Sundays of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 29 January 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded that no matter what hardships, challenges and difficulties that we may have to face in our lives, we will always have that assurance from the Lord, that He will always be with us, and He will continue to guide and protect us, and help us in His own ways throughout our journey in life. As long as we continue to hold on to our faith in the Lord and place our trust in Him, we will not be disappointed in the end, unlike if we trust in all the worldly matters and means instead. We must not be easily swayed and tempted by all of these distractions in life, which can bring us to our downfall and destruction, unless we strive to resist those temptations and remain firmly faithful in God at all times.

In our first reading, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel about the state of affairs in the kingdom of Israel during the middle period of David’s reign as King, when Absalom, one of his many sons, rebelled against him and attempted to seize the kingship from David. Absalom, according to the Scriptures, had always been a proud and ambitious man, and he clearly had pretensions and desires to be a king, to succeed his own father as ruler over the people and the land of Israel. He has often presented himself to the leading figures of the kingdom and to the people as the one who would succeed his father as the ruler over Israel, and had made his moves, winning over the hearts and minds of the people, and it was at this time then, that Absalom, swayed and tempted with power, decided to launch a coup effort against his own father.

Thus, as many people sided with Absalom, David had to flee from the city of Jerusalem, his capital, abandoning the city and his palace to Absalom and his forces, as he and his supporters sought for a better place from which to carry out the next plan to counter the coup by Absalom and those who supported him. We heard how there was a Benjaminite named Shimei, who cursed David along the way, harassed him verbally and mocked him. Shimei, being a fellow tribesman of Saul, the former king who David had replaced, clearly did not approve of David, and he launched that tirade of curses and attacks against David. That man likely only had the courage to do so because he saw an opportunity when David’s star and fortune seemingly waned, and at that time, it was indeed true that David’s situation was rather dire, abandoned and betrayed by many among his own family and people.

Yet, David trusted in the Lord and completely had faith in Him. He did not despair or seek to overcome his predicaments by depending on worldly means, plans and methods. Like when he was faced with the great predicament of facing Goliath earlier in his life, he placed his trust in God, and did not despair amidst the challenges, trials and difficulties that he had to face. He let God guide his path, and eventually, while at the time no one would have considered it likely, David managed to weather this round of coup and attempt to overthrow him, and the traitor Absalom lost his life in the process. Shimei himself eventually also faced justice during the reign of David’s son, Solomon, after his misdeeds and wicked words were eventually taken into account for. This shows how if we have faith and trust in the Lord, we truly should not be afraid or fearful.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the popular story of the moment when the Lord Jesus healed and freed a man who was beset and controlled by a vast horde of evil spirits, who named themselves as Legion, in the region of the Gerasenes. As mentioned in that Gospel passage, we heard how the evil spirits had made the man to live his life in the wilderness, in the areas far from habitation because of the fear that his condition brought about everyone, and no one dared to approach or help him. The man was clearly suffering and tormented physically, mentally and spiritually by those evil spirits, just as we have heard in the same Gospel passage, and it was the Lord Jesus Who ended his misery and sufferings.

The evil spirits recognised and feared the Lord, begging Him that they should not be harmed or destroyed, as they knew that the Lord would send them out of the suffering man. The Lord ordered all of the evil spirits to get out of the man and they went to the horde of pigs that happened to be nearby that area, and they all cast themselves into the water, and perished. This healed and freed the man from all of his sufferings and afflictions, and henceforth, he could return once again to the community without being ostracised and feared anymore for his condition. But the people of the region feared the Lord for what He had done, and as we heard, they begged the Lord to leave the area, implying that He was not welcome in their place, and also likely for the loss of economic and monetary means they suffered because of what happened to the horde of pigs.

The significance of what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, and linking to what we have heard in the earlier first reading is that, first of all, as pigs were known among the Jews to be unclean animals, therefore as a matter of figurative meaning, the Lord wanted to highlight how the devil and all of his forces belong to the darkness, and as the pigs all rushed to their deaths, it was also a kind of premonition of the fate which awaits the devil and all of those wicked forces seeking for our destruction. They will all eventually meet their destruction and end, and they will no longer be allowed to exert their dominion and power over us. And the fact that about two thousand pigs died for the man who was saved and freed from his afflictions, it also showed us all that, symbolically, the Lord was telling us just how precious all of us are to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all therefore ponder these words from the Scriptures and remind ourselves that we should not easily allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by the wickedness of this world. We should remind ourselves that like Absalom, our ambitions and desires can lead us down the path of ruin and destruction if we are not careful. We must always be vigilant that we are not dragged down into the path of evil and sin, and hence, we should always be faithful to God, and place Him at the centre of our lives. Let us all truly live righteously and worthily according to our faith in God and do our part so that, in everything that we do, we will always be worthy of the Lord, and that by our examples, many more will come to follow our footsteps in following the Lord, our God.

