Scripture Reflections

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Wednesday, 7 January 2015 : Wednesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the truth proclaimed in the Scriptures and the Gospel, that our Lord is with us and He dwells among us, even now, as He had been, and will ever be. He will always be with us, as long as we remain faithful to our love for Him. He is ever faithful, ever graceful and ever providing for us, a loving and gentle Lord who cares for every single one of His people.

In the Gospel, we heard about Jesus walking through the storm on the water while the boat that the disciples boarded was battered with the winds and the waves, threatening to sink them. They were frightened and were filled with fear, and the sight of Jesus walking on the water towards them frightened them even more, and this was because they lacked the faith, which they should have in Jesus.

The disciples of Christ were always with Him, helping Him in His works and ministry, following Him wherever He went to, and became His faithful servants and helpers in proclaiming the Good News of God. What is this Good News? It is exactly what the First Reading today from the Letter of St. John had revealed to us, that the Lord had sent His Son into the world, and by the dwelling of the Son in the form of the flesh of Man, He is with us.

For Christ is the purest and most concrete manifestation of God’s love for us, the love that has become real and tangible, which we can see and feel with our senses. He came so that He may dwell within us, and thus the love of God may also dwell in us and we would know what love truly is. True love is just as what God had shown us through Jesus, the loving sacrifice He had committed, giving up His own life in exchange for ours, and through that act, gained new life for us all.

True love does not demand returns, and it is unconditional by nature just like what Jesus had done for us. We are sinners and tainted, wicked and undeserving of life and salvation, and yet, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners, as we are still today. He did not hesitate to do so, even though He must have fully known the kind of suffering and pain He would have to go through in order to achieve our salvation and liberation from sin.

The readings of this day teach us that we have God on our backs, and He will support us and provide for us, as long as we are faithful to Him, and as long as we are faithful, we do not have to worry about anything. We worry because we start to lose our faith in God and our firm faith in Him is being undermined. By what? By our own sense of insecurities, by our insatiable desires, and by many other things that distract us from our attention and focus towards the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, the Master of the Dominican Order or also known as the Order of Preachers. St. Raymond of Penyafort had been very faithful and devoted to the Lord from the beginning, from his youth, and he dedicated much of his life in the service of God, to the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the lost sheep of the Lord.

St. Raymond of Penyafort led a simple but dedicated life, one that was filled with the love and concern for the people of God who were still lost to the darkness. Thus, in accordance of the part he played in the Dominican order, or the Order of Preachers, St. Raymond preached about the Faith to many people, especially those who have yet to accept Christ, Jesus our Lord, as their Lord and Saviour. Through his words, he changed their hearts and helped them to allow themselves to open their hearts to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our world today there are many people who remain blinded against the love of God, for their heart’s desires, their pride, their greed, their vanity and others often come in between them and their ability to recognise the love of God. Thus, by understanding what we had heard today in the Gospel and the Scriptures, and by witnessing the examples of St. Raymond of Penyafort and his dedications, let us all also do the same, helping one another especially those who are still lost in the world.

Therefore, let us from now on redirect our energies and efforts, that we may lead others from a life of vice and sin, not knowing the Lord and His love, into one that is firmly founded on the foundation of God’s eternal love. Let us all help each other to reach out to the Lord, and may our loving God, the Almighty Father, also guide us, help us and remain with us always. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/06/wednesday-7-january-2015-wednesday-after-the-epiphany-memorial-of-st-raymond-of-penyafort-priest-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 6 January 2015 : Tuesday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if yesterday we heard about the actions of Christ our Lord, who came into this world to save it, then today we are reflecting on the very love of God which He had made manifest through Jesus, our Lord, through whose action as we heard in the Gospel today, we see for real the concrete and genuine love which God has for His people.

In the Gospel today we heard about the famous and well-known feeding by Jesus of the multitude of five thousand men, not counting together the women and children. Jesus performed the great miracle of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes, that all of the numerous throngs of people had enough to eat and even with much extra leftovers filling up twelve full baskets.

This was the proof of God’s love for us mankind, not just by mere words and empty promises, but through real action, which He Himself committed in this world through His Word Incarnate into Man, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus saw the multitudes of people who followed Him, and He had pity on them, for He loved them and those people to Him were like sheep without a shepherd, lost in the darkness of the world.

And thus, Jesus showed them His love and cared for them, providing them not just with physical food and nourishment, but also with food and nourishment for their spirits. The feeding done by Jesus through His miracle, where He fed more than five thousand people is a proof of God’s love in feeding and caring for His people, just as He had done before. Remember the feeding of the Israelites with manna, the bread from heaven? They were fed for forty years, the entirety of their journey, and the Lord also made large birds available for them to catch as their food.

But we have to remember also, what Christ had said when He was tempted the first time by Satan. He was very hungry and Satan tempted Him by asking Him to turn the stones into bread for Him to eat. But Jesus rebuked Satan, saying that men does not survive on bread alone, but on every words that came out of the mouth of God. And that was exactly what Jesus also did to the people. He fed them the spiritual food of His words and teachings.

