seeds of faith

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Monday, 10 August 2015 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Corinthians 9 : 6-10

Remember : the one who sows meagrely will reap meagrely, and there shall be generous harvests for the one who sows generously. Each of you should give as you decided personally, and not reluctantly as if obliged. God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to fill you with every good thing, so that you have enough of everything at all times, and may give abundantly for any good work. Scripture says : He distributed, he gave to the poor, his good works last forever.

God who provides the sower with seed will also provide him with the bread he eats. He will multiply the seed for you and also increase the interests of your good works.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 36-43

At that time, Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one.”

“The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the angels. Just as the weeds are pulled up and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil.”

“And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.”

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Friday, 24 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 13 : 18-23

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the kingdom, but does not take it seriously, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is seed that fell along the footpath.”

“The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word, and accepts it at once with joy. But such a person has no roots, and endures only for a while. No sooner he is harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.”

“The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil, it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this seed bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”

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Wednesday, 28 January 2015 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the famous parable of the sower in the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ to the people. This parable told us of the gifts of God’s love in all of us, and what can happen to that gift, either be it for out own good, for our benefit, or whether it will become dead and useless, meaningless for the sake of our salvation. It is all truly entirely up to us, in our own actions in life, on what will become of the gifts which God had given us all.

In the first reading we are told of the action of God, who by the singular act of our Lord Jesus Christ had made the impossible possible for all of us. While we were once sinners who deserved only death and damnation, He had brought us out from the precipice of death, through the loving sacrifice of our Lord Himself, who had borne all of our sins at once, and carry that cross of sin, of shame and of damnation upon His shoulders to Calvary.

And by that act, we were all saved. Redemption was given to us and salvation is offered freely to us, if only we believe in what Christ had done for us, that is God’s love. And it is therefore, in this that we should see how God had planted His love within us all. Through Jesus, He had revealed unto us, the seeds of faith, the seeds of love, and the seeds of hope, which all of us, upon our acceptance of the Good News of the Gospels, receive from the Lord Himself, who is the Sower of those seeds.

But what we all should realise is that, those seeds need something to be able to grow. As all farmers should know, that Jesus was referring to them by that parable, so that they might be able to understand His intentions. That intention was that to show mankind how our faith requires an active participation and contribution by all of us without exception. And this is perfectly shown by the parable of the sower.

In rich soil, the seeds will prosper and grow well, and very well indeed, bearing many and many more fruits and results than what had been planted. Such will also be our reward, rich and plentiful, should we decide to walk in the way of the Lord. Our Lord and God will never disappoint us, and He will always guide us and be with us, just like the farmer taking care of its good crops. But bad crops He will uproot and destroy.

And even worse, for many people, the seeds would not even have the chance to grow and develop, for the various reasons summarised in the parable of the sower. For some, the seeds of faith, hope and love did not even manage to take root at all, unable to penetrate the hardness of the hearts of some of us. Yes, just as the Israelites in the past had hardened their hearts against God, and just as the Pharaoh had hardened his heart against the Israelites, so are many of us who have dwelled too long in our pride, in our prejudice, our greed and desires, so that we have no place for God at all within us.

And from among those whom the seeds had been sown in, there are those who are so concerned with worldly things, to the point that they are unable to fully commit to the Lord’s way and teachings. To them, the temptation of the world is too much and too good for them to ignore, and therefore, they gave in to the temptations of Satan, much like weeds growing around the crops and choking them to death, and thus they bore no fruit at all, and have no part in God’s salvation.

Today, we celebrate the feast of a great saint of the Church, that is of St. Thomas Aquinas, the great Doctor of the Church and the revolutionary philosopher saint who advanced greatly the Theology of the Church, by showing through his brilliant mind, the truth of God made real and concrete, and many understood the true meaning of their faith through his works.

