son of man

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Saturday, 5 September 2015 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Religious (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 6 : 1-5

At that time, one Sabbath Jesus was going through the corn fields, and His disciples began to pick heads of grain, crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”

Then Jesus spoke up and asked them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering, and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.”

And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the sabbath.”

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Friday, 4 September 2015 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 1 : 15-20

He is the image of the unseen God, and for all creation He is the Firstborn, for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible : Thrones, rulers, authorities, Powers… All was made through Him and for Him. He is before all and all things hold together in Him.

And He is the Head of the Body, that is the Church, for He is the First, the First raised from the dead that He may be the first in everything, for God was pleased to let fullness dwell in Him. Through Him God willed to reconcile all things to Himself, and through Him, through His Blood shed on the cross, God establishes peace, on earth as in heaven.

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Tuesday, 18 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 19 : 23-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you : it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, believe Me : it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

On hearing this the disciples were astonished and said, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and answered, “For human beings it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Then Peter spoke up and said, “You see we have given up everything to follow You. What will be our lot?” Jesus answered, “You who have followed Me, listen to My words : on the Day of Renewal, when the Son of Man sits on His throne in glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

“As for those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or property for My Name’s sake, they will receive a hundredfold and be given eternal life. Many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.”

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Friday, 7 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 16 : 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for My sake will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys his soul? There is nothing you can give to get back your soul.”

“Know that the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some here who will not die, before they see the Son of Man coming as King.”

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Thursday, 6 August 2015 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast of the Church, where we celebrate the great event on the mountain on that day, when Jesus was glorified and revealed the fullness of truth about Himself to the three of His Apostles, Peter, James and John. This is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, when Jesus revealed His divinity to His people for the first time.

On this feast, there are several things we all ought to take note of. First of all, the symbolism shown in this event of the Transfiguration truly revealed to us the great truth about Jesus our Lord, who He is, what His mission was, and what He would do in order to achieve that mission. Then we should indeed begin to understand them one by one.

On that mountain, Jesus was transfigured, and two figures from the Old Testament came, appeared and spoke to Him. They were Moses and Elijah, the greatest of God’s servants, and who symbolised the works which Jesus was to accomplish in this world as part of His messianic ministry. Moses represented the Law which God had revealed to the people through Him, while Elijah represented the Prophets through whom God had made His will known to the people.

This represented the role of Jesus who came to fulfil and complete the Law in its perfection, and He would reveal to all mankind the true meaning and purpose of the Law which God had revealed to them, but which they had often misunderstood in the practice and in its purpose. And then, Jesus also was a Prophet, the One who made clear God’s words and intentions to men. It was through His words, His teachings and parables that He called upon many people to return to the Lord.

In Jesus the role of Priest, Prophet and King was united as one, for He is indeed the High Priest of all, by His role in delivering all of us through the sacrifice which He had offered for the sake of our sins and unworthiness, that is His own Body and Blood which He offered up from the Altar of Calvary from the cross. And as Prophet, He revealed to us all the truth about God, and taught us the Law.

And we know that He is King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, and the Good Shepherd of us all, who leads us from the darkness of this world, gathered from all over the world, once scattered now brought together as one people into the unity of His Church, that He may bring us to the salvation which He has promised those who are faithful to Him.

In this we see how the Transfiguration of our Lord had revealed to the disciples, and also to all of us, who Jesus is, that is none other than God Himself, who had been willing to descend upon us and assume our humble human form, to be born in the flesh, and to later suffer for our sake, bearing our sins and punishments for those sins as He made His way to Calvary and as He hung between the heavens and the earth on the cross. He died for us, so that we all may live.

