Tempus Quadragesimae

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Friday, 11 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 20 : 10-13

I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”

But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind.

Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause. Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!

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Thursday, 10 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the Word of God contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the promises and the Covenant which God had given and made with Abraham, the forefather of the Israelites and many other nations, and who is also our father in faith, as the progenitor of all those who believe in one of the major Abrahamic traditions and beliefs, including that of Christianity. And therefore we are reminded that we ourselves are also part of the same Covenant between God and us, and we are all part of this commitment which all of us are expected to fulfil in our daily living and in all the things that we do so that we are truly indeed worthy of God’s grace and love, His promises and reassurances for us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis detailing to us what the Lord had established with Abraham, making a Covenant with him as mentioned earlier on, binding himself and his descendants to God, and therefore blessing Him with the promise of many descendants and the land which God would bestow upon the descendants of Abraham, but at the same time, also requiring them all to follow the Law and commandments that God would give to them. A Covenant is a two-way commitment between two parties, and in this case between God on one side and then Abraham and his descendants on the other. And that God willingly made this Covenant between Himself and us, His beloved people, is a clear sign of His ever enduring and great love for each and every one of us.

The Lord showed and proved His commitment to the Covenant which He had made with all of us, and this includes His guidance to Abraham and his descendants, providing for them and protecting them through difficult times and moments. He provided for them in their time and hour of need, shielding them from their enemies, bringing them out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and showing His might to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh. He was always with His people, guiding and providing for them even when they have often hardened their hearts and rebelled against Him. The Lord showed us all His persistent and powerful love, and we truly should be grateful for what He has shown us, all the kindness that He has bestowed upon us, and hence, we should return His love with the same kind or commitment and dedication as well.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the continuation of the interactions and disputes between the Lord Jesus and the Jewish people, which were referring to the zealous Pharisees and the members of the community that supported them, in their refusal to believe in the Lord, in His teachings and works. And today we heard the increasing hostility between the crowd and the Lord, when the crowd, proudly claiming their descent from Abraham just as we heard in our Gospel passage yesterday, took offense at the Lord when the Lord told them that if they believed in Him, they would not experience death, saying that He was uttering nonsense or even blasphemy by stating such things.

But the Lord was saying the truth when He told them all that, telling them that His truth and all that He delivered to them would indeed save them all from certain destruction and death. But those people, many of whom had witnessed the Lord’s miracles and works, and heard His Wisdom and truth failed to believe in Him despite of what they themselves had experienced, all due to their pride and ego which had made them to harden their hearts and minds against God. They were proud of their descent from Abraham, and as was common at the time, they considered others to be unworthy of God, inferior and sinners who would defile and corrupt them if they were to mingle with those people. Yet this is not what God had taught and wanted His people to do in their lives.

For to God, each and every one of us mankind are important and beloved, and we are all equally beloved by Him, and He does not discriminate us based on our descent, background or origins. He made all those who believe in Him and have been faithful to Him to be His beloved children, and as the children of Abraham by faith, by adoption and by our partaking of the same Covenant which God had promised to Abraham. Therefore, all of us are also worthy of everything that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, as long as we believe in God and live our lives in the manner that is truly pleasing to Him. We should not be like those who claimed to be worthy because they were descended from Abraham, and yet, refused to believe in the Lord when He came to their midst, and those who were hypocrites in their faith and life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore heed the messages that we have heard today from the Sacred Scriptures and be reminded that we are all part of the Covenant which God had made with us, and henceforth, all of us are expected to observe faithfully the commandments and Law that God had taught, shown and revealed to us. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of the world, of ambitions and glory, prejudices and all other things which may lead us astray in our journey towards God. Instead, we should abandon our pride and ego, and grow more in humility, realising the depth of our sinfulness and wickedness, all the things which had kept us away from God and His love.

During this time and season of Lent, let us all hence renew our commitment to God and turn away from all of our rebellious attitudes, doing our very best to embrace God’s love and mercy, and doing our part to fulfil our obligations and commitments to God. We are all called to be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, in living our lives faithfully out of compassion for our brethren and our genuine love for God. Let us all therefore as Christians be truly faithful to the Lord and show our faith through our everyday living and actions, now and always. Especially during this time of Lent let us all be the good and worthy bearers of the truth and light of God’s Good News and salvation. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 51-59

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”

Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He Who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word. As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.”

