suffering of our Lord

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Thursday, 6 August 2015 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast of the Church, where we celebrate the great event on the mountain on that day, when Jesus was glorified and revealed the fullness of truth about Himself to the three of His Apostles, Peter, James and John. This is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, when Jesus revealed His divinity to His people for the first time.

On this feast, there are several things we all ought to take note of. First of all, the symbolism shown in this event of the Transfiguration truly revealed to us the great truth about Jesus our Lord, who He is, what His mission was, and what He would do in order to achieve that mission. Then we should indeed begin to understand them one by one.

On that mountain, Jesus was transfigured, and two figures from the Old Testament came, appeared and spoke to Him. They were Moses and Elijah, the greatest of God’s servants, and who symbolised the works which Jesus was to accomplish in this world as part of His messianic ministry. Moses represented the Law which God had revealed to the people through Him, while Elijah represented the Prophets through whom God had made His will known to the people.

This represented the role of Jesus who came to fulfil and complete the Law in its perfection, and He would reveal to all mankind the true meaning and purpose of the Law which God had revealed to them, but which they had often misunderstood in the practice and in its purpose. And then, Jesus also was a Prophet, the One who made clear God’s words and intentions to men. It was through His words, His teachings and parables that He called upon many people to return to the Lord.

In Jesus the role of Priest, Prophet and King was united as one, for He is indeed the High Priest of all, by His role in delivering all of us through the sacrifice which He had offered for the sake of our sins and unworthiness, that is His own Body and Blood which He offered up from the Altar of Calvary from the cross. And as Prophet, He revealed to us all the truth about God, and taught us the Law.

And we know that He is King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, and the Good Shepherd of us all, who leads us from the darkness of this world, gathered from all over the world, once scattered now brought together as one people into the unity of His Church, that He may bring us to the salvation which He has promised those who are faithful to Him.

In this we see how the Transfiguration of our Lord had revealed to the disciples, and also to all of us, who Jesus is, that is none other than God Himself, who had been willing to descend upon us and assume our humble human form, to be born in the flesh, and to later suffer for our sake, bearing our sins and punishments for those sins as He made His way to Calvary and as He hung between the heavens and the earth on the cross. He died for us, so that we all may live.

But in this, we also should realise that the Transfiguration itself also revealed to us, what we are to become, when we remain faithful to the end, and at the end, receive the just reward for our faith and devotion from the Lord. Just as Jesus revealed His true self to His disciples, then all of us should also reveal who we truly are to one another, and discard all the falsehoods and the lies with which we have covered ourselves and hid our true selves with thus far.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because God had created all of us good and perfect, just as He is good and perfect. But it was because of sin and disobedience which since the days of the first mankind had entered into our hearts and beings, we have been made imperfect and tainted, and our true selves had been hidden under layers of guilt, disobedience, and all other sorts of wickedness that prevent our true selves from being revealed.

For we are the children of God, who is Love, who is Light and goodness. If we are therefore His children, then certainly all of us should have imitated Him in how we behave and act in this life. It was our sins and our disobedience, and our human weaknesses and tendencies to sin that have made us such beings that had strayed far away from where we were and what we were intended to be.

Therefore, on this day, we have to heed what the Lord had shown us, and we all have to also listen to the Lord’s word, that we indeed have to listen to Jesus, the Word of God, through whom God made clear all of His will and desire for us. What then He had said to His Apostles Peter, Janes and John should be a good lesson for all of us.

For the Apostles must have been so awed and mesmerised by the glory and the greatness, and the great joy that they ought to have felt to be in the presence of God on that mountain. And they wanted to make three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, so that they could stay there and not to leave that state of joy. But Jesus reminded them that, in order for them to move on, they must also at one point go down the mountain and face the challenges of the world.

Jesus Himself, even though He was glorified and honoured in today’s commemoration of the Transfiguration, but He knew that He had to forgo all of the glory and even empty Himself, descending down the mountain of glory, to come towards the ultimate test and challenge He would face, that is to be rejected and humiliated by the very people whom He had been sent to, to be saved.

In the same way therefore, all of us should shake ourselves from our comfort zones, that we may be able to realise that we have been too long and too deep in our slumber, where our true selves of love and righteousness had been buried deep within the layers of our laziness, our indifference, our apathy and our inability to see the opportunity for us to rise up and to give glory to God through our actions.

