Tempus per Annum

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Tuesday, 7 June 2022 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 17 : 7-16

After a while, the brook dried up because no rain had fallen in the land. Then YHVH spoke to Elijah, “Go to Zarephath of the Sidonites and stay there. I have given word to a widow there, to give you food.”

So Elijah went to Zarephath. On reaching the gate of the town, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called after her and said, “Bring me also a piece of bread.”

But she answered, “As YHVH your God lives, I have no bread left, but only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just now gathering some sticks so that I may go in and prepare something for myself and my son to eat – and die.”

Elijah then said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go, and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me. Then make some for yourself and your son. For this is the word of YHVH, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be emptied nor shall the jug of oil fail, until the day when YHVH sends rain to the earth.’”

So she went and did as Elijah told her; and she had food for herself, Elijah and her son from that day on. The jar of flour was not emptied nor did the jug of oil fail, in accordance with what YHVH had said through Elijah.

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Monday, 6 June 2022 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the day after Pentecost Sunday we enter once again into the season of Ordinary Time, which will continue until the end of this current liturgical year in November this year. And today, we also mark the celebration of Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, or Mater Ecclesiae. This celebration began in the recent years commemorating what had been widespread acknowledgement of the role of Mary as the Mother of the faithful people of God and hence, also the Mother of the Church. Just as St. Joseph was made the Protector of the Universal Church, it is only right then that Mary is officially accorded the honour of being the Mother of the Church.

As we listened in our Scripture passages today, Mary is the Woman who has been long awaited by the world, to be the one through whom the salvation of this world would come through. Mary is the New Eve just as Christ is represented as the New Adam, the New Man, through Whom the salvation of the world would come from. In our first reading today from the Book of Genesis we heard of the story of how mankind had fallen into sin because they chose to listen to the lies and false promises of Satan, disguised as a snake, and chose to follow him instead of keeping the commandments of God.

Our first ancestors, Adam and Eve fell into sin because they gave in to the temptations presented to them by Satan. Satan tempted them with the knowledge of good and evil that he said would make both of them to be like God. That desire and pride in our ancestors led them to be swayed to turn away from God and His righteous path. Hence, instead of obeying God, mankind instead chose to listen to Satan and his lies, committed sin against God and hence, were sundered off from the fullness of God’s grace and blessings, cast out from Heaven and forced to wander off in the wilderness of this world, to suffer the consequences of our sins.

However, God did not abandon us or cast us out into eternal damnation, as He could have done so if He wanted it. He could have crushed and destroyed us all by the power of His will alone. Yet, His love for us endured even though we had sinned against Him. He continued to love us, and just as He pronounced what man would have to endure for their sins and disobedience, He also rebuked Satan and proclaimed His triumph against the wicked one and the salvation of man which would come through the Woman. While Satan and his forces would have dominion and power over men for a while, this dominion and stranglehold they had over us would not last forever.

That was already foretold by the Lord Himself as He spoke of the coming of His salvation through the Woman, from whom the dominion of Satan and the forces of evil would be broken forever. This is the salvation that Mary had a role in bringing unto this world, that by the grace and will of God, Mary, as the New Eve, through her complete obedience to the will of God, as contrasted to the disobedience of the old and first Eve, would bring unto mankind, the salvation and new life, new existence in God that they truly needed. Christ, the Mediator of the New and Eternal Covenant between God and His people, was born through Mary, and through Him, God willed to reconcile us to Himself, once and for all.

And Mary committed herself thoroughly to the mission and calling entrusted to her, loving her Son wholeheartedly, following Him and being with Him even to the foot of the Cross. As we heard in our Gospel passage today, Mary followed her Son, Our Lord and Saviour, right up to the feet of the Cross, seeing her own Son suffering and dying for the salvation of the whole entire world. She saw it all, all of her sorrow and pain, sharing in the pain suffered by her Son on His Cross. She has always been with her Son, all the time, and the Lord entrusted her henceforth, to His beloved disciple, St. John the Apostle, while at the same time, also entrusting St. John to His own mother, Mary.

Through this act, we have to realise that the Lord was not only entrusting Mary, His mother to St. John the Apostle, and St. John to His mother. St. John was in fact representing the whole Universal Church, and all of us have been entrusted to Mary, to be our own Mother. We are all her children by this entrustment and adoption, and hence, Mary and her title of the Mother of the Church made truly perfect sense. Mary is truly our Mother, who cares for us and has always reached out to us, and through her many apparitions in the past centuries, Mary has always shown us her motherly love, always ever reminding us to turn away from our sinful path, and to return to her Son.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord with renewed heart, faith and commitment, following His own Mother, Mary, the Mother of the Church, who is also our own Mother. Let us all therefore also entrust ourselves to her, and remind ourselves to follow her good examples in faith, her dedication and love for God, in our own lives. Let us also continue to do the good works of the Church, in evangelisation of the whole world, revealing the truth that God has shown us, and guided by His Holy Spirit, to continue to spread the light and hope of God’s truth to more and more people. O Mother Mary, our mother and the Mother of the Church, pray for us sinners always, and guide us all towards your Son’s light and salvation. Amen.

