Scripture Reflections

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Saturday, 1 February 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mass of our Lady)

There is nothing to fear, brothers and sisters in Christ, if we have our anchor in the Lord. There is nothing to fear, if we put our trust in God and have Him as our support. That was what Jesus told His disciples, that if they had had faith in Him, a complete faith that is, then they would have no need to fear at all, for God is with them, and protecting them.

We fear because we do not put ourselves completely at the side of the Lord, and the worries and the concerns of this world still occupy part of our hearts and minds. And indeed, as what happened to King David of Israel in the first reading, in continuation to what we heard yesterday, is because of this lack of faith. Not lack of faith in the sense that there is no faith, but because that faith is not complete.

We have faith in God and profess it to Him, but we too are still peoples of this world, and therefore are prone to the corrupting influences of the devil through various means he utilises in this world. Lust, greed, anger, jealousy, hatred, pride, and many others as you can name it, these are the evil influences that remain in our hearts, and these may possess threat to us and our state of grace if we do not have strong and solid faith in God.

They are like those storm and gale winds that blow across the lake, when the disciples of Christ with the Lord were in the boat, shaking them and threatening to sink them. Those storm and gales brought fear in the hearts of men, and if they have no concrete and strong faith in God, they will be swept away. This is much like those who indulge themselves in the pleasures of the world, and failed to resist their corrupting influences.

That was what happened to David, the king of Israel. He was one of the most faithful servants of the Lord and dutifully followed the laws and commandments of God, but this did not mean that he was invulnerable to the same corruptions that threaten us. If anything, the example of David and what he did to Uriah and Bathsheba can be a good lesson for us, that power, influence, lust, greed, and many other worldly things can corrupt, even those who are faithful if we let our guard down, as David did.

From what David had done, we can learn that we all have been made God’s stewards in this world, and to each one of us had been entrusted a certain responsibility, with the power and authority we have been entrusted with. To David, who had been made king, great responsibilities had been placed upon him, and God know the faith that was in David, that he would be able to shoulder them.

But that did not make David to be immune from the same ailment that affects everyone who had been entrusted with power. With power often comes desire and greed, because power does corrupt our hearts and minds. We are also vulnerable to the same afflictions. Power and authority if not based on solid faith in God will open us to the influences of evil spirit, and we will fall into sin.

Nevertheless, as you know, after we fall, we should not continue to lie down in defeat on the ground. Instead, we should rise up again, and walk again in the way of the Lord. If we continue to linger in our fallen state and do not try to rise up again, and if we even prefer to linger in that darkness, then we are truly doomed. David made his mistakes and he erred before the Lord, but he made a conscious effort to repent from his sins and asked the Lord for His forgiveness.

We too should follow David’s example in seeking the Lord with all of his heart, be it in times of happiness, or sorrow, or in regret, as he had done after realising the depth of his sins of adultery and murder before God. And we should do so with genuine faith, and one that is strongly anchored in the Lord our God.

Trust in God and put our faith in Him, and we will certainly be safe. We will meet challenges and tribulations, like the disciples meeting the great storm and gale winds, but as long as the Lord was with them, they would not sink. The same therefore also apply to us, as if we put our complete faith in God, and anchor our lives in Him, then we should not worry, because we will be ever solid and strong against the forces of evil assailing us from all sides.

May the Lord continue to be with us and guide us, bless us with His presence, and affirm within us our faith. May He stand by us as we are being battered by the storm of our lives, that we may remain faithful in Him, and therefore receive in the end the reward for our faith. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 January 2014 : 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

God came unto us, to be our Light, the guiding light that enlighten our paths, that we may walk true and upright on His way, that we will not fall into temptation or walk towards the wrong ends. The Light of the world Himself had come in Jesus, that through Him, we who once were aimless and lived in darkness, may now know which direction to go, and how to reach towards salvation in God.

And in order to do so, it is important, as rightfully highlighted by St. Paul in his letter to the Church in Corinth, which was bitterly divided into factions at that time, that they stay united and strong in faith, rather than being divided by petty differences and human ambitions. Yes, this ties in perfectly with how the last week was the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, when we prayed sincerely for the Lord to help His Church to reunite once more, as One and only Church.

We have been divided far too often, ever since the time of the Apostles and the early Church fathers. Brothers and sisters in faith were divided against each other and could not agree on what the faith constitute, and resulting sometimes even in violence and bitter divisions, which sadly endured until this day. Indeed, it can be said that, many times, the Light of the world had come into this world to save it, but mankind continued to rebel against Him, and prefer to dwell in the false light that is Lucifer, Satan! The Devil!

It is important therefore that we all remember that our faith is all about Christ, and is all about devoting ourselves without division or distraction towards He who came to be our Saviour, and who liberated us from the chains of death. Our faith cannot be separated from Christ, or it may risk division as St. Paul had rightly warned the people.

The devil can easily corrupt mankind, and he can easily come into our hearts and sow the seeds of dissension and divisions, that we argue and hate one another, with the goal of separating us from Christ, and veil from us the truth represented by the light of God. That was how many of the divisions in the Church originated from, that is from human ambitions, from human arrogance and pride, and from human stubbornness, much like the stubbornness of the people of Israel of old.

God came to this world to be its Saviour, but His coming was not a leisurely walk in the park. Instead, it was filled with rejection and suffering. Mankind preferred to stay in their state of ignorance and darkness, rather than repenting their sins and walk once again with their God. And yet, Jesus continued to love them, and taught them the truth about Himself and about what God had put in place for all of them.

And lastly, He gave up Himself, and shedding His own Body and Blood, He offered Himself as the perfect Lamb of sacrifice, in atonement for our sins, that we all are made worthy and pure again through that sacrifice. And through His glorious resurrection, He defeated death forever, and released mankind from their bond and slavery to death and evil. It was this fact and this truth, which St. Paul tried very hard to project and spread to all peoples, together with the other disciples and apostles of Christ.

