St. Edith Stein

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that as God’s holy and beloved people, all of us should always believe in the Lord and put our trust in Him, and not be easily swayed by the many temptations and distractions found all around us in this world. We also need a strong and vibrant relationship with the Lord, and develop a strong commitment in following Him at all times, in our prayerful and faithful living, in doing what God had taught and shown us all to do in being good and dedicated disciples and followers of our God. If only our faith in God is stronger, then we should have remained firm in our conviction to walk in His path, and we will not easily fall into the wrong paths in our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard of the continuation of the exhortation which Moses, the leader of the Israelites made to the people of God, calling on all of them to keep the Law and commandments of God, and to live their lives faithfully and worthily of the Lord, so that the Lord will continue to bless them and their descendants, for their faith, love and devotion to Him, as part of the Covenant which God had made with each and every one of them. Moses reminded the people that even after they had reached the land which had been promised and assured to them, they and their descendants should continue to worship the Lord and obey Him as they had always done, and not instead be swayed by worldly desires and forgetting what God had done for them.

That was why Moses spent the time and effort to remind the people of Israel, who have already begun to abandon the Lord even as the Lord had continued to show His signs and wonders in their midst. They had shown how stubborn and wicked they could be, in hardening their hearts and refusing the great grace and blessings which God had blessed them with, complaining about their lives and conditions when God had constantly taken care of them, protected them from their enemies, and reassured them that He would fulfil all of His promises and words, without exception. Hence, Moses reminded the people again and again of the great love and faithfulness of God to His Covenant, which He has constantly renewed and reassured us with from time to time.

And since God had made His Covenant with His people, that is why it is imperative that we should remember our part of the Covenant since we ourselves like the Israelites in the past have also been partakers of God’s Covenant, ours being the New and Eternal Covenant which He has made and sealed with each and every one of us through none other than His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. God has always loved us, and He has always been patient in caring for us, even to the point of providing for us the ultimate gift of His love, His own Son, manifested in the flesh, so that by the ultimate sacrifice that He undertook on the Cross at Calvary, He might liberate us all from our sufferings and troubles, from our bondage to sin that had separated us all from Him. He has always wanted us to be reconciled to Him.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in which a man who had an epileptic son asked the Lord why His disciples could not drive out the evil spirits from his son, and the Lord chided the lack of faith of the people and that of His disciples, and showing forth His power and authority, He healed the man’s son and cast those evil spirits that had made that son to suffer such hardships. And He told His disciples afterwards when they asked Him privately why they could not cast the evil spirits out, that the kind of evil spirits whom they encountered required prayer and indeed, faith in God for grace and power to flow from God and cast out those evil spirits.

It may indeed be a bit difficult to understand the intentions and nuances of the Lord from what we have heard in those words and from the events depicted in the Gospel, but it is quite evident and implied strongly that the disciples did not have genuine or strong faith in the Lord. They had indeed been given the power and authority by the Lord to heal and perform miracles, and to cast out evil spirits and heal the possessed. However, it is important that we realise how this power came from God and it is God Who exercised His power and authority through those disciples. It was likely that the disciples who attempted the healing thought that it was their own power and greatness that allowed them to perform such actions and exercise those powers, and hence, their tenuous connection to the Lord allowed the evil spirits to resist and even attack them back.

This is why it is again very important for us to remember to deepen our faith and relationship with God, in following His Law and commandments sincerely and faithfully at all times, and by spending good and quality time with Him each day through prayer and spiritual connection with Him, and even in whatever we do in each and every days of our lives, because in whatever we do with faith, even in the smallest things, done in obedience and faith in God, that is where we have grown in our connection and relationship with God. As Christians, we should indeed always embody our faith in all of our every words, actions and deeds, so that by our lives and examples we may be good inspiration to everyone around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also more famously known by her birth name of Edith Stein. She was a convert to the Catholic faith and was born into a German Jewish family in the early twentieth century. After encountering the works of St. Teresa of Avila during his education in her doctoral studies and afterwards, she was attracted to the Catholic faith and eventually became a follower of Christ. She wanted to join the Discalced Carmelite nuns, and despite some setbacks, she eventually managed to do so, during the difficult years at that time because the NAZI regime was rising to power in Germany and began to make many anti-Jewish laws and regulations which also impacted her as well. Nonetheless, she continued to dedicate herself to the Lord through her community of nuns, and despite being sent to a monastery in the Netherlands for her safety, she was eventually arrested by the NAZI secret police, the Gestapo and was martyred in a concentration camp with many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the life and examples of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, her courage and faith in the Lord, in standing up to the face of evil and sin in this world, and inspired by the great lvoe that God has always had for each and every one of us, let us all therefore strive to be ever more faithful and dedicated to the Lord at all times. Let us continue to walk faithfully with the Lord, doing our very best to glorify Him and to proclaim His Good News and truth, show His love and compassion to everyone through our own actions, words and deeds. May the Lord be with us all and all of our good works and deeds, in all things and at all times. May God bless our every efforts and bless His Church. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 17 : 14-20

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples came to the crowd, a man approached Him, knelt before Him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to Your disciples but they could not heal him.”

