Sacred Liturgy

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 10 : 9-18

You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved.

For Scripture says : ‘No one who believes in Him will be ashamed.’ Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call upon the Name of the Lord without having believed in Him? And how can they believe in Him without having first heard about Him? And how will they hear about Him if no one preaches about Him? And how will they preach about Him if no one sends them?

As Scripture says : ‘How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of Good News.’ Although not everyone obeyed the Good News, as Isaiah said : ‘Lord, who has believed in our preaching?’ So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ.

I ask : Have the Jews not heard? But of course they have. Because the voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth and their voice was heard to the ends of the world.

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters, on this Sunday, we begin a new liturgical year, that is a cycle in our year beginning with the season of Advent and ending with the solemnity of Christ the King which was last Sunday. This season of Advent as we all should know, is the season of preparation, the preparation for the celebrations of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we celebrate as Christmas.

Advent comes from the word Adventus, which is the term that describes arrival, onset, coming, and the approach of the world’s long awaited Saviour, the Messiah Whom God had promised will be the deliverance of all peoples, of all mankind from all the wickedness, the troubles they had in this world. The season of Advent is the time of preparation, for us to be ready to welcome the Lord when He comes again in time to come.

We may think that our liturgical celebrations and the calendars have no link in terms of how the seasons and the celebrations are arranged, but if we look deeper into it, in fact we should all realise that there is a certain central theme and meaning to the celebrations, and including this season of Advent, that is placed between the Solemnity of Christ the King, and the readings that are associated with it, and the solemnity of the Nativity, that is Christmas.

The Scripture readings immediately preceding the season of Advent, that is last week’s readings all came from the Book of Daniel and the Gospel passages that spoke about the time to come, the coming of the great tribulations and sufferings, the persecutions and the troubles facing the faithful, and how the Lord will come again to deliver His people from the dark times and from their enemies.

This is linked closely with the meaning of Christmas itself, that is a feast celebrating not all the glamour of commercial giving and greed, not a feast celebrating Santa Claus and all the Christmas goodies and the gifts, but instead, it is a feast that is about Christ, from which the name Christmas came from. The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Hope that the world and all creations had long awaited, and in Him, the world that was once bereft of all hope and filled by despair can finally have hope once again.

This was His first coming into the world, the entry of which had been prophesied and foretold by the prophets and by the Lord Himself, Who promised that the Deliverer shall reunite all those who have been scattered and cast away from the Lord’s grace because of their disobedience, and then, by His works, mankind would be healed once again and be brought together to the Lord their Father.

And the Lord Himself has promised that He will come again one more time, for one final time, and this time He will gather all of His faithful and righteous ones to Himself, while all those who have not sided with Him will be rejected and cast out. This is what He wanted us all to know, and this is what we must be vigilant and be careful about, lest we find ourselves on the wrong side of the camp when the Lord comes again.

The celebration of Christmas therefore should not be mistaken for something that is just happening in the past, or even worse, that we even forgot its true intentions and meaning. As a result, many of us have not understood the meaning of Christmas and its importance even as we rejoice and join in the revelry and join in the celebrations. This is a danger that is commonplace now, and the devil’s tool in preventing us from realising the truth.

Yes, it is the marginalisation of God in our own lives, and how our lives have been filled with so much distractions so much so that especially during the time of Christmas, we are too focused on the giving and the revelry, the partying and all the rejoicing, the trumpets and the bells, and then we forget about the very One Whom we ought to celebrate about!

Yes, indeed, it is the birthday anniversary of our Lord Jesus Christ, our God Who had willingly come down upon this world, taking up our own flesh so that through Him the salvation of the world would come, death and sin would be conquered and defeated, and hope comes to all of us. But for all that He had done, He had been rewarded with rejection, ridicule and placed below all the festivities and joys we have in our version of Christmas.

