Sunday Mass

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Friday, 24 December 2021 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 1-25

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.

Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.

Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. There were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 1 : 18-25

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.

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Friday, 24 December 2021 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 16-17, 22-25

So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds.

After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another One is coming Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'”

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Friday, 24 December 2021 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29

You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.

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Friday, 24 December 2021 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal.

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.

As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Sunday, 19 December 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the last Sunday in the season of Advent, and on this Sunday we focus our attention to the last of the four Advent themes. After going through the theme of Hope, Peace and Joy in the previous three Sundays of Advent, today finally we focus on the theme of Love. As we prepare ourselves for the great celebration of Christmas in just a few days’ time, we are all called to remember why Christmas is there in the first place. That reason is because of God’s love for each and every one of us.

Christmas is not just about having festivities and celebrations, and not just about parties, merrymaking and all the paraphernalia often associated with it. Instead, as Christians all of us should fully know and realise that first and foremost, Christmas is a celebration of love, of the love that is always enduring and pure, that has been given to us from God, from His heavenly abode. God loves us all so much that He has given us His only beloved Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, Whose coming and appearance into this world is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Why love, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because God Himself is Love, and by His incarnation, in taking up the humble existence of our human flesh and by lowering Himself to be born into this world, He has shown us what true love is all about. His love is what made Him to create all of us, because He wanted to share with all of us, with all of creation, the perfect love that He Himself has, in the perfect love of the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That overflowing love has always been intended for us, to be filled with every grace and blessings.

However, it was because of our disobedience and the weakness of our flesh that our ancestors chose to listen to the devil instead of holding on to the truth of God and keeping their faith in Him. They chose to listen to his lies, and allowed themselves to be persuaded and convinced to disobey God’s direct commandments. As a result, we have been found guilty and corrupted by sin. We were made perfect, blameless and without fault, and should have shared in the everlasting joy and true happiness in God’s presence. Unfortunately, our sins and the corruptions in us sundered us from His grace and love.

But God did not give up on us, and His love for us yet endured. He has devised for so great a plan and prepared everything for us, waiting for the time this plan would be revealed to all of us. He has given assurances and glimpses of this truth and the Good News through His prophets and messengers, and eventually, as we heard in our first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Micah, God revealed how He would come to His people, through the small town of Bethlehem Ephrata, the small town of David, where the great king of Israel hailed from, from his humble origins as a shepherd, the youngest son of Jesse of Judah.

God sent His Saviour, His own Son, born into this world in that town, on that day which we celebrate as Christmas, which therefore is the full and perfect manifestation of His love in the flesh. God’s love has become tangible and accessible to us, since no longer that God is One that we cannot see and perceive. Having shown Himself through His Son, God has shown us just how much He loves us and just how amazing His commitment has been to the Covenant that He has established with us.

He came into this world through Mary His mother, dwelling in her hallowed womb for nine whole months before being born into this world. And as we heard in our Gospel passage today, even the mother of St. John the Baptist, Elizabeth, who was Mary’s relative, recognised the Lord present in Mary’s womb, and both of them praised God for everything that God had done for them. The miraculous nature of the pregnancy for Elizabeth, which happened in her advanced age, and for Mary, whose pregnancy happened before she consummated her marriage with St. Joseph her husband were proof of God’s intervention and the fulfilment for the plan of His salvation for all of us.

But even more than that, the Lord through that action of becoming Incarnate in the flesh, to be born as a Man, was an act of supreme love and compassion, which He generously showed towards all of us sinners. And why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because the Lord came to us in the human form and existence in order to share with us our humanity, to be the New Adam that would overturn the past sins and mistakes committee by the first Adam which led us all into sin.

And in the most important action He did for our salvation, done out of His ever generous and enduring love for us, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, willingly took upon Himself the punishments and the consequences of our sins. He took up His Cross and endured the most humiliating conditions and punishments, suffering for us on our behalf, in perfectly obeying the will of His Father, showing us what God’s love is all about, and how we ought to love God as well. As we heard in our second reading today, from the Epistle to the Hebrews, that is all that God wants from us as well.

He does not require from us offerings and sacrifices, referring to the ritual sacrifices done up to that time according to the Mosaic Law. It truly means that He does not require from us mere formality of faith and worship, and neither did He desire lip service from us His people. Instead, what He wants is a total commitment made with love and real genuine love we have for Him, as Christ Himself, in bearing His Cross has shown us. In that supreme act of self-sacrifice and selflessness, God Himself, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Divine Word Incarnate in the flesh, the One born on Christmas Day, showed His love for us, and His love for His heavenly Father, as part of the Holy Trinity of perfect Love with the Holy Spirit.

