St. Ignatius of Loyola

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 58 : 2-3, 4-5a, 10-11, 17, 18

Deliver me from my enemies, o God, from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from evildoers; rescue me from the bloodthirsty.

Look, they lie in wait for my life; the mighty conspiring against me, for no fault of mine, o YHVH. I have done them no wrong; yet, they prepare to attack me.

O my Strength, I look up, to You; for You, o God, are my Fortress. My loving God will come to help me and let me see my enemies fall.

But I will sing of Your might; in the morning I will sing of Your love. For You have been a Fortress to me, a Refuge in time of distress.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to You; for You, o God, are my Stronghold; You are a loving God.

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Wednesday, 31 July 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 15 : 10, 16-21

Woe is me, Mother, why did you bring me to the light? A man of dissension throughout the land! I owe them nothing, neither do they owe me, yet they all curse me!

I devoured Your words when they came. They were my happiness and I felt full of joy when You made Your Name rest on me. I never associate with worldly people, amusing myself with scoffers! When Your hand was upon me I stood apart and You filled me with Your anger. Why is there no end to my sorrow or healing for my wound? Why do You deceive me, and why does my spring suddenly dry up?

Then YHVH spoke to me, “If you return I will take you back and you will serve Me again. Draw the gold from the dross and you will be as My own mouth. You must draw them to you and not to go over to them. I will make you a fortress and a wall of bronze facing them; if they fight against you they will not overcome you; I am with you to free you and save you. I will redeem you from the wicked and free you from the hands of tyrants.”

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to obey the Law and commandments of God, and to keep ourselves away from the wickedness of evil and all the temptations present all around us, which may distract and mislead us in our journey throughout life, in leading us towards the path of downfall and sin, like what our predecessors has shown us. We should all nurture a life that is full of faith, commitment, love and obedience to God, and strive to do our best so that in our every words, actions and in our whole life, we may truly embody our Christian faith above all else. We should strive to live a life that is in harmony with the Lord and His ways, so that by our works and lives, all may come to know God and they may know that we truly belong to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus of the moment when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai after having received the Ten Commandments, the Law and the precepts of the Lord, which were meant for all of the people of God, only to find the people of Israel having committed a great sin against God. They apostatised themselves and abandoned the Lord Who had just very recently brought them out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and led them through many great wonders and by His own mighty hands, in smiting the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, and in how He had opened the sea itself before His people so that they all could safely walk through the dry seabed away from the forces of the Pharaoh, which God had destroyed and crushed before their very own eyes.

Despite all those and how God took really good care of all of them throughout their time and journey in the desert, in providing them with food and sustenance, and with protection and help against their enemies and those who were hostile against them, many of the Israelites rebelled against the Lord and disobeyed Him, building and raising up an idol, a false god to be their lord and master, a golden calf modelled after the gods of their former slave masters, the Egyptians. Thus, they commit the most grievous and serious crime and sin against the Lord, the most important commandment of all, which stated that all the faithful people of God must love the Lord their God, with all their heart, their strength and might, and have no other god beside Him. The Lord has just established His Covenant with His people back then, only for those same people to betray Him in this manner. For this sin they should all have deserved death and destruction, but Moses pleaded for them all before the Lord.

Thus, the Lord regained His people, the Israelites, after those most responsible for the disobedience and the golden calf worship, especially those who refused to repent, had been crushed and destroyed. The people all had to atone for their sins and wickedness, and they had to repent and turn away from their sinful path. Through His Law and commandments, God has bestowed His providence and help for all of His beloved ones, and through those same Law and commandments, God prepared them all to walk down the path of righteousness and justice, the path of His virtue and grace, towards the eternal life and salvation that He alone can provide to them. The Lord has reminded us all yet again today through our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the yeast and the flour, by which He explained the kingdom of God is like, and how all of us, as His disciples should lead our lives that we can truly embody this kingdom of God being truly present in our midst.

For those who are truly familiar with breadmaking, placing yeast inside the flour that had been kneaded and mixed into dough is necessary for the dough to rise into a large and properly developed bread. However, this requires a specific kind of conditions, which include the absence of oxygen and also having the right temperature in order for the yeast to be able to turn the substances in the dough into the right mixture and texture present in the bread. This is why it was used by the Lord to highlight to His disciples, and hence also to all of us that in order for us to become truly faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord, then we have to spend our time and effort to cultivate and nurture that favourable conditions for the development and growth of the seeds of faith present inside each and every one of us.

