Sunday

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Sunday, 24 January 2016 : Third (3rd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour: Green

Nehemiah 8 : 2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Ezra brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all the children who could understand what was being read. It was the first day of the seventh month. Ezra read the book before all of them from early morning until midday in the square facing the Water Gate; and all who heard were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Ezra, the teacher of the Law, stood on a wooden platform built for that occasion. He opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was in a higher place; and when he opened it, all the people stood. Ezra blessed YHVH, the great God; and all the people lifted up their hands and answered, “Amen! Amen!” And they bowed their heads to the ground.

They read from the Book of the Law of God, clarifying and interpreting the meaning, so that everyone might understand what they were hearing. Then Ezra, the teacher of the Law said to the people, “This day is dedicated to YHVH, your God, so do not be sad or weep.”

He said this because all wept when they heard the reading of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go and eat rich foods, drink sweet wine and share with him who has nothing prepared. This day is dedicated to the Lord, so do not be sad. The joy of YHVH is our strength.”

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Sunday, 17 January 2016 : Second (2nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot and World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the Lord and how His providence had given His people a new hope in Him, by His promise of glory and redemption that He would give them if they would repent and change their ways, following Him and obeying Him, and they would receive the fullness of His grace and blessings, which He had made real and concrete through Jesus.

Through Jesus, our glory in the Lord has been made clear and transparent, and all of us have a knowledge of what is to come for us if we keep our faith in Him and walk in His ways faithfully. The Lord Himself made it clear on many occasions, that His disciples and all those who believe in Him will receive the gift of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, receiving the power and the authority from the Lord Himself.

Jesus Himself said that His disciples would possess the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, the ability to preach the Word of God, and the ability to perform miracles and many good deeds. Then, some of us may wonder why all of us today who live in faith in Him, are seemingly unable to perform those miracles, the great feats as what the Apostles and the disciples have done in the Name of Jesus, such as healing the sick and casting out of evil spirits.

The reason for this, is what St. Paul elaborated in the second reading today, where he wrote to the faithful and the Church in the city of Corinth, of the nature of the gifts of the Lord through the Holy Spirit, and how different people receive different gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. It was mentioned by St. Paul how some people were given the gift of healing and miracles, while others were given the gift of speaking in tongues and wisdom, and yet more are given various other gifts such as caring, loving for the people of God, and the teaching of the faith.

In all these, we should really look into our own lives, and see how we fit in the whole grand scheme and structure that is our Church, the Church of the Lord our God. It is natural that many of us would want to be those who are gifted with the healing touch of the Apostles, healing people who are sick, casting out demons and evil spirits, as after all, those were what the Apostles did, were they not?

But the Church cannot exist solely and entirely of healers and miracle workers. Neither can the Church exist entirely of preachers and teachers of the faith. No, and this is should be in our realisation that the Church is composed of many different peoples, of different backgrounds and origins, of abilities and gifts, that came together as one people, and working together to bring greater glory to God.

We have to just ask ourselves, and compare it to the running of a country, or an institution. If an organisation consists entirely of managers and CEOs, then it will not be able to function at all, as everyone will want to manage and want others to do the work for them, and yet no one is available to do the work, and the managers themselves by their nature would be unwilling to dirty their hands doing the menial work necessary.

Similarly, a nation cannot be run if everyone wants to be the leader. There must be those who are gifted with leadership and charisma, and yet there must also be those who are gifted with good works and service, and there must be many departments of state in a country, handling different areas such as education, social services, economy, defence, and many others.

This is why in the Church we see people who have received the gifts of priesthood, heeding God’s call to service, dedicating their whole lives to the Lord, those whose duties are to preach the word of God, and in acting in the person of Christ, in persona Christi, representing Christ Himself, offer the same sacrifice of Calvary and transform the bread and wine into the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Himself in the Eucharist.

And there are of course those among them who have been entrusted with leadership, the bishops who lead the people of God as shepherds, leading the priests in giving guidance to the people of God. They have their own responsibilities in making sure that the whole Church runs smoothly and they were tasked with keeping the faith in the Church, that the faithful will not lose sight of the path which they are to walk on.

And of course, many in the Church are the laity, those who continue to live their own lives in this world, doing about their daily business, and yet giving themselves also to the service of the Lord, believing in Him and walking in His ways. And many of us belong to the laity, who have their own specific roles to play in the works of the Church, in the works of the salvation of God’s people.

If the priests are the leaders and the brains of God’s Church, then the laity are the muscles, through which the Church can move and be run efficiently, if they are working together in harmony. It is therefore necessary for us all to know what roles we are able to play in the Church and how we can contribute to the good works of the Church in this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all go forth and make use of the gifts which our Lord had given us, that in the gifts which we have received, we may make use of them to the fullest, and thus fulfilling what is required from us as a member of God’s Church. If we do not work together in harmony, then surely the Church itself in its activities will not be able to perform them properly.

