salvation in God

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Thursday, 20 November 2014 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today our Lord Jesus Christ condemned the edifice and greatness of both Jerusalem and its Temple, for they were filled with wickedness and darkness. Jesus lamented and wept over the city of Jerusalem, which represented the attitude of the people of God, Israel, who had rejected the love which God had shown them, first through the prophets, messengers and servants sent unto them, and then Jesus Himself, the very Son of God.

In the first reading, taken from the book of the revelations of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we see the glory of God in heaven, and we heard of the scroll with the seven seals, which represents the judgment to be passed onto the world. There is no one worthy to unseal the scroll except the Great Judge Himself, the One who had justified the world by the shedding of His Blood on the cross.

Jesus our Lord is the Lamb of God, the pure and unblemished Lamb of sacrifice, who gave Himself for the sake of us all, and just as lambs used in the sacrificial and sin offerings were slaughtered and had its blood shed on the Altar of the Temple, this pure and perfect Lamb was brought to the slaughterhouse of men, suffered grievously and shed His Blood upon the world, dying on the cross so that all of us whom He had made worthy by the offering of His life, may escape the eternal torment of death and enter into the everlasting life.

Such was the love of our Lord, that as the Gospel of John made it straightforward, in the famous words, ‘that God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son into the world, so that all those who believe in Him may not die but enjoy life everlasting through the acts of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. You can therefore imagine the kind of sorrow and pain which the Lord would have felt, for the disobedience and unfaithfulness of His beloved children.

For He sent to them many prophets and messengers to remind them and to call them back into the faith, that is to abandon their old ways of sin and evil, and began to walk righteously and justly in the presence of God. And yet, the people of God refused to listen to them, and instead, they even persecuted His faithful servants and messengers, torturing them, casting them out from their society, and even shedding their blood and killing them.

It was the great sorrow of our Lord, who saw the rejection and indignancy of His children, that made Jesus to weep for the city of Jerusalem, the place where so many of the faithful were slaughtered and rejected for being faithful and just. The city had been filled with much wickedness and worldliness, and the Temple of God had also become a place of worldliness, filled with merchants and money changers, cheaters and greedy people who placed their own comfort ahead of their love for God.

Thus, Jesus was sorrowful, and also angry at the same time, for the wickedness that had crept into the holy city of God, Jerusalem, a place He had chosen to be the first of His dwelling among His people. The people at the time of Jesus did not repent from the sins and wickedness of their ancestors, and in fact sinned even more. Jesus was also sorrowful because He knew that the people would reject Him, betraying Him and crucify Him.

Yet, such is the wonder of God’s love that even though He was sorrowful and angry at His people’s infidelity and wickedness, He still wants to give each one of us a chance, to turn back from our path of sin, and be converted to the way of truth. It is necessary for us to repent from our past sins and be committed to God from now on, and abhor any more sins, that we will not commit those sins anymore.

It is essential for us to heed this warning. God sent us reminders after reminders, and messages after messages, so that we may be awakened to the reality of our sins, be disgusted at it, and lead a new life, that when our Lord comes again at the end of time, this time as a triumphant and conquering King as well as a great Judge, He will find us worthy and welcome us into His kingdom.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we remind each other of the need for us to change, and change for the better. Do not walk the path of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who allowed themselves to be bettered by their own human desires and greed, who allowed the city of Jerusalem to continue to slide into darkness and wickedness of the world. Let us all reaffirm our faith, loving one another just as our Lord had loved us that He gave it all to save us.

If we do not do so, then what Jesus had said concerning Jerusalem, which came true, will also happen to us all. Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple of God there was razed to the ground completely, without any sign of reminder that the magnificent edifice was ever there. It was the just punishment and result of the constant disobedience and infidelity of the people to the Lord, as they continued to live in their wickedness and follow their own hearts’ desire. I am certain that all of us want to avoid this fate, and thus, we need to change our ways.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Forgive us our sins and bring us to Your heavenly glory and grace. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/18/thursday-20-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/18/thursday-20-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/18/thursday-20-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-gospel-reading/

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Wednesday, 19 November 2014 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 150 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the vault of heaven. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him for His own greatness.

Praise Him with trumpet blast; praise Him with lyre and harp. Praise Him with dance and tambourines; praise Him with pipe and strings.

Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praise to the Lord. Alleluia!

