Sundays of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 14 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Hebrews 4 : 12-16

For the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart. All creation is transparent to Him; everything is uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to Whom we render account.

We have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, Who has entered heaven. Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning. Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy and, through His favour, help in due time.

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Friday, 13 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the faith that we have in God, the faith that we have in His providence and might, in His truth and love, and then what each one of us should do in proclaiming that same truth and faith amongst all the people we encounter in our various respective communities. All of us have the need to believe in God and His truth, and to listen to Him and His words, and do not harden our hearts and minds against Him unlike what many of our predecessors had done in the past, which were highlighted by our Scripture passages today.

In our first reading today, as we heard from the Epistle of the Hebrews, the author of this Epistle who directed his writings to the Jewish Christian converts and also to the greater Jewish community, wanted to get them all to heed the Lord’s words and call to them to conversion, and to embrace the truth that God Himself had brought into this world, all through the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all. The author was making references to the past transgressions, disobedience and stubbornness of the people of God in the past, who constantly rebelled against the Lord and refused to believe in Him and His prophets, even after repeated reminders and messages calling on them to turn away from their sins.

The author of the Epistle also likely referred to the attitudes of some among the Jewish community who had consistently and constantly resisted the Lord, His truth and His works, just as one of those examples being highlighted in our Gospel passage today. Essentially, many of the Jewish elders and influential members of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, and frowned or even outrightly opposed His actions and works, all because they saw Him as a Rival and even a threat to their own influence and power, and in their pride and ego, they continued to close their hearts up against God and His truth, even when His Wisdom and His miraculous deeds had been shown before their very own eyes in multiple occasions.

Such as what happened in our Gospel passage today, where we heard the account of the Lord Jesus healing a paralytic man brought unto His midst through the roof because the room where He was teaching in was so packed with people. The Lord willed to heal the paralysed man, and told Him that His sins had also been forgiven. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who happened to be present there in that occasion immediately took offence at the Lord’s proclamation, and said imperiously that only God could forgive sins, and that what the Lord had done was no less than a blasphemy against God. Yet, they failed to realise first of all that Christ Himself is the One Whom God had promised to be the Saviour of all mankind, and to Him would indeed be granted the authority over all things, even over that of sins.

Through Christ, Whose actions, works, miracles and wonders had shown the proof of His glorious coming, the truth about Himself and Who He really was, God wants to reveal to us the depth of His most amazing and wonderful love, which persists despite our most terrible and wicked rebellion against Him. Through Christ, God has willingly gathered all of us from the distant corners and edges of the world, leading us back to the grace of God and healing us all from our sickness that is sin, just as He had healed the paralytic man his condition. It is He alone Who can indeed rescue us from the tyranny of sin and death, lifting us up from the darkness that surrounded us and bringing us into His eternal light and grace. And yet, there are still many indeed who refused to believe in His love and kindness, despite having witnessed and heard about them.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because of the excess of human pride, ego and greed, all of which had become great obstacles in our journey back towards God. The pride and ego of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, and many of the members of the Sanhedrin had become serious obstacles in the path of their drive towards salvation in God. Those people thought that they were better and superior to others all around them, and would not take the truth of the Lord as the reality that they needed to embrace. Instead, they continued to depend on the flawed and mistaken ideas they upheld, thinking that the messages and words that the Lord Jesus brought into their midst were false and even blasphemous in nature.

Today all of us are reminded not to follow this same path, and instead to follow the Lord wholeheartedly once again, not be swayed by the temptations of worldly power, fame, pride, glory and many other things that had often dragged so many of our predecessors into the path of sin and darkness. We are reminded that we have to be humble in accepting that our ways and thoughts can often be mistaken and flawed, and in God alone we can find the truth and Wisdom which will liberate us from the falsehoods of evil and sin. That is why we are called to reflect upon those passages of the Scriptures and whatever we have just reflected upon earlier so that we may not end up falling into the wrong path of disobedience, stubbornness and rebellion against God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us ought to look upon the good examples and inspirations set by St. Hilary, one of the great Church fathers, also known as St. Hilary of Poitiers, whose love and devotion to God, zeal and faith by which he had lived his life and ministry, can be great source of inspiration for all of us in how we live our own Christian living and faith. St. Hilary of Poitiers was the Bishop of Poitiers who was renowned for his great dedication to his flock and for his opposition to the heretics and all those who had perverted and misused the truth of God for their own selfish purposes. He was particularly energetic and passionate in opposing the then greatly influential Arian beliefs that distorted the truth about Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Saviour of all.

