Tempus per Annum

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Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Lord through the Sacred Scriptures in which we heard the story of both the prophet Jonah, his calling and mission to the city of Nineveh, as well as the story of the Good Samaritan from the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. Through these readings all of us are called to realise what we have all been called to do as Christians, that is to bring forth God’s truth and love to this world, much as He had spoken through the prophet Jonah and what He had revealed to us directly through the story of the Good Samaritan.

In our first reading today, we heard the rather long account of how God called the prophet Jonah from the land of Israel, calling him to follow His task and mission of going to the great city of Nineveh, to proclaim God’s words to the people of that city, who were infamous for their wickedness and great power, as the capital of the mighty and powerful Assyrian Empire. The story of Jonah and his mission was dated by historians as having occurred in the eighth century before the birth of Christ, during the decades before the final fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to the hands of the same Assyrians.

At that time, the Assyrians were rapidly growing in power as the great Hegemon of the entire Middle East. They conquered many countries and did many horrible things through their conquests, destroying many places and displacing numerous peoples, all for their own benefits. They were haughty and sinful, and through the prophet Jonah, God wanted to remind them of their mortality and their insignificance before the power of God. In the end, what God really wanted was for them to repent from their sins, to humble themselves and turn away from their sins.

But Jonah refused to obey the Lord and instead attempted to flee far away from the Lord, first to Tarshish, and then perhaps hoping to take a ship travelling to a far away place where God could not reach him. It was then that God showed His might and reminded Jonah that he could not flee from Him no matter how hard he tried to, as a great storm came and almost sank the ship that he was in, and he finally gave in to the Lord, asking himself to be thrown into the sea, and thereafter, as the Lord sent a great fish or whale to rescue him from the sea, Jonah came on dry land and then went to the city of Nineveh as God intended.

Through the prophet Jonah, God revealed His will to the people of Nineveh, as He first told them that the great city would be utterly destroyed and ruined by God for their many sins and wicked attitudes. And surprisingly, the Assyrian King, the ruler of Nineveh and the entire city listened to the Lord and His words, and humbled themselves before Him such that they all wore sackcloths in deep mourning, hoping that the Lord would not carry out His sentence against them and spare them. The Lord saw their repentance, and then did not carry out what He had designed to do on them.

As we then heard the well-known parable of the Good Samaritans from our Gospel passage today, all of us are reminded of a similar story of how a man who had been beset by robbers had been left to die in the wilderness by the roadside, only for a priest and a Levite to walk past by him, ignoring him and doing nothing to save him at all. This is a significant representation, as not only that it was reminiscent of what Jonah did, in refusing to do something to save people in need, for his case, the people of Nineveh, while he could do so, but it also showed us that all of us are called to learn what true love actually means.

The priest and the Levite were those who were deeply and greatly revered in the community of God’s people then, and yet, they did nothing at all to help, and not even sparing a glance or effort to aid the dying man. Instead, it fell to a Samaritan, a man belonging to a race that had often been hated and rejected by the descendants of the Israelites, who reached out in compassion and love to save the man, who was most likely from among the Israelites, most bitter enemies and rivals of the Samaritans.

And not only that, but as we all heard, the Good Samaritan not only took very good care of the man and brought him to a proper lodging, but he even took the extra mile of providing for his needs and showing genuine care and concern, hoping for his full recovery and sponsorship of his treatment. Through this story of the Good Samaritan in our Gospel passage today, the Lord wanted all of His disciples and therefore, all of us to know what it truly means to be His followers and disciples, to love generously and with great compassion for those who are in need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians are called to action, to follow the Lord and trust in Him as He called on us to do His will, to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to His cause, humbling ourselves before Him and trusting in Him. We should learn from the case of the prophet Jonah and the story of the Good Samaritan, how all of us have been called by God and been given the opportunities to do what is good in this world. Yet, many times we have rejected His call and find many excuses not to follow Him, just as Jonah, the priest and the Levite had done.

Today, all of us should look upon the great examples set by a most famous saint of the Church, whose life and holiness, whose labours and efforts are still remembered even to this very day. St. Francis of Assisi, the renowned founder of the Order of Friars Minor, better known as the Franciscans and its later many offshoots, was a great saint who dedicated much of his life in service to God and to his fellow men. St. Francis of Assisi is a great role model for all of us to follow, in how we should be willing to reach out to our brethren in need, and to do God’s will.

St. Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, the son of a very rich and prosperous silk merchant in Assisi in what is today northern Italy, one Pietro di Bernardone, who would later on called his son Francesco upon his love for France, which eventually became his more famous name of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis in his youth was exposed to the life of the rich, the indulging of worldly pleasures and excesses, and was brought up by his father with the hope that he would be the one to continue his family’s business and legacy.

However, the young St. Francis gradually came to detest the life of excesses and wastefulness he experienced, and began to seek for true satisfaction and happiness. After a stint in the military and being struck by a disease, he would come to seek spiritual closeness to God, going for pilgrimage to Rome and even joined the poor in begging for alms. Then, he received a spiritual vision and experience from God as he passed by the ruined church of San Damiano, in which as he passed by the dilapidated church, he heard the Lord’s voice calling him, to rebuild His Church.

The young St. Francis took it that the Lord was calling him to restore the dilapidated church, and he went to take some of his father’s fine silk, selling them and using them to help the rebuilding the church. However, the priest in charge refused to accept his ill-gotten money from stealing, and the angry St. Francis threw the coins he earned on the floor. Actually, what the Lord wanted him to do, as He called St. Francis was for him to follow the Lord and to do what he could to restore the Church of God, the Universal Church and the people of God.

When St. Francis tried to hide from the wrath of his father, he hid from him for a month in a cave before eventually seeking the help of the local bishop. And when his merchant father came to seek him and demanded that he return the properties that he had stolen from him, St. Francis decided to remove from himself all pieces of clothings and there laid naked before all. The bishop covered the naked St. Francis with his cope, and from then on, St. Francis abandoned his birthright and his past life, in exchange for a new life committed to God. Ever since then, St. Francis dedicated himself wholly to God.

St. Francis of Assisi then laboured to gather others who shared his vision to rebuild and reform the Church, eventually establishing what is to be known as the Order of Friars Minor, of a religious order committed not only to prayer but also ministry to the people of God, as friars who lived in the midst of the world and in a community at the same time, where they shared their property with one another in a community of brotherhood, in poverty and in joy of serving God. Many people would come to join the Franciscans, and the Pope himself also approved of this foundation.

St. Francis himself would come to receive the holy wounds of the Lord, also known as the ‘stigmata’, which appeared on his hands and side, as well as his feet, which according to tradition happened as a Seraphim came to him and showed him the spiritual vision of God. He endured the physical pain of the stigmata each day henceforth, while living a life truly dedicated and committed to God, serving the Lord humbly and with love to the very last moments of his life, when he eventually went to the glory of Heaven, carried by the Angels of God in his sleep of death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of God and remembered the examples and the life showed by St. Francis of Assisi, let us all discern carefully in what way that we can follow the Lord and His calling more faithfully, listening to His words and urgings in our lives, and entrust ourselves to Him, inspired by what St. Francis of Assisi had done in his own life. May the Lord help us and strengthen us all, and may He continue to guide us in our journey of faith through life. May God bless us all in our every efforts and endeavours, in the footsteps of our holy predecessors, St. Francis of Assisi and many others. Amen.

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Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 10 : 25-37

At that time, then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do You understand it?” The man answered, “It is written : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”

“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way; and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.”

“The next day, he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'” Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”

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Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jonah 2 : 3, 4, 5, 8

In my distress I cried to YHVH, and He answered me; from the belly of the netherworld You heard my voice when I called.

You cast me into the abyss, into the very heart of the sea, and the currents swirled about me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over, engulfing me.

Then I thought : I have been cast out from Your presence, but I keep on looking to Your holy Temple.

When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered YHVH, and before You, rose my prayer up to Your holy Temple.

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Monday, 4 October 2021 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we are all presented through what we have heard in the readings from the Sacred Scriptures the very clear proclamation of the Lord to all of us regarding the matter of the sacred bond of marriage, as we heard how marriage is a sacred bond decreed by the Lord for those who have chosen to be one and united, as husband and wife, and blessed by God as an indissoluble union. This is a sacred union that should be held sacred by all, and should not be broken easily, by any circumstances or reasons.

