Saturday

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Saturday, 27 August 2022 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 1 : 26-31

Brothers and sisters, look and see whom God has called. Few among you can be said to be cultured or wealthy, and few belong to noble families. Yet God has chosen what the world considers foolish, to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong.

God has chosen common and unimportant people, making use of what is nothing to nullify the things that are, so that no mortal may boast before God. But, by God’s grace you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become our wisdom from God, and Who makes us just and holy and free. Scripture says : Let the one who boasts boast of the Lord.

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Saturday, 20 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of the words of the Scriptures speaking to us regarding the matter of how we should be following God with faith, committing ourselves humbly in His service, dedicating our time, effort and attention to do His will at all times. Each and every one of us should remember that we are merely the servants of God and therefore in all the things we say and do, we should not be concerned or be focused on our own desires and ambitions, our selfish aims and wants. Otherwise, if we allow those things to distract and tempt us, then we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin.

In our first reading today we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel regarding the vision of the Great Temple in Heaven, the Sanctuary of God and His Holy Presence. Through Ezekiel, God was showing His people Who it is that they were truly following, and He showed them of His might and everything that He would do for His people, as He would live forever among them. Not only that, but when the Lord mentioned that, He really meant it, as it was truly a prelude of what He would do for them, in sending them the greatest gift of all, the gift of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Lord and Saviour.

In doing so, He willingly embraced our humanity, and His Divine Word being incarnate in the flesh, taking up our humble human existence, becoming manifest and tangible that now God is no longer distant from us, but approachable and reachable. He made Himself close to us, because He desires to be reunited with us and be reconciled with us. And that action is what God wants each one of us remember, how His love and commitment for us was so great that He willingly lowered and humbled Himself so that through it, each and every one of us may have hope and receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and salvation.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Himself spoke to His disciples and the people criticising the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their attitude, behaviour and way of living their faith, as they had preached loudly and boastfully of the Law of God and how they had piously followed the Lord, and yet, in truth, in their way of doing things, they actually had not truly obeyed the Lord wholeheartedly, and they were really hypocrites and those who levied and imposed very heavy expectations on the people with regards to how they ought to follow the vast extent of the rules and regulations they modified and preferred, but they themselves could not obey or follow.

Those same people prided themselves and boasted of their glory and greatness, their piety and faith before all, parading their achievement and greatness, thinking highly of themselves and not only that, but they also looked down on those whom they disapproved and disagreed with. This attitude is what the Lord disapproved of and criticised those leaders for, in their hypocrisy and in how they made it difficult for the people to come closer to God and find salvation in Him. Their pride, ego, arrogance and ambition became serious stumbling blocks in the path of their journey towards God, and in their discharge of their obligations and responsibilities as leaders of the people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to those words from the Scriptures, we are therefore reminded that we should humble ourselves before God and one another, as first of all, we are truly nothing without the grace and love of God, and it is thanks to God’s providence and mercy, His forgiveness and compassion that we even have hope for the future. His willingness to embrace us and to dwell among us, forgiving us our sins and in reassuring us of His guidance and help, showed us all that we are truly beloved and precious to Him, and because of that, we have gained much in this world.

But we often grew proud and haughty, ambitious and greedy, and we ended up abusing and misusing the opportunities, the gifts, abilities and other things that God had given to us. Instead of using them for the good of everyone, we ended up seeking our own personal glory and ambition, desiring to fulfil our own selfish wants and greed. This is why through today’s readings all of us are reminded to resist those temptations of greed and pride. We ought to restrain those and do our very best to return our focus once again towards the Lord, being truly faithful to Him and distancing ourselves from the path of sin.

Today, all of us can gain some inspiration from our holy predecessor, whose feast we are celebrating this day, namely that of St. Bernard the Abbot, also one of the great Doctors of the Church. St. Bernard was also known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and he was a Cistercian Abbot remembered for his role in the revitalisation of the Cistercian order and tradition, and the foundation of the famous Clairvaux Abbey. His dedication to the Lord and holy way of life inspired many others, which led to the rapid growth of the Clairvaux Abbey. More and more people, even St. Bernard’s own family came to join the abbey as well.

