sharing the faith

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Friday, 16 January 2015 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 4 : 1-5, 11

Therefore let us fear while we are invited to enter the rest of God, lest any of you be left behind. We received the Gospel exactly as they did, but hearing the message did them no good, because they did not share the faith of those who did listen.

We are now to enter this rest because we believed, as it was said : ‘I was angry and made a solemn vow : they will never enter My rest’ – that is the rest of God after He created the world. In another part it was said about the seventh day : ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.’

But now it is said : ‘They will not enter My rest.’ Let us strive, then, to enter the rest and not to share the misfortune of those who disobeyed.

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/15/friday-16-january-2015-1st-week-of-ordinary-time-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Wednesday, 3 December 2014 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 9 : 16-19, 22-23

Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel : I am bound to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted this office against my will. How can I, then, deserve a reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.

So, feeling free with everybody, I have become everybody’s slave in order to gain a greater number. To win the weak I made myself weak, to win the weak. So I made myself all things to all people in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. This I do for the Gospel, so that I too have a share of it.

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/02/wednesday-3-december-2014-feast-of-st-francis-xavier-priest-and-patron-of-missions-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 24 August 2014 : Homily and Reflections on the Holy Scriptures

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how Jesus opened the ears and the tongue of the deaf and dumb person, who was brought to Jesus to be healed, and healed he was indeed. The openings of his ears were opened and the ligaments of his tongue loosened, he could therefore hear and speak once again. And it is in particular important for us to take note how this is closely related to the testimony of St. Paul to the Church in Corinth, on how he came about to the faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today’s Scripture and Gospel readings in fact talk about what happened during our own baptism, that singular and very important occasion when we are welcomed to be a member of the Holy Church of God, that is to no longer live in sin and in the darkness of this world, but instead embracing the light of Christ, professing Him to be our Lord and Saviour, and therefore cast out the veil that had blinded us and our senses to the great truth and majesty of the Lord. This applies to us be it that we are baptised in our early days in life or when we are baptised as adults.

In this Usus Antiquior rite, the celebration of the Mass of the Ages, we still faithfully kept in fullness the entirety of the sacred traditions we inherited from our fathers in faith, since the time of the early Church. And one of these sacred traditions was exactly the replica and reenactment of the actions which Jesus had done to the deaf and dumb man. This is called the Ephphetha or the opening of the ears and tongue, with the exact same meaning of the actions of Jesus we heard today.

The priest would do the same to the baby or the person being baptised, putting some spittle in the ears and touching the tongue of the person to be baptised, while saying the word, ‘Ephphetha’, to represent that because the priest in the person in Alter Christus, that is Christ personified, he represents the Lord who comes to open up our senses and end our blindness to His love and grace. And this is the very crucial and important meaning to this tradition we have kept faithfully since the beginnings of the Church.

This is meant to show the importance of baptism, as the gateway towards salvation, when we decide with full firmness and confidence to leave our old, sinful ways behind, that is also to leave behind a life of uncertainty and filled with doubts, and instead, come towards the Lord in order to begin a new life filled with faith, hope and love in the Lord. That means we are no longer blinded to God and His care for us, and we turn our back to our past lives, forgiven and given a new chance in life.

However, this must not stop here, as to stop here means that we have not done our part in life as the member of the Church and as the children of our loving God. In this, we can look at the example of St. Paul and what he had done for the sake of the Lord and his faith in Him. Remember, brethren, that faith saves us only if we commit ourselves to do good works based on that faith which we have, for without good works, our faith is as good as dead, and therefore we will not have any part in the salvation of God.

Baptism as I mentioned, with the rite of Ephphetha is just the beginning. It opens us up to the presence and to the power of God, which we are able to access and use for the good of ourselves and for those around us. All of us, each and every one of us had been given a special gift, all by the Lord who knows us and who knows what we are capable of doing. Therefore, it is only right that we use what we had been given with in order to bring much goodness to this world.

St. Paul himself was once a great sinner and even a great enemy of all the faithful, as Saul, the young Pharisee and zealot, who in his great but misled zeal, ended up pursuing, hunting and murdering many of the faithful of the earliest Church, the disciples of Christ in cold blood. He took part in the killing of the first martyr, Deacon Stephen, and he also hunted many of the faithful throughout Judea and Jerusalem, showing no mercy even to women and children whom he had dealt with.

He had even planned with great fervour and spirit to spread his works and persecutions to other places, with Damascus as one of his targets. Blinded as he was with hatred and misguided faith, as well as with the lies of the evil one, he seemed to be heading directly towards destruction and eternal damnation, but this was not what the Lord had in plan for him.

The Lord called Saul on the way to Damascus, revealing Himself and His truth to this wayward son, who eventually repented and was baptised by Ananias, the disciple of Christ. When Ananias laid his hands on Saul to heal him from his physical blindness, a scale which had covered his eyes fell off and he could see again, but then, this together with his baptism shortly later did not constitute just the opening of the physical eyes and senses, but eventually also the spiritual senses, allowing him to receive and understand what the Lord had in store for him and mankind.

