Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 13 : 18-21
At that time, Jesus continued speaking, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed, and planted it in his garden. The seed has grown, and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”
And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast, and hidden it in three measures of flour, until it is all leavened.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Galatians 2 : 1-2, 7-14
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders – lest I should be working or have worked in a wrong way.
They recognised that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the Apostle of the Jews, He made me the Apostle of the pagans.
James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me. Those men who were regarded as the pillars of the Church stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans and they to the Jews. We should only keep in mind the poor among them. I have taken care to do this.
When later Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James’ people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group.
The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretence, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly : If you who are Jewish agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you now compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?
Liturgical Colour : White
Galatians 1 : 13-24
You have heard of my previous activity in the Jewish community; I furiously persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. For I was more devoted to the Jewish religion than many fellow Jews of my age, and I defended the traditions of my ancestors more fanatically.
But one day God called me out of His great love, He Who had chosen me from my mother’s womb; and He was pleased to reveal in me His Son, that I might make Him known among the pagan nations. Then I did not seek human advice nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me.
I immediately went to Arabia, and from there I returned again to Damascus. Later, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other Apostle except James, the Lord’s brother. On writing this to you, I affirm before God that I am not lying.
After that I went to Syria and Cilicia. The churches of Christ in Judea did not know me personally; they had only heard of me : “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith he tried to uproot.” And they praised God because of me.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Galatians 1 : 6-12
I am surprised at how quickly you have abandoned God Who called you according to the grace of Christ, and have gone to another gospel. Indeed, there is no other gospel, but some people who are sowing confusion among you want to turn the Gospel of Christ upside down.
But even if we ourselves were giving you another gospel different from the one we preached to you, or if it were an Angel from heaven, I would say : let God’s curse be on him! As I have said I now say again : if anyone preaches the Gospel in a way other than you received it, fire that one.
Are we to please humans or obey God? Do you think that I try to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel we preached to you is not a human message, nor did I receive it from anyone, I was not taught of it but it came to me as a revelation from Christ Jesus.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of what we as Christians have to do as part of our faith, and God reminds us that whatever we are doing, we should not do it for ourselves, but rather, we have to do it for the sake of the Lord our God. This is what we often tend to forget and which we also tend to overlook.
We just have to look at the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at the time of Jesus, whose teachings do not correspond to the actions which they have taken. They preached one thing, but then in their actions they were not genuine in their faith. Jesus elaborated extensively on that matter, criticising them as hypocrites and those who sought to bring about their own personal glory.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us just see some of the examples. The Pharisees were overly concerned about their appearances and about how the people perceived them and their actions. They feared that the people would abandon them and their teachings for Jesus, Who taught with authority and with truth, and who did not just preach but also practiced what He preached.
And Jesus our Lord was right in criticising them, because their actions were not done for the sake of the Lord and His people, but instead, they were meant for themselves, to advance their own positions and to satisfy their own need and greed. They prayed in public places with a loud voice and with great appearances so that the people would see them and what they were doing, and then praise them and gave them the prestige and honour which they desired for so much.
And when they fasted, they fasted publicly, showing sad and gloomy faces, to show others that they were fasting, just as Jesus mentioned. And He pointed out that in doing so, they risked themselves, or indeed they had purposefully done so, that they again might be noticed by the people. And they gained the satisfaction when people praised them for what they have done, and they grew proud in their hearts.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what the Pharisees had done then, are also applicable to us all as well. How often was it throughout our history that we have acted in ways so as to satisfy our own personal desires and wants? And how often is it that men had been so selfish so as they forgot about others around them, or even trample at them in order to fulfil our own needs?
And the most important of all, is that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not give glory to God and neither did they love Him or have true faith for Him when they did all the things they have done. They did it for themselves, and not for God or for His people. And that was exactly why the Lord rebuked them and condemned them harshly for it.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, from all that we have heard and discussed today, let us all come to the realisation that each and every one of us as Christians must have genuine and living faith in our God, and this means that we must truly have that devotion for our God, and when we do everything, let us do it for the Lord our God.
May God strengthen our faith and empower us always to be filled with faith, hope and love, so that in all the things we do, we will always be ever faithful to Him, our Lord and God, and be worthy of His life everlasting. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continuing from the discourse of yesterday’s Scripture reflections and passages, we move on to the theme of mercy and forgiveness from God, which He gives to all those who have shown genuine and true desire to be forgiven, and whose heart were filled with regrets for the wicked acts and things which they had committed in life.
