Sundays after Pentecost

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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the great St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the four renowned Evangelists who wrote the Four Holy Gospels. Each one of these Four Evangelists wrote their Gospels with specific target and audience in mind, and with lots of shared contents and similarities, being divinely inspired and from the same deposit of faith, but with some differences especially pertaining to the intended audience of each of the authors of those Gospels, where there are differences in the way that the stories and passages of the Gospels were written, with different contexts and explanations to help whoever were listening to the messages of the Gospels to understand better about the Lord and His salvation, His Good News, His truth and love.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy in which St. Paul the Apostle spoke to St. Timothy about the matter of his experiences with the other disciples around him, including with St. Luke the Evangelist, who was one of St. Paul’s companions during his numerous missionary journeys. St. Paul spoke of how some of them including St. Luke had been good companions and were faithful to God and to their mission, while there were also others who were not helpful or even detrimental in how they had probably hindered the works of St. Paul and his other fellow missionaries. Through this conversation and exchanges, coupled with historical evidence and Church tradition, we can see how the early Church grew through the dedicated efforts of the early missionaries, including the Apostles and their companions like St. Luke the Evangelist.

St. Luke the Evangelist himself was a known physician who was a follower of St. Paul the Apostle, and journeyed with the latter in some of his missionary journeys as mentioned earlier. He was of Greek origin from the city and region of Antioch in Syria, and became a disciple of the Lord. Some Church tradition and accounts numbered St. Luke among the seventy-two or seventy disciples that was mentioned in our Gospel passage today. Regardless of the fact, whether St. Luke followed the Lord from during the time of His ministry or afterwards, it was clear that he was closely intertwined with the efforts of the early Church missionaries, the Apostles and the other disciples in proclaiming the Good News of God to many people and communities throughout the region.

St. Luke was credited with not just the authorship of the Gospel of St. Luke, but most Church historians and the traditions of the Church also attributed to him the authorship of the Acts of the Apostles, the Book in the New Testament which gave details on the many actions and works of the Apostles and their companions, the authenticity and accuracy of which is further bolstered by the fact that St. Luke was actively participating in many of St. Paul’s missionary journeys, and therefore can indeed be seen as the various experiences and things that St. Luke the Evangelist himself had experienced and received during his journeys and exchanges with St. Paul, with the other Apostles and missionaries of his time and era, giving us all important insight of the experiences of the early Church and early Christians.

According to Church tradition, St. Luke continued to carry out his mission by following St. Paul all the way to Rome, as attested in the Acts of the Apostles itself, accompanying the Apostle to the last stage of his mission before he was martyred for his faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Nero. Then, St. Luke himself according to some traditions was also a martyr, by being hung from an olive tree, while others said that he was not a martyr. Nonetheless, regardless of the detail or fact about the end of his life, St. Luke ended his life at a rather advanced age of eighty-four in Boeotia, in what is today central part of Greece, after a long life of service to God and after a lot of great contributions to the Church and the faithful, through his writings and works of evangelisation, among many others.

Then, in our Gospel passage, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist about the Lord Jesus sending out His disciples, a total of seventy-two of them, in addition to His Twelve, to do their missions and prepare the way and path for Him before He went to the various places He Himself would be visiting. He sent them all in pairs, two by two to proclaim the Good News, to perform miracles and signs, heal the sick and cast out demons, through the authority and power which He had granted to them. He gave them the mandate to do what He has come into this world for, to bring us all out of the darkness and from the tyranny of sin, allowing us all to be free once again and to be reunited and reconciled with God. And each and every one of those disciples were all part of this whole mission, as are all of us as well.

We should continue to remember that each and every one of us are part of the same mission and effort of the Church in evangelisation and proclamation of God’s Good News and salvation. Through us and our good works and contributions, each and every one of us can contribute to lead many more people ever closer to God, to bring them all towards His salvation and grace. The Lord told His disciples to go forth and courageously proclaim His message and Good News to everyone, and not to be afraid to do so, and to entrust themselves to His providence and care as they do so. Therefore, we must also have the same attitude, doing whatever we can so that our every actions will always help others to come ever closer to God and to find their way to the eternal life in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scriptures and from the life, works and examples shown to us by St. Luke the Evangelist, let us all therefore recognise our own mission and calling in life to be truly missionary and evangelising in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another. All of us as Christians should always be full of courage and zeal to proclaim the Lord and His Good News at all times and in all the opportunities provided for us by the Lord. We should not be ignorant of all the things which we can do by making good use of everything that we have been blessed with by the Lord, in all the blessings and graces that He has provided to us, and by utilising all the opportunities that He has given us that we may glorify Him by each and every moments of our lives.

