Saturday

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Saturday, 27 January 2024 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

2 Samuel 12 : 1-7a, 10-17

So YHVH sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to the king and said to him, “There were two men in a city : one was rich; the other, poor. The rich man had many sheep and cattle, but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb he had bought. He himself fed it and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and slept on his lap. It was like a daughter to him.”

“Now a traveller came to the rich man, but he would not take from his own flock or herd to prepare food for the traveller. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared that for his visitor.”

David was furious because of this man and told Nathan, “As YHVH lives, the man who has done this deserves death! He must return the lamb fourfold for acting like this and showing no compassion.” Nathan said to David, “You are this man! Now the sword will never be far from your family because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself.”

“Thus says YHVH : Your misfortune will rise from your own house! I will take your wives from you and give them to your neighbour who shall lie with them in broad daylight. What you did was done secretly, but what I do will be done before Israel in broad daylight.”

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against YHVH.” Nathan answered him, “YHVH has forgiven your sin; you shall not die. However, because you have dared to despise YHVH by doing such a thing, the child that is born of you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his home.

YHVH struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. David entreated God for the child. He kept a strict fast and lay on the ground the whole night. The elders of his house asked him to rise from the ground but he refused. Nor did he join them to eat.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to be filled with faith in the Lord, as well as love and care for our fellow brethren, at all times. We must trust in Him and not in the ways of the world, and ensure that our lives must always be focused on God and His path, or otherwise, in the end, we may meet our end in sorrow and regret, for having disobeyed the Lord and turned our ways away from the path of God’s righteousness and grace. This is what we as Christians should not be doing.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the story of the death of King Saul of Israel and some of his family members was told to us, and how David, Saul’s successor as the rightful king over all of Israel, was distraught and sorrowful upon having heard of the bad news. At that time, Saul and David had gone through some period of conflict and disagreements, over the right to rule Israel, because God had chosen David to replace Saul as the rightful King of Israel. Saul attempted to kill and destroy David in several occasions, but God protected David from harm.

Eventually, Saul vowed not to kill David, and stopped his efforts in chasing after David, after David spared his life when he had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul if he had wanted to. David never felt any kind of hatred or anger against Saul, and he still honoured the fallen king, just as we have heard in our first reading today. If we read the account from the earlier parts at the end of the first Book of the prophet Samuel, then we would have known that Saul fell in the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, together with his son, Jonathan, who was also a dear friend of David. Both of them were mourned by David, who still loved and respected them.

Saul met his end and downfall, and kingship was taken from him and his family ultimately because of his disobedience and failure to listen to the will of God. He chose to follow the whim of his own desires and personal ambitions rather than to obey the Lord and His commandments. Meanwhile, David obeyed the Lord, was humble and faithful, forgiving and kind, unlike Saul who was proud and ambitious, and who was easily tempted by jealousy and anger, when he saw that David was becoming more popular and beloved than him by the people.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard a very short passage in which the Lord was teaching to the people of God and ministering to them, while His family and relatives were waiting for Him. The crowds were very large, and the Lord spent so much time there ministering to them that He and His disciples could not even have time for themselves to have a meal. We heard then of how the Lord’s family and relatives attempted to save Him by saying that He was out of His mind. It could be interpreted as a manner of annoyance at how the Lord spent so much time in taking care of the people and preaching to them that He did not have time to take care of Himself properly. Yet, the Lord did so because He obeyed His Father’s will, and He did whatever He could to help all those multitudes who came to seek Him.

These are reminders for all of us that as Christians, we must always be centred on the Lord and follow Him, and we have to persevere in faith even if we may encounter opposition and disapproval from those who are around us, even from those who are close to us. We should not easily be swayed and tempted to give up our faith and obedience to God because of all the obstacles and challenges, the trials and hardships that we may have to face amidst our daily lives and struggles. Instead, we have to remain firmly faithful in the Lord, just as how David, the King of Israel, had always trusted in the Lord even in his most difficult moments, and how the Lord Himself had dedicated Himself thoroughly for our sake.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but two great saints, two holy men and servants of God whose faith and dedication truly serve as great examples and inspirations for all of us in how we all ourselves should live up to our faith. Both of them, namely Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, have suffered greatly for their faith in Christ, and endured martyrdom for their courage and commitment to God. And yet, they welcomed their suffering and death, and remained faithful to the Lord, to the very end. Through their examples and lives which we are going to examine, I hope we can see and understand better how we can be better disciples and followers of Christ.