While St. Bernard had gained much success and gave a lot of inspiration to his contemporaries, at the same time he also suffered trials and challenges, not least from his own fellow monastic monks in the abbey, who resisted his leadership and criticised his way of promoting the Cistercian charism and way of life. Nonetheless, St. Bernard remained resolute in his efforts, and he was also deeply involved with other important Church matters at the time, being involved in the resolution of conflicts and reconciliation of various Church and even secular parties, through his efforts at negotiation and skilful diplomacy. Through his many writings and works, which made him later to be declared as one of the Doctors of the Church, St. Bernard continued to exert great influence and became inspiration for many throughout the many centuries after his passing and till this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the examples set by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, holy Abbot and Doctor of the Church, let us all realise that each one of us are called to follow the Lord and to dedicate ourselves to Him humbly in the way that St. Bernard had done. One of his motto and saying is that of ‘the three most important virtues are humility, humility and humility’ highlighting just how important it is for us to be humble and to be willing to listen to God and to allow Him to guide our path instead of us stubbornly trying to forge our own path in life. Let us reflect on this and see in what ways we can be ever better disciples and more devout followers of God.

May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to empower and strengthen each one of us so that we may live ever more closely attuned to God and follow Him in all things, and be dedicated to Him all the days of our lives. May God bless each one of us in our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father because you have only one Father, He Who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Saturday, 20 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 84 : 9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Would, that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet, His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

YHVH will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Saturday, 20 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezekiel 43 : 1-7a

He took me to the gate, facing east. Then I saw the glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east, with a sound like the sound of the ocean; and the earth shone with His glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when He came for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen on the bank of the River Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground.

The glory of YHVH arrived at the Temple by the east gate. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court : the glory of YHVH was filling the house. And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the Man stood beside me. The voice said, “Son of man, you have seen the place of My throne, where I will place the soles of My feet, and live among the Israelites forever.”

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Saturday, 13 August 2022 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (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 listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us are going to have to answer for every one of our actions and deeds, as well as our lack of action and work in life, at the end of time, when the Lord will judge each and every one of us. All of us must remember this so that we may always be careful and vigilant in how we live our lives each day, so that we do not end up walking down the wrong path, and that we may continue to be faithful to God in all things, refusing the temptations to disobey God and to sin against Him.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the words of the Lord calling on all of His people to repent from their sins, telling them to turn away from the path of wickedness and evil, as He told all of them of what they were all expected to do as His people, in doing what is right and just according to the Law and the commandments which He had bestowed to them. The people had not been faithful to those Law and commandments, and they often neglected their obligation to fulfil the precepts and expectations of the Covenant which God had made with them and their ancestors.

That is why they had fallen on the wayside in the path towards God, and by their sins they had brought upon themselves the sufferings which they then suffered. During the time of the prophet Ezekiel, many of the people of God had been forced off into exile, brought away from their homeland, had their cities, towns and homes destroyed, and had to endure the humiliation of seeing themselves under the dominion of the Babylonians. The prophet Ezekiel was sent to this exiles in Babylon, to proclaim God’s words to them and to remind them that while their folly and stubbornness had led them to such a state, but God still loved them nonetheless and wanted them to return to Him with contrite hearts.

As the prophet Ezekiel highlighted in the words of God we heard today, that each and every man are responsible for their own sins and faults. He used the example of how a righteous man might have a sinful son, and while the man will be judged well by his righteousness and good deeds, the son will have to answer for his own crimes and wickedness. That is a reminder to all the Israelites in exile, that despite the sins of their forefathers which eventually led them to be in such a terrible state, if they were to return to God and shun the path of sin, then God will forgive them and embrace them all once again by the virtue of their repentance and their good deeds.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard a short encounter between the Lord and little children, who came to Him and were stopped by the disciples. The Lord rebuked His disciples for their actions and welcomed the young children into His presence. He also mentioned how the young children should be welcomed, and how the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble like those young children. Essentially what we heard today is a reminder for all of us to imitate the young children in their faith and in how they believed in God with such sincerity and commitment, with joy and energy that others often lacked.

That is because a child’s faith and belief are still pure, unadulterated and not affected by the numerous temptations and desires that many adults and older people often have. All those things became hindrances and obstacles in the path of one’s journey towards God and can end up distracting us from the path towards God’s grace and salvation. And unless we follow the examples of those children, we are likely to end up falling into those temptations and enter into the slippery slope of sin and evil. Our pride, ego, desires and greed often become our undoing as those lead us down the path to ruin, by closing ourselves up from God and His love.

