Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.
You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Galatians 3 : 22-29
But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God’s promise is to believe in Jesus Christ. Before the time of faith had come, the Law confined us and kept us in custody until the time in which faith would show up.
The Law then was serving as a slave to look after us until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. With the coming of faith, we are no longer submitted to this guidance. Now, in Christ Jesus, all of you are sons and daughters of God through faith.
All of you who were given to Christ through baptism, have put on Christ. Here there is no longer any difference between Jew or Greek, or between slave or freed, or between man and woman : but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Christ, you are of Abraham’s race and you are to inherit God’s promise.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of a great saint, the Patroness of Missions and a Doctor of the Church. St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as St. Therese of Lisieux was a great woman, very devoted to God in her prayers and devotions, and in her many works and writings, she displayed exemplary faith and commitment which became inspiration to many others who also therefore walked in her path.
St. Therese of Lisieux was a Discalced Carmelite nun, who joined the religious life from early in her youth, desiring a life wholly dedicated to the Lord. She managed to enter the religious life early at the age of fifteen despite many obstacles and difficulties in her path at that time. She was often sickly and weak in her youth, and throughout her convent life, she was still also often bedridden and sick, but these did not dampen her bright spiritual devotion to the Lord.
The sufferings she went through were painful, but on one occasion in her life, she experienced a total conversion and change, a moment of revelation from the Lord, when she was able to overcome the obstacles and obstructions of her physical and mental state, and which would govern her way of life, thinking and action from then on. She grew ever stronger in her devotion to God, and spending many hours each day in prayer and in deep communication with Him.
She lived her life in obedience to God and to her spiritual and religious superiors, writing her experiences and visions, and discussing many aspects of the faith in her works. Many of these still inspire many people even to this day. And most famous of her works and thoughts is the ‘Little Way’ which she propagated and promoted as the way to achieve the salvation in the Lord. As such she was also known as the Little Flower of Carmel.
This little way has many meanings and aspects, brothers and sisters in Christ, but essentially, it is when we use our every actions and little, small acts in life to be showcase of our love, devotion and commitment to the Lord. It is not by great strides and mighty, proud deeds that we mankind will reach to the Lord, for all these instead will tend to cause our downfall through pride and hubris. Rather, the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux encouraged us to become smaller, humbler and like that of a child in the sight and presence of our God.
This is exactly what Jesus our Lord Himself spoke to His disciples in our Gospel passage today. We are quite familiar with that passage, as we should know that God welcomes children to His presence, and on that occasion, He chided them and rebuked them for quarrelling and disagreeing with one another just over the matter of who would be the most important in the kingdom of Heaven.
That is one of our humanity’s weakness, brethren, that we often succumb to our human and worldly desires, to the temptations of power, riches, fame and greatness or glory in this world. We bicker and fight over even the smallest of things, and we often desire what others have, be it position, honour, or appreciation from others around us.
That is why many of us have not been truly faithful to the Lord, and that is why even many Christians committed many sinful deeds that are unbecoming of them. They were unable to detach themselves from the many persuasions and temptations of the world that the devil is putting on our path, in order to make us stumble and fall into sin.
Ultimately, let us all reflect on our own actions. If we have been spending so much time thinking, worrying and trying to obtain more worldly goods, power, fame, influence and all the others for ourselves, let us then ask ourselves, what is the point of all that? If we die tomorrow, if God wills it, then none of these will be carried with us into the afterlife to come. Rich or poor, strong or weak, famous or unknown, all are equal before God, and all will be judged based on their actions or lack of actions.
If our preoccupation with all those things that distract us from the Lord and His ways have made us to ignore and abandon the plights of the weak, the needy and the poor or worse, if we have even manipulated these and made them suffer in our pursuit of worldliness, then we truly need to change our ways. And the best way is to follow the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux, the advice of our Lord Jesus, making ourselves as small as possible, like that of a child.
What does it mean? It means that rather than being swallowed by our ego and pride, we should be like a child in our faith, innocent and true, and just as a child will believe completely and strongly in something that he or she believes, we too should be pure and total in our dedication to the Lord, and not be distracted by the many concerns of the world surrounding us.
May the examples of St. Therese of Lisieux be our inspiration and guide, and may God help us in our effort to reach out to Him and to His salvation. May we all die to our greed and desires, and be reborn in our renewed faith and dedication to the Lord, that we may finally leave the temptations and the pleasures of this world aside, and commit ourselves wholly to the Lord our God. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 18 : 1-5
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you that, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in My Name receives Me.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 131 : 1-3
Remember David, o Lord, and all his readiness, how he swore an oath to the Lord, to the Mighty One of Jacob. I will not enter my house nor get into my bed.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 66 : 10-14
Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.
