Sunday Mass sermon

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Wednesday, 1 January 2020 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the first day of this new year, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Theotokos, or Mary as the Mother of God. This is celebrated on the eighth and last day of the Christmas Octave, to remember the very important and crucial role that Mary played in the history of our salvation and in Christmas, because she became the Mother of God by bearing Jesus Christ, Son of God in her.

This teaching and dogma of the Divine Motherhood of Mary, the Theotokos or Mother of God was formalised and made official at the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in the year 431, out of the great debate of whether Mary was just the Mother of Jesus Christ the Man, or whether she was also the Mother of God because Jesus Christ is both God and Man, having both human nature and divine nature united in His one person.

During that time, the disagreements in the Church was led on one side by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, who championed the preference to call Mary as Christotokos or Christ-Bearer or Mother of Christ rather than Theotokos or God-Bearer or Mother or God. Although it may have seemed trivial to us as merely involving a variation in the honorary names and titles of Mary, but theologically the two titles highlighted a very fundamental and critical difference in a very core part of our Christian faith.

I am referring to the fact that by denying Mary the title of Theotokos and preferring Christotokos as proposed by the supporters of Nestorius actually also affected the nature of Christ as if Mary is not the Mother of God, but only the mother of Christ the Man, then Jesus’ humanity and divinity cannot have been united in His one persona, but are distinct and separate. This is the view and school of thought championed by Nestorius and his supporters.

The opponents of Nestorius and the champions of orthodoxy held the view that as Christ has two natures which are distinct and yet united in one person of Christ, then Mary who bore Him in her womb and gave birth to Him must also be the Mother of God, as if the humanity of Christ is united perfectly with His divinity, though distinct, then one cannot accept that Jesus is both Man and God without also proclaiming His mother Mary as the Mother of God.

To say that Mary is just the mother of Christ or Christotokos rather than the Mother of God goes against the logic that Mary bore Christ into this world fully in being, giving birth to Jesus Christ, her Son, both God and Man, and she could not have just borne Christ the Man without also bearing His divinity. To imply in any way that Mary is not the Mother of God also in truth denies Christ’s unique two natures united in one person as the true, orthodox faith of the Apostles had always held.

Therefore the debate surrounding the dogma of Theotokos or the Mary as the Mother of God was truly serious as it affected the nature of Christ and His salvation, as heresies of that time had threatened to break the Church apart, with some contending that by Nestorius’ proposition, only Jesus the Man suffered and died on the Cross as God could not have suffered or died, contrary to the true teaching of the faith. This was brought about by the disagreement over the nature of Christ’s humanity and divinity which extends to whether Mary was the Mother of God or just the Mother of Christ.

We may think again that these disagreements may sound trivial and small in importance, but we must really understand and appreciate that the faith as we know it today came about only after many rounds of challenges, divisions, disagreements and heresies trying to misled members of the faithful throughout the long history of the Church, including this disagreement on the Theotokos or Mary as the Mother of God.

During those especially early critical years of the Church, many heresies came about because of the existence of many divergent schools of thought and idea that often disagreed on each other on the nature of Christ’s divinity, on whether His humanity and divinity are united inseparably, or separate into two different and disunited existence, or whether as what we hold in our true faith, that His humanity and divinity exists, though distinct, but united perfectly in the one person of Jesus.

The bitter divisions and divergence in the teachings were threatening the unity of the Church and the salvation of many souls, and that was why, the Ecumenical Councils of the Church, beginning with the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and eventually to the one we focus on today, the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, began codifying and underlining the true and fundamental truths and orthodoxy in faith which we preserve in the Church until today.

Eventually, the supporters of Nestorius lost and the heresy was officially condemned in the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus which made canon and officially declared Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God. And we rejoice today because of this great blessing which God has bestowed on us all through His mother, the very Mother of God so many of us Christians for ages have entrusted ourselves and devoted ourselves to.

Imagine, brothers and sisters in Christ, how we have the Mother of God herself as our greatest intercessor, as the one who constantly loves us and cares for us, that she, who sits closest to her Son’s throne in heaven, always constantly intercedes for our sake. And being the Mother of God, therefore, it means that she is truly honoured, just as how the kings of Israel and Judah of old honoured their mothers.

We devote ourselves to Mary and ask her for her intercession because we know that through Mary, we have the surest and most direct path to her Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. God Himself entrusted His mother Mary to us from the Cross, when He entrusted her to the care of His disciple, St. John, representing us the Universal Church, and then also entrusted him, again representing the Church, to Mary, His mother.

That is why Mary was always present throughout the history of the Church, in her many apparitions, several of which have been officially approved by the Church, especially appearing at the important juncture in our history and in moments of great darkness, calling on us mankind to turn back towards her Son and to repent from our many sins and evils. And we have to be thankful for the love that she has shown us, the same love with which she loved her Son from all her loving heart.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we also look up to Mary as our greatest role model, for her great faith and obedience to the will of God throughout her life. We should imitate her example and faith, dedicating ourselves to God through her and by following her inspiring dedication, in giving her whole self to serve the Lord and to glorify Him in all things. Are we able to do this, brothers and sisters?

Today, we are also called to keep in mind peace in our world, as today we also mark the World Day of Prayer for Peace, as we begin this new year with a new hope for the whole world for the cessation of conflict and wars, which have brought the worst out of us mankind, causing untold sufferings and destructions. All these wars, conflicts and disagreements, just like the disagreements we just went through in detail earlier on the nature of Mary as the Mother of God, are caused by man’s pride and greed.

As long as we allow ourselves to be swayed by ego and pride, ambition and greed, to be tempted by the many temptations found in this world, listening to the lies and corrupt teachings championed by the devil and his allies and supporters, there will always be divisions, conflicts, sufferings and trials in our world. And this is where, by following Mary and devoting ourselves to her, to imitate her faith and examples, we can break the unending chain of suffering and conflicts.

Let us all ask for Mary to intercede for us, for the Church and for the world, that through her intercession, God may bring His peace into this world, for He is the Prince of Peace promised to us all. And let us all get rid from ourselves all sorts of ego, of pride, of hubris and ambition, of greed and desires, and instead, put God once again at the centre of our lives and make Him the reason of our existence in this world.

May God continue to bless us, bless His Church and bless this world He has created and provided for us. May His mother Mary, Theotokos, the Mother of God also continue to inspire us all His faithful ones, that we may follow in her footsteps and draw ever closer to her Son, Jesus Christ, Son of God, our Lord and Saviour. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 December 2019 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, all of us celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family of Bethlehem, the family of the Lord and Saviour of the world, as the model for all of our Christian families all over the world. It was through this loving family that Our Lord was born into the world, and this feast today is an important reminder for all of us to keep our families in good condition.

The Holy Family principally is about Christ of course, the One Who is the reason for us to rejoice at Christmas and the One Who made this Family to be different and distinct apart from any other families of the world, for He is the very Son of God, Who came into the world incarnate in the flesh through His mother Mary, a pivotal moment in the salvation of mankind, for through Him God willed the salvation of all His people.

And then as mentioned, the Family has a mother in Mary, the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and because Jesus is both Man as He is also God, Mary is the Mother of God. She herself is also an integral part of the Holy Family, as no family can exist without a mother figure. It was through her that the Messiah entered this world, dwelling in her womb, the very first Tabernacle, for nine months long.

Finally, we have St. Joseph, as the father and head of the Holy Family, just as the other families are headed by the fathers of the respective families. Although St. Joseph was not the biological father of the Lord Jesus, but as the legally and lawfully married husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, St. Joseph was the legal father and foster-father of the Lord, and therefore also an integral part of the Holy Family of Bethlehem and Nazareth.

