Sundays after Pentecost

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that as Christians, all of us have to be truly devoted to the ways shown to us by our Lord Jesus, as He had taught us through His disciples. We cannot be Christians and yet in our words, in our actions and in our deeds, we show things that are contrary to what we believe in.

Our faith in the Lord must be sincere, deep and genuine, and based on our heartfelt desire to love Him and to serve Him all of our days. We must truly love one another and seek peace and harmony in all things. We must follow the examples of the Lord our God in all that He had done, in all that He had shown us how to do. He has taught us to love Him and if we love Him, we will also love one another in the same manner.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through the exhortation He had made in our Gospel passage today, Jesus our Lord is challenging us to go beyond what has been expected of us in accordance with the Law. We cannot just obey the laws and commandments of God without understanding them, or else we will end up being just like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who obeyed the laws to the letter, but on their true heart’s intentions and purpose, their hypocrisy was evident.

Let us ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ. How often is it that in our own daily lives, we have been angry at our brethren, at another person, just because we are jealous at what they have, which we do not have? The Lord said that even the intention is enough for us to drive ourselves towards committing the crime of sin, so if we do not restrain ourselves and those negativities, such as anger, jealousy, desire and all, we will end up leading ourselves into sin.

Therefore, as Christians, all of us need to have that zeal in us, that commitment and devotion, which we must have to be true disciples and followers of our Lord Jesus, or else we will be easily swayed by the temptations of this world, by all the pressures for us to do otherwise, to do differently from what the Lord had taught us and shown us, because these were things that are easier to be done than to be faithful to God.

Why is that so? It is easier for us to hate someone and be angry at someone for a misstep or wrongdoing or pain that has been inflicted upon us by that someone. It is in our human nature and habit for us to do so, by our instincts and experiences. However, it is far more difficult for us to forgive and let go of our anger, allowing us to think rationally and not be carried away by our anger and emotions.

Similarly, it is easier for us to do what is evil and wicked, as because of sin, we have been made vulnerable to those desires that led us to sin. It is easier for us to seek the desires for the pleasures of the flesh, for other forms of worldly desires, for recognition, for power and all the things which inevitably lead us into conflict with one another, as we mankind are by our nature selfish and stubborn, not wanting to give in or to let go.

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians cannot be like this. We must seek to be humble, to be peacemakers, and let us put our attention especially on the sermon which Jesus made on the mountain, the Beatitudes, in which He spelled out clearly, how Christians, all of us who believe in the Lord and follow Him ought to live.

We must be sincere in our faith to the Lord, and through our action we must bring peace and harmony with one another, for all of us are brothers and sisters in the same Lord. Whatever actions that others had done that caused us to be angry, let us not be quick to be angry, for remember that perhaps in our own actions and words, we might have made someone else unhappy and angry too.

Let us all rather seek to love one another, and therefore also love the Lord our God with sincerity and tenderness. Let us all renew our commitment to Him, and devote ourselves to a holy and loving life from now on, as the true and beloved children of God. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 June 2017 : 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, 15 June 2017 : 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, 15 June 2017 : 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, 14 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the Lord Jesus reminded us that He came into this world in order to fulfil the Law and the prophecies made by the prophets, for all of them came eventually from God, and Jesus also came from the same God, the Father Who sent His Son, in order to save this world, and all of us mankind, by the revelation of truth and the salvation He offered us all through His sacrifice on the cross.

God gave us all His Law so that through His Law, we may be able to find our way to Him, for obeying the Law means for us to live according to what the Lord had taught us, in being faithful to Him, and in making ourselves worthy of Him and worthy of His love. If we are not able to follow His commandments and laws, how can we then expect to receive the fullness of His grace and love?

That was what He criticised of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, for their hypocrisy in teaching the laws, passed down onto them from Moses. The worldly concerns and desires of men had twisted the original, true and pure intention of the Law, such that the divine law of God had ended up becoming merely human laws, to serve human interests rather than God’s interests.

And worse still, as often mentioned in the Gospels, they did not act in the way that they had preached. They preached one thing but acted in a different way. That made them to be hypocrites, and that was why Jesus was not amused by the way they had behaved themselves before the people. And that is not what He wants from each and every one of us Christians, Who ought to be following His ways.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what does this mean for us? It means that all of us who are Christians and indeed call ourselves as Christians cannot be idle in our faith, or worse still, acting like how the Pharisees had acted, by doing what is contrary to our faith in God. Imagine how would others think about us and our faith, should we, who are Christians, act in the most un-Christian manner?

We cannot be Christians on paper only, or as an act of formality only. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe in, or decide what we are to believe in the faith we have in God. When the Lord gave His Law to His people, and all of His commandments, He never allowed or permitted them to choose which law or commandment they can believe in and which one they are free to ignore or reject.

In the same manner, therefore, all of us must also be obedient to the entirety of the Law and the commandments of God. We must listen to what the Lord Jesus had told His disciples on how to obey the Lord with our hearts, minds, souls, and indeed with our whole beings. We must do our best to love and serve the Lord our God, with all of our words, actions and deeds. That is the most important commandment of all, and we have to do it by rejecting all that is wicked and un-Christian in our actions.

