teachings of the Church

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Friday, 9 November 2018 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together joyfully with entire Universal Church, the great feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, also known by its full name of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World. It is the actual Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, and as such, is where the Cathedra of the Pope as the Bishop of Rome is.

We may think that the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican is the place where the Pope has his Cathedra, and we may think that it is the principal and the most important church in all the world, but in truth, today, we mark the anniversary of the dedication and consecration of the Cathedral of Rome, the most important church in all of Christendom. It is the heart of Christendom and the centre around which all the whole world of Christianity revolves.

Indeed, the Pope now resides in the Vatican City and celebrates most of the liturgical celebrations and functions in St. Peter’s Basilica, clearly the second most important church after the Lateran Archbasilica, as it was the place where St. Peter was martyred and where his tomb was laid. But historically, the Pope stayed for many centuries in the Lateran Palace just adjacent to the Lateran Basilica.

And today as mentioned, marked the date when the Lateran Basilica was completed and dedicated for divine worship, the very first of its kind after the official toleration of the Christian faith throughout the Roman Empire after hundreds of years of persecutions. The Roman Emperor Constantine ended the persecution of Christians through the Edict of Milan in the year 312 AD, and within slightly more than a decade after that, the Lateran Basilica was completed, and to be followed by many other churches, many of them sponsored by the state.

The dedication of a church marks the moment when the building and the spaces of a church are made holy and sacrosanct, blessed and worthy of the worship of the divine as prescribed by our faith. In the dedication of a church, the altar, which is the centre part of every churches, is blessed first with holy water, and then anointed with holy oil, incensed with the fragrant perfumes of incense, and finally has its altar candles lighted.

Then the same process of blessing with holy water, anointing with holy oils, incensation with fragrant incense, and the lighting of candles are done, on the whole church building and all the people gathered inside the church, and twelve consecration crosses are blessed, as the sign that the church has been dedicated and consecrated for the proper use of divine worship, becoming a worthy space for the worship of God.

In the reading today, the first reading is taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, in which part his vision of the heavenly Temple of God was read out to us. He saw the vision of the Temple of God in heaven, and how water was flowing out of the Temple, a life-giving water that brings about life to its surroundings, and provides enrichment for all that Ezekiel saw.

This Temple is a figurative representation of Christ, Who is the true Temple of the Lord, His own divine presence in heaven, which surpasses and overrides the earthly Temple, which at that time represents the Temple in Jerusalem, first built by king Solomon, and then rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah, and last of all, the latter was rebuilt and enlarged by king Herod the Great, which was the Temple standing at the time of Jesus.

The Lord Jesus in the Gospel passage today mentioned that the Temple of God would be destroyed and in three days, the Temple would be rebuilt again. And it was mentioned that the Temple that the Lord Jesus referred to, was actually His Body. And this is linked to what the alternative passage for the first reading today reads, that is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians.

St. Paul spoke of each one of us as the Temple of the Holy Presence of God, where the Holy Spirit dwells in each and every one of us. And if we are the Holy Temple of God, where God Himself is present, then we must do our very best to uphold the sanctity and the goodness of the condition of this venerable House of God. We cannot defile this Temple with corruption, that is the corruption of sin.

This was what the Lord Jesus did with the physical Temple of Jerusalem, when He came there and saw all the wicked things and the corruptions that had struck at the heart of the House of God, the focal point of the community of Israel. He saw all the merchants and money changers that set up their businesses at the Temple, selling animals for the Temple sacrifice and exchanging the money of foreigners and Jewish diaspora migrants who came back to the Temple.

And in order to understand and appreciate fully the extent of the anger of the Lord, when He took a whip and chased all the merchants and money changers out of the Temple grounds, we must realise that most likely, the merchants were selling their sacrificial animals at a high price and therefore earning a lot of profit from the exchange, and the same occurred for the money changers as well. Essentially, they were dishonest merchants that tricked the people off their money.

And it was likely that the priests of the Temple benefitted from the dishonest and wicked merchants and money changers. By judging on common practices that we mankind usually do, we often try to help one another, even in illicit and illegal ways, and that includes blatantly allowing such sinful activities to take place within the holy grounds of the Temple, at the profit and benefit of both the merchants and the priests of the Temple.

Imagine, then, brothers and sisters, what will happen if we, the Temples of God’s Holy and Real Presence, defile ourselves with sin, even to the smallest and least serious amongst all sins? If the Lord cast out the merchants and the money changers from the Temple of Jerusalem with such anger and righteous justice, then what can we expect at the Last Judgment, when the Lord will divide those who are righteous from those who are just?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice and recall the wondrous memories of those who have been persecuted for their Christian faith, and finally triumphed with the great dedication of this magnificent Archbasilica, the mother and head of all the churches in the world, we must also recall our own calling and mission as God’s own dwelling place, where He resides in each and every one of us who have received the Lord through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.

And because God created us in His own image, thus our bodies and our existence are the image and the reflection of the Body of Christ, through Whom Christ unites us into His Real Presence, which He gave us through the Eucharist, His own Body and Blood given to us who receive Him into ourselves. We are the Tabernacles and the Ark of the Lord’s Presence. Therefore, we really need to be mindful of the sanctity and the holiness that is needed to be maintained, in keeping our bodies, minds and hearts, and our souls, our whole being, free from the corruption of sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore, rediscover our purpose in faith, in honouring God through our daily living, and through our worthy commitment. Let us all turn our hearts, minds and our whole being towards the Lord from now on, with a new faith and with a new conviction, willing to do what it takes, in order to keep ourselves holy and worthy of God’s Holy Presence in us.