It was this Holy Family that travelled all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem over two millennia ago, at the time appointed by the Lord for the great census ordered by the Roman Emperor Augustus, that the Messiah could be born as prophesied and intended, in the city of Bethlehem, the city of King David. And St. Joseph helped to bring the heavily pregnant Mary through the difficult and long journey, as a caring, loving and dutiful husband.

He was the one to guide Mary through Bethlehem on that night when there was no room at all in all the inns and lodging houses of the town, and it was only after a great difficulty that he managed to get a place, unsuitable for any human beings, but was where the Lord and King of all, was to be born, in a small and dirty stable just outside the town of Bethlehem. It was there that night that the Lord was born.

The Holy Family did not have it easy after that, as when the Three Magi came to pay homage and worship the Lord, they warned them to run away from the place and from the domains of king Herod who wanted to kill the Child, seeing Him as a great Rival to his own power, authority and kingdom. St. Joseph had to protect both the Lord Jesus, his foster-Son and Mary, his wife, and brought them to Egypt to protect them from king Herod and his designs.

When king Herod was finally dead a short while later, St. Joseph led both the Lord and His mother Mary back to the land of Israel, back to their home in Nazareth, where St. Joseph reassumed his role and work as the village carpenter, while Mary raised Jesus together with him, as the Lord grew in age and wisdom, in stature and might among the people. And we heard of the Holy Family one last time when the Lord was twelve years old.

At that time, the Holy Family went to the city of Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover, and as the Lord went to the Temple of Jerusalem, He stayed there for a few days unknown to St. Joseph and Mary, who then went to search for Him. The Lord was speaking and discussing with the elders in Jerusalem, and He wanted to stay there, at the House of His true heavenly Father, but He obeyed His foster-father, St. Joseph and His mother, Mary and returned with them to Nazareth.

We see in the Holy Family as the archetype and ideal for the families of all Christians, as the perfect example for each and every one of us to follow. We see in the Holy Family the example of the fatherhood, motherhood and what being children in our holy Christian families ought to be. And it is a truly important reminder for us that our families must be based on the loving relationship and the faith found in the Holy Family.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Feast of the Holy Family therefore, all of us are reminded that the institution of the family is one that is very important to our lives, to our faith and to our journey as Christians in this world, one that we cannot and should not take lightly especially as we should be aware of just how the institution of the family has been constantly under attack from those who seek to destroy us and the Church.

For the Christian families are the foundations of the Church, the pillars that kept the faith alive in countless generations of Christians throughout the history of mankind. Christian family, like the Holy Family it is modelled after, is the first Church for all Christians, where the young and the children first learn about the faith from their parents, and where in turn the parents pass down what they know about the faith to their children.

It is within our families that we live and journey through our Christian lives and faith together. We persevere through the challenges of this world together, as each one of the families, be it as a father, as a mother, or as a child, as a grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, or more. And we are then ultimately connected one another, in extended families and by the common adoption as sons and daughters of God, as brothers and sisters to each other in the large family of the Universal Church.

The devil and all of his allies seeking our downfall and destruction know very well that the family is the bedrock of our faith, and the protection against the corruption and temptations that often turn many people away from God. That is why he directed and concerted all the attacks against the families of the faithful, tempting all to break the faithful unions apart, making people to believe less in their matrimonial bonds and in their families.

That is why there are so much disobedience within the families, there are so many infidelities and unfaithfulness, people cheating against their spouses and betraying their own family members. That is why jealousy, hatred, anger and many other negativities often reign in our families, among our relationships and friendships, in our communities and societies. All these are caused by the devil and all of his machinations to destroy us from within.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is where all of us are called to look at the Holy Family of Our Lord Jesus, His mother Mary and His foster-father St. Joseph for inspiration and strength, that we may model our own families in the mould of the Holy Family. We are called to follow the example of Christ’s obedience to His parents on earth, the love He had for them, and the love which Mary and St. Joseph had for their Son, and for each other.

Are we able to imitate and show this same love within our own families? Are we able to grow in faith and journey together with our most loved ones, beginning from our families? Remember the saying, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the families that pray together, eat together and do things together with faith, will stay together. And also, that when two or three or more are gathered in the Lord’s Name, He will be with us.

That is why, let us all be inspired by the Holy Family and strive to do our best to model ourselves and our own families after their good examples. Let us all rejoice together in this glorious and joyful season of Christmas as faithful and devout Christian families, all seeking not the selfish love of oneself, and resisting the temptations of pleasures of the flesh and all that often led to the destruction of families and relationships, instead, loving one another sincerely and with all of our hearts, from now on.

May God bless us all and our families, that truly from now on, all of us will enthrone Him at the centre and heart of our Christian families and communities, uniting ourselves to Him and to the large family of all the faithful children of God, the one family of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 December 2019 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Masses (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, after about four weeks of Advent, all of us finally reach this moment of the day of Christmas when we celebrate the birth of the Lord and Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. Today is indeed a day of great joy that finally after the long wait, the world has finally seen its Saviour, a long awaited moment and a new hope dawning on us mankind. Christmas is indeed the celebration of Christ, through Whom all of us have the reason to rejoice.

And everything was because of God’s love for each and every one of us, that beautiful and enduring love through which God made the impossible to be possible, that mankind, once fallen and condemned to damnation and destruction by our sins, could be saved and brought into a new existence through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Through Him all of us received the fullness of God’s love and wonders, which manifested fully in our midst through Christ.

That is why we celebrate this Christmas, and why we need to prepare ourselves throughout the season of Advent so that we may be able to celebrate it worthily. And why is that so? That is because many people today have forgotten what Christmas actually means and its true significance for us. For the duration of the season of Advent, we have continuously touched on the topic of how Christ has been forgotten and removed from the focus and emphasis that He should have received.

Instead, what we have and often see all around us this time of the year, is the celebration of greed and human selfishness, feeding our desires and wants, focusing on all the celebrations and glamours, all the paraphernalia and glitters, gifts and presents, all things except the One Whom we ought to be celebrating about, Christ, the true joy and meaning of Christmas. What we have is instead a secularised, materialistic celebration of human greed.

As Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us today are challenged and called to embrace the true meaning and nature of Christmas, especially in how we celebrate Christmas in our homes and within our families and communities. Are we celebrating Christmas as how the rest of the world celebrates it? Are we having all the parties and merrymaking, while leaving. Christ out of all the joy altogether?

What does Christmas truly mean for each and every one of us? Is it about the holiday that we are getting? Is it about the happiness of seeing so many coloured lights and blings all around us? Is it about all the songs and Christmas hymns, all the food and things we usually enjoy and are associated with the joyous Christmas season? Well, yes, we can celebrate and enjoy all these, but it is very important and indeed crucial that we remember the very heart and reason of Christmas in all of our joy and celebrations.

At the heart of our celebrations, we must remember that it was because of the works that the Lord has done for our sake, that we can rejoice and be happy in the first place. If not for the Lord having loved us so much that He was willing to embrace our humanity, the Divine Word and Son of God becoming the Son of Man in the flesh, there would have been no Christmas, and there would be no reason for us to celebrate, or to hope.

As Christians, all of us must know what Christmas is truly all about, and how Christmas fits in the greater scheme of things, within the whole history and framework of God’s salvation. Christmas is not just like any other birthdays, and it is not just celebrating any person’s entry into this world, for Christmas when celebrated on its own has no real meaning and purpose. It is exactly because we know what the One Whose birthday being celebrated in Christmas would be doing through His life and ministry that gave Christmas its full meaning and purpose.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that Christmas has a truly special significance, because the One born today over two millennia ago in the small and humble town of Bethlehem in Judah was not just any baby, but is the One promised by God to be the Saviour for all of His people, as the prophet Isaiah spoke of Him, as the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Divine Word Incarnate.

And even still, if not for what this Saviour of ours has experienced through His life and at the culmination of His earthly mission, the fullness of significance of Christmas would not be here with us. Christ willingly endured sufferings and pains in His Passion, taking up His cross and being condemned to death although He was without fault or sin, and therefore bore upon Himself all of our sins and punishments for those sins.

