Saturday

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant, through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought, “and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my Strength.

And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said : “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

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Saturday, 17 June 2023 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the day right after the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. That is why while Fridays and especially First Fridays are often associated with the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saturdays, and also especially First Saturdays are associated with the Blessed Mother of God, and when votive Masses of Our Lady, Mary, the Mother of God can be celebrated. On this day we remember the great love that Mary has for her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, reflecting that perfect love which His Son has shown us all through His Most Sacred Heart, ever filled with generous and overflowing, ever-patient love for each and every one of us, His beloved people in this world.

In Mary, the most holy and immaculate Mother of God, having been conceived without sin, as the Church believes in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, therefore is found a heart that is truly holy and immaculate, a reflection of the perfection and the perfect love that her own Son has for us. This is what the Immaculate Heart of Mary is all about, that is a Heart filled with great love for God, first and foremost, for her Son, Whom she loved above all else in this world, and lastly, a Heart most Immaculate that is also filled with love for each and every one of us as Christians, and all others whom the Lord has entrusted to her to be her own adopted children. Therefore, just as the Lord has loved us so much and so generously, thus, our most loving Mother has also lovingly cared for us and showed her compassionate nature, from her Immaculate Heart.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, Mary liked to keep everything in her Immaculate Heart, a Heart that is centred and focused on God alone. In that passage, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus in His young age of twelve, was with His mother and foster father St. Joseph in the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in which He stayed behind discreetly at the Temple of Jerusalem, the House of God, His Father’s House. We heard how Mary and St. Joseph came to look for the young Lord Jesus and found Him in great discussion with the teachers of the Law who were all astounded by His great wisdom and knowledge, the graces He had and the words of eloquence that He was speaking with. The Lord obeyed His mother and foster father when they brought Him back to their hometown of Nazareth, but as mentioned, Mary kept everything she experienced in her Immaculate Heart.

This is the same Heart that the prophet Simeon had prophesied at the moment when the Baby Jesus was brought to be presented at the Temple, as the Heart that would be pierced with swords of sorrow, a prefigurement and premonition of what would happen at the moment of the Lord’s Passion. For it was then that Mary herself had to witness the most grievous and painful sufferings endured by her Son, as He was betrayed, condemned to death, bearing His heavy Cross all the way to Calvary, as she was following and watching throughout the whole journey. This is the same Immaculate Heart that was indeed wounded at the sight of her persecuted Son, just as the Son’s Most Sacred Heart had also been pierced and wounded by our every sins and transgressions, our wickedness and evils.

That is why Mary has always set her sights upon us, her beloved children, ever showing us her care and compassion, in patiently guiding all of us towards her Son and to be saved in Him. That is why Mary has appeared many times to us throughout history, in her many Apparitions, both those that are well-known ones and the more obscure ones. That is because Mary in her Immaculate Heart loves her Son and through Him, she has also loved us much like she has loved her Son. Mary has never given up on us just as her own Son has not given up on us. She does not want any one of us to be forever lost to God because of our continued evil and wicked ways, our many sins and transgressions through which we have been made separated and sundered from God and His grace. Mary, His mother through her Immaculate Heart, has constantly reached out to us lovingly, in leading us back to her Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

Now, on this day as we reflect upon the most loving and Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Mother of God and Our Saviour, let us all reflect upon the love which Mary has constantly and tirelessly shown us all, and her love for God, obedience for His commands and ways, that all of us as Christians have been called to emulate in our own lives. Let us ask ourselves if we have truly been genuine in our faith and obedience to God, and if we have done what the Lord has called and commanded us to do, in doing God’s will and in walking the path that He has shown us. If we have not done all these in our lives, then let us all commit ourselves anew to His path, reflecting upon our way of life and discerning of what each and every one of us can do in order to fulfil the Law and commandments of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore redirect our lives and focus, our attention and return towards the Lord with renewed zeal in life. All of us have been called and entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Good News, the Gospels of salvation, to call on the people all around us to come to the holy presence of God and to discover His truth, grace and love. All of us have been called to embrace the love of God which He has generously shown us, and which He has also shown us through His mother as well, as through Mary, many of our predecessors before us have been called and reminded to find our way to the Lord, and not few changed their hearts and way of life, abandoning the path of sin and evil thanks to the assistance and intercession from Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart.

May the Lord, through His blessed Mother Mary, the Lady of the Immaculate Heart, continue to show us His love and compassionate kindness. May He empower each one of us so that we may truly be ever committed and dedicated to His path. Holy Mary, Mother of God, who has loved us most dearly through your Immaculate Heart, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 June 2023 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 41-51

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the Boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on the third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them. As for His mother, she kept all these things in her heart.