Let us all continue to follow in the footsteps of the holy saints and martyrs, and today especially of St. Luke the Evangelist, the great servant of God who has dedicated his life to glorify the Lord and to proclaim Him through his writings and works, and through his efforts in evangelisation. May our lives be truly holy and worthy of God, so that God’s light, truth, love and hope may be shown to others just as St. Luke and the many other holy men and women of God have been our inspiration and role model. May the Lord, our loving and ever compassionate God, continue to guide us all in our journey of faith, and may He help us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

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

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign, and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endured, from generation to generation.

Righteous is YHVH 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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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 4 : 10-17b

You must know, that Demas has deserted me, for the love of this world : he returned to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke remains with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is a useful helper in my work. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

Bring with you the cloak I left at Troas, in Carpos’ house, and also the scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander, the metalworker, has caused me great harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Distrust him, for he has been very much opposed to our preaching.

At my first hearing in court, no one supported me; all deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the word fully, and to let all the pagans hear it.

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Thursday, 17 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people to continue to obey wholeheartedly the teachings of the Lord, our loving God and Saviour, Who has revealed His love to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, manifesting His love to us in the fullest and in manner that is tangible and approachable by us, so that we may come to benefit from His love and salvation, and that we may be assured of His ever patient guidance and help throughout our respective journeys in life. Consequently, we should also strive to keep away from ourselves all the 

In our first reading todayreadinb, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Ephesus, we heard the greeting from the Apostle to the faithful in Ephesus, reminding them all of the salvation in Jesus Christ, their Lord and Saviour, which he and the other Apostles and missionaries had been proclaiming about, reminding them that the salvation in the Lord came through Christ and whatever He had revealed to them through His disciples and Church, and not through other means such as through the obedience of the Law and commandments of God, as some of the converts from the Jewish background, especially those from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law group claimed and wanted to enforce the Jewish customs and ways on the rest of the Church and the Christian faithful.

As they were making such coercions and efforts, they were also claiming that unless the people of God obeyed the Law of Moses in how they were interpreted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, then they could not be saved or have a share in God’s grace. This claim and false interpretations of the Law and their attempts to impose these on the Church and the faithful therefore were met with opposition and rebuke from St. Paul, just as the Lord Himself has also told the people that the path towards the Lord and eternal life is through Himself, and not through the obedience to the man-made laws, rules, regulations, customs and boundaries which men tried to set in their midst, in order to make some among themselves more righteous, worthy and better than others.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the continuation of the account from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist where the Lord continued to rebuke and criticise the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their actions and for their lack of faith in God and His Saviour. The context in all these must be understood in that the Lord had faced constant opposition and rejection, stubborn attitudes and obstacles from all those aforementioned Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who often doubted His teachings, questioned His authority to teach and perform the miracles, and used their own strict and rigid interpretation and understanding of the Law of God to oppose what the Lord had revealed and attempted to teach to them. As such, the Lord often faced a lot of hardships throughout His ministry because of all that.

That was why the Lord criticised and rebuked those Pharisees for their attitudes, which He highlighted as being similar with the attitudes that their ancestors and predecessors had once shown, in their stubbornness to follow the whim of their own desires, their own understanding and interpretation of things rather than to trust in the Lord and His truth. Their pride and ego, ambitions and desires of this world led them to walk down the wrong path and made them to be ever more distant from the Lord, as they had closed the doors of their hearts and minds to the Lord. This is the attitude that the Lord does not want any of us to have, so that we do not end up thinking that our ways and methods are better or that we are somehow better and superior than others around us. Instead, as Christians, it is always important that we remain humble and willing to listen to others, especially in listening to God.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the renowned St. Ignatius of Antioch, a great Church father and one of the famous martyrs of the early Church, whose courage, faith and dedication to God are truly exemplary and inspirational to all of us. St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the early successors of the Apostles and was a convert to the Christian faith during the time of the great missionary works of the Apostles, who were establishing the Church and spreading the Good News to many people all throughout the world. St. Ignatius of Antioch according to the Church history and tradition was the disciple of St. John the Apostle, and therefore knew about the Apostles directly and received the truth from them, which he himself upheld most faithfully and continued to propagate in his own ministry.