May the Lord continue to guide us and bless us, that through His Holy Presence in us, as His Temples and Houses, He may guide us to the right path, and that we may, in the end, be found worthy of His eternal glory, and be worthy to be with Him forevermore. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 8 November 2018 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God in the Scriptures reminding us of our mission as Christians, as those who have been called and have responded to the truth which the Lord revealed to us through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to be missionaries to reach out to those who have not yet seen the light of Christ and therefore, still lost to Him.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, we listened to the Apostle speaking about the matter of circumcision and true circumcision in Christ. This must be understood in the context of the historical practices of the time, when circumcision was something that became a distinctive mark of being a member of the people of Israel.

Ever since the time of the Covenant established between God and Israel through Moses, all of the Israelites’ males have to be circumcised, all the newborn males ever since then had to be circumcised on the eighth day after they were born, as the sign of the Covenant which they make with God. If someone was not circumcised, that person was considered to be not an Israelite, and therefore a pagan and unbeliever.

The Covenant of God was considered as something that was exclusive, and no other people could be saved outside the Covenant, meaning if someone was not circumcised and did not believe in YHVH, the God of Israel, they were condemned and doomed, as those who have no part in the salvation which was thought to belong to the Israelites alone. But this is what St. Paul wanted to overturn, by saying that salvation belongs to all the children of God.

St. Paul was bringing with him the New Covenant which Christ has made with His people, with all mankind, through the loving sacrifice that He made on the cross. This New Covenant supersedes the old Covenant, and the Lord Himself revealed what being His followers and His disciples mean, and that is no longer the exclusive attitude and mentality of the old faith, but the new and inclusive nature of the new Covenant.

This meant that the old physical circumcision no longer serves its purpose as a sign to the nation of those who have been chosen by God. Instead, as St. Paul mentioned, the nobler and better spiritual circumcision of our heart and mind, is what the Lord expects from each and every one of us. And this means that as Christians, we cannot live in ways that are not in accordance to what the Lord wants us to do with our lives.

First of all, to be Christians, we must love, and love generously and tenderly. We cannot act in ways that are egoistic, individualistic, selfish and filled with jealousy and hatred, with exclusivist attitudes. Instead, we should reflect on the parables that the Lord Jesus taught to the people in our Gospel passage today. Through those parables, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin, the Lord wants us to know that we must reach out to those who are lost, who are in still darkness and those who have not yet received the truth of God and His salvation.

The Lord mentioned how a shepherd who had a hundred sheep lost one of his sheep, which wandered off into the wilderness. And the shepherd went forth in search of the lost sheep until he found it and rejoiced with the discovery of the lost one. The same went with the lost coin, and the owner of the coin rejoiced greatly when the lost coin was discovered. That is exactly the attitude that all of us Christians must have.

In our society today, we must be filled with love, and all of our actions must stem forth from our love, care and concern for those who in our society, are the most needy, the weakest, and the most ignorant of God’s truth. And we all need to reach out to them, to help them and to nourish them, in the case of those who are poor and suffering, materially, and for those who have not known God or refused to believe in His truth, spiritually.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all turn towards God and commit ourselves anew to Him, and serve Him with ever greater commitment, day after day, by loving our fellow men, and by reaching out to those who still live in the darkness of ignorance of the faith and salvation in God, through our own actions, showing what being a Christian is, through our direct witnessing, in our actions and deeds.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our journey, day after day, that we may be ever more faithful to Him, and be ever more devoted, be truly and spiritually circumcised and dedicated to Him in our hearts, minds and in our whole being. May God bless us all and may He bless all of our good works and endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 November 2018 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God in the Scripture reminding us to be aware of what being a Christian is for each and every one of us. That is because to be a true Christian is not just sufficient, for us to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and going through catechism, attending the regular Sunday Masses as obliged to us by the Church.

What is needed for us is to truly embody our faith in all of our actions. We must believe in the way that even when challenges and difficulties come our way, we will not easily give up our faith, but will persevere on despite the difficulties and challenges. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Philippi mentioned this in the light of the situation at the time, when Christians lived in a relatively hostile environment.

At that time, Christians were looked upon with suspicion by the community, both by the Greeks and the Romans who might find their belief in one God to be anything from a curiosity to something that was an affront and sacrilege towards the official Greco-Roman pantheon of gods and also in opposition to the official worship of the Roman Emperors, and then also from the Jewish diaspora that existed in many cities throughout the Mediterranean.

Some of the Jews followed the teachings and the actions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, and also the Sadducees, who were all mostly opposed the teachings of Christ and the works of His Apostles. The Jews in some other places had rioted when St. Paul came into their midst and evangelise among both the Jews and the Gentiles alike. They disagreed with the teachings of the Apostles and how they reached out to the Gentiles.

That was why the Lord Jesus Himself had revealed in our Gospel passage today, when He said to His disciples and followers, that no one could really be His true followers and disciples, unless they were willing to carry their cross with Him, and follow Him in His journey. What He really meant was that, to be a Christian, we must be ready to face opposition and suffering just as He Himself has suffered.

