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Tuesday, 3 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the meaning of our faith. Our faith is not about being seen by others as pious or trying to outdo each other in piety. Rather, it is about obeying God’s commandment sincerely in our hearts. And it is also about listening to God’s will and humbling ourselves before Him rather than being judgmental on others and being unjust in our actions and deeds.

True expression of faith does not depend on external appearances or on the outward gestures of piety without true understanding of what the faith is truly about. God does not desire the punishment of the wicked and sinners, but instead the repentance and redemption of all of us mankind. And to this extent, He had sent Jesus His Son to remind all of His people of the need to change their ways and follow our Lord.

This is the essence of Lent, the season of recollection, the season of mercy and forgiveness, a time when we all should pull back from all of our busy schedules and hectic lives and instead seek to know more about the Lord, finding out more about His wishes and desires for us all, that is for us to abandon our sins and wickedness, and therefore for us to attain salvation and justification through our faith.

We are all called to come to realise the depth of our sins and all of the wrong things and mistakes which we have committed in life. It is easy for us to fall prey to the temptations of our pride and to the lures of our desires. Like the Pharisees, the scribes, the elders and the teachers of the Law, they took great pride in their supposed piety and strict observation of the extensive Law of the Jews.

But in their actions, and in how they lived their faith, they had failed miserably and greatly. This is because of the pride and the greed that covered their hearts and minds. They considered themselves righteous and just, and thinking that they alone were worthy of the salvation and the grace of God, to the point that they condemned all others around them, thinking that they all do not deserve salvation as they had received.

We are all reminded in this season of Lent, that we are all sinners, no matter be it small or great in terms of the sins we committed. Sins have entered into us since the day when we first disobeyed God, His will and His commandments. Even the greatest of the saints and the holiest of all God’s creations were all also once sinners, or even great sinners before.

What matters is therefore, if we look at it more carefully and closely, is the change of attitude and the change in our ways, that if we once walked in the path of sin, then now we would no longer remain in sin, but instead, seeking the true Light of Christ, we may be remade anew in righteousness and justice of the Lord. This is the essence of the repentance from sins, which all of us should aim for.

Our Lord and God is willing to help us and to forgive us from our sins, but only if we on our part also sincerely change our ways for the better, that is to sin no more but follow the Lord from now on through all of His teachings, and listen to what Jesus had told all of the people and His disciples in our today’s Gospel reading. This Lent, let us be thoroughly and completely transformed, from a creature of sin, into a creature and child of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 2 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, during this holy and penitential season of Lent, including that of today, we are always constantly reminded to be merciful, to forgive one another and to love each other tenderly. For our Lord, continues to love us despite of our sinfulness and wickedness. As He is willing to forgive our sins as long as we are sincere in our repentance and in our desire to change our evil ways.

It is highlighted today, that we all ought not to judge or accuse one another, but instead to set an example to all, following what God our Father has set for us. That is an example of love, love that triumphs over hate, over jealousy and over all forms of evil. This is the beginning of the break in the cycle of hatred and sin, which had bound us for so long while we are in this world.

For in our first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, it was highlighted, how our evil ways and rebelliousness are what had separated us from God. And it is a shameful thing, for us to persist in such a rebellion and in such an attitude. And yet, in this world today, there are still so much hatred, so much jealousy, so much human desire and all other forms of wickedness.

That is because we mankind are always sorely tempted, to think first about ourselves, to satisfy our own desires, and to neglect and ignore those who are around us. And when we love, we love not because we care, but rather because we desire returns. We only love those whom we have already cared, and whom we know that they will reciprocate our love.

To those whom we did not love, we often loathed them and wanted to have nothing to do with them. Thus hatred exists and was born into the world, for we have no love in us and we ignore the pleas of the unloved ones when we are in the capacity of being able to share our love and joy with them. It is why there is so much sorrow and sadness in the world, and all of us are partly to blame for it.

