suffering of our Lord

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Monday, 27 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 how the people of Israel rebelled against the Lord who had led them out of Egypt, by establishing among themselves a wicked idol, a pagan sign of the golden calf, which they all held to be the one who had saved them and led them out of Egypt, truly an abomination in the sight of God.

That came about just right after God had established His covenant with His people, a renewal of the covenant which He had made with Abraham and his descendants. They have disobeyed the Lord and aroused the great wrath of the Lord, who was truly displeased at the behaviour of this unruly and rebellious people. God would have obliterated His people right there and then, but it was Moses who interceded for the sake of the people to calm the anger of God.

Those who have sinned and disobeyed the Lord would meet their just punishment, for God indeed does not tolerate sins and wickedness in His presence, although at the same time, He also gave them chance after chance to redeem themselves and to turn their back against the evils and sins which they have committed. Those who have not been repentant shall not share in the goodness and graces which God had promised all those who are faithful.

In the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus spoke of the parables of the kingdom of heaven, talking in stories and approximations to help the people to understand the concept of God’s coming kingdom. It is an abstract concept that people would not have easily understood, but Jesus made it easy for them to understand by revealing to them the mysteries of the kingdom of God by comparing it to real life examples such as a tree with its branches that grew out of a small seed.

In what we heard in the Gospel today, they all spoke of the kingdom of God as a process of growing, with the tree just mentioned and with the approximation to the process of baking, when the kingdom of heaven is likened to yeast placed in a measure of flour, without which the bread would not rise up and it would remain a flat bread.

Thus, all these would point us to the fact that Jesus and the Lord’s servants had given us all the words and teachings, the laws and commandments which God had given to us all, but which as shown in the first reading today, we often rejected them out of our rebelliousness and inability to listen to the Lord and follow His ways. Instead, we often follow our own idols, the idol of money, the idol of earthly and worldly pleasures, and many others that distract us from our true goal.

The kingdom of heaven is in fact a situation where all of us would come together and through our actions based on the love of God, where righteousness and justice would reign, we would therefore make this world a place like heaven on earth. It is through our own lives and our own actions that we would make the kingdom of heaven a reality.

God has given us many things and gifts, and it now depends on us to do what is right to cultivate the gifts which had been given to us. If we make use of God’s gifts and allow them to grow, then truly, just as what Jesus had said, that the seed will grow to a huge tree where birds of the sky may shelter in it, and the bread will rise from the yeast and flour mixture.

Thus this is a lesson and a reminder for us all, that we have to grow deeper in faith, and practice that faith in our own works and actions, so that people who see us may believe too in God, because they see what we have done and know that we truly belong to God. Therefore, let us all do this, and bring the kingdom of God into reality through ourselves, obeying the Lord in all of His ways and not to be like His rebellious people, which we have heard today.

If we remain faithful, God will bless us and keep us, but if we go astray from His path and refuse to change or repent, then His punishment and anger will be upon us. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard the Scripture readings which spoke of our Lord as a loving God who is caring and loving for all of His people, and who gave them all that they need, food and nourishment, so that they may live, be filled and satisfied without hunger or worry. In this, we see how much God has loved us, which He manifested through His many works.

In the first reading, we heard how Elisha the prophet fed a hundred man with a mere twenty loaves of bread. His servant did not believe that such a feat was possible, and he asked him, “How can we feed a hundred men with this?” But Elisha showed his servant that what for man is impossible, is possible for God, and the hundred men ate until they were full with loaves left over.

And certainly we can see the clear link with our Gospel today, that when Jesus taught the huge multitudes of people coming to listen to Him, He fed the five thousand men and countless thousands more of women and children, with just five loaves and two fishes. The disciples of Jesus were similarly astounded at first, and even asked the same question as what Elisha’s servant had asked, but God again showed His love and made the whole people to eat until full with twelve full baskets of leftover bread.

In all these things, certainly if our eyes are open, if our ears can listen, and if our hearts are opened, then surely we should be able to see how great is the love which our Lord had shown us, not just in what we have just heard, but in our daily lives, in every things we have enjoyed which had come from the Lord. It is often that we do not realise the extent of the many things we have enjoyed which without the Lord and His love for us, it would not have been possible.

And God had not just given us tangible food as in loaves and fishes to eat and be satisfied with, but even much more than that. Remember that Jesus rebuked Satan when he tempted Him with food when He fasted for forty days in the desert? He said that men did not live on bread alone, but on every words that came from the mouth of God.

This went on to show how God nourishes us not just with the food of the earth, that is to fill our stomachs, but also gives us the nourishment and food for the soul, that is His words and teachings, which He had revealed through His prophets and servants, and last of all, which He revealed in all its fullness, through Jesus, the Word Himself made flesh for all to witness and see.