May our Transfigured Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all from now on, that in all things that we do, we may also do things to aspire for that same goal, that our old selves and the veils of our own sinfulness and evils may be replaced by the true beauty of our inner selves, the beauty of the love and faith which our Lord had given us by His Spirit. God be with us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast of the Church, particularly that of the Church of Rome, the Eternal and Holy City, the heart of Christendom. For not only that on this day we celebrate the commemoration of the dedication of one of the four Papal Basilicas, that is the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major or Santa Maria Maggiore, but we should also learn the reason behind why this great edifice of worship and House of God was built.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore was built on a site where about over a thousand and five hundred years ago, a noble family in Rome prayed for help and blessing, because they had no children, and they vowed to dedicate their possessions to the Blessed Virgin, mother of our Lord and God. They prayed for her intercession, so that she might guide them on how to dispose their properties for the sake of the Lord.

As a sign, for their prayers had been heard, there happened that in the midst and during the peak of the summer season, at a site on where the great Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore now stands, there happened that snow was falling on that site, as the clear sign of the Lord’s favour and blessing on those who have given themselves and dedicated what they had for the Lord’s sake.

The Pope at the time, Pope Liberius also received a vision about what had happened, and when he and the aforementioned noble couple went to the site, they gave thanks to the Lord and His Blessed Mother, who had shown their grace and love for all those who were faithful. And the great Basilica dedicated in the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known thereafter also as our Lady of Snows, in reference of what had happened, was built on that site, and the memory its dedication and consecration we celebrate on this day.

On that site also, there is a very famous and very venerated image of our Blessed Mother, known as the Protector of the City of Rome and the Roman people, or Salus Populi Romani, an icon of the Mother of God, who had been invoked again and again from time to time as the defender of the faithful. And we can see indeed the great veneration and honour which we have accorded to the mother of our Lord.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is precisely because, she is a great role model to all of us. It was her faith and devotion to the Lord, who is also her Son, in how she brought up Him from His birth and how she walked with Him and accompanied Him on His journeys, and how she endured the bitter agony of seeing her Son suffer for the sake of all mankind.

And we know the fact, which I have often reiterated, that our Lord who loves us and cares for us all greatly without exception, have given us a great gift, in His own mother, whom He had given to us as someone whom all of us can treat and indeed should treat as our own mother. This is just as she had been entrusted with all of us, through St. John, the Lord’s Apostle, that He had entrusted to her.

What does this mean? This means that we have such a great helper and we have been blessed with such a great assistance, that the very mother of our Lord is with us and guiding us, as well as aiding us on our way. Indeed, the saying is true, that we ought to go to the Lord, seek Him out and reach out to Him, through Mary, His mother. Ad Jesum per Mariam, or to Jesus through Mary.

Thus, on this great feast in memory of the dedication of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore or St. Mary Major, let us all dedicate ourselves to a new life, one that is filled with the love of God, and strive to live our lives as faithfully as our mother Mary had lived her own life, in full and total dedication to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, brethren, she is the one closest to her Son in heaven, and whatever we ask her Son through her, surely it will be heard.

May Almighty God bless us all and guide us, and let us give Him thanks for the gift of His mother Mary, our greatest intercessor and protector against the wickedness and evils of this world. Let us be forevermore faithful to Him. God be with us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings have a clear theme, that all of them spoke of the faults and mistakes which all of us have committed in this life, and how we ought to humble ourselves before God and seek His ever great mercy, so that we may be forgiven of our sins and therefore we will not be cast away from His presence and from the life which He had promised to all of us.

In the first reading we heard how in the time during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses had some sort of power struggle with his siblings, namely Miriam and Aaron, his sister and brother respectively. They were unhappy at what they perceived as something unjust when God favoured Moses such that he was the only one through whom God communicated His will to His people.

As his brother and his sister, Miriam and Aaron had that kind of jealousy, thinking that if Moses had received such favours, then they too would deserve it as well. They therefore grumbled and rose up against Moses, all for the sake of the glory and praise which in our opinion, we think that they were expecting by sharing the same power and privilege which Moses had enjoyed.

But God was angry at them, because they had unjustly and wickedly tried to usurp and contest what God had decided, and they tried to wrest the rightful blessings and grace which God had shown His servant Moses, just because they were jealous in their hearts. And as a result, God showed His displeasure at them, and Miriam contracted leprosy, which was a disease that was one of the most taboo and humiliating at the time.