 

Homily and Reflection : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/18/wednesday-19-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Tuesday, 18 November 2014 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas)

Luke 19 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus entered Jericho and passed through the city, a man named Zaccheus lived there. He was a tax collector and a wealthy man. He wanted to see what Jesus was like, but he was a short man and could not see Him because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree. From there he would be able to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house today.” So Zaccheus climbed down and received Him joyfully.

All the people who saw it began to grumble, and said, “He has gone as a guest to the house of a sinner.” But Zaccheus spoke to Jesus, “Half of what I own, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.”

Looking at him Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

 

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilicas)

Matthew 14 : 22-33

At that time, Jesus immediately obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!”

Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You walking on the water.” Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”

As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/17/tuesday-18-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-the-dedication-of-the-basilica-of-st-peter-and-the-basilica-of-st-paul-outside-the-walls-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Tuesday, 18 November 2014 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas)

Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4ab, 5

Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words.

Who do no harm to their neighbours and cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants.

Who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will soon be shaken.

 

Alternative reading (Mass for the Dedication of the Basilicas)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3c-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/17/tuesday-18-november-2014-33rd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-the-dedication-of-the-basilica-of-st-peter-and-the-basilica-of-st-paul-outside-the-walls-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Sunday, 16 November 2014 : 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Gertrude, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we come together to celebrate this occasion of the holy day of our Lord, and we listened to the good words of the Sacred Scriptures. In today’s readings, the theme is all about who we are, and what we are supposed to do in this life of ours. For we are all the children of God, and therefore we are expected to life according to who the children of God are.

The first reading taken from the Book of Proverbs detailed how a good woman should behave, in the ways and actions she should do in life, and in how she should carry herself in the society of the people of God. However, this does not mean that this applies only to the females, but also to all of us. It is the kind of life that we all should lead, to be upright and just, to be careful in how we use our words, and in loving one another. Do you all remember that these were precisely what Jesus told us to do?

Then the psalm refers to blessings which God will bestow on those who fear the Lord and obey Him, and most importantly, those who do not just fear the Lord but also do His will and walk in His ways. This is a promise which He gave us, and if we are faithful, certainly we will not be disappointed. If we are faithful, then certainly we will need to do something to justify that faith, and not just merely staying idle or being so fearful of the Lord that we do not dare to do anything.

In the second reading, taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the faithful in Thessalonica, a frequent reminder to us is once again uttered. It is to remind us that the coming of the Lord will be totally unpredictable and will catch us all unprepared unless we have taken the necessary steps to make sure that when He comes again into this world as He had promised, He will not find us asleep, and instead find us all worthy, awake and filled with the fruits of our goodness to the brim.

And finally in the Gospel Reading, Jesus our Lord when He first came into this world told His disciples of the parable of the talents. A master of the house gave his ten servants five talents of silver, two talents, one talents and so on and so forth, before he embarked on a journey to become king in another country, and he would return one day to his house to settle matters, especially what he had given and invested in his servants.

The Gospel essentially summarised everything that the entirety of our myriads of readings today. In it, the parable of the silver talents represented exactly what had happened, what is happening now, and what will happen in the near, unpredictable future. The parable’s characters themselves represent the many characters that are present in this world, and who are those servants, to whom the master of the house had entrusted his silver? They are all of us, brothers and sisters.

The house itself is the world, and just as the servants lived in the house, entrusted with the care of the house while the master is gone, we have all been entrusted with this world as its stewards. Remember what the Lord had charged mankind with, at the beginning of time in the Book of Genesis. He made mankind the custodians of creation, giving all things and all creation to be under our stewardship, blessing us to multiply and fill all the earth.

He gave us many things, and for each of us, we are all different and unique. Each of us have different set of skills and abilities, and that is the wonders of our Lord and such is the grace of His creation of all of us, the most precious and beloved of all others He had crafted with His hands. He gave us life and even more, and all these are the food and drink with which the master of the house gave to his servants to sustain them.

The master of the house, is the Lord our God, for He is the Owner of the house that is this world, and He is also our Owner and Lord. And He came to us to grant us His gifts, like the master gave the silver talents to his servants. What are these gifts, brothers and sisters? It is the seeds of faith, the seeds of hope, and the seeds of love which He had planted in each one of us who believe.