And many still refused to truly believe in the message of salvation. Many of them believed but many also did so halfheartedly. They did not give their total devotion to God, but instead keeping themselves at a distance from truly reaching out towards the Lord. That was why Satan was able to come and influence them, and as a result divisions, hatred, and conflict easily arose among the people of God.

And this had happened many times in the long history of the Church and the faith. Many, lured by the temptations of worldly power and corrupted by the sin of ambition, greed and pride, tore apart the unity of the Church, and spread false teachings that came not from God but from Satan, the false lightbringer. They spread chaos and confusion among the faithful, and often even taking advantage of the chaotic situation of the time, to spread their seeds of heresy.

Many examples of such dissension and heresies as we all know happen throughout the history of the Church, and they remain a very serious problem even today, and even as it will be in the future. Many people think that they are even better than God and His truth, and end up becoming false Messiah, bearing false news and false teachings that misled many and condemned many to damnation together with them.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, amid this increasingly difficult times, we should always hold firm our faith in God, that is in Jesus, the one and only true Light of the world, from whom we gain light and revelation of the truth, against all the falsehoods that Satan had placed in all of us. Jesus is our beacon of light, and the One who guides our way towards God the Father. If we do not turn to Him and devote ourselves entirely, seriously, and completely to Him, then we too may fall.

It is also our duty, brethren, to bring the Light of Christ to all peoples, especially to those who had been lost in darkness of this world and to those who had turned their back on Him. But we cannot do so, if we ourselves are divided against each other, and if we hate one another, because of the divisions and dissensions that separated us.

Even though the week of prayer for Christian unity is over, but we should not stop praying and working just there. Instead, day after day, month after month, and year after year we should continue to work hard for the unity of the faithful, and then, after that had been achieved, to bring the Light of Christ to the hearts of many, opening them to the Light, and hope that they may be redeemed in Christ, rejecting their past lives of sin and embracing new life in God.

May our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, and continue to bless us and shine upon our way with His light, that we will be able to continue to proceed on the way towards salvation, until the end when we reach Him, and together, we will enjoy forever the fruits of eternal glory with God. Amen.

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Friday, 24 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus called His disciples in the Gospel today, the ones He had chosen to be the messengers of His Good News, to be the ones who would continue His works in this world after His departure. They were called to be the servants of God’s people, in the same way that Christ Himself had made Himself a servant of God’s people.

They were called to be the examples of God’s message to mankind. God revealed Himself to the world in Jesus, and He taught the people the revelation of God’s true purpose for mankind, and to His Apostles, the Twelve called and chosen, He revealed even greater amount of the truth of the Lord.

And today in particular, we should focus on the values of mercy and love. Today’s first reading is about the story of David and Saul, when David was in run from the king and his forces, who sought to kill him and remove the threat David posed to the kingship of Saul. It was what David did, which showed us a lot about the true nature of our faith, and the nature of mercy and love.

Continuing from the same theme of the previous days’ topic on obedience and human fragility, we see how David was surely tempted by the attraction of power and glory. Indeed, David had been chosen by God to be the next king of His people Israel. He was the anointed one, who had been chosen to be the king, and there in the cave, the opportunity to gain the rightful position he had been chosen for! David had the opportunity handed to him on a golden platter.

He was the chosen king, and God had withdrawn His favour from Saul. David could just strike at Saul and claim His rightful throne at that time, but he did not do so, and he turned away from that golden chance. He had been given great favour by the Lord, but David did not boast of his favoured status and remained humble and even loyal. After all, Saul was still the king of Israel, and also anointed one of God.

David also expressed great regret after having decided to cut a piece of cloth from the sleeves of Saul, and even revealed the truth about the temptations that faced him to Saul, who considered him his mortal enemy. He was honest, upright, and merciful, as well as forgiving. He loved his enemies, even when his enemies wanted to kill and destroy him.

That was what Christ had taught His disciples and the people who heard His teachings. It is all familiar to us, is it not? Love your enemies and pray for those who persecuted you, and love one another just as the Lord has loved you. Brothers and sisters in Christ, God called not just David and the Apostles, the Twelve, to be His servants and disciples. He also called all of us, that we too may walk in the same way as they did.

God calls us to be like His servant David, to be upright in all our ways, and to love God with all our hearts, as well as to give our love to those who hated us and who persecuted us, to be rich in forgiveness and mercy, like what David had done to Saul, despite what Saul was trying to do with him.

It is not easy to do so, but we need to make the first step, or otherwise, we will never proceed on the way. Let us be ever better servants of the Lord with each passing day, giving thanks to the Lord for all the love and grace that He had shown us.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Francis de Sales, a renowned saint who lived during a time of great tragedy and division in the Church, at the time when the Church was fighting back the tide of heresy that had befallen the Church due to the heretical Protestants and their so-called reformation. St. Francis de Sales was a God-fearing man, who trembled at first in his youth, against the wrath of God, with St. Francis de Sales having come to the full realisation of his sinfulness.

But later on, St. Francis de Sales would learn of the Lord’s infinite mercy and love, and therefore came to terms with his fear of the Lord, and from then on, he tried his best to share that fact, through his works and actions with the people of God. He promoted virtuous living and loving conversion of the heretics back to the true faith, not through violence, but through love and gentleness.

Yes, for even though the Protestant heretics deserved condemnation and destruction for their sins of having disobeyed the authority of the Lord in the Church and causing a split in the One united Body of Christ, God wanted them to repent their sins and return to the true faith, and it was St. Francis de Sales who became God’s tool of delivering this message of love and mercy to them.

St. Francis de Sales showed us that we too have the capacity to do as what he had done, that is to spread the love of God to others, and to bring back to the light a people who had fallen into the darkness. We are called to be the disciples of the Lord, and to follow in the footsteps of those that God had chosen, including the Twelve Apostles, as well as that of St. Francis de Sales, and we are encouraged to imitate what they had done. For God truly loves us, very much.