St. Hilary spent a lot of time and effort in reaching out to his flock and opposing those who sought to divide the Church and snatch the faithful from the hands of the Lord’s shepherds, having to endure persecutions and even exile for his courageous struggles for the truth, for the Lord and for the Lord’s beloved flock. He wrote extensively on many aspects of the faith, against the heretical teachings and ideas, which eventually made him proclaimed as one of the great Doctors of the Church for his immense contributions, long after he has passed on from this world. The faith and dedication which St. Hilary has shown us should serve as a good example for us to follow, so that each and every one of us may also follow him in his devotion and efforts in serving and glorifying God, in our own respective lives and actions.

May the Lord continue to guide us through our own journey in life, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, and such that we may ever always be more faithful to Him, and be ever more humble in accepting and receiving Him into our hearts and minds, and being stubborn and hardened in hearts no more. May all of us continue to walk down the path of righteousness and truth, and continue to persevere in faith regardless of the challenges and trials we may have to face for the Lord’s sake. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 13 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Mark 2 : 1-12

At that time, after some days, Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that He was in the house, so many people gathered, that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the Word to them, some people brought a paralysed man to Him.

The four men who carried him could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, He said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the Law, who were sitting there, wondered within themselves, “How can He speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?”

At once Jesus knew in His Spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder? Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And He said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.” The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything like this!”

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Friday, 13 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 77 : 3 and 4bc, 6c-7, 8

Mysteries which we have heard and known, which our ancestors have told us. We will announce them to the coming generation : the glorious deeds of the Lord, His might and the wonders He has done.

They would teach their own children. They would then put their trust in God, and not forget His deeds and His commands.

And not be like their ancestors, stubborn and rebellious people, a people of inconstant heart whose spirit was fickle.

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Friday, 13 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Hebrews 4 : 1-5, 11

Therefore let us fear while we are invited to enter the rest of God, lest any of you be left behind. We received the Gospel exactly as they did, but hearing the message did them no good, because they did not share the faith of those who did listen. We are now to enter this rest because we believed, as it was said : I was angry and made a solemn vow : they will never enter My rest – that is the rest of God after He created the world.

In another part it was said about the seventh day : And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. But now it is said : They will not enter My rest. Let us strive, then, to enter the rest and not to share the misfortune of those who disobeyed.

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Thursday, 12 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should obey the Lord and His commandments and Law, and not harden our hearts and minds against Him as many of us and our ancestors and predecessors had done. Many of us and our predecessors had been stubborn in living our lives the way we wanted it, even against the Law and commandments of God, living in the state of sin. And this is where we are reminded and called again to turn towards the Lord full of faith and love for Him, and obedience to His words and will so that each and every one of us may always be firmly attached to His path, and will always grow ever closer to Him as we continue to proceed through life.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which the author of the Epistle spoke of the actions of the people in the past who were stubborn in their refusal to listen to God, and in challenging and disobeying Him, referring especially to the actions of the Israelites during their journey from the slavery in Egypt at the time of the Exodus. The rebellion and the wickedness that the people had committed against God brought His anger against them, and as a result of those stubborn actions, the people of Israel had to wander off in the desert for a whole period of forty years, as the just and righteous consequence of their many sins and their refusal to listen and obey the Lord despite many reminders and help from the Lord, and despite everything that God had done in delivering them out of their predicament and enslavement in Egypt.

Through all of that, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews who wrote his Epistle directed to the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites and the people to which the Lord Jesus and many of His early disciples belonged to, wanted them all to take heed of the actions of their ancestors and predecessors who have constantly refused to believe in God. And this can be compared to the then contemporary actions of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and those who belonged to the group of the Sadducees, many of the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council, many of whom were opposed to the Lord and His teachings and works. The hard-hearted and stubborn attitudes of those people could indeed be compared to the stubbornness of the Israelites of the time of the Exodus.