Through baptism, we have been born anew and received new life in Christ. However, to all of us also have been given a task, a very important one indeed, that is to sow those seeds on fertile soil and allow them to grow healthy and strong, producing rich and plentiful fruits that will serve as our justification when the Lord comes back to this world at the end of time, at the time of His own choosing.

And the master left the house, to go into the kingdom where he was made the king of. The same happened to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was in fact speaking of what would happen in the immediate future at that time. Remember that Jesus went on to suffer in Jerusalem, enduring through His Passion and eventually was crucified at Golgotha and died for our sins?

Remember that after that He was risen from the dead on the third day, appearing to His disciples, and while reaffirming His promises and telling of His coming again at the end of time, He then ascended to heaven in glory? He went there to prepare the places for His servants and His faithful ones, but also to reclaim the Kingship which He had left behind when He chose to come down as a lowly human, to save us.

Thus, like the master of the house who left to be a king in a distant country, Jesus also went to be the King of all kings. Next week, on next Sunday to be precise, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Jesus Christ our Lord, King of the Universe. Therefore, the readings this Sunday, we can see as a prelude leading towards that great feast, the last one of this liturgical year. After that we will begin a new year cycle with the season of Advent.

And the readings for the ending of the liturgical year all have the same theme, that is about the future arrival of our Saviour and Lord, who will come again for the second time, at the end of time, which is a time that we do not know of, to judge all the people living and the dead. And this also ties in perfectly with the parable of the talents in our Gospel reading today.

Remember, that the master came back to the house after a long time for a reckoning. And was there anywhere mentioned that he trumpeted his return or announced it to the servants beforehand? Was there anywhere mentioned that the master sent a message announcing his coming to them? No, and that is indeed what will happen at the end of time for us.

Yes, we do not know when the Lord will come again. And St. Paul warned us in his letter, our second reading, that the Lord’s coming will be like a thief, unannounced, sudden and unexpected. He will come at a time when we least expect it, and whatever we have done in this life, and whatever we have not done in this life, and whatever just things or wicked things we have committed, all have been finalised and set in the book when He comes again.

Thus it is a good time for us to look back into our life, to all what we have done and what we have said. And it is a good time for us to begin to inspect our relationships with others around us, and most importantly, our relationship with our Lord and Master. Why is this so? So that when the time comes suddenly, and the Lord asks us of what we have done, we can proudly show Him and present Him with all the things we have done.

The master asked for all of his ten servants to give an account of what they have done with the silver talents they have been entrusted with. The first two servants gladly showed that they have doubled the silver talents they had been given, and they gave their master the amount they have gained. The master was happy and pleased, and showed his grace and favour upon them.

But the third servant feared his master and hid the silver talent rather than investing it and letting it to grow with profits. It clearly betrayed his contempt for his master and the gift of talent which had been given to him, allowing it to slumber and be hidden in a hiding place. And the master was angry, and casting him out into the darkness, he rebuked that unfaithful and lazy servant, and took what he had, and gave it to those who deserved it more.

It is therefore precisely what will happen when we come to face the Lord in the final judgment. Everything we have said or done in our life on earth will be placed spread out in front of God with nothing that we can hide. After all He knows everything we do, everything we ever thought of, and He can see deep into our hearts. Remember that He has placed the seeds of faith, hope and love within us? He will then ask us to account for those.

If we can show Him that we have allowed those seeds to germinate within us, and to allow them to grow on a rich and fertile soil, then our Lord will certainly praise us, and say to us, ‘Blessed of My Father, welcome into the kingdom which I have prepared for you.’ And we will enjoy the gifts which He had prepared for us. For we have been entrusted with life, and with love and all things, and we have been found worthy, and thus our reward is an immortality in perfect love and harmony with our God, an eternal bliss and happiness.

And some may ask, how do we do this? It is by knowing our faith, learning and understanding what it is about, by listening to the teachings of the Church faithfully and internalise them, so that from there, our understanding may be turned into action, and those actions will then, if we truly understand our faith and commit ourselves to it, represent faith, hope and love.

If we fail to do this, and instead, allow those gifts of God to remain dormant, or worse, to even wither and die, because of our wickedness and our persistence to remain in sin and darkness, then our Lord Jesus will say to us, ‘Begone, cursed and wicked ones! Be forever with Satan and his angels in the lake of eternal fire prepared for them!’ And we shall be forever sundered from the love of God, to suffer for eternity a life without faith, hope and love, an eternal suffering and agony in despair. And that is true hell.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is imperative that all of us do not leave this day behind without realising that if we have not done what we ought to do, then we should better start now. Never delay and never postpone anything! For all we know that, the Lord may come anytime, and if He comes when we are not ready, regret will not save us. Do not think that there is still a lot of time, but act as if He may come at this very moment.