When the people were hungry and their stomachs were empty, He fed them with much food, so much that there was excess, and as they were like sheep lost without their shepherds, Jesus became their Shepherd, leading them from harm’s way that is the darkness, and lead them into the Light. He taught them the meaning of the Law and how to live according to the will of God, following His way of leading a good and devoted life.

In that, He cared for His flock, the sheep that He had gathered back from the world, and those whom He had called to follow Him. He provided them with what they need, with the food for the flesh, and the food for their spirits. But He did not stop at that, for the gift of God’s love went all the way, providing us all with a new life, by none other than the ultimate act of love which Christ performed for our sake.

For Christ has taken the burdens of our sins upon Himself, and loaded them upon His shoulders. The cross He bore on the way of suffering to Calvary is the proof of His ultimate and undying love for all of us. He bore all the sufferings and pains of the sins we have, so that as He suffered from them and died because of them, we may ourselves be freed from the consequences of those sins, as long as we believe in Christ.

And He also gave us His love by the shedding and the sharing of His own Body and Blood, that just like the sons and daughters of Israel who ate of the young slaughtered lamb and had its blood on their doorposts and were saved from death, passed over by the angels, thus, we too, who partake in His Body and Blood, which we receive with fullness of faith in the Eucharist, may be brought into life eternal with Him, for He lives in us, and we live too in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we progress through this holy season of Christmas, we should continue to reflect on the great love which God has for us all, and no greater love indeed than for someone to give up his life for another, especially for Christ who had given up His life for us all while we are still sinners and filled with the defilements of sin.

Let us all be grateful for that great love, which God showed us, so that by understanding and recognising His great love, we may also practice the same love in our own lives. May all of us be more and more loving and be more gracious as days pass by, and may our Lord and Almighty be with us all, so that we may be better able to resist the temptations of life. May we all be more loving and more forgiving in our actions, embracing one another as fellow brethren in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/tuesday-6-january-2015-tuesday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Monday, 5 January 2015 : Monday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the works of God made real and manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God incarnate as Man by the Holy Spirit, and who by the same Holy Spirit did many wonderful works that only God can do. And through Jesus, God exercised His mighty power, teaching and healing the people from their afflictions, bringing the Good News long awaited into full and complete fulfillment.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, the commemoration of the moment when the Lord revealed Himself to His people, by the means of the gifts of the three Wise men or the Magi, who presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In that celebration we continue to reaffirm our faith in our Lord Jesus who is Lord and King, who is God and one true God incarnate into flesh, and the One who was to suffer the consequences of sin so that we may be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we know who is the Christ, and what He has done. The Gospel today precisely spoke about the things that Jesus had done, reaffirming the call of St. John the Baptist, calling the people to repent and to change their ways, so that they would sin no more but enter into the grace of God, thus becoming worthy of the salvation which Christ brought into the world.

Why would the Lord to bother with all these? Why would He come to save the stubborn people who continue to refuse His love, even until today? We know of how many people who were lost along the way, who preferred the ways of the world and succumbing to their heart’s desires and greed. Many lived a debauched life filled with wickedness, with no regard for the Law and commandments of God.

Yet, if we know of the Lord, we should know how much He treasures each and every one of us without exception, even for the greatest of sinners. He does not want to let even a single one of us to be lost without His effort to try to bring us all back to Him. That is why He put so much effort into the attempt to reunite us with Himself, to the point that He Himself came into the world, so that we will not be lost.

As we continue to proceed through our daily celebrations of life, we have to grow stronger and better in our realisation of the love that the Lord has for us all, and the mercy which He wants to show to us. It is too often that we lack the necessary gratitude and acknowledgement of what God had done for us. Thus in this time and season, we have to grow more dedicated and devoted to Him.

How do we do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is by practicing our faith genuinely through our actions and deeds. We cannot be true disciples of the Lord unless if we ourselves have already practiced our faith with real actions and deeds. If what we are doing contradict what we believe in, then our faith in the Lord is meaningless, but if we do what our faith had told us to do, then our faith will benefit us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this world, there is still great darkness and many people are still lost in it, wandering around seeking for their Lord and God, and many were blinded by their own emotions, ego, greed, desire, jealousy, hatred and many others. Thus it is now entrusted to all of us, for us to continue the works of Christ in this world, proclaiming His salvation for all the peoples, and by our examples and actions, may we all be able to inspire more and more people to embrace the way of the Lord and abandon their old ways of sin.

May Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ, help us on our journey in this life, that we will always be able to stay faithful to His ways and remain steadfast in our faith to Him. May all the peoples find their ways to the Lord and be saved as one people, that we may rejoice together at the end of time, blessing His great Name. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/04/monday-5-january-2015-monday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/

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Saturday, 3 January 2015 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus our Lord, where we celebrate the very Name which Jesus had received, and that Name which is the Name above every other names, set special and great above all things, with power and authority not present in any others. That is why today, we ought to reflect on how we use His holy Name and not to profane it, just as we also should reflect on the nature of our Lord’s coming into the world, as we continue to progress through this Christmas season.

