Sunday

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Sunday, 21 June 2015 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about how Jesus with His power and authority, commanded even the wind and the waves in the storm to settle down and cease, showing His power as the Messiah and the Lord of all Creations. And He showed it to His disciples who were fearful and afraid, fearing for their lives even as the storm battered on the ship and it almost sank.

Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, and He mentioned to them that they should not have been afraid, had they had even the smallest amount of faith and trust in God. This reading, and all the other readings and the psalm today all sounded in tandem upon a central theme, that is the Lord as our Master and our God, who loves us and protects us from harm’s way, and rescues us from trouble.

And He leads us all as the member of His Body, the Church, in a great journey through life and through this world, in order for us to traverse it safely to our destination, that is eternal life and joy which only the Lord our God could provide. And this is symbolised by that journey that Jesus and His disciples took as they traverse the lake in a storm, and Jesus calming down that storm for them.

There are indeed plenty of symbolisms in today’s readings, particularly that of the action of Jesus on that boat that day. The Church of God, the Body of Christ, is often represented as a large ship or boat, and truly, this same interpretation applies in this case too. Jesus and His disciples represents the Church, of which Jesus, who is their Master, is like the captain of the ship, while the disciples represent us all, who are the members of the Church.

For the Body of Christ, the Church of God represents not just the buildings and the assets of the Church, but the true assets of the Church lies in its members and their unity to one another. And Jesus is the Head of the Church that is His Body, in Him we are all united as one people, and He leads us in this journey filled with difficulties and challenges, the opposition and attacks by Satan against us.

For the stormy seas, the winds and the waves represent the challenges that will surely come our way if we remain true to our faith and remain in the Church of God. Satan, who has dominion over this world, is certainly not going to let us go and escape his clutches just like that. He who had made our forefathers to fall into sin and rebel against God will do the same to us as well.

And the disciples’ reactions when they saw the storm was about to sink their ship were truly reminiscent of our own reactions as well. They feared, so we also fear too, when we encounter difficulties, when we are tempted and challenged by Satan and his forces. And this happens when we do not have faith in God or little trust in Him. We are afraid and fearful because we think that in this battle and tribulation, we are alone.

And a natural reaction is for us to abandon the ship and jump into the water. Translating this to reality means that we abandon the Church, we abandon the Lord and all of His ways, succumbing to our fear. Do you know that it is much safer to remain with the ship even though it seems that the ship is about to sink? It is better than to jump out and face myriads of uncertainties and danger outside of the ship.

The Church of God is a haven of protection from the forces of evil, and if we are faithful and remain true to the Lord through His Church, and if we anchor ourselves steadily on Him, then we will not be shaken and no forces of evil can destroy us, for the Lord is with us, and as the Head of the Church, He will steer us through all the dangers and difficulties to our eternal reward.

We should not fear evil, for God Himself showed that He has authority over all things, and by subduing the storm and the waves, He showed that even Satan and all of his might had to submit to the power and authority of God, who is the Master of all. Therefore, there is really no need for us to be afraid of him and his darkness, for God who reigns over all will ensure our safety. Do not fear those who cannot harm our eternal soul.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, from today on, can we commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and trust in Him more? God is our Leader and our Shepherd, and as long as we have Him, we should not be shaken. Yes, there will be challenges and difficulties, but these are after all part and parcel of being one of the faithful ones of the Lord. For the world and Satan who ruled over it, had rejected the Lord in the first place, and therefore they will reject us and persecute us too.

May Almighty God give us strength to walk faithfully in His ways and not to be swayed by the forces of this world. May He give us courage to maintain ourselves and composure in the face of the storms of this world. May we not be discouraged or be frightened by what Satan has employed in order to deter us and make us panic, but let us all remain firmly in our true devotion and faith to the Lord our God. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 June 2015 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 4 : 35-41

At that time, on the same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” So they left the crowd, and took Him away in the boat He had been sitting in, and other boats set out with Him.

Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat, so that it was soon filled with water. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

They woke Him up, and said, “Master, do You not care if we drown?” And rising up, Jesus rebuked the wind, and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?”

But they were terrified, and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

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Sunday, 21 June 2015 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 5 : 14-17

Indeed the love of Christ holds us and we realise that if He died for all, all have died. He died for all so that those who live may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them.

And so from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard Him in another way. For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things have passed away; a new world has come.

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Sunday, 21 June 2015 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 106 : 23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31

Those who went to the sea in ships, merchants on the mighty waters, saw the marvels of the Lord, His wonderful deeds in the deep.

For He spoke and stirred up a storm whipping up the waves of the sea. Flung upward and plunged to the depths, they lost courage in the ordeal.

Then they cried to the Lord in anguish, and He rescued them from their distress. He stilled the storm to a gentle breeze and hushed the billows to silent waves.

How glad they were! He brought them safe and sound to the port where they were bound. Let them thank the Lord for His love and wondrous deeds for humans.

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Sunday, 21 June 2015 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Job 38 : 1, 8-11

Then YHVH answered Job out of the storm : “Who shut the sea behind closed doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling clothes; when I set its limits with doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘You will not go beyond those bounds; here is where your proud waves must halt?'”

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Sunday, 14 June 2015 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how God used stories and comparisons with the real world to teach His people about Himself, about the love He has for us all, and ultimately, on how we ourselves ought to live our lives and carry out our lives so that we will ultimately be found worthy of Him and be saved.

