Sundays of Christmas

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Sunday, 6 January 2019 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 71 : 2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13

O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

Justice will flower in His days, and peace abound till the moon be no more. For He reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

The kings of Tarshish and the islands render Him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts, all kings bow down to Him, and all nations serve Him.

He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor, He saves the life of the poor.

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Sunday, 6 January 2019 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 60 : 1-6

Arise, shine, for your Light has come. The Glory of YHVH rises upon you. Night still covers the earth and gloomy clouds veil the peoples, but YHVH now rises and over you His glory appears. Nations will come to your Light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes round about and see : they are all gathered and come to you, your sons from afar, your daughters tenderly carried. This sight will make your face radiant, your heart throbbing and full; the riches of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.

A flood of camels will cover you, caravans from Midian and Ephah. Those from Sheba will come, bringing with them gold and incense, all singing in praise of YHVH.

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Saturday, 5 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture, in which we heard how we have been given such a great grace and favour from God, His love and boundless mercy, which He Himself showed before us, in His love for us, incarnate in the flesh, the Son of God and Son of Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate gift of God to us, that through Him, the Lord Himself has come to dwell in our midst, amongst us, His beloved people.

This is the truth that the Gospel passage today proclaimed, as the Lord made Himself known to the people, especially to the disciples, particularly Nathanael, who was one of the central figures in today’s Gospel passage. Nathanael was one of the most learned and educated among the disciples of Jesus, and he was well-versed in the Scriptures. That was why, when he heard from the other disciples that the Messiah had come into their midst, and that He hailed from the small village of Nazareth in Galilee, he was immediately skeptical.

But that skepticism quickly gave way to faith and hope, because the Lord opened Himself up to Nathanael, and showed just how true and sincere His love for all of His people was. Through all of His wisdom and teachings, slowly the disciples and the future Apostles of the Lord learnt the truth about God the salvation which He has promised through His Son, Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world.

And He showed them all His love, as written by St. John in the Epistle he wrote that became part of our first reading passage today. God has given us His life, and that is how we know that He has loved us. For the Lord Himself said in another occasion, that no greater love exists, than for one person to give his or her own life, for the sake of a friend. And that was exactly what the Lord had done for us, dying on the cross, that we may live.

He showed us what the meaning of true love is, and not the selfish and wicked love for oneself that has been propagated by the devil, through the many temptations of the world that he had lured many of us into our downfall in sin. The devil presented us with an alternative to the path that the Lord had shown us, a different path, which is seemingly easier and more pleasant, but in truth, leads to eternal suffering and death.

But this path is one of ego, pride, greed and self-serving satisfaction, filled with selfishness and human desire. This is the path that we are well aware of, as it is present all around us, as the norms of how many of us often behave in life. We succumbed to our greed, desiring for more of the worldly goods, money, pleasures in life, power, fame, influence, human praise and glory, prestige and status, and many others.

In the process, many of us put our needs and desires above our concern for our fellow brethren, and in many historical occasions, this has led to the oppression of the weak and the poor, those who were ostracised and less fortunate. This was why so much pain and suffering existed in our communities, and why there were so much bitterness, hatred and evil in this world, all because we did not know the love of God, and had hardened our hearts against this wonderful love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we are called to follow the example of the Apostles, and all those who have been willing to listen to the truth of Christ, and allowed Him to transform their lives by allowing His love to enter into their existence, affecting the way that they interacted with one another, and changed their lives’ perspective and focus, that they no longer centred their thoughts and desires on themselves, but instead on God alone.

Let us today open our hearts and minds, allowing the love of God to enter into our own respective lives. Let us always remember the loving sacrifice of Our Lord, each and every moments of our life, being thankful for all that He has done for us, all these while. May God continue to love us, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 43-51

The next day, Jesus decided to set off for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well; He is Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, He said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”

Nathanael answered, “Master, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Saturday, 5 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

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Saturday, 5 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 11-21

For this is the message taught to you from the beginning : we must love one another. Do not imitate Cain who killed his brother, for he belonged to the Evil One. Why did he kill him? Because he himself did evil and his brother did good.

So, be not surprised, brothers if the world hates us; we love our brothers and sisters, and with this we know that we have passed from death to life. The one who does not love remains in death. The one who hates his brother is a murderer, and, as you know, eternal life does not remain in the murderer.