May He give to us the same blessing as He had given to David His servant, that we too, like the Twelve Apostles, may be His beloved and chosen people called to greatness. Amen.

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Monday, 20 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green and Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord needs something from all of us, from each and every one of us. And what He needs is precisely our love, devotion, and wholehearted dedication, more than anything else. Yes, that is the offering of our hearts to Him, that we open our hearts to Him, our Lord, and show Him the sincere love we have for Him and for His precepts.

God gave His people Israel a long list of laws and regulations, as written in the Torah, in the Book of Leviticus, the Books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These were not meant to put a heavy burden on the people, or to unnecessarily strangle them with the obligations to these laws. Instead, they were meant to provide a comprehensive guideline to them, that they can follow them and remain in God’s favour and love.

In these laws and regulations were written in detail, and the rituals and proceedings related to the offerings of burnt animals, their meat, fats, and blood were very elaborate indeed. There were details of each type of offerings, as well as details governing the daily life of the people of Israel, which were meticulously followed, and in the time of Jesus, was zealously followed by the Pharisees, who disdained anything other than perfect adherence to that extensive set of laws.

On top of the laws and rules stipulated and written in the Scriptures, over time, the religious authorities and leaders added more strict rules and regulations, adapting from the laws applicable to the society of the time. This covered everything from bathing, washing of hands before meals, the rituals related to what one should do in response to various things.

These laws, rules, and regulations were no different from the laws that exists in other various cultures and societies, particularly those of the eastern cultures, for example in China, Japan, and many others. They govern how the society should behave, and how people should do things in the correct and acceptable way. This was meant to prevent the people from doing things their own way, which may contradict the way things should be done in the society.

That is what the Lord meant for His people, when He presented them with these laws through Moses His servant. Even with these laws in place, the people of Israel, renowned for their constant whining, complaints and rebellions against the Lord during and after their journey to the Promised Land, continued to disobey the Lord and often refused to follow His laws. How would it have been therefore, had the Lord not given the laws to them to follow?

But there is one danger in strict adherence to the laws, such as those practiced and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law at the time of Jesus. That is because the way they practiced the law of Moses was that it became a kind of blind obedience to the law instead of practicing the law for its true purpose. That is why Jesus was often so much against the Pharisees and their way of observing the law.

What is therefore, the true purpose of the law of God? The law is truly about obeying the Lord and all that is about the Lord. And the Lord is actually quite simple in a way, because He is Love. Yes, love, and He is love personified, the perfect form of love. He loves us very, very much, and there can be no love greater than the love He has for all of us, for each one of us. So much so, that He was willing to come down unto this world and gave Himself for us so that we may live with Him once again.

The laws of the Lord was meant to bring His people to the greater understanding of God’s love for them, and then, bring them to love Him just as He has loved them. Yes! That is the purpose of God’s law! That is to make God’s people love Him, and that was why Jesus came to the world, to make clear that point to the people. And yet, many of the people refused to believe the truth.

God does not want to burden us unnecessarily, and neither does He want to punish us or make our lives difficult. What He wants from us is also not the sacrifices as written in the law of Moses, as what He truly asked is that the people offer Him their love, obedience, and devotion. In the quest to follow strictly the law, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law had missed entirely the meaning of the law. That was why Jesus rebuked them by saying that despite their pious external appearance, inside they were truly empty. Yes, there was no love of God in them, but only love for themselves.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the same the Lord expects from each one of us His faithful ones. The Church of which we are part of had also a set of rules and regulations to how we should live our faith. However, these rules are not used in the same way as the Pharisees had used the laws of the Lord. They were genuinely meant for helping all of us to find our way towards the Lord.

The question that is asked of us now is that, have we truly loved God? Or do we just offer lip service and empty gestures of faith to God? A simple example will make this point clear. The point on the obligation for all the faithful to go to Mass on every Sunday had been either ignored or followed. However, among those who did attend weekly Mass on Sundays, can we truly say that they, and indeed all of us here, can we say that we have done this out of true faith and devotion, or whether we did it out of obligation and coercion?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore use this opportunity to reaffirm the love and devotion that we have for our Lord. Do not be hesitant to offer the Lord our love, brethren! For indeed the Lord desires our love, and the genuine offering of our hearts! He wants us to be with Him and reunited with Him, and even though we have sinned and did things wicked in His eyes, what He wants is for us to come back to Him in total repentance.

Do not fear the Lord and open our hearts to Him. Yes, open wide the doors of our hearts to Him, that we may come to Him and He may also come to us. Offer the gifts of our hearts to Him, the ultimate gifts, and the gifts that the Lord really wants from us. And we can do this by following the teachings, the guidelines and the rules established by the Church, to be our guide on the way to God.

Yet, we have to do them with understanding. Blind or coerced obedience is not the way, brethren. In that way our faith will not be true. It will be artificial and dead. Let what had happened to the Pharisees and their way of interpreting the faith be kept to them only, and let us not follow in their footsteps. Love the Lord, and love Him genuinely, as well as our fellow men. That is the true desire of the Lord.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast of two great saints, the first of which is Pope St. Fabian, one of the early Bishops of Rome, and St. Sebastian, both of whom were martyrs of the faith, at the time of the Roman Empire. Pope St. Fabian was elected the leader of the Universal Church in a strange event, when a dove came down upon his head, and thus marking him as the chosen one of God, and he was then elected the Bishop of Rome.

Pope St. Fabian worked hard to strengthen the Church amidst various persecutions against the faithful by the pagan Roman Emperors, who were hostile against the Christians. Pope St. Fabian helped organise the Church and did many good and charitable works. And when a new Roman Emperor, who was particularly hostile against the faithful came to power, Pope St. Fabian adamantly refused to bow to the Imperial pressure to worship pagan gods and to give offering to the Emperor.

