St. John Fisher

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Wednesday, 22 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (Psalm)

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

Psalm 118 : 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40

Explain to me, o Lord, Your commandments, and I will be ever faithful to them.

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law with all my heart.

Guide me in obeying Your instructions, for my pleasure lies in them.

Incline my heart to follow Your will and not my own selfish desire.

Turn my eyes away from vanities and direct them to Your life-giving word.

Oh, how I long for Your precepts! Renew my life in Your righteousness.

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Wednesday, 22 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (First Reading)

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

2 Kings 22 : 8-13 and 2 Kings 23 : 1-3

At that moment Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the House of YHVH.” And he entrusted the Book to Shaphan who read it. Then Shaphan went to the king and said, “We have gathered the money in the House, and this has been turned over to the overtakers of the House to make the repairs.”

And Shaphan added, “The priest Hilkiah has turned over a book to me.” And Shaphan read the book to the king. When the king heard the contents of the book, he tore his clothes and commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, the secretary Shaphan, and Asaiah, his minister, to do the following, “Go and consult YHVH about the threats in this book which you have found. Consult Him for me, for the people and for the whole of Judah, since our fathers did not listen to what this book says nor to its ordinances. This is why the anger of YHVH is ready to burn against us.”

The king summoned to his side all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. Then he went up to the House of YHVH followed by all the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The priests with the prophets and all the people went with him, from the youngest to the oldest. When all were gathered, he read to them the book of the Law found in the House of YHVH.

The king stood by the pillar; he made a covenant in the presence of YHVH, promising to follow Him, to keep His commandments and laws, and to respect His ordinances. He promised to keep this covenant according to what was written in the book with all his heart and with all his soul. And all the people promised with him.

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Monday, 22 June 2015 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the calling of Abram out of his homeland in the Ancient Mesopotamia, and he followed the Lord’s calling to the lands of Canaan, and because of his unshaken faith, later he was known as Abraham, the father of nations and one blessed by God to be an example to many of his own descendants, as a paragon of true faith and devotion in God.

Then in the Gospel we heard how Jesus our Lord chastised the people for their shortsightedness and inability to look at their own sins, while judging and being condescending on others who have sinned, by using His parable on the speck and plank of wood. He was comparing those who could not see the tiny speck in their own eyes and yet these people could see the big plank in other’s eyes.

How are these two readings related to each other? And how are they relevant to us? We have to understand first, that what Jesus had told the people, also has an important bearing for us. Why is this so? The parable that Jesus used spoke of how mankind often easily find fault in others, and yet, they were totally inept at discovering their own shortcomings and they were unable to realise their own sinfulness.

We are often quick to point fingers at others whenever something goes wrong, but do we realise that when we point our index finger on someone else, the other three or four fingers are pointed back at us? This should be a reminder for us that, when we accuse others of wrongdoing, we should first examine ourselves and see if it is not actually our fault first before we cause harm and trouble for others around us.

Many of this world’s sorrows were born out of this inability for us to look deep into ourselves and introspect on our own actions, before we accuse others and be judgmental upon others. These ruin and destroy relationships, break apart the unity and harmony of the faithful, and bring great sorrow and distress upon many, where then Satan could enter and manipulate things according to what he wishes.

We should indeed follow the example of our forefather, Abraham, who listened to God and walked faithfully and humbly in His ways. He showed us the example how to live our lives correctly, righteously and justly, unlike that of the people whom Jesus had chastised. This is because Abraham laid low his pride and his human desires, and instead, he opened himself completely to God and surrendered his entire being to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, pride and our other human traits often come in the way of our ability to listen to God and walk in His ways. We are unable to let go of many things and distractions that come our way, to the point that we end up accusing others, being judgmental and irrational in our ways. We think not with the wisdom of God planted in our hearts, but instead through our human desires and fragility.

Today we celebrate the feasts of several saints, whose lives hopefully will make us more aware of what we are expected to do in life. St. Paulinus of Nola, the first of them, was a Roman saint and bishop, who was born from an affluent and noble family, and had such a great career in the secular world, with power and authority, and yet, he voluntarily left all of that behind, in order to pursue a life more attuned to the will of God, in seclusion and prayer to God, and served then as a bishop, whose works continued to inspire many even until today.

St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More were both the martyrs of the so-called English ‘reformation’, the false and wicked attempt by the fallen King Henry VIII of England to separate the churches and the faithful in England from the true authority and jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, the Vicar of Christ as St. Peter’s successor, as a pretext to cover up his own adulterous life and sin, marrying eventually six times in the pursuit of an heir, as well as his unbridled lust.

Both St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More stood up for the true faith and refused to budge to the orders and wishes of the king, even while knowing that doing so would mean certain death and suffering for them. St. Thomas More even resigned from his powerful position of the Chancellor of the kingdom to show that he could not continue to tolerate the sinful ways of the king, and his readiness to stand up for the Lord.

