slavery of sin

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

Liturgical Colour : White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

First Reading : 

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

 

Psalm : 

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

 

Gospel Reading : 

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

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Sunday, 4 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ, the day when the great Magi and wise men from the East, from the faraway lands came to give Him honour and pay homage to the King of kings, and through that act, He revealed Himself to all mankind, not just as a mere Man, but as a Great King beyond compare, a High Priest of all creations, and the Messiah who would suffer and die for our sake, so that we may be saved.

Epiphany comes from the Greek ‘Ephiphanein’ and the Latin ‘Epiphania’ which means a moment of revelation or realisation, which is indeed what this Feast is all about. The Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ is the moment when Christ revealed Himself to all the peoples, even to the Gentiles or the non-Jews, who came from afar to visit Him and pay honour to Him. He who is a King was born in a lowly stable, unknown to others except to the shepherds that had seen and heard the angels’ proclamations, and to the animals present there.

On this day, we ought to see several very vivid and clear symbolisms in what we have heard from the Scripture and Gospel readings. The very bright star that the Magi of the East saw from their homeland was the Star of the Messiah, the true Light of the world, whose light and truth illuminates everything that lie in darkness. Those who live in the darkness have indeed seen a great Light, just as the prophet Isaiah has said.

People in the past, before the advent of the use of maps and all the satellite-based imageries we have in our possession now, used the heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon and the stars to help them to orientate themselves and find direction to their destination. Sailors used the stars to guide them on their voyage and journey, and certain star patterns and constellations were created by the people for precisely this purpose, that they may be easily recognised as the guiding lights to help the people find their way.

The Star of Bethlehem, that bright star of exceeding and unparalleled brightness is therefore also a guide, and a guide that is unparalleled and unprecedented, for it is not just a guide for the people to a physical destination, but as a guide that leads them to none other than the final destination which all the peoples should have aimed for, that is to reach out to the Lord and Messiah, and who is now finally reachable, for He has been born a Baby, a Royal Child, God incarnate into Man.

That star is often associated with the symbol of faith, and this is representing the faith of the Magi of the East, who came from faraway lands on long journeys, note that travel at that time is not like that of today, with travels done across desert and uninhabited lands, without proper roads, on the back of camels and with many months of travel before finally reaching the destination. Nevertheless, the faith which the Magi had was evident, as they persevered through all that just that they might be able to see the Lord and King whom they did not know beforehand.

And by that revelation, when the Magi discovered the Lord in that stable in Bethlehem, they saw the one True and only God who had come into being through Jesus. They saw the salvation of the world, and they were glad. They came bearing gifts fitting for the One who had come to this world to save it, and it is these gifts that we should be focused at now. These gifts are gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Gold is a precious metal and commodity, prized greatly for its luster and shine, its beauty and lasting properties, with pure gold showing no tarnish even after centuries and millennia, maintaining its beautiful and shiny appearance. As such it is highly valuable and often only the rich were able to afford it. Therefore, it is also a suitable gift for a king, as a king is often adorned with riches and wealth, and the gift of gold is meant to honour and adore the king to whom the gold is presented.

And therefore, the gift of gold by the Magi signifies the kingship of Christ, who as the Lord, Creator and Master of the universe, is King, the King over all kings and Lord over all lords. And therefore by the gift of gold, the Magi acknowledged the kingship of Christ, and welcomed that great King into this world. Yet we all also know that while He is King, He did not boast of His kingship or power, but instead Jesus remained humble and fully devoted to His mission.

This is because the kingship of Christ is based on leadership built upon examples. The leader and King, that is Jesus, led His beloved people by His own examples, loving one another as God had first loved them, forgiving each other of our own faults and mistakes, and to welcome those who are downtrodden, weak, ostracised and condemned by others. He did not come to lord over His people or to oppress them as kings of this world often did, but to lead His people by example.

How about frankincense then? Frankincense is the finest kind of incense reserved only for special uses. Incense are taken from the dried secretions of plants that contain different fragrant aroma depending on the type of the incense, and they had been used for many millennia across many cultures and peoples to be offered to the divine and to the supernatural spirits.

Hence, the gift of frankincense, the finest grains of incense and the ones having the sweetest aroma, by the Magi to the Child Jesus represent two dimensions and aspects of Christ. First, Jesus Christ our Lord is God, Lord of all creations, Word incarnate and made Flesh. He is God and forever is God, and therefore, is alone worthy of worship and adoration. The offering of frankincense just as gold that highlighted His kingship, highlighted His divinity.