But in this, we also should realise that the Transfiguration itself also revealed to us, what we are to become, when we remain faithful to the end, and at the end, receive the just reward for our faith and devotion from the Lord. Just as Jesus revealed His true self to His disciples, then all of us should also reveal who we truly are to one another, and discard all the falsehoods and the lies with which we have covered ourselves and hid our true selves with thus far.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because God had created all of us good and perfect, just as He is good and perfect. But it was because of sin and disobedience which since the days of the first mankind had entered into our hearts and beings, we have been made imperfect and tainted, and our true selves had been hidden under layers of guilt, disobedience, and all other sorts of wickedness that prevent our true selves from being revealed.

For we are the children of God, who is Love, who is Light and goodness. If we are therefore His children, then certainly all of us should have imitated Him in how we behave and act in this life. It was our sins and our disobedience, and our human weaknesses and tendencies to sin that have made us such beings that had strayed far away from where we were and what we were intended to be.

Therefore, on this day, we have to heed what the Lord had shown us, and we all have to also listen to the Lord’s word, that we indeed have to listen to Jesus, the Word of God, through whom God made clear all of His will and desire for us. What then He had said to His Apostles Peter, Janes and John should be a good lesson for all of us.

For the Apostles must have been so awed and mesmerised by the glory and the greatness, and the great joy that they ought to have felt to be in the presence of God on that mountain. And they wanted to make three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, so that they could stay there and not to leave that state of joy. But Jesus reminded them that, in order for them to move on, they must also at one point go down the mountain and face the challenges of the world.

Jesus Himself, even though He was glorified and honoured in today’s commemoration of the Transfiguration, but He knew that He had to forgo all of the glory and even empty Himself, descending down the mountain of glory, to come towards the ultimate test and challenge He would face, that is to be rejected and humiliated by the very people whom He had been sent to, to be saved.

In the same way therefore, all of us should shake ourselves from our comfort zones, that we may be able to realise that we have been too long and too deep in our slumber, where our true selves of love and righteousness had been buried deep within the layers of our laziness, our indifference, our apathy and our inability to see the opportunity for us to rise up and to give glory to God through our actions.

May our Transfigured Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all from now on, that in all things that we do, we may also do things to aspire for that same goal, that our old selves and the veils of our own sinfulness and evils may be replaced by the true beauty of our inner selves, the beauty of the love and faith which our Lord had given us by His Spirit. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 6 August 2015 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 9 : 2-10

At that time, six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain. There His appearance was changed before their eyes. Even His clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say : they were overcome with awe. But a cloud formed, covering them in a shadow, and from the cloud came a voice, “This is My Son, the Beloved; listen to Him.”

And suddenly, as they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus with them. As they came down the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this to themselves, although they discussed with one another what ‘to rise from the dead’ could mean.

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Thursday, 6 August 2015 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 9

The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Cloud and darkness surround Him; justice and right are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

For You are the Master of the universe, exalted far above all gods.

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Thursday, 6 August 2015 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Daniel 7 : 9-10, 13-14

I looked and saw the following : Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took His seat. His robe was white as snow, His hair white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before Him. Thousands upon thousands served Him and a countless multitude stood before Him. Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book.

I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Alternative reading

2 Peter 1 : 16-19

Indeed, what we taught you about the power and the return of Christ Jesus our Lord was not drawn from myths or formulated theories. We ourselves were eyewitnesses of His majesty, when He received glory and honour from God the Father, when from the magnificent Glory this most extraordinary word came upon Him : “This is My Beloved Son, this is My Chosen One.” We ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”

Therefore, we believe most firmly in the message of the prophets which you should consider rightly as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the break of day, when the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

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Monday, 20 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 12 : 38-42

At that time, some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” Jesus answered them, “An evil and unfaithful people want a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the depths of the earth.”

“At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because they reformed their lives at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is greater than Jonah. At the judgment, the Queen of the South will stand up and condemn you. She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here there is greater than Solomon.”

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Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezekiel 2 : 2-5

A Spirit came upon me as He spoke and kept me standing and then I heard Him speak, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have sinned against Me to this day.”

“Now I am sending you to these defiant and stubborn people to tell them, ‘this is the Lord YHVH’s word.’ So, whether they listen or not this set of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.”