This Lent is the perfect time for us to rectify this, and for us to change our ways profoundly so that we would sin no more and keep no more hatred, jealousy, wickedness, and all other evils in our heart, but instead denouncing and rejecting them and replace them with love. Yes, replace them with the love which comes from the Lord, a beautiful and harmonious love, love that knows no conditions but purely made out of care and concern for one another.

Our Lord has often said that the greatest form of love is for someone to give up his or her own life for the sake of her friends. And indeed, that was what the Lord had done, as He gave up His life for us on the cross, carrying the burdens of our sins with Him, as He climbed up the steep and harsh path to Calvary. And did He die for us who are already righteous? No! He died for us while we are still sinners, and this very fact was also highlighted by St. Paul, who wanted to show us how selfless and great the love God had shown us all.

Sinners, be it with great sin or small sin, all are equal before the Lord. All are equally loved by God, who desires nothing else other than their repentance, that is our rescue from the depths of our wicked existence, which would have led us to destruction and annihilation, and our eternal separation in agony from God. This He does not want to happen to us, and that is why He showed us such great mercy and love.

What can we do now, brothers and sisters? This season of Lent is the perfect opportunity for us to change our ways, so that we should use this chance to reflect on our actions. Have we been selfish in our dealings with others and thinking only to preserve ourselves or satisfy our own desires? Have we done something to help others around us who need our help when we are able to?

May this Lent we will be able to be closer to our Lord and do things that will benefit one another. Let us seek to love each other unconditionally and with genuine love out of our hearts. Let us forgive each other our faults to one another and seek harmony and peace in all things. May God bless us all in this endeavour. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continuing from yesterday’s theme on obedience to the Law of God, and on the theme of love, both for God and for our fellow men, then today we delve even deeper into the theme, through the elaboration by Jesus, on how we ought not to choose whom we should love and show our care and concern, but in fact to everyone without bias, even though some of them might have caused us hurt and sorrow before.

Love should be impartial and just. We should not love because we want to be loved back. That is because that kind of love is a selfish love. We want to be loved and to enjoy certain benefits, and therefore we love. But once the incentive to love is removed, can we sustain the same kind of love we had shown? Love that is tied with condition and love that is serving ourselves will not last.

That is because that kind of love demands returns, and if that love is not reciprocated or replied upon equally, then what remains is indeed hatred, jealousy, or any other negative feelings and ill will, which often had caused so much bitterness in our world even today. Many people did such bad things to one another because of the lack of love in the hearts of men.

Instead, we should imitate the love which our Lord and God has for us, that so great is His love, that He did not just show it to us through the outpouring of grace, mercy and forgiveness, as well as in all the blessings He had given us, but in fact, He gave even Himself, as the willing Sacrifice, for the reparation of our sins, and therefore to bring us out of the pits of sin and death.

For we have been marked for death, by our disobedience and refusal to listen and obey to the will of God, and for our refusal to walk in His ways and obey His laws. We should have been cast to the uttermost darkness and suffering for our wickedness, but God had mercy on us because of His love. He hates our sins and evils, but He still loves us all dearly.

And that was why He was willing to make the act of ultimate love, in order to deliver us all from certain destruction. That love is unconditional and perfect. He did not expect us to love Him first before He laid down His life for us on the cross. And it is that love which liberated us from the pain of death and the suffering caused by our sinfulness. It is the kind of love which we need to learn and which we need to emulate and practice in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reflect on our own lives, on our own words and actions. Have we loved everyone without prejudice, and without bias? Have we been loving others without conditions attached? If we are unable to do all these, then we are still chained and enslaved to our desires. And as long as this is the case, then we are not going to go anywhere.

Can we devote more time towards love in this Lenten season? That means we should exhibit and show more love, care and concern for one another, loving those who are unloved and rejected by the society. Let us love without partiality and without bias. Forgive one another and change our ways. Repent from our sins and be cleansed from our sinfulness. May Almighty God be with us always, bless us and guide us on our way. Amen.