Yet, we should note how Moses did not rejoice over what had happened to his brother and his sister, and instead, he begged God to show mercy on them. Truly, this is something that we have to take note of. This means that, we cannot be like Aaron and Miriam in their behaviour towards Moses, in all the injustice they had shown him. Yet, their behaviour and actions are precisely what many of us mankind are suffering from.

How many of us have this tendency in us to be jealous at the achievement of others? How many of us also covet what others have? If we look at our own lives, then surely we would realise how many times we have caused this great discomfort upon others and bicker with them for what they have, because we are unable to restrain ourselves. We succumb ourselves to the pressure of our desires and wants, and therefore, we fell into sin.

Today, we celebrate the feast of a holy man, a holy saint, whose in life was known as a hardworking and dedicated man of God, whose concerns were for those whose souls were lost in the darkness, for those who were in a state of mortal danger and sin. He was known as the Cure of Ars, also known by his name of St. John Vianney or St. John Mary Vianney.

We know him as the patron saint for priests, who was the one whose examples inspired so many of the priests past and today. Through his hard and tireless works, he had brought about a great transformation in the lives of those people who were around him, transforming his community and many others who flocked to his place to see him and to hear from his teachings, and to be healed by his hands.

Through St. John Vianney and his works, countless souls had been saved, and many others were initiated on their path towards salvation. This is what Jesus in the Gospel today had mentioned, that salvation and someone’s righteousness does not begin with exterior cleanliness and purity, but instead, begins from the inside. St. John Vianney worked to heal not the body but the soul.

And in the Gospel today, we also heard about how Jesus chided Peter for his lack of faith, because he tried to walk on the water as Jesus had done, but the wind and the waves made him to fear, and in his fear, he trembled and started to sink. He lacked faith in the Lord, and the concerns and fears of this world began to affect him, the same things that had brought Aaron and Miriam to commit sin against God by being jealous to their own brother.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us no longer remain an unbeliever, and believe! Let us put our trust and faith fully in God and no longer be affected or corrupted by the many desires and worries of this world. Let us purify ourselves, our body, heart and soul from all sorts of jealousy, greed, desire, hatred and all other forms of negativities in us. May Almighty God bless us and guide us on our way. Amen.

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Monday, 3 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, in continuation from the last Sunday’s readings, we heard about how the people of Israel grumbled and complained about the food which they have received from God Himself. God fed them with manna in the desert, so that in a place where no life could have existed, they would still be well fed and be filled in their stomachs and be satisfied in all things.

And God also gave them large birds and other good things to eat, and provide them with sweet and crystal clear water to drink, from the rocks themselves. This is such that even though the whole multitudes of Israel is so huge, but they could be sustained and were provided for as they made their journey through the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

But yet, the people did not feel grateful to the Lord for whatever He had done. They complained that the manna does not taste good and is bland, although it was truly bread from heaven, that the angels ate and partake together, it is a great privilege for them to have a share in that heavenly sustenance. And as described in the Scriptures, the manna actually has a good taste, like honey, sweet and fulfilling.

It was because they have been so blinded and thus unable to see or witness the love which God had given all of them. They succumbed to the temptations of their bodies and their flesh, and as we all should know, it is very difficult to satisfy our own desires. If we have more things and more goods with us, then all the more we want to have even more of what we already had.

For example, if we have plenty of food and good things, the tendency is for us to want and desire even more of them. We are very difficult to satisfy, as our greed and desires always tend to get the better of us. This is also exactly why the people of Israel had acted the way they did. This is because they were so accustomed to the pleasures of the flesh, the temptations of this world, that when they encountered difficulties of life and the disciplined way of the Lord, they rebelled and made a lot of complaints.

In the Gospel today, we also heard how Jesus fed the multitudes of five thousand people, with only five loaves and two fishes to feed them. And yet, by the power that is in Him, He made all the things possible, and He fed all the people until they were all satisfied and yet with twelve baskets worth of leftovers. He showed the eminent and great love of God, which He had freely given to all of us.

What does this show us, brethren? It shows us that even though we have sinned and rebelled against God again and again, but He continued to show us an undying love that goes even beyond our wickedness and sins. God continues to give us chance after chance, and opportunity after opportunity. Of course this does not mean that we can just take advantage of this and take it for granted.