However, there are many of us who did not realise this truth, and we live our faith looking for satisfaction and happiness through our faith. There are many of us coming to believe in God just because we seek something to make us happy and joyful, or to feel spiritually high and fulfilled. But this false expectation and understanding of our faith is not what we ought to have, brothers and sisters in Christ.

On this day, we are called to reflect on this reality of our faith and what the Lord is calling us to. We cannot remain complacent and idle in living our faith. We are called to be active and living Christians, to be exemplary in how we live our lives in accordance with the faith that we believe in. And at times, we must realise that not everyone will agree with us, or will accept our faith easily.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there will be times when life will be difficult for us, and when everything will seem to be up against us. But we must not give up hope and faith, for we must realise that the Lord is carrying His cross with us, just as we are carrying our own respective crosses in life. We will always have the Lord on our side, even when everything else in this world fail us. This is what we must hold firm, our faith in the loving God, our Father Who will always love us till the very end.

And if we remain faithful, the Lord will bless us and reward us with nothing less than eternity of glory and life with Him. Let us all turn our hearts and minds towards Him and devote ourselves anew with a new love and commitment to God. May the Lord always be with us and may He give us the courage to continue living faithfully in our daily lives despite the challenges and difficulties we may face. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 November 2018 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding us to always be humble and to obey the will of God in our lives. In the first reading today, we listened to the words of St. Paul in the letter he wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Philippi. St. Paul spoke of how Christ was obedient to the will of His Father, even to the acceptance of the cross, its burden and suffering, that we may be saved through Him and His obedience.

St. Paul said that the attitude of Christians should be the same as that of Christ, in His love, His obedience to the will of the Father and in the selflessness and humility which He exhibited throughout His life and ministry on earth. Christ became obedient unto death for us, because He loved us so much, that He did not mind even to lay down His life, by offering Himself as the perfect offering and sacrifice in atonement for our sins.

Many of us Christians have not done these in our own respective lives. Many of us have instead been affected by the greed and desires of this world, as mentioned in the Gospel passage today by the Lord Jesus Himself, Who taught the people using a parable to show them how the Lord has called His people to follow Him and to come to the banquet of love which He has prepared for them. And yet, those who were invited to the banquet refused to come, because of the many excuses they had.

What are these excuses, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the temptation of worldly pleasures and corrupt behaviours, such as money, sexual favours and pleasures of the body, power and prestige, influence and fame, all of which often distract us from the true focus and attention on the Lord. To us, all the worldly distractions and temptations seem to be better and more fulfilling than what the Lord offers us.

And that was why, in the parable which the Lord Jesus used, those who were invited to the banquet refused to come, giving all sorts of excuses to the king. The king who became angry upon hearing all of these rejections and excuses, cast those guests out and cancelled their invitations. Instead, he went and asked his servants to invite and to get any people they could find on the roadsides and in other places.

This is a way for the Lord to rebuke the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who at that time were the influential and powerful ones among the society and the community of the people of God. And yet, they were so busy with their own pride, ego and desire, that they refused to believe in the truth which God has laid bare before their own eyes, and which they have witnessed.

Instead, the Lord Himself mentioned how the prostitutes and the tax collectors, all those deemed as sinners and wicked by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, were going on ahead of the latter in the journey towards salvation in the kingdom of God. These were the ones who listened to the Lord’s call and responded to Him, and accepted His invitation to come to His eternal kingdom of love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, reflecting on this, we should also be receptive to God’s call in our lives. And often, He is calling us in the depth and the silence of our hearts and minds. Unless we make the effort to attune ourselves to God, we are likely to miss out on the words of the Lord, through which He is calling us to righteousness and justice. And we can do this through the improvement of our spiritual relationship with God.

Let us all turn towards God therefore with a renewed faith and commitment, desiring to love Him all the more, day after day. Let us all find our way to reach out to God’s salvation, and to enter into God’s everlasting kingdom. May the Lord be with us all, and may He guide us into His kingdom of glory. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 5 November 2018 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded through the words of the Scripture, to be more Christ-like in our actions and deeds in life. We are all called to be more sincere in giving our love and care to our fellow brethren, to show true love to one another, again just as Christ had shown us through His own life and work among us.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, we heard of the Apostle’s very significant words of reminding us of this truth, that all of us must consider others as being more important than ourselves, and for us not to seek our own interests, instead, seeking for the good and interest of others who are present around us.

This is related to what the Lord Jesus mentioned in the Gospel passage today, as He taught the people with a parable, using a feast for example, when the Lord exhorted His disciples to go forth and invite those who were poor and less fortunate, instead of those who were already rich and well-to-do. The Lord’s intention was that in all of our actions we must not place ourselves, our desires and wants to be ahead of our concern for others.

Why is that so? That is because, looking at the situation of the time, the community of the people was one of expectation of satisfaction and personal desire. When someone does something to another person, it is a given that something in return is expected. And often times, people will compare what is being given back in return for what has been given. When someone did not give back what was given, or in equivalent value, then problem would arise.

We grow up and live in a society where we expect to receive something back when we give, and before we even love others, we want others to love us first. All of these in fact, is caused by the greed within our hearts, the desire for worldly comfort and accomplishments, satisfactions and pleasures. By our corrupted human nature, we are affected by this greed and desire inside us.

