Sunday

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Sunday, 2 August 2015 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 16 : 2-4, 12-15

In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHVH in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

YHVH then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow My Teaching or not. I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say : Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am YHVH, your God!”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that YHVH has given you to eat.”

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard the Scripture readings which spoke of our Lord as a loving God who is caring and loving for all of His people, and who gave them all that they need, food and nourishment, so that they may live, be filled and satisfied without hunger or worry. In this, we see how much God has loved us, which He manifested through His many works.

In the first reading, we heard how Elisha the prophet fed a hundred man with a mere twenty loaves of bread. His servant did not believe that such a feat was possible, and he asked him, “How can we feed a hundred men with this?” But Elisha showed his servant that what for man is impossible, is possible for God, and the hundred men ate until they were full with loaves left over.

And certainly we can see the clear link with our Gospel today, that when Jesus taught the huge multitudes of people coming to listen to Him, He fed the five thousand men and countless thousands more of women and children, with just five loaves and two fishes. The disciples of Jesus were similarly astounded at first, and even asked the same question as what Elisha’s servant had asked, but God again showed His love and made the whole people to eat until full with twelve full baskets of leftover bread.

In all these things, certainly if our eyes are open, if our ears can listen, and if our hearts are opened, then surely we should be able to see how great is the love which our Lord had shown us, not just in what we have just heard, but in our daily lives, in every things we have enjoyed which had come from the Lord. It is often that we do not realise the extent of the many things we have enjoyed which without the Lord and His love for us, it would not have been possible.

And God had not just given us tangible food as in loaves and fishes to eat and be satisfied with, but even much more than that. Remember that Jesus rebuked Satan when he tempted Him with food when He fasted for forty days in the desert? He said that men did not live on bread alone, but on every words that came from the mouth of God.

This went on to show how God nourishes us not just with the food of the earth, that is to fill our stomachs, but also gives us the nourishment and food for the soul, that is His words and teachings, which He had revealed through His prophets and servants, and last of all, which He revealed in all its fullness, through Jesus, the Word Himself made flesh for all to witness and see.

And then last of all, God gave Himself as the ultimate nourishment of all, through the sharing of His own Body and His own Blood for all to receive and have life in them. For He said that ‘My Body is real food and My Blood is real drink, and although your ancestors who ate the bread of heaven, or manna died in the desert, those who eat of My Body and drink of My Blood will have eternal life.’ Such is the promise which God had given to all who partake and share in Him and His nourishing gift for us.

For it is through His suffering on the way to Calvary, by the scourging of many lashes, by the nails that pierced His hands and legs, and thus by His death on the cross that He had shed His Body and poured out His Blood for all of us to share, so that for all those for whom Christ had died for, that is for all mankind, we may receive Him and He will dwell in us, so that He may nourish us and give us a new and blessed life, no longer afflicted by our past sinfulness and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having seen all these, have we realised again how much God has loved and cared for us? And most importantly, how have we reacted to the love which God had given us? Have we shown gratitude and thanks to Him? Have we uttered even a word of thanks, and not just from our mouth but from the depths of our hearts?

The word thank you is something which we may take for granted, and which is in fact a very difficult word to utter with meaning and with proper purpose. How many of us actually give thanks for something good which had been done by others upon us? How many of us are grateful for every blessings and good things that come our way? Certainly many of us would see that in many occasions, we have not give due thanks for what we have enjoyed.

And how much more we should therefore thank our Lord, for He has given us so much, providing us all that we need, the nourishment of the flesh as well as the soul, and the blessing of everlasting life which God had given us who share in His Body and Blood, which is the Eucharist. He is God our Father, who cares for us like a parent caring for his or her child.

And today we also commemorate the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, who are the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was under their tutelage and loving care that Mary was brought up to be such a pious and devoted child of God, who then became an example to all of us as the mother of our God and the one closest to her Son in heaven, our greatest intercessor.

Their loving care of Mary, which in turn is also shown by Mary to Jesus her Son, should remind us of the love which our Lord had poured and lavished upon us. But the question remain the same, as we should ask ourselves, how many of us are grateful to what our parents had done for us? How many of us had given proper and due thanks to them who had given and sacrificed so much for our sake?

