Saturday

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Saturday, 24 July 2021 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Exodus 24 : 3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of YHVH and all His laws. The people replied with one voice : “Everything that YHVH has said, we shall do.”

Moses wrote down all the words of YHVH, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve raised stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to YHVH.

And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar. He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, “All that YHVH said we shall do and obey.”

Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Here is the blood of the Covenant that YHVH has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

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Saturday, 17 July 2021 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to turn towards the Lord and remember constantly His mercy and love by which He has led us all these time through the journey of our respective lives. The Scripture readings today serve as good reminders for us to recall all the good things that the Lord had done for His people, from the Israelites in the days of the Exodus and then all that the Lord Jesus, our Saviour had done as He came and dwelled in our midst.

In our first reading today, we heard of the moment when the whole multitudes of the Israelites began their journey out of the land of Egypt after the Passover and after the last great plague ravaged Egypt so badly that the Pharaoh finally relented and let the Israelites to go free. The Pharaoh and many other Egyptians had lost their firstborn sons and suffered from all the great plagues that God sent against Egypt for their refusal to let the Israelites to go free and return to their homeland in Canaan.

God led the people of Israel out of Egypt, with all of their possessions, and all of their companies, a huge multitude of people blessed by God, a whole nation of over six hundred thousand people after four hundred and thirty years in Egypt. This was indeed a proof of God’s blessings to the house of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as Jacob’s family alone, extending to over seventy people, had by then therefore blossomed to a large nation, despite all the efforts by the Pharaoh and the Egyptians to snuff them out.

Despite the harsh treatments and slavery they experienced during the last decades of their stay in Egypt, the Israelites grew and spread ever more in numbers, and God was with them throughout the way. And Moses was sent to them to lead them out of Egypt, which became true by the great plagues which God had sent against the Egyptians. As we heard in that passage from the Book of Exodus, it was truly a joyful time for the people of God, finally free of their enslavement and being led to the land promised to them.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard the mention of Our Lord Whose coming into the world was the fulfilment of the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, as the Lord had once spoken to His people through Isaiah that He would send His servant to the midst of His people, One Who would carry out His will and Who would suffer for them on their behalf, that through the sufferings and humiliations He had to endure, He has brought us healing and freedom, the freedom from the tyranny and bondage to sin.

Thus, all of us are therefore reminded of how we ourselves have been liberated from the slavery of sin, much as the Israelites had been liberated from their bondage at the hands of the Egyptians. We have been blessed by the great grace with which God has patiently showed us His love each and every moment, that despite all of our stubborn attitude and sinful, wicked behaviour, God’s love and mercy are still greater than all of these. He desires nothing else other than for us to be reconciled to Him, and in order to do that, we have to abandon our sins and reject our wicked attitudes and actions.

Today, all of us are called to reflect on our own way of life and how we have been living as Christians all these while. Have we been truly faithful to the Lord, brothers and sisters in Christ? Or have we allowed worldly desires and ambitions, temptations of the flesh and pleasures to distract and mislead us in our path in life? Have we allowed the devil and his lies to make us trust in him more than we trust in God? These are just some of the questions which we really ought to ask ourselves, and ponder if there are still more that we can do to be faithful disciples and followers of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us all turn towards Him with renewed zeal and desire to serve Him and to love Him wholeheartedly, that we may indeed be faithful disciples of His, in everything that we say and do in life. Let our every actions, words and deeds proclaim the glory of God in the midst of our own communities, and let us all ourselves be sources of inspiration to one another, in how we are living up to our faith, that more and more may come to know of God and His love, and how He has freed us from the bondage to our sins. May God be with us always and bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 July 2021 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 12 : 14-21

At that time, the Pharisees went out, and made plans to get rid of Jesus. As Jesus was aware of their plans, He left that place. Many people followed Him, and He cured all who were sick. But He gave them strict orders not to make Him known.

In this way, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled : Here is My Servant, Whom I have chosen; the One I love, and with Whom I am pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him; and He will announce My judgment to the nations. He will not argue or shout, nor will His voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed He will not crush, nor snuff out the smouldering wick until He brings justice to victory, and in Him, all the nations will put their hope.

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Saturday, 17 July 2021 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 135 : 1, 23, 24, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Alleluia! Give thanks to YHVH, for He is good, His kindness endures forever.

He slew the firstborn of Egypt, His kindness endures forever.

And brought Israel out, His kindness endures forever.

With strong hand and outstretched arm, His kindness endures forever.

He splits the Sea of Reeds, His kindness endures forever.

And made Israel pass through it, His kindness endures forever.