For God had given none other than His own Son, a part of Himself so that by His suffering on the cross, for the sake and atonement of our sins, He may gather us all, a people to be consecrated in holiness to God. Through the giving of His Body and by the outpouring of His Blood, which He accomplished perfectly on the cross, He had done even more than what we witnessed in the Gospel today.

This is because while those who received the bread from heaven or manna were dead because of their sinfulness, and those who ate from the bread and fishes multiplied by Jesus were not guaranteed salvation and life in what they received, those who truly accepted the Lord and received Him with honour and proper worthiness, all of them received the fullness of God’s promise through Jesus.

And what is this promise? That death will no longer have any more power or dominion over any of us, and that we may have eternal life, true life that comes from the Lord. Yes, one that has no end or limits, because we would draw life and grace from God Himself, who will dwell with us and enjoy forever the eternal bliss of the world that He has prepared for us.

He is the Bread of Life who had come from heaven, in His own words, which He made clear to His disciples. Whoever takes his or her share in Him, they will not be disappointed, for God will be with them, and if they are faithful to the end, then God too will not abandon them. This is what all of us ought to realise, and what we have to look up to, and strive for in our own lives.

May Almighty God bless and guide us in our path, so that we may walk righteously in His ways, and seek to always find Him in our daily lives, and live according to His commandments, that by worthily sharing in His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and by our faith made concrete through action, we may be justified and glorified in God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 2 August 2015 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about the readings from the Scriptures, both from the Old and New Testament, on how God fed His people and made them satisfied. We heard first how the people of Israel during their Exodus from Egypt was fed with manna, or the bread from heaven, so that even in the middle of the desert they would not go hungry.

Every morning, the Lord would bring manna to them in the morning mist together with the dew, and all had enough manna for themselves to eat. And every evening, the Lord sent huge flocks of birds for the people to catch and eat. And through Moses, God gave His people crystal clear and sweet water to drink, and all these He had done, so that His people may know of His love, and may be filled with good things to satisfaction.

Yet in the Gospel today, Jesus rebuked the people who followed Him, because He knew that He had fed them and they saw that He could feed them and therefore they followed Him. Why is this so, brethren? That is because what Jesus wanted the people to know, and by extension for all of us to know is that, true faith is not about believing just because we saw what had happened and be amazed at it, and neither can we have faith that is just as much as our stomach is, that is our desires.

A good lesson for us can be gained by observing exactly what happened to the people of Israel in the desert. They were fed with manna, with large birds and other food otherwise not to be found in a desert, and were supplied with rich water and ample provisions, but see what had happened to them. They did not remain faithful to the Lord who loved them and cared for them so much.

Firstly they were mesmerised by gold, by the wealth of this world, which the Egyptians had provided them amply with as they left Egypt, when the Egyptians wanted to have nothing nothing else to do with them and gave them whatever they wanted. All these gold got into their hearts, blinding them against God’s love and made them very, very proud of themselves and greed grew in their hearts.

And we know what happened next, when at the mountain of God at Horeb, as Moses went up the mountain to establish covenant between the people of God and their Lord, they whored themselves and sold themselves to the pagan gods, making a golden calf as their idol and their god, claiming that it was that golden calf that led them out of Egypt, even though they had seen the glory and might of God.

Then, throughout their journey across the desert itself, did the people of God remain faithful and did they thank the Lord for the food which God had given them? The very bread that the angels eat and share in the bliss of heaven, of which among men, they were the only ones to have a taste of? No, they were not thankful, and instead, they bickered among themselves and made complaints after complaints, and even complaining that their lives in bondage in Egypt was better than whatever God had given them.

These people had followed the call of their stomach rather than the call of their heart. They followed and submitted to their earthly and worldly desires rather than trying to find the true joy and happiness which only God can give. They placed their trust in earthly things and seek worldly approval and trying to sustain and satisfy their wants and wishes.

And this, coupled with whatever they have done in wickedness have made them to be judged as unworthy and as people rejected by God. They ate the bread from heaven and they died, because they had no life in them, and they did not try to find what true life is about, for life lies with God alone, and they did not find what they need in God, for their worldly concerns and occupations prevented them to find the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel we heard the truth, that Jesus Christ our Lord, who came down from heaven, God Himself, His Word who had taken up the flesh of man, had made Himself an offering worthy of our redemption and brought about our salvation, by giving us freely, the true bread of heaven, the true Bread of Life, that is He Himself. He is the Bread of Life, for whoever partake in His Body and drink His Blood, shall have life in them, and death shall no longer reign over them.