How do we then, live our lives? We have to practice our faith as taught by Jesus concretely. First, we should look beyond ourselves and shatter the prison of our ego and selfishness. Look around us! There are many who needs our help, and most importantly our love and attention. Not all those who need help needs money or possessions. Many people remain unloved, ostracised, and hated in the society, and what we can do, is to offer our love for them.

Today’s two saints, St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Gertrude were both very pious and dedicated servants of God whose life examples we can emulate in our own. St. Margaret of Scotland was the Queen of Scotland, and yet she was renowned for her extensive charitable works and activities, and she was also very devoted in prayer, communicating frequently with God.

Meanwhile, St. Gertrude was devoted in her works and writings, through which her faith in the Lord became an inspiration for many who witnessed her life and read those works. Their examples should inspire us to do more for the sake of those around us, leading them ever closer to God through our own actions.

And lastly, of course, after we have loved one another, having hope in one another’s salvation, by knowing that we have done what is right, then we have to love our Lord and God beyond everything else. Yes, we have to love Him even more than we love ourselves. Then, our Lord and Master, at the day of reckoning, the Day of Judgment, will congratulate us, and lead us into His eternal kingdom, for us all to enjoy and be happy forever.

Let us all realise that each of us have been given different gifts, each according to our own abilities. And let us not let these gifts go dormant but rather that may all these benefit one another, through our actions of love. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-psalm/

 

Second Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-gospel-reading/

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Friday, 14 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is again repeated and emphasized today the imminent and urgent nature of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which may happen at any time. It was mentioned how the coming of the Day of Judgment, when God will come to take His people, is like a thief entering and breaking into a house, without the owner knowing what had happened.

Therefore, it will be the same with us all, as when the Lord comes again, as He had promised, it will be like a flash and all of us will be caught unaware and unprepared, that is if we do not take the steps necessary to prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord Jesus. The evidence and the warnings are ample, and if we regularly read the Holy Scriptures and go about in our Faith, we can realise how imminent it is to be, and how dangerous it is for us if we come unprepared.

Yet, as with the timing of His second coming, none of this are under our control. When I say that it is imminent, it does not imply that it will be today or tomorrow, but rather that it can happen any time, and therefore we should not be complacent in our Faith. Every day, every moments of our life, we must use them well to live out our faith in God to the very fullest.

And how do we do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? St. John in his second letter which is our First Reading today gave us a hint, which also reaffirmed the teachings of Christ, that all of us should be righteous and walk faithfully in the ways of the Lord. And what is this way? That is to fully and genuinely fulfill His commandments, which is love.

This can be done by loving our neighbours, one another, our brothers and sisters around us without prejudice and without fear. And this love must be genuine and real, cannot be just because we want to be praised by others for our actions, but because we have the love that pours forth from our hearts like torrents of water that no dam can stop.

And indeed, with the illusion of dams, we must stop damming ourselves, and the love that is in us. We have been given the seeds of faith, hope and love within us by the Lord who gave us life through His Spirit. But if we do not act on these in our lives and instead lead a debauched and wicked lifestyle, succumbing to our desires and ignoring the plight of others, then the seeds will remain just that, seeds, with no fruits to be shown as the concrete proof of our faith.

If we allow the love in ourselves to grow, then it will grow so great that it will not be able to be contained in ourselves, and it will enrich others around us. If we love each other, believe me, that many of this world’s problems will disappear and be solved. Wars, violence, injustice and prejudice all stemmed from our inability to love one another, and instead we fall into the traps of sin, as we engulf ourselves in hatred, bias, jealousy, greed and many other vices in our lives.

And the lack of love and respect for the Lord, in those who think that they are better than others, in those who are proud and thinking only of themselves, stem from the same root of the lack of action infused with love. If we have put love ahead of ourselves, and if we practice our faith with full sincerity and genuine intention, then that is why we are not capable of recognising the generous love of God for us.