Jesus replied, “O you people, faithless and misled! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed. Later, the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?”

Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you : if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible for you.”

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab

I love You, o YHVH, my strength. YHVH is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on YHVH, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

YHVH lives! Praised be my Rock! Exalted be my Saviour God. He has given victories to His king; He has shown His love to His anointed ones.

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Deuteronomy 6 : 4-13

Listen, Israel : YHVH, our God, is One YHVH. And you shall love YHVH, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Engrave on your heart the commandments that I pass on to you today.

Repeat them over and over to your children, speak to them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down and when you rise. Brand them on your hand as a sign and keep them always before your eyes. Engrave them on your doorposts and on your city gates.

Do not forget YHVH when He has led you into the land which He promised to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; for He will give you great and prosperous cities which you did not build, houses filled with everything good which you did not provide, wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.

So when you have eaten and have been satisfied, do not forget YHVH Who brought you out from Egypt where you were enslaved. Fear YHVH, your God, serve Him and call on His Name when you have to swear an oath.

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Friday, 9 August 2024 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded of the impermanence of worldly things, of all the worldly glory, fame and greatness, of all the things in this world that will not last forever. The Lord alone is the One Who will give us lasting peace, joy and happiness, the true treasure of our lives. If we seek the glory and power of this world, then sooner than later we will realise that there is nothing in this world that can truly give us true happiness and satisfaction, one that is lasting and permanent. If we seek something of this world, we will realise that it can only satisfy us to a certain extent, and as we may often realise, that we cannot be truly and fully satisfied by what we seek in this world.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Nahum, we heard of the Lord’s words proclaiming the downfall and destruction of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire, which at the time of the prophet Nahum’s ministry, was still a great and powerful Empire, which had conquered the northern half of the once united kingdom of Israel, and brought many of its people into exile, those who were among God’s people. In their great triumph and hubris, they often blasphemed against God, and thought that their power would last forever. But as the Lord spoke it clearly through the prophet Nahum, that the days of Assyria and its glory were numbered, and true enough, not long after these words were spoken by the prophet Nahum, Assyria was defeated and destroyed, and Nineveh, its glorious capital was razed.

It is an important reminder for us that all the glory and power of this world are ultimately illusory and passing in nature, and none of them will last forever, no matter what. If we seek worldly glory, pleasures, fame and satisfaction, we will likely end up disappointed, to see that whatever our designs are for this world, we will never be fully satisfied and we will never be truly happy. Each and every one of us are called to reorientate our lives and regain our true focus, that we no longer spend so much time and attention on worldly matters, and instead we should seek what is more important in life, that is nothing else than the Lord Himself, and how our lives are called to be sanctified and holy, to glorify the Lord by our every actions, words and deeds. Each and every one of us should be ever more focused and centred on the Lord.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew, we are again reminded of this as we listened to the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, that if they wanted to follow Him, they ought to take up their crosses and follow Him. First of all, it was a reminder from the Lord to His disciples and ultimately also to all of us that being a follower of His is not going to be an easy thing, unlike what some or even many of His disciples that time might have thought. Back then, it was commonly thought that the Lord, as the Messiah or Saviour, would have brought about the glorious restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, and many among the Lord’s disciples might have thought of Him as the mighty conquering King Who would liberate Israel, and therefore they would gain good and wonderful lives from being the trusted followers of His.

The Lord told them the reality that being His disciples and followers would require them to face challenges and difficulties, and things would not be as rosy as they thought it would be. They would have to suffer just as He, the Lord Himself would have to suffer, all the persecutions and challenges, trials and difficulties in all of His ministry and works. Not only that, but He Himself would have to face rejections, condemnations and even betrayals and trial, and finally condemned to die for mistakes and sins which He did not even commit. Yet, He willingly did all of that out of His love for each one of us. He willingly embraced His Cross, taking it up so that by His ultimate and most loving sacrifice, He would open for us the path to eternal life and true happiness with Him.