He was therefore one of the first martyrs of the faith under that Emperor, Decius, who was well known for his Decian persecutions of the Christians in the Empire. Despite that, all of the hard works of Pope St. Fabian in strengthening the Church at Rome and throughout the Empire helped it to persevere through the harsh persecutions and even thrived.

St. Sebastian, meanwhile, was a soldier of high rank, possibly a captain or centurion in the Roman Army, who lived just after the life of Pope St. Fabian. He lived through the period of the last and the greatest persecution against Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The Emperor asked the centurion St. Sebastian to force some Christians who refused to offer worship to the pagan idols to renounce their faith.

Instead, St. Sebastian, being a secret Christian at that time, managed to convert the parents of the Christians as well as many others, including the prison master who guarded the Christian prisoners at the time. For this act of defiance and disobedience against the Emperor and his authority, St. Sebastian was punished to death, and was shot with arrows just as he was tied to a tree, but miraculously he did not die.

Only after the Emperor himself acted to put him to death, did St. Sebastian die. Just like Pope St. Fabian before him, St. Sebastian did what is right to obey the Lord, even if it was to mean their death because they had disobeyed laws and authorities of the land. Although the context was different, but they did provide us with the example to follow, that is to follow the Lord and obey only His will, not by blind obedience, but through concrete action, based on faith and love.

May the Lord our God, who loves us very much, continue to grace us with His infinite love and blessing, that we may live in happiness with Him, and that our faith in Him will continue to grow ever stronger, and become ever more genuine, that it comes not just from our mouths, but also from our hearts! God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 January 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brethren in Christ, today we heard how every reading proclaimed the glory of God in Jesus, His Son, who came down upon us, incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who walked in this earth, and who went on a blessed ministry of healing and purification of the people of God, after He was baptised in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

John the Baptist, who was also the relative of Jesus, was sent ahead of Him, to be the one who was prophesied in the first reading today, in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, who prophesied that the servant of God would come, and through him, prepared for such a ministry from the womb of his mother, the Lord would be known to everyone.

And that was precisely what John the Baptist did. He was prepared for a mission for the sake of the Lord ever since he was still in his mother’s womb. John the Baptist went on to live in the desert and became a great voice that shouted in the wilderness, calling the people of God to repent and forgo their old, sinful ways. He called for the repentance of peoples and for them to mark their repentance with the baptism of water at the Jordan.

John the Baptist baptised people and they came to him, seeking forgiveness for their sins. He therefore prepared the way straight for the Lord, who came immediately after him, Jesus, the Son of Mary, his relative. And John the Baptist, despite his popularity and his following, did not succumb to the usual weakness of human pride and arrogance. Instead, he did what he was supposed to do, that is to prepare and welcome the coming of the Lord the Saviour.

He proclaimed the Lord to his own followers and to the people after he baptised Jesus and witnessed the events which confirmed to him that Jesus was indeed the One he had been waiting for, and the One indeed whom John had done all those hard work for. John did not complain or hold any grudge against the Lord, for having received all the good fruits and benefits of his hard works. Instead, he joyfully proclaimed the Lord to all.

John the Baptist, as is often said, is a role model for all of us Christians who believed in the Lord. He humbly acknowledged the superiority of the Lord, who grew in glory and majesty, while he declined in importance. Even after his own disciples complained about the fact, he told them the truth about Jesus, who He was and what great things He would do, for the salvation of all mankind.

We should follow the examples of John the Baptist, that we also be humble before the Lord, especially in full awareness of our sins and our unworthiness, despite which our Lord and God Jesus Christ still came to save us. John the Baptist showed us how to lead a Christian life. We cannot be Christians if we do not proclaim Christ in our life, be it through our words, deeds, or actions. We should be always ever ready to confess that Christ is the Lord and the Saviour, that all will also believe in Him, much as how John convinced his followers that Jesus is the Christ and the Lord.

But today, there are even many more things we should talk about, because today is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, commemorating the many millions today who are refugees away from their homeland, because of war, because of hatred and injustice, and because of prejudice and lack of love among mankind. Also commemorated today are the migrants who had gone away from their homeland to a new land, often far far away, for many reasons, most important of which are for economic reasons and also to seek peaceful life away from warfare.

As mentioned in the prophesy of Isaiah in the first reading, the coming of the Messiah was also associated with the reunion of the people of God who had been scattered throughout the world in exile. The coming of Christ was supposed to bring forth the peace and harmony, which would see that mankind no longer hate or despise one another, but instead live in harmony and love.

Yes, that is what we expect will happen, when the Lord who had come in Jesus Christ and died for our sins, comes again for the second time, when He will come as a victorious and conquering king, to bring all those who are faithful to Him into His eternal kingdom, where there will be no more hatred, divisions, or violence. Nevertheless, for us who are in this world, who still live in this world before this time, unfortunately this world is still very much in a mess.

If you follow the world news, you will realise that in many parts of the world, if not most, there are still much hatred, violence, and prejudice which existed between mankind, between one person and another, and between peoples. The world is rife with rivalry between human interests, either for land, or for more natural resources, and for many other reasons, including greed.

People were driven from their homes and their land, because violence often still ruled the day. As we all know what had happened recently in places such as Libya and Syria, especially what is still happening now in Syria, where thousands upon thousands die because of the violence there, because of the disregard for human life, and hatred for the others, that is hatred against those considered to be different to one’s group and therefore abominable.

Men fought one another and slaughter the innocent, because love has yet to take root in them, and many parts of the world if not most are still subject to this evil. And the result was pain, sorrow, and death. Many had to be driven from their homes and the land which they had inherited from their forefathers, and which they had lived in so peacefully until recently.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is love, peace, and harmony, and He has given to us His peace and His love. While we await for His second coming in glory, it is actually our part to play, in order to bring peace and love to our brethren, especially to whom peace and love had been taken away, such as our migrant and refugee brethren. They need peace, as well as our love and care. For it is often that they lost everything when they were forced off their land, and they had nothing.