Hence, that is why all of us are also reminded by the same author of the Epistle to the Hebrews that we must not harden our hearts and minds against the Lord, and not to indulge ourselves in the path of sin and rebellion against Him. All of us should learn to listen to the Lord and not to do things the way we wanted it, just as our Gospel passage today also highlighted to us. In that passage, we heard of the Lord healing a leper who came to Him begging Him to heal him from his leprosy, from his shame and predicament. The Lord healed the leper and made him healthy again, while telling him that he should not speak of anything regarding his healing and all that happened to anyone, but just showing himself to the priests in accordance to the Law of God.

The man did not listen to the Lord and spoke to everyone regarding what had happened to him, and this caused a very great problem for the Lord, Who then had to hide away and stay out of the towns. And why is that the case, brothers and sisters? That is because likely the Lord healed the leper by touching him, and this was something that the Law of God forbade, as lepers were considered as unclean and should not be approached, less still touched and contacted. The Lord has willingly reached out to the man and acceded to his requests to be healed and made whole again, and had his stain of leprosy removed from him. Yet, the man could not do what the Lord had asked of him, and chose to do what he wanted to do instead of what the Lord had asked and told him to do, with a negative consequence as we have heard.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence reflect on these words of the Scriptures and all that we have heard and discussed. Let us all reflect upon our own lives and actions, and think of how each and every one of us can be better disciples and followers of the Lord. Unfortunately, many of us have often chosen to obey the words of the devil, the tempting words and lies of the devil instead of listening to the truth, the will and the Law of God, and we often succumb to the temptations of our flesh, of the world, and chose to turn away from the Lord, shutting ourselves from His words and reminders just as those people in the past had done. We all have heard and were reminded of the consequences of their disobedience, and such consequences will be ours as well if we continue down this path of disobedience.

Hence, let us all change our way of life, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue carrying on living our lives each day. Let us all return wholeheartedly to the path that the Lord has shown us, and strive to love Him to the best of our abilities. Let us all do whatever we can to glorify the Lord through our every actions and deeds, in our every words and interactions. Let us all turn once again towards God with love and obedience, as well as with the desire to follow Him and to obey His Law and commandments once again. Each and every one of us as Christians are called and expected to do whatever we can to proclaim the Lord and His truth, His love and will in our world today, and the best way to do so is by living our lives in the most Christian and obedient ways, as much as possible.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us, and may He empower each and every one of us to live ever more worthily each day, following His Law and commandments. May He strengthen and encourage us in our faith, and help us to grow ever stronger in our love and devotion for Him, and may God bless all of us in our every efforts and endeavours, in our every good works and deeds, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 1 : 40-45

At that time, a leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If You want to, You can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.”

The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Do not tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest, and for the cleansing bring the offering ordered by Moses; in this way you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Thursday, 12 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 94 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, 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.

For forty years they wearied Me and I said, “They are a people of inconsistent heart; they have not known My ways.” So I declared an oath in My anger, “Never shall they enter My rest.”

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Thursday, 12 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 3 : 7-14

Listen to what the Holy Spirit says : If only you would hear God’s voice today! Do not be stubborn, as they were in the place called Rebellion, when your ancestors challenged Me in the desert, although they had seen My deeds for forty years. That is why I was angry with those people and said : Their hearts are always going astray and they do not understand My ways. I was angry and made a solemn vow : They will never enter My rest.