The Lord reminded us all that in following Him, we must be ready to face the challenges and difficulties in this world, and that we may not have it easy. There may be moments when we may want to give up the struggle and journey as the Lord’s disciples and followers because of what we may encounter and have to experience in the midst of our lives as Christians in this world. But whatever happens, if we remain firmly rooted in our faith in God and continue to trust in Him, we will receive from God true and lasting fulfilment, satisfaction and joy, despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face in our journey. The path of the Lord may seem to be the more difficult and challenging one, but is one that leads to true and lasting joy, while the path of the world leads to nothingness and disappointment although it may likely seem to be easier and better.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known better as St. Edith Stein, a German convert from Judaism to Christianity, and who later became a Catholic nun, as a Discalced Carmelite nun. She was remembered for her courageous life and ministry throughout the difficult years of persecution by the NAZI German regime at that time, who persecuted all the Jewish people and even the converts like herself. St. Edith Stein herself was called to the Christian faith after having encountered and been exposed to the brilliant works of St. Teresa of Avila, a Discalced Carmelite saint and Doctor of the Church, whose writings, life and examples would inspire St. Edith Stein to become a Christian and later on to become a Discalced Carmelite herself.

St. Edith Stein joined the Discalced Carmelite just as the NAZIs began intensifying their efforts to attack and eradicate the Jewish communities in Germany, and as St. Edith Stein and her other fellow sisters’ lives might be endangered, they were relocated to Netherlands, where it might be safer for them. However, eventually Netherlands itself came under the NAZI rule after it capitulated in May 1940, and the NAZIs began targetting the Jews living in Netherlands as well. Eventually, St. Edith Stein and other Catholic converts from the Jewish community wee arrested and brought to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were all killed by gassing with a poisonous gas. St. Edith Stein remained firm to her faith throughout all these arduous journeys, and died as a martyr for her faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be reminded from what we have heard and discussed on the passages from the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and martyrdom of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein, that we may often have to suffer through the challenges and trials in this world, but we must also remember that all the things in this world are ultimately impermanent, and all things, including our sufferings and trials will pass. It is the Lord alone Who is always ever constant and will be there for us to the very end, and He will lead us all into the ultimate triumph and glory with Him. We must keep up our hope and faith in the Lord, and do our very best so that we will continue to persevere through whatever challenges and trials we may encounter.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey of faith and life, and help us to persevere through whatever we may face going forward in our respective lives. May He empower each one of us to be ever more committed and faithful disciples of His, in all things, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 9 August 2024 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

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? Or what can a person give, in exchange for his life?”

“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 standing here who will not taste death, before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

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Friday, 9 August 2024 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Deuteronomy 32 : 35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41

Their day of calamity is at hand, and swiftly their doom will come. The Lord will give justice to His people and have mercy on His servants.

Learn this now – that I alone am He; there is no god besides Me. It is I Who give both death and life; it is I Who wound and heal as well and out of My hand no one can deliver.

When I sharpen My glittering sword and My hand takes hold of judgment, I will deal out vengeance upon My foes and retribution upon those who hate Me.

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Friday, 9 August 2024 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Nahum 2 : 1, 3 and Nahum 3 : 1-3, 6-7

See, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings Good News, one who proclaims peace. Judah, celebrate your feasts and carry out your vows. For the wicked have been destroyed, they will not attack you any more. YHVH will now restore Jacob’s magnificence, like Israel’s splendour. For they had been plundered, laid waste as a ravaged vineyard.

Woe to the bloody city, city of lies and booty, o city of unending plunder! But what! Crack of whips, rumble of wheels and clatter of hoofs! See the frenzied chargers, the flashing swords and glittering spears, the heaps of the wounded, the dead and dying – we trip over corpses!

I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make of you a shameful show, so that all who look on you will turn their backs in disgust and say : Nineveh – a city of lust – is in ruins. Who will mourn for her? Where can we find one to comfort her?

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Wednesday, 9 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we gather together to reflect upon the words of the Scripture passages we heard earlier, we are all reminded to be always full of love for one another, and never be biased or discriminatory upon anyone in our lives just because they have a different origin, background, skin colour, lifestyle, or other worldly constructs and distinctions that we might have used in the past to discriminate one against the other. We are all reminded this day that God truly loves each and every one of us, and He has blessed us most wonderfully and magnificently, in many things, and we are all called to be filled with the same love that God has for us, in how we love one another, especially for the less fortunate and the suffering amongst us. We are reminded to make sure that no one should be left out especially in our world today, when many are struggling to make their ends meet each day.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers, we heard of the time when the Lord sent out through Moses, the scouts of the Israelites to take a look at the lands which He has promised to all of them and their ancestors, the Promised Land of Canaan. At that time, the Lord had led His people through the desert from the land of Egypt where they were once enslaved, and He had made a Covenant with them, revealing to them all His Law and the Ten Commandments which He gave them in order to guide and help them in their lives and journey. However, when the scouts relayed back the news from the Promised Land that they had seen, in how wonderful the lands truly were and how bountiful they were, but with all the mighty people living in them, the people became scared and fearful, afraid of going up against those people.