And if we are not able to recognise the love which God has for us, then that is why we grow selfish and thinking only of our own benefits. In the end, this will become our downfall. Do we all remember what did Jesus say about the Last Judgment? The Last Judgment is the time when the Lord Jesus, who is the Judge of all the living and the dead will pronounce the final judgments on the fate of all mankind.

To those who have been righteous and just, and to all those who have loved one another and loved the Lord with all of their hearts, even if they do not know it, the Lord praises them and gives them the gift of eternal life, for they have been justified by love and by their faith. He told them that whenever they do something good and show love to the least and the smallest in their society, they have done it also to Him.

In the psalm today, it was written how are the types of the people desired by the Lord, namely those who are upright and who seek the Lord in all things, and who are righteous in all of their actions and faithfully obeyed God’s commandments, by loving their fellow brothers and sisters and ultimately, to show love and devotion to God Himself, all these without fear or reservation.

If we fail to achieve these, then the Lord at the Last Judgment will cast us out to be with Satan and his angels, as we have not loved Him, and neither that we have loved our brothers and sisters in the way which He had described in His Laws and commandments. If this happens, and if we are also caught unaware and unprepared, then we have no more hope with us. It is eternal despair and suffering for us.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, the second coming of our Lord will be sudden and unexpected, and if we are not prepared, despite the numerous reminders and warnings He had given us, then it is eternal regret for us. And there is no escape, brethren, so do not wait until it is way too late for us. Let us all begin today, from now on, to know what is love and how to show genuine love.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless us and strengthen us with His love, so that we may be proactive in our actions, to be filled with love. That we may be justified by our actions, showing our real, genuine and living faith, through which we resolve our devotion to the Lord, and be committed to Him, as our only Lord and our only God. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/13/friday-14-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-first-reading/

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/13/friday-14-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-psalm/

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/13/friday-14-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-gospel-reading/

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Thursday, 13 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the end of our liturgical year, that is as we approach towards the season of Advent in preparation of Christmas, we hear the readings of the Holy Scriptures that are taken in preparation for the coming of the end of times, that is when the Lord will come again as He had promised His people, the time when the Kingdom of God is truly here.

But Jesus also warned us, all of His people that we have to be careful and vigilant against false prophets who claimed that they know about the coming of the kingdom of God. Or those who attributed certain celestial signs to the Second Coming of Christ. This group, often called the Millenials and with all other sorts of names are trying to mislead the faithful by twisting the truths of the Sacred Scripture to suit their own purposes.

There is no one who knows of God’s plan except that of God Himself, He who planned everything meticulously, all prepared in advance for the salvation of all of us, from death into new life. And Jesus Himself in the Gospel today, as He often did many times during His ministry, prophesied about His own upcoming suffering and death on the cross, as the crucial part of God’s plan for salvation of mankind.

Everything has been planned well and meticulously for our sake, and the Lord Himself came down to execute His plan, and to bring mankind back to Himself. and just as in his letter to Philemon, St. Paul mentioned this Onesimus whom he was sending to Philemon, and how he was made free and liberated from slavery, the same our Lord had done to us, through His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

And indeed, St. Paul also mentioned how in sending Onesimus to Philemon, he was sending a part of his own heart to him. That is because Onesimus was dear and precious, a good friend to St. Paul, and sending him off to another is naturally not an easy decision. Thus, it should even be much more difficult for our Lord to part with a part of Himself, One of the Holy Trinity, whose members are united to each other in perfect love.

Yet, He willingly sent His Son to us, knowing that in doing so, He may gain us back from our downfall into sin. He loves His Son very much, but He also equally loves us all as well. By His coming and His loving Passion, the sacrifice He went through at Calvary, He broke us free from our slavery to sin, by bearing all those sins and all of their consequences upon Himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, we are asked and called to realise that all of us have been granted such a great grace by God, to have our punishment nullified, and a new chance of life given to us, and what seemed once hopeless and what seemed like an eternal slavery to sin, the Lord had made a new path, through which He might exercise His power to rescue us from that darkness.

And He also gave of Himself to us, through His Most Precious Body and Blood, that He may dwell in us, and us in Him, and by sharing in His Most Precious Self, we indeed have the kingdom of God coming within us, for the Holy Presence of God itself is in us, and through our transformation in faith, we become the concrete and true symbol and concrete evidence of the coming of the kingdom of God.