First we have to heed what one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by the Lord had said to us, that we must not take the Name of the Lord in vain, which is the second or third of the Ten Commandments. Yes, His Name is holy just as He is holy, and we should not profane it by using it inappropriately. Yet, it is truly sad and lamentable that many of us use the Name of the Lord as we like and in places and circumstances inappropriate.

How many of us have heard how people nowadays even use His Name in profanity-laden songs, for whatever purpose that is? This is inappropriate and unacceptable, and indeed it is sin to do so. Therefore, it is imperative that we realise that we ought to give honour to God and thank Him for all that He had done for us, out of His great love and mercy.

We have to realise that God had willed to save us all because He loves us all very, very much, and we who have been lost to Him through sin, once had no hope at all and death is all that awaited us, as the consequence of sin. However, He has promised us all from the beginning that He will stand by us, no matter what, and He will settle the score with Satan who in his jealousy had brought about the fall to himself and to all mankind.

Satan once was a great angel, mighty and powerful. Lucifer he was, the brightest and most brilliant of all the angels, and yet in his greatness and power, he grew proud and unbending, desiring more and more, even the throne of God. He warred with God and led his fellow rebel angels to fight against God to usurp His majesty and power. But what became of Satan? Do we now praise his name or bless him? No! Instead he is cast down to the lowest of the lowest, in the depths of the deepest hell is his place.

Satan was cast down because of his pride, because of his jealousy and desire, because of his greed. He decided that he should not fall alone, but through temptations and lies, to bring down the most beloved of all of God’s creations, that is us, mankind. And that was what he did, tempting Eve with sweet words, that mankind would also follow their own desires, greed and others as Satan himself had.

But God would not want to lose us. As much as He was disgusted at the wickedness and the corruption of our sins, the even greater is His love and mercy for us. So much so that He was willing to come down to us, lowering Himself, assuming our humble form of a Man, although He who is God is perfect, Almighty, great beyond any measure, and has no need for anything.

And this is precisely what St. Paul was talking about in his letter to the Philippians, that the Messiah, the Divine Word incarnate in Jesus, although great, mighty and all-powerful, He did not hesitate to empty Himself and assume the humanity of our flesh, so that in doing so, He might bring God’s plan to save us all into full perfection and completion.

Jesus bore our sins and iniquities, all of our wickedness and imperfections, all that have separated us from the love of God, so that by His sacrifice for us, He may be the hope for all of us, so that by His death and resurrection, He may free us from death and bring us into a new life in Him. And this is what Satan feared the most, for it is his final and ultimate defeat.

And that is also why Satan fears the Name of Jesus so much, as while all of mankind are given names, for God had said that He would know us all by our names, but one Name stands out from every other names, not by the virtue of the name itself, but because that Name is associated with none other than the Lord and Saviour who had taken up the flesh so that by that act, mankind may be freed from sin forever, and be led to eternal life, and Satan will no longer have any power over any of us.

The Name of Jesus therefore is feared by Satan and all of his allies because it is a clear and vivid reminder of their ultimate fate, that is eternal suffering and destruction for their refusal to listen to the Lord and obey Him. And it is also a reminder of his ultimate defeat when Jesus died on the cross. All of his plots and works against mankind were undone by that singular act, which offered to mankind the hope of new life. His faith in the Father and His perfect obedience made God to raise Him beyond all else, just as Satan was cast down instead for his pride.

And even Satan have to obey the Lord and bend his knee to Him, as much as he refuses to do so! For our God is Lord and Master over all creations, over all things created, Satan included, who was once a bright heavenly angel that fell for his sins, and also all creatures, including us all, the sons of man. Therefore, for what God has done for us out of His love, and for the love we have for our Lord and Creator, shall we not honour His holy Name by first using it appropriately and with proper deference?

We can also begin by bowing every time the Holy Name of Jesus is uttered during the celebration of the Mass as it should have been done. Many had failed to observe this simple gesture, but I am sure that we can begin from ourselves and change others as well, that by our example of respecting and honouring the Holy Name of Jesus, the bane and what Satan fears most, we shall bring honour and glory to our God. May our Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world, whose Name is above every other names, be with us always, and may we all be able to follow His example of obedience to the will of God and walking in His love. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/02/saturday-3-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/02/saturday-3-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/02/saturday-3-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-gospel-reading/

 

Epistle (Usus Antiquior) :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-ii-classis-sunday-4-january-2015-epistle/

 

Gospel (Usus Antiquior) :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus-ii-classis-sunday-4-january-2015-holy-gospel/

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Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast of the Church, the Marian feast of Theotokos, Mother of God, as well as this day as the day of universal prayer for the peace in the world. On this day, also the first day of this new year of our Lord 2015, we give thanks to God for the past year, for all that He had done for us, the wonders and graces He had provided us in the year that had passed.

And on this New Year’s Day too, we ought to look forward and see in this new year to come, an ample opportunity for us to do what we have not been able to do in the previous year, and thus we have to reflect and evaluate on our own lives, our ways of life and how we interact with one another. This new year should begin with a new resolution on our side to achieve peace in this world, a lasting peace without hatred and violence, and one that is inspired by the examples of the Blessed Mother of our Lord, Mary.