This was how the great enemy of the Church and the faithful was completely transformed to become the greatest champion of the Lord and the bravest defender of the faith. No longer acting against God and His people, instead he preached about the Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ with a renewed purpose and zeal, calling many others to repent and follow in his footsteps. This is the purpose of his letters, which we heard today, that is to call mankind to repent and to love God sincerely once again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to reflect on our own lives, whether we have been following the Lord and whether we have done what is expected from us to do, as His followers, His children and as members of His living Church, the Body of Christ. Have we done our parts to help in the evangelisation and the conversion of many who still lived in darkness? Remember that just like the deaf and dumb man whose ears and tongues were opened, and like St. Paul whose eyes were opened and allowed to see again, we too have been restored in the fullness of our senses, not just physical but also spiritual.

We have our part to play in order to be witnesses of our faith. We should follow the example of St. Paul who spoke up for his faith and who proclaimed to many others in great humility, the honour and chance he had been given with by the Lord, who had called Him from the darkness into the light, giving him a new lease of life and a promise of life eternal in Him.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we also celebrate today the feast of St. Bartholomew, also known once as Nathaniel, a righteous man who was called by Jesus to be His disciple and Apostle, and who faithfully exercised his part to play in God’s plan of salvation even unto his martyrdom and death in the defense of his faith, let us all also follow in the footsteps of these saints. We have also been called by the Lord, given much by the Lord, and we ought therefore give back to Him what we can give, by showing our dedication to others, sharing our faith with those who have little or none.

May Almighty God therefore guide us in our goodness and works. May He be with us and grant us courage to speak up for our faith, that those who listen to us may also believe, and those who see our deeds and actions may also decide to be the followers of the Lord, and thus bringing more souls towards the salvation in God alone, that what we experienced at our baptism may also be experienced by others, removing the blindness of our body and soul, and enabling us all to experience the love of God. God be with us all, always and forever. Amen.

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Friday, 13 June 2014 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a direct continuation of the discourse and catechesis of yesterday’s Scripture readings, and we continue on the matter of understanding the Law and the true intention of the Lord as He revealed to mankind. We need to know that the Law of the Lord should not be taken at plain literal meaning, nor should we be proud of ourselves and assume that we know it all about God and His desire, and therefore be judgmental on others.

We need to understand the greater purpose of the Law and the rules of our faith. We cannot be blindly oblige to the rules without first understanding them, and yet we can neither fail to oblige with the excuse that we do not understand them or worse if we decide to ignore them. We must therefore make the conscious effort to understand the Lord and His Law. How do we do so, brothers and sisters?

By obeying the teachings and tenets of the Church, and the regulations established by the Church, and maintaining a good and healthy relationship with our shepherds, that is our priests and bishops. It is because these people are the ones who had been entrusted with our care by the Lord, and they have also been granted teaching authority by Christ Himself, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that they teach the faith and the Law of God in its purest form and in its true meaning.

Today we celebrate the feast day of one of the greatest teachers of the faith, that is St. Anthony of Padua, a very renowned Franciscan friar who was legendary and amazing in his homilies and discourses, so much so that even the Pope at that time employed him as the one to deliver the homilies at his court. St. Anthony of Padua also preached in many places across Europe, and from his teachings, he brought many people closer to God by awakening in them the proper understanding of His laws and purpose.

St. Anthony of Padua was well educated since his youth, and at the same time he was also very dedicated to the Lord, having been educated in the seminary since his youth, and eventually decided to join a sacred religious life. He learnt much about the faith and how to teach it well to the people of God, and through his vast experiences in many situations and stints in various religious orders, he gained great knowledge and ability to teach the faith to the faithful.

St. Anthony of Padua was a great orator and preacher of the faith, and yet he remained truly humble despite his renown and his abilities. In fact, the very first time when St. Anthony of Padua’s preaching abilities was identified, he was reluctant and afraid when he was pointed out to be the one to give a sermon to a group of gathered religious congregations. Yet, despite his reluctance and initial refusal, he made such an eloquent and impressive sermon, that the people who heard him were completely astonished.

St. Anthony of Padua continued to preach from then on, and demands for his sermons are always high, and the Pope even kept a record of his sermons, which was truly valuable for us, for there is truly much wisdom that we can learn from St. Anthony of Padua and his discourses. Through him the word of God and the intentions of the Lord were made clear to many people, who then grew on deeper in their faith because of that.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to keep faithful and true to the deposit of faith that is in the Church. Yes, we have to keep the complete entirety of the deposit of faith, which is the accumulated wisdom, teachings, and revelations that we have received through the holy men and women, who dedicated themselves like St. Anthony of Padua had done. Through them, we gain this precious knowledge and understanding, and therefore, in our lives, we have to continue safeguarding this deposit of the faith and teach it to others.

It is not difficult to do so, and we do not have to be like St. Anthony of Padua, or be as wise and eloquent as him in order to do so. What we need to do is in fact, to practice what we believe in our own lives, that in all our words, deeds and actions we will always reflect who we are, the children and followers of our Lord and God. If we practice genuinely what we believe in, then those who see us and who are still unbelievers, will certainly be touched by the light of Christ and believe in God, and come to believe and be saved.

May the Lord bring about His good works and graces through us, that He may make manifest His truth and love to the world, just as He had once made Himself known through St. Anthony of Padua. God bless us always and strengthen us at all times. Amen.