This does not mean that those who share in the Body and Blood of our Lord shall not die, but this instead mean that death has no longer any dominion over them. While previously we ought to fear death for it is a consequence and punishment for our sins, we now know that because of Christ, our Lord, we have a new opportunity, a new chance given to us, and a new path to our complete victory and triumph against sin and death is before us.

And all these is again because of God’s love and care which He had shown us freely. Just as He had fed His beloved people with manna, the bread from heaven, with large birds and with sweet and crystal-clear water from rocks itself, therefore now, He feeds us with the true Bread and Wine of Life, that is His own Flesh and Blood. Which God cares for us so much that He would give us this to eat? And especially who would love us so much so as to suffer and bear the burden of all our sins?

It is God who loves us so much, that He would provide for us, feed us and satisfy us with care, and most important of all, to have all of us to have a share in Him, by giving His own Body and Blood through the bread and wine, which our priests transformed completely into the very substance and matter of our Lord Himself. We who partake in the Eucharist worthily therefore, share with one another the true life and salvation which comes from God alone.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we all look deep into ourselves and reflect, and use this opportunity to think about whether we have found the Lord who is really present in the Eucharist, and whether we have understood and realised the love which He had for all of us, whom He had cared for since the beginning of time, and whether we have sincerely sought for Him and desired to find Him in our lives.

May we all grow to love the Lord all the more, and may we strive to make ourselves worthy of Him as we live our lives in this world. Let us shun all forms of worldliness and wickedness in our behaviours, so that by our virtues and good works, we may detach ourselves from the desires and wants we have in our hearts, be no longer oppressed and controlled by them, and in all things may we grow ever more grateful for all the things and blessings God had given us. Lord Jesus Christ, Bread of Life, be with us all always. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 August 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how God instituted the year of the jubilee, which is celebrated every fifty years, and which was the opportunity for mercy, redemption, atonement and forgiveness for sins. It is on that opportunity that those who had been suffering and enslaved, burdened and troubled were to be freed from their burdens and be liberated.

Meanwhile, in the Gospel, we heard about how the faithful servant of God, St. John the Baptist was martyred for his upright and unyielding devotion to the truth of God, even if that meant standing up against the king and risking his own life. He was martyred for standing up against the sins of the flesh, the wickedness of this world as shown by the adulterous relationship that king Herod had shown with his brother’s wife, Herodias.

How does these two readings relate to each other, brothers and sisters in Christ? How do they make sense to us? These two readings actually invited us to look deep into our own lives and values, into our own actions, words and deeds, and asked us to reflect on the nature of sin, punishment for those sins, and opportunity for forgiveness and mercy.

If we look into our lives and reflect on what we have done and committed in this life, then surely we should be able to see how we truly deserve to be punished and cast into utter darkness because of our actions. Do we realise how much God has loved us and blessed us in all the things we have and do? And yet do we realise how often we have walked astray from the path He had shown us?

From time to time, ever since the beginning of time, and ever since we mankind had fallen into sin, we have been reminded by the Lord through His many servants and messengers whom He sent to pronounce to us the truth about His mercy and love for us, as well as the truth about His righteous anger and justice, which He shows for our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should take note that while our Lord and God loves us all beyond anything else, and although His mercy and forgiveness is offered freely to all without exception, we should not take advantage of it, and cause the Lord to have more reason to show His wrath upon us. For if we walk the same path as the king Herod had done, then surely, we are testing the patience of the Lord.

What is this path? It is the way of wickedness, of succumbing to worldliness and all sorts of temptations and pleasures of the flesh, which brought about corruption to our hearts, minds and bodies, to our entire being. Whenever we let our heart’s desires to overcome us and control us, and whenever we act in selfishness and without regards for others, then we truly have walked astray from the path our Lord had shown us, that is the path towards salvation.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a bishop and Doctor of the Church, who was most renowned in his role as the founder of the Redemptorists, also known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. This religious congregation devoted themselves, in the model of their founder and patron, to the redemptive salvation and the merciful nature of our Lord.

St. Alphonsus Liguori lived a few hundred years ago during a time when the faith of many were severely tested, both by heresies and heretical thoughts, as well as by the forces of the world, secularism, pleasures of the flesh, simony and many other vile things in the world. St. Alphonsus Liguori decided to devote himself to the service of the Church, to God and to His people by joining religious life.