May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen us in our resolve and commitment to do what He has asked us all to do. May He bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, our every moments in life. May God bless our lives, and help us to be His better disciples and followers, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 29 January 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 5 : 1-20

At that time, Jesus and His disciples arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. No sooner did Jesus leave the boat than He was met by a man with evil spirits, who had come from the tombs. The man lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him, even with a chain.

He had often been bound with fetters and chains; but he would pull the chains apart and smash the fetters; and no one had the strength to control him. Night and day he stayed among the tombs on the hillsides, and was continually screaming, and beating himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell at His feet, and cried with a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, I beg You, do not torment me!” He said this, because Jesus had commanded, “Evil spirit, come out of the man!”

When Jesus asked the evil spirit, “What is your name?” It replied, “Legion is my name, for we are many.” And it kept begging Jesus, not to send them out of that region. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the evil spirits begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.”

So Jesus let them go. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs; and immediately, the herd rushed down the cliff; and all were drowned in the lake. The herdsmen fled, and reported this in the town and in the countryside. So all the people came to see what had happened.

They came to Jesus, and saw the man freed of the evil spirits, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; the same man who had been possessed by the legion. They were afraid. And when those who had seen it, told what had happened to the man and to the pigs, the people begged Jesus to leave their neighbourhood.

When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man, who had been possessed, begged to stay with Him. Jesus would not let him, and said, “Go home to your people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

So he went throughout the country of Decapolis, telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.

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Monday, 29 January 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 3 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

O YHVH, how great in number are my foes! How numerous are they who rise against me! How many are they who say of my soul : “There is no help for him in God!”

But You are my Shield, o YHVH, my Glory; You lift up my head. Aloud I cry to YHVH, and from His holy hill He answers me.

If I lie down to sleep, again I awake, for YHVH supports me; no fear of the thousands standing against me.

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Monday, 29 January 2024 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Samuel 15 : 13-14, 30 and 2 Samuel 16 : 5-13a

A messenger came to report to David that the Israelites were siding with Absalom. Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let us flee, for we cannot resist Absalom. Go quickly, lest he come hurriedly and overtake us. Surely he will put the city to the sword if he can bring disaster upon us.”

David himself went up the Mount of Olives, weeping. He was barefooted and had his head covered, and all the people who were with him had their heads covered and wept as they went. When king David came to Bahurim, a man from the clan of Saul’s family named Shimei, son of Gera, came out cursing him. He threw stones at David and his officers although the king’s men and warriors flanked the king on the right and left.

As he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! YHVH has brought down on your head all the blood of the family of Saul. You became king in his place, but God has now placed the kingdom in the hands of your son Absalom. Ruin has come upon you because you are a wicked man.”

Then Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go and cut his head off.” But the king said, “Why should I listen to you, sons of Zeruiah? If YHVH has ordered him to curse me, who shall ask him why he acts like this?”

Then David said to Abishai and his officers, “If my own son wants to kill me, how much more this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me if YHVH has ordered him to do so. Perhaps YHVH will look on my affliction and turn to good things the curses heaped on me today.”

So David and his men went on their way while Shimei, following on the hillside opposite him.

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Sunday, 28 January 2024 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded that in the Lord lies our hope and salvation, and He is our God and Master, and we are all His people, His beloved ones who are always cared for by Him, ever always precious in His sight. The Lord has shown His love to us, and fulfilled everything that He has promised to us since the very beginning, and He would not let harm come to us, His beloved ones. This is what He had done and reaffirmed to us again and again throughout time and history, and which we have also heard in our Scripture readings today. All of us should always therefore commit ourselves to the Lord and remain firmly focused on Him at all times, and not be swayed or tempted by worldly desires and evils.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard how Moses proclaimed to the people of Israel, that the Lord their God would raise up a great Prophet like himself from among them, and how in this Prophet, the Word of God would be revealed and brought into the midst of this world, among God’s people, which is in fact a prophecy and prediction of the coming of the Messiah, the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through Christ, the salvation of God and His love has been made clear and evident to us, and He has brought unto us all the reassurances that as long as we all remain faithful to Him, obeying the Law and commandments of God, all of us shall remain in God’s grace and be saved.

In that same reading, we also heard how the Lord warned against all those false prophets and leaders, messengers and all those who sought to misappropriate and misuse the word of God and the truth for their own benefits and advantages. He told the people how all those so-called prophets who would speak differently from what He has shown, taught and revealed, would be crushed, destroyed and they would meet their end, because of the wicked deeds that they would do among the people of God. This is also a reminder for all the people of God, and hence to all of us as well, that we must be careful not to be easily swayed by the lies and falsehoods which the evil one would definitely attempt to plant in our midst, spreading the seeds of discord and doubt among us.