All these happened precisely so that He may save us from our fated destruction because of our sins, the sins of our ancestors who have disobeyed God and walked down the path of sin. Just as He saved His people Israel from their slavery in Egypt and made them to be His own, thus through Christ, God has saved us from our slavery to sin, and made us all to be His own beloved people.

It was that same Child born at Christmas day over two millennia ago Who eventually fulfilled all that God has said to be, and promised to His people, the King Who came into this world to redeem His people, by embracing our humanity, and uniting His humanity to our own, that by sacrificing Himself on the Cross, He gave us the sure pathway to redemption and the fullness of forgiveness, mercy and grace in God.

This is the Good News that God has revealed to us, and which He has sent to us through Christ His Son. And yet, this Good News, which mankind had awaited for so long, and ought to rejoice at, has often been forgotten these days, because the world was simply too busy and too distracted to recognise Him and to understand all that He has done for our sake. That is why so many of our Christmas celebrations and all that we see around us are bereft of Christ.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having discussed in quite some details on the importance and meaning of Christmas, what is it that we then should do? Perhaps we should indeed look at the way how we celebrate Christmas, whether we have been celebrating it in the wrong way, that is as how we often see and perceive it in our world today, empty of its true meaning and purpose, Christ not being at the centre of all the celebrations and merrymaking.

If we have not been celebrating Christmas in the right way, it is still not too late for us, brethren, as the Christmas season has just begun today. Perhaps, this is a timely reminder for us to keep our Christmas observation and celebration to be centred on Christ, its namesake and true meaning. And how do we do this? We can do this by making our Christmas less about ourselves, our desires and all, and instead, share the joy and love we have, especially with our less fortunate brethren.

We must know and understand that not everyone can celebrate Christmas as we do, and there remain many out there who are not able to be joyful or to celebrate in this Christmas joy and festivities, either because they do not have the means to do so, those who are poor and marginalised, all those who have to struggle even to meet their daily needs. And there are also those our brethren who are living in places where being a Christian can mean great suffering and even death.

Hence, even as we rejoice this Christmas day and season, we are all reminded not to be overboard in our celebrations and in our festivities, and rather than spending excessive amounts of money and resources on making an extravagant Christmas celebration, let us instead spare some for those who have less or little, and share our joy and blessings with them in whatever way we can.

In fact, sometimes sharing our joy does not mean giving gifts or money or anything of value. Often what people need is time, love and genuine attention, things that often cannot be bought or obtained by money or wealth. How many of us are so busy preparing for Christmas and forgot to actually spend quality and meaningful time with our loved ones and immerse ourselves in the true joy of Christmas?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today therefore, as we celebrate Christmas, we are all challenged first of all to put Christ back in the centre of our every Christmas joy, merrymaking and celebrations, and then, we are also called to be mindful of those around us who can be part of our joy and celebration as well. Ultimately, Christmas is a celebration of love, joy, hope and peace, a celebration that is universal, and we should share this joy whenever we can.

Let us all therefore return to the true meaning and joy of Christmas, putting Christ right at the heart of everything we do and enthrone Him in our hearts as the King of all of us, and let us all be witnesses for the Lord through our worthy and meaningful celebration of Christmas, that by showing how our Christmas joy was indeed about Christ and our joy of having received salvation through Him, we may bear witness to this truth to many more people whom we encounter in life.

May God bless us and our Christmas celebrations, and may He be there with our families so that all of us may indeed celebrate with true meaning and purpose, glorifying God and giving Him thanks for all the loving things He has done to us, and for the rich and generous mercy He has shown us that He gave us Christ as our Lord and Redeemer as we celebrate it this Christmas. May all of us have a most blessed and wonderful Christmas season. Amen.

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Sunday, 22 December 2019 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this fourth and last Sunday of the season of Advent, we focus on the last of the four themes that we are focusing on this Advent, namely hope, peace, joy and love. And this Sunday therefore, we focus on the theme of love in preparation of Christmas. As we all know, love is the most important of all Christian virtues, and is in fact the very reason why we have Christmas in the first place.

For without love, there would not have been Christmas and all of its celebrations and joy. In turn, there would not have been peace on earth, or a new hope for all of us mankind, and joy would have been dimmed and out of reach for us, because God’s love has not manifested among us. But thanks to God’s enduring love for each and every one of us, the love of God has been manifested in none other than His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

This has been clearly stated to us, in what the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus the Pharisee in one of the most well-known phrase in the entire Scriptures, from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 3, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only beloved Son, so that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.’ And this is in essence, what Christmas and all of its joy is all about, a celebration of God’s ultimate love for us.

That is why, after reflecting in the past three Sundays on the aspects of hope, peace and joy that Christmas has brought us and which we will celebrate again very soon, it is timely that on this last Sunday of Advent before the time of Christmas that we look into the very core of the Christmas celebration itself, the love of God made Man, the love of God coming to dwell among us in Christ.

And this is what the Scripture passages today have delivered to us, in the fulfilment of God’s long promised salvation, beginning from the encounter between the prophet Isaiah and king Ahaz of Judah, in which the prophet Isaiah prophesied of the coming of the Messiah, clearly speaking of how the Messiah would come, through the sign of the Virgin bearing a Child, the One through Whom God would dwell among His people, ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God is with us’.

At the time of the prophet Isaiah and afterwards, as the people awaited for the coming of the Messiah, the true meaning of those words in the prophecy of Isaiah was not fully understood, and it was only then, when the Archangel Gabriel came to Nazareth, upon a young woman and virgin betrothed to the local carpenter, Mary, the one who was destined to be the Mother of God and Saviour, that the fullness of God’s intentions was made bare to all.

The Archangel Gabriel was very clear, and he said that through the will of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary herself would bear the Son of God in her, God Himself incarnate in the flesh, just as St. Paul mentioned in the very beginning of his Epistle to the Romans, as a core tenet and belief of our Christian faith, that God became flesh, assuming the full nature of our humanity and become both Son of Man, as well as Son of God.

This was what the Angel of God reiterated to St. Joseph in our Gospel passage today, when he hesitated to take Mary as his wife because she bad become pregnant before their marriage and before it was to be consummated. The Angel also made a link and reference to what the prophet Isaiah had prophesied earlier, a prophecy clearly well known to St. Joseph and all the Israelites, which right there and then was coming to its fulfilment.

And it was God’s love that made all these possible, as all of us must remember that even though we are looking forward to the coming of Christmas, but we must also not forget why Christmas exists in the first place. Christmas exists because of Easter, and all that is related to the Easter celebrations, namely the Lord’s Passion, His suffering, death on the Cross and finally, His glorious Resurrection.

It was Easter that made Christmas fully meaningful and it is by understanding fully the grand scheme of God’s plan of our salvation that we can better appreciate why Christmas is so important to all of us. It is not just merely another holiday or moment to celebrate, to exchange gifts or to expect good things from one another. It is not just a time for us to have parties or good food and drink, or to shop and buy the latest apparels and paraphernalia.

Sadly, this is what many of us believe, and what many of us embrace as we think of Christmas as merely just another good time and time to relax and enjoy ourselves, forgetting the very reason why Christmas exists and why we even should be joyful in the first place. We have relegated the Lord to the least important place in our preparations and celebrations, and we have overlooked Him in Christmas.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that Christ has given everything to all of us, as He did not even hold back giving us the ultimate gift of all, that is the gift of His very own life, when He suffered and died on the Cross, willingly enduring all those pains and sufferings, bearing our sins and the consequences for our sins, so that all of us may live and not perish, as He Himself said to Nicodemus.