This is why the Church has been very strict with the laws and rules regulating the possibility of divorce or annulment, as both involves breaking the destruction of this sacred bond of marriage, which is a Sacramental Union, the Sacrament of the Holy Matrimony and not just a mere ceremony as many in our world today tend to see it. The Church has very strict conditions regarding the matter of annulment, through which only the matrimonial bond can cease to exist, not because they had been broken, but rather because of the special considerations and conditions, the marriage was held to have never occurred in the first place.

On the contrary, consistent to what we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures today, from the Divine Law, that divorce, especially when contracted against the advice and the rules of the Church, and God’s Law, is considered as a grave sin. That is why those who have divorced and then remarried again had committed an even greater sin, that is the sin of adultery, because once the man and woman had been united in the sacred union blessed by God, as the Lord Himself said, no one could and should break that bond, and for man to go specifically against the will of God by remarrying after divorce, is to commit a great sin before God and mankind alike.

This is what the Lord had put before us through the Scriptures to remind us to value and to treat our marriage life, our institution of Holy Matrimony with great importance, as truly, the Holy Matrimony is the origin of the Christian family, and if the institution of sacred marriage falls apart or is considered easily expendable as what many people in this world thought, then the Christian families themselves will come under great threat and eventually this will harm not only those who were directly involved in the divorce or remarriage after divorce, but also the entire Church.

For it was from our Christian families that more good Christians would come to be, as good Christian parents who lived through their marriage commitments faithfully will inevitably also likely to raise good and faithful young Christians from their children. Should families be broken by divorce and remarriage, as evidences from the past few decades up to now have shown us, many of the children and the other family members ended up being lost, fell into sinful ways and falling out from the Church, amidst other troubles that they encountered through the experience.

And not only that, but faithful and fruitful Christian marriage is what often led to blossoming in vocations to the priesthood and also to religious and consecrated life. Take for example St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, whose feast we have just celebrated two days ago on the first day of October. This holy saint also had holy parents, namely St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azelie Guerin, who also were made saints because of their very devout and pious upbringing of their children in the faith, and as role model for other parents in their love for one another and their children. All their five surviving daughters, including St. Therese, all joined consecrated life as religious sisters.

In our Scripture readings today, the Lord therefore wanted to remind us all that marriage is a very fundamental and important part of our Church life and in our calling for many of us to build up good and faithful Christian families. From the first reading we heard from the Book of Genesis about the account of the creation of Man, of how God made us man and woman, as He made Adam the first man, and then made the first woman, Eve, bone from Adam’s bone, and flesh from Adam’s flesh. Through this, as the Lord Himself said, that man and woman have been made to be complementary to each other, distinct and yet complementing each other.

This is also a reminder that by God’s Law and natural law, mankind are meant to unite, man and woman, to be one body, but in a more perfect union than merely conjugal and sexual relationship, or reproductive relationship, God Himself declared that man and woman in their union are united by God, blessed by Him and no longer separate. This means that the union between man and woman are divine by nature, a union not just between man and woman, but a contract that is made between them and God. This is why marriage is sacred, and through marriage, those who have embraced married life are called to be responsible to each other and through their children to raise them to be faithful to God as they are.

In our Gospel passage today then we heard of the confrontation between the Lord and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees who asked Him about the legality of divorces contracted through the laws and rules of Moses. The Mosaic law decreed that divorce could be done should the man and woman sought the authorities and made a certificate of dismissal. However, in its original intention, as the Lord mentioned, the Law of Moses was already modified as it was to accommodate the stubbornness of the people who continued to disobey God and sinned against Him.

And in its implementation and development over the centuries that passed since the Law was revealed, the practice and application of the Law had been further modified, eased and changed to suit the needs of man, such that by the time of the Lord Jesus, it was relatively easy for someone to divorce his spouse. It was even corrupted and wicked in nature considering that people could pay sums of money or make arrangements with the authorities to allow them to legally divorce their spouses and remarry again, essentially loosening the moral dimension and definition of marriage.