In the first reading today, we had the example from the Book of Kings telling us about the same king Ahab, who also caused the death of Naboth of Jezreel in order to seize his vineyard to be his own. God spoke to him through the prophet Elijah, warning him of the impending punishment that he had earned for having committed such heinous and wicked a crime, and therefore the anger of God was upon him, and destruction awaited him.
But king Ahab, as sinful as he was, he was still capable of showing regret and humility, humbling himself before God and lowering himself, unworthy before God, knowing full well the sins which he had done. And God saw his regret and desire to recant his sinful ways, and gave him a reprieve, although he was still not forgiven for all the multitudes of evil deeds which he had done.
In the Psalm, we heard the famous psalm of David, which was likely composed when king David had sinned before the Lord, either when he committed adultery with the wife of another man, Bathsheba wife of Uriah and plotted for the latter’s death, or when he proudly asked to count his vast dominions and peoples, conducting a census of his whole kingdom despite the advice otherwise given by his advisors.
David showed great remorse and he was filled with great shame. However, unlike Ahab, it was likely that his remorse was far more genuine, and in his heart, ultimately, unlike Ahab, David was still truly faithful and still loved the Lord his God fully and with great devotion. And that is why, although calamities did befall him and troubles found their way to him, but God forgave him and made his reign secure.
And lastly in the Gospel today, Jesus made it all fully well known, of what God is expecting from us, with regards to love, and with regards to our relationship with one another. He expects us to love tenderly, and to love with our heart, and without prejudice or bias. And when we love, we should love all, even those people who have not loved us first.
It is our human nature that we mankind tend to do what only benefits us, and not those things that do not benefit us. We tend to seek things that we can reciprocate with, and hence, we tend to love only those who also love us. But God calls us all, as Christians, as those who believe in Him, His beloved children, to love far more than what our human nature leads us to believe.
We are all called to love with our hearts, to love all, even those who have not loved us, and even those who have hated us and persecuted us, so that the love which we have is truly genuine, rather than just a mere reciprocation or one that is borne out of obligation to repay whatever we have received. Let our love be pure and true, and let us all pray today, that God will help us and guide us that we may love Him and His people ever more. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of the wicked king of Israel, Ahab who desired the vineyard of Naboth to become his own, and when Naboth refused the king bluntly on the consideration that the land belonged to him and to his ancestors, king Ahab became angry and with the complicit help of his wife, Jezebel, Ahab managed to gain the vineyard by the means of false accusation and murder of Naboth.
If we look at this passage from the Book of Kings, we may find it difficult to reconcile with what we heard in the Gospel today. In the first reading, God spoke to king Ahab through His prophet Elijah regarding the wickedness of his actions in causing the death of Naboth for his own gain, unlawfully gaining the vineyard through trickery and lies. And God said that what happened to Naboth would also happen to Ahab.
It means that whatever evil things Ahab had done would also befall him as the consequence for his sins. But in the Gospel we heard about Jesus our Lord who told His disciples that they should not seek vengeance or to get retribution from those who have mistreated them or hurt them. It seems that the two passages contradict each other if we read them at the face value, but in reality, they actually complement each other.
How is this so? It is because both of them speak of the same thing. All of us human beings have been created with love and out of love by our God, and we were all intended for good things. And thus the very important rule that all of us have to understand is that if we want others to treat us kindly and nicely, then we ourselves must start to treat others in the same manner too.
If we treat others badly, then it will bring about pain and anger in their hearts and minds, and as a result, they too will want to treat us in the same manner too, seeking vengeance against us. And when vengeance has been accomplished, the cycle is not over but in fact continues on, as when we become the object of that vengeance and suffered because of it, then we ourselves will want to enact our own revenge. The end result is a never-ending cycle of revenge and vengeance that bring about nothing but suffering, more suffering, pain and evil.
On the other hand, if we love one another, and even love and forgive those who have hurt us or hated us, then in fact we are breaking that endless cycle of hatred and suffering, by opening up the floodgates of God’s love to fill our hearts, and the hearts of those who have despised us and hated us, so that we stop that continuation of hatred and all the evil emotions, and instead spread and spawn the seeds of love.