And it was because of all these that we can truly rejoice in Christmas! Indeed, if not for all that Christ has gone through for our sake, there would indeed be no reason to celebrate, because by our sins and wickedness, we would have been condemned to utter annihilation and destruction, eternal suffering and pain. Instead, Christ took all the pain and suffering to Himself, and through Himself, He offered us all the Way to eternal joy and life.

If the world had forgotten the reason for Christmas and the true joy and meaning, then should it not then be a challenge for us all as Christians to remind the world? What do I mean by this, brothers and sisters in Christ? I mean that we should show it in how we ourselves celebrate Christmas and prepare ourselves for the Christmas joy to come. It is how we then remind everyone Who it is we are truly celebrating about.

It does not mean that we should then reject everything that the world has celebrated about Christmas, but rather, we should celebrate in that manner in moderation, not to give in to excesses in all the consumeristic attitudes that are always prevalent during this season and time of the year. We should instead focus our celebrations on Christ, and the best way for us to do that, is to follow the example of Our Lord.

If God has loved us with so much love, and therefore brought us new hope, peace and joy through Christmas, then should we not then show the same love to one another? This is what in essence we need to do in our Christmas celebrations, brothers and sisters in Christ. We must celebrate the love, not the gifts; rejoice with our brothers and sisters, and not with all the glamour and bling of the occasion; love and forgive one another for anything that we have caused hurt to each other instead of being jealous or trying to outmatch each other in how we celebrate; reach out and share our joy and love rather than selfishly keeping all the joy to ourselves.

This is easier said than done, brothers and sisters in Christ, but we must not then make it as an excuse then to be idle and to continue our lukewarm attitude towards Christmas. Let us all instead be beacons of light showing the path to one another, guiding each other and inspiring our fellow brethren to celebrate Christmas more meaningfully by turning ourselves once again to God’s love in Christ as the one and true focus of our Christmas festivities and celebrations.

May God continue to love us all as He has always done, and bless us all in our good endeavours, and may He help us all to prepare ourselves heart, mind and soul for the coming joy of Christmas that we may celebrate it well, and not to forget to share the love and joy we have with one another, especially with those who had no chance to celebrate. May God bless our Advent preparations for Christmas. Amen.

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Sunday, 15 December 2019 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the third one in the season of Advent, you may have noticed a difference in the vestments of the priests and the celebrants of the Mass as we use the rose colour instead of violet, the decorations of the Church and the music, because on this day we celebrate what is known as Gaudete Sunday, which came from the Introit of today’s liturgical celebrations, ‘Gaudete in Domino semper…’, with the word ‘Gaudete’ meaning rejoice.

That is why on this particular Sunday of Advent, we focus on the theme of ‘Joy’, after we have focused on ‘Hope’ on the first Sunday of Advent, and ‘Peace’ on the second Sunday. On this day, we have some sort of reprieve from the relatively sombre and penitential nature of Advent, and assume temporarily the more joyous and festive atmosphere, not because it is already the time to embrace the fullness of the joy of Christmas, but rather because we look forward to that ‘Joy’ in Christmas that we rejoice today.

On this day, this Gaudete Sunday we are all reminded what the true meaning and joy of Christmas are all about. That is because many of us have forgotten what the true joy and meaning of Christmas is, and have become swallowed by the way the world perceives Christmas, the celebrations and festivities we often see all around us especially throughout this month and holiday season, which is focused not on the true joy of Christmas but instead on false, worldly joys.

This is why the world has often led us astray and distracted us from finding the true joy of Christmas. What is this true joy of Christmas, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is Christ Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all and the One after Whom Christmas was named. It is indeed such an irony that most of us treated Christmas as just another festivity and another holiday, forgetting the very One we should be celebrating about.

That is why it is indeed timely that we are reminded of Who we are celebrating for this coming Christmas, so that we may no longer forget about Him and may have the right direction and way of celebrating Christmas with true joy and happiness, not the glamour and pleasures of the holiday spirit and celebrations of Christmas all around us, not all the gifts we receive and all the food we are going to feast in, but rather in welcoming the Lord, our Saviour into our midst.

All of us rejoice because in Christmas lies the fulfilment of our long wait and desire for salvation and reconciliation with God. As our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah stated, the coming of the Lord and His salvation would indeed be a joyful one, a time when God would heal His people and reach out to them, when He would bring them true freedom and happiness by revealing His way and His truth to all of them, that is all of us mankind.

The Lord has always been faithful to His people and to all the promises that He has made with them. At the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people of Israel had indeed suffered, humiliated and beaten by their enemies, and the entirety of the northern kingdom had been destroyed by the Assyrians and the inhabitants of the northern lands had been brought into exile in far-off lands. Therefore the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah must have indeed brought great relief to the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, as a reassurance of God’s providence and love.

And this was reaffirmed in our Gospel passage today, as the Lord Jesus quoted that very same prophecy of the prophet Isaiah as a word of confirmation to St. John the Baptist, the one sent to herald the coming of the Messiah, that He, Jesus, was indeed the One and only Messiah of God, promised to all of mankind, through all the miracles and wonderful things He had done. All these fulfilled what God had spoken in the past, and for this all of us ought to rejoice.

But at the same time, this happiness and joy must be tempered with patience as St. James wrote in his Epistle, which is mentioned in our second reading today. St. James spoke of how the Lord is indeed coming, and we must be patient to wait for His coming, the time when He will fulfil completely all that He has promised to us. What St. James spoke about was the promise which Christ had made as He ascended to heaven, that He will come again at the end of time, to gather all of His faithful flock to Himself.

That is why we have in fact two joyful celebrations in this upcoming Christmas, the first one of which all of us must have known, in celebrating the historical birth of Our Lord and Saviour in Bethlehem, the moment two millennia ago when Jesus was born of His mother Mary in the poor and dirty stable just outside the town of Bethlehem as prophesied by the prophets. But then, at the same time, we also then rejoice because of the expectation of His second coming, which will come at the time that only God knows.

All of us rejoice because of this hope, and today, as we focus on this aspect of joy on Gaudete Sunday, we are also asked to reflect on how patient we have been as the disciples and followers of Christ all these while. Have we followed the Lord patiently, knowing that He has loved us all so much and blessed us all these while? Many of us are often too impatient and expect immediate satisfaction, happiness and joy.

That is exactly why many of us fell into the many temptations of the world, and why many of us have forgotten about the true joy of Christmas in Christ. We seek the instant joy and pleasure in our lives, which the world readily provided for us, in the many amenities and comforts we enjoy throughout life, in the many perks and things that we have all around us, in our often consumeristic and materialistic lifestyle.

On the contrary, if we want to be true and faithful Christians, we must then be ready to deny ourselves and all of these pleasures, the attachment to the many tempting things found in this world. We must be ready to suffer and face ridicule, rejection and difficulties, as what the Scripture readings today had alluded, as St. James wrote of the suffering of the prophets and all those who had come earlier on bearing God’s truth.

St. John the Baptist himself had to endure and suffer in prison, as what we heard today from the Gospel passage, how he sent message to the Lord Jesus from prison. As dedicated and committed St. John the Baptist was, he was still human, and he must have also felt some despair and the pain and bitterness of suffering in prison, and that was why he asked, if the Lord Jesus he believed to be the Messiah was truly the One he and all the others had waited for.

Similarly therefore, all of us will also likely face challenges and trials somewhere in our journey of faith, in varying degrees and difficulties. But we must not give up our faith and resolution to follow through this journey of faith, just as the prophets of old remained true to their mission and calling, despite the people’s opposition and challenges, and just as how St. John the Baptist remained firm and faithful until he was martyred.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why as we celebrate this Gaudete Sunday today, while we rejoice at the expectation of the coming of Christ and the joy of Christmas, but we must also learn to be patient and to endure the trials and challenges we may face in this world with patience and faith, and not to seek or yearn for instant joy or gratification without having to endure the pains and crosses of life.

