Sundays after Epiphany

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Friday, 13 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all called to reflect upon what we have just heard from the Lord speaking to us through His Word, reminding each and every one of us that as Christians, we are all called to be truly genuine in loving the Lord and His people, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, to be truly compassionate and kind, full of grace and love of God manifested in us and our actions in daily life. All of us should truly embody what we believe in, and we should not merely just believing outwardly and externally only. Instead, we should be truly genuine in our faith, commitment and dedication to God, and we should be the great examples of how beautiful our Christian faith is in all the things we do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard of the reminder from the Apostle to us all that we should not be disheartened should difficulties and challenges come to us and become barriers in our path. Instead, we should continue to trust in the Lord and in His Providence, entrusting ourselves to His loving care and compassion. God has given us all His assurances that we will always be taken care of and that we will never be alone. He has also given us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us all in our journey throughout life. And therefore it is indeed important that we should make good use of what God has granted to us at all times, by using them for good purposes.

Then, from the Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord’s reminders for His disciples and followers, and all of those who were listening to Him, and hence all of us of the dangers of sin and why we must therefore strive to keep ourselves from sin and from the corruptions of this world. In the language that the Lord used in delivering His ideas and teachings, it may indeed bring about discomfort for some of us as He used a rather blatant and direct language, telling all of them that if any parts of their bodies should lead them to sin, then they should discard and cut them off from their bodies. This is actually one very good example why we should not take every words of the Lord and the Scriptures literally without understanding the context behind them.

What the Lord wanted to highlight in using such a language and terms is that sin is something serious and harmful to us, and sin separates us from God and His love, His grace and compassion. Yet at the same time, the mercy of God is so great and boundless, that He is capable of healing us of all those troubles. At the same time, those limbs and parts of our bodies themselves are not to blame for our sins. Rather, it is our desires that had led us to disobey the Lord and therefore leading us into sin and evil. In fact, what God has given to us, our body and all are capable of many great and wonderful things just as they are capable of evil and sin. That is why what we need to do is rather to focus on using them for good things instead of evil.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a renowned saint and dedicated servant of God who had been born into a wealthy noble family in Portugal, and he was eventually joining the Order of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross and was ordained a priest at a rather young age, which then led him on a journey of encounter with several Franciscan friars that inspired him to join their order. St. Anthony of Padua adopted his well-known name from the name of the patron saint of the friary, St. Anthony the Great. He went to various places like Morocco and then Italy in pursuit of his vocation and mission, and in Italy, in one well known occasion, when the Dominicans and the Franciscans in the town of Forli could not agree on who to preach in an ordination ceremony, it fell onto St. Anthony of Padua, whose homily moved the heart of the entire audience with his wisdom and eloquence.

St. Anthony worked together with the founder of the Franciscan order, St. Francis of Assisi himself, convincing the latter of the importance of theological and spiritual preparation, studies and all related matters for the Franciscan friars, and he was tasked to take care of this matter henceforth for the friars. And in what happened in Bologna would later inspire the popular tradition and devotion that St. Anthony of Padua is often invoked for his intercession in finding lost items as it was told that a Franciscan novice stole the psalter that belonged to St. Anthony of Padua, and the latter prayed that the book be returned to him, and indeed it happened, as not only that the thief returned the book but he also returned to the order as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon the words of the Sacred Scriptures and look upon the inspiring life and examples of St. Anthony of Padua, remembering how he dedicated his life in service to the Lord and in his commitment for the betterment of the lives of those who were around him. As Christians, let us all always be full of faith in the Lord, full of hope and trust in Him, and then also full of love firstly of the Lord but also full of the same love for our fellow brothers and sisters as well. Our love and care for one another, just as our strong and enduring faith in the Lord are hallmarks of our Christian faith, and it is what we are all challenged to do in each and every moments of our lives.

May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith in Him, giving us the courage and inspiration to remain firm in our path as we walk and journey together towards Him, and to remain holy and worthy of Him at all times, distancing ourselves from sin. Let us all continue to encourage one another that we may always strengthen each other and support our fellow brethren around us as much as we are able to, that all of us may find the path towards the Lord and remain fully committed to Him at all times despite the many challenges in life. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 13 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 5 : 27-32

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “You have heard that it was said : Do not commit adultery. But I tell you this : anyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

“So, if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body, than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to lose a part of your body, than to have your whole body thrown into hell.”

“It was also said : Anyone who divorces his wife, must give her a written notice of divorce. But what I tell you is this : if a man divorces his wife, except in the case of unlawful union, he causes her to commit adultery. And the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

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Friday, 13 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 115 : 10-11, 15-16, 17-18

You, family of Aaron, trust in YHVH; He is your help and your shield! You who fear YHVH, trust in Him; He is your help and your shield!

May you be blessed by YHVH. Maker of heaven and earth. Heaven belongs to YHVH, but the earth He has given to humans.

It is not the dead who praise YHVH, for they have gone down to silence; but it is we, the living who praise YHVH, from now on and forever.