Therefore, what we can do today and from now on, brothers and sisters? It is for us to follow the Lord and to show Him our sincerest gratitude and thanks for having done so much for us. He has loved us all so dearly and so much, that He did not even shy from suffering and dying for our sake, just so that we do not have to suffer those for eternity if we fall into the eternal hell.

Thus, we have to be righteous and just in all of our actions, and we have to be like Him, in what He had done, we too have to do it. That means, we should stop hating and showing violence in our actions, and instead we have to learn to forgive and love those who hated us, and also to love one another, helping those in need whenever and wherever we can do it. And ultimately, of course we have to give the best of our love to our Lord and God.

May Almighty God bless us all, forgive us our sins, and bring us all to everlasting life. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-first-reading/

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-psalm/

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-gospel-reading/

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Thursday, 13 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 17 : 20-25

At that time, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. He answered, “The kingdom of God is not like something you can observe, and say of it, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘See, there it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you.”

And Jesus said to His disciples, “The time is at hand, when you will long to see one of the glorious days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Then people will tell you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go with them, do not follow them.”

“As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man; but first He must suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation.”

 

Homily and Reflection : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Tuesday, 11 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us through the readings of the Holy Scriptures we are all shown the virtues of obedience and proper behaviours according to the teachings and the ways of the Lord. In the first reading, in continuation of the letter which he sent to Titus while he was in captivity in Rome, St. Paul exhorted the faithful ones of God to follow the rules and expectations for each members of the Church, be it man or woman, old or young.

Meanwhile, in the Gospel reading, Jesus told a parable to His disciples, about a servant and his master, and the relationship between them, which ought to be proper, as how a master should be, and the servant should also act and do things as is expected of him. In this, we also see a clear link with the exhortations of St. Paul, on how the Church consists of many members, made up of many different kinds of peoples, all of whom should behave as they are expected to behave.

Mankind had the nature to rebel and disobeying others. It is often difficult for us to listen to others and follow what they want us to do. Ever since the beginning, we have rebelled against our Divine Master, the Lord God, who was so generous with His love and care for us, His servants, and yet we still chose to walk on our own path, disregarding the commandments of God, and rather, we listened to our own hearts’ desires.

Just look at the people of Israel, the chosen people of God, who for generations continued to rebel against the Lord’s will, and even after the Lord had given them His Law, from time to time, they continued to follow their own paths, worshipping pagan gods and idols, sacrificing to these idols, and also committing other forms of debauchery and wickedness in their lives.

And they wanted a king to rule over them, and God gave His permission for them to do that, and they had kings, some of whom were good, but many were wicked and disobedient to God, acting not as they should. The kings of Israel were the vicars and regents for the Lord’s true reign over His people, Israel, and yet they misappropriated and abused their powers and authority, serving their own purposes, leading the people even deeper into sin and rebellion against the Master of all.

And even in the world today, we still see such rebellious attitudes running rampant among us. It is difficult for many of us to know who we are and what we are expected to do, as a member of God’s Church. That is why, if we look at the various issues at hand, we can see that there are many dissenting voices trying to disturb and in fact destroy the order of things, as God had ordained.

Each of us has our role to play in the Church of God, as the presbyterate, the members of the ordained priesthood, or as the laity, the people of God who live on their daily lives as normal. And the men and women, each of whom had their own unique and complementary roles in the Church, as the members of God’s people. Yet, many people who did not understand how the order of things is like, are trying to disrupt the harmonious way of things is working.

Therefore, we ought to stand up against those who cry out for gender equality in the Church in any of its forms, and the subversion of the roles of the priest and the laity, by the blurring of the differences in their roles. Those who called for such horrendous changes are not educated and ignorant in the truths of our Faith, and as St. Paul had said in his letter, we should help them to learn the truth, find their roles in the Church and act accordingly according to those roles.

The truth is that, each members and parts of the Church have unique roles and expectations, and their roles are distinct and complementary to each other. One cannot usurp the function and role of another without disrupting the proper and good order in the Church.

The priests are the ones who celebrate the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, and also are the ones authorised to give the Holy Sacraments to the people of God. Meanwhile, the laity are not allowed these roles, but instead, what are their roles? Their roles are to help the priests in their ministry and works, and in living their daily lives, they ought to be exemplary and faithful, and in building up their families, they should lead a true Christian way of life, creating good and faithful Christian families.