Essentially, what the Lord Jesus was against and which He spoke out fervently against, was not those marriages that were truly invalid and could be annulled legally and rightfully, but rather the practices of the people in treating the marriage as a commodity and as something that is not sacred and to be protected. He spoke out against those who treat the relationship between man and woman as merely a physical satisfaction of the flesh, and which can be easily undone once they no longer satisfied each other. This is unfortunately the same thing that is also happening in our world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the world today is full of broken marriages and divorces, of broken families and even many more children who have been raised in families that were incomplete and bereft of true parental love. In the same manner, many people also treat marriage as no more than a convenience to suit themselves, to seek for wealth and pleasure, for physical appearances among other things. And once these no longer satisfied them, this is what resulted in infidelities in our married life, in adulterous relationships and improper moral behaviour amidst our communities.

This Sunday, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we are all called to reflect carefully on the matter of our Christian marriage, the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, that is now constantly under attack from those who seek to destroy the Church, that is none other than Satan and his fellow forces of evil. They tempt us with the temptations of worldly desires and pleasures, distorting the true meaning and importance of marriage and leading to infidelities and adultery that lead to breakups in marriages and families.

Those of us who have been called to the vocation of married life, let us all rediscover the sanctity of our marriages and the need for all of us to centre our married life and families in our focus towards God. We have to resist the many temptations of the evil ones who are actively trying to lead us astray into the path of sin. We have to control ourselves and understand that love is something that is sacred and blessed by God, and not lust or the fulfilment of the desire of the flesh. We have to sanctify our marriage, and the best way to do it is by praying together, and celebrating our faith together, through the celebration of the Sacraments in the Holy Mass.

If God is at the centre of our families and is present in our marriage, then it will be difficult for anyone to break up our union, as we allow God to strengthen us and our unity, and as long as we place our foundation, our family’s bedrock on Him, and live faithfully in obedience to His Law and commandments, while we may encounter difficulties and challenges as a married couple and family, we will be far more likely to succeed in resisting the pressures and temptations that can break our families apart.

We should also spend quality time with each other in our families, for no families can stay together unless they grow in their relationships, which requires commitment of time and effort. This may be difficult to accomplish at times, due to our work commitments and other matters that often take up much of our time, but can we not at least put the effort to do this? Just as we need to spend some time with God to grow in our relationship with Him, the same applies to our families as well. A family whose members do not communicate with each other, or spend at least some time to do things together, will not end up well and may easily be broken apart, as many evidences all around us have shown.

And to all of us who are contemplating marriage, let us all carefully discern our path towards marriage, and realise that marriage is not something that is trivial, but rather one that requires proper discernment and careful considerations, as well as proper journey and development, so that we will not end up like the millions of broken marriages and families out there, many of which happened because of impulsive decisions that those involved would come to realise only much too late afterwards. We have to communicate and build dialogues, and allow relationships to develop carefully and properly, and not rush to decisions unlike what many have done out there and failed.

Let us all protect the sanctity of our marriage, our Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and realise that as Christians, those of us who have responded to God’s call for us to build these sacred unions from which loving Christian families can be formed, we have the sacred duty to build up enduring, loving and faithful Christian families, in raising our children properly in the faith, and in living our faith together that we may inspire each other and also become inspirations to other families out there, on what our Christian marriages and families ought to be like.

Remember, brothers and sisters, that our families are the bedrock and pillars of the Church, as our community is based on our Christian families and their success. We have to resist the attacks of the evil ones who are trying to undermine the Church by attacking our family values and by striking at the sanctity and indissolubility of our sacred unions. Let us not be deceived and let us entrust our families and our marriages to God, and ask Him to strengthen each and every one of us so that we may ever persevere in faith, as loving Christian couples, as husbands and wives, as parents and as members of God’s Holy Church.

May God bless our families and our sacred bond of the Holy Matrimony, and may He guide us in our journey of love and faith, that each and every one of us, especially those who have married and built up families, may be role models to one another, in how we live our Christian lives with true and genuine faith, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 2-16

At that time, some Pharisees came and put Jesus to the test with this question : “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

People were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, “Let the children come to Me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Then He took the children in His arms and, laying His hands on them, blessed them.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Mark 10 : 2-12

At that time, some Pharisees came and put Jesus to the test with this question : “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 2 : 9-11

But Jesus, Who suffered death, and for a little while, was placed lower than the Angels, has been crowned with honour and glory. For the merciful plan of God demanded that He experience death, on behalf of everyone.