After all, the Lord has called us to follow Him and to carry our own crosses and walk in His path. Yes, we will find true joy and happiness in God, but it does not mean then that our life at present in this world will be free of sorrow and sufferings, because as long as sin exists in this world, and as long as mankind continue to walk in sin and in disobedience against God, abusing the freedom He has given us, in living our lives wickedly and in succumbing to our many desires, to our greed and ego, there will always be troubles, trials and sufferings to endure in this life.

This is where then we need to realise that, out of all these challenges, difficulties, trials and darkness in life in this world, there can be no true way out besides that of following the Lord and through His saving grace, by which He will bestow on us true joy and freedom from all the chains and trials that we are facing and will be facing in life. It is in Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Whom we celebrate this coming Christmas, that we have our hope and our salvation, the one and only source of Joy for us.

And last of all, as we look forward to the true joy of Christmas, let us also endeavour to remember our fellow brothers and sisters and share our joys and blessings to one another this coming Christmas. Let our festivities and celebrations be done with the right intentions and purpose, and not be selfish in keeping all the happiness and joy just for ourselves and leaving others to suffer while we rejoice. Let us remember that there are those in our midst, sometimes even within our families and friends, who are not able to celebrate Christmas with joy for various reasons.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all bear witness to Christ through our Christmas preparations this Advent, and by celebrating Christmas this year and from now on with the right focus and intentions in mind, that Christ is always and will be the centre and focus of our Christmas joy and celebration, because it is by His coming into this world, that joy has been given to us all once again. May the Lord bless us all and be with us through this journey through the remaining days of Advent. Amen.

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Monday, 9 December 2019 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is usually celebrated on the eighth day of December but since yesterday the eighth fell on a Sunday, which is the Second Sunday of Advent, this Solemnity is brought to the next day that is today, the ninth of December.

This celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception refers to the time when Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne without any trace or corruption of original sin, and does not refer to the moment of her birth, her Nativity which is celebrated exactly nine months from now, on every eighth of September. This Immaculate Conception is a very significant belief of our faith, which was formalised as a Dogma by Blessed Pope Pius IX in the year 1854 in his Papal Bull, Ineffabilis Deus.

Although it has only been formalised as a Dogma relatively recently by the Church but in truth, the Church and the faithful since the earliest times and history of the Church has always believed that Mary, as the Mother of God was free from any taints of sin by the singular grace of God, because of the role that she has been entrusted to by the Lord Himself. Mary has been called and chosen to be the one who was to bear the Messiah in herself.

Through this, we can see essentially what is the significance of the Immaculate Conception of Mary to all of us, as her Immaculate Conception actually underlines the core tenets of our faith, the central focus of our beliefs in God. This is such that if we do not believe in the Immaculate Conception, or worse still, reject this Dogma, then we actually have done nothing less than to reject the basic and most important core beliefs of our faith itself.

That is because the belief of the Immaculate Conception, or Mary conceived without the taint of sin is rooted in the belief that Mary is none other than the new Ark of the Covenant. Why is that so? That is because the Ark of the Covenant was the historical relic and an actual receptacle, a large box made of the most precious materials to contain several objects that represent the Covenant which God has made with His people, the Israelites.

Inside the historical or the old Ark of the Covenant according to the Old Testament was the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. These were the ones that Moses made to replace the ones written by God which had been destroyed when God became angry at His people’s disobedience in worshipping the golden calf idol. It therefore became a symbol of the Covenant of God renewed with His people.

Besides that, there were also a bowl of the manna, the miraculous bread of heaven by which God had fed His people through their forty years journey in the desert, yet another reminder of the Covenant of God, how God has been faithful in taking care of and loving His people all the way even though the people had often disobeyed and walked away from the path of God. And lastly, in the Ark was also the staff of Aaron, the staff used by Moses to perform the many plagues of Egypt and his many other miraculous works, to show the power of God among the people.

The Ark of the Covenant had always been, since the time of its creation, the most hallowed and blessed object in the world. It was made from the most precious materials and God also blessed and hallowed it, for it is on the Ark of the Covenant, placed at the Holy of Holies in the Tent of Meeting, and later on in the Holy of Holies of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, that God and His Holy Presence descended to dwell in the midst of His people.

It was so holy that no one was allowed to touch it, and when one of the priests accidentally touched it when it was about to be moved to Jerusalem during the time of king David, the one who touched it was immediately struck dead. And the Ark was always placed behind a veil, to represent the great holiness of God. No one except the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, and even so, he was only allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies only once a year.

We can see just how holy, blessed and hallowed the old and historical Ark had been, which was still a creation of man, no matter how precious and amazing it had been. Then let us imagine just how much more wonderful, amazing and holy the new Ark of the Covenant is, because Mary was made not by the hands of any man, but by the hands of God Himself. There can be no creation of man, no matter how great can compare with God’s creation.

And while the inside of the old Ark was two slabs of stone, a bowl of manna and the staff of Aaron blessed by God’s presence, but the new Ark contained nothing less than God Himself present in the Flesh, God incarnate, Son of God, Jesus Christ. And that is why, if the people of Israel had treated the old Ark of the Covenant in such a hallowed manner, it is just perfectly logical that Mary would also have been hallowed and blessed by God.

It is as simple as how God Who is perfect and all good can never be paired together with any form of sin. No sin can ever stand in the presence of God. That is why, if He was to be born of a human being, through His incarnation in the Flesh, how can He Himself be borne into this world in a vessel so pure and blessed, free from any corruption, if all men had fallen into sin, are sinners and are tainted by sin? That is why, because of this, God gave Mary the singular grace of being immaculate, pure and free from sin.

This is primarily why we honour Mary, the Mother of God and our Lord Jesus Christ so much. And that is why so many of us are so devoted to her, because not just that she is the Mother of God, and therefore the one closest to her Son, but even more so, that her own exemplary faith and life, her complete obedience to the will of God as shown in our Gospel passage today, is truly the best example for us all to follow in our own journey of faith.

Her acceptance of the great role as the mother of the Lord and Saviour of all, her humble obedience and readiness to respond to God through the Archangel Gabriel is indeed a very amazing example and inspiration for us all to follow, as it is indeed not easy for any one of us to bear the burden and the crosses that Mary herself had to bear in her own journey, in having to raise Jesus and then to see her own Son being condemned, tortured and died on the Cross before her very own eyes.

Now, all of us then have to realise that each and every one of us are called to follow the example of Mary, in our own journey of faith. Do you remember what I have just said earlier on, that no creation of man can ever compare to the creations of the Lord? Each and every one of us are God’s creations, brothers and sisters in Christ, and all of us are special even more so, because we have been made in the image and likeness of God.

While unlike Mary, we have been tainted by sin, and corrupted by the darkness of our sins and disobedience, but God has always intended for us all to be like that of His mother, in faith and purity, as He made all things to be good and holy. Sin was not God’s creation and was never intended to be part of us or our lives. This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must all strive to be holy, just as Our Lord is holy, and resist all the temptations to sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today as we honour Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, for her wonderful faith and life, let us all ourselves devote ourselves anew to God, with a new faith and commitment, to be holy and to sanctify ourselves, by turning away from all of our sins, and by embracing a new life dedicated to serve God and to walk in His path alone. Let us all do our best and help one another in this journey together as one faithful people of God.

Mary, Holy Mother of God, conceived without sin, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 December 2019 : Second Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we celebrate the Second Sunday in the season of Advent, and as we continue to progress through this special and blessed time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, we continue our Advent journey and this Sunday we focus on Peace, as the second in the four theme set for each of the Sundays of Advent. Peace is also a reference to Our Lord and Saviour’s title as the Prince of Peace, as it was prophesied that His coming would bring about true peace into this world.

And that is what has also been alluded to in our Scripture passages today, especially in our first reading today which was taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. In that portion of the Book, the prophet Isaiah was speaking of the prophecies of the time of the coming of the Saviour or God’s Messiah, of the coming of the time of peace so wonderful and great that even ferocious animals would come and sit together with their prey in harmony.