And then it also highlighted the role that Jesus took up as He came into our world wearing the flesh of our human form, that He became the sole High Priest, the priest of all priests, offering the sacrifice for the sake of all mankind to God. And while other priests offered the sacrifice for their own sins and for the people, and having to offer sacrifices again and again, the Sacrifice of Jesus our High Priest was done once and for all, when He lay suffering and hanging from the cross on Calvary.

As the One true High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord offered to God a worthy sacrifice in exchange for all of our sins, past, present and future, from the beginning of time to its ending, the sins and iniquities of all mankind. This is the sweetest incense offered to God, represented by the Magi’s gift of frankincense to the Child Jesus. And we all should know that this sacrifice is none other than the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord, which are also shed and shared with us all who believe in Him and profess Him as our Lord and God.

Thus far, the two gifts of gold and frankincense have revealed to us and to all peoples that Christ is the King of kings, as the Lord and Almighty God, and as the High Priest of all mankind. Then how about the last gift of myrrh? Myrrh is a substance used in embalming of the bodies of the dead, as the substance used to mask the bad and foul odour of decay and also acting as a preservative agent to help keep the body intact after death and avoid decomposition.

You must be wondering and may even be bewildered. How come is it that such a gift is given to a Baby just after His birth? Is myrrh not something more suitable to be given to dead bodies or to families in sorrow after just losing their loved ones to death? Why did the Magi give such a strange gift to the Lord, after their gifts of gold and frankincense, bringing great glory and praise to God?

That is because, brothers and sisters in Christ, once again I would like to stress the importance of seeing the events of the life of Jesus Christ on earth as one whole singular unity, with a clear and singular purpose, that is to save us all, the people of God from the tyranny of sin and death. And the only way to do that is for Jesus to bear our sins, as His cross, and carry all the burdens and weights of those sins, and suffering in our stead the punishment for sins, although He is without blame.

We cannot separate the celebration of Christmas from the celebration of the rest of the life of Jesus, especially the celebration of the events of the Holy Week and Easter. Why did Jesus choose to come into this world as a simple Baby? That is because He wanted to save us, and the way to do so, is through His death, on the Good Friday that we celebrate every year. And by His resurrection on Easter Sunday, He broke free our chains of sin and death, and bring to us a new hope of an eternal life.

Thus, the gift of myrrh by the Magi as the third gift is to prepare for the death of Jesus, whom many certainly was unable to predict right there and then. Nobody would expect the Messiah to suffer and die for our sake, even though indeed this had been prophesied in the book of the prophet Isaiah, but many refused to believe so. And thus, this last gift of myrrh is a testimony that reveals who Christ is to the nations, as the Lord who gave up all He had, so that by His actions, His loving sacrifice, He might deliver His people from certain destruction.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, after we have gone through all the symbolisms in this Epiphany feast’s Scripture readings, let us all first resolve to follow the examples of the Magi, who followed faithfully the star all the way from their homeland until they saw the Lord in person. Abraham once had done similarly, and in his faith, he was richly rewarded by the Lord. In this, we should learn that faith is essential for us, and we have to put our complete trust in the Lord without reservation.

And then, through the three great gifts of the Magi, let us all come to a realisation of what God had done for us, He who is all powerful and mighty, having no need for anything, and yet desiring to be with us and to rescue us from certain death. Thus, let us all repay that great love He had shown us, by loving Him back with all of our hearts, and show Him the greatest gifts He would want from us, that is our love, the love of our hearts for Him.

Therefore, let us all renew our faith and devotion to our loving God, and with all our hearts, let us turn all our attentions to Him, and praise and adore Him, our Lord who had revealed Himself to the world and to all the peoples on this great Feast of the Epiphany. Lord, reveal Yourself to all the nations that everyone may be saved in You. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/sunday-4-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/sunday-4-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-psalm/

 

Second Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/sunday-4-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/03/sunday-4-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-gospel-reading/

 

Epistle (Usus Antiquior) : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-i-classis-tuesday-6-january-2015-epistle/

 

Gospel (Usus Antiquior) : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/05/usus-antiquior-feast-of-the-epiphany-of-the-lord-i-classis-tuesday-6-january-2015-holy-gospel/

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

Liturgical Colour : White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

First Reading :

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

 

Psalm :

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

 

Gospel Reading :

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

 

Epistle (Usus Antiquior) :

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

 

Gospel (Usus Antiquior) :

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

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

Liturgical Colour : White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

First Reading :

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


Psalm :

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


Second Reading :

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


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

Epistle (Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord) :

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


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

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

Liturgical Colour : Red

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Epistle :

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

 

Gospel :

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

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Wednesday, 10 December 2014 : Second Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple or Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the Lord our God, who is our Strength, our Provider in everything we need, and as a Father who loves us all as His beloved children. He will not abandon us without help or ignore us when we have need in us. That is how much God had loved us, and indeed He continues to love us from day to day.

