St. Rita of Cascia

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Thursday, 22 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we continue to be reminded of the importance of following the Lord our God in the right manner, and not be divided against each other because of our prejudices and different preferences in ideologies and ways of observing God’s Law and commandments. We are reminded that what is truly important is to truly love God wholeheartedly and to commit ourselves to His ways, through proper understanding and appreciation of His will and teachings, and not to be easily divided because of our personal preferences that can lead us to be pitted one against another, which is exactly what the evil ones want with us, in attacking us and the unity of the Church.

In our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles we heard of the moment when St. Peter the Apostle, the leader of the Apostles and the Church stood up in the assembly of the faithful, which would later on be known as the First Council of Jerusalem, speaking in favour of relaxing the demands for the imposition of the whole Jewish laws, rules and customs on the whole Body of the faithful, the Church. The context of such a dispute which need a serious effort at reconciliation and resolution was that there were those followers of the Lord that came from among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were very strict in their interpretation of God’s Law and in their insistence that all of the Lord’s followers must therefore also follow the same laws and commandments in full.

St. Paul and St. Barnabas, who had been sent to minister among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people like the Romans, Greeks and many other races in the region, protested against this attempt at imposing the Jewish customs and practices on the non-Jewish people, as having experienced their ministry among the Gentiles and also being aware of the cultural differences betweent the Jews and the Gentiles, they knew that such an imposition would have led to great harm to the efforts of the Church’s evangelisation. This is due to the cultural differences and hurdles, such as the great disapproval, disgust and abhorrence that many of the Gentiles held against the Jewish customs and practices such as circumcision and the dietary restrictions they practiced.

That was why, the argued that such restrictions and obstacles should not be placed onto those Gentiles who did agree and desire to seek baptism and becoming therefore members of the Church of God. And that was brought into deliberation by the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, together with the whole assembly of the faithful in the Council of Jerusalem. St. Peter led the whole Church and assembly to discern carefully through prayer and the Holy Spirit, and through the discussions, St. Peter proclaimed the decision of the disciples and the assembly, in maintaining the unity of the Church and also the unity in its beliefs, that this issue would not bring about schism and divisions among the Church and its members.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard the Lord reminding His disciples that they all should remain in His love, as well as continuing to obey the commandments and the will of God the Father, calling them all to follow His path faithfully and devote themselves and their efforts and time to glorify Him always by their lives and actions. As Christians, as the Lord’s followers, this is therefore a reminder for all of us to be always focused on the Lord and commit ourselves to His cause at all times. We must not be divided amongst each other like what we have just heard in our first reading passage today, and we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the many worldly temptations and coercions present around us that may lead to the divisions in the Church.

That is why what the Lord reminded to His disciples is very important indeed and we are reminded to continue to root ourselves firmly on God and His love so that we may not end up falling into the wrong paths, especially with the many experiences that the Church and its long history had provided to us. Throughout history, many times, schisms and divisions had caused great harm to the Church and the faithful, causing many to be lost to God and to the path towards downfall and damnation. However, God was always with His Church, never leaving any of us behind alone, and He has always been faithful to the Covenant which He had made with us, guiding us all patiently along our journey in life, and doing our very best to bring ourselves ever closer to Him and His path to salvation, inspiring others to follow in our journey and way.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Rita of Cascia, a renowned saint and an Augustinian nun, known for her great sanctity and her self-mortification, living an exemplary life dedicated to God. She was married at a very young age of twelve to a nobleman, who was deeply involved in the internecine conflicts between the rival Italian families at that time. Her husband was also a rather immoral and wicked man, whom St. Rita patiently loved and cared for, as she went to raise her children faithfully and obediently. That marriage lasted for a whole period of eighteen years, throughout which St. Rita was an exemplary model of faith amidst the world and her community filled with hatred and violence, which would eventually claim her husband’s life due to the rival families’ bickering.

