St. John Bosco

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Tuesday, 31 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 21 : 26b-27, 28, 30ab, 30c-32

I will fulfil my vows before all who revere You. The lowly will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

The whole earth will acknowledge and turn to the Lord; the families of nations will worship Him.

Before Him all those who rest in the earth will bow down, all who go down to the dust.

My soul will live for Him. My descendants will serve Him and proclaim the Lord to coming generations; they will announce His salvation to a people yet unborn, “These are the things that He has done.”

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Tuesday, 31 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Hebrews 12 : 1-4

What a cloud of innumerable witnesses surround us! So let us be rid of every encumbrance, and especially of sin, to persevere in running the race marked out before us.

Let us look to Jesus the Founder of our faith, Who will bring it to completion. For the sake of the joy reserved for Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and then sat at the right of the throne of God. Think of Jesus Who suffered so many contradictions from evil people, and you will not be discouraged or grow weary.

Have you already shed your blood in the struggle against sin?

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Sunday, 31 January 2016 : Fourth (4th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the passages from the Sacred Scriptures, which message is very clear to us. Today we are all reminded and also called to service, to the service of our brethren, our brothers and sisters around us, in our neighbourhood and society, and foremost of all, to serve the Lord our God with all of our might and strength.

In our first reading today, we heard about the calling of the prophet Jeremiah, a great prophet who preached the word of God to the people of the kingdom of Judah during the last days of that kingdom, just before the time when the Babylonian exile happened. The prophet Jeremiah was called from a humble origin, and he was called to serve the Lord even amidst the challenges.

And he did not have an easy task, as those to whom he was sent to by the Lord refused to listen to him and rebelled against the Lord all the more. They refused to abandon their wickedness and repent in sincerity to the Lord, and as a result, their fate was sealed, that is to be bereft of their rights to dwell in the land promised to their ancestors, they were scattered to the foreign lands and their properties seized by their conquerors.

In the Gospel today, we heard about our Lord Jesus Who went back to His native village of Nazareth in Galilee, where He lived and where His family lived. But the people there were also indignant and refused to believe in Him, despite certainly having heard of the great deeds that Jesus had done with the people of the surrounding towns and countryside as He ministered to the people of God there.

They did so because they thought that their human wisdom, power and intellect were better than the wisdom of God, and thinking that Jesus Who once lived among them, the Son of a simple carpenter Who now preached the Good News of God, healing the sick and performing miracles was too much for them to believe in. They preferred to remain in their preconception and their prejudice against Him, thinking that He was a nobody as He was before.

Carpenters were not highly regarded as it was seen as a menial labour, a hard job that brought about little recognition, glory and income. And many looked down on such professions, just as prophets themselves during the time of Jeremiah and the time before and after that had been treated. Many of them were thought as madmen and as crazy people who talked nonsense.

Why was this so? This is because they often spoke of doom and bad times to come, because of the failure of the people of God to obey the commandments of the Lord. We in our human nature always prefer to think of good times and we do not like to suffer or to face the ugly truth about ourselves. The truth is that all of us are sinners, and we need some help for ourselves, but many of us deny this truth.

So today, the message from the Sacred Scriptures is that all of us are also called like the prophet Jeremiah, and like the other holy prophets, saints and servants of God, to also walk in the same path, to proclaim God’s Good News to His people, and to bring His salvation closer to them all. And it does not require much for us to do, but starting from faith and from love, that is the faith and the love that we need to have for the Lord our God.

All of us who believe in God should also understand that we all have a responsibility to be witnesses for our Lord, that through our words, deeds and actions we show to the world, to all others around us, that we believe in God, in Whom alone there is truth and salvation. We have been called to be bearers of God’s salvation, so that just after we have been saved through our faith, many more will also be saved.

We have been called today to become the modern day disciples, prophets and servants of the Lord, walking with Him in faith and proclaiming His good deeds to the people, so that through our examples and works, we may help to bring many people at the edge of the precipice of darkness and damnation into salvation and eternal life in God. This is our mission, the mission which our Lord had entrusted to His Apostles, and which has been passed down to us even to this day.

