Sunday Mass sermon

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Sunday, 19 February 2017 : Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on this Sunday, the holy day of the Lord, all of us are called by God to be holy. Indeed, we have all been called to be holy just as the Lord Himself is holy, and this means that our every words, actions and deeds must reflect that holiness and sanctity that must be present inside each one of us. This is what the Lord wants from us, brothers and sisters in Christ.

To be holy however, does not mean for us to boast about our piety and our devotion to God. That is the way of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, which our Lord Jesus Himself had denounced and rebuked before His disciples and the people. Being holy does not equate us saying prayers aloud in public, or reciting prayers after prayers, or by carrying with us holy relics and items to be seen by others. All these are external signs of faith and without genuine holiness inside us, they mean nothing for us.

Indeed, what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done were not real and true holiness, as they did so in order to advance their own worldly achievements, fame and glory, rather than being truly holy in the sight of God and men. Instead, as we read through the Scripture passages we have heard today, we can understand better how we ought to be holy and devout to God.

While the Pharisees and the elders, the teachers of the Law shunned the poor, the sinners like prostitutes and the tax collectors, and while they heaped burdens upon burdens on others, rejecting those who they deemed to be unworthy of them, the Lord said that all of us must embrace our brethren in need, our neighbours and all those who have not been loved and abandoned by the society.

This is true holiness, that we show our holiness through action, where we show our understanding of what it truly means to be holy and good in the sight of God. True holiness is love, mercy and compassion, to show compassion and love even on our enemies and those who despise and hate us. To be holy is to be able to forgive others their trespasses against us, and to have compassion on those who are suffering and those who have been sundered from the love of God through sin.

This is the essence of what Jesus our Lord told His disciples and also all of us in the Gospel today, that as Christians called to a holy life, we all ought to love tenderly and sincerely, showing unconditional love to all the people, without the need and want for return and reciprocation. That kind of love which requires reciprocation and returns is not true love, but a transaction of a worldly type, like that of money.

We do business and transactions expecting that each party would honour each other’s pledge to give according to what had been agreed. But love cannot be given in this manner, as if we put condition to our love, the love which we give, then it is no longer genuine love, but instead twisted and changed by our desires and human greed. This is not true love, and it will not lead us into true holiness.

Rather, let us all look at the examples of the holy saints and servants of God, all of whom had practiced the actions of true holiness in their own lives. Throngs of saints showed mercy, compassion and care for the poor and the needy, both those who were materially poor, and even more importantly, to those who were spiritually poor and in need of help.

Many of the holy saints of God worked hard to bring the Word of God to those who have been led astray by the temptations of the devil and this world. Some went forth to faraway lands such as St. Francis Xavier and the many other brave and courageous missionaries who went to spread the word of God’s salvation to many people who are still living in the darkness and ignorance of the Lord. And many followed them not because they were outwardly holy and pious, but rather because they showed through their dedication and through their actions, that they were servants of God, and His holiness shone through them.

And we know of those holy men who by their actions and work among the people had inspired many others to follow in their footsteps, the likes of St. John Mary Vianney and St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. Many other holy saints like them showed true holiness to others and are venerated by many through the ages, until even this very day as many of us well know just how popular these saints are, because of their humility, and because of their total submission to the will of God.

This is what we, as the people of God, as Christians who believe in the Lord, should be like, that we follow in the footsteps of the saints who had been deemed holy and worthy by the Church, by the virtues of their life, their faith and dedication, that they are worthy of becoming the source of inspiration and light to brighten the path we ourselves are to take on our way to the Lord, that we may find our path to the Lord.

Why is this so important? That is because as St. Paul pointed out in the second reading we have today, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, we are all the Temples of the Holy Presence of God, as God Himself had made us all to be His dwellings on earth. Not only just that He had come into this world, as one among us, through Jesus Christ, but through that act also, He had given us His own real Flesh and Blood to eat, and all of us who have shared in this ultimate gifts of our Lord, have received Him in our very own beings.

And therefore, it is only appropriate that if the Lord Himself resides within us, and really present in us, then we should make ourselves as holy and pure as possible, distancing ourselves from all sorts of sins and wicked actions and deeds. If we do our best to make our places of worships, our churches and cathedrals to be immaculate and worthy, then why should we not do the same with our own bodies, our own hearts, minds, and indeed our whole beings? For we are also the Temple and House of God’s residence.

I like to compare ourselves as windows and mirrors, and a good mirror ought to let the light to pass through and show the beauty of that light. In our churches and cathedrals, we often have stained glass decorations on the walls, with images of the saints and other biblical figures, and indeed, that is what saints are truly like. They are like stained glasses that are beautifully decorated, and when light shines through them, they showed their great beauty because of that light.

It means that the light of God is reflected in the life and works of the saints of God, all of whose obedience, humility and all the myriads of forms of their devotion to God had become examples for us to follow. They are like beautiful stained glass untainted by dust, dirt, grease or grime. Then how about ourselves, brethren? Are we like them, or are we more like stained glass that have long been left without maintenance, filled with dirt and all other things that have made us ugly and hideous in the sight of others?

That is the nature of our sin, brothers and sisters in Christ. Sin has made us to be twisted, corrupted and bereft of the true beauty of our beings, that is holiness in God. We must reject our past ways of sin and wickedness, and follow in the footsteps of the holy saints and all those who have been faithful in their life. Let us all begin by showing love for those who are around us, to those whom we meet along the way. Let us show mercy and forgiveness for those who have hurt us, and let us from now on lead a righteous and faithful life without sin.

May the Lord help us all to be holy in all of our deeds, that eventually we will be great and glorious like the holy saints and all those whom God had called and made worthy. May He bless us all and show His light, that our lives may be filled with His light, and through us, the light of God will lead many others to salvation and grace. God bless us all and be with us all always. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 February 2017 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we heard the messages from the Sacred Scriptures telling us about the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. Many of us boast in our abilities, our intellect and our greatness, but in all of these, what we all know and are capable of, are nothing compared to the greatness and the glory of God.

It is often that we mankind try to be better than God, by not listening to Him, by not obeying His laws and ways, and by trying to come out with ways to make things convenient for themselves, but at the cost of disobedience and sinning before God. We often trust in our own judgement and in our own wisdom, but all these are incapable of bringing us true satisfaction.

For there are really many things that are beyond our grasp, and beyond our ability to comprehend them. And this is why it is so important for us to have our faith in God, for the Lord has revealed to us His truth through none other than Jesus our Lord, Who came into this world to bring light, His light into it, and dispel the darkness that clouded our minds and our visions of the way ahead.

We need to open ourselves to receive God’s truth and wisdom, and we must not be like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, whom Jesus criticised in the Gospel today, as those who knew the Law, and yet although they knew it and remembered it, but they did not do as what the Law intended for them to do. They did not practice what they supposed to practice, and instead putting trust in their own human intellect and wisdom.

Why is this so? That is because they had become proud and arrogant as they were entrusted with the leadership of the people and with the guardianship of the laws of God. They oppress the people with many laws, rules and regulations, which they themselves did not understand and appreciate, as they enforced these with the intention of making themselves praised and honoured before others, when all others saw just how faithful and devout they were in fulfilling the laws.

Yet, they had no God in their hearts. God is not the priority in their lives, as they filled it rather with their own purposes and desires. They have not been faithful, and misled others, and in some occasions they even made it difficult for others to find their way towards the Lord, as they condemned those whom they deemed to be sinners and unworthy of God’s saving grace.