Drowning Pharaoh and his army, His kindness endures forever.

He remembered us in our humiliation, His kindness endures forever.

And freed us from our oppressors, His kindness endures forever.

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Saturday, 17 July 2021 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Exodus 12 : 37-42

The Israelites left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand of them on the march, counting the men only, and not the children. A great number of other people of all descriptions went with them, as well as sheep and cattle in droves.

With the dough they had brought with them from Egypt, they made cakes of unleavened bread. It had not risen, for when they were driven from Egypt they could not delay and had not even provided themselves with food. The Israelites had been in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. It was at the end of these four hundred and thirty years to the very day that the armies of YHVH left Egypt.

This is the watch for YHVH Who brought Israel out of Egypt. This night is for YHVH, and all the Israelites are also to keep vigil on this night, year after year, for all time.

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Saturday, 10 July 2021 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to entrust ourselves to the Lord and put our faith in Him, and not be easily worried or swayed by the temptations of worldly comfort and pleasures, or be deterred by challenges and sufferings, for the Lord has always provided for our needs. He has always been faithful to the Covenant He made with us and our ancestors, and we have nothing to fear if we trust in Him.

In our first reading today, we heard of the account of the death of Jacob, or Israel, the forefather of all the Israelites, who had passed on in the land of Egypt after being reunited with his son Joseph, surrounded by all of his extended family. Then, the brothers of Joseph were afraid that the latter would take revenge against them after their father had passed away. They were afraid that Joseph, who was the Regent of Egypt, would use his power to his advantage and take revenge on them.

Yet, Joseph reassured his brothers that he had no such intention at all. Instead, he reminded all of them of God’s most bountiful grace and guidance to all of them, His beloved ones. Joseph reminded his brothers how God had turned their malicious plan on him into a blessing for many others, as He brought Joseph into Egypt, and while initially he suffered, but God made him to be in the position to benefit so many others, all through his position as Regent, by which he saved many during the years of famine.

In the end, therefore God still wanted to reach out to His beloved ones, and be reconciled with them, just as Joseph was reconciled to his brothers. He still blessed them and loved us mankind, despite all that we had done, in our disobedience and refusal to believe in Him. He still believes in us and wants to love us all tenderly, caring for us as He has always done, all these while. It is often we ourselves who refused to trust in Him and preferred to walk our own path.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord reassuring His disciples how there is nothing that they need to worry about since each one of them are precious to the Lord, and that mankind should not spend so much time worrying about themselves and their concerns. Instead, they must entrust themselves and their lives to the Lord, believing fully that the Lord will always be with them, and nothing that happens to us which is not known to the Lord. He always has our best interests in mind, and this sometimes leads to scenarios in which we may have to suffer or endure difficulties for a little while. But we have to learn to be patient in facing all these.

Are we going to let little shortcomings and obstacles to stop us in the path towards God and His salvation? This is not what we should be doing, and we should learn to trust in the Lord to guide us rather than worrying about we are to enjoy and experience in our daily living. We have to remove from our hearts and minds those obstacles and barriers of doubt, fear and indecisiveness, and learn to be more courageous in living our lives in accordance to the way of the Lord. We should be courageous and dedicated in being true to our Christian truth and ways that in all things we say and do, we will always be our Lord’s faithful and worthy witnesses.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this world today, there is already too much darkness and wickedness, and there is not enough faith and hope, and the love of God. As we all carry on our respective journey in life, we are all called to reflect on our actions and our outlook in life, that we may strive to be ever more worthy of the Lord and be ever more committed to walk in His path, so that through us, many more people may come to be inspired by our examples and be strengthened by our resolve, to live faithfully in the same way as we have done it as well.

Let us all be great inspiration for one another, that we may strengthen each other and help support one another in our journey towards the Lord. May He continue to bless us and guide us in our every steps in life, and may He empower each and every one of us to be His most faithful followers and witnesses of this same Christian truth, hope, faith and love that we have received, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 July 2021 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 10 : 24-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. A student should be content to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the household has been called Beelzebul, how much more, those of his household! So, do not be afraid of them!”

“There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered. There is nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of Him Who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

“For a few cents you can buy two sparrows. Yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. Do not be afraid : you are worth more than many sparrows! Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. Whoever rejects Me before others, I will reject before My Father in heaven.”

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Saturday, 10 July 2021 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7

Give thanks to YHVH, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds.

Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek YHVH rejoice. Look to YHVH and be strong; seek His face always.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is YHVH our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

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Saturday, 10 July 2021 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

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. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites.”