This is how we have known what is love is : He gave His life for us. We, too, ought to give our life for our brothers and sisters. If anyone enjoys the riches of this world, but closes his heart when he sees his brother or sister in need, how will the love of God remain in him? My dear children, let us love not only with words and with our lips, but in truth and in deed.

Then we shall know that we are of the truth and we may calm our conscience in His presence. Every time it reproaches us, let us say : God is greater than our conscience, and He knows everything. When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God.

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Friday, 4 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the salvation which has come upon us through Christ, Our Lord, which in our Gospel passage today, He was revealed by His herald, St. John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord sent into the world in order to prepare the way for the Saviour to come. St. John the Baptist directed the people to the Lamb of God, Christ, through Whom God would save all of His people.

He has been revealed to all, and He has been revealed as the Lord and Saviour of all, and yet, not everyone has recognised and acknowledged Him, for they instead chose to trust and follow in the path of the devil, that is the path of rebellion and disobedience against God, as written by St. John in his Epistle. The devil was the first to disobey God, the most brilliant and mighty angel Lucifer, whose pride and ego brought him down.

Lucifer thought that in the brilliance, power, and might that God had created him, he was powerful and worthy enough to even overtake his Creator and Lord. And in his ego and pride, he wanted to seize for himself the throne of heaven, taking with himself part of the Angelic host, those who followed him into his rebellion and became the forces of wickedness and the devil’s allies. He failed, and was thrown down, and his final defeat had been sealed.

Those who sinned against God are like those who followed into the same folly of the devil’s rebellion, all those fallen angels, who thought that their power and glory were greater ever than God’s, only to be put in their place, and knowing that having rebelled against God, their due and their fate was destruction and eternal damnation. But God still loved us, and that is why, because He created us all in love, He gave us the chance to be saved.

And He did so, by sending to us, His own begotten Son, in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. In Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Divine Word Incarnate, God has humbled and emptied Himself, by assuming the appearance and the substance of a human being, to become one like us, a Man in all of its fullness. Against the pride and disobedience of the devil and those who followed his path, Christ showed us all, the perfect love and obedience He has for His Father’s will.

It was also by that love and obedience, that He willingly took up the cross, the burden of sins of all mankind, our burden and pains, our sorrows and our challenges and difficulties, our shortcomings and our rebelliousness, upon Himself, so that by bearing them all instead of us, as how it should have been, He may give us all the hope and the only way out of our fated destruction.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard from the Scriptures, we have seen how Our Lord made His love evident for each and every one of us, that He gave everything for our sake, even to endure such pains and sorrowful occasion in order to bring about salvation for us. God did not hold back anything from this effort, not even sparing Himself from the persecution and oppression by His enemies.

If He has done all of these for our sake, then we should indeed make best use of these opportunities that God has granted to us, this grace and chance for us to turn once again towards Him, to be forgiven and liberated from the tyranny of sin. God has always loved us, and He wants only the best for our sake, and provided with these opportunities, we should do our best to turn towards Him and to abandon our sins and disobedience against Him.

From now on, let us turn towards God, our loving Father and Creator, embracing the love which He has lavished upon us so much, all the compassionate care and mercy that He has given us. Let us all wholeheartedly serve Him from now on, dedicating ourselves to love Him and to walk in His path, in all the things that we say and do, in everything we commit in our respective lives.

May God be with us always, and may each and every one of us continue to walk faithfully in His path, devoting ourselves and becoming ever closer to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 4 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 35-42

On the following day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and said, “There is the Lamb of God.” On hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. He turned and saw them following, and He said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They answered, “Rabbi (which means Master), where are You staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where He stayed, and spent the rest of that day with Him. It was about four o’ clock in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard what John had said, and followed Jesus. Early the next morning he found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ), and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but you shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).

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Friday, 4 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 7-8, 9

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

Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all its peoples. Let rivers clap their hands, hills and mountains sing with joy before the Lord.

For He comes to rule the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Friday, 4 January 2019 : Weekday of Christmas Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 7-10

My little children, do not be led astray; those who do what is right are upright, just as Jesus Christ is upright. But those who sin belong to the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning.

This is why the Son of God was shown to us, He was to undo the works of the devil. Those born of God do not sin, for the seed of God remains in them; they cannot sin because they are born of God. What is the way to recognise the children of God and those of the devil? The one who does not do what is right is not of God; so, too, the one who does not love his brother or sister.