This message of peace must have been truly satisfactory and pleasing to the people of Isaiah’s time, considering that at that time, as it was often in the past, mankind have often been involved in conflicts and wars, and many had to suffer because of those conflicts, losing family members and loved ones, losing their properties, houses and possessions, being looted and having to see their cities, towns and villages destroyed.

All these had been how the world went by since the beginning of time, as the powerful and mighty preyed on the weak, and how the rich and influential ones manipulated and exploited the poor ones. Suffering, pain and sorrow that were created can indeed be traced to how we mankind abused the free will that God has bestowed on us, as we chose to act in ways that seek our own satisfaction and happiness, to fulfil our needs and desires and if need be, over the suffering of others.

That is why peace has often eluded many of us all these time because we are by our nature selfish, because of our disobedience and sins, the corruption of sin which led us to think about ourselves first and not about what others think or need. That was how wars had been fought over resources, prestige, glory, and the many other worldly things we often seek in life. When peoples and nations, their leaders and all those involved in the conflicts seek to gain things for themselves and not minding the needs and happiness of others, that is why people suffer and peace is broken.

If we look at our world today, peace is more elusive than ever, as there are more and more parties in conflict and fighting against each others, groups being set against each other and divided against themselves. Governments and kingdoms are set against one another, setting up groups and alliances working to thwart their opponents and their goals. We also see how civil wars and conflicts arise from time to time, again and again, and even many instances when governments are brought down by divisions and wrecked by infighting.

And all these while, the Prince of Peace, Our Lord Jesus Christ has been present in this world ever since He came to our midst over two millennia ago, in the small town of Bethlehem, when He came proclaiming the coming of the Lord’s true peace. Yet, if we realise, that He has often been ignored by mankind, rejected and unwanted, as the world continued on with mankind’s relentless pursuits of maintaining their selfish desires and wants. He has spoken the truth to us, and yet, He was silenced, put to suffer and die on the Cross by those who hated and opposed Him.

That was what the many prophets and messengers of God had also suffered from, and in the Gospel passage today, we also heard how the one who was the Herald of the Messiah, St. John the Baptist, also suffered from the same rejection and oppression the Lord has suffered. Many prophets of the Lord had suffered and had to endure scorn and ridicule just because they stood by the missions which God has entrusted to them.

We heard how despite all the works that this faithful servant of God had done, his courageous faith and effort in calling many people to repent from their sins and wickedness, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law still opposed the saint and made it hard for him, doubting him and refusing to believe in the words he had spoken, and even doubting him and the authenticity of what he had done and spoken before the people.

That is exactly why the Lord was unable to make any progress with those who still attached themselves to worldly thoughts and desires, those who allowed their selfishness and pride, their greed and their attachments to the world to close their hearts and minds against the Lord’s truth and love. And that was how the true peace of God remain elusive for many of us, as it had been for millennia, as most of us did not truly welcome the Prince of Peace into our lives and into our hearts.

In our second reading today, St. Paul wrote to the Church in Rome and spoke of the peace of Christ and how the coming of the Lord into the world has brought forth the dawn of a new era of peace. And St. Paul also exhorted the faithful there to welcome one another and to make peace with each other, just as the Lord Jesus has brought the peace of God into the midst of the people He has touched, and thereafter passed on that same peace to those whom He has commissioned and called.

In Rome at that time, which was the cosmopolitan and populous capital of the mighty and expansive Roman Empire, there were numerous peoples of different origins and backgrounds, of different cultures and traditions, as besides the Romans who were the lords of the land, there were also Greeks, Syrians, Jewish populations, Gauls, Germans, the peoples of the Northern African regions, Thracians, Dacians, Berbers, Arabs, Persians and even many others, of many different nations and languages.

Many of these people did not exist peacefully with each other, and it did not help that many among the non-Roman populations, especially in the city of Rome, were slaves. And the Romans were the largest landowners and also slave owners. Even among the Romans themselves there were often wide disparity in the wealth and property they owned, and all these divisions and categorisations among the peoples often led to conflict and unhappiness.

And the Christian faith interestingly managed to bridge these differences even in the earliest days of the Church. St. Paul was in fact exhorting and reminding the faithful to put aside their differences, whatever past animosities and unhappiness they might have had towards each other previously and instead focus themselves on peace, and to live with one another harmoniously, bonded together by a new bond of love born from God. This is how God’s coming into the world has therefore transformed His people, from people divided by many differences and identities, into a united people by faith.

Division and conflict is typical of mankind corrupted and afflicted by sin, but as God entered into our lives and touched us, peace also entered into our midst. The question now is, are we allowing God to enter into our lives and transform us with His love, peace and goodness? Are we open in our minds and hearts to embrace the peace of God in our lives? The fact and reality is that as long as we remain attached to our many worldly desires, remaining selfish and self-centred, proud and egoistic, it will be difficult for us to find true peace in our lives.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Christmas we are all challenged to return to the true essence of Christmas, and that is welcoming Christ, our Lord and Saviour into our lives, so that we may truly live in harmony, peace and love with one another. This is what Christmas is all about, and what we should prepare ourselves for in this blessed season and time of Advent.

Instead of focusing on excessive festivities and parties, merrymaking and joy without truly understanding why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, let us all bring our joy and celebrations by first of all, making peace with all those whom we have probably been angry with, feuding with all these while. Let us all learn to forgive one another, just as the Lord Himself has forgiven us all first from our sins. This is how we bring peace into our lives, and only with peace then we can truly celebrate Christmas in its fullness.

Let us all be peacemakers and strive to live in harmony and unity with one another. Let us all strive to die to our pride and to remove from us the traces of ego and selfishness, and instead allow God to enter into our lives and transform us, so that through all of us and our good works, peace and harmony will reign once again in our world wrecked by wars and conflicts. Let us all bring the Peace of Christmas to everyone, beginning from ourselves and our own families, and then to our communities and then to all the peoples of this world.

May the Lord, Our Prince of Peace give us His peace, that we may come to celebrate this Christmas joyfully as one people, no longer bickering and fighting over trivial matters of the world. Let us all be genuinely concerned of one another and show genuine love in our actions and interactions with each other. May God bless us always as we continue through this blessed season of Advent and guide us in our journey of faith, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 December 2019 : First Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we begin the season of Advent and the new liturgical year cycle with the celebration of the first Sunday of Advent. On this Sunday we begin the time of preparation for the coming of the great celebration of Christmas, a time for us to recollect ourselves and to redirect our thoughts and interior disposition that we may truly celebrate Christmas with the fullness of faith and love for God.

On this first Sunday of Advent, we focus on the first of the four themes of the Sundays of Advent, namely hope, peace, joy and love. We begin with hope as we light the first of the four candles of the Advent wreath. This hope that we focus on today is a reminder that first and foremost, the theme of Advent itself comes from the origin of its name, ‘Adventus’ in Latin, which means ‘The Coming of…’ and the appearing of none other than the Saviour of the whole world, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, first and foremost, this season of Advent is a time for hope and to look for that hope, the hope which we can truly find in God alone. Advent is the time for the renewal of that hope within our hearts and minds, as we begin the new cycle of the liturgical year and as we look forward to the coming of Christmas. As with all New Year celebrations in our world today, we know of how everyone looks forward to a better year, filled with hopes and expectations. It is no different with what we are celebrating today.

And Christ is our one and true hope, hope that overcomes even the darkness of the world, the tyranny of sin and death. It is because we have hope in Christ and in His salvation that we are able to look forward to the coming year and persevere through life with faith. His coming into this world that we celebrate every Christmas is the wonderful light that pierces through the darkness of the world, and gave us a new hope.