For Mary is our role model, both in life and in how we should be faithful to the Lord. She is special amongst men and all who were created by God, for firstly she is the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore as He is both fully God and fully Man, she is by that virtue is the Mother of God, or in the original Greek, Theotokos, and it is this nature and title bestowed on Mary, the faithful servant of God, that we rejoice together as one Church.

There are unfortunately those who failed to understand this nature of Mary, and the great role she had played in the history of the salvation of mankind. They refused to honour her and glorify her, because they thought that in doing so they have idolises her and made her as if to be a goddess. But they were mistaken in this, and that was the lie that Satan tried to propagate in order to destroy the Church and harm the faithful ones.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, why do we honour Mary such, with many titles and graces? Why do we call her the Blessed Virgin Mary? Should we not honour man but God only? If we look deeper at the Scriptures and its meaning, then we will understand. Mary herself mentioned in the Magnificat, the prayer of rejoicing and revelry at the fulfillment of God’s promise through her, that she was blessed for all ages because of what God had done through her.

And we honour Mary as the mother of God because in Jesus we see the true, complete, full and perfect unity between the Divinity of which He is God, part of God and is truly God, limitless and omnipotent, and the Humanity, of which He was made into Flesh, the flesh of Man by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary is the mother of Jesus, both God and Man at the same time, fully God and fully Man, without separation, distinct in the two natures of divine and humanity, but united in the one person of Jesus Christ.

Those who deem Mary as a ‘goddess’ that we worship, do not make sense at all. If Mary is a goddess, then truly, where would the humanity of Christ come from? Indeed, God is almighty and it would truly be a trivial matter for Him to come directly in the form of Man if He so wished, but He chose to come through the woman, so that what God had revealed to man at the beginning of time might come to its full completion.

God said to Satan, in the serpent, and to the first woman, Eve, that he would bite the heels of the sons of the woman, while the woman will crush the serpent under her feet. Satan had introduced sin to men, and ever since that moment of rebelliousness and disobedience, men had fallen into sin, and apparently with no hope of rescue or escape, that is until the Woman came and made full God’s promises.

That woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She obeyed the Lord fully and let herself be used for the entire purpose of God, and as such, where Eve had failed, succumbing to her own vanity and personal desires for knowledge and more, Mary had succeeded and her examples became the source of inspiration for many. Mary remained faithful and committed to the Lord, to her Son and followed Him unto even His death on the cross.

Mary played such an important role in our Faith, as she was not merely just the mother of Jesus the Man, but also as the mother of the Word incarnate into flesh through her. The divinity and humanity of Jesus are completely and perfectly united in His person, two distinct natures but one person. Anyone who rejects this truth deviates from the teachings of Christ and is a heretic.

Such was the case with Arius, the famous preacher who would eventually be known for his role in the rise of the Arian heresy, where the rejection of the divinity of Christ was becoming commonplace, and this heresy was born out of the confusion that the devil spread in order to make the people unable to comprehend how Jesus could be both Divine and yet also Man at the same time.

If we look at the Scriptures, in the Holy Gospels, Jesus did things that both Man and the Divine do. He ate with His disciples, drank with them, was affected by sorrow and sadness, and He wept, yes for Lazarus, the one whom He was close friend with, when he apparently died from his sickness. Yet, at the same moment, He brought Lazarus back to life, healed the sick and forgave the sins of many, which are things that only God can do.

Thus, Jesus is truly fully Man and fully God, and it never occurred anywhere in the Gospels that the two natures were separate, but the two were always together. It was not merely the human Jesus that suffered for us on the cross, for no man could have born the entirety of the weight of the world’s sins, but God indeed can do so, and it was Jesus, both God and Man, who carried that cross up to Calvary and die for our sins, that we may live.

And if Jesus is both God and Man, then it is perfectly fine for Mary to be called the Mother of God, and that was what the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in the year of our Lord 325 had affirmed in Faith, that Mary as the Mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God. Then, how is this relevant to us, brethren? That is because, Mary is our role model, and she is also our mother. For Mary has been set aside by God to be the mother of Jesus and in her works and actions, she became our example.

If all mankind are to follow the examples of Mary, then this world would have been so much better. No more violence, no more hatred, for if all were to follow Mary’s examples, they should have been filled with love, both for God and their fellow men, and not with hatred or evil. That is why, on this day, the day when Pope St. John XXIII dedicated his last Papal Encyclical, Pacem in Terris or Peace on Earth, this day is a day which we should dedicate with much prayer for the sake of peace in the world.

That time, the world had just been on the brink of a great nuclear war between the two superpowers of the world, and war had been avoided just because of very tense diplomacy between both sides. The threat of annihilation of countless peoples was just very great, one that we may not be familiar with today. Thus, as we begin this new year today, let us all pray together as one people, one Church, and all belonging to the house of the Lord, that peace, the peace of Christ may reign over all and the world, that it may dispel the evils that Satan had planted in this world and in us.