For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river, and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried on her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you.
At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish. For it shall be known that YHVH’s hand is with His servant, but His fury is upon His enemy.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the readings of the Scripture may not show clearly their intentions to us, but the intention of the Church for selecting these particular passages from the Scripture is actually so that we may understand that for all that we have prepared for, planned for, looked forward to, and anticipated in this life, nothing will come to fruition unless it is in accordance with God’s will.
In order to understand fully what the Scripture readings today brought to us, we have to understand the mentality and the thinking behind those people who followed Jesus at that time, His Apostles, disciples and all the throng of people who came to see Him and to listen to His preachings. At that time, many had the opinion that the Messiah would come to liberate the people of Israel from the tyranny of their oppressors, the Romans for example, and reestablish the old kingdom of Israel, with the Messiah as the King over Israel.
Many had attempted over the years to restore the glory of the kingdom of Israel, claiming to be the Saviour sent by God and rose up in insurrection and rebellion, but these were all crushed and defeated, for they did not come from God, but instead from mankind and their efforts and desires alone. That was why they have been hindered and did not find success in their endeavours. Mankind can plan all the things they want, but often, things will not go their way, no matter how well planned everything are.
For the disciples of Jesus, for their Master and Saviour to have uttered not just once, but many times about the future fate that awaited Him must have been hard to accept, and some might have found it to be utterly bizarre for someone like Jesus, Whom God had sent to be the Saviour and Messiah of all, to be rejected, and ultimately to suffer and to perish in a humiliating death on the cross, handed over to the pagans to be humiliated and punished for causes that were not His to begin with.
But that is how the Lord did His works, by submitting humbly to the will of the Father and Creator, that He, the Divine Word Who had descended into the flesh to the world, may be able to bear the burden of the wholeness of all of our sins, as many and countless as they are. He bore all the sufferings, consequences, punishments and all that came about because of our wickedness and disobedience, that all of us who come to put our faith in Him may be saved and be spared from the eternal damnation.
In all these, let us all spend some time to reflect on what our life has been to us and how our actions and deeds have been shaped by mostly our concerns in this life, our worldly and human desires, that have made us to neglect our faith and devotion to the Lord. Many of us are too bogged down and distracted by our worldly concerns, desires, and all the temptations that the devil and his allies are placing ahead of us and on our journey in order to pull us away from our effort to find the Lord and His salvation.
Instead, let us all abandon all these meaningless and useless acts, all the preoccupations we have in gathering fame, honour, wealth, renown and all the other worldly glories to ourselves. The Lord will bless all those who are righteous and just in their deeds, and He will care for all of us, giving us all that we need in due time. We have no need to worry about anything if we are truly faithful to our Lord.
We have to learn to put our trust in the Lord, in His blessings and in His ways. Let us not be discouraged but continue to believe in our Lord despite all the challenges and the difficulties that we have faced, are facing, or will face because of our faith in Him. It is not safe for us to build for ourselves treasures in this world, for anything in this world can be easily destroyed and perish without a trace.
But building up for ourselves treasures in heaven is guaranteed and safe, for the Lord Himself has assured us that all of His faithful ones will receive rich graces and the gift of everlasting life in pure joy and bliss. Therefore, let us all from now on seek to do what is right and just in the sight of God, and learn to tame and resist our desires and human greed, that we will not be swallowed by these and therefore, will be able to persevere well in our journey to find justification and salvation in the Lord. May the Lord help us and bless us in this journey. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Luke 9 : 43b-45
At that time, while all were amazed at everything Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Listen, and remember what I tell you now : The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men.”
But the disciples did not understand this saying; something prevented them from grasping what He meant, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.
You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.
So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.
Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 11 : 9 – Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 12 : 8
Rejoice, young man, in your youth and direct well your heart when you are young; follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do. Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last.
Be mindful of your Creator when you are young, before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say, “This gives me no pleasure,” and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light, before the clouds gather again after the rain.
On the day when the guardians of the house tremble, when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working, because they are too few, when it grows dim for those looking through the windows, and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced, when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening; yet the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose, because man goes forward to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street, even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered, before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill, before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God Who gave it.
Meaningless! Meaningless! The teacher says; all is meaningless!
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 