salvation

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Sunday, 14 July 2013 : 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Deuteronomy 30 : 10-14

For you shall turn to YHVH, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe His commandments and norms, in a word, everything written in this book of the Law. These commendations that I give you today are neither too high nor too far for you. They are not in heaven that you should say : “Who will go up to heaven to get these commandments that we may hear them and put them into practice.”

Neither are they at the other side of the sea for you to say : “Who will cross to the other side and bring them to us, that we may hear them and put them into practice.” On the contrary, my word is very near you; it is already in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can put it into practice.

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Saturday, 13 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should indeed not fear evil nor sin, and neither should we be afraid of Satan and his forces of deception in this world, for all of us are the children of God, the children of the true Light. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour is always on our side, if we remain in His love and remain faithful to Him. Satan has no hold over us, because our soul that is the Spirit of the Lord is eternal. He can only touch our bodies, through the corruptions that he tried to impose on us through the world, but in no way that he can harm our soul.

Our Lord and God is the only One who can harm our soul, because He is the Great Judge of all things, that on the day of the Last Judgment, He would judge all beings living and dead, and separating the upright and righteous ones from those who are wicked. To those whom He shows His favour and love, He will reward with heaps of glory and happiness, to be in eternity in perfect union with Him, our Lord, our Creator, never to be separated again, in perfect love, unity, and harmony.

But to those whom He shows His wrath because of their wickedness and apathy towards love, He would condemn for eternity in hell. No, not hell of fire, but an eternal separation from God, and therefore, the soul is condemned for eternity, a dead soul, since the Spirit will no longer remain with them. That is why only the Lord can harm us bodily and also our souls, because He has all the authority in the universe to praise the righteous and condemn the evil and wicked ones. The same fate awaits the devil too, in the manner of the wicked.

The Lord who is loving had shown us His care, protection, provision, and compassion throughout time, ever since creation. He showed His love for Israel, who is Jacob, blessing him with twelve sons and other children, just as He had shown His love for Abraham, His servant, and made an everlasting covenant with him. He showed His love for Joseph, whom He brought away from slavery and made the Governor of Egypt, in charge of all the preparations for the years of famine.

Yet He is also forgiving for those who had wronged Him, for us sinners who had repeatedly disobeyed Him and betrayed Him to the devil, the way that Judas Iscariot had done. Just as Joseph forgave his brothers for having sold him to slavery and their hatred and jealousy for him, so the Lord also forgave those who had wronged Him through sin and evil, ever since the time of Adam and Eve, the first ones that He created amongst mankind.

He showed His mercy to the people of Israel repeated times, when they continuously rebelled against His will, and even abandoned Him to the pagan gods of the people of Canaan. He led them to the land of ever-flowing milk and honey, and continued to watch over them, even as they rebelled against Him. And when the people of Israel came under great suffering under the tyranny of the Babylonians, He sent them deliverance through Cyrus, the first Persian Emperor, who liberated them and allowed them to return to their own lands.

But none of this can be compared to the Lord’s greatest act of love and mercy, that is, in His great love, sending His own Son, the very part of Himself, the Holy Trinity, into the world, that the Word of God became flesh and walked on this world, that the world that has been tainted with evil and sin, may have hope of new life through Jesus Christ, the world’s Saviour.

The Lord sent Jesus to be our Redeemer, to save us from our fate that is death, and to reconcile us to Himself. Christ had become the great bridge, that crosses the infinite chasm of sin separating us from God, ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed the Lord. Only in Christ lie our salvation, and only in Him that we have hope of new and eternal life. The Lord had shown His love and mercy for us in no lesser way, none other than by suffering insults and rejection, lashes and blows, and ultimately the death on the cross for us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Henry, also known as Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, the great divine ordained of the successor of Rome in the West, as the secular Vicar of Christ, under the jurisdiction of the Pope, as the Bishop of Rome and the true Vicar of Christ. St. Henry made great efforts to strengthen the Church and pried power away from the hands of the secular nobles into the Emperor’s hand and the jurisdiction of the Church.

In doing so, St. Henry had laid a stable foundation for the growth of the faith, and the cultivation of the faith amongst many throughout the world. He greatly strengthened the cause of the Lord, and built the work of salvation over the power of the power-hungry and wealth-hungry secular nobles, who constantly warred amongst themselves for wealth, reputation, and land.