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Monday, 6 June 2022 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 19 : 25-34

At that time, near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom He loved, He said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus knew all was now finished and, in order to fulfil what was written in Scripture, He said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop, they raised it to His lips. Jesus took the wine and said, “It is accomplished.” Then He bowed His head and gave up the Spirit.

As it was Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross during the Sabbath, for this Sabbath was a very solemn day. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the condemned men broken, so that the bodies might be taken away. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man, who had been crucified with Jesus.

When they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced His side with a lance, and immediately there came out Blood and water.

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Monday, 6 June 2022 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 86 : 1-2, 3 and 5, 6-7

He Himself has built it in His holy mountain; YHVH prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns.

Great things have been foretold of you, o city of God. But of Zion, it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.” For the Most High Himself has founded her.

And YHVH notes in the people’s register : “All these were also born in Zion.” And all will dance and sing joyfully for you.

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Monday, 6 June 2022 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 3 : 9-15, 20

YHVH God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?”

The man answered, “The woman You put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

YHVH God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Alternative reading

Acts 1 : 12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

All of these, together, gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women, and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

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Saturday, 27 November 2021 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, on this last day of our current liturgical year, we are all again reminded as we have constantly been for the rest of this week of the coming of the Lord and His salvation at the very end of time. We are reminded not to be complacent and idle in how we live our lives in this world so that we do not end up being caught unprepared and unaware at the coming of the Lord’s judgment and time of reckoning.

As we listened from our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, we heard of the conclusion of this week’s apocalyptic readings from the Book of Daniel, detailing the heavenly vision of Daniel regarding the end of times and the coming of God’s salvation. Daniel had seen how the faithful people of God will face sufferings, trials and challenges just as he himself and his other compatriots in faith had also suffered for their continued faith in God during their exile in Babylon.

The Lord showed Daniel the vision of the ones who will persecute the faithful, the great beasts in his vision that brought suffering and will cause great harm to the people of God. As I mentioned in the earlier days this week, the same kind of vision was also given in even greater detail to St. John the Apostle which he recorded in his Revelations. Through what we have heard from both sources, those great beasts of the end times actually are references to the forces of Satan, the great enemy of all the faithful, that are trying to bring about our destruction by various means.

Those beasts are also metaphorical representations of the great kingdoms and states that were the ones and are going to be the ones in our own future that brought about and will bring about great persecution of the faithful. We certainly knew of how the Jewish authorities and later on the Romans persecuted the Christians, their leaders and the faithful in so many occasions, and then followed by so many other occasions throughout history, the countless martyrs that were created from many episodes of continued persecutions of the faithful and the Church.

Even to our very own present day, many of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters are still being persecuted daily and are denied the opportunity to practice their faith freely and openly. Many had to go into hiding and keep their faith secretly much in the same way as how the early Christians had to hide from the authorities amidst many brutal persecutions against them. And even in other places, even perhaps in our own communities, where Christians are not persecuted per se, we can see growing break with the fundamental Christian truths and how more and more people who are holding on to the truth of God are being ridiculed, ostracised and sidelined.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we heard from our Gospel passage today in which the Lord reminded all of His disciples to guard themselves from drunkenness and also complacency and always to be ready for anything that comes our way, then we are all reminded to be active in living our lives as Christians and to be courageous in keeping our faith alive and present in our daily lives. The Lord has provided and blessed us with many things, with His truth, wisdom and guidance, and so we should make good use of the many opportunities that He has given to us.

As we come to the end of this current liturgical year and begin the new one with the season of Advent, let us all ask ourselves brothers and sisters in Christ, are we ready to live our lives in a new way, according to the path that the Lord has shown us? And are we ready to change ourselves for the better and no longer subject ourselves to the temptations of worldliness and our wicked desires? Let us ponder these carefully in our hearts and discern how we are to live our lives as good and dedicated Christians from now on.

As we enter into this new season of Advent beginning tomorrow, let us all prepare our hearts and minds, our whole being to welcome the Lord and to be ready to celebrate Christmas worthily. Let us no longer be idle and complacent, but be ever ready to welcome the Lord wholeheartedly into our houses, into our hearts and into ourselves. May God be with us all and may He bless all of us in our every endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 27 November 2021 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 21 : 34-36

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard : do not immerse yourselves in a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you unaware, like a trap! For, like a snare, will that day come upon all the inhabitants of the earth. But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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Saturday, 27 November 2021 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Daniel 3 : 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87

All people on earth, praise and exalt Him forever.