Jesus had entrusted Mary to John, His disciple, and that singular act is a great action of God entrusting His own mother to be the mother of us all. Let us thus, ask Mary, the Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord and God, who is also our Mother, to pray for all of us, for she, even though not a god nor goddess but a human being, being closest to the throne of her Son in heaven, she may intercede for us and gain for us the richness of the mercy and grace of our God. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (First Reading)


Psalm :

Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Psalm)


Second Reading :

Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Second Reading)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-gospel-reading/

Epistle (Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord) :

(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Epistle


Gospel (Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord) :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-circumcision-of-our-lord-octave-day-of-christmas-double-ii-classis-thursday-1-january-2015-holy-gospel/

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Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard yet again about the incarnation of the Divine into Flesh, the assumption of the Divine Word of God of the mortal flesh of Man. In it we continue to reflect and celebrate in this blessed season of Christmas, the commemoration of the birth and entry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into this world.

The Christmas season is a time for us all to rejoice, but even more so, that we have to take a step back and realise the very reason why the Lord had done this, while He truly had no reason to do so. He is perfect in everything and He is perfectly fine by Himself, and yet He decided that He wants to share the love He has with those whom He had created in His own image, that is all of us mankind.

He came so that through what He taught His disciples, He might deliver the wisdom and truth of God unto mankind, so that, realising the truth about God and His love, they may find their way towards Him. That is because if we are not able to find our way to Him, we are likely to be lost in the darkness of the world, becoming tempted and failing to sin just as our ancestors had been tempted by Satan.

St. John in his letter which is our First Reading today warned of the presence and rise of antichrists, those whom Satan had charged with the corruption and subversion of the world and all the people of God, so that instead of following the true Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, we will follow the lies of Satan instead, spread through the wicked antichrists.

Do not think that antichrists will come only with the coming of the end times, as they are already here. We have many antichrists around us, those who pretend to speak for the truth, but instead subverting the truth into lies, while making people to believe in what they said as true. A simple and common example would be how the world, how the media perceived what the Church and its teachings mean, and how they twisted them and corrupt the people against God’s Church.

It is also similar with how the media and the people often misrepresented the Pope and his teachings, especially with our current Pope, Pope Francis. Pope Francis is an orthodox defender of the faith, who merely pushed for a more loving and meaningful application of our Faith in the world, but with no intention whatsoever to dismantle or destroy even a single iota or piece of the sacred teachings and Traditions of the Faith which we faithfully kept.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, are often distracted with the many lies and goodness of this world, the temptations of the evil one designed to bring us away from the salvation in God through Jesus Christ. We often find the ways of this world, and the various offers made by Satan and his agents in this world to be much more attractive than what our Lord offers us. Yet, what Satan offers us bring just temporary satisfaction and the end result in eternal death and condemnation.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we should help one another in the Faith, committing ourselves to help one another defending ourselves from the lies of Satan, from the traps of the antichrists, and help each other to remain firmly faithful to the teachings of the Faith. Today we also celebrate the feast of Pope St. Silvester I or Pope St. Sylvester I, the Pope who lived during the time when Christianity, our Faith had been accepted by the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine the Great.

Although the Faith had been accepted and was no longer persecuted then as it had been in the previous decades and centuries, but it did not mean that Pope St. Silvester I had an easy time as the Vicar of Christ. Instead, he had to deal with various heresies and false teachings of the Faith by various people trying to lead the people away from the truth of Christ and the true Faith.

Most prominent among the false prophets was Arius, who spread his teachings of Arianism, rejecting the divinity of Christ, proclaiming that Jesus was a mere Man and not God. Thus, if we look at this false prophet, it is very obvious that he was repudiating the very core of our faith, that is the belief in Jesus, the Logos or the Word of God, who is God and is with God, as the Gospel of John today proclaims, and who descended unto us, incarnate into Flesh by the means of His mother, Mary. Pope St. Silvester I and the other bishops condemned this falsehood and heresy through the now famous Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, reaffirming true Christian Faith and teachings.

Do not let Satan and his antichrists deceive us, but let us instead firmly believe in our Lord, who is the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ, who out of His eternal love for us, was willing to descend upon us and dwell among us, so that we may be saved. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (First Reading)



Psalm :

Wednesday, 31 December 2014 : Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (Psalm)



Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/30/wednesday-31-december-2014-seventh-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-memorial-of-pope-st-silvester-i-pope-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how all things shall receive the fullness of God’s grace and His wonderful mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God, the Word of God, the Divine incarnate into the flesh of Man. He chose to become one of us so that by His incarnation and by His actions in the world, He might become the source of all hope and inspiration for countless peoples of all races and nations, to be the Liberation of mankind from the chains and tyranny of sin.

Anna the prophetess had waited for a long time for the coming of the Saviour in Jesus, the Holy Child, whom in the Gospel today was presented at the Temple on the eighth day to the Lord as the firstborn Son of His mother Mary. She was fortunate that she was given the grace and opportunity to behold the Saviour in the Flesh, and to see Him with her own eyes. Many in the past ages and the future, including all of us now, have no such opportunity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have been saved in Jesus Christ, by the shedding and the outpouring of His Blood, and we have been paid for in full by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, who provided the only and the one only sure path through to reach salvation in God. He has brought us all over from our old lives of sin and dependence of things of the flesh, and instead He offered us all a new life founded on His firm foundation.