St. Henry acted as the champion of the faith, as the champion of the Church, and indeed, as the champion of the Lord, who brought the Lord closer to many ordinary people, and his works enabled more to be in contact with the Lord who loves us and who wants to save us through Christ, His Son. St. Henry never gave up the struggle despite opposition from the nobles, and his efforts rewarded him with the glory of heaven, as the only Holy Roman Emperor and German monarch ever named saint.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, can follow in the footsteps of St. Henry, and also many other inspiring saints, to bring the Word of God closer to many who have yet to receive it, and to bring the Lord’s salvation and love ever closer to those who seek it. Let us also defend our faith, our faith in the Lord who loves us, and who redeemed us through His death and bring us new life through His Resurrection from the dead. Let us be zealous and devoted to our faith in God, through the Church, and obey the teachings of the Church, that is none other than the teachings of the Apostles, and therefore, the teachings of the Lord Himself.

May the Lord, accompanied by His faithful servant, St. Henry, and multitudes of holy men and women of the Lord and the angels, bless all of us with love, hope, and faith, and give us the Spirit to love, the Spirit to be compassionate, the Spirit of forgiveness and mercy, that all of us will be worthy of our Lord, who is Love and mercy. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (First Reading)

Genesis 49 : 29-32 and Genesis 50 : 15-26a

Jacob then gave his sons these instructions : “I am soon to be gathered to my people; bury me near my fathers, in the cave in the field of Ephron, the Hittite; in the cave in the field of Machpelah, to the east of Mamre in Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. It was there that Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There they buried Leah.

When Joseph’s brothers realised that their father was dead they said, “What if Joseph turns against us in hate because of the evil we did him?” So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Before he died your father told us to say this to you : Please forgive the crime and the sin of your brothers in doing evil to you. Forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.”

When he was given the message, Joseph wept. His brothers went and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph reassured them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? You intended to do me harm, but God intended to turn it to good in order to bring about what is happening today – the survival of many people. So have no fear! I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he touched their hearts and consoled them.

Joseph remained in Egypt together with all his father’s family. He lived for a hundred and ten years, long enough to see Ephraim’s great-grandchildren, and also to have the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, placed on his knees after their birth.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am going to die, but God will surely remember you and take you from this country to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”Joseph then made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God comes to bring you out from here, carry my bones with you.” Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten.

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Friday, 12 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today Christ in the Gospel Reading we listened to, told us that He would send us like sheep among wolves, and that we must ever be ready, as this world will hate us just as it has hated the Lord first, and that even those closest to us may betray us to the enemy, because they disagree with the Lord. But it does not mean that we should be apathetic or even hostile to our families and our societies. Rather, it means that we should not put our trust in men, but in God alone. Because the Lord who loves us would take care of us and protect us with His power.

The Lord sent His Holy Spirit to the Apostles, which came down to them on the day of the Pentecost. The Spirit inflamed their hearts and gave them great and unprecedented courage and strength to preach the Good News of the Lord, first to the people of Israel, and then to the whole world. The Apostles gained much good progress in their ministries, but they also faced intense persecution and rejection, from the Jews and the pagans alike. It is often that they have to put their lives on the line, and almost all of them would die of martyrdom, but none of them lose the faith or abandon the Lord. Rather, they placed all their trust in the Lord, and remain faithful all the way to the end.

The Holy Spirit too had been given to us, through the unbroken chains of shepherds in the bishops, from the Apostles themselves. All of us have been given the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit that brings love, hope, and faith within our hearts. This Spirit burns with a fire of love and zeal for the Lord. But ultimately, it is up to us, whether to use the gifts that the Spirit offered, or ignore them altogether, ignoring the Spirit that is within us.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be fruitful in the Spirit or the Spirit that has been given to all of us will be useless. We must bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the most important of which, that is love. If we obey the will of God and make our lives truly in reflection of the Spirit that is within us, made evident through our words, deeds, and actions, we will truly be rewarded by the Lord who is loving and faithful.

For our Lord is faithful, and He is true to His covenant. He fulfills His promise in ways that not even mankind can ever understand. He remained true to His covenant while the descendants of Abraham left Him and abandoned Him for other gods, the pagan gods of the people of Canaan. To those who are faithful He gave His grace and blessings, as we heard today from our first reading, on the reunion of Joseph and Jacob, his father.

