Sunday Mass

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Sunday, 26 June 2016 : 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 19 : 16b, 19-21

YHVH said to Elijah, “And Elisha, son of Shaphat, from Abel Meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.”

So Elijah left. He found Elisha, son of Shaphat, who was plowing a field of twelve acres and was at the end of the twelfth acre. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah and said, “Let me say goodbye to my father and mother; then I will follow you.”

Elijah said to him, “Return if you want, do not worry about what I did.” However, Elisha turned back, took the yoke of oxen and slew them. He roasted their meat on the pieces of the yoke and gave it to his people who ate of it. After this, he followed Elijah and began ministering to him.

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Sunday, 19 June 2016 : 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message from the Sacred Scriptures telling us about the salvation of God which He has given to us through Jesus Christ His Son, the long awaited fulfilment of God’s promise to the world, that He would bring them into salvation and eternal life, freedom and liberation from the darkness of sin and death.

God has had mercy on His people, and He was willing to give them the succour and the liberation from the troubles which they have gained by their own disobedience. We have to always remember, brethren, that while we were often disobedient to God, but God is always forever faithful to us. We have suffered not because of Him, but rather due to our own waywardness and lack of faith which led us to commit sin.

In the first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Zechariah, the Lord promised His people that He would return the joy and blessings to the house of David and to His people. This message was given to a people who have endured great difficulties, as their ancestors’ disobedience and their own sins had brought them much misery, at the mercy of their enemies, uprooted and exiled from their own homeland, and suffered tremendously without God’s grace.

But amidst all of that, God gave them hope that a new light, the spring of life shall arise among them, to save them and to bring them once again into His favour and into His presence. In the second reading, which we received from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, we heard how through Jesus Christ, Who is the Light and the Spring of Life promised, all those who believe in Him has been made righteous and just.

And because of that, they received the grace of God and were made to be one people, as the members of the Church of God, where ancient divisions and distinctions no longer exists. There is now no more distinction between Jews or non-Jews, which were mostly the Greeks at that time. All are equal before God. God no longer limited His love and grace just to the people of Israel alone, but instead to the whole world. For the whole mankind are His most beloved creation and children, after all.

And the way through which He has endeavoured to help us all, has been revealed through the Gospel and from what we know of what He had done through Christ. For the Son of Man would be rejected by the elders and the chief priests, and would be handed over to the Romans to be sentenced to death by the cross. But it is through that act, through great suffering and enduring the sins which we have, that God had made us whole and justified once again through Him.

For such great love that God has shown us, He just require from us one thing. And that is that we should love Him back with the same love He has shown us, and if we love Him, we should also know that following God may mean that we may be rejected by the world as well, just as the world had rejected Him before. And we may endure the same sufferings and pains that He had once suffered from.

And that is our cross to bear, for each and every one of us has a cross to bear, the cross of our life. And these crosses we bear are united to the cross of Christ, as we share together in the suffering which He bore for our sake. And as we share in His suffering and death, so we have also shared in the same life which He has promised to all those who believe in Him.

And how do we as Christians bear our crosses each day? We do so by following what God had commanded us to do, that is to love Him with all our heart, devoting ourselves to Him with all of our effort. And if we think that this is easy, then we should remember again, that following God and His ways may mean that we have to do things which in the eyes of the world, in the sight of the community around us, we may be seen as weird, or even downright wicked.

Are we ready to face challenges or even persecution from the world for staying faithful to our God? Are we ready to defy the societal norms at times when we are called to choose between God and this world? That is our challenge in this world today, to stand up for our faith against the currents and forces of the world. And still, even so, we also have another challenge as well.

Why is that so? That is because the Lord also commanded us to show the same love to our brethren, to our neighbours, brothers and sisters. Are we able to show genuine love to all our brethren, that is, not just our beloved ones but even also those who resented and hated us, or those who have persecuted us? This is the cross that each of us have to bear as a Christian, as those whom God has made as one of His own.

Let us all reflect on these, and think about what else we can do if we have not done so, as a Christian, to show our love both to our God and to our brethren. Let us all devote ourselves all the more to God, and commit ourselves through faith and action, that through us we may find the salvation of God and be made blessed and righteous in our God. May God bless us and all of our endeavours and works. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 June 2016 : 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 9 : 18-24

At that time, one day, when Jesus was praying alone, not far from His disciples, He asked them, “What do people say about Me?” And they answered, “Some say that You are John the Baptist; others say that You are Elijah, and still others that You are one of the prophets of old, risen from the dead.”