But Jesus rebuked all of them and showed just how wrong they were. They were not able to fulfil what God had entrusted to them, that is to help guide the people of God on the way to righteousness. Instead, they made these people to endure the laws like a chore, and not truly understanding what is it that they uphold and are expected to do under the Law.

Jesus revealed to them the truth, by teaching them what the laws of God truly means. He taught them all that the Law of God must be understood in its whole purpose, rather than just in individual terms. The laws of God are not individual and separate laws that just ought to be obeyed as they are, but one must learn why is it that they must be obeyed, so that these laws will benefit us.

Take for example, the law on murder, where Jesus explained that, even though the Law prescribed punishment for those who had committed murder, but murder itself is caused often by a pre-planned intention, in which the person committing murder has already contemplated doing harm to another person’s life, or plotting to kill that person for various reasons.

And that was why Jesus said that even if someone gets angry at another, he or she already commits a sin, as anger as we know can easily lead to greater anger, and then into discord, and eventually violence, that as we know can cause death if it goes unabated and uncontrolled. And sin is against love, for love is the true essence of God’s laws.

God loves each and every one of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. But, it is too often that we are caught up in our various distractions that we do not realise just how much God cares for us. He gave us His Law, because He loved us all, and through Jesus, He explained it all to us, what is it that we need to do in order to be truly faithful to Him. The Law of God is a guide that helps each and every one of us to live an ever more faithful and righteous life.

Let us all throw away all the obstacles and clear all the things that hinder us from being able to love God, by humbling ourselves and opening ourselves to accept God’s mercy, love and grace. Let us no longer put our trust in our own human power, intellect and abilities, but instead, learn to trust in God’s providence and do our best in order to obey Him through our actions, that we love instead of hate, give hope instead of despair, console others instead of mockery, and by being true to our calling to love Him and our brethren.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today and from now henceforth draw closer to our God, giving ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, loving Him with all of our deeds and works, caring for those in need and pouring our love for the needy and for all those who have not had love in them. It is indeed easier to be said than done, but we will persevere if we can just help one another, support each other in our efforts to be more like Him in all of our ways.

May the Lord help us, brethren, that all of us will learn to obey Him and understand that love is the primary reason why God created us, showed us His laws and commandments, so that each and every one of us will gradually be more righteous, just and worthy to be in God’s presence, and therefore worthy to receive His promise of eternal life. May God bless us all, and forgive us all our sins. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 February 2017 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from the Sacred Scriptures all of us received a challenge from the Lord our God. He issued us all the challenge to be true Christians, that is to be His true followers, as all those who truly practice what He had taught us all through His Church, that we become those who live out our faith and not just merely reciting our Creed and pretend to believe, but yet in our hearts there is no place for God.

In the Gospel today, we heard the famous parable and teaching of Jesus, which is often known as the parable of the salt and the light, when Jesus explained using the example of salt and light, to urge all of His followers to be salt of the earth and to be light of the world. In our world today, so filled with good things, with convenience and pleasantries, we may often not realise just how significant these two things were for the people of that time.

Why is this so? In our world today, salt is ever present and are readily available, as the technique to make it easily and cheaply had been mastered by men, and we used it with abandon on our food, that we often do not realise the significance of salt. In the similar way, the prevalence of electricity and lightbulbs, and all other iridescent human-made light sources, light had been something that we often take for granted as something that is always available.

Salt and light are two very important commodities of Jesus’ time, at a time when refrigeration are not readily available and when electricity have yet to be discovered for more than a millennia. It was a world that constantly needed to deal with rotten foods as well as darkened nights without light. That was where salt and light came into the lives of those people, as the two things that made their lives much better.

For salt is used in preservation of foods just as much as they give good flavour to the food. With salt, food that used to be tasteless and easily spoil can be kept for longer and also tastes better. It has made mankind’s life much easier and indeed in some cases, could have become a lifesaver when there was no food at all in the middle of the desert. Thus in this context, the importance of salt as highlighted by Jesus in His parable cannot be underestimated.

And then how about light? Light was important because darkness exists when there was no light, when the sun was down and when the moon and the stars were not bright enough to sufficiently illuminate the dark paths and places. It was not like today when we live in a world saturated by light everywhere. As some of our brethren in some parts of the world are still experiencing to this very day, light was indeed very precious.

Many had to rely on candlelight for anything that they want to do after dark, and as we know candles can be a great fire hazard at the time when houses were made from wooden or any other easily flammable materials. To have light at that time would be a great privilege, but also could be a great danger. Candles were also expensive, and they needed to be replaced every time they were burnt out. That was why many poor people had to contend with living in the darkness for much of the half of the day during night.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, have we seen the significance of why Jesus our Lord used the example of salt and light in bringing about His points to the people? He used these two examples, calling all of the people to become salt of the earth and light of the world because these are among the things that people truly value at that time. And therefore what He taught them would be more easily accepted and understood.

Now, let us delve into what He had said in that parable, that when salt had lost its saltiness, it became useless. Indeed, as mentioned, salt is used because of its flavourful properties and preservative abilities, which is due to its saltiness. If somehow these properties are gone, then they are no more useful than grains of sand. No one will use salt that is no longer salty.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This saltiness refers to our faith. Our faith must be living and real, and cannot be dead and dysfunctional. Faith cannot be just merely on paper alone, that we say that we are one of the faithful, and yet, in our actions we do things that are contrary to our faith and to the teachings of our Lord. This is our saltiness, the saltiness of our faith. Without faith, we are pretty much dead, and without good works, our faith is equally dead.

Then we should ask ourselves, whether we have this flavour of our faith ready inside us? If we have not had this saltiness inside us, then maybe it is time that we should renew our ‘saltiness’, that is by renewing our faith. Have we been obedient to God and have we done what He had asked us to do? To love our brethren and to show care and compassion for the weak, for the oppressed and for the unloved ones? This is what we exactly need to do, so that we may have that ‘salt’ of faith in us.

In the same manner, we must be light of the world as Christ had mentioned. We must be light in the sense that light penetrates the grip of darkness on our eyes, allowing eyes that once could not see because of the dark conditions to be able to see because of the light. And as light, we are guides for those who are still in the darkness, so that through our actions, we may inspire others to also follow in our footsteps, believing in God and therefore attain salvation together in us.

This is related to what we have just discussed about the ‘saltiness’ of our faith, in that, we must do good deeds and good works in accordance with what we believe in God, and then, as we do these, we must not be afraid, but must be forthcoming and be courageous in doing them, giving the example for many others to follow. This is what Jesus meant by the words He said, that a light ought not to be hidden, but instead should be put on a lampstand for all to see its light.

It means that our faith must be exemplary and good, and be visible for all to see. It does not mean that we must boast of our faith, but rather, we must not be afraid to lead others to follow the Lord as we ourselves had done, by leading them with good examples and teaching them with courage and zeal on how to become a good disciple and follower of our God. We must be good role models for one another, and help each other in keeping ourselves worthy and pure before God.