And then last of all, God gave Himself as the ultimate nourishment of all, through the sharing of His own Body and His own Blood for all to receive and have life in them. For He said that ‘My Body is real food and My Blood is real drink, and although your ancestors who ate the bread of heaven, or manna died in the desert, those who eat of My Body and drink of My Blood will have eternal life.’ Such is the promise which God had given to all who partake and share in Him and His nourishing gift for us.

For it is through His suffering on the way to Calvary, by the scourging of many lashes, by the nails that pierced His hands and legs, and thus by His death on the cross that He had shed His Body and poured out His Blood for all of us to share, so that for all those for whom Christ had died for, that is for all mankind, we may receive Him and He will dwell in us, so that He may nourish us and give us a new and blessed life, no longer afflicted by our past sinfulness and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having seen all these, have we realised again how much God has loved and cared for us? And most importantly, how have we reacted to the love which God had given us? Have we shown gratitude and thanks to Him? Have we uttered even a word of thanks, and not just from our mouth but from the depths of our hearts?

The word thank you is something which we may take for granted, and which is in fact a very difficult word to utter with meaning and with proper purpose. How many of us actually give thanks for something good which had been done by others upon us? How many of us are grateful for every blessings and good things that come our way? Certainly many of us would see that in many occasions, we have not give due thanks for what we have enjoyed.

And how much more we should therefore thank our Lord, for He has given us so much, providing us all that we need, the nourishment of the flesh as well as the soul, and the blessing of everlasting life which God had given us who share in His Body and Blood, which is the Eucharist. He is God our Father, who cares for us like a parent caring for his or her child.

And today we also commemorate the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, who are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was under their tutelage and loving care that Mary was brought up to be such a pious and devoted child of God, who then became an example to all of us as the mother of our God and the one closest to her Son in heaven, our greatest intercessor.

Their loving care of Mary, which in turn is also shown by Mary to Jesus her Son, should remind us of the love which our Lord had poured and lavished upon us. But the question remain the same, as we should ask ourselves, how many of us are grateful to what our parents had done for us? How many of us had given proper and due thanks to them who had given and sacrificed so much for our sake?

Therefore, let us all ponder on this, and think of how we can honour and give thanks to our Lord, who had cared for us, He, our Father, whose thoughts and gaze are always fixed upon us all the days of our lives. It does not mean anything if we do not mean what we say when we give thanks to Him and to others, as words are easy to come out with, but in order to be truly capable of showing thanks for all who have given us good things, especially that of our Lord, it must come from the heart.

May Almighty God, our Father, Lord and Saviour help us all to realise the great extent to which He had blessed us and granted us goodness in all things, that deep in our hearts a great sense of gratitude may swell and we may give thanks due to be given to He who had provided us with everything that we need, nourishments for our body, spirit and soul, so that we have nothing lacking and be fully satisfied. Let us from now on be thankful for every single moments of our lives, for every breath that we take, which is also a gift from God. May we be forever devoted to Him, our Lord and Father. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 July 2015 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the feast of the Holy Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, St. James, also known as St. James the Greater to distinguish him from another St. James, the Lesser, who was one of the relatives of Christ. St. James the Greater was one of the Twelve, the principal disciples of our Lord in the spreading of the Good News of the Gospel, and among the first to be martyred for the Lord’s sake.

In the readings today we heard how in the Gospel, the mother of both St. James and St. John begged Jesus for favour and power for her sons, not knowing that for the Lord, the terms of this world do not hold weight at all. The other disciples of Jesus grumbled at what they saw as an attempt to gain favour over them, and they bickered over it, but the Lord Jesus rebuked them and reminded them that true greatness and power lies not in human favour and fame, nor in prestige or worldly power, but in humility and in leading by example, by a committed and devoted service to one another, that the greater a person is, the more humble and dedicated that person must be.

In the first reading, we heard how St. Paul exhorted the faithful of the Church in Corinth of the treasure that is in us, the true treasure contained within our beings. The treasure within a container of clay is truly a metaphor, showing how we have in our bodies, made by God from mere dust and earth, have inside a true treasure, that is the Holy Presence of our Lord Himself, who had decided to dwell within us.

And by sharing in the treasure which is in us, we have been made to share in the death and resurrection of our Lord Himself. And by His death, we have also died to our sins and to our old life filled with sins, while by His resurrection in glory and return into life, He had brought us all into a new life as well, one that is no longer bound by sin and death, nor by the wickedness of our past sins, but with a new hope of eternal happiness in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all these remind us that human life and all the glories and joys of this world are just temporary, and they do not last. Eventually, all the good things of this world must go, and the things we have accumulated in this world will not follow us to the world that is to come. Therefore, just as Jesus had reminded His disciples, we too should come to realise this fact, that to follow the Lord, we have to shed ourselves of the excessive pleasures of the flesh and worldly goodness.