Again Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Then Jesus spoke to them, giving them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. And He added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of Mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow Me! For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for My sake, you will save it.”

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Sunday, 19 June 2016 : 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 3 : 26-29

Now, in Christ Jesus, all of you are sons and daughters of God through faith. All of you who were given to Christ through baptism, have put on Christ. Here there is no longer any difference between Jew or Greek, or between slave or freed, or between man and woman : but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

And because you belong to Christ, you are of Abraham’s race and you are to inherit God’s promise.

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Sunday, 19 June 2016 : 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 62 : 2abc, 2d-4, 5-6, 8-9

O God, You are my God, it is You I seek; for You my body longs and my soul thirsts.

As a dry weary land without water. Thus have I gazed upon You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

I will bless You as long as I live, lift up my hands and call on Your Name. As with the richest food my soul will feast; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

For You have been my help; I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You, Your right hand upholds me.

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Sunday, 19 June 2016 : 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Zechariah 12 : 10-11 and Zechariah 13 : 1

I will pour out on the family of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of love and supplication. They will look at the One Who was pierced and mourn for Him as for an only child, weeping bitterly as for a firstborn. The mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Haddadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

On that day a spring will well up for the family of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse themselves of sin and defilement.

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Sunday, 12 June 2016 : 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of the Scripture readings which we have received and listened to all spoke of a very important thing in our faith which all of us tend to forget and overlook, or even worse, that we misunderstand its true intention and purpose. And therefore, it is imperative that we come together and understand what the meaning of the Scripture passages is for us all, and reflect on them so that we may be awakened to the Lord’s will and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the punishment which God metes out for the sinners and for all those who have disobeyed Him and betrayed His love and trust. It is what we call justice, or to be more precise, divine justice, as we have sinned against the Lord and committed what is evil in His sight, and therefore, it is just that we face the consequences of our sins and wickedness, and the just reward for sin, is death and damnation in hellfire.

And yet we all should know how loving and merciful our God is, to those who are willing to be forgiven, and who has shown the desire and right attitude to be forgiven. In the first reading today we heard about the exchanges between the prophet Samuel and king David of Israel, the one whom many people, especially among the Israelites, regarded as the ideal king, the just ruler and as the role model and example of how one should be faithful to God.

And yet, we know of two very prominent moments when king David was unfaithful to God and disobeyed Him. The first one was the one which was mentioned in the Book of the prophet Samuel as we heard it today, about how David plotted against the captain of his guard, Uriah, and planned for his death, because he was enamoured and indeed had committed adultery with Uriah’s wife.

The second of which, king David in his great pride and the time of his great glory, conducted a survey of his entire realm even against the advice of his advisors. And by this act, he showed disobedience against God, when he placed himself above all else and succumb to the temptations of human pride and glory. It showed his lack of satisfaction with what God has already blessed him with, by counting them and thus presumably wanting for even more.

Then, we should ask ourselves, what is the significance is for us? It is because if we look at what king David had done, certainly we should realise that no one is perfect and beyond reproach. Even the faithful king David himself also faltered and fell into sin. This is a reminder for us all not to be ignorant of sin, and not to be overconfident of ourselves just because we think that we are not capable of sinning or committing what is not right in the sight of God.

But at the same time, we should also take note how king David responded to those situations. What did he do? He immediately humbled himself before God and repented from his sins. He regretted having committed all the sins which he had done, the sin of adultery and the sin of the desires of the flesh, as well as the sin of pride and human greed.

This is where many of us are often misguided and misled by wrong thoughts and ideas, where we think that God loves and forgives us all, no matter what wrongs and sins that we have done. Some of us may think that God is a loving and kind God who tolerates everything that we did, but we often do not understand and realise that God is as much as He is loving as He is also just and good.

This means that sinners who have sinned and then continued to live in their sinfulness without the desire and the attempt to recant and reject their sinful ways, will not be forgiven by God. A sinner remains a sinner as long as he or she wishes it to be so, and if they continued to commit things and do things that are against God’s will and His ways, then they only have themselves to blame for their damnation and rejection by God.

This is where we come to the point where we have to reconcile between God’s justice and anger, with His everlasting mercy and love for us. God loves us all, the people whom He had created, as the most beloved of all His creations, but He did not love our sins and wickedness. Indeed, He Who is perfect and good despises all of the sins and the darkness which we have brought upon ourselves.

