St. Josaphat

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must always continue to live our lives well in the manner that the Lord has shown and taught us. We must always be righteous and good in all of our words, actions and deeds, so that the Lord will find us all to be worthy and just, worthy of the eternal life and true happiness that He has promised to each one of us. As Christians, it is expected that all of us should always be full of faith and zeal in living our lives, in each and every moments in them to be truly shining and worthy beacons of God’s light and grace. And if we are truly God’s people, His followers and disciples, then we should always live our lives with God’s teachings and truth at the forefront in our lives at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Titus, we heard of the words of St. Paul to his protege, who was one of the first bishops of the Church as the successors of the Apostles that they and all the other faithful people of God must always be good, virtuous and faithful to the Lord so that in all their daily living, each and every one of them, in their own respective capacities and parts of the community they were living in that they may become worthy bearers of Christ’s truth and Good News to everyone they encountered and interacted with. They have to be truly devoted to God through their faithful observance and living of the Lord’s Law and commandments, and by showing Christian charity and virtue in all the things that they say and do.

To be Christians, it is always important for all of us to be truly faithful to God, not just in appearances and formality, not just in words and proclamations, but also in all of our every actions and deeds, in our every good works and contributions, our every encounter with everyone around us, those whom we meet in our daily lives. As Christians, all of us ought to be good, worthy and righteous in all things, to strive to do what the Lord has called and commanded us all to do, to be truly devoted to Him in all things, doing our very best so that our whole lives may indeed be full of virtue and goodness, that through us, many more people will come to know the Lord and believe in Him, experiencing His love and grace, His kindness, compassion and mercy through our own loving actions, words and deeds.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples highlighting the fact and reality that we are all servants of the Lord, our Master and each and every one of us should always remember that we should only do what our Lord and Master has wanted and called us to do, and then at the same time, we should not be conceited and proud, thinking that we deserve more things or that we ought to have more just because of our actions, works and deeds, or end up demanding the Lord to reward us for whatever we have done in His Name, in our obedience and contributions to the Church and the works of salvation, our many missions and outreach to everyone around us.

It is a reminder for us that salvation in a grace from God for us, and we are saved by our faith in Him, which we make alive and genuine through our actions and works, our contributions and efforts in life. But we are not saved solely through our own efforts and works, as without true and genuine faith in God, those efforts and works are meaningless. Similarly, faith that is not made alive, real and manifest through active contributions, actions and genuine Christian virtues, efforts and works is also dead and meaningless. Hence, we are all reminded today that we must always put the Lord our God at the centre and as the focus of our whole lives and existence. Then, at the same time, we must also actively live our lives as Christians, in following the Lord ever more courageously and faithfully at all times, obeying Him in all the Law and commandments He had presented to us, and answering His call to us, that He made to each one of us.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a faithful and holy servant of God, who as bishop of the Church was truly a courageous and dedicated servant of God, being martyred for his faith against all those who refused to listen to reason and embrace the true teachings of the Church and the unity of the Church against all the divisions that had brought about much harm to the Church and the faithful. St. Josaphat was one of the Eastern Orthodox bishops in Ruthenia, what is today part of Poland and Ukraine, where he was one of the leaders of the faithful people of God. Amidst the efforts of the time in that region to reconcile the divided Church and the Christian communities between those who are in communion to the Pope and those who have separated themselves from the communion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, St. Josaphat rose to prominence in his efforts to bridge this gap.

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was one of the bishops who accepted the agreements of reunion between the Churches, which was also known as the Union of Brest, about four centuries ago. He worked hard to bridge the differences between all those who supported and those who refused to embrace the efforts at reunification and reconciliation between the faithful members of the Body of Christ, the Church. But he still faced a lot of opposition and rejection from many of those who refused to listen to reason and truth, and in the end, he was martyred and suffered a terrible fate as those who opposed him and his efforts at reunion of the churches mobbed and attacked him, and brutally murdered him. Nonetheless, the inspiration and courageous examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych continues to inspire many people even to this day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discerned and discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and as we have heard from the life and inspiring examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, let us all therefore be resolved to live a good and worthy life in the manner that God has called us to in each and every moments, opportunities and occasions throughout our lives. Let us all be the shining examples and role models for one another in faith in all things, and help one another to remain firmly faithful to the Lord, to be truly committed in actions and deeds, to be courageous despite all the challenges and difficulties, trials and hardships we may encounter in our journey in life. May God continue to bless us all, and may He empower us all to remain ever always in His loving presence, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 17 : 7-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner?’ No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterwards.'”

“Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I do not think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.'”

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 36 : 3-4, 18 and 23, 27 and 29

For they will fade as any green herb and soon be gone like withered grass.

The Lord watches over the lives of the upright; forever will their inheritance abide. The Lord is the One Who makes people stand, He gives firmness to those He likes.

Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. The righteous will possess the land; they will make it their home forever.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Titus 2 : 1-8, 11-14

Let your words strengthen sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be sober, serious, wise, sound in faith, love and perseverance. The older women in like manner must behave as befits holy women, not given to gossiping or drinking wine, but as good counsellors, able to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be judicious and chaste, to take care of their households, to be kind and submissive to their husbands, lest our faith be attacked.

Encourage the young men to be self-controlled. Set them an example by your own way of doing. Let your teaching be earnest and sincere, and your preaching beyond reproach. Then your opponents will feel ashamed and will have nothing to criticise.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life and worldly greed, and to live in this world as responsible persons, upright and serving God, while we await our blessed hope – the glorious manifestation of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus. He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from every evil and to purify a people He wanted to be His own and dedicated to what is good.

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Holy Scriptures which spoke to us about the Wisdom of God, and how that Wisdom is far superior to the wisdom and the intellect of men. The combined might of our intelligence and power, the greatness of our minds and achievements are nothing compared to what God can do.

Many of us think that we are capable of great things and achievements, and indeed we are able to, but lest that we think we accomplished all of them on our own accord and abilities, let us all take a step back to remember that our life is not ours to command, but it has been granted and been given to us by the One who had created us, and it was by His will and desire that we are able to live such a life in this world.

And yet, many of us conveniently forgot about this fact, and many of us thought that our glory and greatness is ours alone. We like to think in this way because for us men, it is often not in our priority to think about the Lord, and even less so to give Him thanks for all the goodness that we have received. We only remember Him when we are in trouble and in need of help, when we beg Him to help us, but otherwise, on other occasions, we forget entirely about Him.

In God lies everything that we will ever need in life, and in Him we will have everlasting and true joy. Yet, many of us are unable to find this joy or see the truth about the Lord beyond the veil of lies and untruths that Satan has placed between us and the Lord. Satan placed many temptations and good things of this world, and he played into our sense of glory and desire, so that he may seize our hearts’ focus and attention, and thus rather than glorifying God, we glorify ourselves.

Satan himself was once a great angel who fell from grace because of his vanity and pride. He was unable to restrain his pride and arrogance, and because he thought of himself as having power and majesty far greater than all the other creatures of the Lord, then he was worthy of the throne of the Creator. Thus, in his pride, Lucifer fell from grace, and instead of greatness, it was damnation and eternal suffering and shame that awaited him.

And in our pride too, and succumbing to our own desires, our ancestors have been fooled and allowed themselves to be tempted by the devil, who played along their sense of greatness and hubris, and by claiming that if they disobeyed the Lord and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would not die but instead would gain glory and greatness by becoming like God.

And they fell indeed, because in their shortsightedness, they had allowed themselves to be corrupted by their own desires, uncontrolled and untamed, and having been taken over by pride and by desire, they realised it too late that they have committed sinful things before the Lord. This is what can happen to all of us as well, and all of us must be ever vigilant in this.

We just have to look at how many people among us mankind who have thought of themselves as better than God through their actions, showing disrespect to the Lord through acts such as murder of life, alteration of Church teachings and morality, and even doubting the existence of God Himself just because they could not see Him and thus prove that He exists.

Thus was mankind fooled by their own feeble and limited intellect and capacity, all these while thinking that they were capable of truly great things on their own. Yet, in our pursuit of glory and greatness, many of us had often forgotten that it was because of God, because of His grace and blessings that we were capable of such great feats.

Let us all therefore look into the examples of today’s saint, St. Josaphat the Martyr, also known as St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, the holy martyr of Russia, and the defender of the true Faith. St. Josaphat was born into the Russian Orthodox Church, which is a branch of the Eastern Orthodoxy that split away from the Holy Mother Church about a thousand years ago out of disagreement and the eastern prelates’ desire for worldly authority, and thus they split away from the authority of the Vicar of Christ in Rome.

St. Josaphat became a religious and eventually rose to become a bishop in the Eastern Orthodoxy, and led a very pious and dedicated life to God, until the opportunity came for some of the Eastern Christians to rejoin in a renewed communion with Rome, with the Pope. He led the faithful in joining the new union with the Holy Mother Church.