And then the Lord also mentioned what would be the challenges for all of those who follow after Him, and that is the cup of suffering which He has drunk and shared with all of us, that is to have a share of His cross. St. James and St. John at first did not understand what the Lord spoke to them about, but eventually they would come to understand, that following Jesus would mean that they would encounter challenges and obstacles from all those who have refused to believe in the Lord and gave themselves into temptation.

And St. James who would spread the Gospel to the faraway lands, including what is now Spain and Portugal, the place where his most famous shrine at Santiago de Compostela is located, would encounter martyrdom at the hands of King Herod Agrippa, the king of Judea, who killed St. James in order to please the Jewish authorities and to increase his own prestige.

Thus through death, St. James would share in the suffering of Christ, having faithfully served Him through the spreading of the Good News of the Gospel to the far ends of the earth. And by shedding earthly glories and worldly fame, he has gained the true treasure which can only be found in the Lord, that is the glory of heaven and the joy of the world that is to come, an eternity of true happiness.

All of us should be inspired by what we have witnessed in the life and works of St. James and that of the other holy Apostles, martyrs and saints. We all should walk in their footsteps and be more like them. Remember, the greater we are, the humbler we should become. This is so that we will not fall into the traps of our own pride and arrogance, which is often our greatest undoing.

It was pride, greed and hunger for what we often covet, such as power, greatness, human fame and praise that had led many of us to sin and to fall into darkness, and that was what had brought Satan down from his glory days as the mighty angel of heaven but drunk with power and with his own vanity. Let us all learn to overcome our own desires to seek the temporary pleasures of the flesh, and aim higher to seek the true treasure that is our Lord and His love.

May Almighty God bless all of us, strengthen us in faith, and awaken in all of us the ever stronger desire to love Him and devote ourselves to Him in complete faith and dedication. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 24 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how God revealed to His people through Moses His servant, the Laws and Commandments which would later on be known as the Ten Commandments, the heart of the Law and Covenant which He had established with His people. God had given His laws and words, and sought to plant them on the soil of this world, that is within all of our hearts.

And this is linked closely to what we have heard in the Gospel reading today, where Jesus spoke of the parable of the sower and the seeds, where seeds falling on different places and different soils ended up having different fates and direction. In this we can compare directly, on the notion that the seeds mentioned referred to the same word and Law of God, which God had spread over all of us, and yet in how we live our lives, those seeds given to us by God will develop and grow differently.

In the Gospel, we heard how only the seed that fell on the fertile soil bore rich and plentiful fruits, while those that fell elsewhere met various ends that did not bear anything. This has to be understood first as the seeds refer to the word of God, His ways, His laws and precepts, which He has given to us mankind, to be followed and cultivated in our own lives, so that from what we have received, we may produce bountifully the good fruits of faith.

Those whose seeds fell on the roadside and were picked up by birds of the air were those who have been tempted and failed to persevere against Satan and his lies. As a result, the word of God, His laws and commandments did not remain with them and were lost, amidst all the distractions and things that Satan and his allies had sown in our hearts. We ended up following him instead of following our Lord and God.

Those seeds that fell on rocky ground were not able to grow deep roots and therefore they were unable to grow properly and die because they were unable to take up water and nutrients from the soil. This can be compared with those who have received the Law and the commandments, heard the word and teachings of God and yet they did not allow these to take deep roots in them, in all of their actions and deeds.

As a result, their faith is not firm and shaky, built on uncertain and weak foundations, and when difficulties, problems and temptations came upon them, they are quick to give in and let go of their faith and righteousness for the sake of saving their own faces and to fulfil their own needs. They would not hesitate to abandon the Lord and His ways for worldly things.

Those who were represented by seeds choked by thistles are those who have faith in the Lord, but at the same time, they were unable to resist the temptations and the allures of the world, which brought them to forget about what the Lord had taught. We by our nature are easily tempted by the many offerings of the world, and our flesh is weak. This means that, as our Lord said it, we may have faith in the Lord but our worries and the concerns of our flesh overpowered us.

This is a lesson for all of us, that we all ought to nurture in us a fertile ground for the growing of the Law and the commandments of God. That means, unlike the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who observed the Law in its external piety and appearances only, and failed to understand the true nature of why God gave us the Laws in the first place, we must therefore seek to understand the Law, its true meaning and how it can benefit all of us.

The Law of God is love, the love which God had shown us, which we ought to return to Him and which we ought to show to our fellow brethren as well. That is the essence of the Ten Commandments which we have heard today. Love God with all of our hearts’ strength, with all of our might, and then love one another equally in the same way as we have loved ourselves.

If we practice these in our own lives, in our own actions and deeds, then surely what God had given us will by itself produce a rich bounty of the fruits of our love. We may think that what we are doing is not significant and will not have a great effect, but do we all know that whatever we are doing to others will have a ripple effect? Even a small act of love and kindness can spread and influence others to do the same, and as a result, although what we have done may be small, but the overall impact can be huge.