This is what has been alluded throughout the Scripture passages today, beginning from our first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, in which we heard of the vision that the prophet Isaiah saw concerning the last days when the Lord will come again in His glory to rule over His people and gather all of those who are faithful to Him, the time when God will bless and hold up His people forever.

This is the hope that God has given to all of us, the hope for His salvation and the eternal life of glory and true joy that we are all looking forward to, which Our Lord, Jesus Christ has revealed to us by His coming into this world. That is why during this season of Advent, we are in fact celebrating a two-fold celebration, first of the remembrance of the time when we mankind awaited the coming of Our Lord and Messiah, and then secondly the expectation of the coming, once again, of Our Lord at the end of time.

That is why we rejoice so at the time of Advent, but in a more muted and subdued way because we are anticipating for the coming and the fulfilment of the fullness of joy which is to come through the Lord and which we remember and commemorate at Christmas. That is why the nature of the liturgical colour of this season being that of violet or purple, which is reminiscent of the penitential and preparatory nature of Lent in the preparation for the coming of Easter.

Yet, for all these joy that we are expecting, if we observe all around us, we can see what is often missing from the celebration and festivities is none other than the One Whom we truly are celebrating for, that is none other than Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and the reason why we have Christmas and its joyful commemorations in the first place. But the world has largely forgotten Christ and Christmas and its festivities has become nothing more than just another festival and celebration.

That is why it is always sad to see how secularised and materialistic the many Christmas celebrations around the world had been, as many people took to the secular and worldly ways of celebrating Christmas, even many among us Christians, who have forgotten the true essence, significance and importance of this joyful and wondrous occasion of the birth of the Saviour of the whole world. Instead, we ended up focusing on the parties, celebrations and festivities.

Let us all look at the obscene amount of marketing, advertising and promotions done to advance the case for the materialistic and worldly Christmas, ironically without Christ being at the centre of the attentions and all the celebrations. Many people thronged to shop and to gain as many bargains as possible from all the Christmas holiday shopping, busying themselves haggling over goods rather than to remember the One Who made all these possible.

We focused on what we want to celebrate on Christmas, on what gifts we are to give or to exchange with each other, focusing on the nitty gritty and details of the celebrations and the festivities, on what decorations and glamorous things we are going to put up or include in the feasts, the food and drink that we are going to partake and enjoy, and yet, in all those things, Christ has often been left out.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are called and are reminded strongly of the very important need for us to return Christmas back to Christ, and this means that Christ must be the very centre, focus and the very reason for all of our celebrations and joys throughout this upcoming Christmas season. And that is why we should be blessed that we have been given this time of Advent as a time for us to reflect and to prepare ourselves heart, mind and soul, so that we can truly appreciate and celebrate Christmas in the best way, that is in the Christ-centric manner.

And let us all today also remember that not everyone in the whole world can celebrate Christmas joyfully in the way we do or what we may often see around us. There are parts of the world where our fellow Christians, our brethren who were unable to celebrate Christmas openly, because of persecution and oppression, because of prejudices and other difficulties. Let us also not forget those who had little or no means to celebrate because they are poor and without means to spend to celebrate.

This is why this season of Advent and for the upcoming Christmas season, let us all challenge ourselves to focus our Christmas joy and celebration on Christ, and to remember our brethren in our prayers, those who have no chance to celebrate Christmas because of difficulties and persecutions, and help whenever possible, by our own charitable actions. This means that we should be generous in sharing our joy with our fellow brethren, especially those who are poor and needy and without joy.

Let us all make our upcoming Christmas celebrations more meaningful and wonderful by sharing our joy with one another and remembering that after all it was God Who has first shared with us His joy and love, by sending unto us, His most perfect gift of all for us, Christ, His own Beloved Son, to be Our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer. May all of us have a blessed season of Advent, and may God be with us always in this journey of faith. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 November 2019 : Thirty-Fourth and Last Sunday of Ordinary Time, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the thirty-fourth and the last in our current liturgical year cycle, we celebrate the great Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Kings, King of all Universe, rejoicing together in our one and only True Lord and King. On this day we honour and adore our Lord and King, the One to Whom all glory and honour are due. All the other kings and rulers of this world derive and receive their authority and power from God, our King.

And His kingship is truly a very unique and wonderful one, which is different from the ways of the kings of this world. For this is not a king who uses his power and authority for his own gain and benefit, and neither did He make use of the authority to show His glory and might before His people as the kings and rulers of this world often did. Instead, if one were to look at the whole life and ministry of the Lord, one would not be able to recognise that He is a King if we make use of the standards of this world.

That was what the Pharisees and the enemies of the Lord took issue against Him for, as they could not recognise how He was truly the Messiah of God, the One Whom God had promised from the beginning of time, to be the perfect fulfilment of all those promises and all the words of God to us. The people thought of the Messiah as the mighty and conquering King like that of David and Solomon, and that the Messiah would come as a mighty King that will restore the kingdom of Israel as how it was during its glorious days.

Yet, Christ is truly a King, and King of all kings and Lord of all lords. His coming into this world precisely showed us all what His true purpose and mission, as well as the true nature of His kingship. His kingship and leadership is not one of pride and tyranny, but instead is one of service and of generous giving, in leading by example and in reaching out to every single one of His people without bias or prejudice, without fear, full of compassion, mercy and love.

Through Him, and by what we have heard today in the Scripture passages, we are reminded of the love which God has for each and every one of us, that He, our King, was willing to do everything He could for our sake. He came into this world to gather us all in to Himself, to be reconciled because of all of our sins and wickedness. And He has willingly bore the Cross for our sake and to suffer because through all that, all of us may live and not be destroyed because of those sins.

Here therefore, we have a great and wonderful King, One Who truly knows us all by heart, and Who is always ever concerned for our well-being. He has always sought our welfare and we are always foremost in His mind all these while. Yet, for all and everything that He has done for us, we mankind, His beloved people have not treated Him in the manner that we should have treated Him. We ignored Him, abandoned Him, betrayed Him and chose other things that we prefer more than Him.

Although the Lord is truly the King of our lives, but we acted as if our king and lord is something else, be it our own pride and ego, or our attachments to worldly possessions, to money and all the likes. We put our trust and hopes in these much more than we have placed our trust and hope in the Lord. And essentially, in our many pursuits of worldly glory, power, honour and all the sorts, we have forgotten about God, ignored Him and abandoned His ways.

Though we call God our King, but the way we behaved and the actions we take in life, the words that we uttered and spoke, the attitudes we adopted in this life all spoke of a different thing, as it is often quite evident that we have other kings in our lives other than God. And it is the sad reality that we even honour all these false ‘kings’ more than how we honoured and treated God. This is sad and truly ironic considering all the things that God, our King had done for our sake.

On this day, as we celebrate this Solemnity of Christ the King, we are therefore called to discern carefully on our lives, our every actions and deeds, our words and interactions with one another. Let us ask ourselves if we have truly regarded Christ as our Lord and King in our lives, or whether we have instead turned our back against Him and put other ‘kings’ that we deem to be more important than Him, by putting the idols of worldly glory and achievements, human praise and power, money and possessions in our hearts and minds?

Today we are all called to reflect on what we are to do if we truly love God as our Lord and King, and we are all called to action, if we sincerely and truly believe in that faithfully. For if we truly honour God as our King, then we need to begin to show it through our every day lives and actions. Otherwise, we will end up scandalising Him and our faith in Him, if we call Him our King and yet our actions and words show otherwise as what often happened in our lives today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how do we then honour Our Lord Jesus Christ as King? First of all, let us all embrace the wonderful love and compassion which He, Our King has shown us, accept His generous offer of love and mercy, opening our hearts and minds to welcome Him and enthrone Him therefore in our hearts. And then, having welcomed Him into our hearts, there can be only place for one King in us, and that is why we need to remove from us all the other false ‘kings’ that we have filled our hearts with.