Shall we rethink of our actions and how we approach our Christmas celebrations? There is nothing wrong with celebrations, festivities and joy, as long as we do not forget about the One Whom we ought to celebrate about. It is not a celebration about ourselves, or about pleasures of the flesh, but it is a celebration of the joy we all have because our Lord has come, and in His triumph, He has liberated all of us.

And it is not just about what had passed, but instead, also about what will come in the future. The Lord had indeed come firstly in great humility, and even though He is a King, the King of all the universe, but He came through such means so as to be lower even than the lowest human beings, born in a stable fit only for the animals. Yet, when He comes again, He will come in great glory, and to finally claim a people He had made His own.

Therefore, this season of Advent, we are not just preparing for Christmas, but we are in fact also preparing for the coming of our Lord, Who had promised that He will come again at the end of time. And we do not know when this will happen. Certainly we must not let ourselves to be so preoccupied and so distracted by the many things in this world so as to forget our real intention in this life, that is not to serve ourselves and our own needs first, but rather to give glory to God and to serve Him.

Let us find the true meaning of Christmas and reflect on how we ought to celebrate it well, with true joy, with true and genuine intention and understanding its importance and true meaning, so that our joy may become greater, and our salvation be closer to us, as we know that in all that we say and do, we will always remain true to our faith, and God will find us righteous when He comes again.

Let us not let ourselves be deceived by the devil and let us all learn to resist the temptations of the flesh. Let us not give ourselves to excessive partying, revelry, or even debauchery and orgies of pleasure, but let us give glory to God and refocus all of our celebrations upon Him. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 21 : 25-28, 34-36

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Then there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, perplexed when they hear the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will faint with fear at the mere thought of what is to come upon the world, for the forces of the universe will be shaken.”

“Then, at that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. So, when you see things begin to happen, stand erect and lift up your heads, for your deliverance is drawing near.”

“Be on your guard, do not immerse yourselves in a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you unaware, like a trap! For, like a snare, will that day come upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”

“But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Thessalonians 3 : 12 – 1 Thessalonians 4 : 2

May the Lord increase more and more your love for each other and for all people, as He increases our love for you. May He strengthen you internally to be holy and blameless before God, our Father, on the day that Jesus, our Lord, will come with all His saints.

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.

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 24 : 4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14

Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

The ways of the Lord are love and faithfulness for those who keep His covenants and precepts. The Lord gives advice to those who revere Him and makes His covenant known to them.

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 33 : 14-16

The days are coming when I shall fulfil the promise that I made in favour of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout the Shoot of righteousness from David’s line; He will practice justice and righteousness in the land.

In those days Judah will experience salvation and Jerusalem will live in safety. He will be called YHVH-Our-Righteousness.

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Saturday, 28 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the last day of our current liturgical year, as is the norms for the Scripture readings taken for these period of time, we always heard about the coming of the end of days, when the devil would amount one last attempt to destroy God’s people and to persecute all the faithful through the means of force, gathering all the forces of the wicked one last time against God and His majesty.

The four great beasts that arose symbolised the powers of this world, the princes and lieutenants of the evil one, and the last of which is the great enemy himself, the devil, Lucifer, once the greatest and mightiest of the angels and creations of the Lord, but who had fallen far in his pride, vanity and greed to be a great demon and destroyer of the world, known by us now as Satan.

And daily, every single day of our lives, Satan and his forces, his fellow fallen angels are battling our guardian angels, the angels sent to protect us, for the sake of our souls, that they may corrupt them and bring us down into damnation together with them in the eternal fire. As he was not able to ascend above the angels of God and seize the throne of God, thus, Satan is filled with hatred and jealousy against all of us, who are God’s most beloved and favoured ones.

And he had attempted many times to bring all of us down with him, beginning from when he seduced our first forefathers into sin, by disobeying the Lord and thus sundered from the love and grace He had given them, and by that, he subjected mankind to himself and to his dominion through sin and evil. And through sin he manipulated mankind that many souls fell into his prey.

