Sunday

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Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Second Sunday of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 15 : 5-12, 17-18

Then YHVH brought Abram outside and said to him, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that.” Abram believed YHVH Who, because of this, held him to be an upright man. And He said, “I am YHVH Who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

Then Abram asked, “My Lord, how am I to know that it shall be mine?” YHVH replied, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, a three year old goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these animals, cut them in two, and laid each half facing its other half, but he did not cut the birds in half. The birds of prey came down upon them, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep came over Abram, and a dreadful darkness took hold of him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the halves of the victims.

On that day YHVH made a covenant with Abram saying, “To your descendants I have given this country from the river of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate our first Sunday in the season of Lent, we always hear about the temptation of Jesus Christ our Lord in the desert by the devil, who tried to tempt Him three times without avail, and who then retreated, trying to undermine the works of the Lord in another way. This temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ is tied closely to our own observation of this Lenten period, and also to the history of our faith.

Mankind, ever since the days of Adam and Eve, our forebears and ancestors, had been afflicted with the disease of sin, as Satan managed to tempt them to disobey the Lord and by making use of our human desires to subvert us and to turn us against God, by disobeying His commandments, and by selfishly giving in to our desires. Satan had many weapons, and his greatest one is our pride, our greed and our insatiable desire to fulfil ourselves and our wants.

In the Gospel, as we heard about Jesus being tempted three times, we are heeded to take note of our weaknesses, and our vulnerabilities, which Satan and his agents can easily take advantage of, in their attempt to destroy us and bring us into the eternal darkness with them. First of all, is the temptation of our stomach, the needs and wants of our body, our flesh, the temptation of food and greed.

We all know that all living things require food in order to continue living and to survive, and without food we will eventually die of starvation and hunger. But we should also be aware of the distinction and the growing gap between the rich and the poor in our world today. All of us are indeed aware, and we should have indeed heard about how many of the poor people in places and parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even in the developed countries and regions, who had not enough food even to sustain themselves, less still for their children and for their families.

And yet, we also know that there are many excesses that people in our time today had committed, squandering much money and wealth in pursuit of good food and good lifestyle, a lifestyle of hedonism and excess, where a lot of waste and a lot of injustice are being done to those who have little or even none for themselves, even to keep themselves alive. And yet, there are those who rejoice, revel at themselves and feast on top of the suffering of others.

This Lent, we are fasting because we ought to resist the temptation of our flesh. Our human needs and wants is such that, hunger and starvation can lead men to hurt or even kill one another, in order to get what we need and want. If we do not restrain ourselves, then surely we shall fall into the deep trap of sin that Satan has prepared for us. Thus, let us heed what Jesus said, that we do not live on bread or food alone, as these give us just what we need in this earthly life, but we should put our trust in the word of God, our true sustenance, for it is through the Word that we can find our way to salvation.

But we have to be careful, lest the devil used our lack of understanding of God’s words in order to deceive us and tempt us further. We saw how the devil was trying to use the verses from the Scriptures to tempt Jesus to show Himself to the people, by jumping off from the pinnacle of the Temple. Indeed, the verse meant that God will protect His people, and He will send His Angels to protect us from harm, but if we test God and try to see if He really will protect us, that means we have no faith in Him.

And the second temptation was also the temptation of pride, for we mankind are all inherently vulnerable to this trait, the pride and haughtiness in each and everyone of us. We see in many people, the desire to be recognised and to be praised, so that someone will praise us and recognise us for what we have done. But at times, we can be so desperate or our desire for such things may be so great, in the end, we lose sight and focus on what we ought to do, and again, we bring harm to others.

We see how people fight and jostle with one another, either with cunning, or trickery, with words of mouth, or even through physical violence, just so that they can have an edge over another people, and gain what they desire, that is power, honour, glory, fame and many others. And this is what the devil tried to tempt Jesu with, in his third attempt, as he brought Him to the highest mountain, offering all the kingdoms of the earth if Jesus would only worship him as lord.

But Jesus was not swayed, and He was not tempted. He knew that power, human praise, fame and glory, all forms of other temptations in the world were superficial and illusory in nature. They do not give lasting satisfaction and happiness, which can only be truly found in God alone. Power in particular is very dangerous, as the saying goes, that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This means that if we allow ourselves to be tempted, and to seek more things for ourselves, in power and all the goods the world is offering us, then we will only get ourselves dragged deeper and deeper into the darkness, and we will never be satisfied ourselves. We should already know that, it is our tendency that once we have something that we desire, we tend to desire even more.