Today, all of us should be inspired to live in the manner of the saints, our holy predecessors, namely that of Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus whose feasts we are celebrating this day. Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus were in fact rivals to the seat of the Bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter the Apostle as the Pope. While Pope St. Pontian was legitimately elected as Pope, a segment of the Church chose to side with St. Hippolytus instead and chose him as a rival Pope or Antipope. This development had arisen after several years of divisions and disagreements within the Christian community, out of the disagreement with regards to the acceptance of new converts and the penitential rigour required of them.

While the disagreements and conflicts between the supporters of Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus could often become rather strong, but eventually, they were reconciled to each other, and in the face of intense persecution against the Church and the people of God by the Roman authorities, Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus both chose to leave their offices behind, so that a new Papal election could take place and reunite the divided community of the faithful. Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus themselves were arrested during the persecution, exiled and eventually died as martyrs during their exile.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the examples and lives set by Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, we can see how each one of us as Christians should behave in our own lives, and how we should live our lives virtuously in God’s path. We must be willing to listen to God and to follow His will instead of following our own whim and desires. Like Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus who resolved their differences and did things for the good of the Church, we too are called to leave behind the taints of worldly desire and the allures of sin, and embrace wholeheartedly God and His truth, His love and grace, from now on and onwards.

May God be with us always and may He continue to strengthen each one of us in our journey of faith in life, that we may draw ever closer to Him and become sources of inspiration ourselves to one another. May God bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 August 2022 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 19 : 13-15

At that time, little children were brought to Jesus, that He might lay His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. Jesus then said, “Let the children be! Do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble, like these children.”

Jesus laid His hands on them and went away.

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Saturday, 13 August 2022 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Psalm)

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

Psalm 50 : 12-13, 14-15, 18-19

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will show wrongdoers Your ways and sinners will return to You.

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.

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Saturday, 13 August 2022 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

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

Ezekiel 18 : 1-10, 13b, 30-32

The word of YHVH came to me in these terms, “Why are you applying this proverb to the land of Israel : ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?’ As I live, word of YHVH, this proverb will no longer be quoted in Israel. All life is in My hands, the life of the parent and the life of the child are Mine. The lives of both are in My hands; so, the one who sins will die.”

“Imagine a man who is righteous and practices what is just and right. He does not eat at the mountain shrines, or look towards the filthy idols of Israel, does not defile his neighbour’s wife, or have intercourse with a woman during her period; he molests no one, pays what he owes, does not steal, gives food to the hungry and clothes to the naked, demands no interest on a loan and does not lend for interest, refrains from injustice, practices true justice, man to man, follows My decrees and obeys My laws in acting loyally. Because such a man is truly righteous, he will live, word of YHVH.”

“But perhaps this man has a son, who steals and sheds blood, committing crimes which his father never did. Will such a man live? No, he will not! Because he has committed all these abominations he will die : his guilt will fall upon him. That is why I will judge you, Israel, each one according to his ways, word of YHVH. Come back, turn away from your offences, that you may not deserve punishment.”

“Free yourselves from all the offences you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, Israel? I do not want the death of anyone, word of YHVH, but that you be converted and live!”

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Saturday, 6 August 2022 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates one of the great Feasts of the Lord, namely that of the Transfiguration of the Lord, commemorating the moment when Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, Saviour of the world was unveiled in all of His unbridled glory before three of His disciples at the top of Mount Tabor, as He revealed the truth about Himself before the three disciples, of Who He truly is, and what His mission in this world was all about. And through the Transfiguration, each and every one of us as Christians are also called to reflect on our own lives, and how we have each been called to be transformed through our faith as well, in our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel, the revelation of truth from the ancient prophet, as he received the heavenly vision of God seated on His Throne in Heaven. Not only that, but peculiarly, the vision included the vision of One of Great Age and one Son of Man, which prefigured the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity, as Daniel saw how the One of Great Age granted power, dominion and glory to the Son of Man, Whose kingdom and dominion will not end till the end of time and beyond. In essence, Daniel had seen Christ Himself, as a premonition of all the things that would come.