In the first reading, God through the prophet Ezekiel had revealed to the people what He intended to do with us. In the comparison with trees and plants growing in a field and on a mountain, He taught us that God intends for us to be good and have goodness within us. The plants and trees represent all of us mankind, whom the Lord had planted and nourished that they may grow tall and great, just like how God nourished us and planted the seeds of His Spirit in us.

We know that a plant needs good care and nutrients in order to grow big and strong. Therefore God has also given us tender care and love, to nurture within us the gifts which He had granted us, so that they may grow strong within us, and the gifts God has given us may extend to all others around us, and thus the comparison which God used, that like a tree with its large branches sheltering many animals and birds in them.

And God also likened this to the growth of a mustard seed, which Jesus used as a parable. A mustard seed is a very small seed, smaller than ever a grain of rice. And yet once it grows to its full height as a plant, it becomes a large tree, bigger than many other plants. Its roots firm, its branches wide and extensive and it is strong and majestic to be viewed.

Thus the same will be with us and our faith once it has been nurtured properly and well. Our faith will then not just remain as a seed, but it will grow and expand to become something that is great and all-encompassing, that all who see us will know that God had done His great works in us. Remember that Jesus Himself said that even if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains? That means once we have the faith in us and we cultivate it, then everything truly is possible for us.

The problem is indeed that many have lost the faith, or that the same faith is simply nonexistent or covered beneath layers of worry, corruption and desires of this world. To better understand this, we have to look back at yet another of Jesus’s parables. This is the parable of the sower and the seeds, where the sower threw the seeds that fell in various locations.

We should be quite familiar with this parable, where some seeds fell on the roadside, and the birds ate it up. This represents just how vulnerable we are to the works of Satan and his evil agents, the seducers and tempters that try at all times to keep us away from righteousness and from the path of God. And also those seeds that fell on the rocky ground, unable to form deep roots and died being scorched by the sun.

And also the seeds that became choked by the thistles and weeds growing around them. Both these examples showed how it will not be easy to build up, nurture and maintain our faith, since not only that Satan will try his best to keep us away from God’s salvation, but he has so many tools with which to destroy us, namely by the many worldly goods and desires that has often distracted us and kept us away from the One who should be our focus, that is the Lord our God.

But we know that the seeds that fell on the rich soil grew big and strong, healthy and great, to bear fruits in the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold and even more. This is in perfect tandem with what we heard through the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today, that a great tree with wide and extensive branches, where birds and other creatures came to dwell in them.

Thus, if our faith is strong, then it will truly grow to massive and epic proportion, not in terms of how great we will become, but in terms of our reach to others around us. The birds and the creatures are like those around us who are lost and who need our help. If we can grow stronger in faith, it does not benefit just ourselves, but also many others who by our help and by our examples also find themselves needing to be saved, and thus repent and change their ways. And indeed how much fruit that will bear us!

Truly, Jesus used His parables to make things more understandable by making the things divine explained in human terms, and more often than not, they are all connected together, as all of them explain the single theme that God wants to tell us, that is believe! Repent! And change our ways to be like the ways taught by the Lord!

Therefore, today, as we reflect on what we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all come to realise the great potentials that lie within each and every one of us, that is the potential of our faith, and also therefore of the gifts that God had placed in each and every one of us. We have a clear choice here, either to let the seeds of faith in us to remain as that, or to allow it to grow in a rich foundation to grow into a great and fruitful tree of faith.

God who sees the fruits of faith in us will then bless us and welcome us into His kingdom. He will strengthen us and grant us the eternal life which He had promised all of us. Remember, God is ever loving and ever faithful. Therefore, should we not truly seek Him in all things and become ever more faithful, remembering to do what He wants from us in all of our actions? May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 14 June 2015 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 4 : 26-34

At that time, Jesus also said, “In the kingdom of God it is like this : a man scatters seed upon the soil. Whether he is asleep or awake, be it day or night, the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. The soil produces of itself : first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when it is ripe for harvesting, they take the sickle for the cutting : the time for the harvest has come.”

Jesus also said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall we compare it? It is like a mustard seed which, when sown, is the smallest of all the seeds scattered upon the soil. But once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the plants in the garden, and even grows branches so big, that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.”

Jesus used many such stories, in order to proclaim the word to them in a way that they would be able to understand. He would not teach them without parables; but privately to His disciples He explained everything.

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Sunday, 14 June 2015 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 5 : 6-10

So we feel confident always. We know that while living in the body, we are exiled from the Lord, living by faith, without seeing; but we dare to think that we would rather be away from the body to go and live with the Lord.

So, whether we have to keep this house or lose it, we only wish to please the Lord. Anyway we all have to appear before the tribunal of Christ for each one to receive what he deserves for his good or evil deeds in the present life.

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Sunday, 14 June 2015 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 91 : 2-3, 13-14, 15-16

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your Name, o Most High, to proclaim Your grace in the morning, to declare Your faithfulness at night.

The virtuous will flourish like palm trees, they will thrive like the cedars of Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will prosper in the courts of our God.

In old age they will still bear fruit, they will stay fresh and green, to proclaim that the Lord is upright, “He is my Rock,” they say, “He never fails.”

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Sunday, 14 June 2015 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezekiel 17 : 22-24

Thus says YHVH : “At the top of the cedar I will take one of its uppermost branches, a tender twig and plant it. On a lofty, massive mountain, on a high mountain of Israel I will plant it. It will produce branches and bear fruit and become a magnificent cedar.”

“Birds of all kinds will nest in it and find shelter in its branches. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am YHVH, I who bring down the lofty tree and make the lowly tree tall. I will make the tree that is full of sap wither and the dry tree bloom. I, YHVH, have spoken and this will I do.”