So, brothers, be careful lest some of you come to have an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Encourage one another, day by day, as long as it is called today. Let no one become hardened in the deceitful way of sin. We are associated with Christ provided we hold steadfastly to our initial hope until the end.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2023 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us as Christians are reminded yet again of the salvation and healing, redemption and reconciliation that all of us have received through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. All of us have received the assurance of eternal life and glory from the Lord, Who has sent us His Son to be our Saviour, delivering us from the precipice of destruction and annihilation. Because of Him, we now have hope once again, delivered from the path to eternal darkness, freed from the bondage to sin, evil and death. Christ’s light has triumphed and overcome the whole world, and overcome the dominion of the evil one, and all those who had kept us under the tyranny of sin and death.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard the author of the Epistle regarding how all of us have shared in the same nature as Our Lord Jesus, all thanks to Him, Who is the Son of God, willingly taking up our human nature and existence, becoming Incarnate in the flesh as the Son of Man, coming down into our midst to gather us all into His loving embrace as our Good Shepherd, and reconcile us with His loving Father, our Master and Creator. Through Christ, all of us have received the assurance of eternal life by His suffering and death on the Cross, as well as by His glorious Resurrection, through which Christ has united us all to Himself and made us all to pass through into the new life and blessed existence, that is no longer of sin, but of the light of His grace.

How did Christ do this to us? He did so by sharing in our humanity, by becoming Man like us, so that He can be the New Adam, leading us all towards God through His obedience and love for God, and breaking us free from the bondage of sin because of the disobedience of the first Adam, and Eve, our first ancestors, through which we have entered into the state of sin and separated from God in the first place. He led us all as our High Priest and as the perfect role model for us to follow, so that by His offering of Himself, His own Most Precious Body and Blood on the Cross, by His suffering and death, all of us may receive the pardon and absolution from all of the unimaginable extent of our innumerable sins and faults, and be reconciled fully with the Lord, our most loving Father and Creator.

That is what the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews had mentioned to the faithful, reminding them all that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who has come into the world, has brought into our midst the love of God, the compassionate mercy of the Father manifested in the flesh, becoming tangible and approachable by all of us. The Lord has revealed His most gracious love and kindness, just as we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, where we heard of the Lord Jesus and His ministry among the people of God, healing those who were sick and dying, and also those who were possessed and were troubled by evil spirits, healing the mother-in-law of His disciple and Apostle, St. Peter, among many other deeds that He had done. He went out still, to reach out to more of the people of God, in fulfilling the missions entrusted to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard these readings from the Scriptures today, all of us are reminded that first of all, our lives as Christians ought to be focused and centred on our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and King, Who has come into our midst to deliver us from the sure destruction because of those sins and faults that we have committed. All of us have received the promise of salvation and eternal life from the Lord Himself, Who has reached out to us with His great and most gracious love, caring for us and gathering us all from being scattered all throughout the world, so that we may all be one people, of the one flock that He has assembled, His Church, the Body of Christ. By uniting all of us to Himself, He, as the Head of the Church, has made us all partakers and sharers of the eternal glory and joy that is promised for all those who are faithful to Him and all who belong to Him.

Through Him, all of us have received the healing and encouragement, strength and the power of God’s most gracious love and kindness, which we have now experienced and enjoyed. Now, all of us therefore are called as Christians to be ever more faithful to God and to obey His commandments and Law in the way that Christ, the Son of Man, the New Adam, our role model, has shown us. Each one of us have been called during this period and time to continue doing whatever we can in fulfilling our roles and obligations as those who follow the Lord, in doing what we can to proclaim God’s truth and love in the midst of our communities, among all the peoples, that more and more may also come to believe in God through us. This is our calling and responsibility as Christians, and one that we should embrace wholeheartedly.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter and progress through this first part of the Ordinary Time of the year, before we head into the season of Lent in over a month or so, let us all make good use of this time and opportunity that God has given us to do whatever we can in glorifying Him and in following Him wholeheartedly, so that this season and time will not be ‘ordinary’ in any sense. Instead, we have to make it truly ‘extraordinary’ by doing all that we can to glorify the Lord by our lives, our every actions, words and deeds. We should make sure that our examples may inspire others all around us to follow the Lord and to believe in Him as well, just in the manner that the Lord Himself and His saints have inspired us all to follow them in the path of righteousness and truth.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen each one of us in faith. May He empower all of us that we may always walk ever more confidently in the path that He has shown us and led us. May God bless our every works and deeds, all the endeavours and actions that we carry out in each and every moments of our lives. Wishing all of us a most blessed and fruitful Ordinary Time and season, each and every days of our lives, always. Amen.