San Carlo Borromeo

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Wednesday, 4 November 2015 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we commemorate the life and the examples of St. Charles Borromeo, also known as San Carlo Borromeo, a great saint and reformer of the faith and the Church, who was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan, one of the principal and most important sees of Christendom, and a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.

At that time, the Church and the faithful were assailed greatly and terribly by the forces of the so-called Protestant ‘reformation’ where misguided people and their leaders took it into their hands to change and alter the teachings and traditions of the Church as they pleased and wished, and many people went astray following their own path and their own wishes.

And so many people, so many souls were lost forever as a result of such an unfortunate turn of events, and many people were misguided to follow the path of their error and worldliness into the damnation of hell. However, that is not all, as even within the Church, many people did not truly serve the Lord and rather than dutifully carrying out their responsibilities as members and ministers of the Lord’s Church and community, these people served their own interest first.

All these were the works of the devil and his agents, who sowed the seeds of obstinate behaviour, pride, greed, stubbornness and the seeds of sin into the hearts of men, and by tempting many with the temptation of money, pleasures of the world and other things, he succeeded in luring many away, and brought about much confusion in which he thrived and managed to lure away even more souls away.

He also contributed immensely to the Council of Trent, the very important and crucial gathering of the Church designed to reform the Church, condemn the falsehoods of the Protestant heresy and to help bring back many souls into God’s grace and salvation. He proposed many disciplines and practices that could help purify the Faith and the Church so as to make it much more resilient against future heresies and threats from both outside and inside the Church.

In the end, many people returned to the Holy Mother Church, and many of them repented from their sins. What St. Charles Borromeo and many other holy men and women, servants of God had done at that time was truly beneficial and good, and because of their great efforts and dedication, they helped restore the hope to countless people who would otherwise have fallen into eternal damnation of hell.

Today we heard St. Paul exhorting the faithful on how to fulfil completely the Law and commandments of God, that is by showing love and care for one another. The Law of God is truly about loving our God, and not just that, but also loving one another in the same way as we have loved ourselves and God. And this was exactly what St. Charles Borromeo and his contemporaries had done, for the love of their fellow men, fallen and lost to the darkness, they worked their best to save them from their fate.

In the Gospel today, we heard Jesus our Lord speaking about readiness to give it all to the Lord, and readiness to leave behind everything that have severed us and kept us away from truly being able to call ourselves the children of God. And He also spoke of wisdom, of the need for us all to think and reflect of the consequences of our actions and the need to be ready for everything that is to come.

And thus, we have to think of the consequences of our actions and how these will impact the state of our souls in the end of time. Have we made ample preparations for the day of judgment that is to come? If we sit still and do nothing, then I fear all of us are headed for a sure and certain destruction and damnation in hell. It is just like what Jesus told the people, like a king who did not consult with his advisers and went to war against another stronger than him, and in the end, only defeat and misery awaited him.

What do we need to do then, brothers and sisters in Christ? We all need to devote ourselves to help our brethren in need, those who are less fortunate than us, and just as St. Charles Borromeo had shown us, also by helping those who have been misled and misguided by heresy and by the lies of Satan, so that all of us may find our way out of the trap of sin and destruction, and eventually proceed to eternal glory of heaven, and receiving the whole eternal inheritance meant for us.

Let us all therefore from now on work together as one people, as one Church, by working together to achieve the common goal of justification and sanctification for the eternal life. May God bless us and guide us in our endeavours and efforts, and may He bring us to eternal glory in Him. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 November 2015 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 14 : 25-33

At that time, one day, when large crowds were walking along with Jesus, He turned and said to them, “If you come to me, unwilling to sacrifice your love for your father and mother, your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters, and indeed yourself, you cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not follow Me, carrying his own cross, cannot be My disciple.”

“Do you build a house without first sitting down to count the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise, if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone will make fun of you : ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'”

“And when a king wages war against another king, does he go to fight without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand can stand against the twenty thousand of his opponent? And if not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers for peace talks.”

“In the same way, none of you may become My disciple, if he does not give up everything he has.”