Today let us also be inspired by the saint, whose life we commemorate on this day, namely that of St. Sharbel Makhluf, a holy man hailing from the region now known as Lebanon, one of the Maronite Christians, who devoted himself deeply and completely to the Lord, and whose works and teachings still continue to inspire many people even until today.

St. Sharbel Makhluf was renowned as a very pious monk who led a very solemn and holy life, filled with dedication to the Lord and service to mankind. He performed many healing miracles and other forms of wonders after his death through the piety he had in the Lord. Yet, throughout life he remained humble and devoted, and did not become proud or haughty of his piety, and he lived a life of solitary and yet filled with love for God.

And even after death, he continued to bring God’s love to many, by his healing miracles, through his tomb and incorrupt body, which became a source of goodness and inspiration to many. Indeed, it should be an inspiration to all of us as well, because those who followed the Law of God, and placed it deep in their hearts, and practicing them in real life shall indeed bear many fruits as St. Sharbel Makhluf had done.

May Almighty God bless us and awaken in us the desire to follow Him in all of His laws, precepts, ordinances and rules, that we may always walk straight in His path and not to be distracted and corrupted by the wickedness of Satan and his forces of darkness. May all of us be faithful always and be forever devoted to the Lord our God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how Jesus spoke to the people in parables, using stories and examples that link to the meaning which He wanted to convey to the people. And in the Gospel He explained how He told these parables because of the stubbornness of the people and their refusal to believe, even though they have seen the many great works of the Lord.

And this is linked to what we heard in the first reading today from the Book of Exodus, which told us about the moment after Israel had been brought out of Egypt into the presence of God at His holy mountain, Mount Horeb, where they would encounter the Lord, and renewed the covenant which God had established with their ancestors.

And we know how the people of Israel rebelled against God during that occasion. Moses went up the mountain to speak with God and to receive His commandments and laws, and the people below having seen Moses gone for many days to the mountain, obscured by the clouds of the glory of God, lost faith in the Lord and in Moses, and they forced Aaron his brother to make for them a god of gold, the golden calf.

In direct defiance and disobedience against God, even after they have seen the glorious works and power of God who freed them from slavery in Egypt, the people sinned by abandoning their God and sought for themselves a pagan idol that had done nothing for them. This was a great insult to the Lord, who punished all those who have rebelled against Him and did not repent from their mistakes.

Throughout the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, we see repeatedly how the people of God continued in their sinful ways many, many times, and despite having been shown the works and the blessings of God numerous times, their hearts and minds were often unfazed. God did not cease to call on His people to follow Him, but there were indeed too many times when they did not obey Him and refused to listen to His call.

Thus, for their indignant behaviour and stubbornness, God also refused to reveal the fullness of His truth, and held it back for those who are truly willing to listen to Him and walk in His ways. He only showed the fullness of His truth to those who were willing to commit themselves fully to Him, such as the Apostles, the saints and martyrs of the faith, many of whom had their faith tested in tribulation by sword and fire, by persecution and oppression, and by the pain of death.

We should consider ourselves fortunate, for we have received the revelation of God’s truth through the Church and we received therefore the teachings of our Lord passed down through the Apostles and the disciples. Yet, by our own nature, we can still be wayward, and we can still close ourselves from the love of God and acting in the same way as that of our predecessors.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day let us all reflect on our own actions. Have all of us been truly faithful to our Lord, and have we listened to Him and obeyed His will? Or have we rather followed the pagan idols and gods of wealth, money, possessions and worldly goods? Today let us look at the examples shown by St. Bridget of Sweden, whose feast we celebrate on this day.

St. Bridget of Sweden was born during the Middle Ages, and she was married into a noble Swedish family, and gained a high prestige life during her time as a member of the noble family, whose descendants were counted among the queens and prominent saints of that country. But all these did not get her to be proud and haughty, and instead these made her even more committed to help others around her using what she had to assist those who were poor and suffering.

She joined religious life after her husband was deceased, and she ventured to help many of the poor and less fortunate in the society around her. And she travelled in well-known pilgrimages to sites such as Jerusalem and Rome to garner support for her efforts to help the plight of the poor. She was renowned for her great piety and dedication to the Lord and to her fellow men, even though she was born into privilege and had once lived a life in power.

The examples and the charitable works of St. Bridget of Sweden should inspire us all to live like she had done, resisting the temptations of the flesh and this world, and instead seek to devote ourselves in faith to the Lord our God. The choice is ours alone, whether we would be like the people of God of old, who have seen what great things the Lord had done, and refused to believe, or for us to accept Him as our Lord and God.

God will bless all those who have kept their faith in Him, and He will graciously grant the needs of those who placed their trust in Him. Thus, let us all pray so that He may strengthen in us the faith which we ought to have for Him. Let us all devote ourselves ever more to our Lord and God who had given so much for our sake.