If we put our trust and faith firmly in Jesus, then I say that, we have overcome the evil one, that is Satan and all of his evil temptations, and we have triumphed, overcoming our slavery and enslavement to sin, which began when men first listened to Satan and to their own desires instead of listening to God. We have been brought out of the slavery of our heart, mind, body and soul, just as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt with the great power of God.

The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt with His great power, and He destroyed their shackles, as He also destroyed our shackles of sin, but just as the Israelites who complained and refused to listen to God, worshipping pagan gods and idols and preferring to walk their own ways, we also often rebelling against God, walking on our own paths, and listening more to our own desires and wants rather than listening to our Lord.

Therefore, it is necessary for us to persevere in this world filled with numerous temptations and things that distract us from our focus on the Lord. Satan is always actively trying to subvert us and turn us away from salvation in God, and into damnation together with him. He knows what things can best be used to persuade us and entice us to sin, and this is the great danger facing all of us, if we are not aware or able to resist the advances of Satan, we are in danger of losing our way.

Hence, as we continue in our celebration of Christmas, in this holy and blessed season, and as we approach the coming of the new year, let us all keep our focus on Christ, and try our best not to be distracted by the many things in the world. We have to keep Christ at the centre of our celebration of Christmas, and indeed, at the centre of our lives.

May all of us be able to seek our way to the Lord, and keep our gaze firmly focused and locked onto Him, so that amidst the various dangers and temptations that the world presents to us, we may persevere and remain strong in our Faith and will not lose our way, so that at the end of the days, rich rewards of salvation and eternal life will be ours. God bless us all. Amen.

First Reading :

Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (First Reading)


Psalm :

Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/29/tuesday-30-december-2014-sixth-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-gospel-reading/

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Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about listening to God and obeying His laws, and fulfilling the commandments which He had given to us. It is highlighted in the first reading today from the first letter of St. John the Apostle, that as the servants and disciples of God, that we have to live out our faith and be concrete in that faith, showing it in our actions, words and deeds, and not doing what is contrary to the teachings of our Lord Jesus.

If we call ourselves as the children of God and as the members of His Church, then we have to behave as one. We cannot profess to be the children of God, and yet our actions prove to be completely otherwise. The very reason why it has been so difficult for many to believe in Christ and indeed why many of them refused to believe in Him is because we who are the disciples of Christ preached about Him but we did not practice what we preached.

How can they believe in us and in what we preached to them if we ourselves did not embody what we have preached. Instead, we become an embarrassment of the Faith, and our Lord will not be pleased at us. Not only that we have failed to observe His laws and commandments, but we have also made others to lack the faith in Him because of our own wicked actions and deeds, not in line with what we preached.

Therefore, we have to mean what we say, and we have to act on what we believe in. Otherwise, our faith in God is empty and meaningless, and instead of salvation we will gain condemnation from God and eternal punishment. St. James in his epistle, the letter of St. James, highlighted in it that faith without works is essentially the same as dead. That means faith without action based on that faith is a useless one and indeed, as I have elaborated, this kind of faith is harmful to us.

Yes, and that is the same faith which the hypocrites committed. The Pharisees and the scribes of the Law whom the Lord condemned as hypocrites were externally and outwardly seeming to be pious and good servants of the Lord, but in reality, they have no God in them, for whom they spared no place in their hearts. They preached faith and devotion to God and trumpeted their devotion loud for others to see, and yet they did these for themselves and to satisfy their own vanity.

Jesus condemned them precisely because they have no regards for the Lord and did not obey His laws and commandments as they should have. They have besmirched the Name of the Lord and spat on His precepts. They cared not for the Lord nor for His people but for their own self-aggrandisement. They were the ones who should have recognised the Christ when He came, and yet they doubted Him, rejected Him and laid difficulties along His works and His paths.

Our actions must not be like that of theirs, and instead we have to do as we believed, and we have to act in the way not contradicting the very Creed we profess. And this is what we can learn from the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Thomas of Canterbury, also known by his name, St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the high Medieval age of the twelfth century, during the reign of King Henry II of England.

St. Thomas Becket was a devoted man of God, who followed the will of God wholeheartedly and who took the laws and commandments of God seriously in his heart. He was particularly staunch at the enforcement of the law of God and the Church. He was once a servant of the king entrusted with many matters because of his skills in management, appointed to chancellorship by the king.

The king had hoped that if he appointed St. Thomas Becket to the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of England and the chief of the religious officer of the state, he would continue to show preference to serve the king and the state as he had been before. But St. Thomas Becket would prove him to be wrong. He was a faithful and pious servant of the Church, who did not mince his words and who was sorrowed by the great corruption in the lives of the king and his servants.