But there were many oppositions and resistance from all those who refused to see the truth and follow the example of those who have reunited with the Universal Church in Rome. And over time, the opposition grew more and more vocal and even violent, harassing the faithful and even eventually the bishop, St. Josaphat himself, who in the end suffered martyrdom at the hands of these people.

St. Josaphat was murdered in cold blood by those who refused his authority and who rejected the communion with Rome, preferring to remain in heresy and damnation of their rebelliousness instead. But St. Josaphat never faltered till the end, and he continued to faithfully minister to the people of God, completely entrusting himself to the care of the Lord till the end.

In accordance with the examples that St. Josaphat had shown us, let us all also therefore dedicate ourselves more and more to the Lord, and less to ourselves, and rather than trusting solely in our own human thoughts and intellect, let us learn to put our trust in the Lord. May He bless us all always and guide us on our path. May He continue to watch over us and protect us always. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 17 : 20-25

At that time, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. He answered, “The kingdom of God is not like something you can observe, and say of it, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘See, there it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you.”

And Jesus said to His disciples, “The time is at hand, when you will long to see one of the glorious days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Then people will tell you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go with them, do not follow them. As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man; but first He must suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation.”

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 118 : 89, 90, 91, 130, 135, 175

O Lord, Your word stands forever, firmly fixed in the heavens.

Your faithfulness lasts throughout the ages – as long as the earth You created.

Your ordinances last to this day for all things are made to serve You.

As Your words unfold, light is shed, and the simple-hearted understand.

Favour me with Your smile and teach me Your statutes.

Long may I live to sing Your praise, may Your ordinances always be my help!

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Wisdom 7 : 22 – Wisdom 8 : 1

Because Wisdom, Who designed them all, taught me. In her is a Spirit that is intelligent, saintly, unique, manifold, subtle, active, concise, pure and lucid. It cannot corrupt, loves what is hood and nothing can restrain it; it is beneficent, loving humankind, steadfast, dependable, calm though Almighty. It sees everything and penetrates all spirits, however intelligent, subtle and pure they may be.

Wisdom, in fact, surpasses in mobility all that moves, and being so pure pervades and permeates all things. She is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; nothing impure can enter her. She is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of God’s action and an image of His goodness.

She is but one, yet Wisdom can do all things and, herself unchanging, she renews all things. She enters holy souls, making them prophets and friends of God, for God loves only those who live with Wisdom. She is indeed more beautiful than the sun and surpasses all the constellations; she outrivals light, for light gives way to night, but evil cannot prevail against Wisdom.

Wisdom displays her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things rightly.

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Wednesday, 12 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today it is highlighted to us another virtue in our faith life, that is the value of humility and gratitude in our lives, and how important these are in shaping our lives. For the Lord our God, who loves us so much, had decided to forgive us our sins and show His mercy to us sinners, even though more often than not, our sins were such that they should have been unforgivable as they were so wicked in nature.

As mentioned in the first reading today, taken from the letter of St. Paul written to Titus, while he was in captivity in Rome, mankind were once foolish and misguided, and we were once wholly submissive to our desires and our human needs, that we always seek to better ourselves and find what is good for ourselves, even at the expense of others.

It is difficult for us to obey others, and already it is difficult for us to obey the earthly authorities who made their presence and authority felt, and thus not to say about the authority of our Lord, whom many of us failed to notice in our lives. We are fearless and not repentant of our rebelliousness, because we did not recognise the Lord who is around us and within us, and who is watching everything that we do in this life.

It is therefore difficult for us in our nature to look beyond ourselves, and for many of us, pride and arrogance has walled us in, into ourselves as our desire feeds our pride and that pride further feeds our desire, in a vicious cycle that never ends, and eventually uncontrolled, it will lead to a great danger for us. We will not be able to do the will of God if we continue to remain and linger within this darkness within ourselves.

The Gospel today shows how Jesus healed ten lepers, who sought for His help, and He told them to show themselves to the priests, as was written in the Law, on how they ought to show their purity to the priests before they could be admitted back into the society. God’s power worked along the way, and they were healed while on the way to the priests.

Yet, this was where the behaviour of the one Samaritan who was healed, differed greatly from the other nine, who was also healed. The nine lepers was healed, and they joyfully realised that fact, and gladfully went on their way, presumably and most likely, to return to their old lives, and resumed whatever it was that they had lost. Meanwhile, the Samaritan also realised that he was healed in body, but unlike the other nine, he turned back, knowing who it was that had made him clean once again.