That is why, as Christians, as those who follow Christ and believe in Him, each and every one of us must distance ourselves from these attitudes and behaviours, which we may be very accustomed with. To be a true Christian would mean first of all, to put God as the first and foremost, the centre and the very focus of our lives, and then to put others before our own selves, and therefore, there can be no room for ego, pride and greed in our hearts.

We mankind often bicker and fight, disagree with one another and even end up hating one another just because we cannot overcome the ego and the greed within each one of us. And that is also why we can see just so many instances of people who suffer because of the tyranny of injustice, when man desires for something and that desires lead to someone to act unjustly and even hurt their fellow brethren.

This is what we cannot do as Christians, as those who believe in Christ and walk in His ways. In fact, we must be ready to stand up for the cause of the weak and the poor, for all those who have been unjustly treated. We also must practice the same with our own lives, with our own actions towards others. How can we call ourselves as Christians if we have been unjust towards our fellow brethren?

Let us look at the example of our Lord Jesus Himself, Who loved us so much, that not only He was willing to forgive us our sins and wickedness, but even to die for us sinners, and bear the sins we have with us upon Himself, that through His suffering and death on the cross, we may have life eternal. He showed us what the true meaning and significance of love is, and He loved us all so greatly that He has done all those things for our sake.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore renew our faith in God and turn towards Him with renewed love, zeal and faith. Let us commit our time, effort and attention to the Lord, and seek to devote ourselves to Him from now on, ever more through our actions in life. Let us be men for others, and show love and concern for those in our midst who are suffering and in need. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our loving works. Amen.

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Sunday, 4 November 2018 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the readings from the Scriptures are about God’s Law, and the need for us all to listen to the Law of God, to accept them and to put them into practice in our own lives, but with good understanding and appreciation of what the Law is all about, and this is important because otherwise, we will end up falling into the same trap into which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had fallen into.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that we should not follow the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who professed to believe in the Law and in fact, as the ones who regulated and enforced the Law, and yet, they did not know what is the true meaning and significance of the Law. Many of them observed the Law for the wrong reason and with the wrong intention.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law stressed a very strict application of the laws of Moses, which can be found in the book of Exodus and Leviticus in the Old Testament, as well as the traditions and practices which had been handed down the generations of the people of Israel. There were in total six hundred and thirteen set of laws, rules and regulations that the people of God had to obey and fulfil, down to the smallest details of how one should live their lives.

These laws had to be understood in the context of history and how the law came to be. The Law was given to the people of God, Israel, as part of the Covenant that God established with them, just right after He liberated them from their slavery at the land of Egypt. God gave them the Law through Moses, which showed them various aspects of how they ought to live and survive through the difficult and challenging times, at the time when Israel was still trying to find its identity and place among the nations.

For once, the Israelites were then a stubborn and obstinate bunch of people, who frequently and repeatedly rebelled against the Lord, as was evident from the accounts of the Exodus from Egypt. They had to endure a forty years detour and wait before they were allowed to enter the Promised Land of Canaan, after even though God had reassured them and showed them His providence and love throughout their journey, they chose willingly to abandon God and give in to their fears instead.

They failed to trust God, many times, as shown how just right after they were liberated from Egypt, they gave in to temptation, making a golden calf to be god for them, when Moses went up the mountain of Sinai to receive God’s commandments and Law. They grumbled and had many qualms, when the Lord had fed them daily with manna, the bread of Angels from heaven, and with large birds providing them with meat, and sweet, good tasting water from the rock.

Thus, in order to discipline a people that was so stubborn and obstinate, God gave them the Law in order to remind them to turn away from all their sins and wickedness, and for them to rediscover their love for God, by following the precepts and the rules of the Law. However, although the intention of the Law was good and the early application of the Law was meaningful, but in time, the elders, the priests and eventually the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at the time of Jesus misunderstood and misinterpreted the Law, in its practice, meaning and intention.

They took the Law as a list of punitive regulations to be enforced among the people of Israel, and used them as benchmark of who was to be considered as faithful and who was to be considered as unfaithful. In time to come, this ended up creating divisions in the society, with the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the priests claiming themselves to be pious and good because of their observance of the Law, and looking down on the others, whom to them, were not as pious as they were.

Instead of bringing mankind closer to God as He intended, the Law was misused by those mentioned earlier, in keeping people away from God, by their judgmental attitude towards those whom they considered to be inferior to them in the matter of faith. They looked down on tax collectors, prostitutes and all others who suffered physical disabilities, such as blindness, paralysis and epilepsy.

To the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those sicknesses and professions are signs of them being cursed and unworthy of God’s love and grace. To them, they were the only ones who were worthy of God, and all others had to obey the way of the Law they prescribed to, or else, they too would be cast out from God’s grace. They espoused a very exclusivist attitude and perspective of the Law, one that is not focused on God, but on themselves, their ego, pride and desire.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why, we need to appreciate and understand the true meaning and intention of God’s Law, which He has revealed unto us, through none other than His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who revealed the truth of God to all of us, His people. This is summarised succinctly in the Gospel passage we heard today, revealing to us the whole truth about what God intends to do with us through His Law.

And the heart and intention of the Law is love, and because of that, through the Law, God wants His people to rediscover the love which they ought to have for Him, and which they also ought to have for one another. The Lord came into this world, in order to dispel all the erroneous and false ways of the past elders and teachers of the Law, who had misinterpreted the Law of God and enforced an unjust and undue pressure on the people because of their misuse of the Law.