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Friday, 27 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the reality of our life and our faith, that we have to live up to our faith. We cannot be paying merely lip service to the Lord and to what we believe in, or else, we are not true believers and will not be counted among the faithful. It is showing us that even the righteous ones will be held accountable for their sins and wrongdoings, and especially if they turn their back on the way of the Lord.

Similarly, as mentioned, those who have sinned and committed much evils are not to be condemned as lost to the darkness. For if they genuinely and sincerely repenting from their sins and turn their back on all those evils and wickedness, then they will be assured salvation and forgiveness of all their past faults. For what matters to the Lord is the redemption of all sinners, that is of all of us mankind who have rebelled against the will of God.

He was so concerned with them and the fate of their souls, so that He gave them the set of laws and precepts to guide them in their ways. They are to help ensure that the righteous remain righteous and just, and the sinners may return to the grace and favour of God. But yet, many did not understand God’s real intention and ending up with gross misinterpretation of the Law and using them instead to oppress the people with unjust intention.

And many followed the Law to the letter, and yet they failed to understand the meaning of each of the different points of the Law. In reality, the Law itself is about love, and it is meant to teach love to mankind, the people of God, be it the love they ought to have for the Lord, as well as the love they ought to have for mankind, for their fellow brethren.

That is why, we should be aware that obeying the will of God is equivalent to loving one another, sharing that love which we ought to have, and forsaking all forms of hatred, disharmony, jealousy, and all other negativities that affected us and prevented us from showing that genuine love for both God and men alike. This season of Lent, the holy season of preparation should be the perfect opportunity for us all to reflect on our own lives.

Have we been loving to our brethren, that is not just to those whom we love, but even to those who have caused hurt and injury to us, be it in physical term or in terms of inner hurt. It is not easy to forgive and to love those who have caused us pain and harm, and it is difficult indeed to let go of the pain and hatred within us. It is in our human nature to hate and be angry, because ever since sin entered into our hearts, they have been filled with the malice of the devil, and of all the earthly and worldly emotions that corrupted our true nature, that is love!

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, for God Himself is Love, and we who are the creations and children of God, we too are the creatures of love, and love is our true nature. Beneath all those layers of hatred, guilt, doubt, fear, greed, desire and many others that keep it hidden, is love. The Law of God, all of His commandments are all meant to guide us in the way of love.

Can we all renew our faith and our commitment to God, by abandoning all forms of sins and wickedness, and learning to love, and put love in all of our words, deeds and actions. That means, whenever we say anything, we must not have malice or ill intention in our hearts, and in our actions, we must not cause harm or injury to others, be it intentional or unintentional.

Let us all make full use of this Lenten season to change our ways for the better, that we may be found righteous and worthy by the Lord through what we have done. Let us all repent and genuinely seek the Lord, love Him and give all of our heart to Him, so that we may also receive the fullness of God’s grace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 26 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the purpose of today’s readings are very clear, that is to present to us, the Lord our God as our loving Father who cares for us all tenderly and delightfully, seeking only our own good and happiness. Yes, that is the desire of our Lord, to deliver us from sins and from the sufferings caused by those sins, and break away the bonds which death had imposed on us.

This is clearly represented by the prayer of the Queen Esther of Persia, the Jewish wife of the mighty Persian Emperor at the time after the exile to Babylon, when the enemies of God’s chosen people were encamped against them and sought about their destruction. Through Haman, the Agagite, the enemy of the people of God, the destruction of the people of God seemed certain, having been officially backed by the laws of Persia and the approval of the Emperor.

Esther, in her position as the Queen of Persia and wife of the Persian monarch, had the great opportunity to help her people and intercede for their sake, but she was truly risking herself and even her own life if she was to do so. The queen prior to Esther was cast away and exiled in disgrace because she had not obeyed the king’s call. Conversely, to come into the presence of the monarch to beg for pardon for the people of Israel without the invitation of the monarch is considered a kind of crime that is punishable indeed by death.