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Saturday, 17 June 2023 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Samuel 2 : 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in YHVH, I feel strong in my God. I rejoice and laugh at my enemies for You came with power to save me.

The bow of the mighty is broken, but the weak are girded with strength. The well-fed must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the proud mother is left alone.

YHVH is Lord of life and death. He brings down to the grave and raises up. YHVH makes poor and makes rich, He brings low and He exalts.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, and raises the poor from the ash heap; they will be called to the company of princes, and inherit a seat of honour.

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Saturday, 17 June 2023 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 61 : 9-11

Their descendants shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a race YHVH has blessed.

I rejoice greatly in YHVH, my soul exults for joy in my God, for He has clothed me in the garments of His salvation, He has covered me with the robe of His righteousness, like a bridegroom wearing a garland, like a bride adorned with jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord YHVH make justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations.

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Saturday, 10 June 2023 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians, that is as God’s beloved people, all of us are called and expected to do our best to sincerely commit ourselves to the Lord, to His path and truth. Each and every one of us ought to live our lives righteously and devotedly, following the Law and commandments of God and being truly filled with love and faith in the Lord. We should not just pay lip service or be hypocrites in how we live our faith, as what quite a lot of our predecessors had done. Instead, all of us are called and even challenged to be truly devoted in all things, and to show our faith in our world today, even when we are faced with challenges and trials in life, and when things and outlook seem to be dim for us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Tobit, we heard of the moment when the Archangel Raphael, who had been sent to him and his family to help them, revealed himself to Tobit, his son Tobias and his family. The Archangel Raphael had been sent with the mission from God to help Tobit and Sara, who would become Tobias’ wife, from their respective predicaments. And although each one of them had suffered greatly from those hardships, but they still entrusted themselves to the Lord, prayed and asked Him for help and guidance. Tobit in particular remained firm in his faith and his righteous way of life, that despite having been brought into exile with quite a few of his fellow Israelites, but he kept on observing the Law and the commandments of the Lord, and kept alive his commitment and dedication to God.

That was why God sent one of His own Archangels to help Tobit and Sara, and in the process helped Tobit to regain his eyesight and also the honour for his family, and for his son Tobias to get a wife in Sara, whom God had also liberated from the tyranny and depredations from the demon Asmodeus. The Lord brought them out of their misery and hardships, and restored them to a blessed and comfortable, happy and fulfilled existence, as a sign and affirmation of just how dearly beloved each and every one of us are by the Lord. Those who have kept their faith in God and has obeyed His Law and commandments will be blessed, protected and guided by Him, and if we give ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, then we shall gain in return even more than what we have generously committed to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard something of the sorts with the account of the moment when the Lord criticised the actions and way of life of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, whom the Lord criticised as being hypocrites and wicked in their way of life, and while they were outwardly being pious and devoted, in their very much public show of faith and all of their prayers, but the Lord pointed out the nature of their hypocrisy and lack of genuine faith in God. As He then later immediately compared to the actions and the faith of an old and poor widow who came to the Temple and gave everything she had to the Temple treasury although she only had two small coins that she probably might have needed for her own use and survival. Yet, the poor widow willingly gave from her own heart, to be given to God and for others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why each and every one of us are reminded and constantly told to keep faithfully the Law and commandments of God, and also to resist the many temptations and all the things which have kept us away from God and from His path. All of us are reminded to keep our faith in God alive in us, and we are all reminded that God should be at the centre and He should be the focus and emphasis of our lives, our every actions and works, and He should be the reason why we carry out our actions in life, in everything we say and do. And by doing His will, and obeying His Law and commandments, all of us can be inspiration and great role models for one another, that our every actions and way of life may bring forth good things not just for ourselves but also for our fellow brothers and sisters in faith, especially to those who are still struggling with hardships and trials in their lives.

Just as the examples of Tobit and Sara, and how they kept their faith and trust in the Lord, and how the Lord helped and strengthened them, and rescued them in the end, let us all be inspired and be strengthened in our faith and resolve to devote ourselves with ever greater intensity and commitment, so that we may be truly faithful to the Lord, in all things, and not just in appearances only. Like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that the Lord Himself cricitised, they have allowed worldly ambitions, greed and the desires for pleasures, human praise, fame and renown to corrupt and mislead them down the wrong path in life. That was why they ended up putting their own selfish interests and desires above their duty and obligation to serve the Lord and to do His will. They put their own worldly desires as the focus and the centre of attention of their lives, and this was why the Lord criticised them.