May Almighty God, through the intercession of St. Bridget of Sweden, help us on this path of life, that we may find Him and be blessed by His grace forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the important figures in the Gospel, that is of St. Mary Magdalene, one of the women who followed Jesus constantly in His journeys and travels, and who was known as a sinner from whom Jesus cast out seven demons or evil spirits, and who thereafter followed Him and was one of the women who waited on Jesus as He hung from the cross.

She was also honoured to be one of the first to witness the Lord after His resurrection from the dead, to see Him in His glorious majesty which is revealed as the truth, that He has conquered death and sin. And this truly has a great significance for us all, just as it had a great significance on St. Mary Magdalene as well. This is how the Gospel today is very significant, as the culmination of our own journey in life.

If we look at the Psalm and the first reading today, all of them spoke about a certain longing for the Lord, for His wisdom and light, which all of us seek, for we all live in darkness and away from the bliss and true joy which is in God alone, and we long for it. But on our path to reach it, many of us were often distracted by false leads and false pleasures of this world, which Satan is offering us to keep us away from the true path towards salvation in God.

The story of the life and conversion of St. Mary Magdalene should be an inspiration to us all. In it we saw a woman whose life once was filled with vice, and demons dwelled in her, and no one would want to go near to her, for the debauchery and wickedness she committed and the demons within her kept most people away. But the Lord showed mercy on her, cast out those demons from her and liberated her from the tyranny of evil.

What He told her and her other contemporaries, sinful women condemned but then rescued by the Lord was that they ought to go and sin no more, for their faith had saved them. They have been reclaimed from the darkness and sin no longer has power over them. And the same applies to us all as well. This is why the scene of St. Mary Magdalene who witnessed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is important, because Christ risen from the dead represents the triumph over the forces of sin and death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on this day on our own lives, on whether we have been like St. Mary Magdalene and all the other repentant sinners who became martyrs and saints like St. Augustine of Hippo, a great sinner once but turned to be a glorious saint because he turned his back to his past life of sin and embraced the love of God anew.

Indeed, what matters to all of us is that God does not call great men to do great things. On the other hand, He called sinners and people who had gone wayward to be His disciples and followers. Many great saints were once great sinners too, but most importantly, they changed their ways, repented and followed the Lord with a renewed faith and zeal.

The same too should happen to us all. We should also be renewed in our faith, so that by our conversion to the truth, we may be like St. Mary Magdalene in all her glory, for she is known no longer as a sinner, but as a devoted and holy woman, whose faith and righteousness has pleased the Lord. The Lord is willing to overlook our past sins and wickedness, if only that we abandon them thoroughly and commit ourselves to a new life in God.

May Almighty God be with all of us, and may He strengthen our resolve to look for Him, to embrace Him and to find Him, and be freed of the darkness and evils that had tainted our hearts and souls. May all of us be reunited to Him, our Lord and Master, and may we all love Him forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings on the event which many of us surely are quite well aware of, that is the opening or splitting of the Red Sea when the people of Israel was chased by the Egyptians and its Pharaoh, to the edge of the sea. God through Moses, His servant showed forth His might and deliverance for His people by opening the sea right in front of their eyes.

This is a well known story from the Bible which all of us should be familiar with, that God showed forth His salvation and help to all those who devoted themselves to Him and remained in His love. He delivered His own beloved people from the hands of those who sought to enslave them, oppress them and destroy them. He cast down all those who have opposed His loved ones, and turned upside down their plans.

And in the Gospel today, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of those who have done the will of God, and putting the words of the Lord and His teachings into real practice, as those who will be found worthy and just by the Lord, and therefore worthy of His grace and blessings. This is a reminder for all of us that God really values our faith, trust and devotion to Him, and He is always looking at us, taking note of our actions, words and deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day let us look into ourselves and see if within us we have that faith and trust which we really ought to have for the Lord our God. Do we trust Him, and do we have that unshakeable faith in Him? When troubles come our way, and when challenges and obstacles bar our path, do we give in to the pressure of the world and its threats? Or do we stand up tall and place ourselves fully in the hands of God?

Like the Israelites, having been hemmed between the sea and the armies of the Pharaoh, the situation seemed to be hopeless for them, and indeed, they certainly panicked and thought that the end had come upon them, and they would all either be enslaved back by the Egyptians, or meet their end right there on the seashore. But God showed them that only if they put their complete trust in Him, they had nothing to fear.

Those who are righteous and walk faithfully in the way of the Lord have nothing to fear. Those who fear was because they have no faith in God, or that their faith was weak and easily shaken. They put their trust in human power and strength, and when those fail, they give in to their fears and anxieties. As a result, they subject themselves to drastic measures, and even at times such abominations like suicide or giving in to the pressures of those who seek to corrupt us?