And when we love even our enemies and those who have loathed us and persecuted us, what we hope is that we may bring their hearts to know the love which God has given to them through us, and that they may repent their ways and turn back to those evil deeds and into the light of God. And thus, we may bring one another into the love of God, and receive His grace and blessings.
And how about what we heard with regards to king Ahab and Naboth? Brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a crucial difference between that case and what our Lord is asking us to do. What king Ahab had done was definitely very wicked, and it was not just on that occasion, but also on numerous other occasions, where Ahab had disobeyed the Lord and brought the whole people of Israel into sin.
And unlike us all who have in our tendency not to love our enemies and those who hate us, God loves everyone equally, as He has created all of us without discrimination, whether they eventually became good or evil based on their own conscious choices. And He has loved us all even though many of us if not most or all of us, have disobeyed Him and rejected His love from time to time.
And God offered Ahab and the Israelites the same love, and yet they rejected it. And thus, in the end, those who refuse to love, and refuse the love which God had generously presented to us, and choose instead to act on our own whim and desires, then we have to part in God’s love and inheritance, and our fate will be like that of king Ahab, whom God had rejected and cast out from His presence. Remember brethren, that God loves us, but He hates our sins and wickedness.
Thus, let us today heed the example of a great saint whose feast we celebrate today. St. Anthony of Padua, the renowned Franciscan friar and preacher was a very famous saint whose works in Italy and in many places have brought numerous if not countless souls back from the periphery of death and darkness and back into the light and the love of God.
St. Anthony of Padua showed great devotion to the Lord, and then correspondingly a great commitment for the people of God, to whom he had devoted himself fully, caring for the weak, the ostracised and the downtrodden, teaching to them the word and the truth of God, and revealing God’s love to them through his own loving actions.
He inflamed the hearts of many people with his preaching, and he inspired many of them to rediscover their faith and to commit themselves anew to God. And he often led by example, showing many people how they should act as those who believe in the Lord our God. It is very important for us all to follow his examples, and also have love in our own actions and deeds.
Let us all renew our faith for the Lord, and be loving and be merciful in all the things we say and do. May God strengthen the love within our hearts, and allow us to be filled with His gracious love and mercy, that we will always endeavour for the good and for the salvation of all mankind, each and every one of us. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the feast of one of the Holy Apostles of Christ, who although he did not belong to the Twelve Apostles, the principal Apostles and disciples of our Lord, but nevertheless, his role in the propagation of our Faith and in the development of the early Church was very crucial indeed.
St. Barnabas the Apostle travelled extensively with St. Paul the Apostle, who was also not counted among the Twelve Apostles, and yet both of them indeed played a very crucial role in the early and developmental years of the Church. Through their work and preachings throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region, from Syria to Roman Asia and Ephesus, to Cyprus and to Roman Greece, Macedonia and beyond, they have laid the important foundations of the Church in those places.
In doing so, he and the other Apostles have done what the Lord Himself commanded them to do, which we heard as part of our Gospel passage today. The Gospel spoke about the Lord Jesus sending out His disciples to preach the Good News and the kingdom of God to the people, and to bring the message of salvation to them.
And they were also sent with the authority to cast out demons and evil spirits, and to heal the sick and minister to the poor and the outcasts of the society. God gave them the power and authority to do so, and giving them the gifts of His Holy Spirit to bless and guide them along the journey, inflaming their hearts with the courage and hope, as well as with strength to carry out the mission which has been entrusted to them. And they did carry the mission with full faith in God and devoted all their time and efforts for that purpose.
And what is that mission, brothers and sisters in Christ? Our Lord Jesus Himself mentioned that just before He departed and ascended in glory to heaven, as the last of His commands to His disciples. The goal of all the faithful is to declare and to preach the Good News and the salvation of God as shown through Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Lord of all, and to bring these to all mankind to the very ends of the earth.
And St. Barnabas had carried out that mission faithfully and with great courage. He met many difficulties, challenges and even harsh persecutions from the Jews and the pagans alike. And with St. Paul he persevered through all of them, even though he had been cursed, rejected, shouted against, had stone cast on him, and cast out of the cities and towns he has been working and preaching in.
The works and examples of St. Barnabas can indeed be an inspiration to all of us. And we all need to realise that the works that the Lord had laid out for His Apostles had not ended yet, and neither had the work been completed, as it is still ongoing and in progress. The Church may be completely different from how it was during the time of the Apostles, at the time when St. Barnabas still lived and walked on this world, but the core mission of the Church remains yet the same.
