Saturday

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Saturday, 30 March 2019 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture passages in which we heard about the pride of the Pharisee and the humility of the tax collector, in a parable that the Lord Jesus told to the people and His disciples. Using that parable, the Lord wanted to show just how great God’s mercy and love for each and every one of us is, that no one is truly excluded or prevented from receiving His merciful love.

The Lord mentioned a tax collector and a Pharisee because of the prejudices and perceptions that each one of them experienced at that time. The tax collectors were often treated with disdain and contempt, with distrust and suspicion due to the nature of their work in collecting the taxes for the Roman governor and administration, while the Pharisees were treated with reverence and adulation because of their respected position in the community.

Therefore, there was then a strong bias against the tax collectors, who were collectively treated as rebels, traitors and unworthy of being members of the community of the people of God. The tax collectors were shunned and treated as if they were great sinners who were incapable of receiving God’s mercy and unworthy of God’s love. This is such while the Pharisees were seen as holy and pious group of people, who always made public their prayers and devotions before everyone.

Through the parable He mentioned, the Lord Jesus wanted to break this prejudice and bias, which the people have had in their hearts and minds. He wanted to show them that even a tax collector in truth was aware of the sins and whatever wicked things he had done, and having been treated so badly by the community in general, it was quite certain that they must have felt very bad about their own actions.

But the tax collector in the parable, knowing and understanding about his own shortcomings, humbled himself before God and begged Him to show mercy and compassion, admitting his sins before Him, unlike the Pharisee who did not just brag about his own achievements and supposed piety, but also looked down and ridiculed the tax collector before God, thinking of himself as being more worthy than the tax collector.

In the eyes of God, a repentant sinner is far more worthy than a proud person who may outwardly be pious and good, but in truth, is still a sinner in heart. In fact, pride is the number one reason why many of us have continued to live in sin, firstly because we refused to admit that we have been wrong in our way of life, and secondly, we have that false sense of security and even superiority, in thinking that we are better off than others who seem to be deeper in sin than us.

Pride is a great obstacle in our path and journey towards God’s grace and loving mercy, for pride keeps us hardhearted and stubborn, unwilling to seek healing for the sins and wicked things we have committed all the while. And it also often gives us the reason and excuse to say no to God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness. But at what cost, brothers and sisters in Christ? Nothing less than the salvation of our souls!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to reflect on our own lives, on our every actions, words and deeds. And surely we will become more aware of how sinful or broken we have been in life. But are we going to allow our sins and our brokenness to continue to affect us through life? Or are we going to seek God’s forgiveness and mercy, He Who alone is capable of healing us from our sins?

Let us all therefore pray for the grace to be humble like the tax collector in the parable that Jesus said to the people. Let us pray for the grace to be aware of how sinful we have been, and how broken our lives have become, and ultimately for the grace and courage to seek healing through forgiveness that comes generously from God alone. May the Lord continue to guide us through our journey in this season of Lent and beyond. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 March 2019 : 3rd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 18 : 9-14

At that time, Jesus told another parable to some people, fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others : “Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector.”

“The Pharisee stood by himself, and said, ‘I thank You, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of all my income to the Temple.’ In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’”

“I tell you, when this man went back to his house, he had been reconciled with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised up.”

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Saturday, 30 March 2019 : 3rd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 18-19, 20-21

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart, You will not despise.

Shower Zion with Your favour : rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then, You will delight in fitting sacrifices, in burnt offerings, and bulls, offered on Your altar.

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Saturday, 30 March 2019 : 3rd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hosea 6 : 1-6

Come, let us return to YHVH. He Who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; He has struck us down, but He will bind up our wounds. Two days later He will bring us back to life; on the third day, He will raise us up, and we shall live in His presence.

Let us strive to know YHVH. His coming is as certain as the dawn; His judgment will burst forth like the light; He will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you?

This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of My mouth. For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.

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Saturday, 23 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures reminding us of the love which God has for each and every one of us, and so great is His love that He is willing to forgive even the greatest of sinners, no matter how great the sin that the sinner has committed, provided that the sinner is willing to be forgiven and willing to commit himself or herself to the path of redemption and reconciliation.

Today, as we continue to journey through the season of Lent, we are called to reflect through the passages taken from the Scriptures as our readings today, to think about our own lives and experiences, in how each and every one of us can make good use of this opportunity that God has given us, that we may be forgiven from our sins and be saved from the certainty of our impending doom and destruction due to those sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Micah, we heard the prophet speaking to the people of God about the wondrous deeds that God has done for His people in the past, when He delivered them from the hands of their enemies, provided for their needs and blessed them with so many good blessings and graces. This was a reminder of God’s love for His people to those who have not been obedient to Him, rebelled against Him and were wicked in His sight.