And from now on, let us truly behave as one of God’s people, following Him as King. It means that we have to live our lives with faith, genuinely devoting ourselves to the path which God has taught and shown us. We have to show that God truly is our King, and all who see us will know that we belong to Him, and to Him alone. It will not be an easy path for us to take, as we all know how the Lord was rejected and despised by many, how He was persecuted and condemned to die when He came into this world bringing and revealing His truth to us all.

Yet, Christ willingly stood up for our sake, speaking the truth even though it meant His suffering and crucifixion. He willingly embraced the worst sufferings out of love for us, truly a King Who loves us all His people, worthy of all praise, glory and honour. And since God loves us all so much, to endure all these for us, then should we not love Him in the same manner, even if it means that we have to bear our own crosses in doing so?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from now on therefore, let us all cease treating God less than that of the one and only true King of our hearts, and let us steadfastly proclaim Him as our King and Master, not through mere words alone, but through real and concrete actions of faith, by being exemplary Christians in all things, becoming genuine witnesses of the Lord’s truth by our lives. Let us all truly make Jesus our King, not just in name alone, but in reality and all truth, in all things.

Let us obey Him and follow Him and His truth in everything we say and do from now on, and glorifying Him by our lives. Let us bear our crosses patiently with Him, and follow Him to the end of our earthly lives so that when He comes again in the fullness of His glory at the end of time, He may gather us all and find us all worthy of the glory of His eternal kingdom, and bless us with graces everlasting and true joy and happiness with Him forevermore.

May the Lord Jesus Christ, Our King, and the King of all the Universe reign gloriously ever, and reign gloriously in our hearts and minds, that every inch of our being and existence may be filled with our love, devotion and dedication for Him, that we will no longer allow any false ‘kings’ or idols to occupy our hearts and minds, from now on. Let us all adore Our Majestic King and glorify Him always by our lives. Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat! Amen.

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Sunday, 17 November 2019 : Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of the Poor (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all finally at the thirty-third and last of the Ordinary Sundays in the year, as we approach the end of this current liturgical year. Next Sunday we shall be celebrating the great Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King, the final cap to this current liturgical year. As we reach this stage in time, we heard of the constant reminders through the Scripture of what is to come and what we should expect in our journey of faith as one of the many disciples of the Lord.

As we approach the end of this liturgical year, the readings remind us of the reality of what God Himself has promised to us and which we also believe firmly as we always repeat through every time we recite the Creed, that He will come again in glory at the appointed time, and as He comes again, He will gather us all to Himself and will judge all the peoples, all the nations for their own deeds and actions, be it good or be it bad and evil.

We do not know when is the exact moment that this will happen, but it is perfectly certain that His coming will be a surprise to everyone, at a time when everyone least expect it. It is perfectly certain that the Lord will come as He has promised. But in the meanwhile, as we look forward to His coming, and as we expect Him to gather us all into His eternal and glorious kingdom, we have to live our lives according to how He has taught us, through the way that He has shown us.

The Lord presented to His disciples in our Gospel passage today, and therefore through to us all, the reality of being a follower of His. To be a disciple of the Lord means that we have to be prepared for the trials and challenges that will likely be in our path, as we will encounter all sorts of difficulties, even as the Lord said, false prophets and guides who will try to lead us astray from the faith in God.

What the Lord had said, has actually happened throughout the long history of the Church. There had been many moments when the faithful had to endure bitter suffering and persecutions, from the Romans, the pagans, the enemies of the Church, from the worldly authorities and governments, and from many others who sought the destruction of the Church and the faith. That was how the innumerable martyrs of the Church came to be, all those who have suffered and died for the Lord.

Yet, they suffered with courage and conviction, faith and commitment to God. They went through all sorts of difficulties, torture and pain, encountering all sorts of painful deaths, because they refused to give up their faith in God. They remained true to their faith even amidst great pressure and persecution, even opposition from their own friends and families. They were faithful to the very end.

This is what the Lord Himself had said to His disciples as He prepared them all for the eventual suffering and persecution they had to encounter. Just as the world has persecuted their Lord and Master, His disciples and followers would also suffer as He had suffered. But He also then reassured them that they would not be alone, as God would be with them, suffering with them, carrying His Cross with them. He would guide them through those difficult moments and strengthen them.

That was probably how many of the holy martyrs were able to persevere through those difficult moments, and how they endured all the bitterness of the world. That was because they put their faith and trust in God, knowing that He was with them through all the way. The Lord encouraged and strengthened them through His Holy Spirit, that they remained true to their dedication even through the darkest moments.

That is why He called on His disciples to remain strong and to put their trust in Him, that no matter what, He will guide them and show them the way. And He said this because He wanted them all to do His works and to be the witnesses of His truth at all times, even at the most difficult moments, so that they would not worry about themselves or about what they would do, because no matter what, God would be with them.

That is, brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of what we have to do with our lives as Christians. We are all called to be witnesses for Christ, for His truth and for the Gospel of His salvation. We are all called to glorify Him by our lives and be the bearers of His truth to the nations, for He has given us this Great Commission, that we go to all the nations, bearing His truth and baptise all the peoples in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Then, in the second reading passage today, taken from the Epistle written by St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, we heard of how St. Paul mentioned that he and his fellow disciples worked hard for the sake of the faithful, doing all that they could to serve the people and living their lives to the best of their abilities. They did their work and laboured as an example to the rest of the faithful.

And why is that so? That is because at that time, there were those who believed that the Lord’s coming was imminent, and that therefore they needed nothing else than to wait for His coming and be idle, for they have already been saved after all. But that was not what the Lord wanted them to do, for as I have just mentioned, He sent us all into the world, to bear witness to His truth, His resurrection and to His salvation for all mankind.

How do we then bear witness to God’s truth and love? It is by doing what He has Himself done, in reaching out to our fellow men, showing our own love, care and concern for others around us, in particular those among us who have few or even none to care for them and love them. It is indeed most fitting that on this Sunday, the thirty-third one in Ordinary Time, which has recently been declared as the World Day of the Poor, we remember the poor in our midst, those who have little or none to pass the day by, and also all those who have been treated unjustly and even without basic human dignity in our society.

As this current liturgical year comes to an end, it is perhaps time for us to look upon the year that has just passed, and discern how our lives will proceed from now on, even as we look back and take note of what we have done in this past one year cycle in serving God and His people, what we have failed to do or have not yet done, and how we can proceed from now on, as we enter the new liturgical year cycle, and from then on and on again, in living the lives as true Christian disciples.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to reflect on what we can do as Christians, to bear true witness to Christ and show our faith by our words and actions in life. We should love one another and share our joys and blessings if we have more of these to those who have little or none, so that all those who see us, know that we truly belong to God, because not just that we have done what God Himself had done, in seeking the last, the lost and the least among us.

We have to remember what the Lord had said, that whatever we do to the least of our brothers, we are doing it to the Lord Himself. Therefore, if we hurt or make those who are poor and needy to suffer even more, then our reckoning before God will indeed be truly terrible, while if we reach out to them in love as we should, then God too will reach out to us with the same if not even greater love. This is how the world knows that we are His disciples, when we love one another, just as He loves us, and even more so, towards those who have known little or no love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we live in a Christ-like manner, by reaching out to one another with love, especially to the poor and the needy, we will likely go against the norms and customs of this world. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, there will inevitably be frictions and inconveniences, troubles and trials ahead in our journey. But should we let all these trials and challenges to deter us, or should we rather make these as the reasons why we want to be even more determined to do what we should as Christians?

Let us all be true Christians in our lives, brothers and sisters in Christ, that our every actions, words and deeds truly breathe the very essence of our Christian beliefs, that everyone may know the Lord through us and see His love and compassion, His mercy and salvation, His truth and glory through our lives and actions. May the Lord continue to bless us all, and guide us all, His Church and His people in our journey of faith, day by day, to the end of time. Amen.