Saturday

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Saturday, 5 April 2025 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 11 : 18-20

YHVH made it known to me and so I know! And You let me see their scheming. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.”

YHVH, God of hosts, You Who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.

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Saturday, 29 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for us to be humble and to seek God’s healing and mercy for all of our many sins and wickedness, all the things which had kept us all away from the fullness of God’s love and grace. If we are not humble and if we do not realise our shortcomings, faults and flaws, then we may not realise just how far we may be in the path towards our downfall and destruction, in getting further and further away from the Lord’s righteousness and compassion. We must not let ourselves to be tempted by pride, ego and ambition in our hearts, all of which can lead us further astray, away from what God had taught and shown us. And in this time and season of Lent, we are all reminded to return to the Lord with humble and contrite hearts, ridding ourselves of all sorts of pride and ego in our hearts.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Hosea in which the Lord told His people through Hosea of His desire to see them all reconciled and reunited with Him, as He called on all of them to return to Him and to find their way back to Him. The Lord told them all of this hope because He wanted all of them to continue to put their faith and trust in Him, to follow His guidance and to walk in the path that He has shown them through His many prophets and messengers. All of these are due to the desire that God has in wanting us to be forgiven from our many sins, that we may be cleansed and purified from all the taints and corruptions of sin. But many of us like those Israelites before us failed to achieve this because many of us were distracted by our pride and ego, all of which presented serious obstacles to us in our way towards God and His redemption.

The prophet Hosea reminded the people of God in Judah and elsewhere of God’s wrath at the sins of the people, many of whom had faced sufferings and hardships because of their refusal to obey the Lord and their actions in adopting the wicked practices of their neighbours, worshipping the pagan idols and all the other practices that were not in accordance with the Law and commandments that God had given to all of them to follow and obey. That was why the Israelites were divided and scattered, and by the time of the ministry of the prophet Hosea, those Israelites who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel had been defeated, conquered and exiled by the Assyrians, bereft of their homeland and their homes. The same fate would also happen to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah as well, who would also have their cities destroyed and crushed, and their Temple destroyed in time to come.

However, the Lord still loved them all, His beloved children and people, and like a loving father, who while being angry at his children and chastising them, he did all that because he desired only what was good for them, to discipline and guide them all in the right path. The children of God were therefore reminded of the mercy and compassion of God by the prophets sent to them including Hosea, and this same reminder is also meant for all of us as well, who listened to those words of reassurance from the Scriptures. We are being reminded during this most appropriate time of Lent that we should not harden our hearts and minds any longer, striving instead to leave behind our old ways of sin and evil, and embrace wholeheartedly the love and compassion of God that He has shown us most generously.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and those who followed Him of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. In that parable we heard how both the Pharisee and the tax collector were praying at the Temple and House of the Lord. And as we heard, the Pharisee prayed with great pride, openly boasting of his many achievements and piety, and not only that but even looked down on the tax collector whom he deemed to be inferior and less worthy, a greater sinner than himself. Then we have also heard how the tax collector humbled himself greatly before God, not even daring to look up, keeping his sights low and beseeching the Lord to forgive him from his many sins.

The Lord praised the faith and humility of the tax collector in that parable, highlighting how the humility of the tax collector had made his desire to be forgiven to be heard by God. The Pharisee on the other hand, because he was so prideful and full of himself, was not forgiven because not only that he did not recognise his flaws and mistakes, but he allowed himself to be swayed such by his own ego and pride that he acted condescendingly on his own brethren, essentially committing more sins due to his own hubris and arrogance. And this depiction of the action of the Pharisee in fact was a criticism of how the Pharisees of the time of the Lord’s ministry actually behaved, as many of those Pharisees often paraded their faith and shown publicly their acts of piety before others in seeking for approval, recognition and praise for those things that they had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have been reminded today by this passage from the Scriptures, let us all therefore remind ourselves that as Christians, as the holy and beloved people of God, all of us are called to turn away from our many sins, faults and wickedness, to embrace once again God’s most wonderful love and mercy, the compassion that God has for all of us, His beloved ones. He has called on us to embrace this generous mercy and love, and we should not squander the many opportunities which He has presented to us so that we may truly be reconciled to Him and find our way to His Presence, purified and made whole again, after having been corrupted, tainted and afflicted by sin. We should humble ourselves, realising the errors of our ways, and sincerely seeking the forgiveness from God.