It is against all these, the fears and uncertainty, amidst the love and concern which Esther had for her people, that she prayed to God for help. God listened to her prayers and fulfilled His plans through her works. He gave her strength and courage to come up and seek the monarch, even without his permission, in order to beg for mercy for the people of Israel that they might not be destroyed by their enemies.

All these are to show us that our Lord is full of love and mercy, and He is our Father while we are all His children, having been adopted as sons and daughters through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who became Man out of God’s everlasting love for us. God is kind, and He will give us what we need, if we ask it from Him. That is the essence of the Gospel today. God will not harm us or do something that cause us harm, because He is our Father and like all fathers, He cares for His children and will do good deeds for them.

But this does not mean that He is not strict in His interactions with us. Like all fathers, God also chastises us, His children, whenever we become wayward and lost, and whenever we disobey Him and do things our own way which lead us inevitably and eventually into sin. If He the Father of all truly loves us, then He will surely chastise us and punish us for our wrongdoings, and indeed that He had done, not to destroy us but instead to bring us to the right path and thus be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should know that we can depend on the Lord our God and our Father, and while all other hopes and ways are lost, the Lord is always there, ready to help and ready to provide us what we need. Queen Esther trusted in the Lord and she was not disappointed. The Lord guided her hand and she managed to overcome the devices of the enemy, and triumphed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have the Lord who is our Father, and who loves us as a father does. If only that we put our trust in Him, He will surely provide us and help us with bountiful blessings. May God be with us always and may we also always walk righteously in His path. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of Jonah, who was famously eaten by a whale and dwelled in its stomach for three days and nights, when he tried to escape from the mission which God had entrusted him, that is to warn the great city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, of the impending doom and destruction God was bringing upon it for its sins and wickedness, the sins of its people.

We see through the readings, how God forgives, rescues and helps His people, who had been lost to sin, wickedness and the darkness of the world, through the means of the sending of His own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is part of Himself, the Divine Word of God, who proclaimed the doom of the wicked and destruction of the haughty and sinful ones, who refused to repent from their sins, and yet, at the same time also assured those who were willing to repent and change their ways, the promise of eternal life and salvation.

God did not desire the destruction of His beloved people, as much as He hated their sins and disobedience. He wants them to be saved and reconciled with Him, and the way to do this is through genuine repentance and changing of our ways, that we would no longer sin but be righteous people and servants of God from now on. This was just like the people of Nineveh who sincerely repented from their sins and wickedness, and humbled themselves before the Lord.

But if we read further on in the Book of the prophet Jonah, we would realise that Jonah became angry with God, who forgave the people of Nineveh and did not carry out the punishment He intended for them. He refused to listen to God’s explanation for His mercy and he was deep in his anger, and when a plant that grew and sheltered him became parched and died, he burst out in anger against the Lord for that.

God chastised Jonah, by saying that, if the life of a single plant mattered so much for him to the point of being angry for its death, then the people of Nineveh, which number more than a hundred thousand were even more important for the Lord, for every single one of them are significant in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord cared for each one of them.

That was why He tried to show them His love and mercy, by sending Jonah to them, and the same was repeated when the Lord Jesus came, and this time, not just for the people of Nineveh or for a group of people, but instead for all of mankind, past, present and future, including all of us. But, for this to happen, that is for forgiveness to occur, we must play an active role in seeking for that forgiveness, and that means, to be humble and to lower ourselves before the Lord, as the people of Nineveh, and to dispose of all forms of pride, anger and others from ourselves.

Many of us are like Jonah, who thought that because he was the messenger of God’s will, then he could look down upon the people of Nineveh as condemned people and people destined for annihilation. He misinterpreted the will of God, and ended up dwelling in his pride, prejudice and hubris, thinking that he alone is worthy and not the people of Nineveh. Thus, his ego welled up inside of him.