Now, are we all willing to commit ourselves to the Lord anew, with renewed vigour and zeal, and return Him to the centre stage of our lives, and to put Him as the focus and emphasis of our existence, in our every moments in life? Are we willing and able to do what God has called on us to do, to be great and committed disciples and servants of His cause, in doing our best to live our lives as best as we can as Christians, in being great role models and inspirational examples in all the things we say and do, and in our every interactions. Through all of these things, that is how we can lead more and more people to come to the Lord and to believe in Him. It is our duty and obligation to be the beacons and channels of God’s light, truth, love and Good News, and we can do this by living our lives as best as we can, in remaining firmly committed to the path that the Lord had shown us, just like Tobit and many others among our holy predecessors had done.

May the Lord, our most loving Master and Creator continue to help and guide us all throughout our journey in life. And may He empower each one of us so that we may indeed be worthy disciples and followers of His, and that we may be able and willing to commit ourselves wholeheartedly and thoroughly to His cause, and able to give of ourselves generously to Him, just as the poor, old widow in our Gospel passage today had done. May God bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 June 2023 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Mark 12 : 38-44

At that time, as Jesus was teaching, He also said to His disciples, “Beware of those teachers of the Law, who enjoy walking around in long robes and being greeted in the marketplace, and who like to occupy reserved seats in the synagogues, and the first places at feasts. They even devour the widow’s and the orphan’s goods while making a show of long prayers. How severe a sentence they will receive!”

Jesus sat down opposite the Temple treasury, and watched the people dropping money into the treasury box; and many rich people put in large offerings. But a poor widow also cane and dropped in two small coins. Then Jesus called His disciples and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who gave offerings. For all of them gave from their plenty, but she gave from her poverty, and put in everything she had, her very living.”

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Saturday, 10 June 2023 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Tobit 13 : 2cdef, 6fghi, 7klmn

God makes people go down to hell and rise up again. No one can escape His hand.

If you turn back to Him with all your heart and soul, and live justly before Him, then He will turn back to you and will no longer hide His face from you.

See what He has done for you and return Him thanks aloud. Bless the Lord who alone is just and praise the King of ages.

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Saturday, 10 June 2023 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Tobit 12 : 1, 5-15, 20

At that time, when the wedding feast was over, Tobit called Tobias, his son, and said to him, “Be sure you give the wages to the man who accompanied you, and we should add something extra.”

Then Tobias called the Angel and said to him, “Please take half of all that you have brought.” The Angel took Tobit and Tobias to one side and said to them, “Bless God, return thanks to Him, proclaim His glory and render Him thanks before all the living for all He has done for you. It is good to praise God and to exalt His Name, by making known in a worthy manner the story of God’s deeds. Do not be slow in giving Him thanks.”

“It is good to hide the secrets of kings but to make known publicly the works of God. Do the works of God. Do good, and evil will not harm you. It is a good thing to accompany prayer with fasting, almsgiving and justice. It is better to do a little with honour than much with injustice. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. Almsgiving preserves from death; it purifies from all sin. Those people who give alms and act justly will have a long life, but sinners only harm themselves.”

“I will hide nothing from you. Yes, I have said that it is good to keep the secrets of kings but to make known publicly the glorious works of God. Tobit, when you and your daughter-in-law Sara prayed, I kept the remembrance of your prayer before the Holy One; when you, Tobit, buried the dead, I was with you in the same way; and when you did not hesitate to rise up and leave your meal in order to hide the dead man, your good deed did not go unnoticed because I was with you.”

“Well, God sent me to cure you and also to cure Sara, your daughter-in-law. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy Angels who present the prayers of holy people and who stand before the glory of God. Now bless and give thanks to God, because I am returning to the One Who sent me. Write down in a book all that has happened.”

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Saturday, 3 June 2023 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to keep on doing what the Lord has asked and entrusted to all of us to do in our own respective lives, and each one of us who have been given the Wisdom and the blessings of God, His grace and love, we have the obligation and duty to proclaim the truth and Good News of God according to what we have received through His Wisdom and the through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which He has strengthened us in faith and knowledge, in courage and strength. As Christians, called to love the Lord and serve Him, and doing the same to our fellow brothers and sisters, each and every one of us should make good use of these gifts God has given us so that our lives may truly be worthy and good for Him and His cause.

In our first reading today, the prophet Sirach in his Book mentioned how as Christians and therefore, the followers and disciples of the Lord, all of us should live our lives and how we should all behave in each and every moments of our lives. All of us should live our lives faithfully and dedicate ourselves thoroughly to the Lord despite the hardships and challenges that we all may have to face. Each and every one of us should always trust in the Lord and allow Him to guide us down the path of righteousness and truth, never wavering even amidst the many challenges and hardships that we may have to endure for being faithful Christians, followers and disciples of the Lord. We may be questioned and challenged by others who disagreed with us, but if we firmly hang on to the truth, we will never falter and not even the greatest trials can overcome our faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the moment after the Lord had cleared the Temple from the wicked and cheating merchants and money changers, who were profiting greatly from overcharging the worshippers and others visitors to the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Thus, the Lord Jesus angrily chased them all out of the Temple and scolded them all for their wicked actions, in turning the Holy House of God into a den of robbers, causing corruption, evil and sin to taint the sanctity of the Place where God Himself was present in this world. The Lord Jesus came to purify the faith, to proclaim to all that what their leaders practiced and all of their rituals and other excesses were distractions that actually caused us to be separated from God and His love and grace.