We should remember what the prophet Isaiah had mentioned in his Book, our first reading today, that we should share our food with the poor, bring to our house the homeless, caring for all those who are unloved and rejected. This is our mission as Christians, which unfortunately many of us have not been able to do because of our various excuses in life. We have always used fear, doubt, as well as laziness, pride and other irresponsible reasons to make excuses so as not to do what God had commanded us to do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on this Sunday’s readings from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore sincerely and fervently pray to the Lord, that He may give us the strength to renew our faith, that we may awaken in us the desire to care and love for one another, to stand up for our faith when the need arises, and therefore, give new ‘flavour’ and ‘saltiness’ to our faith, and then, be examples to one another, as light of the world, guiding many others on their way to God.

May the Lord bless us all and all of our good works. May He protect us and strengthen us, that we may continue to persevere and do what He had asked us to do, so that in the end of it all, we may receive the crown of eternal glory, having been found worthy by Him, Who sees in us the worth of the ‘salt’ of our faith and the unquenchable and strong light of faith and love present in each and every one of us who call themselves as Christians, God’s own beloved people. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the Scripture readings, all of us heard about the descriptions of who are considered as true Christians, as those who are not Christians just in name or in the official records only, but also Christians in their hearts and souls, and all who see these people, will truly know and recognise their Christian faith, not because they show off any records or cards stating that they belong to the Christian faith, but because of their own actions and deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to reflect on the words of our Lord Jesus in the Beatitudes which He taught to the disciples and to the people who heard His teachings on the mountain, as we also heard it in our Gospel passage today. The Eight Beatitudes are the eight good virtues which all of us should have in our own lives, as Jesus had gone through each of them, which are then expected from us Christians. Let me now go through each of them from the beginning to the end.

We have to be poor in spirit, which does not refer to material poverty, or being poor because we have no money or worldly possessions in order to sustain ourselves. This is a misconception that many people often have with regards to the term ‘poor in spirit’. Jesus was not supporting those who were materially poor against the rich, and neither did He condemn the rich just because they were rich or had more material possessions than others.

Rather, it means that we must recognise our spiritual poverty, understanding that we are all sinners before God, delinquent and rebel, having been cast away from His presence because of our disobedience and sinfulness. It is the recognition and awareness of one’s own sins and weaknesses which is something that we do not commonly see among ourselves. We are often too proud and feeling too self-righteous to be able to see our own faults and therefore we are incapable of taking the steps to rectify this situation.

The kingdom of God truly therefore belong to those who are humble and willing to be forgiven, those who are able to open themselves to receive the loving grace of God. Which then comes to the next Beatitude, about those who mourn. This mourning is often associated with those who are sad and sorrowful because they lose something or someone precious, such as when someone they love passed away. But even more importantly, someone who is poor in spirit will also be sorrowful.

Why is this so? That is because if we are aware of our sins, and just how terrible those sins are, we will be sorrowful indeed, knowing that God surely would punish us for all the heinous and wicked deeds we have done. It is the regret that accompanies one’s actions, knowing regret for one’s sins which many people of our time are unable to do. Many of us are ignorant of our own sins, and how bad they are for our own souls.

This world is filled with sin and darkness, and many of us are trapped in the darkness. We fill ourselves with acts of hatred, jealousy, greed and all other things unbecoming of ourselves as those who call themselves as Christians. We cause harm, pain and sufferings upon others just so that we can gain things for ourselves, that we will benefit on top of others’ inconvenience and sufferings. This will happen when each person only cares about themselves and not about others.

This is where we need to be gentle, to be loving and caring, not to be quick to anger but be calm and be compassionate. We must have that desire to love one another, and to shown concern and care for our brethren, especially when we see someone being treated unjustly, being bullied and having their rights taken away from them. It is un-Christian for us to ignore the plight of our brethren, of those who have need for help, but having no one listen to them.

We are all called to be those who are ready to help these brethren of ours, helping them and comforting them, showing them mercy and love. That is why God blesses all those who have pity and mercy in their hearts, all those who are incapable of sitting still while they see someone being mistreated, bullied and persecuted against. It does not just mean that we should do our best to overcome our sins, but we must also help one another through our actions.

It is only when we have the right intention, the right attitude and the right understanding of things that we will be able to proceed on in a Christian manner. And indeed, a Christian person is a man of peace, who seeks the betterment of his or her brethren. A peaceful person inspires one another to rule out conflict in dealing with matters. They would try their best to bring harmony and peace in all situations. It is when love should trump over hate, where justice should trump over injustice.

Ultimately, let us all ask ourselves, are we able to do what the Lord had instructed us all to do? We do not have to worry or fear, because in the second reading today, in the Epistle which St. Paul wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth in Greece, he said that God chose the ordinary and the common people, not those who are considered strong and mighty in the sight of the world, but all of us with our weaknesses and with our faults, have been chosen by God.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that by calling us all, God wants each and every one of us to be changed, transformed by our actions, which should be filled with love, with mercy, with kindness, compassion and grace. We should be following in the examples of our good predecessors, the holy saints who have led a life of virtue, a true Christian life which we all ought to follow as well.

That also means that as Christians we must not participate in acts that are un-Christian in nature. We should not sow division when we are able to unite instead. We should not bring about harm and injury to our brethren when we are able to bring peace and harmony, and also love and mercy. We must not act unjustly on our brethren, but instead we should uphold justice and honesty in all of our dealings.

Indeed, all of these will not be easily done, as often things are easily said but difficult to be made a reality. But that is precisely what Jesus Himself had told His disciples and all of His followers. That there will be opposition, persecution and challenges from many sources, but those who persevere through, will receive great rewards in the end.

Yes, temptations and persuasions to do otherwise will be great, but this is where we can help one another to pull through those difficult moments, and show one another with good examples of our own actions. Let the eight Beatitudes be our guide, in our conduct and in our actions, so that all those who see us will immediately recognise God being present in us and our works, and therefore many more people will come to understand God and His ways, and be saved together with us all.

May the Lord bless us all and our works, and may He awaken in each and every one of us the desire to live a true and blessed Christian life. May all of us be ever righteous, just and honest in our every dealings, and be caring and loving, merciful and kind towards one another, fellow brothers and sisters in our Lord. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 22 January 2017 : Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, as we go through the midst of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it is appropriate for us to reflect firstly on what we heard in the second reading, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, where he rebuked the Christians there for their divisiveness. At that time, the Church and the faithful there were divided bitterly among themselves as they were not able to agree on exactly who to believe in.

In order to understand this, we should understand the very nature of our Christian faith. Our faith is a faith by proclamation and witness. We received our faith and the teachings of those faith from those who have themselves received it from their teachers. Thus we believe because of witness, and because of the faith of those who have themselves received the same teachings.

But then, the question is that, how do we then make sure that the teachings are genuine, accurate and true? After all, as we have already seen, that even in the earliest days of the Church, there had been divisions and also conflict amongst the faithful because of the different ways the faith and its teachings were interpreted amongst the faithful, with both St. Paul and Apollos being charismatic and great preachers. Certainly they would gain plenty of following among the people.

Both of them might have indeed taught the exact same set of teachings, and although as told in the other part of the Acts of the Apostles, that Apollos had some mistakes in his teachings as he was not fully versed in the fullness of the Church’s teachings, unlike St. Paul, who have received the Holy Spirit and coordinated with St. Peter and the other Apostles, but as soon as some other disciples of the Lord pointed out his errors, he quickly rectified the mistake.