St. Ignatius of Antioch went to Antioch, to the city where one of the first community of Christians outside of Judah, Galilee and Jerusalem was formed, and there he succeeded St. Peter the Apostle who was the first Bishop of Antioch in eventually becoming the shepherd of the flock of God’s people in that great city, ministering to the faithful and proclaiming God’s Good News to many more of the people in that region, and eventually, during the intense persecutions against Christians at that time, he was martyred like most of the Apostles and many other disciples and missionaries of the Lord, and he remained firmly faithful to the Lord to the very end, not giving up his commitment to Him and remaining strong in his conviction to follow the Lord despite the sufferings and trials that he had to endure, and his great courage and faith strengthened many other faithful people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the life and examples of St. Ignatius of Antioch, and as we have discerned the words of the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore do our best so that we may follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us and been exemplary in their lives and faith in God. Let us all cast away our pride and ego, greed and other forms of desires that can lead us to the path towards our downfall. Let us all strive to do God’s will ever more faithfully in each and every moments of our lives from now on, and let us continue to inspire one another by our own exemplary lives that we may draw everyone ever closer towards the Lord. May God be with us all and may He bless our every endeavours and efforts that we may continue to glorify Him in all things. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 11 : 47-54

At that time, Jesus said to the teachers of the Law, “A curse is on you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed. So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!”

“For that reason the wisdom of God also said : I will send prophets and Apostles and these people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the Sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all.”

“A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”

As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass Him, asking Him endless questions, setting traps to catch Him in something He might say.

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Thursday, 17 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

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Thursday, 17 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 1 : 1-10

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, to you, who share Christian faith : receive grace and peace from God, our Father, and from Jesus, the Lord.

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing. God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us, in love, to be His adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness, which He granted us His beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

For, in Christ, we obtain freedom, sealed by His Blood, and have the forgiveness of sins. In this, appears the greatness of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and understanding, God has made known to us His mysterious design, in accordance with His loving-kindness, in Christ.

In Him, and under Him, God wanted to unite, when the fullness of time had come, everything in heaven and on earth.

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Wednesday, 16 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we continue to be reminded as we have been in previous days of the need for us to truly follow the Lord wholeheartedly and faithfully, distancing ourselves from all the worldliness and all the temptations and wickedness which had been present all around us in this world. We have to embrace the Lord’s path faithfully, doing whatever we can so that we truly embody our faith in Him fully and not just merely practicing all the external applications and practices but inside, there is no space for the Lord in our hearts and minds, which can indeed happen to us, as how it had happened to many among our predecessors as mentioned in our Scripture passages today.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Galatia in which the Apostle continue to speak to the people about the matter of true obedience to the Law of God, referring to the Law in this instance as a reference to the way how the Law of God that was revealed through Moses had been interpreted and practiced by the Jewish authorities, such as by the Pharisees and the other members of the Jewish High Council, and which some of them were also influential among the members of the Jewish diaspora in Galatia. At that time, St. Paul, who had embarked on several missionary journeys and travels all throughout the Mediterranean region, proclaiming the Good News of God in all of those occasions, including the region and people of Galatia.

There in Galatia, there were quite a few Jewish people in diaspora away from their homeland who embraced the Lord as their Saviour and Master together with the non-Jewish people like the Greeks, Romans and other local populations who also believed in the Lord and chose to become Christians. And there were those among the Jewish converts who claimed and even forced the non-Jewish converts to follow the ways and customs of the Jews, claiming that they are necessary for salvation. This also happened in the many other places that St. Paul had ministered in, and it was one of the main issues that St. Paul consistently wanted to settle by reminding all the faithful that the obedience and the ways of the old Jewish customs and laws are no longer binding on the people of God, because they have received the fullness of truth through Christ, and they should instead obey what the Lord has taught them.