The same also often happens to us. We are often too caught up with our ego and pride such that we fail to see our own sinfulness and inability to seek God’s forgiveness because of that ego and pride. As long as we refuse to bend down our knee, acknowledging that we are all also sinners, before the presence of God, it will be difficult for us to be forgiven for our numerous sins and therefore receive God’s salvation.

May all of us be awakened to the reality of our sinfulness, and be aware of how much God loves us and how great is the care which He wants to show us all, the desire which will bring us much happiness and grace, if only we follow the path of the people of Nineveh, who repented from their sins and in their humility begged for God’s mercy and forgiveness. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 24 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Jesus taught His disciples how to pray properly, by showing them the perfect prayer, which He prayed to the Father, as a way of communicating with Him. He showed the people, that prayer ought not be a long litany of words and requests or petitions, but instead, prayer should be direct in its meaning and purpose, or else, we end up losing the true essence and meaning of prayer itself.

Prayer is not a litany of demands or a way for us to extort what we want from God. Many of us have the misconception that because God is loving and gracious then He will fulfill everything that we ask of Him. We misinterpreted the meaning of the words of Jesus when He said, “Ask and you shall be given.” That is why when we do not get we want from our Lord through our prayers, then we often become disappointed or even angry against God, because we think that He does not care for us by not answering and fulfilling our prayers.

God knows every single thing that we need, from the least and smallest things to the biggest and most important things. There is no need to worry about anything but rather, we must have the courage and humility to ask Him to provide us with what we need in life. That is why Jesus in His prayer mentioned the part on ‘Give us today our daily bread’. It is meant to ask the Lord to provide us with what we truly need and not what we, in our endless desires, want.

The essence of prayer is for us to be able to communicate with the Lord our God, that we may speak with Him and He may also speak with us as well. As we can see, it is a two-way conversation between us and God, and not just a unidirectional conversation, as we all often did, by bombarding the Lord with requests, desires, demands, or even curses and anger when we did not get our prayers fulfilled as we wanted them.

Jesus taught us how to pray, and indeed, the Pater Noster or the Our Father, and also known as the Lord’s Prayer because it was Jesus who prayed it, is a perfect prayer. It begins with not a request or demand or wish, but with the glorification of the Lord and submission to the will of God. ‘Holy is Your Name’ and ‘Your will be done.’, indeed these are proof of our understanding that whatever we want, ultimately, it is not our will that will be done, but God’s will. Mary, the mother of our Lord also showed this when the Archangel Gabriel showed up to her and proclaimed that she was to be the Mother of God.

And as mentioned, the prayer asks for the grace enough for one, in what one needs in life. There is indeed no need for excess, as we are by our nature very difficult to satisfy. Our desire and want is such that, once we have what we want, we have the tendency to have more of it. We really have to wake up to the realisation that while there are many things that we may want to have, and while temptation is truly difficult to resist, but the Lord will show the way to us.

And this prayer also pointed out what we have to realise, especially in this season of Lent, that we are all sinners and therefore we deserve to be destroyed, and yet God in His rich mercy and forgiveness had forgiven all of us our sins, and if only that we are to put our complete faith and trust in Him, we shall receive His full grace and blessings. But if God had forgiven us our sins, then we too have to forgive those who sinned against us.

The parable of the ungrateful servant will highlight the importance of this. In that parable, a servant was forgiven from his great and huge debts by his master and lord, who had pity on him and forgave him all the debts even though he initially wanted the servant to be severely punished. But after that, the servant did not forgive another servant who had some debts to him, although those debts was far smaller than what the lord had forgiven the first servant.

As a result, the lord and master punished the ungrateful servant, who did not forgive even a small fault while his much greater fault had been forgiven by his lord. That servant was punished even greater than before, and the mercy shown to him was withdrawn. From this, we should learn that, whatever our brethren and people around us had done to us, be it something hurtful or malicious in nature, we have to learn to forgive them, and forgive one another our sins to each other.