The Lord challenged all those who heard Him, to break free from that misunderstanding and the wrong ways in which they have done, in fulfilling the obligations of the Law. Instead of being self-centred and self-serving as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had been, we are called to refocus our attention to the Lord. The laws, rules and regulations that has been given to us, now renewed through the Church, must not be seen as burden or formalities that we need to fulfil in order to gain ourselves righteousness.

Otherwise, that is why, even within our Church today, there are many who did what the Church had commanded us to do, and yet, in their hearts and minds, God did not truly have a place in them. Indeed, it is possible for someone to act justly and piously in accordance with the Law and the Church rules and regulations, and yet, for the same person to have little or no love for God. That was how most of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law acted, practicing the Law without understanding the spirit of the Law.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why today, we are all called to turn ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord once again, by rediscovering for ourselves what it truly means for us to be Christians. We must have love in us, and this is important as love is at the centre of our Christian faith and livelihood. Without love, for God and for others, then we will have no real and genuine faith in us.

The Lord Himself said that no matter how wonderful the things and the talents that we have, no matter what abilities we have, or even if we are able to speak in the tongue of Angels, but we have no love in us, then everything is meaningless. Without love, there can be no faith, for without love, how can we then believe in God Who is all about love? We call ourselves as Christians because we believe in Christ, Who is the personification of God’s ultimate love for us.

Let us all love one another just as the Lord Himself has loved us. Look at the example of Our Lord Jesus, Who gave Himself and His life for us, dying on the cross for our sake, willingly bearing the sins of ours because of His love for us, that He does not want us to be eternally separated from Him because of those sins. The Lord Jesus obeyed His Father’s will, and loved His Father, and because of that, He also loved us. In the perfect love which God has shown us, the perfect love between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, all of us are called to emulate this love in our own living.

Let us grow deeper in the understanding of our faith, the practices and customs of our faith, and all that the Church had given us through its teachings, the commandments of God and the laws of the Church. Let us appreciate better how we can grow ever more in our love for God through these, by meaningful and genuine participation in the life of the Church, from active participation in regular Holy Mass, and many other forms of our Christian worship.

May the Lord continue to guide each and every one of us, that through His Law of love, we may be able to find our way to Him, and be able to turn ourselves to Him, that we may love Him ever more wholeheartedly from now on. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 November 2018 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the entrusting of ourselves and our lives to God, how we should allow God to work through us and not to be worried about many things and concerns in life. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Philippi stated this clearly, that in everything he did, he did it for the sake of Christ, his Lord and Master.

But St. Paul also mentioned how he was torn between dying and living in Christ. What he meant must be understood in the reality of being Christians at that time and era, when being Christians often meant that one must be ready to suffer, to endure persecution and prison, and even to die for the sake of their faith. St. Paul lived through the beginning years of the great persecution of Christians by the Jews, and later by the Romans, when countless Christians would perish because of their faith.

To die for the faith would be painful, but at the same time, it also released the person from the kind of suffering that they had to endure for the sake of their faith. And because the Lord promised that all those who remain faithful to Him will receive eternal life and glory with Him in heaven, then it is actually something that the early Christians looked up towards, as they sought to escape the brutal persecutions and pains inflicted on them.

But St. Paul chose to remain strong and to endure the persecutions daily, instead of openly desiring and seeking for martyrdom, as his intention was such that, if all the Christians were to perish and without showing endurance, then there would be few if not none of those who would be available to serve as witnesses of faith, and there was a great need of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord at that time, to bring the word of God and His truth to the people, many of whom who are still ignorant of the truth, living in sin and darkness.

And unless they had someone to bring the truth to them, those poor souls would have remained in darkness, and therefore, would have fallen into the eternal damnation in hell, if not for the courageous and hard works of St. Paul and the many other disciples and followers of Christ. These brave and faithful servants of God placed their love and concern for their fellow brothers and sisters ahead of their own selfish desires.

Why is that so? That is because it is very easy for us to fall into the temptation of seeking only our own salvation and personal glory, and not minding or caring about the needs of others in our midst. That is just exactly how the Lord Jesus rebuked those who sought first places in banquets and events through His parable in the Gospel today. Those people sought personal honour and glory, as how many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did, and in the end, the Lord said that they would be disappointed.

As Christians we are called to be humble and selfless, in how we live our lives and in how we serve the Lord through our actions and deeds. We should not allow the pride and desire in us to take over us and control our way of life. Instead, we should follow the examples of the Apostles, the many disciples of Christ of the early Church, the saints and martyrs, who willingly let go of their personal desires and pride, in order to serve God with all their hearts.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian native American saint, who was a lay member of the Dominican religious order. He was noted for his great piety and sanctity, and in his great dedication to the service of the poor in his community. He lived simply and with great humility, having to endure poverty himself since his early age. He was unable to join the Dominicans fully because of the law of the time that discriminated against the native population of the New World, the Americas where St. Martin de Porres lived and worked in.