Even when the king offered position, pardon and favour if they would just recant their opposition to the king’s ways and wishes, but they refused them all, preferring to suffer and die rather than to betray the Lord by following the worldly wishes of the king. Eventually they were martyred for their faith, and their memories were celebrated and are indeed still celebrating till today as the paragons of the true faith, just as Abraham once was.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore let us all from now on follow the examples of these faithful saints, and also by walking in the same path as Abraham, our father in faith, that we may become ever more faithful to the Lord our God, that at the end of time, God who sees our faith will bless us and grant us His everlasting happiness and the promises of grace He had given us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 22 June 2015 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 7 : 1-5

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and the measure you use for others will be used for you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, and not see the plank in your own eye?”

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Come, let me take the speck from your eye,’ as long as that plank is in your own? Hypocrite, take first the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clearly enough to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

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Monday, 22 June 2015 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (Psalm)

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

Psalm 32 : 12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance. The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole race of mortals.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.

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Monday, 22 June 2015 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and St. John Fisher, Bishop and St. Thomas More, Martyrs (First Reading)

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

Genesis 12 : 1-9

YHVH said to Abram, “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and in you all peoples of the earth will be blessed.”

So Abram went as YHVH had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took Sarai, his wife, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set out for the land of Canaan.

They arrived at Canaan. Abram travelled through the country as far as Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. YHVH appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” There he built an altar to YHVH who had appeared to him.

From there he went on to the mountains east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There also he built an altar to YHVH and called on the Name of YHVH. Then Abram set out in the direction of Negeb.

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Saturday, 22 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorials of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Thomas More, Martyrs (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the words of the Gospel, in which we are told not to worry about our needs and our desires in this world. Christ had taught His disciples that the Lord takes care of the needs of His people, and He will protect those whom He considers as His own. Therefore, as long as we belong to Christ, to the Lord, we will be safe and we will always be provided, with all the things that we need.

Worry is a natural part of a human being, and worry cannot be separated from our own selves, from our own insecurities and our own natural predisposition to the desire for things, material or otherwise, in order to secure our own survival. Such is also the law of nature according to those who study it, that we are always concerned with our own survival, and therefore would do all that we can in our own power, in order to maintain our survival.

That is why we grow increasingly concerned with our own human needs, of food, of material goods, and even of relationships and love. We worry about things that may happen to us in the future, especially if those things may affect us in a negative manner. Fuelled by these insecurities, we end up becoming selfish and overprotective of ourselves and those precious to us, that end up in numerous causes for sorrow and anguish.

Many problems of this world can be traced to our own worries, our own insecurities. The reason that many nations maintain powerful armies and forces is because they are always ever insecure about their own future, with often endless probabilities and possible scenarios of ‘enemy’ attacks on them, so that they, in their insecurity, end up building that tool of destruction, in order to protect themselves, but inadvertently, when the violence does come, that tool is often used to cause great destruction and mayhem in our world.

One of the most important reasons why countries become embroiled in long-drawn conflicts is because of conflict over resources and material wealth of the earth, with well-known examples of crude oil, gas, and other precious metals, which become a source of contention between states, and led to the build-up of enmity and mutual hostility between nations.

That was why Christ told us that we should not worry, and indeed that we should put a complete trust in God, for God who loves and cares for us will take care of us and provide us all that we need. Let us take note that it is very often that what we want is not what we truly need. Many items that we want are merely the product of our own desires and greed, driven by this world, which had brought upon us countless lucrative deals that entice us to want to have more and more of such goods.

Commercialism and materialism are rampant in our world today, brothers and sisters in Christ. One can just imagine its extent from the insatiable human desire for things that bring wealth and prestige to their owners. Our media is filled with advertisements and channels that promote decadent lifestyles. A lifestyle of great excesses and waste. A lifestyle that is apathetic to the needs of others, and a lifestyle that is often lived in ignorance of the reality of life in this world.

Today we commemorate the feast day of St. Paulinus of Nola, a bishop who lived in the later years of the Roman Empire, and also the feast day of St. John Fisher, a bishop in the late Renaissance England, in the times of the English Reformation, and his fellow saint, with whom he was also martyred, St. Thomas More, who is also known as the patron saint of lawyers.

St. Paulinus of Nola was a bishop who renounced his privileged early life as an influential senator of the Roman Empire, and chose to follow the ways of the ascetics, to give himself fully to the Lord, and eventually became a priest and bishop of Nola. He was also a well-known writer and poet, with many of his writings influencing later people and saints of the Church.