May the Lord, our most loving, compassionate and merciful God continue to show us His love and mercy, guide and strengthen us all so that we may always persevere in following Him faithfully, and be good role models and inspirations for one another, in how we carry on living our lives, in this Lenten observances and practices, that many more may follow in our examples and lives, and be worthy and faithful to the Lord as well. May we all make good use of these opportunities which had been presented to us by the Lord, and come ever closer to Him and the salvation that He has promised us. Amen.

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Saturday, 29 March 2025 : 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, 29 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

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

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.

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Saturday, 29 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hosea 5 : 15b – Hosea 6 : 6

For in their anguish they will earnestly seek Me.

“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, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, of the great love and mercy of God which He has willingly shown to us, through His compassion and the desire which He has for us, in leading us all into the path towards our reconciliation with Him. All of us as Christians are reminded that God, our ever loving Father and Creator has always been full of mercy towards us, full of compassion and love, ever kind and ever committed to the Covenant which He has made with us all, His beloved children and people, who have often erred against Him, disobeying His Law and commandments, refusing to walk in the path that He has shown us. And yet, God is still willing to embrace us all with the love of a loving Father, while chastising us for our sins, with the ultimate aim and goal to be reconciled with us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Micah in which the prophet Micah spoke to God on behalf of the people of Israel, the people of God, asking and beseeching God to shepherd and guide them all as He has always done in the days and years past, reminding the people at the same time of the great love and mercy that God has shown to His people throughout history, as He cared for them when they were in trouble, protecting them all from their enemies and guiding them through the right path, showing them all His power and glory, fulfilling all those things that He has promised them, and making the path before them smooth. God has done all these to His people out of His great love and compassion towards them, wanting them to live worthily in His path, so that they might be reunited with Him and be found worthy of Him.

At that time, during the time of the ministry of the prophet Micah which happened during the later parts of the history of the kingdom of Judah, many among the people of God in Judah had not obeyed the Law and commandments of God, preferring to follow their own paths and preferences in life. As such, God has warned them all that should they continue in their rebellious attitude, then in the end, they will be judged by their wicked and dishonourable actions that had kept them all away from the path of righteousness. And yet, at the same time, God also reassured His people that He truly loved all of them, and should they seek Him for His mercy and forgiveness, repenting their wicked and wayward paths, then He would willingly welcome them all back to His holy and loving Presence. It all ultimately depended on what the people would choose to do with their lives.

Essentially, we are all reminded that we have the freedom to choose our path in life, whether we want to continue to live our lives in disobedience of God and His ways, or whether we want to return to Him, asking and begging for Him to forgive us all our trespasses, mistakes and faults. And this is what we are being reminded again through our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist. In that Gospel passage, we heard the famous parable of the prodigal son, detailing to us the story of the younger of two sons of a rich man who sought his part of the inheritance early on, and when he was given the inheritance, he went away on a journey to distant lands where he spent all of his inheritance, money and possessions on wayward living and hedonistic lifestyle with his friends and others around him.

In this very well-known parable, we heard of how the prodigal younger son eventually realised his mistake and foolishness when he had run out of his money, wealth and inheritance, and all of his so-called friends and all those who were around him disappeared and left him when he had nothing else left on him. He tried to survive for a while in a very despondent state, working in a pig farm, and as we heard, no one would give him even the pig food to eat. That was when the prodigal younger son realised and decided to return back to his father, to beg him to make him one of his servants instead, as he could choose to remain there in the distant lands and die of hunger, or to swallow his pride and seek the father’s mercy and forgiveness instead, and remain alive, as those servants of his father were all living in plenty and happiness.