Indeed, to follow God does not mean that it will be easy and like a simple walk along the pond. To follow the Lord means to face the challenges and the suffering which will inevitably come upon our way if we choose to side with the Lord and become His disciples. We know that the ways of the Lord are opposite from the ways of this world, as the world itself is the dominion of Satan, the evil one, filled with sin and darkness since the beginning of the world and the fall of mankind.

Just as Satan had done all he could to subvert mankind to his cause, and laid many obstacles in the path of God’s plan of salvation for mankind, by plotting against the servants and messengers of God with the people themselves, whom he set against the prophets and the disciples of the Lord. Thus the lamentation of Jesus against Jerusalem, which represented His people, how they had slaughtered the prophets and messengers sent to them to remind them to change their ways of sin.

Satan himself tried to tempt Jesus and tried to stop His works to fulfill God’s plan to save mankind, that is to liberate us all from his yoke, the yoke that Satan had placed on us, that is sin. Yes, in the Gospel today, God spoke about His yoke, which He encouraged us all to take up, in place of the yoke which we currently have. Yes, the yoke of sin which burdened us up to now, and still burdens us even today and will be for tomorrow and beyond if we do nothing about it.

Why did Jesus mention that His yoke is light and that we will find rest in Him? That is because sin is a yoke that is truly sinister. This yoke which had enslaved us from the day when Satan tempted our ancestors, Adam and Eve, the first of men, to sin against God, was truly a yoke and a chain which tied us to Satan, our tyrannical oppressor, and yet, sin at the same time is also in a way, enjoyable and preferable for many of us, and many of us, liked this yoke.

Why is this so? That is because the yoke of sin strikes directly at our human desires and wishes. Just as Satan played into our ancestors’ desire and curiosity, the curiosity for knowledge that made them to sin, and indeed, to grow even stronger in desire. For mankind by nature, our nature, is hard to be satisfied, and Satan knows this very well. That is why, he continues to feed our desire, giving us temptations after temptations to keep us enslaved to him.

But our Lord Jesus Christ had come into this world as the culmination of God’s plan to liberate us from this sinister burden and yoke. He had delivered us from the yoke of Satan into a new life filled with goodness, through His loving sacrifice and death on the cross, and by His rising from the dead into glory. He offered us all a new life, a life of salvation in God, one free from the yoke of sin. For the yoke of sin leads to nothing else other than eternal death. Hell is our destination if we remain chained to sin.

However, to many of us, the life in Christ seems to be difficult, for the Lord indeed does not hide from us the truth about what will happen to us if we are to follow Him and become His disciples. Certainly, Satan will not be pleased with us being released from his slavery and bondage, and he will do all that he can, just like the Pharaoh of Egypt of old trying to regain his former slaves, the Israelites.

And just as the Pharaoh had his chariots and armies to chase after the Israelites during the Exodus, thus Satan also had his means and powers of this world in order to harass us with, and he will indeed not rest before he catches all of us. But he has no power over us, brethren, for if we remember the Israelites and Moses, we know that God delivered them from the hands of the Pharaoh, with His own mighty power and deeds.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Advent, let us all be awakened from our deep slumber in the darkness of this world, and be awakened to the light of Christ, which dispels all lies and temptations, and reveal to us the true ugly nature of sin. This Advent therefore is a perfect opportunity for all of us to start over anew and prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

Let us all sin no more and reject the yoke of Satan, and in exchange of that, we should take up the yoke of Christ, who will give us eternal life and joy at the end of our journey. Indeed, the journey and path will be difficult, but nothing is impossible if we keep strong our faith in the Lord and adhere ourselves closely to Him. May this Advent therefore be a good time for us to reevaluate our lives and find our way to the Lord, our loving God and Father. Amen.

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/09/wednesday-10-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-gospel-reading/

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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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Thursday, 13 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the end of our liturgical year, that is as we approach towards the season of Advent in preparation of Christmas, we hear the readings of the Holy Scriptures that are taken in preparation for the coming of the end of times, that is when the Lord will come again as He had promised His people, the time when the Kingdom of God is truly here.

But Jesus also warned us, all of His people that we have to be careful and vigilant against false prophets who claimed that they know about the coming of the kingdom of God. Or those who attributed certain celestial signs to the Second Coming of Christ. This group, often called the Millenials and with all other sorts of names are trying to mislead the faithful by twisting the truths of the Sacred Scripture to suit their own purposes.

