temple of God

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Message to the Faithful and Reflections on the Scripture Readings on the Occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Mass of an important occasion and an important part of our faith, that is celebrating the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven by the power and the will of God. This is the dogma and definitive teaching of the Church, declared by the great Pope Pius XII on this day, sixty-four years ago, on the fifteenth day of August of the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, as the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ has long been the subject of veneration and respect for many generations since the beginning days of the Church. Mary as the mother of Jesus, who is the Son of God, the Divine Word incarnate into flesh, has been considered as the Theotokos, or the Mother of God ever since the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in the year of 325 of our Lord. This is because she was the vessel through which our Lord and Saviour was born into this world.

If you had noticed, that the readings today, the songs from the psalms and the Gospel itself talk about the Ark of God, or the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two slabs of stone on which God had written in stone His laws and commandments for His people, and for mankind to be kept faithfully for all eternity. That Ark of the Covenant came to be considered as the Holy Presence of God among men, as God Himself resided in the world, among His people through the Ark.

That was why in the Scripture Reading from the Book of Chronicles today, we are told of the meticulous and very detailed preparations for the carrying of the Ark of God into the Holy City of Jerusalem, that it may be brought from the wilderness where the Ark had resided, to the Tent which the king David of Israel had prepared for the Ark of the Lord. This is because the Ark itself represents the dwelling of God among men, and therefore, later on, it was to be enshrined in the holiest part of the Temple of Jerusalem, in what is called the Holy of holies.

So sacred is that Ark, that indeed, before the occurrence of what is in the First Reading today, what happened was that the Ark had been attempted to be moved to the city of Jerusalem earlier on, but one of the priests of the Levites tribe accidentally touched the Ark when it slipped along the way, and the offending priest was cast down immediately by God for the accidental touching of the Ark. The meticulous preparation was indeed partly because no one, and no human hands should ever touch the Holy Ark of God.

And how is this relevant to what we are celebrating today? That is because the Blessed Virgin Mary is herself an Ark of the Covenant, and in fact, she is the Ark, the one and true Ark, of a covenant that had been established anew by the Lord, the new covenant of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. As she bore the Lord and Saviour in her womb, she essentially became the new Ark of the new covenant which Jesus was to establish and seal by His death on the cross.

And as the Blessed Virgin Mary bore the Lord in herself, she has become the new Ark, that is indeed truly equally sacred and holy in all ways, the same as the old Ark had been. For truly, it must be inconceivable that for the Lord to be born into the world through physical attachments corrupted by sin. That is why, today’s feast is essentially inseparable from that of the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin herself, which means that the Mother of our Lord was conceived without sin, pure and immaculate.

This dogma truly had the background in this purity and holiness of the Ark of God, which was then made anew through Mary, who was to bear the Lord and Saviour of all creation, and no longer just merely the two slabs of stone on which was written the laws and commandments of God. Mary was therefore prepared and made special, pure and immaculate, free from all forms of sin and evil. And therefore, just as in her birth, where she was without sin like her Son, it was truly also inconceivable that death should have any power over her.

This is why the Assumption, in which the Lord brought His own earthly mother into heaven, to show that for she was without sin, pure and immaculate, death has no power over her. Assumption is the proof that God showed men, using the example of His own mother, that death has no final say on us. Instead, He Himself by His sacrifice on the cross had conquered death, and death no longer bound us to itself, and we now have a new hope of life eternal in God.

In the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we honour and look up to Mary, who is both the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and also the foremost and greatest among all saints, as the one whose examples inspire all of us to do better and aim for the better for ourselves. Mary gives us hope that we too may one day be like her, receiving the gift of heavenly glory and our everlasting inheritance as part of the promise and hope which our God had given us.

However, on this sacred and joyful day, we also have to remember that we have our duties and obligations as well. Why is this so? Because all of us who believe in the Lord and who have accepted Him into ourselves, with our God becoming a part of us, and we as a part of the Lord as one Body, we too become the Arks of the Lord’s new covenant. And what is this covenant, exactly? We have to remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper, that the covenant He made was sealed by the giving of His Body and Blood to all mankind.

This covenant becomes ours and we are a part of the covenant when we receive the Lord who is present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Therefore, whenever we receive the Lord in the Holy Communion, we truly become like Mary, to bear the Lord unto ourselves, for the bread and wine are truly transformed completely into the very essence of our Lord, that He is truly present in us, and we become His Ark, or also known as what is called the Temple of God, or the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

And therefore it is very important for us to take note that as the Ark is holy and sacred, and as the Blessed Virgin Mary is holy and blessed, we too must also aspire and work towards having a holy and sacred Ark in ourselves, which means to avoid all sorts of fornications or sins that taint the body, or the soul or both body and soul.