He saw how many people stumbled on their path to the Lord, were lost and ended up living in sin. Thus, he devoted himself to serve them and help to bring these lost sheep back to the Lord. He and many others who followed him founded the Redemptorists and worked hard to combat the influences of false teachings and worldly temptations on the people they worked so hard to save.

Through his many works, and his many writings, he had inspired many others to follow in his footsteps, either by joining the Redemptorists or any other religious orders and consecrated life, or in their own life as a laity, to help those who have been lost in the darkness of the world. And have our own hearts been stirred as well? We too should be stirred in our hearts to follow in the footsteps of this holy saint.

We have to change our own lives first, in all the things that we say and do, so that we no longer follow the ways of sin, but walk in the righteous path of the Lord. Then, we should also strive to go out and help all our brethren, especially those who have not found their way and been lost in the darkness, and offer our help, by showing them through example, how to be a faithful follower of the Lord.

May Almighty God be with us all, and guide us in this life, that we may find our way to His mercy and love. May He forgive us our sins and wickedness, and welcome us back into His loving embrace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 31 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Book of Leviticus, how the Lord charged Moses and therefore His people, with the keeping of the observance of festivals, feasts and important holy days, such as the sabbath days. We heard how the Lord charged the people to keep the observance of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, to remember the days when they were brought out of Egypt by the mighty power of God.

All of these feasts and festivals, rites and celebrations truly are for a single purpose, that is to remind the people of God of God’s great glory and power, and even more importantly, that is to remind them of the love which He has for them, and therefore, to remind them yet again of the love and dedication which they have to have for Him. Yet over time, people seemed to forget this, and focused more on the exterior aspect of the celebrations rather than on the substance.

In the Gospel today, we heard how Jesus was not well received in His own hometown of Nazareth, where the people doubted Him and questioned His teachings and authority, because they thought that they knew Him as a mere carpenter’s Son. This is exactly the same problem that had been faced by many other prophets and messengers that God had sent to His people as well.

They were not well received because these people had become a superficial people, who cared just for their appearances and external outlook. Inside them, within their hearts, there is truly a void not filled by the love of God, but by their love for themselves. This is why they rejected the prophets and ultimately Jesus Himself as well, for they challenged the people and their way of thinking as well as their way of life.

We should not think that this is an issue that is confined only to the past. In fact, throughout history, mankind had been affected by the very same issue that caused us to be captivated and mesmerised by the multitudes of goodness and temptations that lie in this world, the pleasures of the flesh and the many concerns of this world. We then end up forgetting about God and our obligation and need to serve Him and to give all of our attention to Him.

Then, we truly should learn from the example of a great saint whose feast we are celebrating on this day, namely that of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, also known as the Society of Jesus, one of the most renowned and important religious order in the history of our Church. St. Ignatius of Loyola, through his life, would show us the way to the Lord and how to find it amidst the challenges and temptations of this world.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born in a noble family in what is now Spain a few hundred years ago, where conflicts and wars were regular parts of people’s life. He was born into the caste of society which believed that glory and power, or gold and wealth, or fame and affluence, or all of them are the way to go in life. And so did St. Ignatius of Loyola, who believed all these as integral parts of his life.

But one day, after he was injured during a battle and siege of a castle, he got a revelation in life, that the way which he had pursued all the while might not be the right way to go. He found that all the things which he had pursued for himself and his own glory were truly meaningless, and he began to seek a true and real purpose in his life, and it was there that he found the Lord and turned himself and his life to serve Him.

He abandoned all the worldliness that had been part of his early life, abandoning everything and devoted all of the rest of his life and his works to the greater glory of God, ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’ which was his motto and which became the motto of the Jesuits as a whole. He dedicated his time and his life to the glory of God and laboured hard to help the people of God finding their way to Him.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was a champion and great defender of the Faith, who spearheaded and led the Church’s great effort to counter the great heresy of Protestantism in what was so-called ‘reformation’. He was one of the great heroes of the Church’s effort to reconvert back countless thousands of people to the true faith, together with his fellow Jesuits, which would soon prove to be very essential to the salvation of many lost souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola, walk in his ways, and follow him as he leads us towards the Lord our God. May we be able to shun all sorts of temptations and pleasures of the flesh and instead of focusing on appearances and our external outlook, may all of us be able to find our inner beauty, by devoting ourselves ever more to the Lord and practicing our faith, so that we may be found worthy by He who will reward us. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the first reading taken from the Book of Exodus, how God had instructed Moses to establish the Holy Tent, also known as the Tent of Meeting, as the place where He would dwell among His people on earth, which His presence is signified by the presence of the great pillar of cloud during the day, and as a great pillar of fire at night time, providing light to all who need it in the darkness of the night.