St. Thomas Becket practiced his faith faithfully to the core of its foundations, fulfilling the teachings of Christ. He showed mercy and love to sinners who sought God’s help, but to those who were wicked and unrepentant, and to those who persisted in their love for the world, he had no love for them. He excommunicated and expelled many from the Church those who had followed the path of the Pharisees, getting themselves rich at the cost of others and those who have caused untold sufferings for many.

He gained the enmity and hatred of many in the king’s court and circles, and this eventually led to a group of knights who plotted to assassinate him as he celebrated the solemn prayers. He was assassinated in cold blood at the holy places, while he surrendered himself completely to God. Those who were involved in the assassination including the king were punished severely by the Church, excommunicated and asked to do serious and long series of penance for their murder of the holy man of God, who was canonised as a martyr and saint soon after his murder.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the example of St. Thomas Becket should inspire us all to walk and practice our faith with genuine intention and devotion to our God. If only that all the faithful would emulate his upright life and devotion to his Faith, then the whole world would have been converted upon seeing our brilliant examples and dedication to the way of the Lord.

It is therefore necessary that we mean what we say, and if we are to preach the Word of God, then we have to mean what we preach and practice it ourselves, so that others who see us may know that we truly belongs to Christ, and not following our own selfish way. May St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Thomas Becket pray for us and intercede for us sinners. Amen.

First Reading :

Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)


Psalm :

Monday, 29 December 2014 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)


Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/28/monday-29-december-2014-fifth-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-memorial-of-st-thomas-becket-bishop-and-martyr-gospel-reading/

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Sunday, 28 December 2014 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are celebrating the great feast of the Holy Family of Jesus our Lord, and His mother Mary and His foster-father Joseph. On this day, in the midst of this joyful season of Christmas when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus into this world, we reflect on the family which Jesus had, the perfect and model family which all of the faithful should emulate.

The Holy Family is a family not built on glamour or the wealth of this world, but on love and rich with the graces of God. It is not just because Jesus Christ our Lord is one of the Family, but because of the active participation of all members of the family, namely Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Jesus was an obedient Son, who listened to His mother even though at times He told her of things which she was not aware of, due to His unique nature of both being God and Man. The perfect example of this would be the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine, listening to His mother’s pleas on behalf of the bride and bridegroom in trouble.

Mary, then, was a loving and caring mother, who was genuinely concerned for her family and first of all, for her Son, Jesus. Mary devoted her entire life caring for Jesus as He grew up from a Baby into His adulthood, ready for the mission for which He entered this life. She followed her through His mission in life and even unto His suffering and death on the cross. She stood by faithfully on the foot of the cross, just as He suffered and died for us, for our sake and to atone for our sins.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph was not related by blood to Jesus at all, but he was related to Jesus through his legal marriage to Mary. As such he became the foster-father of our Lord and Saviour. At first he had his sceptic moment when he found that Mary was pregnant without him even married to him yet. He thought that she was unfaithful to him, but Joseph was a righteous man and a responsible person. For Mary’s own good he wanted to divorce her quietly so that she would not suffer the repercussion.

Joseph was therefore a good father figure to Jesus, and the one likely who taught Him various things in life, educating Him on skills and even perhaps on carpentry. Jesus was likely also a carpenter as His foster-father was. He was an upright man who took his duties and responsibilities seriously. He protected his family well, and he brought them to Egypt to live in exile while those who sought the death of Jesus his foster-Son was around.

All of the members of the Holy Family therefore are good examples for us all. They showed us how we should behave as a family. A family is not built on just mere coincidences, arrangements, or infatuations. A family is built on firm foundation of love, the love that is the same as the love which God had for us. Yes, love that does not perish with goods and love that does not demand a return.

We have to realise today in our world that many of our families are losing their integrity and harmony, because we are losing genuine love in the family. More and more people today are only concerned about themselves and not about others. When members of a family start to put each of them and their own interests above that of the others, then things will certainly not look good for the prospect of that family.

In addition, if we note the readings today talking about Abraham and his wife, Sarah, who had been rewarded by God after many years of fruitless marriage without any children, with the promised child Isaac, who would be the father of many, earning Abraham what God had promised him, that his descendants would number as many as the stars.

Abraham was rewarded because of his faith, as was with Sarah. Sarah did have her skepticism as well, when she heard of the news that she would be pregnant in her old age and give birth to a child, and she even laughed at that. But, eventually, she trusted in God as her husband had, and for this faith they had shown, they bring themselves and make themselves to be a good, harmonious, successful and holy family.

This is another thing often lacking from our lives as a family. We rarely spend time together and each person are busy with their own business and things, so that we end up growing more and more distant with every passing moment. It is no wonder that fights and disharmony arose out of this situation. Remember that there is a saying, ‘A family that prays together, stays together’?

It was not written in the Bible or the Gospels that the Holy Family did this, but it is most likely beyond any doubt, from what we know of the characters in the Holy Family, that Jesus, Mary His mother and His foster-father Joseph often and regularly prayed together to God, at their meals, at the time when they were working, and at many other times.