Thus, when we suffer and when we groan because of the hardships and challenges we face in life, and when some of us fall into damnation and eternal suffering in hell, all these were not intended by God for us. God Who created us out of love did not desire our suffering or for us to perish in that suffering. Death and hell were not intended for us either, and in fact, God intended for us all to live forever in joy with Him, ever since the day He created us.

But it was us who have betrayed Him in the first place, preferring to give in to our human desires, falling into the temptations and the lures of pleasure, both of the flesh and the mind, as well as into the words of the devil, who tempted us with sweet words and falsehoods to trick us and to lure us away from attaining salvation in our God.

But God is willing to give us all a chance, the opportunity which He presented to all of us to change our ways and to choose out of our own free will to be forgiven for all of our trespasses. This is what God had told those He had forgiven, including the woman who was in the Gospel today, tearfully and humbly anointing the feet of Jesus, a sinner and yet a very courageous sinner who was aware of how grave her sins were and desiring forgiveness for her sins.

Sin no more and do good from now on, and this is the key message which Jesus told those sinners, and which is expected from all of us as well. We may all be sinners, but what is required from us is repentance and renewed devotion to our Lord. Without repentance, a sinner remains as a sinner, and the sins which we have remains with us, and on the day of judgment, these will come back to judge us.

We must be careful, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we do not fall into the trap of giving false mercy. That means, showing true mercy to each other means showing with love, the love of God, that all mankind have hope for salvation, but it requires commitment and hard work to be done by those who seeks God’s mercy. We cannot and we do not tolerate the sins that we make, or else, we are dooming our brethren to certain destruction.

But neither should we act in the way that caused sinners to stay away from God and His salvation because they worry about the anger and the punishment from God, if we made it too harsh and too difficult for them to return to the Lord and to re-embrace His ways. Thus, a middle ground has to be reached, and it is our duty and responsibility as Christians to keep one another from sin.

May God help us and guide us in our lives, so that we may be ever faithful to Him, and be filled with grace and love, and with the courage and strength to care for one another, to stop sinning and do good from now on. Let us be pure and be worthy of our Lord, reminding each other to be ever faithful to the Lord our God. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 June 2016 : 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 7 : 36 – Luke 8 : 3

At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so He went to the Pharisee’s home, and as usual reclined at the table to eat. And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that He was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and stood behind Him, at His feet, weeping. She wet His feet with tears, she dried them with her hair, she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching, and thought, “If this Man were a Prophet, He would know what sort of person is touching Him; is this woman not a sinner?” Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, Master.”

And Jesus said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously cancelled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.”

And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave Me no water for My feet when I entered your house, but she has washed My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You did not welcome Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since she came in. You provided no oil for My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others reclining with Him at the table began to wonder, “Now this Man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”

Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the Good News of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed Him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases : Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna, and others who provided for them out of their own funds.
Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 7 : 36-50

At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so He went to the Pharisee’s home, and as usual reclined at the table to eat. And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that He was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and stood behind Him, at His feet, weeping. She wet His feet with tears, she dried them with her hair, she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching, and thought, “If this Man were a Prophet, He would know what sort of person is touching Him; is this woman not a sinner?” Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, Master.”

And Jesus said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously cancelled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.”

And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave Me no water for My feet when I entered your house, but she has washed My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You did not welcome Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since she came in. You provided no oil for My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others reclining with Him at the table began to wonder, “Now this Man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”

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Sunday, 12 June 2016 : 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 2 : 16, 19-21

Yet we know that a person is justified not by practicing the Law but by faith in Christ Jesus. So we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may receive true righteousness from faith in Christ Jesus, and not from the practices of the Law, because no one will be justified by the works of the Law.

As for me, the very Law brought me to die to the Law, that I may live for God. I am crucified with Christ. Do I live? It is no longer me, Christ lives in me. My life in this body is life through faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for me. In this way I do not ignore the gift of God, for, if justification comes through the practice of the Law, Christ would have died for nothing.”

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Sunday, 12 June 2016 : 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 7, 11

Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom the Lord sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To the Lord I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin, You removed my guilt.

You are my refuge; You protect me from distress and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Rejoice in the Lord, and be glad, you who are upright; sing and shout for joy, you who are clean of heart.