Now in our world today, in fact the need is even far greater for us to reach out to the world and to all the people whom we have been sent to by the Lord. There are many areas in this world, and many more people who are in need of our help. God has sent us all to bring His word to them, to reveal to them His truth and salvation. But there are yet many more people who have not heard of the Lord, or they have misunderstood His truth, or even rejected Him.
It is important therefore that we should understand how important is the role which we have as part of the Church of God. We have to know that the works of the Apostles that continue on to this very day is now our responsibility and ours to bear. If none of us are to take up the challenge, then who else will? Who else will be there to bring the word of God to the multitude of people who still live in denial and in the darkness?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we live our lives today, let us all realise that there is much that we can do in order to be part of this Church’s effort to bring the light of the world into this world and reveal the wholeness of His truth to mankind. Let us pour forth our effort and works in order to contribute to the evangelising mission of the Church, by starting with ourselves and in our communities, devoting ourselves and our time for the Lord.
May God bless us all and give us the strength and courage to carry out this mission. May we not be daunted by the challenges we are to face ahead of us if we continue on this path, just as St. Barnabas had persevered through those challenges, the rejection from the world and even threats and dangers to his life. Let us never back down from the mission God had entrusted to us, and may we always be forever faithful to Him, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Acts 11 : 21b-26 and Acts 13 : 1-3
A great number believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favour, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; for he himself was a good man filled with Holy Spirit and faith. Thus large crowds came to know the Lord.
Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. On one occasion while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.”
So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Jesus Who spoke to His disciples about the importance for us to keep ourselves free from sin, and purified from all the filth and taints of sin, so that all of them will not become obstacles and hindrances on our path towards the salvation and life in God.
We may be terrified to hear it when Jesus spoke to His disciples about cutting off limbs, their legs and hands when these caused them to sin, and tearing out their own eyes if these had also led them into sin. But this is the problem we face if we just take everything that Jesus had said at the literal level. We must not take His words just at the face value, but instead, we have to internalise them and understand them with all of our heart.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called by our Lord to purify ourselves from sins and wickedness which have in its many forms, one way or another, filled our hearts, minds and corrupted our soul and our flesh. In fact, what the Lord Jesus wanted us to know that firstly, if our inner beings are corrupt and wicked, then these will certainly lead to corruption and wickedness to cover our bodies and our external beings as well.
And then He also wants us to know that we need to separate ourselves, and steer ourselves clear of sinful ways and all things that lead to evil and darkness. We must understand this in order to be able to fully appreciate what Jesus told His disciples. It does not mean that we should injure or hurt ourselves physically, but rather, we must break up that part of ourselves, deep in our hearts and minds, those which have pulled us into sin.
It means that we should resist the temptations that are inevitably going to play at our desires, so that through internal discipline and rigorous defence, we may overcome those temptations and prevent ourselves from falling into the trap of sin. And what many of us mankind lacked is precisely this discipline, the rigour of conduct required for us to be able to resist falling into sin.
Many of us embraced our desires, and succumb to its pressure whenever we are presented with the opportunities for us to follow the desires of our heart. And it does not help with the fact that our world today is a place of increasingly greater and deeper materialism, where everything from money, possessions and human greatness are valued highly and treasured.
If we are not careful, then we are inviting trouble for ourselves, as then our actions may become filled with greed and selfishness, and we may come to the point where we may hurt others on our attempts to satisfy ourselves. And that is why Jesus our Lord reminded us to be careful in our actions, and to be vigilant lest our actions and deeds bring us to sin.
But all these should begin from the inside, from our hearts and minds. If these are pure and good, then surely our outward expressions will also be good and pure. As Jesus put it in another parable, that good trees certainly will produce good fruits, and bad trees will produce bad and rotten fruits. It would not be the other way round. Thus, if we can keep ourselves worthy and clean from sin in the inside, then we too may make ourselves wholly worthy of the Lord.
And the best way to do that is through prayer and spiritual discipline. We must step up our efforts to keep our hearts pure and be filled with the love of God, by improving the discipline of our minds and hearts. Let us keep ourselves from wicked thoughts and desires, and learn to resist these all by devoting ourselves, our efforts and our time to God, that we may be better able to find our way to our God and gain the eternal life He has promised us. God bless us all. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 