Nonetheless, St. Martin de Porres gave his all in the service to God, and devoted his whole life to serve the needy and the sick, caring for them without regards for his own personal comfort and without the desire to satisfy his own personal desires and ego. He cared for many of the sick during a great epidemic that struck the city of Lima in Peru, helping many of those who suffered to endure through their sickness with dignity and love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to follow the good examples of St. Martin de Porres, in his dedication to the Lord, and his love for his fellow men, in his humility, that he did not let pride and greed to distract him from the path towards God’s salvation. Let us all reexamine our own lives, and find ways in which we can make a difference, by turning ourselves ever more wholeheartedly to the Lord.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our path, through the good examples shown unto us by his glorious saints, especially St. Martin de Porres, whose exemplary life and actions we ought to adopt as our own. May God bless us always in all of our endeavours and good works. Amen.

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Friday, 2 November 2018 : Feast of All Souls (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Black or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the feast of All Souls’ Day, continuing from yesterday’s Solemnity of All Saints, as the last day of the Allhallowtide. In this period of time, we remember the souls of the faithful departed, and while yesterday we rejoice together in the glory of the saints who have triumphed with God, having been found worthy of the immediate glory of heaven, today, we focus our attention to the holy souls in purgatory.

Why are they called the holy souls in purgatory? That is because these are the ones who have passed on from this world, and have been regarded as belonging among the righteous, that they do not deserve the eternal suffering in hell, which is preserved only for all those who have rejected God and His truth, refusing to turn away from sin and from all of their wickedness down right to their last moments.

But these people, who were not counted among the wicked, and did not deserve hell, also still have with them the residual corruption and taints of sin, those that are not confessed and repented prior to their passing. These are the ones who are currently suffering in purgatory, as they are not condemned to hell, and yet, they still have to wait in order for their sins to be purified in purgatory, before they can ascend to the glory of heaven.

These are the souls of the faithful departed, who are enduring the flames of purgatory, the pain of expectation, and the waiting that agonises them, for they are not yet able to experience the fullness of God’s love and grace, and having to endure the waiting period and the time of purification, to remove from them the residual taints of sin mentioned. God is so holy and good, and no sin can exist in His presence, and that is why, these holy souls suffer.

Yet, they all long and hope for the eternal glory of heaven, and one day, when their sins have been cleansed from them, they will be able to leave purgatory behind and enter the glory of God’s everlasting kingdom. And hence, we pray for their sake, these holy souls in purgatory, that through our prayers, we may move God’s heart to show compassion and mercy on them, and hopefully, forgive them their sins through His grace, and they will be able to enter heaven at the soonest time possible.

It is important that we pray for the holy souls in purgatory, because ultimately, they are still together with us, as part of the one Church of God. They are the Church Suffering, who are suffering in expectation of their release from their temporary confinement in purgatory prior to heaven, just as we are the Church Militant, still living and struggling daily in this world, with our sins and with all the challenges we have to face each and every day.

And together with the saints, whose Solemnity of All Saints we have just celebrated yesterday, the Church Triumphant in heaven, all these three parts form the one Church of God, made of the saints’ Church Triumphant, our Church Militant, and the Church Suffering of the holy souls in purgatory. The saints are constantly praying for both us, as well as the holy souls in purgatory, that God may open the pathway for both of us to join them in glorifying Him in the eternal glory of heaven.

Therefore, we, the Church Militant, just as we often pray for one another, we too should also pray for the souls in purgatory, and even we should ask the saints for their intercession as well. We hope that through our prayers, these holy souls of those who have gone before us, including perhaps many of those whom we personally knee, they may all come to enjoy at the soonest opportunity, God’s love and grace in the eternal heavenly rest.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we pray for the souls in purgatory, today, as we remember our loved ones who have gone before us, and who may now be in purgatory, let us all reflect on our own lives. Let us all look deeply and carefully on our own actions in life, and how we have lived our lives thus far. Why is this important? That is because just as those souls had ended up in purgatory because of their residual sins, that can be our fate as well.

If we have not lived our faith through actions and deeds in our life, and if we have neglected the important observances and expressions of our faith, then not only we may end up in purgatory as well, but worse still, we may turn up to deserve the fall into hell, out of which there can be no escape, unlike purgatory which is just temporary suffering and which end point is still the heavenly glory God promised us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God loves each and every one of us very much, but at the same time, He also detests our sins and wickedness, and unless we change our ways and make the effort to turn away from those sins, we are in danger of entering into the eternal damnation in hell. Therefore today, and from now on, just as we continue to pray for the holy souls in purgatory, let us also reform our lives, that we may become ever closer to God and be more faithful to Him, with each and every passing day.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He guide us in our journey, now and always. May He look mercifully upon the sufferings of those in purgatory who long to be with Him in the glory of heaven, that He may forgive them completely their sins, allowing them to enter into heaven at the soonest opportunity. Amen.

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Thursday, 1 November 2018 : Solemnity of All Saints (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the great Solemnity of All Saints, celebrating the glory of those whom the Church has examined and deemed officially to be worthy of the everlasting glory of heaven, to be together with God and to be in His presence after they passed on from this world, without the need to pass through the purifying flames of purgatory.

The saints were those whom the Church has accorded this dignity, by the virtue of its authority, that after their lives have been carefully scrutinised, their actions and works, inspirations and writings have been evaluated, they were deemed to be sufficient of being accorded the honour of immediate glory of heaven. And that is why, one of the requirements of someone to be declared a saint, is for the saint to have performed some miracles among the people of God, through intercession in their name.