And this is why we abstain, and do penitential works, during this season of Lent. It was not just a mere obligation or something we have to do as part of our observation of the laws of the Church and the faith. If we look at it as that, then our focus is wrong, and what we have done will avail little at helping us to strive for God’s salvation.

Instead, we have to do what we must do in this period of Lent with proper understanding and with good faith, so that whatever we do, we do it because of our love for the Lord, and the deep and burning desire in our hearts to be cleansed of our sins and wickedness, and the desire to reject Satan and all of his lies, and be freed from our enslavement to our pride, to our greed and all forms of the temptations of the flesh and the heart.

Let us all follow our Lord Jesus’ examples, resisting the devil and all of his temptations, and through our actions during this time of Lent, let us all grow stronger in faith, and spiritually, so that we will grow more capable of resisting the advances of evil and all of its forces in the time to come. Let us all love one another, giving alms and helping those who are less fortunate than us during this time, sharing whatever goods, food or care that we have, so that all of us will be able to live comfortably and harmoniously in this world.

May Almighty God bless us and forgive us our sins, and may this season of Lent be a fruitful one in the salvation of our souls. Amen.

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 4 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus was then full of Holy Spirit. As He returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led Him into the desert where He was tempted by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and at the end He was hungry. The devil then said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “Scripture says : People cannot live on bread alone.”

Then the devil took Him up to a high place, and showed Him in a flash all the nations of the world. And he said to Jesus, “I can give You power over all the nations, and their wealth will be Yours; for power and wealth have been delivered to me, and I give them to whom I wish. All this will be Yours, provided You worship me.” But Jesus replied, “Scripture says : You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.”

Then the devil took Him up to Jerusalem, and set Him on the highest wall of the Temple; and he said, “If You are God’s Son, throw Yourself down from here, for it is written : God will order His Angels to take care of You; and again : They will hold You in their hands, lest You hurt Your foot on the stones.” But Jesus replied, “It is written : You shall not challenge the Lord your God.”

When the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Jesus, he left Him, to return another time.

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 10 : 8-13

True righteousness coming from faith also says : The word of God is near you, on your lips and in your hearts. This is the message that we preach, and this is faith. You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead.

By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved. For Scripture says : No one who believes in Him will be ashamed. Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.”

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “My stronghold, my refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”

No harm will come upon you, no disaster will draw near your home. For He will command His Angels to guard you in all your ways.

They will lift you up with their hands so that your foot will not hit a stone. You will tread on wildcats and snakes and trample the lion and the dragon.

“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says the Lord. “I will protect those who know My Name. When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble I will be with them; I will deliver and honour them.”

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Sunday, 14 February 2016 : First Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 26 : 4-10

Moses said, “Then the priest shall take the large basket from your hands and place it before the Altar of YHVH, your God, and you shall say these words before YHVH, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, while still few in number; but in that country, he became a great and powerful nation.'”

“‘The Egyptians maltreated us, oppressed us and subjected us to harsh slavery. So we called to YHVH, the God of our ancestors, and YHVH listened to us. He saw our humiliation, our hard labour and the oppression to which we were subjected. He brought us out of Egypt with a firm hand, manifesting His power with signs and awesome wonders.'”

“‘And He brought us here to give us this land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring and offer the first fruits of the land which You, YHVH, have given me.'”

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Sunday, 7 February 2016 : Fifth (5th) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the urgings from the word of God in the Sacred Scripture, through which the Church had brought to our attention, of the need for us all to embrace the calling of the Lord, if He calls us to take up the cross and follow Him in the way that He had laid out for us. The words of the Scripture spoke of the examples of the faith of those whom God had called, and now they have responded in kind.

In the first reading, we heard about the vision which the prophet Isaiah saw at the beginning of his calling and ministry to be a servant and messenger of God, where He saw the glory of God Himself, enthroned on the Cherubim and guarded and served by the mighty Seraphim. And Isaiah felt unworthy to stand before the presence of God, for he was a sinner just like many others. But God purified him and made him worthy, and Isaiah answered God’s calling and accepted it.