If we are not able to do this, we will not be worthy bearers of the Lord, and we will be punished and cast out from our intended inheritance, and we will not share in the glory of Mary, whom God had brought body and soul into heaven for her role in the plan of God’s salvation of mankind. She is our role model and our hope, for through her God had made it clear to us, that death will not have any power over us, unless if we allow it to rule us again when we succumb to the temptations of sin and defile our bodies and our souls, unworthy of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reflect on this occasion, and on God’s loving presence among us, and within us. Let us from now on, whenever we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, work harder and be more intent on keeping ourselves holy and worthy to receive our Lord into ourselves. Surely, we are all sinners and delinquents before God, but if we make the effort to keep ourselves holy and devoted to Him, He will grant us His favour.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed into heaven body and soul by the power and favour of our Lord Jesus Christ, continue to pray for us and intercede for our sake, that we too may also experience the same glory she had received, and join her with all the other saints and holy people of God, to be with God for eternity and where death no longer has any power or say over us. God be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 August 2014 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Chronicles 15 : 3-4, 15-16 and 1 Chronicles 16 : 1-2

Then David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the Ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi.

And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered according to the command of YHVH. David then told the leaders of the Levites to assign duties for some Levites to sing and play a joyful tune with their various musical instruments : harps and lyres and cymbals.

They brought the Ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had prepared for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. And when David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the Name of YHVH.

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Wednesday, 13 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Ezekiel 9 : 1-7 and Ezekiel 10 : 18-22

Then the Son of Man shouted loudly in my ears saying, “The punishment of the city is near; see each one of these has in his hand his instrument of destruction.” And six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each one with his instrument of destruction. With them was a man clothed in linen with writing material at his side. They came and stopped near the altar of bronze.

Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from the cherubim where It rested and went to the threshold of the house. YHVH called to the man clothed in linen who had the material for writing at his side, and He said to him, “Pass through the centre of the city, through Jerusalem, and trace a cross on the forehead of the men who sigh and groan because of all the abominations committed in it.”

I heard Him say to the others, “Now you may pass through the city after him and strike. Your eyes shall not look with pity; show no mercy! Do away with them all – old men, young men, virgins, children and women – but do not touch anyone marked with a cross.”

And as they were told to begin with the sanctuary, they struck the elders who were in front of the Temple. YHVH said to them, “Let the courts be filled with the slain and the Temple be defiled with their blood; go out!” They went and slew the people in the city.

The Glory of YHVH went from above the threshold of the house and went to rest on the cherubim. Then the cherubim left, opening their wings and rising above the earth in my sight, and the wheels went with them. They halted at the east gate of the house of YHVH and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them.

These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar. I recognised them as cherubim. Each had four faces, each had four wings and they had what seemed like human hands under their wings. As for the appearance of their faces, they were the faces I had seen by the river Chebar, the same likeness. Each one went straight ahead.

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(Usus Antiquior) Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Lawrence, Martyr (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 10 August 2014 : Holy Gospel

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Luke 19 : 4-47

In illo tempore : Cum appropinquaret Jesus Jerusalem, videns civitatem, flevit super illam, dicens : Quia si cognovisses et tu, et quidem in hac die tua, quae ad pacem tibi, nunc autem abscondita sunt ab oculis tuis.

Quia venient dies in te : et circumdabunt te : et coangustabunt te undique : et ad terram prosternent te, et filios tuos, qui in te sunt, et non relinquent in te lapidem super lapidem : eo quod non cognoveris tempus visitationis tuae.

Et ingressus in templum, coepit ejicere vendentes in illo et ementes, dicens illis : Scriptum est : Quia domus mea domus orationis est. Vos autem fecistis illam speluncam latronum. Et erat docens cotidie in templo.

English translation

At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, seeing the city. He wept over it saying, “If you also had known, and that in this your day, the things that are to your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

“For the days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and straighten you on every side, and beat you flat to the ground, and your children who are in you, and they shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone, because you had not known the time of your visitation.”

And entering into the temple, He began to cast out those that sold in there, and those who bought from them, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.'” And Jesus was teaching daily in the temple.

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Saturday, 26 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 7 : 1-11

These words were spoken by YHVH, to Jeremiah, “Stand at the gate of YHVH’s house and proclaim this in a loud voice : Listen to what YHVH says, all you people of Judah who enter these gates to worship YHVH. YHVH the God of Israel says this :”

“Amend your ways and your deeds and I will stay with you in this place. Rely not on empty words such as : ‘Look, the Temple of YHVH! The Temple of YHVH! This is the Temple of YHVH!’ It is far better for you to amend your ways and act justly with all.”

