Sunday

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Sunday, 25 February 2024 : Second Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 22 : 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

Some time later, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you.”

They came to the place to which God had directed them. Abraham then stretched out his hand to seize the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of YHVH called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.” “Do not lay your hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God, and you have not held back from Me your only son.” Abraham looked around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

And the Angel of YHVH called from heaven a second time. “By Myself I have sworn, it is YHVH Who speaks, because you have done this and not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the land of their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants because you have obeyed Me.”

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, which is the first Sunday in the season of Lent, we are all reminded of the nature and the importance of this time and season of preparation, in which we prepare ourselves for the upcoming commemoration and celebration of the most important events in Holy Week and Easter, which is highlighted in our Scripture passages today, using the story of Noah and the Great Flood as a reminder for us first of all of the fate of sinners who are unrepentant, the dangers of sin, and ultimately, how God’s love and grace can help us to overcome all these dangers, threats and dominion of sin, evil and death. If we put our faith and trust in the Lord, He will help and guide us all into the path of righteousness and freedom from all these.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Genesis of the aftermath of the Great Flood when God sent a great rain and flood to inundate the whole world, causing the destruction and death of all the people, the descendants of Adam and Eve, except for Noah and his immediate family, who had been spared by God for their faith and obedience to God, while all the others were wicked and filled with all sorts of sins and vices of the world. God ordered Noah to build a great ship, the Ark of Noah, for which he would become very famous for, and everyone and all the living things that were present in that ship were saved by God, Who then as we heard in our first reading, made a Covenant and promise with Noah and his family, that He would never destroy anyone again with a similar Great Flood.

Through that narrative of the Great Flood, its destruction of all the unrepentant and wicked sinners in the world, and its aftermath, all of us are first of all reminded as we begin this penitential season and time of Lent, of the need for all of us to be reconciled with God by the forgiveness of our many sins and wicked ways, which have separated us all from the wonderful and generous love of God. For there can be no sin or wickedness, imperfections and corruption present before the Lord our God, Who is all good and perfect. Sin is caused by our disobedience and refusal to obey the Lord’s will, His Law and commandments, and through sin, we have been corrupted and defiled, and hence, we have to be separated from God, and cast out from the bliss of the Gardens of Eden, where everything was once perfect.

Sin led mankind to this lack of grace from God, and our separation from the Lord and Master of life, and hence, that was why we had to suffer and experience death, which was the natural and logical consequence of our sins. Disobedience leads to sin and sin then leads to death. We had not meant to suffer such fate, or to endure and experience the bitterness of death, the separation from the Lord, and yet, by our own conscious choice, we have chosen to cast ourselves out of the Holy Presence of God. Yet, God has always desired to call us all back to Him, and He still loved us all despite all the wickedness and sins that we have committed. And this is because what He despises is not us per se, but rather our sins and wickedness, which we have done and committed in His sight. And God is so great and merciful that even the greatest of sinners are still within the reach of His mercy and compassion.

Then, in our second reading today, we also heard from the Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in which he reminded the faithful using the same example and story of Noah and the Great Ark he built, in obedience to God, in saving himself and his family from the Great Flood of his time. St. Peter showed how our salvation was just like the journey of Noah through the time of the Great Flood, and how he persisted and survived, and how God made a Covenant with him and his family. This is because through the example of the Great Flood, the waters involved in that event was clearly a force of destruction, but also at the same time a force that brought about new life and rejuvenation. The same experience was faced by the Israelites when the Lord brought them out of the land of Egypt through the leadership of Moses, as they walked through the waters of the Red Sea, into their freedom from their slavery.

In the same manner therefore, the Lord led us all through His death on the Cross, as He suffered and endured the worst punishments and trials for our sake, showing us the concrete and most enduring form of His love. His compassion and love have been shown unto us in the flesh in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. He united us all, our humanity and our existence to Him, through His incarnation in the flesh, and by the waters of baptism, He has brought us all like how Noah led all of his family and the living things in the world into the Great Ark, and like how Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea to their freedom. The Lord has therefore brought us through death and then to new life, through His most glorious Resurrection, through which He has defeated and conquered death itself, and broke forever the yoke of sin and evil over us. He renewed and made with us all, a perfect and Eternal Covenant, meant for our salvation and everlasting life.