This must be understood in the context of what the prophet Micah experienced, at the time of the northern kingdom of Israel, when God was no longer respected and worshipped in those places, and where the pagan idols and wicked deities have taken over the worship of God among the people. The prophets of God like Micah were rejected and oppressed, and they had to fear for their lives.

And yet, Micah told the people how the Lord was known for His mercy and forgiveness, His love and compassion for His people, that He will forgive them if only that the people were willing to be forgiven. And this often requires a change in their way of life, and in the commitment to reject the wicked practices and ways of the world, and instead embracing the righteousness and justice of God’s ways.

In today’s Gospel reading we heard the famous parable of the prodigal son, which correlates just perfectly with what we have heard from the prophet Micah. In that parable, we heard of a prodigal, younger son of a father who had two sons, who took his part of the rich inheritance from his father, and went to a distant land, squandering off all the wealth on wicked and immoral way of life, described as loose living in the Gospel.

And when the prodigal son had wasted all of his money and properties, he was left destitute and alone. All of those whom he might have regarded as friends abandoned him because they only wanted to enjoy the money and wealth he had, and once he ran out of them, they left him all alone. The prodigal son had to endure all sorts of humiliation, and endured the suffering of having nothing, not even his human dignity, when he decided to return in shame to his father.

He would have expected that his father would be very angry at him, and did not want to treat him as a son anymore, not after everything he had done in squandering off the wealth and portion of inheritance entitled to him. That is why he wanted to be treated like a slave in his plea for the father’s forgiveness. But little did he realise that his father loved him so much that he was welcomed back with such a great festivities and joy, as the lost son was found and returned to his father.

In this parable, we heard the story of the prodigal son, which in fact represents all of us mankind, all of us who are sinners, who have disobeyed the Father’s will, God, our heavenly Father, Who has blessed us with so many wonderful things and blessings, just as He had done to the Israelites in the past. Instead of appreciating all that He has done for us, like the Israelites and the prodigal son, we acted in defiance and disobedience, and did all that were abhorrent to God.

And yet, God loves us all so much, just as the father loved the prodigal and lost son, that He gave us chances after chances to return to Him and be forgiven from our sins. And the ultimate proof of this love, is how He gave us Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who gave us the hope and sure pathway to the eternal glory and life with God, our loving Father. By His loving sacrifice on the cross, we mankind have been gathered like a shepherd gathering his lost sheep from among the darkness and wilderness of this world, and into His eternal light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during this season of Lent, we are called to do two main, important actions. First of all, we must be like the prodigal son, who has willingly, despite all the risks he took and in swallowing his pride, sought to return to his father. That is why we must turn away from our sinful way of life, and humbly seek God’s love and forgiveness. It is often that our ego and pride stand in the way of our forgiveness, because we do not want to admit that we have been wrong.

This is where we really need to be humble, to admit our mistakes and shortcomings before God. God Who loves us and Who knows our faults will have mercy on us, and He will grant us pardon and forgiveness, if only we seek Him with all of our heart. But then, we must also heed the other calling of today’s Gospel, and that is, for us not to be like the elder son, who has always been with the father, and became angry when the younger, prodigal son returned and treated with such fanfare that he became jealous.

This is why, secondly, this Lent, we must also reach out to our brethren, who may be in deeper and greater darkness than we are, those who have not embraced the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy. We should not act with pride and haughtiness, looking down on those who are still sinful and filled with wickedness. Ultimately, they too are our brothers and sisters, and they have no less right than us, to enjoy God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Today, we should imitate the good examples of our holy predecessors, especially that of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, who as bishop in the New World, the Americas, devoted himself so much to his ministry and works, that he often braved through difficult conditions to minister to the people, caring for them physically as well as spiritually. He spent a lot of effort improving the people’s livelihood, and preached the truth of God in their midst. Countless people came to the Lord through his works, and he was still remembered for all of his dedication.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to make this our Lenten commitment? In fact, we should commit to this new way of life, to serve God and His people, from now on, giving all of our efforts and strength to love God with all of our hearts and be forgiven our sins, just as we assist one another in seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness. May the Lord continue to bless our works, and may He guide us to His eternal glory. Amen.

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Saturday, 23 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, ‘This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So Jesus told them this parable : “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

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Saturday, 23 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Saturday, 23 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Micah 7 : 14-15, 18-20

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, shepherd the flock of Your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when You went out of Egypt. Show us Your wonders.

