Saturday

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (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, 28 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continuing from yesterday’s theme on obedience to the Law of God, and on the theme of love, both for God and for our fellow men, then today we delve even deeper into the theme, through the elaboration by Jesus, on how we ought not to choose whom we should love and show our care and concern, but in fact to everyone without bias, even though some of them might have caused us hurt and sorrow before.

Love should be impartial and just. We should not love because we want to be loved back. That is because that kind of love is a selfish love. We want to be loved and to enjoy certain benefits, and therefore we love. But once the incentive to love is removed, can we sustain the same kind of love we had shown? Love that is tied with condition and love that is serving ourselves will not last.

That is because that kind of love demands returns, and if that love is not reciprocated or replied upon equally, then what remains is indeed hatred, jealousy, or any other negative feelings and ill will, which often had caused so much bitterness in our world even today. Many people did such bad things to one another because of the lack of love in the hearts of men.

Instead, we should imitate the love which our Lord and God has for us, that so great is His love, that He did not just show it to us through the outpouring of grace, mercy and forgiveness, as well as in all the blessings He had given us, but in fact, He gave even Himself, as the willing Sacrifice, for the reparation of our sins, and therefore to bring us out of the pits of sin and death.

For we have been marked for death, by our disobedience and refusal to listen and obey to the will of God, and for our refusal to walk in His ways and obey His laws. We should have been cast to the uttermost darkness and suffering for our wickedness, but God had mercy on us because of His love. He hates our sins and evils, but He still loves us all dearly.

And that was why He was willing to make the act of ultimate love, in order to deliver us all from certain destruction. That love is unconditional and perfect. He did not expect us to love Him first before He laid down His life for us on the cross. And it is that love which liberated us from the pain of death and the suffering caused by our sinfulness. It is the kind of love which we need to learn and which we need to emulate and practice in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reflect on our own lives, on our own words and actions. Have we loved everyone without prejudice, and without bias? Have we been loving others without conditions attached? If we are unable to do all these, then we are still chained and enslaved to our desires. And as long as this is the case, then we are not going to go anywhere.

Can we devote more time towards love in this Lenten season? That means we should exhibit and show more love, care and concern for one another, loving those who are unloved and rejected by the society. Let us love without partiality and without bias. Forgive one another and change our ways. Repent from our sins and be cleansed from our sinfulness. May Almighty God be with us always, bless us and guide us on our way. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “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.”

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Saturday, 28 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 118 : 1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart.

You have laid down precepts to be obeyed. O, that my ways were steadfast in observing Your statutes!

I will praise You with an upright spirit when I learn Your just precepts by heart. I mean to observe Your commandments. O, never abandon me.

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Saturday, 28 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 26 : 16-19

On this day, YHVH, your God, commands you to fulfill these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.

Today YHVH has declared to you that He will be your God, and so you shall follow His ways, observing His norms, His commandments and His laws, and listening to His voice.

Today YHVH has declared that you will be His very own people even as He had promised you, and you must obey all His commandments. He, for His part, will give you honour, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations He has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to YHVH, your God, as He has declared.

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brother and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the calling of Levi, who would become the Apostle St. Matthew, who is also one of the great Four Evangelists, or the writers of the four Holy Gospels. In this therefore we learn a very important fact, which the prophet Isaiah in his book, that is our first reading today, had also talked about, that is the forgiveness offered to all sinners who repent from their sins.

First of all, let us all understand the background of what had happened, and why the Pharisees and the people in general hated the tax collectors so much and considered all of them as great sinners, and loathed to be near them and less so, to come to their place and eat with them? That is because, the tax collectors were seen as the traitors to the nation and to the people, as their job was to collect taxes from the people to be given to the Romans, who at that time ruled over Judea and all of the Promised Land of Israel.

No one likes to pay taxes, and less so if they have to pay tax to a foreign master and ruler. And the Jews were a proud nation, proud of their status as the chosen race and chosen people of God. Since the time of the Exodus, they have slowly grow in their pride, as well as in their prejudice against sinners, who they saw as unclean and had to be cast out of the society of the people of God and be denied the grace of God. Anyone, therefore, who associated themselves with these sinners, correspondingly were also considered as unclean and as sinners.

But in all these, they failed to pay heed and notice a great fact, that they were all also sinners, and truly, no one could boast rightfully that they were less or more righteous or worthy of God’s salvation, since all of mankind are really sinners in the eyes of God for their disobedience against God. And even those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who liked to show off their piety in the public places, as Jesus had pointed it out rightly, that they were even greater sinners by their actions and by what were in their wicked hearts and minds.

They were not thinking about God in their hearts, and less so about the people of God, who had been entrusted to them, teachers of the Law of God, who should have guided these people to God. Instead, they forsook their duty to seek worldly glory and human praise. And through their actions, they deceived and misled the people of God and cast them even further into sin.

They were judgmental against sinners and refused to have anything to do with them. But as Jesus had shown everyone, He showed that God is merciful and loving, just as He is just and hating towards all forms of sins. And indeed He came to rescue first the most sinful ones, the ones who lie furthest from the grace, light and salvation of God. There is only one objective, that all these sinners would repent, change their ways and sin no more, and thus become worthy to receive the salvation of the Lord.

God hates the sins but not the sinner. But if we sinners do not change our sins and abandon our sins before it is too late for us, then God’s wrath will be upon us all the same. That is why in this season of Lent, we are constantly reminded of our sins and all the wickedness we have committed before the presence of God and men alike. We have to know of our sins, realise how wicked they are, and change our ways.