“Do not abuse the stranger, orphan or widow or shed innocent blood in this place or follow false gods to your own ruin. Then I will stay with you in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors in times past and forever. But you trust in deceptive and useless words. You steal, kill, take the wife of your neighbour; you swear falsely, worship Baal and follow foreign gods who are not yours.”

“Then, after doing all these horrible things, you come and stand before Me in this temple that bears My Name and say, ‘Now we are safe.’ Is this house on which rests My Name a den of thieves? I have seen this myself – it is YHVH who speaks.”

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Friday, 18 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 12 : 1-8

It happened that Jesus walked through the wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some heads of wheat and crush them to eat the grain. When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to Jesus, “Look at Your disciples! They are doing what is prohibited on the Sabbath!”

Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did, when he and his men were hungry? He went into the house of God, and they ate the bread offered to God, though neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests. And have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath rest, yet they are not guilty?”

“I tell you, there is greater than the Temple here. If you really knew the meaning of the words : It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. Besides, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

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Tuesday, 27 May 2014 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bc-3, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

With Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.

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Friday, 11 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

I love You, o Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

A deadly flood surrounded me, devilish torrents rushed at me; caught by the cords of the grave, I was brought to the snares of death.

But I called upon the Lord in my distress, I cried to my God for help; and from His Temple He heard my voice, my cry of grief reached His ears.

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Friday, 4 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 7 : 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went around Galilee; He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.

But after His brothers had gone to the festival, He also went up, not publicly but in secret. Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man you want to kill? And here He is speaking freely, and they do not say a word to Him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this Man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.”

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where He was teaching, “You say that you know Me and know where I come from! I have not come of Myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you do not know Him. I know Him for I come from Him and He sent Me.”

They would have arrested Him, but no one laid hands on Him because His time had not yet come.

 

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Tuesday, 1 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, out of the Temple of the Lord comes water, gushing forth in great torrents, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel. This water is a symbol of many things, but one symbol that it represents is healing and cure, which is again represented in the Gospel today, in the healing of the sick and paralysed man in the pool of Bethzatha.

Thus from the Lord, out of His will and His love for us, came healing for all of us, the healing of our sickness and our worrying state, both of the body and the soul.  That was the reason why the Lord came to us, seeking us and wanting us to come back to Him, so that we may be healed of our afflictions, the afflictions of our souls, which is sin.

Yes, we are all, despite our healthy appearances, are always sick, and prone to this dangerous illness, that is sin, which eats away at the very core of ourselves and corrupt us, to cripple us and make us destroyed. But God is willing to accept us and our broken beings, the brokenness of our hearts, providing that we ourselves too are willing to accept Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus will ask us, just as He had asked the paralysed man, “Do you want to be healed?” This was the proof of His love and care for us, and He wants us all to be healed. But it all depends on us, whether we accept His offer for healing, and whether we say yes or no to that offer. We have to take the initiative to accept Him in our lives.

It is often that we either fear God and His punishment for our wickedness that we do not want to seek Him out even when we are in the great depth of darkness and sin. We are either ashamed of our sinfulness or are ignorant of it. That is why we do not seek the healing of the Lord and dwelled on instead in our wickedness and in our debauched way of life.

And indeed, we should follow what Jesus had told the sick man, that is to take up his mat and walk away from the place he had remained at for many decades of his life. Not to say that we have to literally pick up a mat and walk, but what I mean is that, we have to take initiative in our actions, that we may get out of our idleness and to be freed from the trap of darkness, with which the devil had managed to keep us held captive in the corruption of this world.

We must learn to be courageous to say no, no to the devil and to his temptations and approaches. We must learn to reject his offers of goodness and pleasure, knowing that these are temporary, and will lead to eternal damnation and suffering later on. And that is why we also at the same time must learn to be courageous to say yes to God.

Get rid of our fear, of our pride and our reluctance. Open our hearts and let God come in and dwell within them. Let God transform our beings that we may be truly children of God, who lives in the grace and favour of the Lord, no longer bound by the paralysis of the soul, that is the worldly pleasures and temptations that kept us affixed to our place on the ground like that of the sick and paralysed man healed by Jesus.

Let us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, seek healing in God, and ask Him for His forgiveness and mercy. Let the healing of Christ enter our soul, that we may be made pure again, free of sin and bonds that keep us from salvation in God. Say no to the devil, but say yes to the Lord! God bless us all. Amen.