There is no one who knows of God’s plan except that of God Himself, He who planned everything meticulously, all prepared in advance for the salvation of all of us, from death into new life. And Jesus Himself in the Gospel today, as He often did many times during His ministry, prophesied about His own upcoming suffering and death on the cross, as the crucial part of God’s plan for salvation of mankind.

Everything has been planned well and meticulously for our sake, and the Lord Himself came down to execute His plan, and to bring mankind back to Himself. and just as in his letter to Philemon, St. Paul mentioned this Onesimus whom he was sending to Philemon, and how he was made free and liberated from slavery, the same our Lord had done to us, through His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

And indeed, St. Paul also mentioned how in sending Onesimus to Philemon, he was sending a part of his own heart to him. That is because Onesimus was dear and precious, a good friend to St. Paul, and sending him off to another is naturally not an easy decision. Thus, it should even be much more difficult for our Lord to part with a part of Himself, One of the Holy Trinity, whose members are united to each other in perfect love.

Yet, He willingly sent His Son to us, knowing that in doing so, He may gain us back from our downfall into sin. He loves His Son very much, but He also equally loves us all as well. By His coming and His loving Passion, the sacrifice He went through at Calvary, He broke us free from our slavery to sin, by bearing all those sins and all of their consequences upon Himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, we are asked and called to realise that all of us have been granted such a great grace by God, to have our punishment nullified, and a new chance of life given to us, and what seemed once hopeless and what seemed like an eternal slavery to sin, the Lord had made a new path, through which He might exercise His power to rescue us from that darkness.

And He also gave of Himself to us, through His Most Precious Body and Blood, that He may dwell in us, and us in Him, and by sharing in His Most Precious Self, we indeed have the kingdom of God coming within us, for the Holy Presence of God itself is in us, and through our transformation in faith, we become the concrete and true symbol and concrete evidence of the coming of the kingdom of God.

Therefore, what we can do today and from now on, brothers and sisters? It is for us to follow the Lord and to show Him our sincerest gratitude and thanks for having done so much for us. He has loved us all so dearly and so much, that He did not even shy from suffering and dying for our sake, just so that we do not have to suffer those for eternity if we fall into the eternal hell.

Thus, we have to be righteous and just in all of our actions, and we have to be like Him, in what He had done, we too have to do it. That means, we should stop hating and showing violence in our actions, and instead we have to learn to forgive and love those who hated us, and also to love one another, helping those in need whenever and wherever we can do it. And ultimately, of course we have to give the best of our love to our Lord and God.

May Almighty God bless us all, forgive us our sins, and bring us all to everlasting life. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-first-reading/

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-psalm/

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/12/thursday-13-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 4 November 2014 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 14 : 15-24

At that time, upon hearing the words of Jesus, one of those at the table said to Him, “Happy are those who eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God!”

Jesus replied, “A man once gave a feast and invited many guests. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those he had invited to come, for everything was ready. But all alike began to make excuses.”

“The first said, ‘Please excuse me. I must go and see the piece of land I have just bought.’ Another said : ‘I am sorry, but I am on my way to try out the five yoke of oxen I have just bought.’ Still another said, ‘How can I come, when I have just got married?'”

“The servant returned alone, and reported this to his master. Upon hearing his account, the master of the house flew into a rage, and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'”

“The servant reported after a while, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, but there is still room.’ The master said, ‘Go out to the highways and country lanes, and force people to come in, to make sure my house is full. I tell you, none of those invited will have a morsel of my feast.'”

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/03/tuesday-4-november-2014-31st-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-charles-borromeo-bishop-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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(Usus Antiquior) Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, All Souls’ Day (Feria II Classis) – Monday, 3 November 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, following the Usus Antiquior or the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite of the Holy Mass, we celebrate the commemoration of all the faithful departed, or the celebration of All Souls’ Day. We therefore today remember all of our loved ones and indeed, all of our fellow brothers and sisters who have gone before us into the afterlife.

The souls of the dead departed from their bodies, and to many of us, death seems like to be very dreadful and vile indeed. And that is why so many people feared death, as they see it as the separation from what is dear to them in the world, from all of their loved ones and from all of their possessions, indeed, from everything that they were and from everyone they ever knew.

Or so it seems. We often mourn at death because we do not understand death, and we often do not know that what we see as death, is not an eternal separation or indeed even as something to be dreaded at all. For some of us, we cannot endure death because we fear losing what we have in this life, our possessions and our ties to the things of this world. And then for some, we see death as something evil and scary, as how it was often portrayed to us.