Then, in our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in which the Apostle St. Paul reminded all the people and the faithful in Corinth not to be anxious and not to be overly concerned with their various worldly matters and attachments, and that was why, he told all of them that they should all be focused on the Lord and how to do His will, and to do their respective parts, whether as husbands or wives, which he used as examples, in living their lives worthily in accordance to God’s will, and not to follow the whim of their desires and any other worldly temptations and attachments, which would easily lead them astray down the wrong path of sin and evil.

St. Paul reminded the faithful in Corinth of all these things because at that time, there were strife and division among the Christians in Corinth, as there were oppositions to the teachings and works of St. Paul among a segment of the faithful there, especially from among the Christians recently converted from the Jewish diaspora community. This issue and other disagreements among the faithful in the region of Corinth had caused divisions and conflicts to break out among the members of the Body of Christ, and this led to the disruption in the works and efforts of the Lord’s Apostles and disciples in proclaiming the Good News and the truth, and hence, the faithful were exhorted to remain faithful to the teachings and truth of Christ, and not be easily swayed by all sorts of worldly temptations and desires.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the time when the Lord Jesus performed an exorcism on a possessed man who was afflicted and possessed by evil spirits who attempted to disturb the teaching session which the Lord was having at that time in the synagogue. The evil spirits tried to reveal before the people that the Lord is the Holy One of God, the One Whom the Lord had promised to send unto us His people, as He has promised throughout time and history, such as the one He had promised through Moses. The irony was indeed such that, while many of the people to whom God had sent His Son to refused to believe in the One Whom God had sent, it was the evil spirits who acknowledged and recognised the Lord, and proclaimed Him regardless of their ulterior motives.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who then often obstructed the Lord’s works and ministry were often against the Lord because they refused to accept the fact that their way of believing in things and practicing the Law could have been wrong. They took great pride in their intelligence and sense of superiority over all others, that they became enamoured and corrupted by those, and ended up rejecting the truth and the salvation of God, when they should have been the first to realise Who the Lord Jesus was, and what He has represented and taught among the people. Their pride, ego and greed were great barriers and obstacles which prevented them from opening their hearts and minds to God and His love, His truth and Good News.

This is why through the Scripture passages we have heard this Sunday, all of us are reminded to be always focused on the Lord and centre our lives and existence on Him. We are all reminded that the various temptations present all around us in this world, the falsehoods of the devil and all those seeking our ruin and destruction can bring us to our downfall, and we have to be ever vigilant lest all those distractions and temptations mislead us down this wrong path. We have to put our faith and trust as always in the Lord, and allow Him to lead and guide us down the path of righteousness and grace. This is why we should remind ourselves to grow ever more in our relationship with God, embracing His love and truth, His mercy and kindness at all times, and rejecting the wickedness of the world.

Let us all commit ourselves ever more wholeheartedly to the Lord, and let us do our best so that in each and every moments of our lives, we will always strive to be exemplary and inspirational in our way of life, that through our dedication and good examples, many others may also be helped and inspired to turn away from the path of wickedness and sin, and instead embracing the Lord as their Master and Saviour as all of us had done. May the Lord bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, and inspire us all that we may truly be His worthy disciples and followers, and be the shining beacons of His Light in this darkened world today. Amen.

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Sunday, 28 January 2024 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 1 : 21b-28

At that time, Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The people were astonished at the way He taught, for He spoke as One having authority, and not like the teachers of the Law.

It happened that, a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue, and he shouted, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, “Be silent, and come out of this man!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him. All the people were astonished, and they wondered, “What is this? With what authority He preaches! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey Him!”

And Jesus’ fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

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Sunday, 28 January 2024 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 7 : 32-35

I would like you to be free from anxieties. He who is not married is concerned about the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord. While he who is married is taken up with the things of the world and how to please his wife, and he is divided in his interests.

Likewise, the unmarried woman and the virgin are concerned with the service of the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit. The married woman, instead, worries about the things of the world and how to please her husband.

I say this for your own good. I do not wish to lay traps for you, but to lead you to a beautiful life, entirely united with the Lord.

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Sunday, 28 January 2024 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to YHVH, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before YHVH, our Maker. He is our God, and we, His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would, that today, you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

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Sunday, 28 January 2024 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Deuteronomy 18 : 15-20

Moses said to the people of Israel, “He will raise up for you a prophet like myself from among the people, from your brothers, to whom you shall listen. Remember that in Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, you said : ‘I am afraid to die and I do not want to hear the voice of YHVH again or see again the great fire.’”