And that is what we ought to recall today, brothers and sisters in Christ, remembering the great love and the ever enduring patient love and compassion that God has always ever lavished on us, all these while. That is why this Sunday, we focus our attention on the what is arguably the most important of all the four Advent themes, that is Love. For without love, the love that God has for us, then we could never have been saved, and there could have been no hope for us at all. It was God’s Love for us that made all these possible.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having come to realise God’s most amazing love for us, are we going to show Him the same kind of genuine love? Or are we going to continue to be stubborn in shutting Him out from our lives and in ignoring His loving presence in our midst? And most importantly, are we going to continue sidelining and forgetting about Him in our festivities and celebrations in and throughout the entire season of Christmas? We have to reflect and remember on what Christmas is truly all about.

Today, as we recall God’s loving presence in our midst, let us all strive to do our best to love the Lord with new hearts full of devotion and dedication to Him. If we have once ignored and abandoned Him for other idols and distractions in the world, let us now seek Him again with ever greater zeal and commitment. Let us all rediscover that love that each and every one of us ought to have for the Lord. And may the Lord, our ever loving God continue to love us and bless us, and may His love continue to be poured upon us, most generously, that we may also grow in our love for Him.

May all of us strive to celebrate Christmas worthily and remind one another what Christmas is truly all about, of a celebration of God’s most amazing love for His beloved ones, all of us, His children and His people, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 December 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 39-45

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women; and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you, who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Sunday, 19 December 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hebrews 10 : 5-10

This is why, on entering the world, Christ says : You did not desire sacrifice and offering; You were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said : “Here I am. It was written of me in the scroll. I will do Your will, o God.”

First he says : Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire nor were You pleased with them – although they were required by the Law. Then he says : Here I am to do Your will. This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified, once, and for all, by the sacrifice of the Body of Christ Jesus.

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Sunday, 19 December 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 79 : 2ac and 3bc, 15-16, 18-19

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You, Who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

Turn again, o YHVH of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

But lay Your hand on Your instrument, on the Son of Man Whom You make strong for Yourself. Then we will never turn away from You; give us life, and we will call on Your Name.

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Sunday, 19 December 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Micah 5 : 1-4a

But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah; from you shall I raise the One Who is to rule over Israel. For He comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

YHVH, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she, who is to give birth, has given birth. Then the rest of His deported brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand, and shepherd His flock with the strength of YHVH, in the glorious Name of YHVH, His God.

They will live safely, while He wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.

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Sunday, 12 December 2021 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we celebrate the occasion of the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. On this day we may have noticed that the vestments used are rose in colour instead of the usual purple or violet. This colour is only used twice in the entire liturgical year, one of which is today and the other one at Laetare Sunday on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. This Gaudete Sunday is named as such because of the words of its Introit at the start of the Mass, ‘Gaudete in Domino semper…’ which means ‘Rejoice in the Lord forever…’

Just as the previous two Sundays of Advent we focus on the aspects of Hope and Peace in Advent. Today therefore we focus on the aspect of Joy in this Advent season. That aspect of Joy is why we have a more cheerful tone as compared to the more restrained and sombre nature of our Christmas preparations throughout this season of Advent. This focus on Joy is a reminder for all of us that we are preparing ourselves this Advent for the coming of the True Joy of Christmas, that is the salvation that has come to us through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Salvation.

In our first reading today, all of us heard from the Book of the prophet Zechariah, in which the Lord reassured all of His people through Zechariah that He has always watched over them and He will always love them and care for them. God will bless them all and He will not abandon them to their fate. We must understand the context of what happened during the time of the prophet Zechariah. The prophet Zechariah lived and worked during the time of the early Persian Empire, likely according to historical evidence, during the reign of King Darius the Great.

At that time, the people of Israel, descendants of those who have lived in the old lands of Israel, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, had just returned from their long exile in Babylon and other far-off lands, after God had redeemed them and liberated them through the Great King of Persia, Cyrus the Great. They and their ancestors had faced great humiliation and sufferings due to their own infidelities and stubbornness, their abandonment of God, His laws and commandments. They had been brought low and defeated, their lands and cities laid to waste, Jerusalem destroyed with its Temple cast down.

Therefore, the words of the Lord through the prophet Zechariah were reminder for God’s own people that even as they endured trials and sufferings, God was still with them, and as they themselves experienced their emancipation and liberation, they ought to be joyful for the Lord’s providence and love. Having been allowed to return to their own homeland and once again gathering as a people and community, no longer scattered among the nations, and even having their Temple of God rebuilt with the support of the Persian King, all these were more than enough reasons for them to rejoice.