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Friday, 13 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.

At any moment, we carry, in our person, the death of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death, for the sake of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.

We have received the same Spirit of faith referred to in Scripture, that says : I believed and so I spoke. We also believe, and so we speak. We know that He, Who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us, with Jesus, and bring us, with you, into His presence. Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you, and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us as Christians to be truly loving, forgiving and compassionate in the manner that the Lord Himself had done to us, in what He has presented to us in love and compassion at all times. Each and every one of us as Christians must always continue to live our lives faithfully in the Lord in the manner that He has shown and taught us all these while, either directly in His ministry and actions, or through what He has inspired the Church and all of us via the Holy Spirit. It is important that we have to embody what we believe in and be sincere in our faith or else we may not be true disciples and followers of God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard about the Apostle reminding the faithful there in Corinth about the truth, revelations and graces which they have all received from the Lord, the revelation on how they all can become true and committed disciples and followers of the Lord, in living their lives in the right manner and not to be distracted by the many path of worldliness and temptations which had kept many from truly being able to follow the Lord. This is what each and every one of us are being constantly reminded of as well so that in our every actions, words and deeds we will always be worthy of the Lord, showing true faith and dedication to Him in all things.

St. Paul also made reference to those who followed the Law of Moses, referring to the Law of God which had been revealed and passed down to the people of God through Moses at the time of the Exodus, telling the Christian faithful in Corinth how those people had remained in being veiled from the fullness of God’s truth. We must understand the context and circumstances of how these words were spoken by St. Paul or else we might end up having the wrong idea why he mentioned this about those who followed the old ways that is the way of the ‘Law of Moses’. In truth, what he was referring is the way how the Law of God had been interpreted and handed down the generations from Moses down to their time, many centuries later, which had resulted in a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions.

That is because especially regarding the actions and behaviours of many among the Jewish elders at that time, such as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those who had been entrusted with the guardianship and care of the Law of God. However, they had lapsed from such a duty and they enforced a very hardline and strict approach on the Law, so much so that they ended up causing a lot of hardships and inconveniences on many of the people whom they had imposed the Law upon, including all the precepts and details, consisting of over six hundred and thirteen rules and regulations, not including all the additional details, complex rituals and requirements, restrictions and many other things that had led to many people finding it difficult to obey and fulfil the whole breadth and depth of the commandments of the Law of God.

Then, our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus teaching His disciples and followers about what it truly means to be those who have faith in Him and believe in Him. He told all of them that they all ought to be more faithful and knowing of the Law more than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, related precisely to what we have heard from our first reading passage today. We are reminded just as the disciples had been by the Lord that all of us should not be hypocrites in our faith and we should not behave in the same manner as those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who made it difficult for others to follow the Lord and yet they themselves did not obey faithfully.

Instead, as the Lord Himself often criticised the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for, many among them showed their piety and practices to be praised and glorified by others, and they also sought the best of places, looking down on all those whom they deemed to be less than worthy than them. As such, the Lord was warning all of His disciples and also all of us that we should not follow in their examples, and instead, we should always put our faith in the Lord and trust in Him. All of us should seek to learn to love God and love our fellow brethren most sincerely and genuinely, because as the Lord Himself has taught and shown His disciples that the whole entire Law can be summarised into this, and the Law was indeed meant to teach us how to love, loving God and our fellow brethren alike. Obeying the Law should not be an empty and self-glorifying practice that exclude others and even cause harm and discomfort on those around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue therefore to show love and compassion in all of our actions, words and deeds, in our every interactions and dealings with each other. Let us all truly show our Christian faith by our love and compassion, as it is indeed said that it is by our love that everyone will know that we are Christians, something that distinguishes us from the world and all others who have not believed in the Lord in the manner that we have done. That is why we have to continue to love one another generously and sincerely, and to practice our faith in the manner that we have been taught and shown by the Lord all these while through His Church. We should always be sincere in our love and care, compassion and kindness to one another.

May the Lord continue to guide us all in our lives so that in each and every moments, in everything that we say and do, we will continue to follow Him faithfully and glorify Him by our lives, now and always, in all things and in all circumstances in our lives. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you, if your sense of right and wrong is not keener than that of the Lawyers and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“You have heard, that it was said to our people in the past : Do not commit murder; anyone who murders will have to face trial. But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or sister is liable, to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or sister ‘Fool!’ is liable, of being thrown into the fire of hell.”

“So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there, in front of the altar; go at once, and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There, you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 84 : 9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Would, that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet, His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

YHVH will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 3 : 15 – 2 Corinthians 4 : 1, 3-6

Up to this very day, whenever they read Moses, the veil remains over their understanding but, for whoever turns to the Lord, the veil shall be removed. The Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So, with unveiled faces, we all reflect the glory of the Lord, while we are transformed into His likeness, and experience His glory, more and more by the action of the Lord, Who is Spirit.