The example of St. Paulinus of Nola, who disavowed wealth and did not pursue human glory and possessions. He looked for what is more valuable to him, and indeed should be truly valuable to all of us, that is the Lord Himself, our real and true treasure. He did not find it shameful to abandon all the worldly pursuit of wealth, and all the fame and affluence he had while he was an influential senator of Rome.

It does not mean that all of us should then become monks though, and follow ascetic lifestyle. But certainly the examplary life of St. Paulinus of Nola, whose writings inspired many in the faith, and whose pursuit of the true richness in Christ, can become a powerful driving engine behind our own personal journey in the faith. And equally, just as St. Paulinus of Nola had shown all of us, the examples of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More too, cannot be ignored.

Saints John Fisher and Thomas More lived in a difficult time, a difficult and troubled time to be a follower of the Lord, and to be the faithful ones in the Church of God. For they lived at the time when the English Reformation begun, under the persona of King Henry VIII, whose greatest sin was to break away from the Apostolic authority of Rome just because he did not get his second marriage approved, in his crazed and ultimately fruitless pursuit for an heir, a son to inherit the throne of England.

St. John Fisher was the bishop of Rochester, and a closer advisor to the king, while St. Thomas More was a laity, the powerful chancellor for the king of England. When the king began his upstart new ‘church’, naturally, he wanted all of his subjects to follow him into his rebellion against the authority of the Church, especially those nearest to him in confidence and power.

Those who followed the king into his disobedience and rebellion gained prestige with the king and much material wealth and affluence, which was also the reason why many followed the king into his disobedience against Rome. Yet, St. Thomas More, and also St. John Fisher, despite the offers made by the king, particularly St. Thomas More’s lucrative chancellorship, they remained steadfast to their faith in the Lord, and remained firmly within the Church, against all attempts and temptations for them to leave the Church of God.

In refusing the order of the king, they faced suffering, persecution, prison, and eventually death in martyrdom, in their defense of the faith. They remained faithful and true to the Lord to the end, and they received their eternal reward and glory in heaven, having shedding their blood for the sake of their faith.

The lesson to be learnt here is of course not that we must shed our blood and our life like what the two martyrs of the faith had done, but just like St. Paulinus of Nola, we must value our faith and the Lord our God as the much more valuable and priceless treasure, the true treasure of our life, over any kind of worldly and material wealth, that is offered by our world, and especially in our present day world, becoming ever more tempting in their approach to all of us.

Do not give up our faith in God and our righteousness for moments of pleasure and false happiness, through the means of material goods of this world. Not that we cannot enjoy what this world can offer and neither should we restrain from gaining any material possession or money, but all of these must be done in moderation, so that it would not end up in these shutting out the Lord from our hearts, because remember that the Lord Himself said that wherever the treasure is, the our hearts lie.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today renew our commitment to strengthen our faith in the Lord, that we will ever keep Him in our hearts, that He will know that we belong to Him, and will reward us greatly when He comes again as our King. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorials of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Thomas More, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 6 : 24-34

No one can serve two masters; for he will either hate one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the first and look down on the second. You cannot at the same time serve God and money.

This is why I tell you not to be worried about food and drink for yourself, or about clothes for your body. Is not life more important than food, and is not the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, they do not harvest and do not store food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not less worthy than they are?

Can any of you add a day to your life by worrying about it? Why are you so worried about your clothes? Look at how the flowers in the fields grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his wealth was clothed like one of these.

If God so clothes the grass in the field, which blooms today and is to be burned tomorrow in an oven, how much more will He clothe you? What little faith you have! Do not worry and say : What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? or : What shall we wear? The pagans busy themselves with such things; but your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Set your heart first on the kingdom and justice of God, and all these things will also be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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Saturday, 22 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorials of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Thomas More, Martyrs (Psalm)

Psalm 33 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

Revere the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.

Come, listen to me, my children; I will show you how to fear the Lord. If you desire long life, if you want to enjoy prosperity.

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Saturday, 22 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorials of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Thomas More, Martyrs (First Reading)

2 Corinthians 12 : 1-10

It is useless to boast; but if I have to, I will go on to some visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a certain Christian : fourteen years ago he was taken up to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows. But I know that this man, whether in the body or out of the body – I do not know, God knows – was taken up to Paradise where he heard words that cannot be told : things which humans cannot express.

Of that man I can indeed boast, but of myself I will not boast except of my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, it would not be foolish of me, for I would speak the truth. However, I better give up lest somebody think more of me than what is seen in me or heard from me.

Lest I become proud after so many and extraordinary revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a true messenger of Satan, to slap me in the face. Three times I prayed to the Lord that it leave me, but He answered, “My grace is enough for you; My great strength is revealed in weakness.”

Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness that the strength of Christ may be mine. So I rejoice when I suffer infirmities, humiliations, want, persecutions : all for Christ! For when I am weak, then I am strong.