Therefore brethren, let us show our faith and dedication to the Lord who loves us all and wants us to be reunited to Him, by showing our love to the refugees and migrants of this world, especially if any of them are present in our societies. Let us not follow the trend of this world, that is to shun them and cast them out of our societies, making them into a ghetto of refugees and migrants. We should instead help them, and talk to them, and then we will understand better the difficulties they had faced.

Let us then not close our hearts to the plight of the migrants and refugees, and seek to welcome them as our fellow brothers and sisters, helping them in any way we can to help alleviate their sufferings. Let us proclaim the love of God to them and to all men, following in the footsteps of John the Baptist, who proclaimed Jesus as the Lord and Messiah to all people he taught.

May we all then proclaim the Lord as our God, as one people, and seek to heal any divisions, pains, or sufferings that exist among us, that we may let go of any hatred or negative feelings, and instead embrace the way of peace, the way of the Lord. May God bring us together, as fellow brothers and sisters in the unity of God’s loving family, and may we all be blessed forever. Amen!

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Saturday, 18 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

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

Today brethren, we heard about how God had chosen Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the king over His people Israel, and how He instructed Samuel, His prophet and servant, to deliver His will to Saul and later on, to let it be known to the people.

He anointed Saul through His servant Samuel, that Saul be filled with His own Spirit bearing power and authority, that He be granted wisdom and power, which came from God, to lead the people of God through righteous life and obedience to the Lord, and make sure that the people of God faithfully keep the laws and commandments of God without turning from them or abandoning them.

But sadly, Saul, and many other kings of Israel did not remain faithful to God, and followed their own ways and desires, in ruling the people, misusing the power given to them and the authority entrusted to them. They became tyrants and abusers of power, serving their own needs and desires instead of serving the people of God.

The people of Israel were eventually lost and were scattered all over the world, after their kingdoms of Israel and Judah were destroyed by their enemies. They went into exile, and only a portion would eventually return to their Promised Land, and began anew, trying to once again obey the will of God and not walk the path of sinfulness as their ancestors had under the rule of the corrupt kings.

God resolved to show His infinite love for His people and for all mankind, the most beloved of all His creations, by sending to us His ultimate form of love, that is, Jesus Christ, His own Son, the Logos, the Word of God, who was made man, by the power of God, and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus, as Lord, is the true King of all, for God is the true King over all creations, the Lord and King over all the universe. From God all authority and power comes.

But Jesus showed all of us, that true kingship is not one based on the abuse of power or tyranny. Even though He was Lord of all and King of all kings, and have all the power and authority He needed, He never showed them off or used them to push things to His advantage. The kingship of Jesus is one of true service for His people, to care and love them very, very much, so much that He even was willing to lay down His own life for them.

He also came to seek the lost and the ones without hope. He came to bring light to those who live in the darkness, especially those who were deeper and even deeper in darkness. That was why, when He came, He sought those who were sinful and considered the troubles of the society, the hated enemies of the people. Yes, people such as tax collectors, prostitutes, and those possessed by illnesses and the evil spirits.

Jesus came to bring them to the comfort of the light of God, and to show that they too deserve redemption, even more so because they were so deep in the risk of damnation. He also made the point that these people were truly capable of great deeds and great piety, even more than those who outwardly showed brilliant faith, but inside were not as brilliant as they seemed to be.

That was why, He as the King who has authority over us, and who is like a father to all of us, came to correct things as well as perceptions of the society, that we should not judge others based on their appearance or their deeds in the past. Yes, the likes of Saul, who was very tall and handsome, who seemed like the perfect choice for a regal king, and yet failed miserably, and the likes of the Pharisees, who outwardly showed faith in God but in their hearts there were no love for God, but only for themselves.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called by our King, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the beacons of light shining the way for those who have been lost in the darkness of this world. Let us imitate Jesus and seek out those who have been condemned and villified by the society, those ostracised and hated. Let us not hate or be prejudiced against them, but instead embracing them, that we show to them the love of God, that they too may believe and therefore be saved together with us.

May the Lord put in our hearts, the courage to embrace the least of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are looked down upon by the society, and those who are unloved and rejected. May God be with all of us, that together, we may help one another to find a way to seek the light, our King, the One and only True King, Jesus Christ our Lord and God! Amen.

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Friday, 17 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White (Priests and Abbots)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we reflect on the kingship and authority of the Lord, and how it can be compared to the authority of kings, princes, and any other earthly powers and authorities. We heard today of the clamour and the request of the people of Israel, that they be granted a king to rule over them, as lord to be their king and protector, much in the same way that their neighbours and other states have kings and princes to rule over them.

Continuing the catechesis in the theme of the prophet Samuel, during his ministry, Samuel faced much difficulties in dealing with the people of Israel, as even though they revered him as the prophet of the Lord, and following the way of the Lord as he ruled them as the judge of the Lord, they were not satisfied, and as before, had been bought over by the forces of the world. They clamoured for and desired for things of the world, including modelling themselves after the ways of the world.

This, even despite the fact that they had been chosen by the Lord, as a chosen race, and a chosen people. They were set aside from others, to be the ones whom God loved the most, as the chosen ones among His creation. Yet, they continuously fought against His will and chose to walk on their own way, and persistently asked to be given a king to rule over them, chosen from among them.

The people of Israel had no king over them, because the Lord their God is their King, the One who lead them and the only One who truly have authority over them. Indeed, the Lord God is not just the King of Israel, but also King over the entire universe, that is over the entire creation. He is Lord over all creation, and therefore over all mankind, over all states and dominions.

The Lord is the font of power and authority, from whom alone power and authority may come. Without the Lord, there can be no true power or authority, but instead there will often be tyranny or abuse of power. That was what the prophet Samuel warned the people about, to try to dissuade them from the foolishness of insisting having a king over them. The people did not listen to him.