In this we see God who did not just stay far and apart from His people, nor did He remain aloof from His people’s concerns and thoughts, but He Himself had chosen to dwell among them, to be really present among them, walking and moving about around them, as God who is real, true and exists among all mankind, and not just some abstract beings carved on stones, wood, gold or silver, like that of the pagan idols.

And then in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the people about the kingdom of God, which is to come, and how it will be like on the day of judgment, when all mankind shall be judged by their merits, actions and their faith in God. And those who have not been faithful would receive their just reward that is to suffer for eternity the agony of hell and separation from God’s love.

But those who are faithful would not be disappointed, for God would be with them and bless all of them, and He would welcome all of them into His glorious kingdom, to enjoy forever the happiness and joy which He had promised for all those who had laboured and even suffered for His sake. God will always be with His people, and He will be with His people who walked in His ways and followed Him faithfully.

For we all have to remember that God had devoted Himself so much for us, that He was willing to descend upon us and dwell among us, and in the end even to give Himself to be the redemption of our sins. Yes, for the redemption of us all, sinners and unworthy people who have piled wickedness and sins, one after another. And yet, such is the love which God has for us, that even while we are still sinners, He was willing to suffer and give up Himself for our sake, that we may be saved.

And by renewing the covenant which He Himself had established with His people, He had proved His love, by giving Himself in the form of His Body and Blood, which He offered Himself freely for us, so that all of us who partake in them may have life in us, because the Lord Himself would therefore dwell within us, in our bodies and within our hearts.

On this day, we can also reflect on the life of St. Peter Chrysologus, who was a great bishop and later declared as a Doctor of the Church, for his many dedicated works and devotions to both God and to His people, that is to the brethren around him. St. Peter Chrysologus was a very renowned preacher and shepherd of the people of God who lived during the later years of the Roman Empire, during the years of turbulence and difficulties, and even troubles for the faithful.

He was especially known for his powerful speeches, sermons and teachings which all encouraged countless peoples to return from their path of sin, and repent back to the favour and grace of God. He explained the truth of the faith and the truth about the Scriptures and the Lord God with great clarity and understanding, such that all who ever heard from him, would repent from any of the heretical thoughts that they had espoused and returned to the true, orthodox faith.

His conviction and great dedication to love the Lord and to explain His love and truth to the people should be an inspiration to all of us. That is because all of us also have the capacity to bring each other closer to God, and by our own words and actions, we can help each other to find our way to the Lord, and to repent from our sinfulness and faults which has kept us away from salvation.

Therefore, on this day, let us all pray to the Lord, that we may discover the strength within us to carry on living our lives with renewed commitment to the Lord and walk always in His ways. This means that we truly should find the way to live our lives ever more faithfully. This means that in all of our actions, we truly should practice our faith with love, loving one another and loving our Lord ever more devotedly from day to day.

May the examples of St. Peter Chrysologus be an inspiration to all of us, and may our loving Father, our Almighty God be with us always in this endeavour that is our lives. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of an important persona in the Bible, a woman by the name of Martha, sister to Mary and Lazarus, and a good friend and companion of our Lord Jesus Christ. She and her siblings followed Jesus and helped Him many times during His journey, as the companions to His disciples.

St. Martha showed us by what she had interacted with the Lord at that time, when she was very busy preparing for dishes and things for the guests, including Jesus Himself, that she forgot the most important thing which she should have remembered. And that most important thing is to love and treasure our Lord and God, who has first loved us all beyond any compare.

God has shown us the ultimate love of all, by sending His own Son into the world, that through Him, all people may be saved from their fate of certain death. This was because of our own rebelliousness that had sundered us away from the Lord and His love, which caused us to suffer the consequences of sin that is death and hell. But God is love Himself, and He does not wish to see us suffer that fate, and thus, He offers us another chance through His Son, Jesus.