St. Thomas Aquinas told us that there is much we do not know about the Lord, and that we can understand Him by observing what we have around us in the world, through the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas developed greatly the understanding on the nature of God, and what He had done for us through His various graces. And that is exactly by understanding the Lord, that we may grow stronger in faith and empower ourselves, that our lives will be made richer and the seeds of faith, hope and love our Lord planted in us may grow and be strong.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, shall we seek to overcome the temptations of this world and cast out all forms of worldliness from our lives? Shall we seek to be closer to the Lord our God by striving to know Him better? Surely we all can put in more effort to be closer to our God and strive to live according to what He had told us.

Let us all therefore work hard to provide ourselves with the optimum environment and condition necessary for the faith in us to grow, for the hope in us to blossom, and for the love in us to bear forth great fruits. That is why, with the inspiration from St. Thomas Aquinas, we should all seek to understand our faith more deeply, by regularly reading the Holy Scriptures and learning the teachings of the Church.

By doing so, therefore we have strengthened the faith within us, and then we should bring forth that same faith, that same hope and love in our actions, and then truly that seed which had been planted in us will bear rich fruits that will be truly thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold and even more. May Almighty God witness the faith we have for Him, through what we have done to one another, and may He bless us always with His rich graces. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 January 2015 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 4 : 1-20

At that time, again Jesus began to teach by the lake; but such a large crowd gathered about Him, that He got into a boat and sat in it on the lake, while the crowd stood on the shore. He taught them many things through parables. In His teaching He said, “Listen! The sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some of the seed fell along a path, and the birds came and ate it up.”

“Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil; it sprang up immediately because it had no depth; but when the sun rose and burned it, it withered because it had no roots. Other seed fell among thornbushes, and the thorns grew and choked it, so it did not produce any grain.”

“But some seed fell on good soil, grew and increased and yielded grain; some seed produced thirty times as much, some sixty, and some one hundred times as much.” And Jesus added, “Listen then, if you have ears.”

When the crowd went away, some who were around Him with the Twelve asked about the parables. He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But for those outside, everything comes in parables, so that the more they see, they do not perceive; the more they hear, they do not understand; otherwise they would be converted and pardoned.”

Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those along the path, where the seed fell, are people who hear the word, but as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”

“Other people receive the word like rocky ground. As soon as they hear the word, they accept it with joy, but they have no roots, so it lasts only a little while. No sooner does trouble or persecution come because of the word, than they fall. Others receive the seed, as seed among thorns. After they hear the word, they are caught up in the worries of this life, false hopes of riches and other desires. All these come in and choke the word, so that finally it produces nothing.”

“And there are others who receive the word as good soil. They hear the word, take it to heart and produce : some thirty, some sixty and some one hundred times as much.”

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Sunday, 16 November 2014 : 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Gertrude, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we come together to celebrate this occasion of the holy day of our Lord, and we listened to the good words of the Sacred Scriptures. In today’s readings, the theme is all about who we are, and what we are supposed to do in this life of ours. For we are all the children of God, and therefore we are expected to life according to who the children of God are.

The first reading taken from the Book of Proverbs detailed how a good woman should behave, in the ways and actions she should do in life, and in how she should carry herself in the society of the people of God. However, this does not mean that this applies only to the females, but also to all of us. It is the kind of life that we all should lead, to be upright and just, to be careful in how we use our words, and in loving one another. Do you all remember that these were precisely what Jesus told us to do?

Then the psalm refers to blessings which God will bestow on those who fear the Lord and obey Him, and most importantly, those who do not just fear the Lord but also do His will and walk in His ways. This is a promise which He gave us, and if we are faithful, certainly we will not be disappointed. If we are faithful, then certainly we will need to do something to justify that faith, and not just merely staying idle or being so fearful of the Lord that we do not dare to do anything.

In the second reading, taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the faithful in Thessalonica, a frequent reminder to us is once again uttered. It is to remind us that the coming of the Lord will be totally unpredictable and will catch us all unprepared unless we have taken the necessary steps to make sure that when He comes again into this world as He had promised, He will not find us asleep, and instead find us all worthy, awake and filled with the fruits of our goodness to the brim.

And finally in the Gospel Reading, Jesus our Lord when He first came into this world told His disciples of the parable of the talents. A master of the house gave his ten servants five talents of silver, two talents, one talents and so on and so forth, before he embarked on a journey to become king in another country, and he would return one day to his house to settle matters, especially what he had given and invested in his servants.