For the Lord has given us all His truth, His Wisdom and love, to help and guide us, as are His Law and commandments, but for them to truly and meaningfully make use of those gifts and blessings, they have to provide the best and optimum conditions for those gifts to grow ever stronger in faith and grace in God. All these cannot happen unless we strive to live our lives worthily and well in accordance to God’s path and ways, and unless we do our best in trying to live our lives with dedication and commitment to God, loving Him and knowing His ways, and doing whatever we can to serve and love Him at every possible opportunities. Through all these things, we shall become the great beacons of God’s light and truth, His missionaries and messengers to all the people all around us. It is by our examples and actions that we can proclaim His Good News to the nations.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. On this day as we recall the life of this great saint of God, we recall the actions and works that St. Ignatius of Loyola carried out in his life, in his dedication to serve the Lord, that we may also be inspired to do the same in our own lives. St. Ignatius of Loyola was born Inigo Lopez into a family of lower nobility in the region of Basque in what is now northern part of Spain. And after a rather turbulent early years in life, the young St. Ignatius of Loyola was attracted into a life in the military, and was persuaded and tempted by the many hedonistic and materialistic pursuits of the world, that in his teenage years, he took up gambling, dancing, duelling and pursuing young women, as were common in those days among the nobles and the rich.

Then, when St. Ignatius of Loyola joined the military, for about more than decade, he encountered a lot of glorious moments and victories, but when he was injured in a particular battle, he faced a life-changing moment and encounter with God, through which he decided to renounce the allures of worldly glory and temptations, of greatness and desires, and henceforth, committed himself to a life that is dedicated to the greater glory of God alone. This would become the motto of the religious order that he would establish, that is the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. Their motto is ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’, that is ‘For the Greater Glory of God’. St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered several other like-minded people, who became the first members of the Jesuits, and dedicated themselves and their efforts henceforth in serving the Lord at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the commitment and dedication shown by St. Ignatius of Loyola and his fellow Jesuits, many people came back to the faith, turning away from the falsehoods and heresies of their past. Thus, St. Ignatius of Loyola became the examples for many others to follow the Lord more faithfully, and by his commitment and dedication, he became for many of us a shining beacon of God’s light and truth. Are we able to do the same with our own lives, brethren? Are we willing and able to embrace the Lord and His path just as St. Ignatius of Loyola had done with his life? Let us all hence turn wholeheartedly towards the Lord once again, reject the path of sin and evil, and be ourselves the worthy bearers of God’s truth in our world. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 31-35

At that time, Jesus offered His disciples another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it is fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast than a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole mass of dough began to rise.” Jesus taught all these things to the crowds by means of parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. This fulfilled whag was spoken by the Prophet : ‘I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.’

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 105 : 19-20, 21-22, 23

They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

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Monday, 31 July 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 32 : 15-24, 30-34

Moses then returned and came down from the mountain carrying in his hands the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets written on both sides, back and front. These tablets were the work of God and the writing graven on the tablets was the writing of God.

When Joshua heard the noise of the people who were shouting he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” But Moses answered, “It is not a victory song, nor the cry of defeat that I hear, but the sound of singing.”

When he drew near to the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burst forth and he threw down the tablets he was holding, shattering them at the foot of the mountain. Then he seized the calf they had made and burnt it in the fire, grinding it into a powder that he scattered over the surface of the water, and this he made the Israelites drink.

Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that you brought such a great sin on them?” And Aaron said, “Do not let your anger be roused. You know these people and how evil they are. They said to me : ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ I then said to them that whoever had gold was to give it over to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf!”

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a very grave sin, but now I am going up to YHVH; perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin.” So Moses went towards YHVH and said, “Ah! These people have committed a very great sin; they made a god out of gold. And now please forgive their sin… if not, blot me out of the book You have written.”

YHVH said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out from My book. Go now! Lead the people where I told you. My Angel will walk before you and on the day of punishment I will punish them for their sin.”

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scriptures reminding us to be faithful to the Lord, in our every day living moments and in all things. We are all called to remember the Lord’s commandments and Law, and the need for all of us as Christians to love God first and foremost, and then to show that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters, to everyone without exception.

In our first reading today we heard of the Lord’s commands to His people as recorded in the Book of Leviticus, detailing the celebration of the fiftieth year or the year of the Jubilee, which was marked as a year of celebration and healing, of reconciliation and love, where people forgave their enemies and those who had been indebted to them from their debts. It is a year set aside to remind the people of God that they ought to give thanks to God and at the same time also show care and love for one another.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story of the martyrdom or the death of St. John the Baptist in prison, at the hands of king Herod, and at the instigation of his wife, Herodias, who held deep grudge against St. John the Baptist as the saint did not hesitate to rebuke and criticise both king Herod and her due to the adultery they had committed by their marriage when Herod’s brother, Philip, the legal husband of Herodias was still alive.