Since this is our ministry, mercifully given to us, we do not weaken. In fact, if the Gospel we proclaim remains obscure, it is obscure only for those who go to their own destruction. The God of this world has blinded the minds of these unbelievers, lest they see the radiance of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is God’s Image.

It is not ourselves we preach, but Christ Jesus, as Lord; and, for Jesus’ sake, we are your servants. God, Who said, ‘Let the light shine out of darkness’, has also made the light shine in our hearts, to radiate, and to make known the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Christ.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Barnabas, one of the Apostles of the Lord, and while he was not counted among the Twelve Apostles, the twelve chief disciples of the Lord, but nonetheless, he was one of the very important people involved in the work of evangelisation and ministry in the early Church. He was one of the companions of St. Paul the Apostle in the ministry especially towards the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, to whom they both had been sent to by the Twelve Apostles and the Church. And in their various works, St. Barnabas and St. Paul had indeed achieved great successes much as they had also encountered significant challenges and trials in their journey and works.

And yet, they trusted fully in the Lord and devoted themselves completely to Him, trusting in His Providence, guidance and help in ministering to the faithful people of God, and in glorifying God and proclaiming Him to all those whom they encountered in their journeys. As we heard in our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of how Christian community was being established in Antioch, which at that time was one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, and the largest one in that region. Christian missionaries that went there helped to establish the Church, including that of St. Barnabas himself, who discovered the group of believers in that place, even among the Gentiles, the Greeks and others of the local populace on top of the Jewish converts to Christianity.

Antioch also historically held an important significance in the development of the Christian faith as it was there that those who believed in the Lord were first known publicly and commonly as ‘Christians’, or in the original Greek perhaps Christianos, meaning those who believed in the Christ, which was the equivalent term in Greek for the Hebrew Messiah or Meshiach, which meant Saviour. It certainly marked the believers of the Lord as a distinct group as compared to the Jewish believers, those who followed the ancient Law of Moses. Earlier on, Christianity was considered as merely just another sect of Judaism, like those Pharisees and Sadducees, as well as the Essenes among others, but gradually, the practices and ways of the early Christians began to diverge more and more from their Jewish roots.

What was especially important, was the fact that the early Christians accepted those who came from the non-Jewish background, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and other locals who were not so receptive of the Jewish customs and practices. While earlier on in the history of the Church there had been some, especially the converts from among the Pharisees, who wanted to enforce the strict Jewish customs, practices and rites on all the Christian believers, including those from the Gentiles background, but St. Barnabas was among those, together with St. Paul who were adamantly against such an imposition and action, as that would have led to great difficulties in evangelisation and ministry among the Gentiles, which cultures often saw Jewish practices as weird, barbaric and uncultured.

Thus, it was St. Barnabas among others as mentioned in the first reading today, that were sent to evangelise among the faithful in Antioch, after the Apostles had already decided that such an imposition of Jewish customs, laws and practices were unlawful and improper. The Christian population in Antioch grew rapidly and more and more came to become believers in the Lord. The Apostles like St. Barnabas and the other missionaries were carrying out what the Lord had commanded them all to do just as we have heard in our Gospel passage today, as they all went forth as missionaries, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God faithfully and courageously, entrusting themselves to the Lord and doing their best to touch the hearts and minds of the people whom they had visited and encountered in their journey.

Eventually, St. Barnabas would continue on serving the Lord in various missions and works, and according to Apostolic traditions and history, he was martyred in Syria where he was proclaiming the Good News of God, as some Jewish people that came there, envious and jealous of his great successes in gaining many converts from among the Jews and the Gentiles alike, persecuted him when they were disputing with him in the local synagogue, dragged him out of the place and then stoned him to death, much as how St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church had also been martyred earlier on. Despite this, the many great works and efforts which St. Barnabas had done for the greater glory of God had endured, and many were converted because of his hard work.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all recall the works and life of St. Barnabas, Holy Apostle and servant of God, let us all therefore reflect on our own lives as Christians, as those whom God has called and chosen to be His own holy and beloved people. Let us all be true and genuine disciples of the Lord in doing our best to glorify the Lord by our lives, in all that we do in each and every moments, even in the smallest things we do. We do not have to do great and wonderful things as what the Apostles and the disciples had done, but more importantly, we should be always be sincere in following the Lord at all times, in doing His will and in encouraging one another to carry on living our lives each day with greater determination and courage as faithful and committed children of God.

May the Lord continue to guide and bless each and every one of us so that by our commitment and dedication to Him, following the good inspiration and examples of St. Barnabas the Apostle, we may continue to glorify Him through our actions and deeds, in everything that we say and do, for His greater glory. May the Lord continue to bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, and may He strengthen us all with the resolve and the desire to proclaim His Good News and truth at all times, through our own exemplary lives and faith as Christians, in our own respective communities and areas of life. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 10 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Go, and proclaim this message : The kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not carry any gold or silver or money in your purses. Do not take a travelling bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick : workers deserve to be compensated.”

“When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people are worthy people, your peace will rest on them; if they are not worthy people, your blessing will come back to you.”