The Gospel essentially summarised everything that the entirety of our myriads of readings today. In it, the parable of the silver talents represented exactly what had happened, what is happening now, and what will happen in the near, unpredictable future. The parable’s characters themselves represent the many characters that are present in this world, and who are those servants, to whom the master of the house had entrusted his silver? They are all of us, brothers and sisters.

The house itself is the world, and just as the servants lived in the house, entrusted with the care of the house while the master is gone, we have all been entrusted with this world as its stewards. Remember what the Lord had charged mankind with, at the beginning of time in the Book of Genesis. He made mankind the custodians of creation, giving all things and all creation to be under our stewardship, blessing us to multiply and fill all the earth.

He gave us many things, and for each of us, we are all different and unique. Each of us have different set of skills and abilities, and that is the wonders of our Lord and such is the grace of His creation of all of us, the most precious and beloved of all others He had crafted with His hands. He gave us life and even more, and all these are the food and drink with which the master of the house gave to his servants to sustain them.

The master of the house, is the Lord our God, for He is the Owner of the house that is this world, and He is also our Owner and Lord. And He came to us to grant us His gifts, like the master gave the silver talents to his servants. What are these gifts, brothers and sisters? It is the seeds of faith, the seeds of hope, and the seeds of love which He had planted in each one of us who believe.

Through baptism, we have been born anew and received new life in Christ. However, to all of us also have been given a task, a very important one indeed, that is to sow those seeds on fertile soil and allow them to grow healthy and strong, producing rich and plentiful fruits that will serve as our justification when the Lord comes back to this world at the end of time, at the time of His own choosing.

And the master left the house, to go into the kingdom where he was made the king of. The same happened to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was in fact speaking of what would happen in the immediate future at that time. Remember that Jesus went on to suffer in Jerusalem, enduring through His Passion and eventually was crucified at Golgotha and died for our sins?

Remember that after that He was risen from the dead on the third day, appearing to His disciples, and while reaffirming His promises and telling of His coming again at the end of time, He then ascended to heaven in glory? He went there to prepare the places for His servants and His faithful ones, but also to reclaim the Kingship which He had left behind when He chose to come down as a lowly human, to save us.

Thus, like the master of the house who left to be a king in a distant country, Jesus also went to be the King of all kings. Next week, on next Sunday to be precise, we will celebrate the Solemnity of Jesus Christ our Lord, King of the Universe. Therefore, the readings this Sunday, we can see as a prelude leading towards that great feast, the last one of this liturgical year. After that we will begin a new year cycle with the season of Advent.

And the readings for the ending of the liturgical year all have the same theme, that is about the future arrival of our Saviour and Lord, who will come again for the second time, at the end of time, which is a time that we do not know of, to judge all the people living and the dead. And this also ties in perfectly with the parable of the talents in our Gospel reading today.

Remember, that the master came back to the house after a long time for a reckoning. And was there anywhere mentioned that he trumpeted his return or announced it to the servants beforehand? Was there anywhere mentioned that the master sent a message announcing his coming to them? No, and that is indeed what will happen at the end of time for us.

Yes, we do not know when the Lord will come again. And St. Paul warned us in his letter, our second reading, that the Lord’s coming will be like a thief, unannounced, sudden and unexpected. He will come at a time when we least expect it, and whatever we have done in this life, and whatever we have not done in this life, and whatever just things or wicked things we have committed, all have been finalised and set in the book when He comes again.

Thus it is a good time for us to look back into our life, to all what we have done and what we have said. And it is a good time for us to begin to inspect our relationships with others around us, and most importantly, our relationship with our Lord and Master. Why is this so? So that when the time comes suddenly, and the Lord asks us of what we have done, we can proudly show Him and present Him with all the things we have done.

The master asked for all of his ten servants to give an account of what they have done with the silver talents they have been entrusted with. The first two servants gladly showed that they have doubled the silver talents they had been given, and they gave their master the amount they have gained. The master was happy and pleased, and showed his grace and favour upon them.