The Samaritan turned back and returned to the Lord Jesus, who praised Him for His faith, and said how his faith had made him whole once again. It is because of his faith that he recognised how Jesus has the power to make him clean, and he had placed his full trust in God, and not in himself. This is the attitude many of us had to adopt and emulate, and we have to abandon our ways, which are more often than not, like the other nine who rejoiced and did not give thanks to God.

How many of us in our lives, and in our daily actions forget to give thanks to those who helped us in various ways? And how many of us in fact, in total lack of gratitude and appreciation even caused pain to those who have helped us, or asked even more from them to satisfy our ever-growing desires? It is difficult indeed for mankind to resist such temptation, as we always try to grab at things beyond our means, and we complain when we cannot obtain them.

It is often that we need the grace of humility, temperance and satisfaction, at what God had given and provided us with His love. In the psalm today, the famous and renowned psalm on the Good Shepherd, we are shown how the Lord is our Good Shepherd, who leads us away from danger and darkness, and providing for us in all that we need, so that all of us who believe in Him, will not be disappointed, but gain eternal life and happiness.

He guides us on our way, so that we may not lose our path and fall into darkness. This very life we have, and all the goodness we have in it, are all the blessings of the Lord, and we ought to be grateful and thankful for that love. Yet, do we realise how often it is that we complain against the Lord, when things seemingly did not go our way? How often is it that we are angry at the Lord for seemingly not fulfilling what we have asked for?

We have to therefore, learn from the faithful Samaritan, the people who were often marginalised and ostracised by the Jews as being pagans and unbelievers, as barbarians unworthy of salvation. And yet, it was the Samaritan who humbly sought Jesus to give Him thanks for having healed him from his leprosy. The Jews, just as the other nine lepers, failed to do so.

We should emulate the example of the Samaritan, seeking God’s love and mercy at all times, and realising the love which He has for us, our Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep. And today, we have the example of another shepherd, a holy saint, martyr and bishop whose example we should indeed follow. This is St. Josaphat the martyr, also known as St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a Bishop who lived in the early modern time Lithuania during the sixteenth and seventeenth century.

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was a bishop whose see was reunited with the leadership of the Roman Pontiff, the Pope, after it had been separated for many hundreds of years due to the Great Schism between the Western and Eastern Christianity. As such, St. Josaphat had a very difficult time in managing his flock, as many of them remained loyal to the old and rebellious ways, and refuse to follow their bishop and shepherd in obedience to the Vicar of Christ.

Nevertheless, St. Josaphat remained faithful and devoted, working tirelessly to serve God’s people, even serving those who were openly in rebellion against him. He preached to them the word of God and urged them to remain faithful, and also to follow the teachings of the true Faith. In the end, however, those who were opposed to St. Josaphat rose up and murdered him in cold blood, throwing his body in a river.

The body of St. Josaphat was recovered and brought with honour to Rome, where it received the honour of being buried at the hallowed ground of the Basilica of St. Peter. Later on, with the intercession of St. Josaphat himself, his archenemy, a rival bishop who set up his position in direct opposition to St. Josaphat, repented his sins and was reunited with Rome.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych the martyr and faithful bishop, let us all work together as one people, one Church of God. Let us help one another, in union with our bishops and those whom the Lord had placed over us, as representatives of His authority, so that we may learn of humility and obedience to God’s will.

Let us all pray to the Lord, that He will grant us grace, to diminish in our pride and desires, and grow stronger in our humility and desire to seek the Lord. Let us learn to obey fully the will of God and seek the fullness of His eternal love and mercy, like the Samaritan leper who was healed from his afflictions, giving thanks to God for that love shown to him, and was praised by the Lord for his faith. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/11/wednesday-12-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-josaphat-bishop-and-martyr-first-reading/

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/11/wednesday-12-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-josaphat-bishop-and-martyr-psalm/

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/11/wednesday-12-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-josaphat-bishop-and-martyr-gospel-reading/

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Wednesday, 12 November 2014 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 17 : 11-19

At that time, Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, and He passed through Samaria and Galilee, and as He entered a village, ten lepers came to meet Him. Keeping their distance, they called to Him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Jesus said to them, “Go, and show yourselves to the priests.”

Then, as they went on their way, they found they were cured. One of them, as soon as he saw that he was cleansed, turned back, praising God in a loud voice; and throwing himself on his face before Jesus, he gave Him thanks. This man was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus asked him, “Were not all ten healed? Where are the other nine? Did none of them decide to return and give praise to God, but this foreigner?” And Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go your way; your faith has saved you.”

 

Homily and Reflection : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/11/wednesday-12-november-2014-32nd-week-of-ordinary-time-memorial-of-st-josaphat-bishop-and-martyr-homily-and-scripture-reflections/