The king as the leader of the people of Israel would have enormous dominion and power over his people, and by the standards of monarchical rule at the time, kings and their authority are often absolute. The word of the king is often law and unchallengeable. Thus, the people could not just refuse or reject any orders, demands, or desire from their respective kings.

As long as the king is faithful to the Lord, and lead them in his own behaviour and actions in accordance with the will of God, the people would prosper and be blessed, just as long as the people would stay faithful to the Lord. However, if the king is not faithful to the Lord and refuse to worship Him, and instead follow his own way in things, then great suffering and tragedy would happen to the people of God.

A clear example would be the behaviour of the first king himself. The king whom had been demanded by the people of God, led them to ruin and condemnation. For Saul, although supposedly was anointed king over Israel, but he did not remain faithful throughout his reign. While the prophet Samuel passed to him the will and commandments of the Lord, Saul did not fully obey them, and let his human judgments to allow him to corrupt the power he had been entrusted with.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This often repeated phrase is indeed true in this case. Saul abused the power and authority given to him, and he began to act tyrannically and without the spirit of the Lord in him. It was not only king Saul, but in fact, many of the kings of Israel, especially the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel after division of Israel, were tyrants and wicked people, who brought the people of God to sin even more before the eyes of God.

It may seem that having kings over them might be a very bad choice for the people of Israel, but in fact, not all kings were bad rulers and unfaithful. The king David and Solomon for example, as well as some of the kings after them, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, were faithful and zealous kings, who followed the commandments of the Lord and exercised their power as the vicar of the Lord. They acted justly and in accordance with the will of God, and the people were blessed by God during their reign.

In the end, God would not let the devil to corrupt and destroy His beloved people, for the truth about the Lord is that God is love! He loves us completely and could not have given Himself to abandon and destroy us on purpose. It is often our own actions and deeds that condemned and doomed us rather than any divine actions. God cares for us, and He truly loves us.

That was why, to fulfill the promise He made to mankind, as well as other promises He had made to David his servant, which He made clearly known through the numerous prophets and messengers He sent over the ages, He came down upon the world, to be one of us, and to reassume the kingship He had over His people, that He, the true King and King over all other kings and lords, would once again lead their people.

Jesus came bearing the message of love, and love He had shown for mankind, by showing the authority He had over spirits and illnesses, and also the authority over sin and its forgiveness. He is Lord, God who was made into flesh by His own power. Yet the people continued in their resistance against Him, and they rejected Him, even though He, their King, had come to them to liberate them from the tyranny of sin and evil.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony, also known as St. Anthony the Great, a well-known abbot and religious, who lived during the late period of the Roman Empire in what is now the present day Egypt. St. Anthony was one of the first monks, who sought life in seclusion from the world and one of complete dedication to the Lord. That was why St. Anthony pioneered the trend which became common in the years after him, of those going into the wilderness and the desert to seek that consolation and relationship with God through prayer.

St. Anthony was often at odds with the devil and his forces, in his piety and constant life of prayer, dedicated to God who loved mankind. The devil often opposed St. Anthony during his various journeys and sojourns in the desert, even at times striking him physically and threatening him with considerable danger. Nevertheless, St. Anthony never feared the devil, not even a bit, and laughed off his attacks.

That was because St. Anthony had complete and deep faith in God and in His power, who has all the authority that there is in heaven or on earth. That was why St. Anthony often rebuked Satan by saying that despite all the challenges, temptations, and threats that he posed on St. Anthony, he has no authority or power whatsoever over him, and that the Lord protects all those who remain faithful to Him, and remain in His love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to emulate the exemplary faith of St. Anthony? And his love of the Lord? That he and many others had gone into seclusion just so that they could be truly with God and dedicated their lives to Him? We do not have to go to the extent of leaving everything we have and going to the wilderness as St. Anthony had done, but what we can learn from him are his examples in life and his attitude towards faith.

We must be dedicated to our Lord, brethren, for we cannot hope to both dedicate ourselves to the Lord and to the devil. Our faith in God must be genuine, and we should always seek out for the Lord in our lives, as St. Anthony had done. That is why it is important for us, every single day, to spend some time with God in prayer. St. Anthony’s devotion and strong prayer life protected him from the machinations of the devil.

The Lord too will therefore be with us and guide us, if we pray often, and if we pray devoutly, and dedicate ourselves completely to Him. May our Lord and God, Jesus Christ the King, bless us, strengthen us, and protect us, that our faith may be strong and our love may be truly genuine and tender, just as that which St. Anthony had. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 16 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

It was said indeed, that the people of Israel were fortunate, for among the many nations of this world, they had been chosen to be the people of God, after the Lord chose Abraham their forefather, for his upright life and righteousness. To his descendants therefore God promised many things that He fulfilled, giving them great numbers that spread throughout the world, and to Israel, the descendants of Jacob the grandson of Abraham, He chose to be a chosen people.

God chose His people among the many nations, and deliver them out of their suffering and slavery in Egypt with strong power and miraculous glory. He smote those who tried to destroy His people, by sending a deliverer to them in the person of Moses, who with his brother Aaron performed great miracles, that were plagues to smite the Egyptians, as well as to provide for the people of God with sustenance while they were in the desert.

God Himself set His commandments and laws before His people, through Moses, in the form of the Ten Commandments, written by God on two pieces of stone, which were then placed in a great container called the Ark of the Covenant. It was holy because the two stones inside bearing the words of the Commandments had been forged by God Himself. The Ark was to represent the divine presence in this world, God who walked among His people.

To the Promised Land He led them, into the land of overflowing milk and honey, where they were to enjoy endless happiness and joy, much like the glory allotted for our first ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, before they fell into sin. And yet, the people of God too did not remain faithful, but was even worse, by falling for the false gods and idols, first by worshipping the golden calf which they made, blaspheming that it was the golden calf that brought them out of Egypt.