He reminded them all of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, of love and all the other good fruits which are distinct from the ones offered by the world, from all the corruptions of evil and sin, and highlighting the difference between following the Law that is mostly human made and which had been flawed and wrongly applied by the religious leaders of the time with the true obedience to God’s Law which all the faithful ought to have, not in the superficial and external faith, piety and obedience to the rules and rituals which those religious leaders had practiced and enforced to the people of God, but rather, a true commitment and love for the Lord, which are often lacking, is what God had wanted. As mentioned in the Scriptures, that what the Lord wanted is love and not sacrifice. Without true love and commitment to God, no amount of piety and sacrifice can be meaningful.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which we continue to listen to the words of the Lord Jesus as He rebuked and criticised many of the members of the Pharisees and those who have opposed Him constantly and fervently because of the disagreements that they had with Him, and how they stubbornly refused to listen to His words and teachings, or dialogue with Him despite the efforts that He had made, and the outreach He had shown them, and still insisting on living the lives and in the manner that they had always done, in glorifying themselves and indulging in self-gratification over their supposedly superior status among the community of the people of God.

At that time, the Pharisees together with the Sadducees, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law formed the bulk of the religious and intellectual elite of the community of the Jewish people, the descendants of the people of God living in Judea, Galilee and Jerusalem, where many of them were members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council governing over the religious matters, customs and practices of the people of God. Those people enjoyed being praised and honoured for their piety and obedience to the Law, and they also liked to get the attention and fame that they enjoyed from all of their external piety, and all those things distract them from truly following the Lord wholeheartedly and genuinely.

Just as discussed earlier in the matter from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, we are reminded that we must not be swayed by all these external glory and all the worldly temptations that may distract us from the Lord and His path, and from whatever He has taught and revealed to us. In their moment of pride and ego, blinded by their ambition and desires, those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had failed to understand that the Law of God was meant to lead everyone to God, and to teach everyone to love Him, and not to become tools to be misused for the benefit and selfish intentions of a select few, which was why the Lord rebuked those who had done so. We are also reminded that as Christians we should not do the same as well.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of two great saints whose life and devotion to God can truly become a great example for each and every one of us as Christians. They are St. Hedwig, also known as St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. First of all St. Hedwig of Silesia was the Duchess of Silesia, in what is today part of western Poland, where she was remembered well for her great piety, generosity and upright living, as a truly great and holy woman, whose faith and love for God and also love for her fellow men and women were truly exemplary and inspirational. She was born in a noble German family and was married at a young age to the Duke of Silesia. She lived a good and holy life, and with her husband, both of them were renowned for their great piety and dedication to God, for their generosity to the poor and the less privileged.

And after she was widowed, St. Hedwig went to a monastery and took up the habit of a religious sister although she did not take the religious vows. She continued to show care and compassionate love, concern and mercy for the needy all around her as she had done when she was still the Duchess of Silesia. She was known to even go barefoot during her ministry and works, during the height of the cold winter. She was truly a great and humble woman, dedicated to the Lord and she showed us all the meaning and application of the Law of God, that true piety and faith came through one’s passionate and strong love for the Lord that is also inculcated and embodied in the same strong and genuine love for one’s fellow men and women, particularly to those who were less fortunate and poor.

Then, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a renowned mystic and saint, whose life was also a great inspiration to many of the faithful throughout history. She was most well-known for her visions related to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who was behind the now very popular Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. All these experienced eventually led her to take up the religious vows and vocation, becoming a member of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary congregation. In the monastery, she continued to receive more and more message and revelation from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through which the Lord showed His infinite love and mercy for His beloved people, ever outpouring from His wounded and bleeding Heart. She recorded all these revelations and words of the Lord, and which became eventually the basis for the popular Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from the great examples of St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and having discern the words and message from the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all therefore continue to do our best to live our lives worthily of the Lord at all times, and to show true love and devotion to Him, as St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the innumerable other saints had done in their lives. We should not be paying mere lip service and obedience to the Law of God like those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, but truly embody the Law and love of God in every parts and moments of our lives, from now on and always, evermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)

Luke 11 : 42-46

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “A curse is on you, Pharisees! To the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other obligations.”

“A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you, for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people do not notice them, and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”

Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when You speak like this, You insult us, too.” And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not move a finger to help them.”