And in all these, we have our Lord Who is backing all of us with all of His might and power. In the Gospel today, as we heard about the story of the well-known wedding at Cana in Galilee, we see how God allowed Himself to perform an act of mercy and love, helping the poor couple in distress when they ran out of wine, and similarly therefore, if we are in need and in trouble, we only need to look for the Lord and seek for His help, and surely He will, in His own way, deliver us from our troubles.

And it is important to note how Mary has an important role in all of these, as we see how Jesus was initially reluctant to help the couple, as it was then not yet the time which Jesus wanted to reveal Himself, but after His mother Mary persistently in a way, asking for His help, to the extent of telling the servants to follow whatever Jesus said, our Lord allowed Himself to perform the miracle through which He helped the couple to escape their great predicament.

Therefore, all of us in the Church should also be devoted to Mary, the mother of our Lord, for she is indeed the closest one to her Son Jesus in heaven, at His side in a place of honour, and indeed thus having the special privilege of directly interceding for our sake through prayers. Each of us indeed have our own unique roles to play in the Church, but we have to remember that in all things we have to base all of our works in Christ and through His mother Mary.

Thus, on this day, let us pray for our Church, that each and every one of us will be able to perform our own respective obligations and works as members of God’s Church, and like the wedding at Cana, may our works be beneficial and good for the sake of our brethren in need, particularly the destitute and those without love, the homeless and those who have been ostracised because of various reasons.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us all through all of our actions, priests and laity alike, work together as one body, that through our works in harmony, we may bring greater glory to God, and bring the saving works of grace further and more to all the whole world, that the light of Christ may be seen and be followed by all the peoples. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 January 2016 : Second (2nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot and World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 2 : 1-11

At that time, three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as prescribed by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did. The steward tasted the water that has become wine, without knowing from where it had come, for only the servants who had drawn the water knew.

So he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Sunday, 17 January 2016 : Second (2nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot and World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 12 : 4-11

There is diversity of gifts, but the Spirit is the same. There is diversity of ministries, but the Lord is the same. There is diversity of works, but the same God works in all.

The Spirit reveals His presence in each one with a gift that is also a service. One is to speak with wisdom, through the Spirit. Another teaches according to the same Spirit. To another is given faith, in which the Spirit acts; to another the gift of healing, and it is the same Spirit.

Another works miracles, another is a prophet, another recognises what comes from the good or evil spirit; another speaks in tongues, and still another interprets what has been said in tongues. And all of this is the work of the one and only Spirit, Who gives to each one as He so desires.

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Sunday, 17 January 2016 : Second (2nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot and World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 9-10a and 10c

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Give to the Lord, you families of nations, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His Name

Worship the Lord with holy celebrations; stand in awe of Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Sunday, 17 January 2016 : Second (2nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot and World Day of Migrants and Refugees (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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, 10 January 2016 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, the time which is usually associated with the ending of the Christmas season, or Christmastide, although in some traditional celebrations, the season of Christmas does not end until the second day of February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, following a forty day period for Christmas.

On this day, we commemorate that moment, when Christ began His earthly ministry, to begin the works which He had been born into this world for, that is to herald and bring about salvation to all mankind, and to liberate them from their sins and from the chains of wickedness, evil, sin and death. It was at that moment of His baptism that He officially began His earthly ministry, and this is truly important to all of us as well in its meaning.

This is also the model of our Church’s sacrament of holy baptism, the first of the seven sacraments and the first one that a believer, either as a baby or as a catechumen deciding to follow the Lord, must receive, before he or she would be able to receive the other sacraments, such as the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Most Holy Eucharist, Penance or that of the Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders.

It was through baptism that a faithful is welcomed into the Church of God, and through baptism, the faithful was sealed with the seal of the Living God, and became one with all the other members of the Church, adopted as God’s children and become partakers of God’s plan of salvation and in His everlasting kingdom of joy and happiness. Without baptism, the state of our souls will continue to be in limbo and darkness.

Just as Christ was immersed in the waters of the Jordan, we too have been immersed in the water during our baptism. Water itself has many symbolic meanings, the most common of which is its purifying capacity, where water cleanses things that are dirty and corrupted, and washes away all dirt and unpleasant things. It is also a symbol of life, since water is crucial for life, and absolutely no life could have existed in the absence of water.

And thus, as we were immersed in the water during our reception of the Sacrament of Baptism, we were also purified from the taints of our past sins, the wickedness and corruptions of sin that had been with us, and by the holy water blessed and made pure by the hands of the priests, the Lord Jesus had made us all whole again in body and in spirit, just as He had once healed the lepers, the sick and the dying.

And water can also bring death, as we have seen how water can be so destructive in occurrences such as tsunamis, floods and various other forces of water that brought death and misery, just as it can also bring life, and indeed is essential for life. Thus, the waters of baptism symbolised that death which all of us ought to share in the Lord, that through this sharing with His death, we may also have a share in His glorious resurrection.