If we do so, we can be assured that the grace of God will be upon us. The prophet Isaiah affirmed this to us, and the life of St. Matthew himself give an even greater testimony of the sinner turned saint. There were many of the saints who were once great sinners. But what differentiated them from the other great sinners was that they repented, they knew of their sins and abandoned them, changing their ways and devoted themselves from then on to the service of God and mankind.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Damian, a great bishop and Cardinal of the Church, as well as a Doctor of the Church by his numerous works and writings that still help and influence us even to this very day. He was a nobleman who gave up everything and all forms of worldliness to join religious life in prayer and devotion to God. But God had great plans for him.

St. Peter Damian in his roles and works would be instrumental in rooting out sins and wickedness from the Church of God, assisting the Pope, the Vicar of Christ in the governance and reform of the Church, so that all the wicked peoples not worthy of the service of God and unrepentant were cast out and rejected by the Church. As a result, the Church was purified of those who were like the Pharisees, sinful and yet refusing to change their sinful ways and misleading the people of God into sin.

He helped to reform many parts of the Church establishment, and through his numerous works and writings, he helped many people to be awakened to their sins and wickedness, and therefore helped to bring many souls to salvation and closer to the Lord their God. And this is exactly what we all should do as well, as the members of the Church.

We are all sinners too, and we are all equal before God. Never look down upon others who have sinned, as if we do so, then we too will be judged in the same way by the Lord. Instead, let us help each other, that everyone may be called to the Lord and abandon their sins and wickedness, and renew their effort to love the Lord their God and commit themselves to Him and His ways.

May the example of St. Peter Damian inspire us all, that we may use this season of Lent to truly repent from our sins, change our ways and lead a righteous life from now on, and help to keep one another in righteous life and avoid sin. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 5 : 27-32

At that time, Jesus went out, and noticing a tax collector named Levi, sitting in the tax office, He said to him, “Follow Me!” So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.

Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house, and took their places at the table with the other people. Then the Pharisees and their followers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it that you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I have not come to call the just, but sinners to a change of heart.”

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 85 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Listen, o Lord, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my life for I am Godfearing; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Have mercy on me, o Lord, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant, for You, o Lord, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o Lord, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o Lord, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 58 : 9b-14

YHVH said, “If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon. YHVH will guide you always and give you relief in desert places.”

“He will strengthen your bones; He will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses.”

“If you stop profaning the sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred YHVH’s holy day, if you honour it by not going your own way, not doing as you please and not speaking with malice, then you will find happiness in YHVH, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

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(Special – Singapore) Saturday, 14 February 2015 : Solemnity of the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, my brethren in faith throughout the Archdiocese of Singapore, today we celebrate this special occasion on Mass on the fourteenth day of February of this year, as the celebration of the Anniversary of that day when the mother church of this See, that is the direct heir of the See of Malacca and the progenitor of the Church in much of Asia and beyond, was consecrated and blessed more than a hundred years ago.

In the year of our Lord, 1897, then Bishop of Malacca, Bishop Edouard Gasnier, M.E.P., consecrated the Cathedral building, which had been built and completed just over half a century earlier in 1846. This great building and house of the Lord has been built as the heart and the beginning of the great missionary work in the small island of Singapore, which had just been founded by the British after hundreds of years of isolation and being a backwater and relatively forgotten island.

In this Cathedral, we have the proof of God’s continuing guidance to the works of His faithful servants in the Church, spreading His Good News to all the corners of the earth. The salvation of God is offered to all who wants to listen to His word, and all those who receive the word and believe, they are all saved. And the work of God continues even to this day, with many of His servants, all of us included, continuing to give praise to God and carry out His works daily amongst our brethren in this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you know why the Cathedral of this Archdiocese of Singapore was named the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd? That was because when it was first built, one of those who had great role in the establishment of that church was St. Laurent Imbert, a missionary priest who went on to become the Apostolic Vicar to Korea, supervising the missionary work in that fertile land where many people still lived in ignorance of the Lord.

St. Laurent Imbert faithfully carried out his mission, and despite the fierce and harsh opposition from the pagan Korean government, he did not fear and continued to do his best to minister to the people of God. And when the persecution by the government reached a new high, and the government offered the liberation of those they have counted for death, if the bishop was to surrender himself, St. Laurent Imbert voluntarily surrendered himself and was martyred for his faith.

In one of his last letters before his martyrdom, he explained the reason behind his decision, that is of the Good Shepherd, imitating what our Lord had done Himself. The Good Shepherd lay down His life for His sheep. And indeed our Lord and God had laid down His life for our sake, that all of us, His sheep may be freed from the certainty of death caused by our sinfulness.

In the memory of St. Laurent Imbert and our Lord’s own sacrifice as our Good Shepherd therefore we dedicate today’s celebration, just as this Cathedral was dedicated to the Lord over a hundred years ago. And what is the relevance of this celebration to all of us? That is because the readings today on the feast of dedication of a Cathedral also reminds us all that we are the Temple of God, the place where God Himself resides.

Many of us seem to forget that all of us who believe in the Lord and who keep faith in Him, having received His Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, have essentially the Lord Himself dwelling in us, in body and flesh, and in spirit and love. Thus, we have to remember always that we belong to God and He is in us. We must shun all forms of sin and wickedness and walk only in His path, as St. Laurent Imbert and all the other faithful saints and martyrs of God had.

May this joyous occasion and celebration be a time for us to reawaken the love and dedication we have for the Lord, and may all of us be able to shun evil and sin, and gain into ourselves the justification and grace which God had promised all those who are faithful to Him, our loving God and our Good Shepherd. God bless us all. Amen.