St. Rita pardoned those who have murdered her husband at his funeral, publicly pardoning them and forgiving them. However, her husband’s brother wanted to continue the feud and tried to goad St. Rita’s young children to take part in the feud to avenge their father. As such, St. Rita according to her saintly tradition, asked the Lord to take her children away from this world, rather than for them to commit sins that would have brought them into their downfall and eternal damnation. The Lord listened to St. Rita’s prayers, and it was told that both of her sons soon fell ill during an epidemic that happened then and passed away. St. Rita thereafter dedicated herself as a widow and becoming a member of the Augustinian nuns, living the rest of her life in great dedication to God and prior to her entering the monastery, she also managed to resolve the feud between the families.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have heard ourselves from the Scriptures today and from the life and works of St. Rita of Cascia, reminding all of us to be always faithful to God and not to be easily swayed by our worldly ambitions, desires and pursuits which may lead us down the path of divisions, disagreements and violence, all of which would lead to more and more harm and destruction as what had happened to the families involved in the feud during the time of St. Rita of Cascia. Instead, as God’s followers and as His holy people, all of us are called to put our faith and trust, our focus and emphasis once again on the Lord our God, dedicating our time and efforts once again to glorify the Lord by our lives. Let us all not be distracted by all these worldly ambitions, but instead focus ourselves wholeheartedly ever towards God, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 9-11

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Remain in My love! You will remain in My love if you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

I have told you all this, that My own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”

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Thursday, 22 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Thursday, 22 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 7-21

As the discussions became heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. God, Who can read hearts, put Himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them and cleansed their hearts through faith.”

“So why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jews. After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. Symeon has just explained how God first showed His care by taking a people for Himself from non-Jewish nations.”

“And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says, ‘After this I will return and rebuild the booth of David which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. Then the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to My Name. So says the Lord, Who does today what He decided from the beginning.'”

“Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols; to keep themselves from prohibited marriages; and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled, or any blood. For from the earliest times Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath his laws are recalled.”

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Wednesday, 22 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are all reminded that as Christians, God’s people and followers, we must always strive to put our faith and trust in the Lord above all the other things, and we must not let ourselves to be swayed or distracted by the many temptations of worldly glory, ambitions and desires, all of which can lead us astray and bring us away from the path of God’s righteousness and grace. If we allow ourselves to be swayed by those temptations, we may end up falling into the path towards eternal damnation and destruction.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the Apostle St. James in his exhortation to the faithful people of God, in which he told them all that they must not be so busy worrying and preparing for their plans in the world, with all their preoccupations and all the busy things they carried out to prepare for the next day, for the next week, the next month, and even for the next few years. All these things can prevent us from truly following the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly, as they may end up dragging us down the path of the pursuit of worldly ambitions, fame and glory.

When we focus so much on our lives in this world and our desires for all sorts of worldly goods and matters, it is easy for us to get distracted and to abandon our faith in God, as we may end up putting our trust more in those worldly things and attachments that we have, such as money, wealth, possessions, worldly pleasures, glory, fame among many other things. Throughout history, it has been proven that many in the Church and among the faithful fell into the path of evil and wickedness because they gave in to those temptations, even those high in position within the Church, corrupted by the worldly desires and temptations.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Mark in which an occasion when the Lord and His group encountered a person who was driving out demons by using His Name, and the disciples complained about the person to the Lord, Who told them that they should not go against the person, or make complaints, as in the end, if the person was doing good works of the Lord, in accordance to the manner that God had done and taught us all, then all those works are equally valid and worthy, and God may have indeed called the person to do His will too, without us knowing about it.

What is significant from this event is that the Lord made it clear that salvation is truly meant for everyone, even if not necessarily those belonging to the group, as there might be cases and occasions when there are people whom not by their fault or deliberate action, not fully belonging to the group of the Lord’s followers. Back then, the disciples of the Lord must have been jealous and unwilling to let the others to have the same gifts, abilities and opportunities to do what they themselves had been entrusted to do. Essentially, the attitude and actions of the disciples were based on worldly desires and jealousy, and that was wrong.