What is death? Death is, as mentioned, the sting of sin, and death is the consequence of sin. Death is never meant for us, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we were created by God in perfection, intended to enjoy forever the bliss of life and harmony, with the Lord in complete and unadulterated love. Instead, men chose to follow their own path, and to listen to the lies of Satan, and thus sinned.

Sin is disobedience and rebellion against God’s will, against God who is love and who is life. As He is the source of life, when we rebelled against the Lord, we have been tainted by sin and therefore being cast off from Life itself, having no life in us. Hence, even though the breath of life which God had given us is within us, but the life we have in this world is temporary, and is bound to end one day, at the Lord’s time and choosing.

Yes, we are all mere mortals, and the life within us depends on God, who gives and takes Life as He pleases. And yet, this life which we have is in fact an opportunity for us all to atone and repent from our sinfulness. And the Lord Himself has presented us with a new hope and guidance, by the sending of His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ into this world.

Why is this so? That is because our Lord Jesus Christ offers us a new life, that is life in Him, the Lord of Life. He has life in Him as given to Him by His Father, and He is the Bread of Life who came down from heaven. Why is this allusion to food, the Bread of Life? Because Christ Himself had offered His own flesh and blood to become the very food and drink that gives us new life and nourishes us.

This food and drink is the food that gives us new life, not the life that is still subjected to the power of death, but a new life that is free from the depredations of death. And Jesus offered us this Bread and this Wine, His own Body and Blood, to be part of us, when we receive them with faith, so that we who share in His gifts through the sacrifice He made on the cross, gain everlasting life through Him.

Our mortal existence in this world may come to an end, but we have been assured the final victory against death, as the Lord Himself had conquered death through His own resurrection from the dead. And that resurrection is our hope, because through it we know that there is escape from death, and it will not have the final say against us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are three fates awaiting the souls when they depart from this earthly life. If they are wicked in life, disobeying the Lord and refusing to listen to His calling, and even refusing to repent and believe in Him, committing evil in life, then hell is their lot. Hell that is the total separation and rift from the love of God, without hope of escape and salvation. No amount of help or prayer will help souls that have been condemned to hell for their irredeemable sins.

Meanwhile, the souls of the faithful will end up either in heaven or in Purgatory, depending on what they had done in life. If their lives had been exemplary in faith, filled with all forms of goodness and righteousness, then they merit the glories and joy of heaven straight away, and these are the saints, the holy men and women who keep their lives pure and worthy in the sight of God.

How about Purgatory, then? Purgatory is the place where the souls of the faithful dead, who has been faithful and devoted to God, and were found righteous, but still have the taints of serious sins on them. As such, they were not yet worthy of the fullness of glory of heaven, as the Lord dwells there, and in the presence of God, no sin should stand.

Therefore, the souls whose sins have not been completely purified have to wait in the Purgatory, suffering the consequences of their sins, the pain and sorrow of not being able to be with the Lord their God, and at the same time, being fully aware of the wickedness of their sins and shortcomings, which made them to end up in the Purgatory at the first place. They will indeed eventually proceed to heaven, but only after their sins had been absolved completely.

Today is therefore a reminder for us, on this feast of All Souls, that we have a clear choice in this life to follow the will of God and walk in His ways, or otherwise to follow the whims of our own desire and to listen to Satan and thus to sin. If we are not careful, and if our lives are filled with wickedness, then we may end up in hell, without hope of ever escaping it.

And the souls in Purgatory and their suffering there reminds us to lead a righteous life, free from even venial and seemingly minuscule and light sins. Even these may hamper us as we make our way towards the Lord. And the souls in Purgatory needs our prayer, as they cannot pray for their own sake. If we pray for the souls in Purgatory, we may obtain for them plenary or partial indulgence for the remission and absolution of their sins, so that hopefully they will be able to end their sufferings in Purgatory and proceed to the eternal glory in heaven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us ask the holy saints and angels of God to pray, first to pray for the souls in Purgatory, that together with their prayers, our prayers for these poor souls may rise to the presence of God, and God in His mercy and love, may forgive them their sins and bring them into heaven to be with Him, having been made pure and blameless, so that they may not need to suffer anymore.

And finally, for them to also pray for us sinners who still walk in this world in this mortal life. That we may realise our sinfulness and mortality, and of the suffering of the souls in Purgatory, so that we may change our ways, avoiding and rejecting sins, that we may eventually be found worthy in heaven and that none of us will be lost to hell. May all the souls of the faithful dead in the Lord, find rest in peace and receive the eternal glory of everlasting heaven with Him. Amen.