Therefore, let us all ponder on this, and think of how we can honour and give thanks to our Lord, who had cared for us, He, our Father, whose thoughts and gaze are always fixed upon us all the days of our lives. It does not mean anything if we do not mean what we say when we give thanks to Him and to others, as words are easy to come out with, but in order to be truly capable of showing thanks for all who have given us good things, especially that of our Lord, it must come from the heart.

May Almighty God, our Father, Lord and Saviour help us all to realise the great extent to which He had blessed us and granted us goodness in all things, that deep in our hearts a great sense of gratitude may swell and we may give thanks due to be given to He who had provided us with everything that we need, nourishments for our body, spirit and soul, so that we have nothing lacking and be fully satisfied. Let us from now on be thankful for every single moments of our lives, for every breath that we take, which is also a gift from God. May we be forever devoted to Him, our Lord and Father. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 1-15

At that time, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed Him, because of the miraculous signs they saw, when He healed the sick. So He went up into the hills and sat down there with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Then lifting up His eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to Him, and said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” He said this to test Philip, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

Then one of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, so the people, about five thousand men, sat down. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated.

He did the same with the fish, and gave them as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten enough, He told His disciples, “Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is, with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

When the people see the miracle which Jesus had performed, they said, “This is really the Prophet, the One who is to come into the world.” Jesus realised that they would come and take Him by force to make Him king; so He fled to the hills by Himself.

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 1-6

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all.

One Lord, one Faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 15-16, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

All creatures look to You to be fed in due season; with open hand You satisfy the living according to their needs.

Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

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Sunday, 26 July 2015 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Kings 4 : 42-44

A man came from Baal-shal-ishad bringing bread and wheat to the man of God. These were from the first part of the harvest, twenty loaves of barley and wheat. Elisha told him, “Give the loaves to these men that they may eat.”

His servant said to him, “How am I to divide these loaves among one hundred men?” Elisha insisted, “Give them to the men that they may eat, for YHVH says : They shall eat and have some left over.” So the man set it before them; and they ate and had some left, as YHVH had said.

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Sunday, 19 July 2015 : Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we have heard, we have seen and witnessed the great and boundless love of our Lord and God, who is our Shepherd and Guide, the One who provides us all with all the things that we need. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep, and cared for nothing else than the well-being of His sheep, of His flock.

From the first reading today, taken from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God made it clear through His servant Jeremiah that He would bring back His people to His presence, just like a shepherd gathering back his lost sheep. He would punish all those irresponsible and bad shepherds who had failed in their duty to govern the people of God and lead them in righteousness.

The shepherds that God had appointed over the people at that time, the kings and their associates, failed to live up to the tasks entrusted to them. Rather than leading their people by example, they have abused their power and positions of privilege, which led to great sorrow and suffering for the people, who were therefore leaderless and without guidance, lost and trapped in the darkness of this world.

But God did not let His people to suffer alone without hope, or without succour. On the other hand, through His generous love and care which He had shown us, He endeavoured to help us, for He is a true and good shepherd, whose eyes, mind, heart and attention is always on us, His sheep. He therefore promised the coming of a Saviour, a King who would reign forever over the people who were once scattered over the nations, and the Shepherd shall make them whole again.

And all these were fulfilled through Jesus, our Lord, the Messiah, Saviour of all mankind, Son of God, the Heir of David, the King and Good Shepherd who came to announce to all the fulfilment of God’s faithful promise to us. And He did it not just by words, but also through example. He taught the people, that God is the Good Shepherd, and He is that Good Shepherd, who led His people out of darkness and into the light.

In the Gospel today, we see how Jesus showed pity on the people who followed Him, because they were truly like ‘lambs scattered without a shepherd’, and this was the reality at that time, for as long as years and ages had passed, the people of God had no guide or destination to guide them, for all the shepherds who had come and go from them, all have not been good shepherds.