And this brings us to the fact that the saints are not those who are distant from us, but instead, they are part of the same Church that we are in, and although they have already passed on from this world, but they are not distant or forgotten from us. Neither do they forget us, all of us, their relatives, their friends and peers, and as fellow brothers and sisters in the

Lord, all those who are still living in this world filled with sin and darkness.

The saints are constantly praying for us, before the throne of God, interceding for our sake, and hoping that through their prayers and by God’s grace, we may turn away from sin and repent from all of our wicked ways, that one day, we too may join them all, in honouring and glorifying God in heaven, in His presence, through our genuine conversion of heart and faith in Him.

But we also should not think of the saints as those who are superhuman or extraordinary beings beyond our reach. In fact, all of us are called to follow their examples in holiness and to be holy ourselves. All of us have this potential in us, to become saints through our own actions and deeds, which are in accordance with God’s will. The saints themselves once walked this world, and they were sinners just like ourselves, before their glorification in heaven.

Yes, all saints were also sinners once, with the sole exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, who has been especially prepared by God, to be free from the taints of sin, in order to be the worthy vessel and Ark of the New Covenant, Christ Himself, that by bearing God in her, she is also pure from all taints of sin and corruption of evil. All other saints were sinners, some were venial in nature, but some were in fact notorious in their wickedness.

Take for example, St. Augustine of Hippo, who was once an adulterer and great sinner, who engaged in all sorts of hedonistic behaviour and lifestyle during his younger days, when he was tempted by the many worldly pursuits and temptations, following the wrong paths and the wrong ideas, influenced by his peers and friends. But through the constant prayers of his mother, St. Monica, and by God’s grace, St. Augustine eventually saw the errors of his ways, repented and turned towards God with a newfound faith.

And we know of St. Matthew, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, who was a tax collector among the people. Tax collectors at that time were known to be corrupt, and they helped the Romans to oppress the people through harsh imposition of taxes, that the people had to pay to the Roman government, through the intermediary of the tax collectors, some if not many of whom, were corrupt.

But St. Matthew listened to the Lord’s call when He called him to follow Him. He abandoned all of his works and his profession, and committing himself to the Lord, he turned away from the sins of his profession and instead of collecting and seeking for money from the people, he became a collector of souls of the people for the Lord, by saving them from their own sins, through his courageous defence of the faith and by his inspirational Gospel, the Gospel of St. Matthew that became the source of faith for countless people.

There were many other saints who were even murderers, prostitutes and also sinners in the eyes and opinion of most of the people. And yet, interestingly, these also became saints in the end. How is that possible, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is indeed possible, because God’s grace and mercy is so vast, that as long as we are willing to embrace His love and mercy, His forgiveness for our sins and have that courage and commitment to carry on living our lives with a renewed faith and direction, then everything is possible for God.

The Lord Himself mentioned before the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law how the tax collectors and prostitutes were going on ahead on the journey towards the kingdom of God as compared to the former. That is because the tax collectors and the prostitutes made the conscious effort to seek God’s forgiveness and mercy, and opened their hearts and minds, to allow the Lord to enter into them and made a change and difference in their lives, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law hardened themselves with pride, and refused to listen to the truth of God.

It is important that we recognise in each and every one of us, the potential to be saints. The Lord has given to us all, those who are now saints, all of us living and present in the world today, and even those who have willingly chosen condemnation and eternal suffering in hell, all of us received the same gifts, the same love and the same grace from God. But what God has given us, will not bear good fruits of faith as desired, unless we do something about what God gave us.

The saints of God are called the members of the Church Triumphant, for they have won against death just as the Lord Himself had done. They have won for themselves, by the grace of God, an eternity of glory, peace and joy with the Lord, for their righteousness, good actions and faithfulness. And they should be our role models in how we live our lives, as we, who are still living in this world, are the members of the Church Militant.

This was why I mentioned earlier that while the saints are no longer physically with us in this world, but they are still together with us, and the holy souls in purgatory, the Church Suffering, part of the same one Church of God. And the saints inspire each one of us to live according to how they have lived, in their courageous living of their faith, and in their great dedication to the Lord, which is why they are now part of the great Church Triumphant.

All of us can also be saints, just as all saints, with the exception of Mary, were sinners too once. What is important is that, they all experienced genuine conversion in life, turning away from their past sins and wickedness, and embracing fully God’s ways and truth through their lives. Many of them even had to endure suffering and persecutions for God’s sake, because of their total conversion and radical change in life.

And for those who charge that we are committing idolatry by worshipping the saints, we also must be very clear why we have this devotion to saints of God. The saints are not glorified by their own power, glory or deeds. They are not like God, but instead, they reflect the glory of God through their actions and deeds in life. A comparison can be made on the beautiful stained glasses in our churches, where we usually wonder at their beauty and marvel at the amazing work of art found in them.

However, stained glass that is left in the darkness cannot be seen, just as in a darkened church, the stained glass cannot be seen either, as the stained glass do not emit light on its own. But when light passes through the stained glass, the beauty of the stained glass is shown, because of the light that passes through it, which illuminates the stained glass. In the similar way, the saints are glorified and venerated, not because their own power, virtue or glory, but because of God’s work through their lives. God is the source of all the glory and honour.