For our sins are very, very great, the collection of the wickedness we have committed throughout our respective lives. Yet, if we are willing to abandon them and believe fully in the Lord our God, He is ready to forgive all of them and welcome us into His glory, but if we cannot even forgive our friends and others who had sinned against us, incomparable as they are to the sum of our wickedness, then it is also difficult for our Lord to forgive us our sins then.

Therefore, let us today reflect on what we have discussed and also heard from the Holy Scriptures. We have to bring ourselves closer to the Lord, firstly by fortifying our own prayer life, communicating and conversing with God, allowing not just ourselves to speak to Him, but even more importantly, that is to allow Him to speak in our hearts. If we have done so, then certainly, we will be able to know better what God wants from us, and that is our love, devotion and ability to love one another in the same way as we have loved ourselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our faith to the Lord, not just by mere words but also through deeds. We have to love each other and forgive each others’ faults and sin to one another. And only then, we can be really called truly the children of God, and our Father who is in heaven, as Jesus had introduced Him to us, shall reward us with the gift of eternal life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 23 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Holy Scriptures which mentioned to us about what is to come in the future. At the end of time, as all of us should be aware of, there will be a Last Judgment of all creation, where there will be one last separation of the good from the bad, the worthy from the unworthy, the faithful ones from the unfaithful ones, and the repentant from the unrepentant.

And the Lord also made it clear and simple for all to understand, what we all need to do in order to be counted among the righteous ones. It is not that difficult, but at the same time, it is also not that easy. What we need to do is simply to be there for those of our brethren around us who need our help and assistance. If we think for only ourselves and disregard the call for help from our brethren, then we are truly, really evil and wicked.

The key to achieve salvation is truly for us to open our hearts to love one another, and to see with our eyes and hear with our ears the plight and suffering of those who need our help. Salvation lies in those who have heard the words and teachings of the Lord, keep them in their hearts, and practiced them in their daily lives. Humans are selfish in nature, and they tend to always care about themselves first before even thinking about others. And it is this mindset and mentality, as well as the habit that we really need to change.

Our faith cannot be expressed merely with words and empty devotions, as I have often mentioned that a faith without action or deed is an empty and dead faith. It is just the same as if we do not have any faith at all. Our faith must be based on real deeds and actions, as works complement faith. Faith and works together made us justified and not just either of them only alone.

There are many people who thought that they are assured of salvation because they are faithful to the Lord, showing external devotions to the Lord and piety towards the people. But, in their hearts there was no God, for in their actions and deeds towards others, they showed not the faith they supposedly have, but instead they showed selfishness, greed, jealousy, hatred and many others that were unbecoming of the children of the Lord.

That was why, those people, whose prime examples were the Pharisees and the Scribes have received their just judgment, that is to be cast among the goats, the ones on the left of Christ, and to receive eternal damnation and punishment, not just for whatever wicked things they had done, but also by whatever things they have failed to do as expected of them by the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Polycarp, also known as St. Polycarpus, a Roman saint, bishop and martyr of the Church. He was the Bishop of Smyrna in today’s Western Turkey, one of the earliest centres of the Church and the faithful. He served the people of God faithfully and was a convert to the Faith himself. He served the people entrusted under his care with love and devotion, teaching them to be faithful to the Lord and to follow sound doctrine and teachings, so that they may truly be true disciples of Christ in not just words but also in deeds and actions.

St. Polycarp also did not hesitate to labour for and defend his flock, preaching to them and ministering to them whenever and wherever he was available to do so, despite the threat of persecution by the pagan government and officials of the Roman Empire. Eventually, St. Polycarp was captured, tortured, incarcerated before he was put to death for defending his faith bravely and courageously. Fire would not hurt him and thus, he was then martyred by another means, shedding his blood for the Lord and for the faithful.