None of them can function without the other, as they support each other and becoming pillars, strong pillars of the Church and the Faith. And then, with regards to the roles of men and women in the Church, each of them have their own complementary roles, that support each other and perfect each other in the running of the Church.

Only men can become priests, as chosen by the Lord, and it is an unchangeable and unalterable Law of the Lord, given that the Apostles were men. But this does not mean that women are sidelined or discriminated against in the Church. Instead, women also occupy very special role in the Church, as the guardians of the Faith in the family, by her faith and dedication to God, she became role model for her family.

And we also know that there are many female religious, as nuns and others, who dedicated themselves fully to the Lord in prayer and loving service. These religious support the good works of the priests, by assisting in their missionary and loving works, and through dedicated service to mankind, showing a great example of faith to be followed by others. There had been many saints who were holy women, both religious and the laity who had dedicated themselves to the way of the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Martin of Tours, a renowned saint and Bishop of Tours during the late Roman Empire. St. Martin of Tours was once a Roman soldier, who was pious and devoted to the Lord. He was born of a pagan family, but he attended Christian services since youth and became a believer against the wishes of his father.

The qualities of St. Martin of Tours had been evident even since his youth. When he was still a centurion in the Roman Army, he met a poor beggar in a town, who was freezing to death on the cold road. St. Martin of Tours was moved with love and pity, cutting his own centurion’s army cloak in half, and giving that half of a cloak to cover the body of the poor beggar.

At night, St. Martin of Tours had a vision of the poor beggar, who brought the half cloak to him, and revealing himself to be none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. He rewarded St. Martin for his actions, and this vision and event simply pushed St. Martin further in his zeal, and it also brought him into the faith completely, for he was still a catechumen at that time.

As a member of the Roman Army, he was often intrigued by the need for him to shed the blood of others, of his enemies, which he felt was against his conscience as a Christian and follower of the Lord. Therefore, eventually he renounced his part in the Army and became a full time follower and servant of the Lord, by becoming disciple of another famous saint, St. Hilary of Poitiers.

As the bishop of Tours, this holy man carried out numerous good works for his flock, building up churches and places of worship, setting numerous standards to be followed by the followers of Christ, and establishing strong foundations of the faith in his diocese. Through his various works as bishop and shepherd to the people of God in Tours, he brought many blessings and goodness to them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, on this holy day of St. Martin of Tours, let us all take home two messages, and two important things which we need to heed in this life. First, is that all of us should play our roles actively in the Church, not by trying to be what we are not supposed to be, but to be faithful to the Lord and His will, just as He had said in the Gospel today, that we fulfill the will and wishes of our Lord and Master, without succumbing to our desires and pride.

And then second, we have to emulate the example of St. Martin of Tours in how he had lived his life. We have to show mercy and charity to others, helping those who are in need of help, so that our faith in the Lord will not be just merely empty faith, but will instead be alive and vibrant, filled with the love of God. And after we have done all these, remember that we have done it not for ourselves, but as the actions of the loving servants of our God.

Let us all say to the Lord, that we have all done our duties faithfully and as a servant of God should have done. Let us grow richer and stronger in our humility, so that we may learn how to live according to the role which God had given us, and not to seek to gain more for our own purposes. And we hope that He who sees all and knows all that we do, will reward us with His everlasting grace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/10/tuesday-11-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-martin-of-tours-bishop-first-reading/

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/10/tuesday-11-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-martin-of-tours-bishop-psalm/

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/10/tuesday-11-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-martin-of-tours-bishop-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 11 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Titus 2 : 1-8, 11-14

Let your words strengthen sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be sober, serious, wise, sound in faith, love and perseverance.

The older women in like manner must behave as befits holy women, not given to gossiping or drinking wine, but as good counsellors, able to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be judicious and chaste, to take care of their households, to be kind and submissive to their husbands, lest our faith be attacked.

Encourage the young men to be self-controlled. Set them an example by your own way of doing. Let your teaching be earnest and sincere, and your preaching beyond reproach. Then your opponents will feel ashamed and will have nothing to criticise.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teachings us to reject an irreligious way of life and worldly greed, and to live in this world as responsible persons, upright and serving God, while we await our blessed hope – the glorious manifestation of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus.

He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from every evil and to purify a people He wanted to be His own and dedicated to what is good.

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/10/tuesday-11-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-martin-of-tours-bishop-homily-and-scripture-reflections/