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Wednesday, 4 November 2015 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 4-5, 9

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

He is for the righteous a light in darkness, He is kind, merciful and upright. It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty.

He gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.

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Wednesday, 4 November 2015 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Romans 13 : 8-10

Do not be in debt to anyone. Let this be the only debt of one to another : Love. The one who loves his or her neighbour fulfilled the Law. For the commandments : Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covet and whatever else are summarised in this one : You will love your neighbour as yourself.

Love cannot do the neighbour any harm; so love fulfils the whole Law.

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Monday, 4 November 2013 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we come together to celebrate the feast of a great and yet humble saint, that is St. Charles Borromeo, or San Carlo Borromeo as he is known in his native Italy. He was the Archbishop of Milan, the most influential and largest of the dioceses in the world today, and even then during the lifetime of St. Charles Borromeo. He was also a Cardinal of the Roman Church based on his position as Archbishop of Milan. Truly he was a very influential prelate during his time.

Yet, despite all that, St. Charles Borromeo remained, above all else, a humble, devout, and loving person, and a dedicated servant of God Most High, putting God always before himself in all things. He committed himself to the service of those who had been entrusted to him, like that of a shepherd caring for his sheep with all of his might and attention, as well as love.

St. Charles Borromeo was born from a rich family, and yet he rejected the culture of waste and excessive glamour that characterised the nobles and the wealthy during that period. He was completely dedicated and devoted to the poor, and he took his duties as Archbishop of Milan seriously, working hard for his people, and in humility, he often walked in the streets barefooted and with a cord around his neck, to symbolise the burdens he carried as the shepherd of God’s people.

St. Charles Borromeo, made a cardinal in his youth, showed great zeal as well in the affairs of the Universal Church, giving great contributions towards the effort to stem the tide of the heretical Protestantism, and spearheading, together with many other contemporary saints, the Counter-Reformation, particularly through the Council of Trent. St. Charles Borromeo ensured that the Church was thoroughly reformed and cleansed of any corruptions that had permeated the Church of God in the past centuries.

St. Charles Borromeo, despite his zeal, great dedication, and commitment to the good of the Church and God’s people, faced much opposition and resistance. Despite all those oppositions, though, he persevered, and his hard works gave a solid foundation for the Church, from which the Church and Christendom may heal from the terrible heresy of Protestantism and other heresies running rampant at that time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Charles Borromeo truly embodied what the Lord said in our Gospel reading today. That we have to love and care for the poor, and dare to step out from our comfort zone. We should not just enclose ourselves in our comfort zone, but we must take action, just as St. Charles Borromeo had done, that we love our brethren, especially the poorest, the last, the lost, the least, and the unloved, namely those rejected by society.

Being wealthy and having many possessions is God’s grace, brothers and sisters. It is a sign of God’s blessing and favour upon us. But He did not intend for us to keep all of these blessings and graces for ourselves. We ought to share those blessings with one another, and enjoy these blessings together. We should not rejoice over the suffering of others, especially not those who have nothing or little.

The Lord urged us to show love, care, and compassion to these brothers and sisters of ours. Everyone ought to have enough and sufficient for themselves, and nobody should be lacking and suffer from that. Following the examples set by St. Charles Borromeo and other saints, we should open up ourselves and not withdraw into ourselves. We cannot become mere closet Christians, but rather we must go out and be courageous to proclaim God and His love to all, especially through our own words, deeds, and actions.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to us who have been given much, let us share with one another the joy He had given us, that our less fortunate brethren may also have the taste of this joy, and rejoice together with us as one people in God, all of whom are His children. And to those of us who have less, we too can share our joy with one another. It does not mean that because we have less then we cannot be joyful or rejoice. Be happy and glad, and celebrate life with one another, sharing the joy.

Yes, brethren, share the joy and blessings we have, that all of us, rich or poor, powerful or weak, can together praise and glorify the Lord as one people, without discriminating against each other or rejoicing over another’s suffering. May the Lord who loves us all, continues to watch over us, bless us, and embrace us with His love. God be with us, always and forever. Amen.