Lastly, in our Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan during His forty days time in the desert right after His baptism in the River Jordan. This current liturgical year’s account of this temptation story from the Gospel of St. Mark is the shortest among the other Gospels, but I am sure that all of us are familiar with the details on how the Lord rejected the advances and the efforts of the devil to make Him succumb to the temptations of sin and evil. He rebuked Satan, all of his false promises and lies, and through that, He began His ministry in this world, where He revealed to all of us the truth about God, His Good News and everything that He has planned for our salvation and how He was the One that the prophets had promised and prophesied about, the Saviour Who would redeem all of mankind and reconcile them all to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard all of these passages from the Scriptures and reflecting upon what we have all just discussed and pondered about, let us all therefore make a firm resolve and commitment to God, renewing our faith in Him and reaffirming our desire to return to Him with a contrite and sorrowful heart, full of regret and sorrow for our many sins, our many evils and wickedness, all the things which had kept us away from the fullness of His love and grace. Let us also remind ourselves of just how blessed and fortunate all of us are, to have been beloved so much by God, that He has willingly sent unto us His own Beloved Son, to bring us all out of the darkness, sin and death, by leading us through the waters of baptism, that we may become part of His Church, His one united Body, and be united to Him in death and in the new life He has promised us, that we may one day share in His glorious Resurrection.

Let us all therefore begin our observances this Lenten season with great commitment and genuine faith, and let us all do our best so that in each and every moments of our lives, particularly during this Lenten season, we may make best use of them to draw ever closer to God, seeking His love and guidance, help and strength so that by His power and guidance we may come ever closer to His forgiveness, mercy and love. Let us all help one another in seeking God’s grace and salvation, and support each other with love and compassion, with generosity in how we share our blessings and excesses with those who have less or none. Let us be ever more worthy and committed Christians in all the things we say and do, now and always.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, our Lenten journey and observances, our every moments and lives throughout this blessed season and time of Lent. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Mark 1 : 12-15

At that time, the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. He stayed in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, but Angels ministered to Him.

After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee and began preaching the Good News of God. He said, “The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News.”

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Peter 3 : 18-22

Remember how Christ died, once, and for all, for our sins. He, the Just One, died for the unjust, in order to lead us to God. In the Body, He was put to death, in the Spirit, He was raised to life, and it was then, that He went to preach to the imprisoned spirits.

They were the generation who did not believe, when God, in His great patience, delayed punishing the world, while Noah was building the Ark, in which a small group of eight persons escaped, through water. That was a type of baptism that now saves you; this baptism is not a matter of physical cleansing, but of asking God to reconcile us, through the resurrection of Christ Jesus.

He has ascended to heaven, and is at the right hand of God, having subjected the Angels, Dominions and Powers.

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 24 : 4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

Teach me Your ways, o YHVH; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Remember Your compassion, o YHVH, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, YHVH teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

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Sunday, 18 February 2024 : First Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 9 : 8-15

God spoke to Noah and his sons, “See I am making a Covenant with you and with your descendants after you; also with every living animal with you : birds, cattle, that is, with every living creature of the earth that came out of the Ark. I establish My Covenant with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the sign of the Covenant I make between Me and you, and every animal living with you for all future generations. I set My bow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the Covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember the Covenant between Me and you and every kind of living creature, so that never again will floodwaters destroy all flesh.”

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Sunday, 11 February 2024 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday each and every one of us are reminded first of all that we have to seek the Lord and put Him at the centre and as the focus of our lives, as it is in Him alone that we can find liberation and freedom from all of our troubles, sufferings and pains, which is represented by the problem of leprosy highlighted in our Scripture readings today. That leprosy is a representation of all of the things which have kept us from the fullness of grace in God, and it is in the Lord alone that we can find total and complete freedom from all these taints and corruptions, and find true satisfaction and joy.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Leviticus in which the matter of leprosy and how it should he handled and treated are presented to us. However, first of all, we must understand that the kind of disease now known as leprosy, is probably different from what was indicated and known in the time of the Exodus and in the historic Israel. The skin diseases that are infectious and showing external signs easily visible to others at that time were generally all called leprosy, and this kind of infection was greatly feared at the time especially because during the time of the Exodus and the journey from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, many of the people were living together in close and cramped quarters, in which any disease outbreak would have been deadly.

That was why, as part of the laws and customs established then by the Law of God and Moses, it was settled that those who suffered from leprosy ought to distance themselves from others, and they were to be sent out from the community for the good of the whole community. At the same time, those who suffered from the leprosy could eventually return once they have recovered and been cured from the leprosy, which is yet another sign that this kind of leprosy is not exactly the same as the leprosy we commonly know today, which is mostly incurable. Nonetheless, it has always been the intention of the Lord to help manage, safeguard and protect His people through the Law that He has given to them, so that they could remain safe and healthy throughout their long journey.