Through this parable, the Lord wanted to show us all the love that He has for each and every one of us, the constant and persistent love and compassionate care which He has given generously to us, with the father in the story representing the Lord Himself, the elder son being those who have followed the commandments of the Lord and His Law, and was also in a way a representation of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at that time, while the prodigal younger son represents those sinners who have decided to come back to the Lord, seeking the mercy of their Heavenly Father just like the prodigal son seeking the reconciliation with his father after having committed such a grievous mistake and error of living in debauchery and squandering his inheritance.

We heard of how the father in the parable was so joyful upon hearing that his younger son has finally returned to him, that he had returned despite probably being thought of having been lost or dead. And thus, the father threw a great feast and celebration to welcome his return, only for the elder brother to be angered by such a reception. And we heard the Lord Himself explaining how what happened to the prodigal son is something that we ourselves ought to be experiencing in our own lives. This is because each and every one of us are also sinners who are seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. And through the figure of the elder brother, the Lord was also criticising the actions of those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who often prided themselves for their righteousness and being biased, judgmental and prejudiced against their own fellow brothers and sisters.

This means that those people behaved just like the elder brother who thought that he was more worthy of the father’s love just because he seemed to be the more righteous one and the one who had been by the side of the father all the while. But the father’s love is given to both of his sons equally, and both of them were equally precious to him, just as the Lord loves each and every one of us equally, all His beloved children, though sinners. Even the greatest sinners, should they be willing to embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness, will be given the fullness of His grace and kindness. And this is why we should never lose hope in the mercy, compassion and kindness of God. If we allow ourselves to be misguided in thinking that we are unworthy of God’s love, or if we are too proud to admit that we are sinners in need of healing, then we will never receive the forgiveness of God.

That prodigal, younger son could have perished in the distant lands, all alone and in poverty if he did not swallow his pride and chose to be humble, begging and seeking his father’s forgiveness and mercy. It was his conscious choice to return to his father with a regretful and contrite heart that the prodigal son has been forgiven and received once again the fullness of the father’s generous love. Therefore, in the same manner, all of us, who are sinners, will receive the fullness of the Lord, our Heavenly Father’s most generous love and kindness, mercy and compassion if we choose to obey Him and come back to Him with sorrowful and repentant hearts. Are we then willing to make the commitment to this path, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to acknowledge our sinfulness and our imperfections, flaws and mistakes that had kept us away from God?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to journey through this blessed time and opportunity this Lenten season, let us all realise how fortunate we are to have been given such a wonderful opportunity for reconciliation with our loving God and Father, and make good use of the great opportunity given to us to seek His love and mercy once again. Let us all not harden our hearts and close our minds anymore to Him, but do our best instead to glorify Him by our lives, by our humble obedience and desire to be forgiven and to be fully loved again by God, our loving Father, Who loves each and every one of us equally without exception. And as those who have received this faith and blessing from God, we, as the elder children, should also be welcoming to our fellow brethren, especially all those who have not known God and His mercy, reaching out to them and sharing God’s love with them instead of judging them and being prejudiced against them, or being jealous of God’s love and mercy which have been shown to them too.

May the Lord, our heavenly and most loving and compassionate Father continue to bless each and every one of us, and bless our Lenten journey and observance, our practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving among others. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (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, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (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, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (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, 15 March 2025 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us as we listened to the words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for us to follow and obey faithfully the commandments of God, the Law that He has shown, revealed and presented to us. God has taught us all how we should be His followers and disciples, and we should make good use of everything that He has provided to us, all the guidance that He has given us, so that we may know how to live our lives worthily as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. All of us are God’s own beloved children, and as such, it is imperative that we live our lives in the manner that is pleasing and worthy of God, as if not, otherwise, we will sully and besmirch the Holy Name of Our Lord and God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which the Lord reminded His people, the Israelites during the time of their Exodus and journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, of their obligations to fulfil the commandments and laws that have been presented and taught to them. God had created His Covenant with all of the people of Israel, and hence, as part of this Covenant, all of the Israelites were required to obey the Law and commandments that God has set before them, just as He would always be faithful to His people, providing and caring for them in everything that they needed. That is why, as His beloved and holy people, they were reminded to love God with all their might, and to do whatever they can such that they may be good examples and role models for the people all around them.