There will indeed be challenges and difficulties on our path, just as our Lord Himself and His Apostles had encountered rejection and ridicule, contempt and persecution. But if we remain faithful and carry out our duties to the end with faith, our rewards in God will be truly great indeed. Let us all not be fearful or be afraid of the rejection of the world, but be courageous always in faith, carrying out the Lord’s good works to all the peoples through our own lives.

May God bless us all in our endeavours, and may He keep us in His grace, blessing us and giving us the strength and courage in heart, that we may always remain true to our mission and be committed always to our cause. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 31 January 2016 : Fourth (4th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 4 : 21-30

Then, at that time, Jesus said to the people of Nazareth, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”

All agreed with Him, and were lost in wonder, while He spoke of the grace of God. Nevertheless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s Son?” So He said, “Doubtless you will quote Me the saying : ‘Doctor, heal Yourself! Do here in Your town what they say You did in Capernaum.'”

Jesus added, “No prophet is honoured in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon.”

“There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought Him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw Him down the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went His way.

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Sunday, 31 January 2016 : Fourth (4th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 12 : 31 – 1 Corinthians 13 : 13

Be that as it may, set your hearts on the most precious gifts, and I will show you a much better way. If I could speak all the human and angelic tongues, but had no love, I would only be sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, knowing secret things with all kinds of knowledge, and had faith great enough to remove mountains, but had no love, I would be nothing.

If I gave everything I had to the poor, and even give up my body to be burnt, if I am without love, it would be of no value to me. Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill-mannered nor does it seek its own interest. Love overcomes anger and forgets offences. It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth. Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love will never end. Prophecies may cease, tongues be silent and knowledge disappear. For knowledge grasps something of the truth and prophecy as well. And when what is perfect comes, everything imperfect will pass away. When I was a child I thought and reasoned like a child, but when I grew up, I gave up childish ways.

Likewise, at present we see dimly as in a mirror, but then it shall be face to face. Now we know in part, but then I will know as I am known. Now we have faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

1 Corinthians 13 : 4-13

Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill-mannered nor does it seek its own interest. Love overcomes anger and forgets offences. It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth. Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love will never end. Prophecies may cease, tongues be silent and knowledge disappear. For knowledge grasps something of the truth and prophecy as well. And when what is perfect comes, everything imperfect will pass away. When I was a child I thought and reasoned like a child, but when I grew up, I gave up childish ways.

Likewise, at present we see dimly as in a mirror, but then it shall be face to face. Now we know in part, but then I will know as I am known. Now we have faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

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Sunday, 31 January 2016 : Fourth (4th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 70 : 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17

In You, o Lord, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced. In Your justice help me and deliver me, turn Your ear to me and save me!

Be my Rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o Lord, have been my Hope, my Trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

My lips will proclaim Your intervention and tell of Your salvation all day. You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim Your marvels.

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Sunday, 31 January 2016 : Fourth (4th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jeremiah 1 : 4-5, 17-19

A word of YHVH came to me, “Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you were born I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations!”

“But you, get ready for action; stand up and say to them all that I command you. Be not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence! See, I will make you a fortified city, a pillar of iron with walls of bronze, against all the nations, against the kings and princes of Judah, against the priests and the people of the land.”

“They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you – it is YHVH who speaks.”

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Saturday, 31 January 2015 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about how we ought to have faith in God, the faith which we have in the Lord, and by hearing on the testimony of those who have lived the faith in the past, we too should be inspired to live following the footsteps of our predecessors in faith if we desire to receive the fullness of God’s grace and salvation.

The faith we heard was about the faith of Abraham, the faith of Sarah and all those who have lived according to the way of the Lord. Abraham was once just a mere man who lived in the ancient region of Mesopotamia, in the city of Ur, far away from the lands of Israel. And then one day, God called him to follow where He would ask him to go to. He promised Abraham great rewards and riches should he choose to follow Him, and indeed, Abraham faithfully followed the Lord into the unknown.