And even though they were disciplined many, many times by the Lord, through plagues and attacks by their enemies, the people of God remained in their stubbornness. They rebelled against the Lord again and again, even complaining that they had much better life back in slavery in Egypt, and made complaints after complaints of their difficult journey that God made them wonder around the desert for forty years, until all the generation of rebels save for some who remained faithful would perish and not receive the reward of the Land of Promise.

However, as angry and wrathful as God was for the sins and the disobedience of His people, He still loved them beyond His wrath and anger. Yes, just as He still loves all of us despite His hatred for sins and our sinfulness. He did not abandon them or ignore them, when the enemies of His people came hard on them and made them suffer. He sent them judge after judge to lead His people and deliver them from their enemies.

Nevertheless, just as before, the people went back again to their rebellious and sinful ways right after they had been saved. They were like children given gifts by their parents without even showing gratitude. They spurned God’s love and persisted in their opposition against God’s will. They often did not listen to the words of the Lord or His judges, and did things evil and wicked in the eyes of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was why God showed that He would abandon them and let them be destroyed if they continued in their rebellious way. The sons of the judge and priest Eli had led the people in their disobedience and wicked acts against God. The people of Israel was defeated in their battle against the Philistines, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the enemy.

This did not mean that God purposely wanted to destroy His people, but in His love for His children and His people, He wanted to remind them, a kind of shock therapy, reminding them how it would be like to have the Lord absent from their midst, marked with the loss of the Ark of the Covenant. God also punished the Philistines and they were terrified by the Ark among them, and therefore they were obliged to return the Ark to the people of Israel.

And in today’s Gospel we heard about Jesus our Lord went about healing the sick, those who fell ill with the abominable leprosy. He made the man clean and pure again from his leprosy. Jesus is the new Ark of the Covenant, one that is eternal and absolute. If the first Ark of the Covenant was the earthly Ark and which was lost when the First Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC.

Jesus is the new Ark as He made the new covenant between God and mankind, sealed by the sacrifice of Himself, with the outpouring of His Body and Blood on the cross, the perfect sacrifice and offering which He offered for the purification and our redemption of our sins, making us whole once again in God. And from the lessons learnt from the First Ark, we can understand more about the Eternal Ark that is Jesus, as well.

If we remain faithful to the Lord and keep Him always close to our hearts, then He will also bless us with His grace, and He will make our fortunes to grow plentiful. But, as with the First Ark, if we remain persistent and adamant in our rebellion against Him and refuse to acknowledge Him as our Lord and refuse His love, then He will leave us to our fate, that is destruction and eternal suffering, to suffer forever with Satan and his fellow fallen angels who were destined to suffer in the lake of fire.

Therefore, brethren, let us continue our efforts to remain faithful in the Lord, that we will continue to persevere to walk in His ways despite the temptations and challenges from the world. Through Jesus, God had made Himself available to all, and He dwells among us, for God is with us, and we will never be separated again from Him, if we ourselves keep our faith in Him alive and well.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, God who dwells among us, keep us in His love and embrace, that we will always belong to Him, and never have to fear again the consequences of our evils, that is death. May the Lord bless us and be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.

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Wednesday, 15 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Today we heard of the famous call which God made to the prophet Samuel, when he was still a child. Samuel, who was still an innocent child and not knowing the purpose which God has given to him, was called and Samuel responded. Samuel was called to be the one to deliver God’s message to His people and to let them know His will.

The people had steered away from the path of the Lord and engaged in activities wicked in the eyes of God, following what their neighbours were doing, and worshipping pagan gods and idols instead of their Lord and God. The priest and judge appointed over the Lord’s people at the time, Eli, was already very old and his sons did wicked things before God even though they were priests and leaders of the people.

Hence Samuel was called to be the servant of God, to bend once again God’s people to His will and to make them a righteous people once again. Even before his birth, he had been pledged by his mother Hannah, to the service of the Lord, in thanksgiving for hearing her prayer for children. Samuel, entrusted to the Lord and through Eli’s care, grew great and wise, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the calling of Samuel in today’s first reading, we did not hear the content of the message which God told to Samuel. Nevertheless, the key message from what God had told Samuel was that He was angry with the wickedness of the people of God, especially with those of the two sons of Eli, whose wicked deeds were loathsome to God, and that He would make Samuel to be a great prophet and leader of His people.

God loves us and He cares for all of us like a father loves his children and his family. After all, He created us as the last and the greatest of all His creations, destined for great things and eternal happiness, to fill the earth with all of us and rule the world as the stewards of God’s beautiful creations. This beautiful order of nature and our inheritance was disturbed when the evil one brought sin onto our ancestors, by tempting them to rebel against God’s commandments, disguised as sweet words of lie.

That was why God who loved us beyond anything else in creation, for we have been created in His very own image, wants us to be made worthy again and purified from the taints that evil had brought upon us. God sent His messengers and heralds to help bring us back into line, prodding us along the way to change our ways and return to the loving embrace of our God.

All of these essentially have the same message for all of us, including what Jesus had done in His ministry when He was still in this world. This message is that God calls us to be once again His complete and unblemished possessions, that we will once again walk in His ways and not follow the ways of the devil. He sent His own Son into this world precisely in order to do that. He gave us hope in Jesus, through His life, death, and finally resurrection, as the beacon of light and triumph leading us out of the darkness and back into the light.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as Samuel was called by God in his sleep, let us also reflect on what had happened, and how Samuel was taught to respond to the Lord’s call by Eli. When the Lord calls, we should answer, I am here Lord, Your servant is listening, much in the same way as Samuel had done. And we have the advantage over Samuel in fact, because much had been revealed to us by none other than our Lord Jesus, who revealed to us the truth about Himself and the hope He brought to us.

In our world today and in our lives, many of us have often forgotten about the Lord, and His call had not been heard by us, in the great noise of our hectic lifestyle, and the things of the world that surround us. The voice of the Lord speaking in our hearts is often drowned out by the world and its noise, which apparently offered us options and alternatives more delectable to us as compared to what the Lord offers us.