We truly have to look at the examples of our holy martyrs and saints, who have remained strong and resolute even in the face of persecution and oppression from the world. They did not give in to the demands of the world and they continued to live righteously despite the difficulties they faced. And the Lord watched over them and protected them. In many occasions they were delivered from those who persecuted them.

But most importantly, at the end of their earthly lives, whether it was by martyrdom or natural death, all of them were righteous and just, and they were delivered from the clutches of death and sin, and they were freed from the dominion and power of Satan into real freedom with God. For just as the Lord delivered the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians, thus He had also delivered all those who are faithful to Him from Satan and all of his forces of darkness.

Today, we celebrate together as well the feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, who was a renowned priest who was later made a Doctor of the Church in recognition of his many works and commitments for the betterment of the Church of God and the people. St. Lawrence of Brindisi was a Capuchin friar and preacher who dedicated his life to help those who have fallen to heresy and became wayward in their faith.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi helped establish many Capuchin monasteries and works across areas which had been badly affected by the so-called Protestant ‘reformation’, and he helped to call back many people back to the Lord by his preaching, dispelling the falsehoods of Satan and his agents, and revealing to the people of God, the truth which has always been preserved in the Church.

Through his works, countless thousands upon thousands have been brought back to the true faith and to salvation. He should be an inspiration to all of us, as we all who still live in this world must also therefore awaken the courage and faith in our brethren who still live in darkness and ignorance of the Lord. Through us God will make His works evident in this world, and through us He will bless all mankind, bringing all His scattered people together once again.

May Almighty God who is always with us, protecting us and guarding us from harm, extend His loving embrace and hands upon us, to defend us from the forces of darkness and Satan trying to bring us harm. May He bless us and be with us, so that with all the might He had shown us, we may grow to trust Him and place our faith in Him forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 20 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture readings which all talked about one main thing, that is how we all often doubt and do not trust in the power of the Lord which He had shown clearly by signs and even miracles. In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, we see how the people of Israel trembled at the sight of the Egyptians and their chariots chasing after them at the edge of the Red Sea, but Moses reassured them of God’s strength and protection.

In the Gospel, we see also how the people keep asking Jesus for miracles and signs as a proof that He is indeed the Messiah, the Holy One of God promised to come and rescue all of them and bring them into glory. But Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief and lack of faith. These people was truly ignorant and adamant in the heart, stubborn in mind and refused to believe in what they have witnessed in Christ.

The same too often happen to us, as we often fail to see that in many things that God had done for us, we do not recognise His great works being done for our benefit. When we encounter difficulties, challenges and times of trouble, we are often quick to give up and despair, and we often like to complain that no one cares about us, and we complain that the Lord did not do anything to help us. But do we truly know what God has done for us?

What Jesus told the rebellious people was in itself the essence of what God had done for us all mankind. He has led us all His people to safety in the midst of danger, fed us and provided everything we need when we were hungry, thirsty or in need. He rescued us from the darkness and brought us back to the light. And all these He had done even though we often doubted Him, complained about Him and refused to listen to Him.

We are people who are easily awed by miracles and wonders. This is because we have no faith in the Lord and neither in ourselves. We are so doubtful and we allowed fear and uncertainty to fill our hearts and this is why we often act like the Israelites of old. They worried and lacked faith in God, fearing the chariots of Egypt over the power of their Lord who had shown His might through the ten plagues He had sent against the Egyptians.

Jesus told the people how the only sign they will see is the sign of Jonah, of the prophet who went into the belly of a giant fish for a whole three days and three nights, in which He was in fact referring to the very sign that He would show, as a concrete and undeniable proof of God’s infinite and undying love for all of us. That sign is His suffering, death and resurrection from the dead.

Jesus suffered for our sake, our own Lord being scourged and rejected for our own sins, and He died on the cross bearing the punishments and consequences for our faults, and for three days He laid in the earth, descending into hell to free all the captive souls of mankind who were righteous and just, and bring them into the light. Those souls have waited a very long time for the day of salvation, and at that moment, the feeling of joy is indeed the same as the moment when God split open the Red Sea to let His people pass through it to freedom from the Pharaoh’s Army.

Therefore, all of us ought to realise how much God had done for our sake, even though sometimes we may not realise it. He has given us so much opportunity, hope, and goodness that if we still do not have faith in Him, then we are truly blind in our hearts, and we will be counted among those faithless ones of Israel, who during their sojourn in the desert constantly complained and disobeyed the Lord, complaining that God had not done enough for them even though He had given them so much and provided for them.

Can we show gratitude and thanks to our Lord who had done so much for us? We should be thankful that He has blessed us with so much graces that we have enjoyed them so much and benefitted so much. Yet we often act like spoilt children who enjoyed the goods but then do not give proper thanks and gratitude to the one who made it all possible for us.