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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Saturday, 3 July 2021 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of one of Our Lord’s Twelve Apostles, namely St. Thomas the Apostle, also known as Thomas Didymus or the Twin, and as we may have known quite well, that he was one who often doubted the Lord and even publicly questioned His decisions and actions. Yet, later on he would become one of the Lord’s most fervent evangelisers and workers of faith, dying as a martyr in a distant land and glorifying the Lord.

St. Thomas was always the most skeptical among the Lord’s disciples, as he did not appear to fully trust in the Lord, and was pessimistic when the Lord wanted to go to Jerusalem to fulfil His mission, despite the advice against doing so by His disciples. St. Thomas publicly said before all of them that, in a rather sarcastic way, they should all follow the Lord so that they could also suffer with Him and die along with Him.

When the Lord was risen from the dead, St. Thomas happened to be not among the other disciples, and did not witness the Lord appearing for the first time in His Risen glory before all the other disciples. And we heard from our Gospel passage today, how St. Thomas again refused to believe and even then publicly declared before the other disciples how he would not believe unless he could prove that the Risen Lord is truly the same One crucified, by touching His wounds and putting his hand into the Lord’s pierced side.

And the Lord then appeared again before all the disciples and St. Thomas included, and asked him directly to do as he said he would do to prove that the Lord had indeed risen from the dead. From what we have heard in the Gospel passage, we can clearly see how dumbfounded and surprised St. Thomas was, as his doubt was proven to be wrong, and the Lord Himself appeared in the flesh before him. He humbled himself utterly and proclaimed before all, ‘My Lord and my God.’

These are the same words that we utter whenever the Lord’s Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist are elevated and raised in the most solemn occasion, as the celebrant uttered the words of consecration, proclaiming the presence of the Lord before all the faithful, truly present in the bread and wine which the priest, by the power and authority of the Lord, had transformed completely into the matter, essence and reality of the Lord’s own Holy Body and Blood.

Then, do we all recall the Lord’s words after St. Thomas uttered those words? He said, ‘Happy are those who believe because they have seen, but even happier and more blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed.’ This is truly significant for us because, while we have not seen the Lord in the human form as the disciples like St. Thomas had seen, but we still believe that the Eucharist is the Lord Himself, in the flesh, the Real Presence of Our Lord.

Yet, there are also still so many of us who doubted this truth, and many of us who refused to believe in the Real Presence, especially among some of our separated brethren in faith. And within the Church, there are sadly still many of those who outwardly profess to believe in the Real Presence of God in the Eucharist, but behaved in the manner that is contradictory to that belief, in how they treated the Eucharist, by receiving the Eucharist in an unworthy state, or treating it as no more than just mere bread and wine, without proper decorum, respect and honour, less still worship and adoration.

Then in that manner, we are also no better than how St. Thomas was before he turned wholeheartedly to the Lord at the moment when he fully acknowledged Him as his Lord and Master. And now, we are called to reflect on our own attitudes in life, and also our perception and attitude towards the Lord in the Eucharist. Have we been truly faithful to the Lord? Or have we allowed our doubts and lack of faith and understanding of this faith to mislead us and make us to doubt the Lord and His truth and love for us?

Many of us often do not realise that we are doing exactly what St. Thomas had been doing in doubting the Lord earlier in his life, by our own lack of reverence and adoration for the Holy Eucharist, as well as our own sinful and wayward lifestyle, in contrast with the righteousness of God. We are often stubborn in walking down the path of sin rather than the path of righteousness. This is why, we should then be like St. Thomas, who turned away from his doubts and embraced the Lord wholeheartedly.

He would go on to preach the Christian faith in many places, most famously and significantly in what is now the southern regions of India, where he established the firm foundations of Christian communities there, which lasted till this very day, often known as the ‘St. Thomas Christians’. He brought God’s truth to all these people, and revealed Him to them so that through this, more and more people can be saved from their sins and wicked ways. St. Thomas would suffer and die a martyr’s death in the end of his missionary journey, obedient and faithful to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us also therefore cast off the shade and veil of doubt from our eyes and from our minds, and from our hearts. Let us entrust ourselves fully from now on to the Lord, and commit ourselves, each and every moments of our lives, that we may always walk in the path of His light and truth, and we may always be faithful and righteous in all things, that everyone who see us and witness our works and actions, will know that we belong to the Lord and that God lives within us.

May God bless us always and may He remain with us in our journey of faith and life. May He strengthen each one of us with courage and hope, to endure and persevere through the challenges and trials we are facing daily, for His sake, and for the greater glory of His Name. Amen.