Let us break free from the bonds of evil and be liberated from the falsehood that had been planted by the devil within us. Do not be afraid to answer when the Lord calls upon us. Answer Him with courage and confidence and put our listening ear closely upon His words. It is often important for us to take off some time from our busy life and spend time regularly with our Lord and God.

That is why, it is important for us to pray. Prayer is not just a long litany of self-praise or requests to be made to the Lord, hoping or even demanding that God will fulfill what we want. This is not prayer, but empty words. We have to pray often, and in praying means, to let God speak to us just as we talk to Him quietly within our hearts. We have to seek to know Him just as He knows about everything that we are.

Pray, and pray often and pray right, brethren! Open our hearts to the Lord and listen to Him speaking and calling upon us! Let Him come and transform us, that all of us will become truly worthy, and truly glorified in Christ, and when He comes again in His glory, may we all be ready to answer Him when He calls on us, with a firm and solid, “Here I am Lord! Your servant is listening!” God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 January 2014 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast of the Church, commemorating the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Jordan river by St. John the Baptist. This baptism marked the beginning of the ministry of our Lord Jesus, after thirty years of His life in this world since He was born.

A detail on the early life of Jesus besides His birth, presentation at the Temple and the time when He was left behind in the Temple at twelve was scarce and absent, but it was likely that He lived normally as any man would, under the care of His loving family, Mary His mother and Joseph, His foster-father. He would have lived normally as any sons of a carpenter would live, learning and understanding the world from Joseph, His foster-father.

Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptised by John because it had been prophesied as such by the prophets, and it therefore the very first instance when Christ the Saviour was revealed to the world, the very first instance when many could see and hear the witness of God’s sign of salvation. The truth about God and His saving plan was made clear at that moment when Jesus was baptised.

God made His Son, Jesus Christ to be the Christ or the Messiah, or the Saviour of the world. That was because it was only in Christ that the world could be freed from the chains of sin and evil that had enslaves it since the time when sin first entered the world. And all those who believe in Him would receive the great reward of salvation.

In that event too, God made obvious His nature for the world to see. First, that He is the one and only true God as opposed to all other false gods. He is the one and only supreme Lord and King of all, as the One who created this universe and everything in it, including all of us. But in this Oneness and unity, He has three Divine persons, all coexisting with each other in perfect unity, Three distinct persona, but One in nature and in perfect and indivisible unity.

Yes, what was shown in the event of the baptism of Jesus was what we know as the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity. God that is One and yet has Three distinct persona of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of them are God, and One. The Father is the aspect of God as the Creator and the Omnipotent ruler and Lord of all things, while the Son, who was the Word of God made flesh, is the One who made things come to be, including the creation as well as the plan of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the force and power behind all things and all creation, as well as the life that God has given us.

The Father is not seen or visible to us, as He was portrayed in the Old Testament as a burning bush to Moses, or as a gentle wind to Elijah. It was often His voice that was heard, speaking His will to the prophets or directly to the people of God. Meanwhile, the Son who was the Word of God since the beginning of time and before that, was made known to us, in the person of Jesus Christ, incarnate as a Man, to become the Saviour of the world.

The Holy Spirit was also not directly seen like the Father, but is often portrayed as the flames of fire symbolising the flames of the Spirit of God, just as what happened in Pentecost, as well as a dove, which is the form that the Spirit took when Jesus was baptised at the Jordan. Thus, the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, recalling the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan.

How is this important to us? That is because when we were baptised, we were immersed with the water of baptism much like Jesus as He was immersed in the waters of the River Jordan. And not only that, to show that our baptism is not symbolic, but instead a Sacrament, we were all sealed in the Most Holy Name of the Holy Trinity, to be the possessions of the Lord, and marked for His saving grace, which He had revealed to the world through Jesus.

Jesus Christ was unique among every beings that had ever been in creation and in this universe. That is because He is one Being with two distinct natures, one that is fully divine and the other that is fully human, the two natures of which are united much in the same way the Holy Trinity is united to each other, perfectly united in love and indivisible from one another.

The divine nature of Christ is the One who had existed before all ages with God and was God, the Logos or the Word of God, who came down into the world, and with the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, was conceived into the world in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, and that was the time, when His human nature, that is Jesus Christ, becomes extant.

The two natures had always existed together in Jesus, but as He grew as a baby and then as a young child, the complete truth about His appointed mission in this world was not revealed to Jesus. Nevertheless, He grew to be great with wisdom and knowledge as He aged, and whatever had been taught to Him by His family in this world. It was however at His baptism in the Jordan, when the Trinity once again come together, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that the fullness of the divine mission of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was made completely clear.

Hence, it can be said that this is the moment of new beginning in the earthly life of Christ. He began His ministry and teaching the Good News for the next three years or so, gathering His disciples and performing miracles and healing for the glory of God. It marked the beginning of the period of great graces of God, just as it does for all of us.

When we were baptised, we were marked to be the possessions of the Lord, that the mark of the Lord will remain for us for the rest of our lives. We were made completely clean once again, without any taints of sin with the water of baptism, and most important of all, we are all made children of God upon our baptism. But then we cannot just be idle or engage again in sinfulness, as we were indeed made clean upon baptism, but there also began our journey of faith towards the ultimate salvation in God, just as Jesus embarked upon His ministry.

May the Lord our God remind us of our holy baptism, of the time when we were made His children and welcomed into the Church, today, when we celebrate the baptism of His Son at the Jordan. May we remember always the water of baptism that made us whole again and worthy of the Lord, that we will resolve from now on to continue living in faith and devotion to God, without turning to the left or right.

Stay faithful, brethren, and as we rejoice in the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also remember our own day of baptism! Yes, when we were made glorified as the children of God! God bless us all. Amen.