The prophet Isaiah as we heard in our Psalm today also reiterated this, as he spoke words of rejoicing in God’s salvation and providence, in all that He had done for His people. God has blessed us all His people and He has done many wonderful things for us, and hence, all of us ought to rejoice and to be glad because God and His presence among us, in His coming to this world through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, has guaranteed us that eternal life and salvation, if we have faith in Him and believe in Him wholeheartedly.

Today, in our second reading, taken from the Epistle that St. Paul wrote to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, we also heard the same exhortation to the faithful to rejoice because God is by our side, and He has always remained by our side through good times and bad times, and He has always guided us and patiently showed us His love all these while. We have been so fortunate to have been favoured by God in such a way, that He even gave us all the perfect gift, the best of all, that is the gift of His salvation through Christ.

We rejoice and should no longer be fearful or afraid, as God’s words are trustworthy and He has always fulfilled His promises, no matter what. He sent us St. John the Baptist as we heard in our Gospel passage today, to be the Herald proclaiming His coming to the world and also to prepare the way for Him in this world. St. John the Baptist proclaimed God’s Good News and truth, revealing to all of the people what God was going to do in order to save them. He also revealed to them, when He came, the Messiah of God, Jesus Christ.

All of us have been reminded throughout all these readings from the Sacred Scriptures today, of the wonderful love of God made manifest through Christ, His Son, Whom He had sent to us, and Whose coming we celebrate this Christmas. That is why this Sunday we focus on the aspect of Joy in Advent, the anticipation if the great Joy that we are going to celebrate in Christmas, for having received God’s grace and salvation, and for having been blessed by this opportunity we have to know God and His ever generous love.

And it is timely and proper today that we spend some time to reflect on the nature of the Joy that we are expecting this Christmas. Is this joy referring to the festivities and celebrations that we are planning and hoping to do this Christmas? Are we looking ahead to the merrymaking and bling of our Christmas parties, and yet forgetting about what Christmas is truly about and why we celebrate it? This is the time for us to reflect on how we should focus our Christmas joy and celebrations that we may better appreciate what its true importance and meaning are to us.

Is Christ the true Joy of our lives? And are we joyful because He has come to us and having loved and cared for us so much, despite of our stubbornness and sinfulness? Or are we joyful because we are merely looking for pleasure and gratification in all the festivities and merrymaking? Have we prepared ourselves well that we may truly know what it is that bring joy to our lives and existence? Christmas is a time for us to rejoice indeed, and this Sunday we have a glimpse and preview of that joy, but we must constantly remind ourselves lest we are distracted by the many temptations offered by the secular celebrations of Christmas that are focused not on God but on ourselves and our worldly desires.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather together to celebrate this Gaudete Sunday, the Joy in the season of Advent, our joyful expectation of the coming of Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, let us all remind ourselves that we celebrate because we are happy for the hope that Christ has brought us, and we are grateful for the assurance and peace that He has brought us all by His coming into this world. Let us not be distracted and be overtaken by the excesses of the pleasures and merrymaking of the secular Christmas celebrations, and instead let us be the role model and example in how each and every one of us can celebrate Christmas worthily in a meaningful way.

How do we do so? It is by sharing the Joy of Christmas with one another, especially with those who have no such privilege to celebrate Christmas the way that many of us do every year. There are many out there who cannot celebrate Christmas because they were not allowed to do so, and even were oppressed and persecuted for being Christians. Many therefore had to celebrate Christmas in secret, while holding on to that Joy that they also anticipate for the coming of the day of their liberation and freedom, for the day of their emancipation much like how the Israelites once longed for theirs.

Let us therefore do whatever we can to bear the joy of Christ to the world, by our actions and by whatever we can do to help our brethren who are lacking in joy and who have yet to appreciate and understand the true Joy of Christmas, that is Christ, Our Lord. Let us be the ones to bring forth joy, happiness and smile to our brethren, especially as we know so many people who are still suffering, sorrowful and in terrible state after the troubles and challenges many of us have been facing in the past two years.

May the Lord, our true source of Joy, the true Joy and the reason for our Christmas celebrations be with us always. May He bless us all and may He strengthen each and every one of us in faith, so that we may always, by our exemplary Christian living, faith and joy, bring forth the true joy of Christ into this world, to restore the joy to a world drowning in sorrow and darkness. May God bless us all and be with us, now and always, forevermore. Amen.