First of all, Pope St. Fabian was the leader of the Universal Church during the time of great turbulence throughout the Roman Empire, as wars and conflicts happened a lot, and many persecutions occurred against Christians as well. He was also facing a lot of issues with the unity of the Church, as there were factions of the Church in opposition against each other, as was the case of the followers of some heresies and different teachings, which made it even more to difficult to govern and lead the Church. Yet, Pope St. Fabian did not give up the efforts to unite the divided factions and parts of the Church, while opposing the various heresies and falsehoods that afflicted members of the Church. He faced a lot of trials and hardships, and eventually, he was martyred during the time of Roman Emperor Decius, who persecuted Christians harshly during his reign. Yet, despite this, the great examples, faith and inspiration from Pope St. Fabian continued to be great examples for many Christians throughout history.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian was a soldier in the Roman army, and he was a rather high-ranking soldier and captain among the Praetorian Guards, the personal guardsmen and elite members of the military charged with the defence of the Roman Emperor. At that time, upon the ascension to power of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was infamous among Christians for his particularly intense and vicious persecution against Christians, demanding all of them to abandon their faith and offer sacrifices to the Roman gods and to the Emperor under pain of great sufferings and death. St. Sebastian as a secret Christians was involved in helping some of the suffering Christians, and even making some converts from among the pagans.

Eventually, despite his efforts to conceal his Christian faith, it was discovered that St. Sebastian was a Christian, and hence he was persecuted and led to a field where he was shot by many arrows, leaving him for dead, only for St. Sebastian to miraculously remain alive, and he was nursed back to health by one of his fellow Christians. St. Irene of Rome. He then went on to criticise and condemn the Emperor Diocletian for his actions and wickedness against Christians, and hence, was beaten to death and martyred. The courage and great faith, the commitment and love which St. Sebastian had for the Lord remained as a great inspiration and example for many other Christians throughout the centuries afterwards.

From the examples of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, we gained even greater insight, inspirations and good examples on how we all should be living our lives faithfully as Christians. All of us should always do whatever we can so that by our commitment and contributions, in whatever we say and do, we will always be great source of inspiration and faith for our fellow brothers and sisters, and that we may proclaim the Lord’s truth to more and more people all throughout the world. May the Lord continue to bless and guide us all, in all of our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

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

Mark 3 : 20-21

At that time, Jesus and His disciples went home. The crowd began to gather again and they could not even have a meal. Knowing what was happening, His relatives came to take charge of Him, “He is out of His mind,” they said.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

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

Psalm 79 : 2-3, 5-7

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You, Who lead Joseph like a flock; You, Who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

O YHVH of hosts, how long will Your anger burn against the prayers of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of woe, and have given them tears to drink in their sorrow. You have made us the scorn of our neighbours and the laughingstock of our oppressors.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

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

2 Samuel 1 : 1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27

After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days. On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he approached David, the man threw himself to the ground in homage.

David asked him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” David then said, “Tell me what happened.” And the man told him, “The soldiers fled from the battle but many of them fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan – they too are dead.”

At this, David took hold of his clothes and tore them and his men did the same. And they mourned, weeping and fasting until evening, for the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, for all the people of Judah and for the nation of Israel.

David sang this song of lamentation for Saul and his son Jonathan, “Your glory, o Israel, is slain upon your mountains! How the mighty ones have fallen! Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, neither in life nor in death were they parted; swifter than eagles they were and stronger than lions.”

“Women of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in precious scarlet. How the valiant have fallen! In the midst of the battle Jonathan lies slain on your mountains. I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan; how dear have you been to me! Your love for me was wonderful, ever more than the love of women. How the valiant have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in our Scripture readings all of us as Christians are reminded that God loves each and every one of us, and He gives His blessings unto us, consecrating us all to the truth, bringing us ever closer to His grace and love. Through Him, all of us have received the most graceful and generous bounty of forgiveness for our many sins, as well as the redemption of our souls, the promise of everlasting life, true and most wonderful happiness in each and every one of our lives, and in the world that is to come. We are all called to return to the Lord and to seek Him with faith, to love Him and follow Him at all times and all the days of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel, in which the Lord gave His people, the Israelites, their first king, Saul, through the help of His prophet Samuel, who was also the Judge and leader over all of Israel. The context was that, the people were demanding that they have a king to rule over them just like that of their neighbours and other states around them, and not under the authority and rule of the Judges. At that time, the Judges were the leaders of the people, and guided them all through the Law and commandments of God. The people insisted that they must have a king to rule them, and hence, God gave them what they asked for, choosing Saul of the tribe of Benjamin to be the first king to rule over Israel.