Perhaps the example of St. Apollinaris, the saint whose feast we are celebrating today can be an inspiration to all of us on how to live our lives faithfully to God. St. Apollinaris, also known as St. Apollinaris of Ravenna was a bishop of that city of Ravenna during the years of the Roman Empire at a time when being a Christian equals a death penalty if discovered by the state.

It was there that St. Apollinaris devoted himself to the flock which had been entrusted to him as shepherd. He and his flock were constantly threatened and persecuted by the Roman Emperors and authorities who hounded them from place to place and even sent them into exile at times. And yet, despite the challenges and difficulties, St. Apollinaris and his followers did not give up and remain faithful to the Lord.

Even in the face of martyrdom and suffering, St. Apollinaris and many others of his fellow contemporaries continued to place their faith in the Lord, for they knew that God was with them, and that no matter what the world threw at them or threatened them with, these ultimately had no power over them. We have to be mindful of what the Lord Himself said that we should not fear those who have no power to destroy our soul, for it is God Himself and only He alone has that power and authority to destroy us if we prove to be an unrepentant and stubborn person.

Based on the examples of St. Apollinaris and the other holy men and women throughout the ages, shall we all reflect on our own actions and deeds? Shall we all look once again at how we have lived our lives? Have we been faithful and obedient to God, putting our trust in Him and be thankful of what He had done for us? Or have we been unrepentant and rebellious, and not realising all the good things He had done for us? If we are truly faithful, no matter times of joy or times of difficulty, we will still be devoted to Him.

May Almighty God our Father awaken in all of us the ability to realise how much He has blessed us and helped us in this life. And may He also strengthen in all of us the love which we all ought to have for Him. May the Lord bless us and keep us in His love forever, now and until eternity. God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 July 2015 : Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we have heard, we have seen and witnessed the great and boundless love of our Lord and God, who is our Shepherd and Guide, the One who provides us all with all the things that we need. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep, and cared for nothing else than the well-being of His sheep, of His flock.

From the first reading today, taken from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God made it clear through His servant Jeremiah that He would bring back His people to His presence, just like a shepherd gathering back his lost sheep. He would punish all those irresponsible and bad shepherds who had failed in their duty to govern the people of God and lead them in righteousness.

The shepherds that God had appointed over the people at that time, the kings and their associates, failed to live up to the tasks entrusted to them. Rather than leading their people by example, they have abused their power and positions of privilege, which led to great sorrow and suffering for the people, who were therefore leaderless and without guidance, lost and trapped in the darkness of this world.

But God did not let His people to suffer alone without hope, or without succour. On the other hand, through His generous love and care which He had shown us, He endeavoured to help us, for He is a true and good shepherd, whose eyes, mind, heart and attention is always on us, His sheep. He therefore promised the coming of a Saviour, a King who would reign forever over the people who were once scattered over the nations, and the Shepherd shall make them whole again.

And all these were fulfilled through Jesus, our Lord, the Messiah, Saviour of all mankind, Son of God, the Heir of David, the King and Good Shepherd who came to announce to all the fulfilment of God’s faithful promise to us. And He did it not just by words, but also through example. He taught the people, that God is the Good Shepherd, and He is that Good Shepherd, who led His people out of darkness and into the light.

In the Gospel today, we see how Jesus showed pity on the people who followed Him, because they were truly like ‘lambs scattered without a shepherd’, and this was the reality at that time, for as long as years and ages had passed, the people of God had no guide or destination to guide them, for all the shepherds who had come and go from them, all have not been good shepherds.

An example was the Pharisees, the elders and the teachers of the Law during the time of Jesus. These people were respected greatly by the people and they were also feared, for they policed the actions of the people and enforced with great severity the laws of Moses. However, as they enforced these laws, they failed to understand the true purpose and meaning of those rules, and end up following them blindly.

These shepherds appointed over the people of God have also not done what they were expected to do. They did not care about them and their well-being, and instead, they cared about themselves first. They worried more about their own stomachs and their own concerns first before that of the others entrusted to their care. This is the attitude of bad and irresponsible shepherds whom the Lord had rebuked through the prophet Jeremiah as we heard in the first reading today.

Those bad shepherds did not care for the sheep entrusted to them, and at the very first indication of danger, they would run away and let the sheep be destroyed, for they had no love for the sheep. But the Good Shepherd loves all of His sheep equally and with perfect love, so that through the love which He had shown them, the sheep may be reunited to their Shepherd in love.

This is what Jesus, our Good Shepherd had done. He had led by example, loving all of us from the depths of His heart, even to the point of laying down His own life for the sake of His people. He shed His Blood for the people, dying on the cross for the sake of all of us, for we have been swallowed by the darkness of this world, and have been defiled with the wickedness of our sins, and yet our Lord and Shepherd went forth to reclaim us from that darkness and back into the light.