This is therefore a reminder to each and every one of us that we should not allow all sorts of worldly temptations, our ego and pride, our desires for pleasure and for worldly things to sway our decisions and distract us in our path towards God. We must always be resolute in our efforts to resist those temptations and pressures, which are usually always ever present around us, so that we may continue to walk faithfully in God’s path and be the worthy and ever faithful bearers of God’s truth and Good News at all times. Through our lives and examples, we should always strive to proclaim the Lord to everyone whom we encounter in our journey throughout life.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Rita of Cascia, who was a great and holy woman, dedicated in her efforts to live a worthy and good life that is in accordance to the path of the Lord. St. Rita of Cascia was married at a young age to a nobleman despite her desire to join a convent and become a religious sister. Her husband was also known to be immoral and ill-tempered, but despite all that, St. Rita of Cascia lived her life with virtue and zeal for the Lord, and became an exemplary wife and mother to her children, amidst the then challenging landscape of the political and inter-familial rivalries rampant at that time.

One such dispute led to the husband of St. Rita of Cascia to be stabbed to death, and his grieving family desired that the sons of St. Rita of Cascia ought to follow in their father’s footsteps and continue the feud, avenging their father’s murder by the rival family. St. Rita of Cascia tried to dissuade her sons from committing such actions, which would only perpetua and worsen the conflict ever further. When she could not do so, she earnestly prayed to the Lord to take her own sons away from her, as that would have been better than to have them falling into eternal damnation because of the sins that they would commit otherwise.

God listened to her prayers, and eventually in short succession, her sons were taken from her through disease and other means, and this widow and mother eventually entered a monastery, continuing to live her life with great piety and dedication to God, caring for the well-being of the people around her, and showing truly great faith and commitment to God as well as genuine love for her fellow brothers and sisters. Not only that, but through her continued and ceaseless efforts, eventually she also managed to help resolve the feud between the rival families that had led to the murder of her own husband earlier on.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the examples and commitment showed by St. Rita of Cascia, we can see how we can also commit ourselves so that we can continue to live worthily in the path that the Lord has shown us, by distancing ourselves from worldly ambitions and pursuits, and placing our focus in life on the Lord and on doing His will rather than pursuing glory and greatness, which as we have seen from the life of St. Rita of Cascia, to be rather pointless, meaningless and futile, and which often lead us only down the path of destruction and damnation instead of the path of righteousness and virtue.

May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our journey, and may He continue to bless us all, empowering us to live faithfully as His good and devout servants, proclaiming His Good News and salvation to everyone. May the Lord bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and may He guide us always in our paths through life, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Mark 9 : 38-40

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him, because he does not belong to our group.”

Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My Name can soon after speak evil of Me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

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Wednesday, 22 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 48 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-10, 11

Hear this, all you peoples! Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, high and low together, rich and poor alike!

Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers ring me round – those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?

For no ransom avails for one’s life; there is no price one can give to God for it. For redeeming one’s life demands too high a price, and all is lost forever. Who can remain forever alive and never see the grave?

For we see that the wise die, and pass away like the fool and the stupid, leaving to others their fortune and wealth.

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Wednesday, 22 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

James 4 : 13-17

Listen now, you who speak like this, “Today or tomorrow we will go off to this city and spend a year there; we will do business and make money.”

You have no idea what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? No more than a mist, which appears for a moment and then disappears. Instead of this, you should say, “God willing, we will live and do this or that.”

But no! You boast of your plans : this brazen pride is wicked. Anyone who knows what is good, and does not do it, sins.

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Monday, 22 May 2023 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each one of us are called to continue to live our lives faithfully as Christians and continue to carry out what the Lord had commanded us to do, to live our lives in the manner that He has taught us all to do, so that in everything we say and do, we will always be the worthy bearers of His light and truth, and that we may be inspiration and good role models for others around us, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God through our own lives and works, through our every words and interactions. All of us should do what we can to spread God’s message and ways to others whom we encounter in our lives. This is our calling and vocation as Christians, regardless whichever specific vocation that we have been called to.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles about the works of St. Paul the Apostle among the faithful in the region of Ephesus in Asia Minor. Ephesus was one of the early centres of Christianity, and the faithful there grew rapidly in numbers as both Jews and Gentiles alike embraced the new faith in God. The Lord has called on all of them to be His followers, and He spread to them His Good News and truth through His disciples and missionaries like St. Paul, who went to their region to proclaim the Good News and the truth of God. St. Paul was speaking to some of those disciples who were likely to have belonged to the Jewish diaspora there, who believed in the teachings of St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah. As was evident from the accounts from the Acts of the Apostles and the other parts of the New Testament, St. John the Baptist and his teachings were quite widespread around the region.