Saul was chosen from the smallest tribe among the Israelites, and from among the smallest clan in the tribe of Benjamin. He was just an ordinary man whom God called to be the leader over His people, fulfilling what the people requested of Him. But God did not choose by worldly standards, prestige or power, and instead, called those whom He deemed to be worthy, and helped and guided them to be truly worthy and capable in doing what they had all been entrusted to do. God empowered and guided Saul to be the worthy leader over all of his beloved people. Saul was called to follow the Lord and to put himself in the service of God, in doing whatever was necessary to lead and guide God’s people to their one true Lord and King. This was what God had entrusted to Saul to do, by making him as the king over all of His people.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus came by the place of Levi, the tax collector and called him to follow Him. Levi listened to the Lord’s call, left everything he had behind, his job and works, his office and all, and followed the Lord. Not only that but he also brought the Lord to his fellow tax collectors, and the Lord had dinner with all of them, as many among them wanted to listen to Him, His teachings and follow Him as well. This earned the Lord the derision, disapproval and criticism from the Pharisees who thought that the Lord should not have spent time to mingle and even have dinner with those tax collectors, who were widely despised and hated, treated as sinners and people who were unworthy of God and His grace.

The tax collectors were treated badly because the people widely considered them as traitors to their nation and cause, as they likely collected the taxes on behalf of the Romans, and other rulers like King Herod, who were also equally disliked and despised. Hence, that was why they were hated and treated unfairly by those people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests, who looked and thought highly of themselves, considering themselves superior than any other people. But the Lord immediately rebuked those Pharisees, who were being selfish and immersed in their self-righteous attitude, thinking that they could not be wrong, and that they were better than anyone else. The Lord told them that it was precisely because of the presence of those sinners that He had come, to reach out to them and to bring them all back to Him.

In fact, because Levi and his fellow tax collectors were open-minded and willing to listen to the Lord’s call, they were all closer to the salvation and grace of God than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, who were blinded by their hypocrisy and blind insistence on obedience to the Law, that they could not see or realise that they themselves were sinners too, in need of forgiveness and mercy of God. Everyone has been called by God to follow Him, like Saul, Levi and many others, even those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, but not all of them were willing to follow Him wholeheartedly. For many different reasons, people throughout time and history have diverged away from the Lord because they trusted more in their own machinations and power rather than in God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great servant and man of God, whose life and dedication to God, as well as his commitment to the flock of the faithful entrusted to him, can inspire many of us in how we all should be living up to our Christian faith and calling in life. St. Hilary, also known as St. Hilary of Poitiers, was a renowned Church father and the early Bishop of Poitiers. St. Hilary of Poitiers was born into a pagan family, and later on was baptised with his family, and was a very upright, pious and outstanding person. This was why the people of Poitiers unanimously elected him to be their bishop and shepherd, and as bishop, St. Hilary devoted himself tirelessly to work for the benefit of all the faithful people of God, working against all the heresies that were then rampant and threatening many of them.

St. Hilary committed himself to oppose all the corrupt teachings and false ways of the heretics, and through all of his contributions and works, writings and more, he was so well-known and respected that he was known by the epithet of ‘Hammer of the Arians’, referring to the widespread heresy of Arianism that was then deeply entrenched throughout many parts of Christendom. St. Hilary of Poitiers spent a lot of time in helping and guiding his flock, and he had to face even exile and sufferings for years for his opposition against the dangerous heresies threatening the people of God. After he returned back to his diocese, he would continue to do God’s will and works, leading the flock of the faithful back towards Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard in our Scripture passages today, and as we have reflected upon them and the life and works of St. Hilary of Poitiers, great man and servant of God, let us all therefore reflect upon our respective calling and vocations in life as Christians. Each and every one of us have been entrusted and given the responsibilities and missions to do what God had called us to do, and we should commit ourselves to follow Him in all the things that He has shown us. Let us all be filled with faith and strength, with the courage and the hope that we all should do our best to love and serve the Lord, at all times. May God bless us always, in our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

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

Mark 2 : 13-17

At that time, when Jesus went out again, beside the lake, a crowd came to Him, and He taught them. As He walked along, He saw a tax collector sitting in his office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me!” And Levi got up and followed Him.