It is this same expectation therefore that the Lord expects from each and every one of us, as God’s holy and beloved people, as we Christians are the people whom God had called and chosen to be His own. Therefore, as we are also part of this same Covenant which God has established, renewed and made firm, once and for all through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, therefore, we are all expected and called to be faithful to the mission entrusted to each one of us as God’s holy and beloved people, to be truly devoted to the path that He has called and shown us to walk in, so that by our every moments in life, our every actions, words and deeds, we will be truly worthy of being called God’s chosen and holy people. God has always ever been faithful to His Covenant to us, but it is us all mankind who have often disappointed Him and chose to follow all other distractions in life, and not following God’s path.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the main essence of the Law of God as highlighted and explained by the Lord Jesus Himself to His disciples and all the people gathered to listen to Him. He told them all about the Law and the commandments, and how the people ought to follow them with sincerity of heart and the genuine desire to love God first and foremost, and then to love their fellow brothers and sisters with the same kind of love, and at least as much as they love themselves. The Lord told them all to love everyone without exception and prejudice, and not to reserve their love only for those who have loved them back, as true love truly should be unconditional, and not be transactional in nature.

The Lord Himself pointed out how even the pagans and unbelievers also loved one another, and loved those who have loved them back. Therefore, as Christians, all of us must be truly revolutionary in how we love others around us, and that means, loving and showing care and concern for those who have not loved us back, and even to those who have hated and persecuted us. This is of course something that is far easier said than done, as it is in our human nature to feel hurt and angry, to feel betrayed and frustrated because of what had been dealt to us, be it injustice, harsh words, unfair treatments, prejudices or other nasty things that we have ourselves often done to our fellow brothers and sisters around us. But, we are all challenged to overcome those negative feelings, all the anger, hurt and desire for vengeance, and be truly magnanimous, compassionate and loving.

And we do not need to look far for example, as the Lord Jesus Himself, our Lord and Saviour, has shown us the perfect example by His own life and works in our midst. While the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders of the people and the members of the Sanhedrin had made His ministry and works difficult all throughout, as those people questioned and doubted Him, refusing to believe in Him, spreading doubts about His authority and authenticity, challenging Him in many occasions, persecuting Him and His disciples, and yet, He still showed great patience in loving and caring for them nonetheless, chastising them all, rebuking them for their wicked actions and lack of true and genuine faith, their external and outward show of piety that were exclusivist in nature, among other things. But all these were done with the intention to make them realise the errors of their ways.

Then, ultimately, the Lord Himself showed the perfect action of love, compassion and magnanimity, when He forgave all those who have rejected and persecuted Him, praying for those who have betrayed and pushed for Him to be punished and crucified to death. He said, ‘Father, forgive them all for they do not know what they were doing.’, asking for them not to be punished or held accountable for their actions, because ultimately He Himself also offered His life on the Cross for everyone, for every sinners, including even those who have questioned, resisted and persecuted Him, all those elders who had betrayed and abandoned Him, for those who have crucified Him and tortured Him. The Lord Himself showed us all the perfect example of Christian love, on how we all should love our brethren around us in the most compassionate and generous manner.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, during this time and season of Lent, can we make the conscious effort to love everyone around us with more tender love and generous care, compassion and attention? Let us all continue to love others around us, even when our love may not be reciprocated, so that by our love, everyone may truly know God and His love, and that our love may touch the lives and hearts of many others, bringing them all together with us ever closer to the path towards God’s salvation. Let us all also continue to walk ever more faithfully down this path, and strive to deepen our relationship with God, our loving and most merciful Father, that one day, we will truly be worthy to share in His glorious and eternal inheritance. Amen.