Remember what Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the lost sheep? In that parable Jesus told how if a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them is lost, the shepherd would go and make use of all within his ability and disposal to regain the one who has been lost, and leave the other safe ninety-nine sheep behind. That is what a good shepherd would do, and what our Lord who is our Good Shepherd had done for our sake.

We have been lost, and naturally we would have gone on to annihilation, had it not for the Lord who had shown His mercy to us all. He stretched forth His hands and reached out to us, and He called on us to repent and to change our sinful ways. If we continue to walk on this path of sin, what lies there in the end for us will only be despair and eternal suffering of hell.

If our Lord had done so much for us, to gather us back as His sheep, to be part of His flock once again, then we too should make a conscious effort to reach out to His extended hands, which He had given to us for our salvation. And there is yet also another dimension to today’s Scripture readings as well. All of us have been saved by the Lord and we have become part of His blessed flock, gathered from among the nations, and yet there are still so many others that lie beyond the salvation He has given.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too are shepherds to one another, and especially to all those lost sheep still lying around deep in the darkness of this world. We have the share of responsibility to gather all the lost sheep of the Lord, calling them to reunion with our Good Shepherd, who will then bring us all together in love and give us His grace. We have to inspire many others to come to our Lord by our own actions, words and deeds.

If we do not do things and say things in the way that would identify us as those belonging to the Lord, then who would believe us and who would come to the presence of the Lord? They would remain lost and then the responsibility for their loss would hung heavily on our heads. We have this responsibility to help each other, and to guide one another to reach out to the Lord, our loving and devoted Shepherd, whose gaze is always directed on us.

May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, guide us in our lives, so that in all that we do, He may help us to keep our paths straight that we will remain always in His favour and in His grace, and may all of us embrace the love which our Shepherd had shown us, His lost sheep now lost no more but had been found. Let us forever live in the grace of our Lord who will bless us and keep us in His grace. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 18 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how God brought out His people out of Egypt, after four hundred and thirty years of slavery. This showed the eminent love and goodness of God who did not forget the suffering of His people, and who did not turn a deaf ear against the pleas of His faithful ones. He is always listening to us, and His heart is forever always turned to us, waiting for us to receive His love and then return to Him the same love.

In the Gospel we heard how Jesus went from place to place, from towns to towns and from villages to villages, bearing healing, goodness and mercy. Through the works of His hands, He rejuvenated a people who had once been overwhelmed by darkness, evil, malice, greed, and all things that had brought about injury and disease to them, the disease and affliction of the soul.

He laid their hands of them, curing them all from the sickness of the flesh, awakening the sick and even raising some of them from death. These great occasions and evidences all led to the very fact that our Lord is a loving and caring God, who is always concerned about our well-being, whose ears and hearts are always directed at us, at all times.

But now then, we have to ask ourselves. What have done then, in order to repay the love which our Lord had shown us? What kind of love have we shown Him, for all of the goodness He had showered us with? Unfortunately, most of the time, what we have shown Him is indeed indifference, lack of love, ignorance, stubbornness, and refusal to acknowledge the love He has shown us. We went and sought other gods and idols, seeking pleasures and goodness through venues other than through the Lord.

God has given us so much good things, and yet we respond to Him with bitter scourges and vitriolic replies, and we rejected His grace right in front of Him many, many times. He has blessed us with so many things, and yet we took them for granted and did not thank Him when we should. This is the fact of what is happening to us today, and truly in many aspects we have not learnt from the example of our predecessors, those who went before us.

The Israelites were indeed brought out of Egypt as we all knew, but certainly we should also be aware of how they constantly rebelled against the Lord during their journey in the desert. Although God has given them much food and water to drink, they still complained of how good their lives were in Egypt, even though they were enslaved and oppressed. Truly, they had no gratitude for what the Lord had done for them.

And the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the elders of Israel rejected Jesus and His teachings, constantly hounded Him and His disciples at every possible opportunities to find fault in them and therefore to accuse them of any wrongdoing. They failed to see how the Lord had done so much for them, for the people of God, by all the miracles He had done publicly for all of them to see, and yet they still refused to believe.

Is this what we want to be, brothers and sisters in Christ? To be a people whose stubbornness and indignant behaviour made them to commit great sins before God? Or should we instead recognise first how feeble and vulnerable we are to the mercy of the forces of this world arrayed against us, and yet God is raising His hand at all times to protect us from all of them? Do we realise how much God had done for us in His own way, even when we do not realise it?

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all reflect and pray, and pray so that we all may find the grace to love the Lord ever more as the time goes by, and the grace that we may see how much He has blessed us, and the humility to be able to thank Him for all the things He had done for us. Let us all also from now on commit ourselves to love Him all the more and devote ourselves through our own actions and deeds rooted in His love. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.