And it so happened that, when Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners sat with Him and His disciples; there were a lot of them, and they used to follow Jesus. But Pharisees, men educated in the Law, when they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does your Master eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard them, and answered, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

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

Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

The king rejoices in Your strength, o YHVH, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; You have not rejected his request.

You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.

He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

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

1 Samuel 9 : 1-4, 17-19 and 1 Samuel 10 : 1a

There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a valiant Benjaminite. Kish had a son named Saul, a handsome young man who had no equal among the Israelites, for he was a head taller than any of them.

It happened that the asses of Kish were lost. So he said to his son Saul, “Take one of the boys with you and go look for the asses.” They went all over the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah but did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim and the land of Benjamin, but the asses were nowhere to be found.

So, when Samuel saw Saul, YHVH told him, “Here is the man I spoke to you about! He shall rule over My people.” Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and said, “Tell me, where is the house of the seer?” Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me. In the morning, before you leave, I will tell you all that is in your heart.”

Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head.

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Saturday, 6 January 2024 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all celebrate the great Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, marking the occasion which the Lord revealed Himself to the nations, to the non-Jewish peoples or also known as the Gentiles. This is also one of the moments commemorated in Christmas, as part of the revelation of the salvation which our Lord and Saviour had revealed through His Incarnation and appearance in this world, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God Most High, born the Son of Man through His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, we are called to remember the moment that God made known His will and desire to bring all mankind, regardless of race, background or origin, to His Presence, and unite us all to Himself.

Through this important event of the Epiphany, which came from the Greek word Epiphaneia – that means something like manifestation or appearing, as we are reminded of God manifesting Himself to the nations, represented by the Three Magi or the Three Wise Men, who came from very far lands to visit and pay homage to the One Whose coming they had predicted, and following the great Sign in the sky, the Star of Bethlehem, that appeared above the place where the Lord Jesus was born. All the Three Magi set off on a long journey from their lands, at a time when travel was arduous, difficult, lengthy and slow, traversing long distances so that they might come to come and see the Holy One of God, the One Whose coming was proclaimed by the great Star.

They were likely astrologers and educated members of their communities, and hence they were known as the Three Wise Men. The appearance of the great Star of Bethlehem was indeed the sign of God’s call to the nations, as He wanted to tell more and more people all throughout the whole world of the coming of His salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Three Wise Men represented the nations, of all the peoples coming to seek the Lord just as prophesied by the prophets, especially that of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah proclaimed that people from all the nations, of all races will come to seek the Lord, and will proclaim Him as their Lord and Master, and the Lord will be God over all the whole world, and not merely just the Israelites.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the words of the prophet speaking to the people of God in Israel and Judah, telling them of the coming of the salvation in God, which would come soon through the Messiah, the Saviour which God has promised to all of them. The prophet was encouraging a people that by then had suffered a lot of hardships and difficulties, obstacles and challenges. He told them that the Lord would not forget about them, and He would send them His deliverance, which would come with a great Light coming among the people of God. Indeed, the Lord would send His salvation through His people, born of a people whom He had first called, the people of Israel, of the children of Abraham, fulfilling everything that He has promised to His faithful servants.

Through this great Light, which is in Christ the Lord, all people will come to see the salvation of God, which has been unveiled and shown to us, through His Nativity and Epiphany. If His Nativity marks the moment when He was born into this world, and was announced by the Angels of God to the people of Israel through those shepherds of Bethlehem in the wilderness, then the Epiphany marks the moment when He revealed Himself as the Saviour of all, as the Almighty God and King, born into this world to gather everyone to Himself, to every nations and peoples, for He is not just God of Israel or over the land of Israel, but He is God, Ruler and King over the whole Universe, and this is what the Lord has revealed to us all, through the events of the Epiphany.