For Joseph had been lost to his father, ever since his brothers betrayed him to the slave masters, out of their hatred and jealousy to Joseph. The slave masters sold Joseph to the Egyptians, and the brothers would have expected Joseph to disappear forever from their lives, finally rid of the favourite son of their father. But God has other plans, plans that lie beyond the understanding and knowledge of man.

Joseph was made as the instrument of salvation for thousands if not millions, throughout Egypt and the whole world, as the Lord made visible His plans to Joseph through dreams, of the coming famine and hunger that would engulf the world, and would have caused the death of millions, had preventive actions not been taken by Joseph, through the guidance of the Lord.

Eventually, the Lord brings all His people together once more, and reunited Joseph with his father, beginning with the arrival of Joseph’s brothers to purchase grains from Egypt during the years of famine, and ultimately ending with the revelation of the true identity of Joseph, then the Governor and Regent of all Egypt. All these continue to show how wonderful and magnificent the Lord is, the Lord our God.

He has His plans for the good of all mankind, and He cares for all of us without exception. That is why He sent us His only Son, Jesus Christ, one with Him in the Holy Trinity, so that we may live, and have hope instead of being doomed to death and separation from the Lord in hell. Today’s readings also told us that we must always put our complete and undivided trust and attention in the Lord our God, and not in man. For although we must indeed respect our families, and love our brothers and sisters, we must trust in the Lord more, for even brothers and sisters can turn against us, like the case that Joseph had shown all of us, that his brothers betrayed him to the slave masters out of their jealousy of him.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called again by the Lord to be the ministers of His Gospel and Good News, and also the ministers of His people, to serve the people of God, that is one another, with love, compassion, and kindness. To show mercy to our enemies, to pray for them and bless them with the Lord’ blessings, that they too may come to see the light and repent. We are also called to bring the light and love of God to our own families, to our own societies, to those who are nearest to all of us. Remember that mission does not just happen in some far away countries, but it must also happen even in our country, in our own homes, because even there, there are still many lost souls awaiting for the Lord to help them, through us.

May God empower us and give us a new hope and strength, to carry out the mission that He had entrusted to all of us, with faith, devotion, and love, that we will never give up despite the challenges that await us, or the oppositions that will face all of us, even from within our own families, from those closest and dearest to us. God bless us all, and may He strengthen us all with His Spirit, that we can be more like Him, and bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Friday, 12 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Psalm 36 : 3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.

The Lord watches over the lives of the upright; forever will their inheritance abide. They are not crushed in times of calamity; when famine strikes, they still are satisfied.

Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. For the Lord loves justice and right, and never forsakes His faithful ones. The wicked instead will perish and their breed will be cut off.

The Lord is the salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.

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Thursday, 11 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the readings about the mission that Christ had entrusted all of us with. The mission that He had given to the apostles before He left this world, that is to spread the Good News of salvation to all mankind, and to all the world. Each and every Christians baptised in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit must uphold this mission and pledge ourselves to its cause, that is the cause of the Lord.

Christ had called all of us to be His disciples, to bring all the people of God back to His loving embrace, to open their eyes and their hearts to God’s divine and everlasting love. The Lord offers His love and His peace freely to all, without exception, even sinners, and especially sinners, because the Lord did come especially for the sake of sinners, those lost sheep lost in the darkness of evil and sin.

Christ gave up His life in sacrifice, as a worthy offering in atonement for all our sins, all of us, without any exceptions. He died for all mankind, past, present, and future so that all may live, and in this new life, be granted eternal life in glory with Him for eternity, as long as we keep to the covenant that He had made with us, a new covenant sealed by His Blood pouring down from the cross.

Our Lord Jesus loves us, brethren, so much that He is willing to suffer all the blows, lashes, and curses, the pain of the nails that pierced his hands and feet, so that all of us do not have to suffer death eternal in hell. For our sins and iniquities the Lamb of God had been slaughtered and sacrificed, innocent and pure as He is, He was made to bear all the sins of the world.

Sadly, as many as those who would accept His call and His words, and followed Him into a new life of purity and holiness, there are even many more who would prefer to remain in their state of sin and darkened life, and preferred the pleasures of the world and Satan to the Lord who loves them. Many would reject Him and reject His messengers and disciples, including all of us who had been called by the Lord to be His apostles in this modern era.