Rather, most likely the problem came about because of how we the hearers of the Good News interpret the message, and each of us make a different interpretation among ourselves. It is our human nature that we often like what we like to hear, such as parts that suit our objectives and needs, while at the same time we filter out the messages and parts that we do not like or do not favour us.

That is why the divisions came about in the Church and amongst the faithful, precisely because each and every person interpret the faith in the way that they like, and not in the way that it should be interpreted and understood. And then we may have the question of how then can we receive the faith that we now have in the correct and accurate manner?

This is where the Church comes in, brothers and sisters, the importance of the Church as an institution, not just in terms of the Church hierarchy and leadership that maintain control over the teachings and the traditions of our faith, but more importantly because it, being the collective Body of Christ on earth, as the union of all those who believe in God and call themselves as Christians, is the very important safeguard against those who would corrupt, misrepresent and misinterpret the faith and its teachings.

Without such a safeguard, then it is difficult to maintain the integrity and the truth of the faith as how it should be. The Church is the safe-keeper of the truth which our Lord Jesus Christ had proclaimed to the world, which then were passed down through His Apostles, and from them to their successors, and from their successors to their successors’ successors. And thus it was through the Church, through our bishops and priests, the successors of the Apostles that we have received this faith.

All the divisions of the Church since the beginnings of the Church, even from the days of the Apostles to the present day are caused by the disobedience, pride, greed and the rebelliousness we mankind, the people of God had done, which because of the refusal of men to obey the teachings of the Church, they had gone wayward, interpreting the Scriptures as they wished and in their own limited understanding, which resulted in the splintering of the body of the faithful into many pieces.

At the same time, we also have to acknowledge that the Church itself also is not entirely out of blame. The Church is human just as much as it is Divine. It may be instituted by the Lord, and authority have been given to it and its stewards, the Apostles and their successors, but after all, it was still feeble and sinful men and women who had been part of this Church, led it, and sometimes brought it into erroneous ways.

It was because of the corruption within the Church, the immorality of its leaders and even the Popes themselves were wicked in their actions, which resulted in the desire of certain people to reform the Church. There had been many occasions, harking earlier to the earliest days of the Church that the Church had not always been faithful to the truth, but was misled by false and heretical ways, and yet, almost every time, God called holy and committed men and women to correct the wrong ways, and those who refused to return to the true faith were expelled from the Church. Many did eventually return and repent their sins.

Indeed, we have to take note that as what happened five centuries ago, when the ‘Reformation’ rocked the entire Church and brought great harm to many of the faithful, there were many good intentioned reformers who wanted to see the Church purged from its corruption and worldliness, as then the Church had been too absorbed into worldly and secular ways to the point that it was hardly a dependable and reliable source of spiritual guidance to the people.

And yet, while the intentions of those reformers were probably good, but their methods of going about trying to achieve their goals were very wrong. They took it upon themselves to sunder the unity of the Church, and by declaring that the Scriptures alone was their authority, each and every person soon took it upon themselves to interpret what the Scriptures meant for them, and therefore, what they believed in. Some chose what they liked to believe and others threw away all those that they refused to believe in. This created confusion, and a ripe ground for the devil to sow further division and discord.

Let us all look back at the Church fathers, the collective body of the saints and martyrs who had once led the Church in its earliest days. They have carefully preserved the teachings of Christ and His Good News just exactly as how He passed it down to His Apostles and to them. Those who damaged the unity of the Church did so because they misunderstood the faith, and they ignored the Church’s ways because they were too focused on its faults then, and refused to maintain the truth which it had kept and preserved throughout time, up to this very day.

It was also then misinformation, socio-political issues and other misunderstandings that prevented the reunion of the faithful people of God into His Church. There were many false informations, lies and other falsehoods which became entangled with political issues, social issues, and even issues of pride, human greed and stubbornness, which kept the gap and the chasm between the divided members of the Church wide and even growing ever wider.

This is where then it is important that as Christians, those who belong to God’s Church, and as a member of the holy and venerable Body of Christ, which had guarded the Apostolic Tradition of our faith, and the fullness of the teachings of Christ, led by the Apostle St. Peter and his successors, our Popes, that we must remember what is our faith truly about, which I have mentioned at the very beginning of this discourse, that is about being witnesses of Christ.

That is why each and every one of us have the calling and the mission from God, to be witnesses of the faith, showing through our deeds and actions that we truly belong to God, that is by loving one another and showing care and concern for our less fortunate brethren around us. And it is important that we stick closely to the Church and its teachings, as Jesus Himself had said in another occasion in the Gospels, that He is the true Vine, and all who have no part in Him and have separated themselves from Him will have no life in them.

Therefore, similarly, if we do not adhere closely to the Church and separates ourselves from it, then that is why divisions came about, and we are bringing upon ourselves and others not the grace of salvation but the sins of error and condemnation by God. As Christians, we must work to overcome the divisions and the misunderstandings, all the obstacles that had prevented many of those who believe in God, and yet outside the Church from returning to the Holy Mother Church.

In this week of Prayer for Christian Unity, let us all Christians pray fervently together, that everyone who believe in God will no longer be separated, that everyone will be just as what Jesus our Lord wants them to be, to be one and united just as He and the Father is one. This is the prayer which Jesus Himself prayed on the night before He was to suffer and die, and prayer that He had asked the Father to bestow on His Church.

Therefore, those who foment divisions and spread lies and misinformations about the faith, not adhering to the teachings of the Church as passed down unto us from the Apostles are against the wishes of the Lord. Yet, sadly it is the reality of our world today that there are many both outside and inside the Church who are against unity. Rather, it is important that we overcome those misinformations, and therefore, it is important that each and every one of us, members of the Church, know fully what our faith is about.

After all, if we ourselves are unaware of what our faith is about, how can we then convince others to reunite and reconcile themselves with the Church? There have been good signs, as there have been quite a few of those who have decided to repent and return to the embrace of the Mother Church, after they had studied the teachings of the Church fathers, read their writings and works, and found in them the same faith as what our Church, the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church have today, even almost two millennia away from the days of those holy saints.

Let us all therefore pray together, brethren, that the unity of the Church will be restored, and each and every one of us as Christians will know the fullness of the truth of God and the wholeness of His teachings, which He had passed on to His Apostles, and which the Church had preserved and kept for many ages. Let us all be agents of true unity in the Church, not by compromising our faith, but instead by being witnesses of the truth of God and knowing His truth.

We are all called to be shepherds and guides to all those who have fallen on their way towards the Lord. It is imperative then, even up to this present day and era, that we work to our best capabilities, in order to make many more people see the truth found in the Church. Let us all do our best, and pray that God will help us in all of our endeavours. May God be with His Church and with His people, bless all of their works, and bring all of His faithful one together as one flock, one people. Amen.

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Sunday, 15 January 2017 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this holy day of the Lord, all of us are gathered together to hear about the Lord our God, His love for us, and His resolve to gather us all who have been estranged from Him and from His love, that all of us may find salvation in Him and through Him. For it is the love of God which had been made manifest through Jesus Christ, His Son, which had become the source of our salvation and grace.

Since the days of the prophet Isaiah, in our first reading today, God had promised His people His upcoming salvation, when He would gather them back into His embrace, and reunite them with Himself, after they had been scattered among the nations because of their sins. This has to be understood in the context of the era, as during the time of the prophet Isaiah, the long sundered northern kingdom of Israel had finally been destroyed by the Assyrians, and many of the northern ten tribes of the Israelites were forced to go into exile in the foreign lands.