The Star of Bethlehem is a sign of the Messiah, and is also a symbol of faith or ‘Signum Fidei’ because the Three Wise Men went on that very long journey in seeking the One Whom they believed in, as a great Figure and Master, and although they did not yet know Who He truly was, but the Spirit of God present in all the peoples, even then, moved their hearts, and brought them on the journey of faith towards the Lord. The gifts which they brought to the Lord had made people to speculate the places of their origins, with the countries of Sheba and Seba in what is now Ethiopia and Yemen respectively as possible candidates. Those gifts echoed what the prophet Isaiah spoke about in the first reading today, of the caravan of camels from Sheba and Seba coming to the Lord, glorifying Him and praising Him.

The three gifts of the Three Magi are themselves also very symbolic and a revelation of Who the Lord Jesus truly was, in the gift of the gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold represents the kingship and the glory of Christ, while the frankincense represents both His Divinity and also His role as our Eternal High Priest, and lastly the myrrh represents the way how the Lord would accomplish His mission, through the suffering and death that He would have to endure during His Passion, for our sake and our salvation. Through all these three gifts therefore, we all come to know the full extent of Who the Lord our God is, and what He has done for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is the essence of what the Epiphany celebration is all about.

First of all, the gift of gold is a very symbolic sign of the kingship of Christ, as gold has always been a very valuable commodity and noble metal used in coinage and in collection of wealth, and they are often associated with power and worldly glory, and they also have associations with the Divine, as gold is often used on the ornaments and the worship of gods and idols in various cultures and traditions. Gold in this case symbolised that Christ is truly our Lord and King, the King of Kings, Lord and Master of all, all of creation and the whole of the Universe. It also showed the glory and divinity that our Lord and God has, and how each and every one of us are expected to give Him honour, glory and homage, as the King over all of us.

Then, the gift of frankincense is a representation as earlier mentioned, of the divinity of Christ, as incense is often used in religious festivities and worship, and incense is used until this day in the Church to indicate the prayers of the faithful people of God rising towards God. At the same time, incense was also usually used by the priests in offering the sacrifices and offerings to God. Hence, this frankincense, which is among the finest type of incense available, is a representation that Christ our Lord is truly Divine, the Almighty God Who manifested Himself in the flesh, to be in our midst. Then, at the same time, it also highlighted Christ’s role as our one and true Eternal High Priest, the One Who would offer on our behalf the perfect and worthy offering, for the absolution and forgiveness of all of our sins.

Lastly, the gift of myrrh is the representation of what the Lord would do for our salvation, as myrrh is a precious spice used for the embalming of the bodies of the dead. It may indeed be a rather strange and curious gift for a newborn Child, but in this case, it is a representation of how Christ would suffer and die from the Cross that He Himself would bear, and through His death He would redeem all of us, by making us all free from sin, and then by His glorious Resurrection, He would lead us all into a new life, no longer subjected to sin and death, to evil and destruction. This is what the gift of myrrh had revealed to us, and we are all reminded that we are all truly so fortunate that God has done all of these for our sake. We must be thankful for all that He has done, and we must return to seek the Lord and His salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore on this great Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, each and every one of us must always remind ourselves that the Lord our God, Who has revealed Himself to all peoples, His Epiphany, is the One Who is truly Lord and Master over all of our lives. Each and every one of us are truly blessed that God Himself has reached out to us with His perfect and wonderful love, that He endeavoured to appear to us in this manner, so that His Love is no longer hidden from us, but becoming tangible, real and reachable by us. All of us have seen His Light, known His truth and ways, heard and witnessed His Good News, and we are all called to be His beloved ones, His people and flock. The Light of Christ has illuminated us, our lives and our paths, and we should pass on this Light that more people may come to know Him, following in the footsteps of the Three Wise Men.

Let us all therefore strive to do our best so that in all that we do, we will always be filled with faith and love for God, and that we will always strive to bear witness to His truth and Good News at all times. Let our lives and actions be the means through which more and more people may come to know God, Who has revealed Himself to us, and made His love known to us. Like the Three Wise Men, let us all journey with faith towards God, and lead more and more people we encounter in our respective lives, on a journey towards our Manifested God, Whose love has been revealed to all. May the Lord continue to bless our every good efforts and endeavours, so that in everything that we say and do, we will always be the faithful and worthy bearers of His Good News, and be ever more committed and filled with His grace and love, now and always, forevermore. Amen.