However, this Law in time became a source of prejudice and discrimination against those who suffered from leprosy and other diseases, as those who suffered from them became ostracised and were treated badly against, as they were deemed to be unclean and even treated as if they had committed bad things and deeds in life, in which the leprosy became some sorts of Divine retribution or punishment for their wickedness and sins. This was where the Lord came in and showed that this attitude was not helpful and charitable, and is something that they should not be doing, as ultimately, everyone who suffered from those diseases and afflictions, are also equally beloved by God, and are our own brothers and sisters in the same Lord and Father.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we heard the Apostle exhorting the faithful people of God in the city of Corinth reminding that they all should be following the examples of the Lord, in doing what He had taught and commanded them to do, not to seek their own interests or to offend anyone. This also implied that they should also not differentiate anyone by their background or origins, as what St. Paul had often championed, in highlighting the equality between the Jewish people and the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles, how everyone ought to be treated equally, and not be prejudiced or biased against each other.

To understand this better, once again we have to understand the context of what happened at that time, and the dynamics of the community of the faithful then. At that time, the Jewish people, who were directly descended from the people of Israel and Judah, had considered themselves to be better and more privileged than others by virtue of them and their ancestors being the chosen people, the ones descended from Abraham and Israel, God’s first chosen people. However, some among them like the Pharisees, took this to the extreme, by considering that any association or contact with the Gentiles or pagans would have made them to be unclean and unworthy, stained and corrupted in some form.

This is why the Lord reached out to the leper in our Gospel passage today, as He showed His mercy and compassion on him as the leper begged the Lord to heal him and to make him healthy once again. No one among the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees would have even come close to the leper, less still to help and heal him. The Gospel passage was also very clear in pointing out that the Lord stretched out His hand and touched the leper, which caused the leprosy to be healed immediately. The Lord wanted the leper, His disciples and all of us to know that, nothing came separate or come in between us and the love of God, no matter what. He came to heal us and to gather us all back to His loving Presence, and to liberate us from all of our trials and troubles.

Now, in today’s Scripture readings, there is one more topic and important point highlighted in them, that is the matter of obedience. In the same Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord told the healed leper that he ought to show himself to the priest in the manner prescribed by the Law, and not to tell anyone else how he had been healed. Yet, that same leper disobeyed Him and did the exact opposite. It was likely that the Lord knew that the leper was going to disobey Him and therefore He gave him a reminder that he should not do so. The healed leper chose to disobey the Lord anyway, and that brought difficulties to the Lord and His works. Why is that so? That is because if everyone found out that the Lord had been touching a leper, although He did heal the latter from his leprosy, but some would have considered the Lord to be unclean and hence ought to be ostracised like the leper himself.

Another possibility was that when everyone found out about the miraculous healing, all the people would have wanted to seek the Lord and be healed by Him as well, and this would have made it really difficult for Him to go into any towns because of the immense crowds that would have sought Him. But regardless of the reasons why the Lord had to stay in the wilderness, the reality is that, despite knowing that the leper was going to disobey Him, the risks involved in doing His works and all, the Lord still chose to heal the leper anyway, showing the great love and compassion which He has always had for every one of us, regardless of who we are and what kind of conditions we have, and He patiently reached out to us sinners, to gather us all and to bring us all back to Him.

And this is also a reminder for us that God alone has the power to heal and save us from our own ‘leprosy’ that is our sins. Yes, sin is the leprosy of our souls, which afflicts and corrupts our body, mind, heart and soul, essentially our whole being. And unlike other kinds of diseases and afflictions, which can be cured and settled by doctors and medicines, by the technology and advancements in this world, even that of the usual leprosy, but the leprosy of our sins cannot be cured and healed save that of by God’s grace and healing. Yes, the Lord alone has the power and authority to free us all from our many sins and evils, from our wickedness and corruptions. He can forgive and heal us from the power of darkness, and bring us all into the Light of salvation and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend some time to reflect on these readings from the Scriptures and see in what way that we can be better disciples and followers of Our Lord and God. Let us all restrain ourselves from the path of sin and evil, and do our part so that we may always continue to grow in faith in Him, and come to be good role models and examples in faith at all times. Let us all be humble and seek the Lord’s forgiveness and healing, liberating us from the shackles and slavery to sin. May the Lord in His great love and compassion for all of us continue to love us and bless us in each and every moments of our lives, and may He guide us in our journey of faith and life, and be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 February 2024 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 1 : 40-45

At that time, a leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If You want to, You can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.”

The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Do not tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest, and for the cleansing bring the offering ordered by Moses; in this way you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Sunday, 11 February 2024 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 10 : 31 – 1 Corinthians 11 : 1

Then, whatever you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Give no offence to the Jews, or to the Greeks, or to the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything. I do not seek my own interest, but that of many, this is : that they be saved.

Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

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Sunday, 11 February 2024 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 11

Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom YHVH sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To YHVH I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin; You removed my guilt.

Rejoice in YHVH, and be glad, you who are upright; sing and shout for joy, you who are clean of heart.