Therefore, we should all be aware by the example of St. Polycarp and the other saints and martyrs, who had done so much hard work in their own different ways to help the works of God in this world. They did not remain idle or centred only on their own selves, and indeed, as we have seen, they did not even hesitate to lay down their lives and to suffer for the sake of their fellow men, their fellow brethren in faith.

As the Last Judgment story by Jesus should remind us, let us all take concrete steps to be true disciples of the Lord, that is by walking the faith we have, and therefore not just having an empty faith, but a living and real one, justified by our actions and deeds, helping those who have less or none, loving one another and forgiving one another our sins and faults, so that we truly practice what we believe in and which Jesus our Lord had taught us.

Let us never falter but continue to strengthen our faith, that when the time comes, our Lord will find us just, righteous and worthy of the eternal glory He had prepared for all those who have listened to Him and does His will. God be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brother and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the calling of Levi, who would become the Apostle St. Matthew, who is also one of the great Four Evangelists, or the writers of the four Holy Gospels. In this therefore we learn a very important fact, which the prophet Isaiah in his book, that is our first reading today, had also talked about, that is the forgiveness offered to all sinners who repent from their sins.

First of all, let us all understand the background of what had happened, and why the Pharisees and the people in general hated the tax collectors so much and considered all of them as great sinners, and loathed to be near them and less so, to come to their place and eat with them? That is because, the tax collectors were seen as the traitors to the nation and to the people, as their job was to collect taxes from the people to be given to the Romans, who at that time ruled over Judea and all of the Promised Land of Israel.

No one likes to pay taxes, and less so if they have to pay tax to a foreign master and ruler. And the Jews were a proud nation, proud of their status as the chosen race and chosen people of God. Since the time of the Exodus, they have slowly grow in their pride, as well as in their prejudice against sinners, who they saw as unclean and had to be cast out of the society of the people of God and be denied the grace of God. Anyone, therefore, who associated themselves with these sinners, correspondingly were also considered as unclean and as sinners.

But in all these, they failed to pay heed and notice a great fact, that they were all also sinners, and truly, no one could boast rightfully that they were less or more righteous or worthy of God’s salvation, since all of mankind are really sinners in the eyes of God for their disobedience against God. And even those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who liked to show off their piety in the public places, as Jesus had pointed it out rightly, that they were even greater sinners by their actions and by what were in their wicked hearts and minds.

They were not thinking about God in their hearts, and less so about the people of God, who had been entrusted to them, teachers of the Law of God, who should have guided these people to God. Instead, they forsook their duty to seek worldly glory and human praise. And through their actions, they deceived and misled the people of God and cast them even further into sin.

They were judgmental against sinners and refused to have anything to do with them. But as Jesus had shown everyone, He showed that God is merciful and loving, just as He is just and hating towards all forms of sins. And indeed He came to rescue first the most sinful ones, the ones who lie furthest from the grace, light and salvation of God. There is only one objective, that all these sinners would repent, change their ways and sin no more, and thus become worthy to receive the salvation of the Lord.

God hates the sins but not the sinner. But if we sinners do not change our sins and abandon our sins before it is too late for us, then God’s wrath will be upon us all the same. That is why in this season of Lent, we are constantly reminded of our sins and all the wickedness we have committed before the presence of God and men alike. We have to know of our sins, realise how wicked they are, and change our ways.

If we do so, we can be assured that the grace of God will be upon us. The prophet Isaiah affirmed this to us, and the life of St. Matthew himself give an even greater testimony of the sinner turned saint. There were many of the saints who were once great sinners. But what differentiated them from the other great sinners was that they repented, they knew of their sins and abandoned them, changing their ways and devoted themselves from then on to the service of God and mankind.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Damian, a great bishop and Cardinal of the Church, as well as a Doctor of the Church by his numerous works and writings that still help and influence us even to this very day. He was a nobleman who gave up everything and all forms of worldliness to join religious life in prayer and devotion to God. But God had great plans for him.