And when we venerate the saints, we give even greater glory to God, for the saints are servants of God, and when His servants are glorified and honoured, of course He is also glorified and honoured even more. But today, we need to realise that the best way to honour and venerate the saints, are not for us to go and touch their relics, or to visit their shrines and places of honour. The best way for us to honour and venerate the saints, is for us to emulate their examples and follow in their footsteps, in living our faith in the way that the Lord had shown us through those same saints.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we rejoice together with all the saints and holy men and women of God in heaven, the Church Triumphant today, on this Solemnity of All Saints, let us all, as members of the Church Militant, strive to do our best in our lives, to lead a holy and faithful life, from now on if we have not done so thus far. Let us all seek to follow the examples of the saints, and do our best to keep ourselves close to God, by having a deep personal relationship with Him.

Let us all turn away from our sins, and from our wicked ways, and instead, commit ourselves to a prayerful life, to a loving existence to all those whom we encounter in life, by showing love, care and concern for all those who we meet in life, to our friends and family members, to our relatives and to even strangers that we encounter in our daily living. Let us all turn towards God with all of our hearts, and commit ourselves wholeheartedly just as the saints of God had done.

And today, as we also prepare for the Feast of All Souls tomorrow, also pray for the sake of the holy souls in purgatory, the souls of the faithful departed, who are still longing for the glory of heaven, but because of their residual sins, have to wait in the purifying flames of purgatory. Let us pray for them together with the saints, and ask them to pray for us as well, that we may turn completely from sin, and avoid falling into purgatory, or worse still, hell. May the Lord be with us always, and may He always be glorified through the glory of His saints! Amen.

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Wednesday, 31 October 2018 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the eve of the Solemnity of All Saints, the All Hallows’ Eve, from which the name Halloween came from, all of us are reminded that as Christians, all of us are called to emulate the good examples of the saints, the blesseds and other holy men and women who had lived their lives virtuously and showed good Christian morality and way of life.

We are all quite familiar with the popular culture of present day Halloween, which came from centuries of distortions and twists of the truth of the Allhallowtide celebration, commemorating the three holy days of the All Hallows’ Eve itself, that is today, and the Solemnity of All Saints, and then lastly, the Feast of All Souls. In the past, certain communities and cultures celebrated the day of the dead, in remembrance of these events, which distortions led to the current secular Halloween.

This is not how we should commemorate this day, which instead should be a time of reflection and rediscovery for us, of the true calling of our Christian faith, and how each and every one of us can follow in the footsteps of the saints and martyrs, all those holy and devoted men and women who had gone before us. They have all shown us how to live as a Christian, to act and behave as a Christian, and to follow God wholeheartedly as Christians ought to do, as is also evident in the Scripture passages used today.

In the first reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, St. Paul exhorted the faithful to treat one another with respect and with proper dignity given to the other person, and he also mentioned how each parts of the community and the family ought to work with one another in establishing a loving Christian relationship with one another, between parents and children, and between masters and servants.

This came at a time when the general community treated children as insignificant persons, as immature and even easily exploitable, with a large percentage of the children population at work, mostly helping their families, but also a time when children were often not treated with love and care. And because of this lack of love in the relationship within families, between the parents and their children, that was why children also often times treated their parents with contempt.

And for the servants, livelihood was also relatively bad, as they often had to work long hours without adequate food, provisions and rest, and they were often at the mercy of their masters’ desires and will. They were often sold to the highest bidder and when they have outlived their usefulness, they would be mistreated and made to suffer, and cast out even without money or possession on them.

And these are the things and realities which unfortunately still remain in our world today. Parents and children still cannot get along, and even though child labour have been mostly eradicated from many parts of the world, but we see increasingly more and more broken families all over the world, where husband and wife cannot get along and seeking divorce, where children often end up becoming the victim of the divisions and sorrows surrounding all the conflicts.

We also see how people have often been unjustly treated both at workplace and in general livelihood. I am sure we have often witnessed those who abused their wealth, their influence and power in order to gain for themselves selfish benefits at the cost of many others who suffered because of the selfishness of those few who wanted good things for themselves and to satisfy their own wicked desires and greed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, that is why, in the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus said it plainly, that the gateway to the kingdom of God, which is the pathway to salvation and eternal life, is a narrow one. For all the sins we mankind have committed, which many of us have not repented and regretted before God, we fall in further and deeper into even more sins, and from there, to eternal damnation.

But, the many saints of God, those deemed by the Church to be holy and exemplary in their faith and life, are bright stars of hope, amidst the darkness present in this world. And for us Christians, having this immense treasure trove of our predecessors, in all of their inspirational examples and faith, we should be inspired to live our lives more and more, day after day, to be in accordance with what we believe.

And we do not have to start ambitiously. We should start rather, from ourselves and from our families. As mentioned earlier, many of us have experienced troubles and difficulties in our family lives. Unless something is done, the devil will come in and wreak havoc in everything, and the only losers will be us alone. And we can take action by deepening our relationship with God, and also our families and communities with God and one another.

By spending more time in prayer, we attune ourselves more closely to the Lord and we will be able to know and understand His will for us better. And by showing love, care and concern, patience and temperance in our actions, we will be better able to love one another as fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, and shun all sorts of actions that cause hurt to others and bring benefit only to ourselves.

Let us all renew our faith, and reflect on our lives thus far, thinking of what we can and should do, in order to serve the Lord more wholeheartedly, day after day. May the Lord be with us always, and may His glorious saints continue to ceaselessly pray for us sinners, still living in this world. Amen.