So if Christ is rejected by many, then we will be rejected too, but this does not mean that we should slacken or abandon the mission that has been given to us. Indeed, there are still those who would accept Christ and His Good News, and even among those who have rejected Him and rejected us, there is always still hope, that they will change and receive the Lord. We must remain strong and courageous, and embrace our mission with zeal, devotion, and most importantly, love.

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Benedict the abbot, also known widely as St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the religious order of St. Benedict, or the Benedictines. He was also an inspiration for our great Pope Emeritus, the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in choosing his regnal name as Pope, together with Pope Benedict XV, his predecessor and the Pope of peace.

St. Benedict of Nursia lived in the first millenium in the late Roman Empire, and he was the founder of a great religious order, the Benedictines, who imposed on them what is well-known as the Rule of St. Benedict. The rule placed a great emphasis on the balance between piety and religiosity and the need for service and good works, which the Benedictines practiced through their charitable acts and service, and a pious and holy lifestyle, dedicated to the Lord in humility and obedience. And important to the Benedictines are also the concept of peace, the need to seek peace in this world, and to be peaceful in one’s own acts.

St. Benedict strengthened the Christian monasticism that was growing up at his era, and he laid much foundations for the future missionary works of the Church and religious orders that helped to preserve the Traditions of the Faith through the tumultous era of the ending of the Roman Empire and the advent of the Dark Ages. Through St. Benedict, the monastic communities had been strengthened, and therefore, the Church itself had been strengthened.

Inspired by the example of St. Benedict of Nursia and other great missionary saints of the monastic orders, we embark on this new journey of the faith in this modern era of secularism and consumerism, where God increasingly take a lesser importance in people’s minds and lives. It is our duty then, to continue the work of faith, to bring the Lord closer to many people around the world who have yet to receive the Good News of the Lord, or even those who had rejected the message of salvation outright.

There will be rejection for sure, for the world will reject us just as it had once rejected Christ Himself. But we must never give up and we must be courageous, to defend our faith, to defend the Lord, and to bring salvation to many who still live in the darkness of evil and sin. May St. Benedict of Nursia intercede for us, and pray for our sake, that God will send His helpers to aid us in our mission in this world. May St. Benedict also intercede for the sake of our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who is fighting for the Church in prayer and solitude. God bless us all, and God bless His Holy Church! Amen.

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Thursday, 11 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Genesis 44 : 18-21, 23b-29 and Genesis 45 : 1-5

Judah then went forward and said, “My lord, allow your servant to speak. Do not be angry with your servant, although you are equal to Pharaoh himself. The last time you questioned your servants saying : ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ We said to my lord : ‘We have an aged father who had a child in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only one left of his mother’s children. And his father loves him.’ Then you said to us : ‘Bring him down so that I can see him for myself.'”

“We would not be admitted to your presence. All this we said to our father on returning there. So when he told us to come back and buy a little food, we said : ‘We cannot go down again unless our youngest brother is with us. We shall not be admitted to the lord’s presence unless our brother is with us.’ Then my father said : ‘You know that my wife had two children. One went away from me and has surely been torn to pieces since I have not seen him anymore. If you take this one from me and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair in sorrow to the grave.'”

Now Joseph could no longer control his feelings in the presence of all those standing by and he called out, “Leave my presence, everyone!” And only his brothers were with him when Joseph made himself known to them. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard and the news spread through Pharaoh’s house.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” And his brothers could not answer because they were terrified at seeing him. Joseph said, “Come closer,” and they drew nearer. “I am Joseph your brother, yes, it is me, the one you sold to the Egyptians. Now do not grieve and reproach yourselves for selling me, because God has sent me before you to save your lives.”

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Monday, 8 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how Jesus healed the woman suffering from a bleeding problem and also resurrected the daughter of the official, all because of their faith in Him and in what He can do. Faith can indeed go a long way, brethren. Our Lord rewards those who are faithful to Him. He wants only our love and our obedience to His will.

Faith is essential for salvation, as without faith, there is no hope at all for us to be saved. For we have been tainted by sin and darkness, of evil and this world, that we were unworthy of the Lord and His perfection. But yet, Jesus Christ came, the very Son of God, who opened the path to salvation by His death and resurrection. Through Him hope came into the world and dwell in us, in the Holy Spirit, that He sent to the Apostles on Pentecost.