It was the rebellion and disobedience of the people of God that led to such a fate, as they worshipped the pagan gods and idols, turning away from the Lord their God. They committed all forms of wicked acts and sins, fornicating themselves in adultery and in acts unworthy of those whom God had chosen to be His own people, to be His own children. They made others and their own descendants to sin against God.

The people of the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom, would themselves be brought into exile by the Babylonians, as they were also disobedient, refusing to turn away from sin, and even though God had sent prophets after prophets, messengers after messengers, they refused to believe in His message, and rejected His offer of mercy and forgiveness. They and their kings continued to trust on themselves and in the comforts of worldliness.

Through this we can see that, those who do not put their trust in God, and prefer instead to walk on their own will be scattered, and they will lose their way. They will not be able to stand against the forces of this world. And the only result out of sin and disobedience will be sorrow, pain and suffering, for it is only in God that we shall find true and everlasting peace, as well as rest and succour from all of our worldly troubles.

But ultimately, we have to remember the simple fact that while we are often unfaithful, wayward and defiant in our ways, God is always faithful to us, to the covenant which He had made with our forefathers, and which He had renewed with them many times, and last of all, which He renewed with all of us through none other than Jesus Christ, His only Son. For Jesus is the Mediator of the New and everlasting Covenant, through which God wants to make all of us as the recipients of His love and grace.

God is always willing and ready to forgive us, but are we willing to be forgiven by God? Rather, are we willing to approach Him and to ask Him for His generous mercy? Or are we instead too proud and arrogant, to think that we have been mistaken and are in need of forgiveness? If God has allowed Himself to become Man and to suffer for our sake, so that He may forgive us our sins and heal us from our afflictions, then should we not make the effort to allow His grace and forgiveness to enter our lives and transform us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all as Christians be role model for all of our brethren. We should be the ones to show others the way to the Lord, through our humble supplication and submission before God, through our devotion and commitment to Him and to His ways. We should show others how we ought to follow the Lord, and obey His laws, by practicing them through our own actions and deeds.

After all, no one will believe in us if we ask them to believe in God, and yet in our actions we are no different from all those who have disobeyed the Lord and abandoned Him those years ago, the people of Israel and Judah. We must lead by example, and show to each other the living proof of the love of Christ our Lord. We are the bearers of His love, and the witnesses of His truth, so it is imperative that each and every one of us must walk the talk, as Christians, to commit ourselves to acts of love fitting for those who call themselves children of our Lord, Whose great love for us enabled Him to forgive us our many sins.

May the Lord continue to love us and bless us, and may He, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be the Light of our lives, showing us the way forward, that we will always remain in the path towards righteousness and justice. May He bless us and keep us all in His grace, that we will be found ever worthy and good when He comes again as He has promised, and He will then bless us with the gift of everlasting life and glory in His presence. Amen.

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Monday, 9 January 2017 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, which falls after the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the moment when Jesus was revealed to the world for the first time through the actions of the Three Wise Men or the Magi. These events mark the ending of the season of Christmas today, as the readings of the Scripture shift from the events surrounding the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, into one that begins His earthly ministry.

The baptism of our Lord Jesus at the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist was a momentous event which marked the beginning of our Lord’s work on earth, to fulfil the mission which He had been sent into this world for. Jesus was then thirty years old, fully grown as a Man, endowed and blessed with all the good human upbringing that His mother Mary and His foster-father St. Joseph had given Him throughout all those years.

Thus the baptism of our Lord Jesus can be seen as the coming of age event, through which a formal beginning of the ministry of the Saviour of the world was marked. After the baptism, the Lord went on to prepare Himself through fasting for forty days and nights before He was ready to set forth and teach the people the Good News of God.

It is indeed a reminder of our own baptism that we celebrate this feast of the Baptism of our Lord today. Let us ask that simple question, which answer has often stunned many of us Christians until today. What does our baptism mean to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is its significance to us, to our faith and to our respective lives? And indeed, can we remember the day of our own baptism?

If we cannot remember the day of our own baptism, then it means that we do not care how important is baptism and the moment of baptism to all of us. Baptism is very important and indeed crucial to us, as Jesus Himself had demonstrated through His own baptism, that each and every one of us, through baptism, received the grace to become the sons and daughters of God. For God, through His Son Jesus Christ, have made us to share in His baptism, as His brethren.

And what is baptism about? There are many symbols used in baptism, primarily which is blessed and holy water. It is a symbol of cleansing and healing, representing how Jesus was baptised by St. John the Baptist at the Jordan river, and also how the people of Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, when God brought them out of Egypt, and also later on when He brought them to the land of promise, opening up the Jordan river for them to pass through.

It is a symbol of the destruction of our past and sinful lives. We have been immersed in the water just as our Lord Jesus was, and we share in His death together, His death on the cross. And water is also a symbol of life, for water is needed for us to continue living. Thus, it is also a symbol of our sharing of the Lord’s glorious resurrection from the dead, that each and every one of us who have been baptised now have in us the promise of everlasting life Jesus had made to His disciples.

The holy oil of chrism is a reminder of the anointment which our God had given us, just as He had anointed His Messiah or Saviour, to be the One through Whom salvation would come into this world. We receive the Holy Spirit through Him, and the Spirit of God Himself lives inside of us. And therefore all of us have been made the Temples of the Holy Spirit, the Temples of God. For God Himself is amongst us, and He resides within us.

We received the candle lighted with the flame from the Easter Candle, and this is the representation of the Light of Christ, the Risen Lord, through Whom we have seen the true Light and rejoice, because we have been living in the darkness, and He has come to save us all from the darkness of this world, and bring us into a new world of light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today remember the day of our baptism, and if we were still then too small and too young to remember what happened, then at least let us all reflect on all the significance of our baptismal ceremony and what it means for us all Christians to become the sons and daughters of God by our baptism, which we share with the Lord Jesus, our Lord and God.

And most importantly, we have to remember that just as Jesus began His earthly ministry by His baptism, each and every one of us as Christians have been entrusted with the divine ministry by our Lord Himself, Who tasked us all to go forth and to bring the Good News to all the peoples of all the nations. And we need to do this by being genuine disciples and followers of our Lord, and by practicing our faith through real actions, through our good works.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He also strengthen our faith, which we have with us ever since the day of our baptism. May we all grow stronger in our conviction and desire to serve Him, our Lord and Master, and be more courageous and dedicated in the mission which He had entrusted to all of us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 January 2017 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us will remember that this Solemnity of the Epiphany is related to the Three Wise Men, or the Three Magi or Three Kings, which figurines are always accompanying the Christmas crib, bearing gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense for our Lord Jesus. But then, what is the true meaning and significance of this Epiphany feast?

The word Epiphany came from the Greek word ‘Epiphaneia’, which means the manifestation or appearance, coming from the word ‘Appear’. This feast is also sometimes known as the Theophany, also from the Greek word ‘Theos’ which means God. Thus, this Solemnity of the Epiphany is truly a celebration of the revelation and manifestation of the Lord God, Who made Himself apparent to the whole world through the means of the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings.

It was a feast originally celebrating the Baptism of our Lord Jesus, as at Baptism, when St. John the Baptist baptised Jesus, many people who were there could witness the Holy Spirit descending as a Dove and landed upon the head of Jesus, and the voice of the Father speaking, revealing to all, particularly to St. John the Baptist, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the long awaited Messiah and Saviour of the world.