If we, as a family, pray constantly to God, I am certain that we will grow closer to the Lord, and if we learn to love and be faithful as the Holy Family had been faithful, in how Jesus, Mary and Joseph played their respective roles in God’s plan for our salvation, I am certain, that we will have genuine love, faith and harmony growing in our families.

There will surely be plenty of challenges and difficulties along the way, but if we persevere, we are certain to be able to pull through together and emerge out as families even stronger than ever before. Let us all model our families on the Holy Family, learning to love one another, putting aside our differences and letting go of our ego and pride, that often cause division and destruction to our families.

Families are the basic units of the faithful in the Church, and it is through the family that we can inculcate faith in the future generations. It has been proven that a family that prays together, keeps up hope for one another at times of distress and stay faithful to the Lord will emerge in the end, as truly faithful and devoted children of God. It is often those without good and proper family background that lose out their faith, and as a result are denied forever the hope of salvation in God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be like the Holy Family in our families, staying filled with love and grace, with faith and genuine devotion to the Lord, that at the end of days, all of us will together embrace the Lord our loving Father and be saved together as one family, and as one people. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-psalm/

 

Second Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-gospel-reading/

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 28 December 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, commemorating those children in Bethlehem who were slaughtered mercilessly by King Herod the Great, in his insecurity and fear that the promised King of Kings, Heir of David would dethrone him and made him to lose everything. He slaughtered all the infants and babies of age two and below, innocent as they were, in order to fulfill his own ambitions and desires. Thus, he had sinned greatly against God.

This feast of the Holy Innocents reminds us of our human nature. We are by nature often selfish and thinking only about ourselves and how to aggrandise ourselves. And in the process of that, we often bring harm and suffering to others, as we stride forth in our quest to bring more to ourselves, be it fame, human praise, wealth, influence, and many other things we often covet and desire.

In order to fully understand the story of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents we have to understand more about who King Herod the Great and why he did the deeds he had done. King Herod was an Idumean or a Nabatean, the group of people who lived to the south of the land of Israel. He was not even one of the Jewish people, but he was rewarded the kingship by the help of the Romans, who contracted the help of King Herod and his father to overthrow the previous ruler of Judea.

In exchange, king Herod had to pay his respects to the Romans who became his overlords, and Herod had to acknowledge their power and superiority over him, and thus he was no more than just a puppet king installed by the Romans. Yet his example then shows us how the greed and ambition of men can have no bounds. In the case of king Herod, he did all he could to preserve his own power and kingship, showing jealousy and hatred to all those who seek to challenge his authority.

But while Herod dwelled on earthly things and sought in vain to aggravate his own personal and worldly agenda, Jesus the true and one King of all showed that His kingship and authority is not one based on the ways of the world, but based on the goodness that is in Him. In this we can make a stark comparison between Herod and Jesus, and this comparison can also be extended into our own, personal lives.

While Herod was vain and power-hungry, Jesus was humble and contented. And while Herod used violence to project his authority, the Lord Jesus had no need for such a thing, as He made His authority clear simply by the clarity of His teachings and messages, and the truth which He preached and bore witness to. By His obedience, He brought mankind into the Light of God and many are saved through Him, while Herod committed a great sin trying to eliminate the One whom to him is none other than a potential rival.

Brothers and sisters, it is therefore a clear reminder to all of us, that as we live this life, we cannot strive to seek what is vain and what is worldly, in expense of the fate we are to have in the world to come. Christ Himself told His disciples explicitly, not to build for themselves wealth and power in this world, but build instead the guarantee and wealth in the world to come.

And how do we do this? We have to stop and reject the temptation to bring about our own benefit and selfishness at the expense of others. Otherwise, we will end up like king Herod, who committed a great sin of murdering the holy innocents of Bethlehem just so that he might satisfy his worldly desires and greed. And in the end, those who have committed wicked deeds will be punished, just as Herod died not long after that, and his kingdom divided among his sons, and eventually these were destroyed shortly after by the Romans.

Most importantly, he has to answer before God for what he had committed. The holy innocents gained the glory of heaven even though they were still very young, as they have suffered great persecution and martyrdom for the sake of the Lord. But Herod is likely to fall into hell for what he had committed. He is likely to suffer there for eternity without any hope for salvation.

Do we want this fate for us? Certainly not. I am sure that we want to avoid this as far as possible. But in order to do that, that is why we have to take the lesson from king Herod and his actions in slaughtering the holy innocents to our heart. We have to get rid of our selfishness and desires that often come in the way of our ability to follow the Lord with the whole of our heart.

As we still continue to proceed through this Christmas season, let us share the joy we have and the graces and blessings which we have received. Let the Lord’s love and grace permeate through all the peoples and all creations so that all of us together may be drawn closer to His ways and away from the selfish ways of the world. May Almighty God bless us and guard us, so that we may not succumb to our emotions and desires, the same one that had brought down Herod to damnation in his murder of the Holy Innocents. Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, pray for us! Amen.

 

Epistle :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-double-ii-classis-sunday-28-december-2014-epistle/

 

Gospel :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-double-ii-classis-sunday-28-december-2014-holy-gospel/