“So YHVH said to me : ‘They have spoken well. I shall raise up a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put My words into his mouth and he will tell them all that I command. If someone does not listen to My words when the prophet speaks on My behalf, I Myself will call him to account for it. But any prophet who says in My Name anything that I did not command, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’”

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Saturday, 27 January 2024 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures that all of us must always put our faith and trust in the Lord at all times, and we should not allow the pressures, trials and temptations of this world from leading us astray into the path towards our damnation. As we heard in our Scripture readings today, it is easy for us to end up in the wrong path, and to be swayed by the various storms, trials and hardships of life, if we do not have that firm anchor of faith in the Lord, and if we do not centre and focus our lives upon Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel, of the time when King David of Israel, the legendary and great king of Israel who managed to win many victories for God’s people and make the kingdom truly prosperous, who was faithful to God, but in this case, he lapsed into the path of sin. Why was that so? That was because of his lust for the wife of his own army commander, Uriah, whose wife, Bathsheba, was truly beautiful and attractive. David saw Bathsheba and was tempted by the temptation of lust and worldly desires, and hence, he ended up plotting the death of Uriah by his machinations, and took Bathsheba as his own wife.

This was a truly wicked action on David’s part, and was a grievous sin against God. For in order to obtain for himself a beautiful woman as a wife, and despite the fact that this woman was already married, David caused the death of another person, and seized that woman for himself. Therefore, God punished David and told him of the consequences of his actions through the prophet Nathan, who guided David at that time. God chastised David for the wicked deeds he had done, reminding him that while he may be king, but it is not right for him to take what did not belong to him for himself as what he had done in taking Bathsheba as his own wife. David’s lust and desire for the beauty of Bathsheba became the source of his undoing.

But David was repentant, and unlike Saul, his predecessor, who continued to disobey God and followed the whim of his own desires, David continued to follow the path of the Lord, and he genuinely repented and regretted his sinful ways, such as the one he experienced with Bathsheba. God forgave David and continued to bless and guide him as the King of Israel, and not only that, but one of David’s sons by Bathsheba, Solomon, was made the rightful heir and King after David, as a clear sign that God has forgiven David and blessed his reign and that of his house. This is in fact a good reminder that the Lord did not hate any one of us or despise us, but rather, what He despises is our disobedience, wickedness and sins. By his repentance and genuine regret of his sins, David had been redeemed and returned to the state of grace.

Meanwhile, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus miraculously calmed the storm and the waves before His disciples at the Lake of Galilee. At that time, He and His disciples were travelling on a boat at the lake, and they were all struck by a great storm that threatened to sink the whole boat. The disciples panicked and were frightened, and the Lord chided them for their lack of faith and trust in Him, before proceeding to calm the storm and the waves by the mere power of His words. Through this occasion, the Lord showed that He is truly the Lord and Master of all things, and all of us should put our faith and trust in Him, and not to be swayed and misled by the temptations of the world and by our other worldly attachments just as King David had done.

The boat was a representation of the Church of God and the disciples represented all of us as Christians. Those waves, wind and storms represented the challenges, trials, difficulties that we may face as Christians amidst our lives because of the oppositions and persecutions against our beliefs and faith in God. Yet, as we all heard, the Lord calmed the storm before all of them, and saved them from their predicament, reminding us that in the Lord, we do not have to be worried, as in the end, no matter what happens, we shall be triumphant together with God. The disciples had the choice to jump from the boat, and tried to save themselves, but if they had done so, they would have perished in the storm. Like how David trusted in his own instincts and thoughts, and ended up committing great sin against God. This is why, we are all reminded to stay faithful to the Lord at all times.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Angela Merici, a renowned holy virgin who founded the Order of Saint Ursula, also known as the Ursulines, that are well-known for their contributions to Christian education and upbringing of youths. St. Angela Merici were orphaned at a young age, and she also lost her sister shortly afterwards. It was told that she saw a vision that her sister was in Heaven, in the company of the saints and Angels, when she was sorrowful that her sister passed away before receiving the last rites. She devoted herself to the Lord wholeheartedly henceforth, and despite her great beauty and renown, she committed herself in holy virginity and sanctity for the rest of her life, inspiring many others to follow in her footsteps and examples.

Many followed her and embraced their calling to serve those who are less fortunate and underprivileged, and through the Company of St. Ursula mentioned earlier, reached out to many young girls, and helped them to grow up in faith and wisdom in the world. St. Angela Merici taught her companions and fellow collaborators to commit themselves wholeheartedly to God, to do what God has called them to do, and despite having not taken the religious vow and habit, but each one of them placed their faith in God and let Him guide them all in their lives, that their actions and works might benefit many others, whose lives they had influenced and affected. The examples of St. Angela Merici and her companions, their faith and dedication should inspire us all as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best in each and every moments of our lives so that by our commitment and efforts, in each and every moments of our lives, we may come ever closer to the Lord and to His salvation and grace. Let us all remind ourselves to place our focus ever more on Him, and resist the many temptations present all around us. Let us all not be easily swayed by the worldly pressures, coercions and temptations, and stay faithful to God at all times. May God bless us always, in each and every moments, now and forevermore. Amen.