Israel, praise and exalt Him forever.

Priests of the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Servants of the Lord, praise and exalt Him forever.

Spirits and souls of the just, praise and exalt Him forever.

Those who are holy and humble of heart, praise and exalt Him forever.

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Saturday, 27 November 2021 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Daniel 7 : 15-27

I, Daniel, was deeply troubled, since these visions terrified me. I approached one of those who were standing there, and asked him to tell me what all this meant. He answered me and gave me the interpretation of these things : ‘These four beasts are four kings who will rise from the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, to possess it eternally, forever and ever.’

Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, different from the others, extraordinarily terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws; that ate, tore into pieces and crushed underfoot whatever remained. I also wanted to know about the ten horns it had on its head, and about the other horn which had sprung up, and the first three horns that fell, and about this horn with eyes and a mouth that spoke with arrogance, and that looked greater than the other horns.

As I looked, this horn waged war against the holy ones and was subduing them until the One of Great Age came, to do justice for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came for the holy ones to take possession of the kingdom. Then I was told : ‘The fourth animal shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all the kingdoms. It will devour the earth, crush it and destroy it.’

‘The ten horns are ten kings who shall rise from this kingdom. Another one will rise up after them and destroy three kings. This king shall insult the Most High and persecute the holy ones of the Most High. He shall try to change the feasts and the laws. The holy ones shall be handed over to his power for a time, two times, and half a time.’

‘But judgment will come and dominion will be taken from him; he shall be destroyed and utterly wiped out. The kingship, dominion and leadership of all the kingdoms of the world shall be given to the people of the holy ones of God Most High : His kingdom will be without end. All the kingdoms shall serve Him and be subject to Him.’

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Friday, 26 November 2021 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all presented with the vision that the prophet Daniel received regarding the end of times, seeing what St. John the Apostle later on also saw as was written in his own Book of Revelations of St. John. We heard of the actions of the devil, Satan, the great enemy of all, and how he was overthrown and crushed by the power of the triumphant God.

This Scripture reading from the Book of the prophet Daniel regarding the coming of the great beasts of the end of times, the manifestation of Satan and his forces that were arrayed against God and His faithful ones, in the final attempt at dominion and power. Through what he had seen, Daniel saw how the devil exercised his power in this world, through the rising of states and forces that persecuted the faithful people of God, as many throughout history suffered for their faith and devotion to God.

However, as we heard from the ending of his vision, he saw the triumphant God reigning over all, destroying that despised great enemy and beast, and in a final victory, cast down that beast and dealt it a final defeat from which it never recovers. This is the same vision and message that St. John the Apostle also later received as recorded in the Book of Revelations, of the triumph of God and all of His faithful ones, and the reign of Christ, as King over all and as the Saviour of all.

Daniel saw Him as the Son of Man, yet unrevealed to the world, given Dominion and Power by the One of Great Age, God the Father, Who was to later come into this world as the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Essentially what he saw was a prefigurement of Christ and the salvation that He would bring to the people, in the time to come, and then which message was later reinforced by the similar revelation given to St. John after Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God had revealed Himself and His salvation to all.

And St. John received an even more detailed revelation which described what would happen at the end of days, when Satan, the great beast will persecute the faithful with greater intensity and blaspheme further against God, and many will be forced to choose sides, and many of the people will side with him and only a few will remain faithful to God and His truth. But God will not forget about them or their faith in Him, and He will gather them all, all of us, past, present and future to the end of time to His presence.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard in our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus Himself told His disciples that the coming of the time of reckoning and the end of time will be coming soon, just that we will never know the exact timing of this happening. But what He assured all of His disciples and therefore all of us is that His kingdom and dominion will always endure, no matter what, and in the end, we will be triumphant with Him if we remain faithful and truly dedicated to Him.

The question is, are we all able to commit ourselves to the Lord as we should? Are we able and willing to make the sacrifices knowing that trials and tribulations, challenges and difficulties will always be on our path in life? These are the questions that we should ask ourselves constantly as we navigate our lives in this world. Are we capable of remaining true to our faith and being vigilant at all times, so that in our every actions, deeds, interactions and all that we do, we always proclaim the glory of God to the world.

May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen each and every one of us to remain strong and courageous in our faith that we do not easily give up our struggle in faith, and that we may always hold strongly to that faith we have in Him. May God bless us in our every actions, now and always, forevermore. Amen.