In our alternative first reading from the Epistle of St. Peter, we heard the account of the Transfiguration itself from St. Peter, which together with our Gospel passage today revealed to us what happened on that day at Mount Tabor. The Lord Jesus unveiled His hidden glory, power and majesty to His three disciples, St. Peter, St. James and St. John in order to show them a glimpse of the truth about Himself and His mission in this world. The Lord appeared to them in all of His glory, His raiments dazzling white and pure, while Moses and Elijah came to attend to Him, which in itself is a very symbolic occurrence.

For Moses and Elijah’s presence symbolised the Lord’s true nature and also His mission in this world, as Moses represented the Law of God and the commandments that He has spoken to him and passed through him to the Israelites, while Elijah represented all the prophets and messengers of God, through whom God had spoken many times, calling on all of them to repentance and to be reconciled to Him, as well as the prophecies they had delivered regarding the coming of a great Saviour, the Holy One of God Whom He had promised to all the people from the very beginning.

Therefore, Moses and Elijah represented how Christ came into this world, to be the manifestation of God’s Law and truth, His many prophecies and promises made to all of us mankind. He is the Son of Man that Daniel had seen in his heavenly vision, and He is also at the same time, the Divine Word Incarnate, the Son of God through Whom God had willed this world and all creation into being. He is truly the personification and perfect manifestation of the Law, through Whom God also made manifest His love for each and every one of us. Hence, the disciples who were there that day at Mount Tabor, saw the Lord Jesus as Who He truly was, not just merely a Man, but the Divine Son of God in the flesh.

That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is the first significance of Transfiguration of the Lord for all of us. Through that moment of Transfiguration, the world in darkness and sin have seen the great light of God, which was seen by the Apostles, who then passed on the testimony of that truth and revelation to all of us. Through the Transfiguration we realise that God Himself has come down to dwell among us, His Son in the flesh, revealed to us in all of His glory and majesty, and through Whom all of us receive the assurance of eternal life and salvation, if we have trust and faith in Him, and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

Then, the other significance of the Transfiguration of the Lord is, although more subtle, that the Lord is calling us to be ‘transfigured’ ourselves together with Him. Each and every one of us, the children of man had been made pure and perfect, blameless and spotless, meant for greatness and perfect joy with the Lord, as how God intended it all to be. Yet, by our sins and disobedience which brought about those sins, we and our ancestors from the beginning of time had sundered ourselves from that love and grace of God, all that should have been ours should we remain fully faithful to Him. Instead, we sought for worldly pleasures and joys rather than to trust in God.

That is why we have often ignored God’s love and compassion towards us. And that kept us defiled and corrupted, separated from the fullness of God’s love and grace. The Lord is calling on each and every one of us to follow Him and to be faithful to Him once again, breaking free from the chains of sin and evil that shackled us and kept us away from God. That will require each one of us to embrace God wholeheartedly and commit ourselves to a new life and existence in God, essentially transforming our lives from one that is sinful and worldly into lives that are worthy of God.

The Lord through His Transfiguration has shown us all what we mankind are called to be like, in our future state, to be good and perfect once again, and rid from the sins and wickedness that have once corrupted and enslaved us. The Lord has called on us to aspire to this state of life, free from the burdens of our past sins, but we do need to seek the Lord and allow Him to transform our lives, allowing Him to touch our hearts and minds and guiding us down the right path so that we may find our way to His loving presence and return to His embrace. Each one of us as Christians have been called to embrace the Transfiguration of Our Lord in anticipation of our own.

But that also requires us to embark on a journey of faith through life, which more often than not may lead us through challenges and trials, sufferings and persecutions. All those challenges may be difficult for us to endure, and we may be tempted to give up the struggle and return to our comfort zone. That was exactly what the Lord also showed us at the moment of His Transfiguration, that while He revealed the upcoming glory of His true nature, of the glory of our everlasting life with Him, but in order to achieve that, He had to go through intense sufferings and pains, as He went down Mount Tabor and told His disciples to follow Him, reinforced by the Father’s own words calling on them to obey the Son.

He went down the mountain and from there onwards, He would go on to His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross before He rose in glory at His Resurrection, and proved that all that He had revealed and foretold at His Transfiguration were all true. Are we willing and able to make the commitment to follow the Lord too, brothers and sisters in Christ, and even to suffer for His sake? Let us all commit ourselves to follow the path of our Transfigured Lord, Who has revealed before us the sure path to His salvation and grace. Let us all turn towards Him with hope and dedication, and do whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives, now and always, forevermore. Amen.