And by doing so, we will also have obeyed the Lord’s other commandment, that is for us to love our fellow men, our brothers and sisters in the same Lord, with genuine love, concern, care and attention. We must show love to our brethren, be kind on others, and refrain from all sorts of actions that can bring pain, both physically or mentally to our brethren.

These are what all of us as Christians must do. We must devote ourselves to what the Lord had taught us to do. Let us all devote ourselves to the Lord and obey His will through His laws and commandments, seeking to be ever more faithful from time to time. May the Lord bless us all, and may He love us always with His loving grace. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 5 : 17-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the prophets. I have not come to annul them, but to fulfil them. I tell you this : as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change, until all is fulfilled.”

“So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Wednesday, 14 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 98 : 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Extol YHVH, our God; worship at His footstool. Holy is He! And mighty!

Among His priests were Moses and Aaron; and Samuel, among those who called on His Name. They called to YHVH, and He answered them.

In the pillar of cloud He spoke to them, and they kept His statutes and the decrees He gave them.

O YHVH our God, You responded to them; You were a patient God for them: but You punished their wrongs.

Extol YHVH our God, worship at His holy mountain. Holy is YHVH our God!

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Wednesday, 14 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
2 Corinthians 3 : 4-11

This is how we are sure of God, through Christ. As for us, we would not dare consider that something comes from us : our ability comes from God. He has even enabled us to be ministers of a new covenant, no longer depending on a written text, but on the Spirit. The written text kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The ministry of the Law carved on stones brought death; it was, nevertheless, surrounded by glory, and, we know, that the Israelites could not fix their eyes on the face of Moses, such was his radiance, though fleeting. How much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be! If there is greatness in a ministry which used to condemn, how much more will there be, in the ministry that brings holiness?

This is such a glorious thing that, in comparison, the former’s glory is like nothing. That ministry was provisory and had only moments of glory; but ours endures, with a lasting glory.

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Tuesday, 13 June 2017 : 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, in today’s Gospel, we heard the famous parable of our Lord Jesus Christ, the parable of the salt and the light, which He used in comparison to all of us His people, in how we ought to live our lives, filled with faith and commitment to Him, or else, we will be like those who claim to hold the faith, and yet have nothing in us to prove it.

Salt and light are two very important commodities at the time of Jesus, just as they are still important today. We may primarily know salt as a substance that gives our food its saltiness and good taste, but do you know that in the past, before refrigerators and electricity are available, salt is also a very important commodity used in the preservation of food products? Its saltiness preserves the food and kills any bacteria or dangerous pathogens that would otherwise grow in the food.

Similarly, light is very important for us, because without light, we cannot see anything. Our eyes can see the world and all the things around us simply because light is reflected off them and gets into our eyes, which is then processed by our brain and seen as a vision. Without light, vision is impossible. In our world today, inundated with various artificial light sources due to electricity and technology, it is often that we take light for granted.

But do you know that in the past, after the sun had set, which is our main source of light, there is really total darkness? There is no electricity or lightbulbs, or any artificial light source by whatever means? The only source of light at that time, was fire, and the ability of mankind in using fire was recognised as being very crucial in the development of our human societies.

Without the light, and also the heat, provided by the flame, using lighted candles, mankind could not do much at night time, when there was no sunlight. It was the light which allowed them to see in the darkness, dispelling the darkness and providing them with vision. It allowed people to travel safely at night and not veering off the road or falling into a ravine or into danger.

Therefore, Jesus our Lord used these two examples because they were very, very important to the people living at that time, referring to their usefulness. If they became useless by losing their prized properties, saltiness for the salt and light for the flame of the lighted candle, then they would be of no use and would be thrown away and discarded.

Thus, as Christians, as all those who believe in the Lord Jesus as our God and Saviour, all of us must not be complacent, or be ignorant of what we are supposed to do in our respective lives. We must not be found lacking of Christian virtues and live as if we are not Christian at all. Otherwise, we will indeed be like salt that has lost its saltiness, and light that no longer dispels darkness.

As Christians, we must be truly devoted to the Lord, in actions, words and deeds, so that in everything that we say and do, we glorify the Lord through them. Today, as we also celebrate the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, let us all also learn from his examples, as he was well known for his dedication and love to the people of God, especially to the poor, the downtrodden and all those who have lost hope.

He preached among the people, calling them to repent from their sinful ways, and he was so eloquent in his teachings that people came to him in droves, and believed in the Lord through him. He worked hard throughout his life, serving the poor and the sick, all those who have been suffering in this world. He did his best, in whatever way he could, to help the people of God, his fellow brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, by looking at the examples of St. Anthony of Padua, all of us ought to be following his examples in our own lives. Let us all be true Christians in actions and deeds, doing whatever we can to love our God, and to love our brethren in the same way, as He had commanded us to do. Let us all be truly salt of the earth and light of the world, as our Lord called us to be.

May the Lord bless us all, and may He guide us all through in our actions, so that in everything that we say and do, we will always glorify the Lord and His holy Name, and will always be found worthy of His grace and love. Amen.

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Tuesday, 13 June 2017 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 5 : 13-16

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it.”

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead it is put on a lampstand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.”