Then in the second reading, we heard from the Apostle, St. Paul, who preached to the people of God, the testimony of his faith, just as what he had received through the Holy Spirit, and the knowledge which was passed down to him from the other Apostles and from the Lord Jesus Himself. He spoke of the Lord Jesus Who died and rose from the dead for our sake. And in doing so, he stood up for his faith and called many others to also follow in his footsteps.

If not for his dedication and commitment, and if not for his hard work for the sake of the Lord and for the spreading of His Good News, then the word of God would not have reached the ears, the minds and the hearts of countless souls, who would then remain in the darkness and lost to the Lord. But it was because of the faith and the devotion of St. Paul and of the other Apostles that the works of God were made evident.

In the Gospel, we heard how Jesus told Simon Peter to go out into the deep waters and spread his fishing net there. Despite a whole night of no fish being caught at all, he obeyed the commands of the Lord, and as a result, so many fishes were caught that even two fishing boats could not contain them. After that, Peter and many of his other fellow fishermen, future St. Andrew, St. James and St. John the Evangelist believed in Jesus and followed Him.

In this again we see the emphasis that is placed on God’s calling and how we ought to respond to that call. We remember in another passage from the Holy Gospels, when Jesus mentioned about the harvest of the field of the Lord, and how even though the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. The field represents the world, and the workers are all of us the faithful ones of the Lord.

This means that even though there are so many opportunities for many people and many souls to achieve salvation, but because there are so few of those who made themselves available to bring God’s salvation to them, in the end it means nothing, and nothing good came out of it, and many souls were still left to suffer in the darkness of ignorance and sin.

We have to remember that God did not call people who were great, talented or mighty in worldly deeds and power, or those who had great intellect, smart and excellent in their works. Instead, God called not because He saw the great abilities and talents that were in each of those people whom He had chosen, but because He saw the heart, and He knew those who truly love Him and were able to devote themselves to Him.

For to God, all of our worldly greatness and achievements mean nothing to Him, as all these pale in comparison to what one who love God with all of his or her strength and might could give. God desires not the hubris and the showcase of men’s pride and their achievements, but He desires the same love which we ought to give Him, just as He had loved us first.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us today are called to think about our own lives, and reflect upon our actions and deeds, all the things that we have done in the past until now. Have we been faithful disciples and followers of our Lord? Or is our faith merely superficial and not real? Did we just profess our faith in mere words or did we attempt to mean what we say when we profess our faith for God by showing it through real work and real action?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have to realise that being a Christian is a calling and also a commitment. We cannot call ourselves Christians and yet our actions, words and deeds speak volumes in denying what we profess. If our actions show that even though we claimed to believe in God but our actions proved otherwise, then we are no Christians!

A true Christian, someone who profess themselves as those who belong to God and believing in His laws and obeying His commandments should have the courage in them to live out their lives in accordance to their Christian faith. This means that we ought to go and put out into the deep, just as Christ Himself had ordered Simon Peter to do.

If we remain idle and not doing whatever is within our capacity and responsibility to do, then the good works of God will remain dormant, and no good fruits will come from it. As members of the Church, all of us have to realise that each and every one of us must work together and contribute to the advancement of God’s mission and work to save mankind from sin, and to bring all back to the loving embrace of God.

And we do not have to look far or think that we need to do enormous tasks. Instead, through our own daily lives, through our own actions and dealings with one another, within our own families, neighbours to one another, within our community and society we should do our best to be faithful in how we say and do things, and we should inspire others to follow our footsteps and the footsteps of the faithful who had gone before us.

Let us all, the modern day disciples of our Lord be strengthened in our faith, and may courage grows in our hearts, that in all the things we do, we may be courageous to proclaim God’s Good News to the world, and to seek out lost souls in the darkness, our own brethren in the Lord, that all may receive God’s everlasting life and salvation in Him. God bless us all and all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Sunday, 7 February 2016 : Fifth (5th) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 5 : 1-11

At that time, one day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull our a little from the shore. There He sat and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

They signalled their partners in their other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking. Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.

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Sunday, 7 February 2016 : Fifth (5th) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-11

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received : that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.

Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

For I am the last of the Apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although not I, rather the grace of God in me.

Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

1 Corinthians 15 : 3-8, 11

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received : that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.

Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.

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Sunday, 7 February 2016 : Fifth (5th) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bc-3, 4-5, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

O Lord, all kings on earth will give You praise, when they have heard Your words. They will celebrate the ways of the Lord, “Great is the glory of God!”

You save me from the wrath of my foes, with Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.