God chose Abraham not because He randomly picked people who He deemed suitable to receive His grace, but because He also knows what is in the hearts of men. He knows it all, and to those who have the gift of faith, He shall give more, and bless them even more if they prove to be capable of living up to the faith. And Abraham passed that with flying colours. Not only that he was able to commit himself fully to the Lord, but he was also even willing to sacrifice his own son to obey the will of God.

And in this, we also see the kind of commitment which is required from us, so that we can be truly faithful and devoted to the Lord our God. We cannot be half-hearted or be divided in our attention and focus on the Lord, or otherwise, our faith is not truly genuine and real. After all, the sacrifice of Isaac itself has shown us how faithful our Lord is, in His devotion to all of us. He is ever faithful, while we are always the ones who always broke our promises and obedience to Him.

And the promise of God was made full, real and complete through His giving of His own Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of God’s promise and love. In need for so much of help are we, that nothing short of what He has done, will be able to deliver us from the grip of sin which had engulfed us for such a long time. Sin has been a great stumbling block in the path of our road to redemption, and as long as we remain immersed in sin, it will be difficult for us to escape.

Indeed, just like the storms and waves in the lake, which the disciples encountered as they were crossing the lake, thus there are many obstacles and dangers that are in our path as we approach the Lord and as we seek the salvation which only our Lord can give us. It may indeed be very fearsome and frightening to be in such a condition, but if only we had placed our trust in the Lord, then we truly should not be afraid, for the Lord Himself will guide us and guard us from the Devil.

When Jesus, our Lord, is at the helm, no one will be able to assail us, and as long as we anchor ourselves to Him, we shall be fine. For by what He has done, God had shown us all how to be truly faithful and devoted to God. If Abraham had endeavoured to sacrifice of his only son, the child of the promise of God, then what God had done for us is even greater.

For He had also given us His own Son, as a loving sacrifice, out of His faithfulness and obedience to the one thing which keeps Him moving in action to save us all, His people, that is the love which He has for each and every one of us, from the least to the greatest. And that is the love which our Lord has shown us, the love which propelled Him to endure all forms of sufferings and to die for us on the cross.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. John Bosco, a renowned priest and holy man, who was known for his efforts to help the people of God, through his various charitable acts and founding of charitable and educational institutions, meant to help the least in the society, the poorest, the weakest, the least and the ostracised of the society.

St. John Bosco worked hard to spread the Good News of the Lord, and he did it through his actions, helping and loving those who have no others to love them, and caring for all those who have no one else to turn towards. He sheltered many people, especially the youths, who were homeless and under bad influences of the world, and he taught them on how to live their lives well.

What St. John Bosco had done should be an inspiration to all of us, to put all of our faith in God, and put it into real action, by following in the footsteps of all those who have been faithful before us. Abraham, our forefather in faith trusted completely in the Lord, and he walked down the path to the lands promised to his descendants, and he offered even his own son out of obedience to God’s will, knowing that God will give him back his son.

Thus, all of us should also be truly devoted and be faithful to our God, and the best way to do so is by showing it through our words, deeds and actions, loving our fellow brethren and caring for them. Let all of our actions speak loudly and clearly of the love of God, so that more and more people may realise of the love which He had shown all of us. May Almighty God be with us all, love us always, and keep us always in His grace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 31 January 2015 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 4 : 35-41

At that time, on that same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” So they left the crowd, and took Him away in a boat He had been sitting in, and other boats set out with Him. Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat, so that it was soon filled with water. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

They woke Him up, and said, “Master, do You not care if we drown?” And rising up, Jesus rebuked the wind, and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?”

But they were terrified, and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

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Saturday, 31 January 2015 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 69-70, 71-72, 73-75

In the house of David, God’s servant, He has raised up for us a victorious Saviour; as He promised through His prophets of old.

Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of our foes. He has shown mercy to our fathers; and remembered His holy covenant.

The oath He swore to Abraham, our father, to deliver us from the enemy, that we might serve Him fearlessly, as a holy and righteous people, all the days of our lives.