Hence, that was where we saw the great rebellion of Israel against God, Who had provided and cared for them all those while, and Who had patiently guided and helped them along the way. Despite having seen the great works of the Lord, His signs and wonders, and everything that He had done for their sake, all of His miracles and might before the Egyptians and all the others, the people of God frequently doubted the Lord, disobeyed Him and His Law, and disregarded His commandments and instructions. And this ridiculous abandonment of God and doubt against His providence was the final straw which eventually led to the Israelites having to endure a forty years long sojourn in the desert before they were finally allowed to enter into the Promised Land.

Then in the Gospel passage today, we heard of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and a Canaanite woman who had a daughter who was beset by evil spirits and demons, which was initially met with great apathy and indifference by the Lord, Whose words might even be considered as really offensive, because He blatantly said that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the Israelites, and then dismissed her with the words comparing her to the dogs, when He said that it is not right to take the bread from the children and feeding them to the dogs. Yes, it might indeed seem at first that the Lord was being very rude and unfair to the Canaanite woman, but the Lord Jesus actually did all those on purpose so as to highlight the folly of the biases and the common prejudices which the Israelites themselves had against the non-Jewish people all around them.

We must understand the context in which back then, the Jewish people had grown proud of their unique inheritance and status as the chosen people of God, the direct descendants of the original Israelites, to the point of looking down greatly on all the other non-Jewish people, and this was an even worse attitude shown by their leaders, like the chief priests and the elders, and the Pharisees, who prided in their exclusive right to the grace and love of God, and in the Law, customs and practices which they had zealously guarded and enforced to all the people of God. It was such that they condemned all those who did not follow the Law and practice them in the manner that they themselves had demanded it to be, as sinners and unworthy of God.

The Lord used such harsh language to refer to the Canaanite woman to highlight the uncharitable and inappropriate nature of such treatment of one’s fellow brothers and sisters, and how the people of God back then had reached such a state, that He would like to show them an example with the great faith of the Canaanite woman, to break up and to discard all those prejudices and biases. As contrasted with what we heard in our first reading today, of the faithlessness of the Israelites in the face of hardships and trials, the Canaanite woman, who was not even counted among the chosen people of God, entrusted herself and her daughter so thoroughly in the Lord that not even the Lord’s harsh words and attitude could deter or stop her from persisting in seeking His help.

This showed just how strong her faith in God was, and the Lord therefore used her faith as an example to all of His disciples as the inspiration that all of them ought to follow in their own lives. It also showed us all that we must never be biased to another person, no matter what origin and background that someone might have, as each and every one of us are equally precious and beloved by God, and all of us are truly worthy of God as long we are faithful to Him and obey Him in all of His Law and commandments, and walk in His path at all times. Each one of us have been given this reminder so that we may indeed be truly committed to the Lord and His path, just as the Canaanite woman and our many predecessors had done, all the holy men and women who had lived their lives with virtue and righteousness, all those who showed true faith in God.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also better known by her name of Edith Stein. She was born into a religious Jewish family in Europe, in parts of what is now Poland. She became an agnostic later on in life, and during her studies and pursuit of academic career, she came to be acquainted with the story and life of St. Teresa of Avila, a great Carmelite saint and reformer, who led her to embrace God and to be baptised as a Catholic. She wanted to follow in the footstep of her patron saint, and became a member of the Discalced Carmelite, but was initially dissuaded from doing so. Instead, she became a tertiary member of the Order, dedicating herself to a life of prayer and ministry to the people all around her and to her community of the faithful.

Back then, at that time, great troubles and conflicts happened throughout Europe during the rise and hegemony of the NAZI rule in Germany, which saw the attempts of Adolf Hitler and his party and supporters to destroy and eradicate the Jewish people all throughout their dominions. St. Edith Stein, as a Jewish convert to the Catholic faith, was one of the many people deemed by the evil NAZI regime as those undesirables and those to be exterminated, by their ideology that championed the supremacy of their own racial background. She and other religious sisters were sent to the Netherlands to help safeguard them against the NAZI efforts to destroy the Jewish people, but eventually St. Edith Stein was arrested with many other Jewish Catholic converts, sent to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp and was martyred.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the examples of the Canaanite woman and that of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Edith Stein, all of us can see how God called all of His people to holiness and greatness, and how everyone who has faith in Him will be blessed and honoured by God. Those who think that they are better than others simply because of their racial background or because of certain criteria and parameters, will likely stumble and falter because they placed their trust in their own sense of superiority and power, and not in their faith in God. This is why we should learn to trust more in the Lord and to resist the temptations of worldly pride, ambitions and our ego, which can easily lead us to our downfall. We should learn to love one another equally, and not be blinded by bias and prejudice, and do what we can to love the Lord our God, first and foremost before all else.

May God be with us always, and may He strengthen our faith and trust in Him, that we may not easily fall into doubt and fear, or uncertainties and temptations. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 15 : 21-28

At that time, leaving that area, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So His disciples approached Him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.” Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.”

The woman replied, “That is true, Sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.