An example was the Pharisees, the elders and the teachers of the Law during the time of Jesus. These people were respected greatly by the people and they were also feared, for they policed the actions of the people and enforced with great severity the laws of Moses. However, as they enforced these laws, they failed to understand the true purpose and meaning of those rules, and end up following them blindly.

These shepherds appointed over the people of God have also not done what they were expected to do. They did not care about them and their well-being, and instead, they cared about themselves first. They worried more about their own stomachs and their own concerns first before that of the others entrusted to their care. This is the attitude of bad and irresponsible shepherds whom the Lord had rebuked through the prophet Jeremiah as we heard in the first reading today.

Those bad shepherds did not care for the sheep entrusted to them, and at the very first indication of danger, they would run away and let the sheep be destroyed, for they had no love for the sheep. But the Good Shepherd loves all of His sheep equally and with perfect love, so that through the love which He had shown them, the sheep may be reunited to their Shepherd in love.

This is what Jesus, our Good Shepherd had done. He had led by example, loving all of us from the depths of His heart, even to the point of laying down His own life for the sake of His people. He shed His Blood for the people, dying on the cross for the sake of all of us, for we have been swallowed by the darkness of this world, and have been defiled with the wickedness of our sins, and yet our Lord and Shepherd went forth to reclaim us from that darkness and back into the light.

Remember what Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the lost sheep? In that parable Jesus told how if a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them is lost, the shepherd would go and make use of all within his ability and disposal to regain the one who has been lost, and leave the other safe ninety-nine sheep behind. That is what a good shepherd would do, and what our Lord who is our Good Shepherd had done for our sake.

We have been lost, and naturally we would have gone on to annihilation, had it not for the Lord who had shown His mercy to us all. He stretched forth His hands and reached out to us, and He called on us to repent and to change our sinful ways. If we continue to walk on this path of sin, what lies there in the end for us will only be despair and eternal suffering of hell.

If our Lord had done so much for us, to gather us back as His sheep, to be part of His flock once again, then we too should make a conscious effort to reach out to His extended hands, which He had given to us for our salvation. And there is yet also another dimension to today’s Scripture readings as well. All of us have been saved by the Lord and we have become part of His blessed flock, gathered from among the nations, and yet there are still so many others that lie beyond the salvation He has given.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too are shepherds to one another, and especially to all those lost sheep still lying around deep in the darkness of this world. We have the share of responsibility to gather all the lost sheep of the Lord, calling them to reunion with our Good Shepherd, who will then bring us all together in love and give us His grace. We have to inspire many others to come to our Lord by our own actions, words and deeds.

If we do not do things and say things in the way that would identify us as those belonging to the Lord, then who would believe us and who would come to the presence of the Lord? They would remain lost and then the responsibility for their loss would hung heavily on our heads. We have this responsibility to help each other, and to guide one another to reach out to the Lord, our loving and devoted Shepherd, whose gaze is always directed on us.

May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, guide us in our lives, so that in all that we do, He may help us to keep our paths straight that we will remain always in His favour and in His grace, and may all of us embrace the love which our Shepherd had shown us, His lost sheep now lost no more but had been found. Let us forever live in the grace of our Lord who will bless us and keep us in His grace. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 July 2015 : Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 30-34

At that time, the Apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Then He said to them, “Go off by yourselves to a remote place and have some rest.” For there were so many people coming and going that the Apostles had no time even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a secluded area by themselves.

But people saw them leaving, and many could guess where they were going. So, from all the towns, they hurried there on foot, arriving ahead of them. As Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began a long teaching session with them.

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Sunday, 19 July 2015 : Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 2 : 13-18

But now, in Christ Jesus and by His blood, you who were once far off have come near. For Christ is our peace, He who has made the two peoples one, destroying in His own flesh the wall – the hatred – which separated us. He abolished the Law with its commands and precepts.

He made peace in uniting the two peoples in Him, creating out of the two one New Man. He destroyed hatred and reconciled us both to God through the cross, making the two one body. He came to proclaim peace; peace to you who were far off, peace to the Jews who were near. Through Him we – the two peoples – approach the Father in one Spirit.

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Sunday, 19 July 2015 : Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.