But over time, especially in the tradition of our Faith, the focus shifted to the moment surrounding the Nativity of our Lord, the moments surrounding His birth. The Angels had appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem and proclaimed to them the great joy of the coming of the Lord and Saviour, the Good News which mankind had awaited for long, and which God had promised to them for many ages through His prophets and messengers.

Yet it was at the events celebrated this Epiphany when the Lord revealed Himself to His people who were of non-Jewish origin, namely the Gentiles, people from faraway lands, who also came to worship God, and who wanted to believe in Him and in His ways and messages. The Three Wise Men, or the Magi, represented these people, who came following the Star of Bethlehem and came bearing gifts to Jesus our Lord, paying Him homage as their one and true King.

There are many symbolisms surrounding the event of this Epiphany, and which we should try to understand so that we may make use of them as best as we can in order to benefit ourselves in our developing faith in our God. For in the Epiphany, we should be able to relate to ourselves and our journey in faith to God, and in the identity of the One Whom we worship, the Lord God of all creation.

The Three Kings or the Three Wise Men are representatives for us all, people from every nations, from every languages and origins, from all the ends of the earth, who came to worship the Lord and who want to believe in Him. They were following the Star of Bethlehem, which represented the coming of the Lord, Who is indeed the Light of the world. Amidst the darkened sky, the star shone brightly, visible from afar, all the way to the lands where the Magi lived in.

That was just like how we saw the Lord, the Light of our lives, amidst the darkness of this world, and we see in Him, the Light which we ought to follow, and which we indeed want to follow. It is also because of faith that they have travelled long distances, enduring difficult conditions of their journey to come and pay homage to the King of kings. That is why the star of Bethlehem is also a sign of faith, the same faith which we share in our own journey of faith. We may have different stories of how our lives had developed, but nevertheless, all of us believe in God and want to look for Him.

Through this event, we know how the Lord wanted to save us all from the threat of our destruction. He did not intend just for the salvation of certain group of people, but all of mankind, including Jews and non-Jews alike. At that time, there were those who thought that being the chosen people of God, the people of Israel were the only ones who were worthy of God’s salvation, particularly among the Pharisees and the elders of the people.

These people shunned the pagans and foreigners, whom they called as Gentiles. They thought of these people as unclean and unworthy of God and His love, and even considered coming into contact and entering their houses as being defiling and brought impurities upon them. But it was God Himself through Jesus Who broke the barriers and the perceptions, proclaiming to all that God loves all people, all of His children, both Jews and Gentiles alike.

We can see the contrast in many occasions throughout the Gospels, when the supposedly pagan Gentiles, from the Greeks to the Samaritans, actually welcomed the Lord and His teachings through Christ, while the Jews themselves were not always receptive to Him, and in some occasions they even rejected and opposed Him, as what the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and the elders of the people did.

God, through His revelation in this Epiphany wanted to show all of His people, that He is God, Who had come into the world in the form of Man in Jesus Christ, through Whom He would bring His salvation to all of His people without exception. It will not be based on the birth or background of His people that He would save them, but instead, He would save them through faith. Those who believe in Him and place their trust in Him will be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now that we have discussed about how and why God revealed Himself to the whole world, then now let us all discuss how God revealed Himself to the world through the Three Wise Men. They brought to Jesus our Lord three different and truly unique gifts. Do we all know the significance of those gifts? Each of them had a meaning, and each of them indeed are parts of the revelation of Who Jesus truly is.

The gift of gold, frankincense and myrrh are indeed strange gifts to be given to a newborn Child. Now let us go through each one of them. Gold is a precious metal which since long ago have become a source of wonder and amazement to many people around the world, and it has long become a symbol of wealth and power. And it was often that gold are fit only for the rulers, the royalty and all those who were endowed with power and authority. Not just any person were able to afford t possess gold.

Thus gold represented Jesus Who came into this world as a King, and not just like any other kings, but as the King, the one true King, from Whom all power and authority came from. All the other rulers of this world ultimately derived their authority and power from the Lord, Who blessed them and granted them the guardianship over His people on earth.

Yet we can see just how amazing our Lord and our King is, for although He is a great King, Lord and Master of all the Universe, He is humble, loving and caring for all of His people. And He is showing all by His own examples. He is a leader, a King Who does not sit above everyone else and oppress those who are under Him. Instead, He is a servant leader, Who went through the lowest and the most difficult things a leader had to do, that is to actually go and do the works in order to help His people.

And indeed, even as God, He is not a distant and fearsome God Who oppresses His people. The frankincense is the best quality incense which are both rare and expensive, and are only used for the most solemn of purposes for worship. Incense had been used for a long time as well, in many religious purposes, for the worship of deities and gods, as well as an aromatic perfume because of its aroma and good smelling smoke.

Thus the frankincense represents the divinity of Christ, that Jesus, while He was a mere Baby, weak and fragile, born in a dirty and cramped stable fit only for animals, not for a man, less so a king, and even less so for the King of kings and as the Creator and only God of the whole Universe, was and is indeed God, the only One Who deserves to be worshipped and adored by all of creation.

Through those two gifts, the story of the Epiphany, the visit of the Three Magi or Wise Men has inspired in the hearts of many people about the birth of our Lord, Who has willingly come down upon this world as a Man, taking up the flesh of Man, and born in the worst possible condition, in a poor and dirty stable, and yet, He is indeed the God and King of this world, and this universe. He is both God and Man at the same time, all united in the person of Jesus Christ, Who had two natures, the Divine Nature of God, and the Human nature of Man.

But all these would not be complete, neither would it make sense without the third gift of the Three Magi, which revealed to us all, the very purpose of why Jesus came into this world, why God would want to enter into this world as a mere Man. Myrrh is an aromatic compound commonly used in the past for the purpose of embalming dead bodies, to preserve the dead bodies from decomposition and from emanating foul odours.

It would indeed be weird for someone to give the gift of myrrh to a baby, and less so, to the King of kings and the Creator God of all. But that myrrh represent nothing other than the Passion of our Lord Jesus, what we are celebrating at every Holy Week, of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who willingly took upon Himself the burdens of our sins, the sins of our forefathers, and indeed of all mankind. And He bore it all upon Himself, bearing His cross to Calvary, where He laid down His life for all of us, that we may live.

Thus in Epiphany and what we celebrate today, we see the perfect embodiment and fulfilment of God’s love, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Child Who was born that night in Bethlehem two millennia ago, and to Whom the Three Magi or Wise Men paid homage to, bearing the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, signifying and revealing to all the whole world that He is not just a mere Child, but indeed the King of the whole world, God of all creation, Who out of His infinite love and mercy for us, willingly took up the flesh of Man, incarnate through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, to be our Saviour.

Now, what we need to ask ourselves as Christians, is simple indeed. As Christians, do we truly believe in God’s love through Christ? Do we take Him as our King and our Lord? Have we lived in accordance with His ways, in our actions and deeds? If we say that God is our King and Lord, and yet our actions, words and deeds do not reflect our obedience and adherence to His ways, will it not cause shame and scandal to our Lord’s great and holy Name?