Yes, the waters of baptism is a symbol of the death and the end of our old life on earth, in our commitment to abandon and reject sin and Satan in all of its forms, and by dying to this old life, as St. Paul had mentioned, we left behind all of the attachments, the bonds and the chains that kept us in our old ways and which had prevented us from attaining God’s salvation and grace.

The baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Jordan is a symbol for us all to remember, for even though He Himself was different, as He was without any taint of sin, and yet He chose to lower Himself and be immersed in the Jordan, and baptised by His servant John the Baptist, but through that action, we should now be able to understand clearly what our Lord had intended for us to do with our own lives.

Before the Lord Jesus was baptised, since the day when He was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in a stable, His parents had cared for Him very well, both His mother Mary, as well as His foster father St. Joseph. And He was brought up in Nazareth, the village where His family lived in, and where He Himself grew up as all men did, and He grew both in knowledge, wisdom and strength, and in the favour in the sight of God.

And as His father St. Joseph was a hardworking carpenter, and considering the fact that sons normally followed in the footsteps of their fathers, it was likely that Jesus was perhaps once a carpenter too, or at least that He knew how to handle things as His foster father had done. And so, He likely dealt with things and matters of the world such as crafting furnitures and other wooden objects.

Yet, when He was baptised by John at the Jordan, that was the moment when all was revealed regarding Jesus, His true nature and His mission on earth. And afterward, He began His ministry, tending to the sick, both in body and in spirit, and He blessed many people, fed them, and gave them the Good News of God through His own words.

And in the end, He carried up the cross that was burdened with all of our sins and iniquities, and He bore all these up with Him as He ascended the hill of Calvary, stretched up between the heavens and the earth, and He gave up His own life, as a perfect and fitting sacrifice to serve as the absolution and the forgiveness for all the multitudes of our sins and their effects.

In all these, we have to realise that the story of our Lord Jesus from His baptism to His death on the cross is actually the example of our own Christian life, of how we are all expected to live out our lives in faith. We who have received the gift of baptism should therefore go forth and do as the Lord Himself had done, loving one another, forgiving those who have done bad things to us, praying even for our enemies and for those who persecute us, as well as other things that He had commanded us all to do.

This is what we need to do, and this is what we should indeed do as those who call themselves as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and wholeheartedly follow His laws and commandments, so that in everything that we say and do, we will always be faithful, and bring glory to our Lord and God. May God bless us all and keep us in His grace, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 10 January 2016 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 3 : 15-16, 21-22

At that time, the people were wondering about John’s identity, “Could He be the Messiah?” Then John answered them, “I baptise you with water, but the One Who is coming will do much more : He will baptise you with Holy Spirit and fire. As for me, I am not worthy to untie His sandal.”

Now, with all the people who came to be baptised, Jesus too was baptised. Then, while He was praying, the heavens opened : the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in the bodily form of a Dove, and a Voice from Heaven was heard, “You are My Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”

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Sunday, 10 January 2016 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Titus 2 : 11-14 and Titus 3 : 4-7

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life and worldly greed, and to live in this world as responsible persons, upright and serving God, while we await our blessed hope – the glorious manifestation of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus. He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from every evil and to purify a people He wanted to be His own and dedicated to what is good.

But God our Saviour revealed His eminent goodness and love for humankind and saved us, not because of good deeds we may have done but for the sake of His own mercy, to the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit poured over us through Christ Jesus our Saviour, so that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Alternative reading

Acts 10 : 34-38

Peter then spoke to the disciples of Christ, “Truly, I realise that God does not show partiality, but in all nations He listens to everyone who fears God and and does good. And this is the message He has sent to the children of Israel, the Good News of peace He has sent to the children of Israel, the Good News of peace He has proclaimed through Jesus Christ, Who is the Lord of all.”

“No doubt you have heard of the event that occurred throughout the whole country of the Jews, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism John preached. You know how God anointed Jesus the Nazarean with Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power, because God was with Him.”

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Sunday, 10 January 2016 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 103 : 1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30

Clothed in majesty and splendour; o Lord, my God, how great You are! You are wrapped in light as with a garment; You stretch out the heavens like a tent.

You build Your upper rooms above the waters. You make the clouds Your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind; You make the winds Your messengers, and fire and flame Your ministers.

How varied, o Lord, are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all – the earth full of Your creatures. Behold the sea, wide and vast, teeming with countless creatures, living things both great and small.

They all look to You for their food in due time. You give it to them, and they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.

When You hide Your face they vanish, You take away their breath, they expire and return to dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and the face of the earth is renewed.

Alternative reading

Psalm 28 : 1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9b-10

Give the Lord, o sons of God, give the Lord the glory due His Name; worship the Lord in great liturgy.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the Lord thunders over vast waters. How powerful is the voice of the Lord, how splendorous is the voice of the Lord.

The God of glory thunders, the Lord strips the forests bare, and in His Temple all cry, “Glory!” Over the flood the Lord was sitting; the Lord is King and He reigns forever.