However, those disciples like the ones in Ephesus have not yet received the fullness of truth as what the early Christians have received, and hence, the Lord called on His Apostles and disciples to evangelise and spread the Good News to all of those people who have not yet heard of this truth and Good News. St. Paul taught them about the teachings and truth of the Lord, proclaiming to them the Good News and the Gospel of salvation. Those disciples believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as their Saviour and Master, and were baptised by St. Paul. The Holy Spirit came down upon them and many great miracles happened, as St. Paul continued to minister to all the faithful there and carrying out the good works that God had planted among them. That was how the Church kept on expanding and growing at that time in Ephesus and elsewhere.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples when they told Him that He was finally telling them the truth and no longer was using parables, hidden meanings and other forms of story-telling through which those who listened to the Lord had not been able to discern fully what He wanted to tell them. But this was because the Lord did not want them all to know everything at once, and wanted them to journey with Him, and to discover their faith in God gradually through their experiences and by listening to the word of God speaking in their hearts and through the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit stirring in them, prodding them to follow the path that the Lord has shown them, and for them to find out about the truth which He has presented and brought before all of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, essentially through what we have received in our Scripture readings today, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us who have received the same truth and revelation of the Good News of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, all of us have the obligation and calling, the mission and vocation to proclaim the truth of God to more and more of the people whom we encounter daily, at each and every moments. In our every works, our words and actions, in our every deeds and interactions with one another, all of us should do our part in living our lives worthily so that we may indeed bear our Christian faith and truth to others who interact with us and witness our work and actions. All of us bear within us this calling and mission, with whatever it is that the Lord has blessed and entrusted us with, in our various areas and competencies.

Today, all of us should be inspired by the examples of St. Rita of Cascia whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Rita of Cascia was an Italian saint and Augustinian nun, a holy and devout religious sister who had dedicated her life to the service and the glory of God. She was married at a very young age by her family and despite her desires to enter a convent even from an early age, she remained as a good and faithful wife to her husband, who was quick-tempered and immoral in nature. She was remembered for her efforts in trying to change her husband’s ways, in the marriage that lasted for eighteen years until her husband and sons passed away. It was known that her husband’s family was involved in the then bitter interfamilial struggles and conflicts, and when her husband was murdered, St. Rita of Cascia tried to dissuade her sons from seeking revenge for their father’s death. She also forgave her husband’s murderers and enemies.

And when the sons of St. Rita of Cascia were in danger of committing sins in the pursuit of vengeance, she voluntarily asked the Lord to take them away so that they would not fall into the path of sin and damnation. Miraculously, God listened to her prayers, and her sons were taken away from her, as they passed away from dysentery, before they could commit murder and mortal sins that could harm and endanger their eternal souls. Afterwards, St. Rita of Cascia entered the monastery of St. Mary Magdalene in Cascia, in which she devoted the rest of her life to a work of prayer and piety, and managed to bring the two feuding families together in fulfilling the conditions that were imposed to her before she was to join the monastery community, devoting her life henceforth only to the glorification of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be inspired by the examples and the role models showed to us by St. Rita of Cascia and many others of our holy predecessors. Let us all turn towards the Lord once again and commit ourselves to His path, doing whatever we can to do His will and to love Him at all times. May the Risen Lord, Our Saviour Jesus Christ continue to be with us and guide us all, and bless us all in our every good works, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 22 May 2023 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 16 : 29-33

At that time, the disciples said to Jesus, “Now You are speaking plainly and not in veiled language! Now we see that You know all things, even before we question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “You say that you believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have told you all this, so that in Me you may have peace. You will have trouble in the world; but courage! I have overcome the world.”