And as we heard, the Lord immediately faced challenges and opposition, which happened because the Temple authorities, the chief priests and others were concerned with what the Lord had done. They questioned the Lord on the actions He had done, and the authority by which He had done so. But the Lord answered them with great courage and challenged them back on what they said about the baptism of St. John the Baptist and all of his other works. As a context, the same group of Temple authorities, the elders and the Pharisees were also against the works of St. John the Baptist, and questioned the latter exactly in the same manner that they had also questioned the Lord. But they did not dare to publicly challenge the Lord and the works of St. John the Baptist, as these two were very popular among the people, and it would have caused a great uproar should the Temple authorities chose to do so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these highlighted to us the kind of hardships and challenges that we as Christians may have to face in the midst of us living our Christian lives faithfully and obediently, just as the Lord Jesus and St. John the Baptist have carried out their respective ministries, and faced often bitter and persistent opposition and challenges from those who refused to believe in them, and in God’s truth and Good News. Instead, they chose to persist in their error and disobedience, thinking that as the custodians of the Law and the leaders of the people of God, they were above the Law and the truth itself, and that they could never go wrong. Their pride, which intermingled with their greed and desires, and fear that their influence and power would wane, should the worshippers and those merchants were to avoid the Temple by the Lord’s actions, made them to oppose the Lord.

We must not give up despite all these challenges and oppositions, and we should persevere and be strong amidst all these obstacles we may have to face, being inspired by the many great examples of our holy predecessors, the great saints and other holy men and women in the past who had laboured well and dedicated their whole lives to the Lord. Each one of us are reminded that we are never walking this journey and all of us are always guided by the Lord through His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit. However, it is often that we become complacent and slack in how we live our lives, taking the easy way out and preferring to conform to the ways of the world, especially to the path of evil, wickedness and sin. This is not the path which we should be taking, as we are reminded that if we follow those path, we will easily drift away from God and His truth, as the chief priests and the Pharisees had done.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his holy companions in martyrdom, collectively known as the Holy Ugandan Martyrs. They all dedicated themselves to the Lord, missionaries, local priests and faithful laymen and laywomen alike, who were persecuted for their faith in God, and remained firmly resolute and committed in their faith in God to the very end, despite the temptations, coercions and threats that they were facing. Back then, St. Charles Lwanga himself was the chief page and an important servant of the King of the Kingdom of Buganda in what is today Uganda. He encountered the Christian faith through the missionaries who proclaimed the Lord and His Good News among the people there in that region. Back then, the King was a great pedophile who preyed on the young pages of the kingdom, and the opposition from Christian missionaries against such practices caused the king to conduct massacres against them.

St. Charles Lwanga himself was convinced of the truth that the Lord had delivered through the Catholic missionaries, the White Fathers who were there, and St. Charles Lwanga along with many others among Buganda’s court members and servants were also baptised together as Christians. St. Charles Lwanga also protected the pages, the young boys under his care from the king’s perverted and wicked actions. It was then that the king and those among his courtiers that had become Christians came to a point of contention, as the former condemned some of them to death, which led to St. Charles Lwanga and the other servants to stand up for their faith publicly, and they were therefore led to be martyred by being burnt alive. At the site where he and others were martyred now stands the great Basilica of the Holy Ugandan Martyrs at Namugongo, where the relics of those faithful martyrs are enshrined. Their fidelity and commitment to God served as great examples and inspirations to all of us Christians in how we ourselves should live up to our Christian calling and mission in our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on these words of the Scriptures that we have heard and received, and also on the lives of our holy predecessors, particularly those of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, in their most courageous defence of their faith and commitment to the Lord’s truth and righteousness. Are we willing and able to commit ourselves in the same way as well, brethren? Are we willing and able to carry our own crosses in life, in following the Lord ever more faithfully in each and every passing moments? Let us all discern our path forward well and carefully so that we may continue to inspire many others to walk in God’s Presence and to be steadfast in our obedience and commitment to Him, despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face. Let us remember that even our Lord Himself has been rejected and opposed throughout His life and ministry. May the Lord continue to strengthen and bless us in our every works and endeavours, in all the things we do for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.