St. Peter Damian in his roles and works would be instrumental in rooting out sins and wickedness from the Church of God, assisting the Pope, the Vicar of Christ in the governance and reform of the Church, so that all the wicked peoples not worthy of the service of God and unrepentant were cast out and rejected by the Church. As a result, the Church was purified of those who were like the Pharisees, sinful and yet refusing to change their sinful ways and misleading the people of God into sin.

He helped to reform many parts of the Church establishment, and through his numerous works and writings, he helped many people to be awakened to their sins and wickedness, and therefore helped to bring many souls to salvation and closer to the Lord their God. And this is exactly what we all should do as well, as the members of the Church.

We are all sinners too, and we are all equal before God. Never look down upon others who have sinned, as if we do so, then we too will be judged in the same way by the Lord. Instead, let us help each other, that everyone may be called to the Lord and abandon their sins and wickedness, and renew their effort to love the Lord their God and commit themselves to Him and His ways.

May the example of St. Peter Damian inspire us all, that we may use this season of Lent to truly repent from our sins, change our ways and lead a righteous life from now on, and help to keep one another in righteous life and avoid sin. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the days of Lent, and the readings call us all to remember our true purpose of celebrating and going through this sacred season of Lent, the forty days of preparation for the coming of Easter. In this season, we go through fasting and abstinence on certain days, as a public and concrete way of showing our sincerity in following the Lord, by preparing ourselves body, mind, heart and soul for the celebration of our Lord’s Passion, death and resurrection.

But are we fasting and abstaining in the right way and for the right purpose? That is the essence of today’s readings. Are we fasting and abstaining for show so that people may be awed at what we are doing and therefore praise us greatly for doing so? Are we fasting and abstaining because our parents said that we must do so, or because the Church is teaching us to do so? Are we merely following the teachings of the Church without understanding them?

When we fast we have to realise that we are not doing it for ourselves, but for God. We fast and we abstain ourselves from eating meat and controlling our earthly and human desire, these are all to suppress our human emotions and desires, which often lead us to sin and to wickedness before the presence of God and men alike. Fasting and abstinence are meant for us to realise our frailty and our sinfulness, that we are truly unworthy sinners, given grace and forgiveness by our ever loving God.

Fasting and abstinence are meant to help us to restrict ourselves from the worldliness and things that often lead us away and distract us from following the teachings of our Lord with the wholeness of our hearts. This is why, even though the rules on fasting and abstinence involve food that we consume, but they should not be limited to this only.

Yes, fasting and abstinence can come in the form of restricting and limiting ourselves from our favourite hobby and activity, which often took so much time from us that we end up wasting our time and being unable to contribute positively and in a good way towards those who are around us. There are truly many things we can do and we can choose from many options.

We can abstain from computer gaming, watching our favourite television programmes and videos, from the sin of gluttony and sloth, from the pleasures of the flesh, and something as simple as stirring ourselves from laziness when we see someone around us who are suffering, not having enough food, enough love or respect by others as a fellow mankind.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings remind us that this Lent is a time for us to focus on the right things and fast as well as abstain for the right purposes. We fast because we know that by our sinfulness, we have been separated from our Lord by a certain degree. The more we sin, the further we have been separated from our loving God. And this is what all of us should be aware of.

We fast and abstain to remind ourselves on our own sinfulness, and it is also a kind reminder for us all who have more in terms of food, care, love and the goodness and graces of the world, we should share them with those who are less fortunate. That is the kind of fasting and abstinence that our Lord truly wants from us, and not those done for the sake of human praise and appearances as the Pharisees had done.

May the Lord awaken in us all the desire to love one another and to share the joy and grace we have, that no one will ever be in need again. May this Lent be a blessed season for us to reflect on our sins and therefore seek God’s forgiveness and repent in total sincerity. God bless us all. Amen.