Let us all spend time to reflect on ourselves and our respective lives as we celebrate and rejoice together in this feast and Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord. Let us all first of all be thankful to God Who has loved us so much, that He is willing to reveal Himself and His love through Jesus Christ His Son, His greatest gift to all of us. He has sent us the means of our salvation, our liberation from our sins and the One through Whom all of our past trespasses will be forgiven.

May we all grow ever deeper in our relationship with God, and by understanding more about our Lord, by receiving His revelations and understanding them, by our prayerful life and good works, we may receive from Him the gift of everlasting life and grace. May God be with us always and may He bless us in all of our life’s endeavours. Have a blessed and wonderful celebration of the Epiphany. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 January 2017 : Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the first one in the Gregorian calendar, the year 2017 of our Lord Jesus Christ, two millennia after He was born into the world as our Saviour, we celebrate together the New Year’s Day, but even more importantly as Christians, we also honour and glorify Mary, the blessed Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been honoured by many titles, but all of which stemmed from the very one title that made her deserved all the others.

And it is this title which we all celebrate today, that Mary as the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Mother of God, or Theotokos in the Greek language, coming from the word Theos or God in Greek, and also Tokos or Mother in Greek. The equivalent term in Latin is Dei Genetrix, both terms of which have been in use since the earliest days of the Church. It is this very special role that Mary played in the history of our salvation that made her so venerable throughout the history of the Church.

If we want to understand the significance of today’s celebration of Mary as the Mother of God, then we must look back long ago into the early days of the Church, up to the time of the first Ecumenical Council of the Church held in the city of Nicaea in the year 325 AD. During that time and in the earlier days of the Church, there were many people proclaiming different teachings from what the Church had passed down through the Apostles and the saints, the bishops and the priests who were their successors.

In that Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the successors of the Apostles all worked and discussed together guided by the Holy Spirit, and most of them but a few rejected soundly the heresy of Arianism, as propagated by the heretic Arius, claiming that Jesus as Son of God was not equal with the Father, and was a mere creation by the Father. And there were also more extreme heresies that claimed that Jesus was mere Man, and not God.

The Nicene Creed that we recite at every celebration of the Holy Mass is a reminder of the strong stance that the faithful servants of God took against all these false teachings. And because Jesus is the Son of God, the One Who is God, and Who was with God from before the beginning of time, His mother can therefore also be called as the Mother of God.

And Mary was formally accorded with that most honourable title at the Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus in the year 431 AD, a century after the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea. There were the heresies of Nestorianism and others who claimed that the natures of God and Man in Jesus our Lord was separate, and that Jesus Christ as Man Who walked in this world is existentially and really distinct from the Divine Word of God He claimed to be.

Our faith taught us that Jesus is both God and Man at the same time, possessing the two distinct natures of God and Man, and yet they were united in the person of Christ, and cannot be separated one from the other, although distinct. Those who upheld the heresy claimed that because Jesus Christ was merely a Man and not God, then Mary is merely just the mother of a Man, no different from any other people, or from any other mothers.

This was what was rejected by the Church fathers and the faithful bishops and priests, who honoured Mary formally as the Theotokos, Dei Genetrix, the Mother of God and Lord of all the Universe. It was a sound and complete rejection of the false teachings of those who proposed that Jesus Christ was merely Man and not God. Thus Mary as the Theotokos, as the Mother of God is closely tied to our faith itself, for if we believe that Mary is the Mother of God, then we also believe in the divinity of Christ.

But then one might ask, why then the great honour we have given to Mary? Why is it that the Church had devoted so much time and effort in order to venerate her and glorify her? There are indeed some who criticised and even opposed the Church and our faith because they thought that we as Catholics and as Christians worship Mary just as if she is a goddess. But this was exactly where they got it wrong, for Mary is not a deity in her own right, and we honour her above all other created beings because of the virtue of her Son.

In the kingdom of Israel, as with many other kingdoms, while the king or the monarch is the highest authority in the entire realm, whose authority is absolute and great, but there was also another person whose presence, authority and advice were respected by the entire kingdom, and also by the king himself. And that person is the queen mother, the mother of the king.

And therefore, since Jesus our Lord, as both a Man born from His earthly mother by the power of the Holy Spirit, and also God as the Divine Word incarnate, and because of that, He is God, so as God is the King of all kings, Ruler and Master of the entire universe, hence His own mother is honoured as the Queen Mother of heaven and earth, of all creation. It was not by her own virtue, but because of the virtue of her Son, Christ the King of kings.

The fourth commandment in the Law of God or the Ten Commandments says, “Honour your father and mother.” And Jesus our Lord honours His mother and father, obeying them in all they had taught him, from the guidance of St. Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord, to the love and care of Mary, His mother, whom He had then elevated above every other men and women, and in our faith, we believe that He even granted her the singular exception that she would not suffer death.

And that is what we believe in the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed into the glory of heaven, and we believe that she is there now seated at the right hand of her Son, as the great advisor and intercessor for our sake, at the head of the company of saints and martyrs, all of whom are our intercessors before God. They all pray for our sake and intercede on our behalf, beseeching that God will show mercy on us sinners still living and walking in this world.

That is precisely why we venerate Mary, we praise and glorify her, as because of her, her obedience and commitment to fulfilling to completion the Lord’s plan of salvation for us mankind, she had brought upon us the Saviour of the world. And our Lord Himself from the cross had entrusted her to us, just as at the same time, He has also entrusted all of us to her care, when He entrusted her to the care of His Apostle John, and vice versa.

Mary also loves each and every one of us like a mother, for indeed she is our mother. If Jesus has counted us among His brethren, as His brothers and sisters, then should we not then receive the same care, love and tenderness that our Lord has received from Mary? She is our greatest intercessor before her Son, and that is why we often ask her to intercede for our sake. We do not pray to her or ask her to perform miracles for our sake. Instead, we ask her to petition her Son that He will help us in our time of need.

Take for example the time when Jesus performed His first miracle in Cana, during a wedding when the bride and bridegroom had run out of wine for the guests. Mary was told of the situation, and she told her Son Jesus to help the wedding couple from embarrassment. Jesus was reluctant but His mother still wanted to help them, and therefore, she told the assistants to follow exactly as Jesus told them. In the end, He did listen to her plea for help, and thus performed His first miracle there at Cana. Jesus will listen to His own loving mother.

At the same time, not only that she intercedes for us, but she is also our role model in faith, for it was her obedience to the will of God despite all the uncertainties and fears she had, which had allowed her to persevere on throughout her life and throughout the time when she had Jesus with her. Otherwise, she would not have been able to endure the great pain of having to witness her own Son condemned to die like a criminal on the cross, rejected and humiliated by all. She never left the side of her Son, no matter what.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as all of us gather together to celebrate the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, Mary most holy and blessed among all women, and indeed among all creation, let us all spend some time to reflect within ourselves, within our hearts. Are we able to follow in her footsteps and live our lives as Mary had lived hers? Are we able to commit ourselves to the Lord in the same manner as Mary had committed her whole life to her Son?

Today, each and every one of us Christians are challenged, just as embark and begin on this New Year, to make that important resolution. For many of us, we often think that resolution means that we want to desire for success, glory and fame in the year to come. But what about aiming to be a better disciple and follower of our Lord? Should we not rather seek the true treasure of our life rather than what is temporary and perishable?