We need faith to be the anchor of our lives, and as the centre of our very being, as with faith, we will have a strong anchor in God, and we will not be easily swayed by the temptations of Satan and the evils that are in the world. Without faith, we cannot love God, and consequently we would not be able to embrace Him and the salvation He offered to all of us freely.

To Christ had been granted all the authority on the heaven and the earth, over the living and the dead. That was why, He healed the suffering of the bleeding woman, and resurrected the dead daughter of the official. The readings today showed that Jesus did not just heal anybody and everyone. In fact, He sought those who truly were repentant, and sought God’s mercy, and showed their sincere love, devotion, and most importantly faith in Him, faith in His divinity, that He healed them from their afflictions and sickness.

Yet, faith alone is not sufficient, brothers and sisters in Christ, as the Lord taught us and His disciples, that faith must be in tandem with love and hope, as the three most important values of being a Christian, that is faith, hope, and love. These three virtues embody all that a Christian must be, must become, and must aspire to.

For faith without love is akin to a faith that is dead, and a faith that is empty, because this faith does not generate love and life. Love can simply be expressed as our service and care for our brothers and sisters, that is part of doing good works. This is why we do not believe in salvation through faith alone, but salvation through faith and good works, that is faith made alive through good works and actions that reflect love, and generate hope in others.

For faith lacking in love and hope is also a selfish faith, where we are concerned only in our own salvation and not others. A true Christian desires the salvation of all mankind, himself or herself and all those around him or her. Most especially, a true Christian desires the salvation of those who had caused suffering and pain to the Christian, and those who had wronged the Christian, or in short, the ‘enemy’. That is also in tandem with Christ’s teaching that we should love our enemies and those who persecute us.

Then going back to what we talked about earlier, love can neither exist without faith and hope, for love is intricately linked to faith and hope. It is not possible to truly love someone without first having faith in that person. We certainly will not truly love someone if we cannot even trust the person completely without fear or concern, or otherwise that love will by an empty love, or infatuation in some situations, where relationships are not born out of love but sexual desires and lust.

Then love also must bring hope, because in love, there is hope, hope for a new beginning, and indeed, hope for a new life. If you allow me to digress a little bit, yes, love does bring life and hope, that is children. For marriage as we know it, must be based on love, and as far as possible, should be fruitful and bear children, the gifts of God to man. Children represent this new hope, in a new life, a promising life, that should be nurtured with love and faith. That is also why it is important for us, to always link love with faith and hope, even in our own families, in the development of the spiritual faith of our children.

Then finally, hope itself cannot exist without faith and love, for to have hope in something means that we must at least have faith in that something. Hope itself cannot exist as long as we do not have faith in Christ, because Christ is the source of all hope, because only in Christ exist salvation, and out of Christ, we can have no hope. And hope itself begets love, because when we hope, we also express love, and because we love that someone, we have hope in that one. No better example than our Lord Himself, who loves us so much, that in His hope that we will be reunited with Him, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer and our Saviour.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this excellence experience of the Year of the Faith, let us renew and rejuvenate our faith in God, and dedicate ourselves fully and completely in Him, together with our hope in Him and our offering of the love for Him that is within our hearts. This Year of the Faith is the excellent opportunity for all of us to renew our commitment to our God and commit ourselves to Him and His cause.

Do not be afraid my brothers and sisters, for our Lord will always stand by our side, and supporting us, comforting us, as He had done to Israel of old. He is true to His covenant and promises, as He had once promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What we need to do, is to keep our part of the covenant, and remain faithful, loving, and hopeful, to God and our fellow men. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 8 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 9 : 18-26

While Jesus was speaking to the people, an official of the synagogue came up to Him, bowed before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and place Your hands on her, and she will live.” Jesus stood up and followed him with His disciples.

Then a woman, who had suffered from a severe bleeding for twelve years, came up from behind and touched the edge of His cloak; for she thought, “If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned, saw her and said, “Courage, My daughter, your faith has saved you.”And from that moment the woman was cured.

When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the excited crowd, He said, “Get out of here! The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping!” And they laughed at Him. But once the crowd had been turned out, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up. The news of this spread through the whole area.

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Monday, 8 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “My stronghold, my refuge, my God in whom I trust!”

He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and give you refuge under His wings.

“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says the Lord. “I will protect those who know My Name.” When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble I will be with them.