Jesus showed St. Martha how she is busying herself with the many things she thought to be important, but truly these are none other than distractions that keeps us away from the Lord and His teachings and ways, which truly should be our one and only true treasure in life. After all, if we reflect on this, we should know how many of us in our own lives fail to look at the real treasure that is our Lord.

How many of us seek instead the comfort of wealth, worldly pleasures and joys? How many of us worry about what we are to eat, what we are to have on every single day, what we are to wear on this day and on the other days, what we are going to do and what we are going to give another and what we are going to receive? All these are certainly constantly in our minds, filling up our minds with endless concerns.

All these are tools of the evil one to keep us away from God and to keep us from paying attention to His words and teachings. The example of Mary and Martha can give us a clue in this, as Mary listened attentively to the Lord, while her sister Martha was busied by her many chores to even pay attention to a single word or utterance of Jesus, which Mary kept close attention to and kept in her heart.

Let us look into ourselves, in terms of how many times we have placed our worldly concerns in front of the Lord? How many of us placed our worldly desires first ahead of all else? This is surely what many of us have often done, sometimes even without realising it. Do we not know that our Lord cares for us greatly in all things? He provides for us in all things so that we truly do not have to worry at all, as those who worry truly have no life in them.

May Almighty God strengthen our faith in Him, that we may grow ever more devoted to Him in all things, so that in all things we may always put our trust in Him, look up to Him and no longer be distracted by the many temptations that is present in the world. May God bless us all and be with us always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture readings, firstly in the Book of Exodus, on how God instructed Moses to set up a Tent of the Covenant or the Holy Tent of Meeting where God would periodically descend upon it to meet with Moses and the people, where His holy Presence would dwell and fill the whole place with His glory.

Then in the Gospel, we heard of how Jesus spoke of a parable to the people and to His disciples, namely the parable of the sower, between the good sower and the evil opponent, who sowed weeds between the wheat in the field. In the end, the wheat and the weeds will be harvested, and separated from each other, and while the wheat goes into the granary to be stored, the weeds go into the fire and are destroyed.

In the first reading God mentioned how He is filled with mercy and forgiveness to all who sincerely look for His forgiveness and love, and are willing to commit themselves to change and repentance, genuine and sincere, that they turn their back to sin and past wickedness. God will overlook their past mistakes and receive them back into His loving embrace.

But those who refuse to be forgiven, who repeatedly reject His love and mercy, and those who continue to sin even despite the reminders and messages sent to them through His servants will receive great punishment and the fullness of the brunt of the anger and wrath of God. We have to remember that as much as God loves us all, giving us opportunity after opportunity, He also hates all forms of sins and wickedness, all of which have no place in His presence.

This is a reminder for us, that we who live in this world are like the field which God had tilled and sowed in. He had sowed His seeds of faith, hope and love within us, and these are in us, but the devil too, ever since he tricked and tempted our ancestors since the time of the fall at Eden, he had also sown in us the conflicting seeds of hatred, of jealousy, of greed, and of many other vices and malice inside us.

Both of these are growing within us, and with each of our actions, we cultivate either the good seeds of the Lord, or the evil seeds of Satan. Whenever we love, care for one another, devote ourselves to God and follow in His ways, seeking the poor and helping them, caring for the sick and the downtrodden, we cultivate the good seeds and allow them to grow and prosper.

On the other hand, whenever we commit something evil, slandering against one another, coveting what others have in jealousy, be greedy over worldly things and desires, and giving in to the temptations of the world, we cultivate the seeds of evil, that will grow to be weeds that will choke the good seeds growing in us. Therefore, in this, we should see how if we dwell in our sins, then the way ahead will be dark for us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today reflect on our own lives. Have we been faithful to the Lord and walk in His ways, or have we instead been wicked in our ways? Have we loved one another or be jealous towards what our brethren have and we do not have? There are many things which we have to see in ourselves, and if we are still walking in the path of darkness, then truly we have to begin to change ourselves.

Indeed, before the time of judgment and it is too late for us, when God will sunder the righteous from the wicked and separate them, one to enjoy everlasting life and happiness, and the other to suffer eternal suffering and darkness. Shall we want to find ourselves on the side of happiness and true joy, or shall we find ourselves a place among the wicked? The choice is ours. May Almighty God help us all, that we may commit ourselves to the path of righteousness. God bless us all. Amen.