We should be resolved to devote ourselves more as we open this new year. We should begin the new year not with excessive parties and celebrations, but with stronger resolve and faith, and to live every day of our lives from now on, that in all the things we say, act and do, we will always proclaim the Lord to all those who see us, witness us and hear our works.

Are we ready to do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? Today we also mark the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, and we should indeed reflect on the state of our world today. In the past year there had been many acts of injustice, of greed, of hatred upon one another, all of which had caused great pain and sufferings among us.

Can we be resolved to champion peace, harmony, forgiveness and mercy among ourselves, within our own respective communities and societies? Are we able to make a difference in the lives of our brethren? We do not have to make ambitious plans, but what we really need is to begin from our own lives, and from our own families. Let us devote more time this year to do acts of love and mercy, especially to our brethren in need.

Let us all look upon Mary as our example, as our guide, for the saying is indeed true, “To Jesus through Mary,” which highlights to us that through Mary, the mother of our Lord, and who is also our own loving mother, she will guide us all to reach out to her Son, and therefore through her, the Co-Redemptrix of us mankind, God her Son may exercise His mercy on us, and we may be forgiven from our trespasses, and one day be found worthy to be together with Mary and all the saints, in the holy presence of God forevermore. May God be with us and guide us through all of our endeavours. Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, pray for us now and to the hour of our death. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 December 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Day (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this moment has finally come, the time we have been waiting for during the season of Advent. For today we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the moment when our Lord Jesus Christ, our God and King was born unto us in Bethlehem, in the city of David through His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is a day full of joy, not because of the celebrations and festivities themselves, but rather because of what happened on this day two millennia ago, all of us can rejoice with an understanding that darkness and destruction will no longer be our fate, but instead the new path filled with hope towards salvation and eternal life in God. And Jesus made all of that possible because of His entry into this world, and later on, because of what He had done in His life.

And the Scripture readings for Christmas made it all clear to us, Who He is, Why He came into the world, and what He was going to do in order to bring His salvation upon us. And understanding all these is very important for us as Christians, as otherwise, when others ask us the simple question, what is the significance of Christmas, we will not be able to answer them and we indeed should feel very ashamed in that situation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is it that made us all very special compared to all the other beliefs and religions around the world? What is it that made it to be the one and only true Faith? That is because what we believe is not just a myth or a belief founded upon things that are unreal and imaginary, but on things that are factual and there had been many witnesses testifying to the events of what have formed our Faith to be as what we know it today.

And ultimately, that is because our God has done what many others would think to be impossible and demeaning, that is for God to become Man, meaning that He would lower Himself to become one of us mankind, to become one of His own creatures even though He is the All Powerful and Almighty Creator of the whole universe. Imagine a great king humbling himself to act like one of his servants, and not just any servants, but as the lowest of his slaves.

And many would think that this is something strange that God had done, but essentially, that is what our faith is about, that we all believe in the one and only True God, Who loves each and every one of us so much so that He was willing to go through all those ordeals for our sake. It was what St. John wrote in his Gospel, that as Jesus said to Nicodemus, that God so loved the world, that is us all mankind, that He sent us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, so that through Him we will not perish but instead have life.

It is only in our faith alone that God, our Lord Jesus Christ has willingly come down upon us, to be one like us and taking up the form of our flesh and to share in our human nature that He has become the Son of Man just as He is the Son of God. In the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel, what was usually known as the Last Gospel said at the ending of each Mass, lies the very essence of this belief in the Incarnation of the Divine Word.

For the Divine Word of God, Equal and Part of God, as one of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all part of one and only true God, has been incarnated into the flesh of Man, by the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. This very act is an act of tremendous love, that He was willing to lay down everything for our sake, out of His love for us.

St. Paul in his letter to the Church and the faithful in Rome spoke about how very few people will want to die for another person, more so if the person is a bad person. A good person might have merited such things, but sinners and delinquents would normally be shunned and not be considered worthy to have someone to lay down his or her life for his or her sake.

And yet, that was what Christ precisely had done. He came into the world as a King, but not as a proud and boastful King. Instead, He came as a servant King, Who led by example and lived humbly, and did all He can to save His beloved people from certain destruction because of their sins. And He did so by laying down His own life, that by His death on the cross, He may unite us to Himself that we share in His death, dying to our own sins, and be resurrected in glory as He Himself had risen from the dead.

That is why when we celebrate Christmas, there are three very important things that we have to take note of. First of all, is the meaning of Christmas itself. What are we celebrating in Christmas? Is it our holiday season and our travels or trips around the world? Is it our merrymaking and the plans for our holidays? Or is it the gifts we are about to give and which we are also about to receive?

Christmas is about Christ, and we should not forget about Him as we celebrate. He ought to be the centre of our joy and our celebrations, for without Him and His coming into the world, there can be no hope or joy for us. It is because of Him that we now have the chance to be joyful and to be happy, because in Him is our hope, and He has shown us the salvation that He brought upon us.

And secondly, then, we have to understand that Christmas itself is not complete and is meaningless without Easter and the celebrations of the Passion of our Lord preceding it. They are both intimately intertwined together, and one cannot exist without the other. Without Christmas, there is no God Who have become Man, and therefore there can be no crucifixion and the Passion of our Lord, and therefore, no resurrection and thus no hope for us.

But without Easter, then Christmas will be like celebrating any other birthdays, and there would be nothing special and no remarkable event in Christmas. It would be just celebrating the birthday of someone and nothing more. It is what we celebrate during the Holy Week and Easter that made everything we rejoice about in Christmas to come to its full realisation, because we are celebrating our God Who first willingly became Man for our sake, revealed to us His love, and then finally willingly died on the cross for us, that all of us who believe in Him, shared in His death and resurrection may be saved through Him.

And last of all, remember that Christ came into this world, despite being the King of kings and Master of the whole universe, but He came humbly born into a family of a carpenter, and all the inns of Bethlehem were full, and no one had the space to welcome Him. He was rejected and ignored, and only a dirty stable fit for animals was available for Him. This is our Lord, Whose love for us have given us salvation and hope, born into a small, dirty stable.

All of these are reminders for us that we rejoice this Christmas not because of ourselves, but truly it is because of Christ. It is because of Him that we have received the hope of everlasting life, and freedom from all the bonds of sin that had enslaved us since the days of our forefathers. And we cannot be so merry and happy that we forget about our brethren who lack the joy we have, those who are hungry, poor and without the means to even live comfortably, and less still to celebrate.

Yet, there are many people who still celebrate Christmas as best as they could despite their circumstances. Some had to celebrate in secret, fearing persecution by those who are opposed to the faith in places where being a Christian equals a death sentence or great suffering. Some others have no money, or no food on their table, but they shared whatever they had, and still tried to be joyful on this special occasion in memory of our Lord’s birth into the world.

Let us all, therefore, brethren, as Christians challenge ourselves to celebrate Christmas as it should be celebrated, not with excessive and expensive merry-making, but use it to spend our time with our loved ones, and pray together to the Lord, thanking Him for the love He has shown us in Jesus, and remembering our less fortunate brethren around us. Whatever good graces and blessings God had given us, let us all share with those who have little or none, that our joy may be complete.

May the Lord bless us all and our families, and may He continue to guide us, that in this Christmas season, we may grow ever closer to Him, and be more charitable and loving to one another, remembering that it is Christ’s love which has brought us from the brink of destruction into life anew, blessed by Him. May God bless us all. Amen.