But the third servant feared his master and hid the silver talent rather than investing it and letting it to grow with profits. It clearly betrayed his contempt for his master and the gift of talent which had been given to him, allowing it to slumber and be hidden in a hiding place. And the master was angry, and casting him out into the darkness, he rebuked that unfaithful and lazy servant, and took what he had, and gave it to those who deserved it more.

It is therefore precisely what will happen when we come to face the Lord in the final judgment. Everything we have said or done in our life on earth will be placed spread out in front of God with nothing that we can hide. After all He knows everything we do, everything we ever thought of, and He can see deep into our hearts. Remember that He has placed the seeds of faith, hope and love within us? He will then ask us to account for those.

If we can show Him that we have allowed those seeds to germinate within us, and to allow them to grow on a rich and fertile soil, then our Lord will certainly praise us, and say to us, ‘Blessed of My Father, welcome into the kingdom which I have prepared for you.’ And we will enjoy the gifts which He had prepared for us. For we have been entrusted with life, and with love and all things, and we have been found worthy, and thus our reward is an immortality in perfect love and harmony with our God, an eternal bliss and happiness.

And some may ask, how do we do this? It is by knowing our faith, learning and understanding what it is about, by listening to the teachings of the Church faithfully and internalise them, so that from there, our understanding may be turned into action, and those actions will then, if we truly understand our faith and commit ourselves to it, represent faith, hope and love.

If we fail to do this, and instead, allow those gifts of God to remain dormant, or worse, to even wither and die, because of our wickedness and our persistence to remain in sin and darkness, then our Lord Jesus will say to us, ‘Begone, cursed and wicked ones! Be forever with Satan and his angels in the lake of eternal fire prepared for them!’ And we shall be forever sundered from the love of God, to suffer for eternity a life without faith, hope and love, an eternal suffering and agony in despair. And that is true hell.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is imperative that all of us do not leave this day behind without realising that if we have not done what we ought to do, then we should better start now. Never delay and never postpone anything! For all we know that, the Lord may come anytime, and if He comes when we are not ready, regret will not save us. Do not think that there is still a lot of time, but act as if He may come at this very moment.

How do we then, live our lives? We have to practice our faith as taught by Jesus concretely. First, we should look beyond ourselves and shatter the prison of our ego and selfishness. Look around us! There are many who needs our help, and most importantly our love and attention. Not all those who need help needs money or possessions. Many people remain unloved, ostracised, and hated in the society, and what we can do, is to offer our love for them.

Today’s two saints, St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Gertrude were both very pious and dedicated servants of God whose life examples we can emulate in our own. St. Margaret of Scotland was the Queen of Scotland, and yet she was renowned for her extensive charitable works and activities, and she was also very devoted in prayer, communicating frequently with God.

Meanwhile, St. Gertrude was devoted in her works and writings, through which her faith in the Lord became an inspiration for many who witnessed her life and read those works. Their examples should inspire us to do more for the sake of those around us, leading them ever closer to God through our own actions.

And lastly, of course, after we have loved one another, having hope in one another’s salvation, by knowing that we have done what is right, then we have to love our Lord and God beyond everything else. Yes, we have to love Him even more than we love ourselves. Then, our Lord and Master, at the day of reckoning, the Day of Judgment, will congratulate us, and lead us into His eternal kingdom, for us all to enjoy and be happy forever.

Let us all realise that each of us have been given different gifts, each according to our own abilities. And let us not let these gifts go dormant but rather that may all these benefit one another, through our actions of love. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-psalm/

 

Second Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/14/sunday-16-november-2014-33rd-sunday-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-margaret-of-scotland-and-st-gertrude-virgin-gospel-reading/

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Saturday, 20 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr; St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr; St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 8 : 4-15

As a great crowd gathered, and people came to Jesus from every town, He began teaching them with a story : “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water.

Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked Him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.”

“Now, this is the point of the parable : The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it, but immediately the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he does not want them to believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial.”

“Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it in a gentle and generous mind, and persevering patiently, they bear fruit.”

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Saturday, 26 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 24-30

Jesus told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”

“When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared. Then the servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?'”

“He answered them, ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them, ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them just grow together until harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the workers : Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.'”

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Friday, 25 July 2014 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Apostles and Martyrs)

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When the Lord brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o Lord, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Wednesday, 23 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded again of the need for us to grow in our faith, and learn to trust God in all the things He had planned and willed for each one of us in our respective lives. The Gospel today told us about the parable of the sower and the how various fates of the seeds were told, telling us in fact what happens to the faith within us if we respond or do not respond to it in a proper way.

Then in the first reading today we heard about the calling of the prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord had chosen to be His prophet and His messenger to the errant and disobedient people of God. The tasks facing Jeremiah were truly massive and difficult, and it was a great undertaking and responsibility which God had entrusted him to do. Jeremiah was right to be hesitant and to be uncertain about himself, as most men will do, but God showed how He will take care of him and guide him along the way.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, should expect the same kind of things to happen to us in our own lives. We should not be so concerned about our lives, and about what will happen to us on daily basis, to the point that we forget the various wonderful things that we may be able to do with all of our abilities and time that we have on our hands.

Each of us had been entrusted with the gift of faith, hope and love by God. All of us who are His children have been given these great gifts within us. Yes, these are the seeds, the very same seeds that Jesus had figuratively mentioned in His parable of the seeds and the sower. What happens to these gifts, and whether they languish in misuse and abandonment, or whether they grow mightily and wonderfully to become inspiration for all to see, is truly depending on our own actions in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we make good use of our faith in us, it will only grow. Then, if we share the hope in us and use it to bring hope to others, and if we love one another, and show others how to love, we all may only grow in standing before our Lord and God. This is exactly what happened when the seeds fell on the rich and fertile soil, where the seeds grow mighty and produce a great bounty beyond all expectations.

Yes, if we are truly faithful and practice that faith in our lives, then we shall reap rich rewards at the end of our lives. However, that is not an easy feat to do. There are numerous challenges that we will face in our lives. There are difficulties that are laid on our paths, if we choose the path of the Lord. But as we all know, and especially as all farmers and sowers should be familiar with, there is no easy way out or shortcut to get a bountiful harvest. Hard work and effort is required.

We have to make the effort to put out the weeds and all those that threaten to kill the progress and growth of the seed and the plant. Those weeds are the temptations of the flesh, and the pleasures of this world which seek to corrupt is and turn us away from the true and correct path in life. We have to destroy and cast away all these weeds from our lives, that they may not choke us with worries and selfishness.

Then we also have to grow deep roots, that we may avoid being crushed by the challenges and problems of this world. The deep roots of our faith will be necessary for us to draw strength from God, that our faith may not stumble and fall against the forces of darkness and evil arrayed against us. If our roots are not deep, that we will be easily swayed by Satan and his sweet lies.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden, also known as St. Brigitta, who was a Swedish lady who was a mother and dedicated family woman, who bore many children, and eventually, after the death of her husband, with the support of her daughter, she joined holy and devoted life to God. She established several religious vocations and orders, inspiring many to follow her examples.

St. Bridget of Sweden herself was very devoted to God, not just in words but also through concrete action. She devoted herself to love her neighbours and others around her, giving herself into charitable acts and works. She also inspired many by her pilgrimages, in which eventually she went to Rome and settled in the city of the Holy Apostles.

St. Bridget of Sweden faced many difficulties in her life, and she experienced rejection and refusal from many people, including accusations and harassment. However, she remained steadfast in her faith and in her total dedication to the Lord. And that was why, today, she was the perfect example for all of us in how we should live out our lives, and how we carry out ourselves that we may grow stronger in faith, hope and love.

Therefore, let us pray and hope devotedly to God, that He may bless us with strength and guidance, that the seeds of faith that God had sown in us will flourish and grow great, that in the end, we may be all found worthy of our Lord. May Almighty God bless us and guide us on our way. May He strengthen our faith always. Amen.