We all know how Herodias tricked Herod through her beautiful daughter, tricking Herod into ordering the execution of faithful servant of God as likely under the influence of alcohol during a party, and overcome by his lust and desire for pleasure and human beauty, he made a commitment before all the assembled guests that he could not deny or retract. Hence, through that act, he had condemned himself to an act of great sin in murdering a faithful servant of God, even if he did not intend for it to happen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through all these we are reminded that it is not easy for us to be faithful as Christians, to live our lives as those who follow the path of the Lord and obey His Law and commandments. Those who have been faithful may encounter the fate of St. John the Baptist, who was imprisoned and killed for his steadfast defence of his faith, and we may be persecuted and face difficulties for all that we have done for the Lord’s sake. Yet, we should not give up just because of the obstacles we may encounter in our journey.

That is why we should follow the examples of our predecessors, one of whom today can show us what it means to be truly devout Christians, in all things, for the greater glory of God. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a faithful servant of God and the famous founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, which is now the largest of all religious orders and congregations. St. Ignatius of Loyola was once a soldier and nobleman, who had a life-changing experience and decided to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

Early in his life, St. Ignatius of Loyola sought worldly glory, fame and achievements in life, enrolling as a soldier to get that much sought fame and glory, only to get himself seriously injured during one of the siege battles, where his legs were severely injured in the heat of the battle. During his recuperation period, he had a spiritual encounter with God and a period of discernment, in which he came to realise that the true purpose of his life and true glory came not in the pursuit of worldly glory, fame and ambition.

Instead, from then on, as what would be famously known as his motto and the motto of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola would seek nothing else but the greater glory of God, ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’ or ‘For the Greater Glory of God’. It is with this spirit that St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered like-minded men and sought the Pope’s permission to establish a congregation dedicated to the mission of the Church, to proclaim the greater glory of God in various opportunities, from missionary efforts to involvement in proper Catholic education.

To this end, St. Ignatius of Loyola and his many fellow Jesuits such as St. Peter Canisius and St. Peter Faber were involved deeply in the Counter-Reformation efforts, establishing schools and seminaries, and other faculties involved in the dissemination of the true essence of the Christian faith. Others like St. Francis Xavier and many others involved themselves in missionary work, travelling far all over the world to spread the Good News of God’s salvation and truth, bringing many more people to the Lord. Many Christian communities today could trace their faith to the efforts of those courageous Jesuit missionaries back then.

This year we mark the five hundredth anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, marking the moment when St. Ignatius of Loyola left behind his former dream of worldly glory and fame, and embracing fully the Lord’s calling to seek for His greater glory, through which countless graces and wonderful things had come about, not least through St. Ignatius’ foundation of the Jesuits, as well as his hard works and efforts all throughout his life for the betterment of the Church and the faithful.

Let us all be inspired therefore by his examples and learn to commit ourselves to the Lord ever more wholeheartedly, resisting the temptations of worldly vices and ambitions, and instead, learning to love the Lord ever more and commit ourselves with ever greater conviction and commitment from now on. May the Lord be with us all and continue to guide us and bless us in all of our every endeavours and good works. May God bless our every good efforts and remain with us always, that we will always strive to do our best for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, “This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John.”

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to have her as your wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John’s disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 7-8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

The land has given its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 25 : 1, 8-17

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai : “When seven Sabbaths of years have passed, that is, seven times seven years, there shall be the time of the seven weeks of years, that is forty-nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month sound the trumpet loudly. On this Day of Atonement sound the trumpet all through the land.”

“Keep holy the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom for all the inhabitants of the land. It shall be a jubilation year for you when each one shall recover his property and go back to his family. In this fiftieth year, your year of Jubilee, you shall neither sow nor reap the aftergrowth, nor gather the grapes from the uncultivated vines. This Jubilee year shall be holy for you, and you shall eat what the field yields of itself without cultivation.”

“In this year of Jubilee each of you shall recover his own property. When you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from him, do not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy it from your neighbour and according to the number of years left for harvesting crops he shall sell to you.”

“When the years are many the price shall be greater and when the years are few the price shall be less, for it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. So you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear your God, for I am YHVH, your God.”