God, from Whom all come, and by Whom all things exist, wanted to bring many children to glory, and He thought it fitting to make perfect, through suffering, the initiator of their salvation. So, He Who gives, and those who receive holiness, are one. He, Himself, is not ashamed of calling us brothers and sisters.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Blessed are you who fear YHVH and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots, will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears YHVH. May YHVH praise you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

May you see your children’s children, and Israel at peace!

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 2 : 18-24

YHVH God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will give him a helper who will be like him.” Then YHVH God formed from the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air and brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever man called every living creature, that was its name.

So man gave names to all the cattle, the birds of the air and to every beasts of the field. But he did not find among them a helper like himself. Then YHVH God caused a deep sleep to come over man and he fell asleep. He took one of his ribs and filled its place with flesh. The rib which YHVH God had taken from man He formed into a woman and brought her to the man.

The man then said, “Now this bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken from man.” That is why man leaves his father and mother and is attached to his wife, and with her become one flesh.

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Saturday, 2 October 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, celebrating those innumerable Angels that God had sent to us to be our protectors and guides, as each and every one of us has a Guardian Angel assigned to us by God to watch over us constantly at all times. Although we cannot see them, our Guardian Angels never ceased to watch over us and to protect us from especially the attacks by the evil one and all of his wicked forces.

Why do we need protection, brothers and sisters? That is because if we have not realised it yet, we are constantly under attack and being targetted by the ones who sought to see our downfall, desiring to drag us together with them into the fires of hell. The devil and his fellow fallen angels have always sought our destruction and they did not want us to be saved. Right from the beginning, as he and his forces had been cast out of Heaven for their rebellion, Satan has targetted us as God’s most beloved creation and sought to undermine God’s plans for us.

That was why he tempted Adam and Eve, and brought them into their downfall through disobedience. By listening to the sweet lies and falsehoods of the devil, they had turned away from God and fell into sin. Yet, God Who dearly loved us desired for us to be reconciled with Him, to turn away from our sins and from our wicked paths, and to stay true to the path that He has shown us and revealed to us. That is why He put the Guardian Angels by our side to protect us and guide us through to the right path.

We have to realise just how fortunate we are for having the Lord and His love, His most generous care and concern for us. That He has provided an Angel to take care of each and every one of us is the proof of just how much He cares for us, and yet we often rejected His love and attention, and many of us have persisted in our erroneous path of sin, in refusing to obey His Law and commandments, and in preferring to listen to the lies and the temptations of the devil and his fellow fallen angels.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we celebrate this Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, let us first of all give thanks to the Lord for having loved us so generously all these while. Let us thank Him for the gift of life and for having been so patient with us despite our constant waywardness and disobedience. And let us then also thank our respective Guardian Angels whom God had placed by our side and who had tirelessly protected us in the constant spiritual warfare and battles raging around us for the fate of our souls.

Then, let us commit ourselves to the Lord, to His path and His truth. Let us all strive to do the will of God and to obey His commandments from now on. Let us resist the temptations of our flesh and all the efforts of Satan and all the wicked ones who sought to turn us against God. Let us be exemplary in our actions through life so that we may be inspiration to one another in how each and every one of us ought to live out our faith. Let us also listen to our Guardian Angels and allow them to guide us to the right path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our lives and our path and choices in life. Let us all realise that all of us are called to holiness and to follow the Lord, and everything has been provided and given to us, that we even have guidance from our Guardian Angels all the time. Yet, it is really up to us in the end whether we want to listen to their urgings and reminders, and to heed the Lord’s call or whether we prefer to continue to live in the state of sin. The choice is ours, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May the Lord, our ever loving God and Creator, Who has graciously provided us all with our Guardian Angels, continue to bless us and strengthen us through those same Guardian Angels, that we may persevere in life and remain faithful to Him at all times. O Holy Guardian Angels of God, watch over us and protect us always from the snares of the evil one and his forces, and continue to guide us patiently and help us whenever we falter and fall, that we may continue to struggle and strive to do our best for the Lord. Amen.