He introduced to us many forms of wickedness and sins of this world, engaging us in leisurely and pleasurable pursuits of the flesh, in acts that are against God’s will and in things that distract us and keep us away from being able to understand the truth about how wicked we have become, and how far we have gone astray from the salvation and eternal life in God.

We have to remember the examples of those who lived during the time of Noah, when the Great Flood came to destroy all forms of life and civilisations of those who had been deemed wicked by the Lord. Those people enjoyed life and acted as if God did not exist, and they did not obey the Lord’s commandments and laws but instead following their own hearts’ desires.

And there was indeed no warning to them save for the works of Noah who built the great Ark to save the living animals and beings as instructed by the Lord, and those who ignored the signs shown by the Lord, seeking their repentance surely would have regretted it in hell, when the great flood and rain came to eradicate all of them from existence, and cleanse the earth from their wickedness.

This is a reminder to all of us, to always be ready and be vigilant of all things around us, that we will always guard our thoughts, our words and actions, so that in all things, we will not go against the Lord and we will always walk in His ways faithfully. We must not have the thoughts that we have all the time we need, and as long as we atone in the end, the Lord will forgive us our sins and absolve us into eternal life.

Remember, that Jesus had repeatedly made it clear that His coming again will not come announced and predictable. He will not make His coming known and He can just appear again at any time in accordance with His will. And if His coming, like that of a thief, catch us all unprepared, certainly we will not want ourselves to end up on the wrong side of the Lord’s judgment.

On the day of judgment, God will separate the people and everything into two sides, namely those who have been faithful to Him and walked in His ways, and those who have not been obedient to Him. Those whom He had rejected will have no hope for salvation and no hope for escape from the eternal damnation and the eternal fire that awaits them, to punish them for eternity. We certainly do not want to be caught amongst these condemned ones.

Instead, we all should from now on, from this very moment onwards, strive to do our best in following God in all of His ways. Let us no longer be selfish or greedy in our actions, but learn to do our best in loving each other, caring for the poor, the sick and the dying, and let all of our words and deeds be filled with love, so that when our Lord comes again, He will see the righteousness in us and bless us. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 21 : 34-36

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Be on your guard, do not immerse yourselves in a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you unaware, like a trap! For, like a snare, will that day come upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”

“But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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Saturday, 28 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Daniel 3 : 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87

All people on earth, praise and exalt Him forever.

Israel, praise and exalt Him forever.

Priests of the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Servants of the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Spirits and souls of the just, praise and exalt Him forever.

Those who are holy and humble of heart, praise and exalt Him forever.

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Saturday, 28 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Daniel 7 : 15-27

I, Daniel, was deeply troubled, since these visions terrified me. I approached one of those who were standing there, and asked him to tell me what all this meant. He answered me and gave me the interpretation of these things :

“These four beasts are four kings who will rise from the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom to possess it eternally, forever and ever.” Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, different from the others, extraordinarily terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, that ate, and tore into pieces and crushed underfoot whatever remained.

I also wanted to know about the ten horns it had on its head, and about the other horn which had sprung up, and the three first horns that fell, and about this horn with eyes and a mouth that spoke with arrogance, and that looked greater than the other horns.

As I looked, this horn waged war against the holy ones and was subduing them until the One of Great Age came to do justice for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom.

Then I was told : “The fourth animal shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all the kingdoms. It will devour the earth, crush it and destroy it. The ten horns are ten kings who shall rise from this kingdom. Another one will rise up after them and destroy three kings.”

“This king shall insult the Most High and persecute the holy ones of the Most High. He shall try to change the feasts and the laws. The holy ones shall be handed over to his power for a time, two times, and half a time.”

“But judgment will come and dominion will be taken from him; he shall be destroyed and utterly wiped out. The kingship, dominion and leadership of all the kingdoms of the world shall be given to the people of the holy ones of God Most High : His kingdom will be without end. All the kingdoms shall serve Him and be subject to Him.”