suffering inflicted were only temporary, for as long as the people of God remained faithful and true to their Lord, they would be safe.

However, sin is a far greater threat to us, since sin afflicts the soul itself, and as long as we are tainted by sin, corrupted by the evils of this world, we will never be free, even though our bodies and our flesh may be free in the sight of this world. This is why, even though we all may be healthy and good in appearance, but truly deep inside all of us are sick, sickened by the disease of sin that is slowly eating away at our soul.

And the effects of sin last forever, for sin leads to death, and death in the state of sin leads to eternal death, that is total and complete separation from the love and mercy of God, into the eternal hell without any hope for redemption or escape. And this is not what God wants from us, and it is not what He desires for us. For He Who loves us all will not want to see us fall into eternal darkness and be lost from Him forever, and thus He has done many things in order to bring us back into His embrace once again.

And thus, as we approach the celebration of Christmas which will be in less than a week’s time, let us all reflect on what we truly celebrate in this Christmas season. Again, I would like us to reflect on our own actions and how we approach Christmas. Did we celebrate Christmas because we are happy to be part of the festive celebrations and to receive all the gifts we received from one another? Or are we genuinely happy because we know that through Christmas we who once despaired, have finally gotten a new hope?

Christmas is Joy, and Christmas is Hope, and Christmas is Peace and Love, which are the aspects that the four Sundays of Advent are focusing on in order to help us to understand its true meaning. Christmas is truly not about just ourselves and whatever we do in preparing for it, we should not lose sight in Christ, for Whom we actually celebrate, for He has indeed come as a Saviour, a Deliverer, a Shepherd and a Guide to help bring us out from the abyss of sin and darkness and into the eternal light.

Just as He had liberated His people from the oppression of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians long ago, and from the oppression of the Philistines, the Assyrians and the Babylonians, bringing them back from their exiles, He too have endeavoured to save not just one people or one race, but the entire humanity, all of His beloved children, all of whom had been afflicted by sin and sundered from Him, but because of His great love, He had endeavoured to reunite us with Himself.

Let us all thank the Lord for His love, His dedication and His commitment for us this Christmas, and let us all devote ourselves to be ever more devoted and committed servants and followers of our Lord, abandoning our old ways of sin and embracing the fullness of His truth and His ways, obeying Him in all things. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 December 2015 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 5-25

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah, belonging to the priestly clan of Abiah. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, also belonged to a priestly family. Both of them were upright in the eyes of God, and lived blamelessly in accordance with all the laws and commands of the Lord, but they had no child. Elizabeth could not have any and now they were both very old.

Now, while Zechariah and those with him were fulfilling their office, it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priests, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. At the time of offering incense, all the people were praying outside; it was then that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

On seeing the Angel, Zechariah was deeply troubled and fear took hold of him. But the Angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, be assured that your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John. He will bring joy and gladness to you, and many will rejoice at his birth.”

“This son of yours will be great in the eyes of the Lord. Listen : he shall never drink wine or strong drink, but he will be filled with Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. Through him, many of the people of Israel will turn to the Lord their God. He himself will open the way to the Lord with the spirit and the power of the prophet Elijah; he will reconcile fathers and children, and lead the disobedient to wisdom and righteousness, in order to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah said to the Angel, “How can I believe this? I am an old man and my wife is elderly, too.” The Angel replied, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I am the one sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news! My words will come true in their time. But you would not believe, and now you will be silent and unable to speak until this has happened.”

Meanwhile, the people waited for Zechariah, and they were surprised that he delayed so long in the sanctuary. When he finally appeared, he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He remained dumb and made signs to them.

When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home, and some time later Elizabeth became pregnant. For five months she kept to herself, remaining at home, and thinking, “This, for me, is the Lord’s doing! This is His time for mercy, and for taking away my public disgrace.”