Who is a God like You, Who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of His inheritance? Who is like You Whose anger does not last? For You delight in merciful forgiveness. Once again You will show us Your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

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Saturday, 16 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God through the Scriptures, reminding us all to love one another, just as the Lord our God has loved each and every one of us without any exception. God has generously loved all of us, despite of how we have rejected His love and how we have refused to obey Him all these while. And we are reminded that we too should love in the same way that God has shown His love for us.

In today’s Gospel passage, we are reminded that we should love everyone regardless of whether we are going to benefit from those whom we intend to love. We should show love and compassion even to those who cannot return our love, or worse still, refuse to return us our love, or those who repay our love with contempt and hatred, with anger and enmity. This is just what the Lord our God had done, in His generous love towards us even when we have not loved Him as we should have.

And in all of these, we are reminded of the core principle and reality of what love is truly for each and every one of us. Love in its true form is something that embodies the selfless offering and giving of oneself, and not selfish in nature. For true love embodies the relationship between two parties in which each of the party is willing to commit to the relationship and to give part of himself or herself, to the new union formed between the two of them.

Unfortunately, many of us did not know what true love is all about, and many of us ended up loving one another in the wrong way. To many of us, the form of love that are often familiar and which we frequently used is the kind of love that has been tainted with greed, pride and human desires. We expect those who want the love from us to give us something back in return, and while those who did not give us what we want, receive no love from us.

In the end, love became transactional, empty and meaningless, overshadowed by greed and human desire. We love because we desire a return for the effort of the love we have shown, and when we do not get fairly of what we have given, then we end up becoming dissatisfied and angry. We then end up hating the person or refusing to love the person back just because we did not receive the love from that person yet.

In the end, we are not loving with sincerity, and the love that we have in us is superficial in nature. Love that is not based on the genuine desire to be sharing and giving of ourselves is not true love, but is instead lust and corruption of the flesh and the mind. In this kind of love, we love for the sake of benefits, for the sake of advantage for ourselves, the convenience of the body and the pleasures of the flesh.

That is why we see increasingly more and more divorces happening in our marriages today, as more and more people are losing sight and focus on the true meaning of their married life. They see marriage as a burden instead of a blessing, because they have not understood what the meaning of true love is. To more and more couples, love has become a growing desire and temptation of the flesh, that it becomes a mere playground of lust and greed, of human selfishness and pleasure.

When each of the married couples or those in relationships see those relationships as something that bring benefit upon themselves, then the relationships will hardly last long, especially when difficulties and challenges come upon those relationships. That is why if we build our relationships based on impure and selfish love, that is based on our selfish desires to benefit ourselves, we will end up ruining those relationships due to our selfish actions to benefit only ourselves.

The Lord showed us all how to love, by His own actions and examples. When the world was up against Him and hated Him, He still loved all those who have challenged Him and persecuted Him, so much so that even as He was suffering so much and dying on the cross, He forgave His accusers and enemies, and prayed to His Father that He would not condemn those people to damnation because of the sins they have committed.

And He loved each and every one of us so much, despite of our own lack of love against Him and our refusal to acknowledge His love as evidenced by our sins. He bore His cross to Calvary, to suffer and to die for us, that even though we have been selfish in our greed and pride in refusing His love, He loved us all nonetheless, a perfect selfless giving of Himself, the example of a perfect love shown to us by the cross.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to love each other in a Christian way, that is following how the Lord Himself has loved us. Are we able to love genuinely and selflessly as He has shown us? It is of course not easy for us to love as He has loved, as we are bound to be tempted by our desires and by the weakness of our human flesh and existence. Yet, the Lord shows us that it is indeed possible to be selfless and to show true love in our actions. What we need is just our dedication and willingness to commit to this path, to face the challenges that may come our way.

Therefore, in this season of Lent, all of us are called to become less selfish, less prideful, less greedy in our relationships with one another. Instead of being so calculative and being so filled up with pride and desire in our lives, in our expectations for others, let us instead be more generous in giving and in sharing the blessings we have received. Let us all learn the value and importance of sacrifice, following the inspiration of the loving sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

May we grow stronger in love, not love that is selfish and greedy, or love that is seeking for self-benefits and pleasure, but instead love that is selfless, genuine, and nurturing, where we can share our blessings and happiness with one another, and cause us to grow together in faith, hope and love in God. May the Lord be with us all and may He continue to guide us through life. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You have heard that it was said : Love your neighbour and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you : love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and He gives rain to both the just and the unjust.”

“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”