The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.

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Thursday, 10 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Thursday, 10 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 17 : 3-9

Abram fell face down and God said to him, “This is My covenant with you : you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants.”

“And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between Myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land you are living in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession and I will be the God of your race.”

God said to Abraham, “For your part, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.”

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Wednesday, 9 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our today’s Scripture readings we have all been reminded of God’s love, mercy and kindness for those who have been faithful to Him. And as God’s holy and beloved children, His disciples and followers, all of us are expected to put our faith and trust in Him, and not to be easily swayed by the temptations of evil and sin around us in this world. That is why today we are called to put our faith in God and not in men, not in the glory and powers of the world. If we allow ourselves to be tempted, swayed and led astray by our worldly desires and by all the temptations around us, then we are bound by those temptations and sins which we have indulged in, and we cannot truly consider ourselves as being free and in the state of grace. In the end, if we continue to persist in our sinful ways, then we shall be judged for those sins we have committed.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, we heard of the story of the moment when the three friends of Daniel, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, faced a great dilemma when the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, built for himself a great statue of gold in his own image, as the ultimate symbol of ego and greed, being the ruler of many lands and having conquered many countries and territories, including that of Judah and Jerusalem where Daniel and his friends had come from. The dilemma was that King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that all of his subjects gathered there, including that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego must bend their knees and worship the golden idol made in the king’s own image, essentially declaring himself to be a god or like a god. But this was contrary to the beliefs of the Israelites, who believe in only one and only one God.

That was why the three friends of Daniel courageously stood up to their faith in God, and while everyone else obeyed the king’s commands and orders, they alone among the multitudes of people refused to worship the golden idol of the king. And we heard then how they remained firm in their conviction to remain true and faithful to their faith in God despite being threatened and having to face the wrath of the king. They did not fear certain suffering and death that the king had threatened against all those who refused to obey him, and their resolve and firm courage in refusing the demands of King Nebuchadnezzar made the king so much angrier, ordering the great furnace designed to punish the dissidents to be made far hotter than it had been, meant to torture and destroy the three servants of God.

And yet, as we have heard in that same passage today, the Lord protected and guarded His servants, sending His Angel to help them, and they were completely unharmed in that furnace, to the total surprise and astonishment of Nebuchadnezzar and all who witnessed the event. They were all aghast seeing how those people could have survived and was in fact unharmed by the flames, and in the end, Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and chastised by the Lord through this miraculous occasion, and he praised the Lord God and His servants who had shown courage and perseverance, faith and commitment despite the threats and sufferings which they had to face in defending their faith. The golden idol and statue was also brought down and destroyed afterwards according to the Scriptures.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus continued to have heated arguments and discussions with the Jewish people, which in this context referred to those people who belonged to the Pharisees and the religious elites of the community of the people of God in Judea, as well as their supporters and partisans. These people were quite vocal and stubborn in their opposition against the Lord Jesus, His teachings and works because many among them saw Him as rival and threat to their influence and prestige in the community, drawing away many of the people especially the poor and the marginalised away from them and the Temple as they flocked to seek the Lord and listen to Him.

The Lord told all of them that unless they all believed in Him and listened to His words, keeping whatever truth and revelations that He had brought unto them, then they would remain bound by the chains and enslavement to their sins and evils, which would therefore prevent them from coming towards true reconciliation and reunion with God, their loving Father and Creator. But as we heard, those people hardened their hearts and answered proudly saying that they were the descendants of Abraham, and because of that, they were not slaves and were free. This shows to us the problems that were associated with many among the people to whom the Lord had been sent to at that time, that is pride and arrogance, all of which were keeping them away from God and from being truly worthy and righteous in His path.

Many of those people, especially the Pharisees and the members of the Sanhedrin, the religious and societal elites were proud and arrogant in their attitudes, thinking that they were superior and better than the others around them. They thought that their way of observing and practicing the Law was the correct one, and they did not take it lightly any kind of criticism or practices and ways that were different or contrary to the way that they were doing things. And this was why they often ended up in conflict and disagreements with the Lord and His disciples in how they conducted themselves and practiced the Law of God. The Lord Himself pointed out many times the hypocrisy of these so called elders, leaders and guides, reminding the people while they should listen to them, they should not follow the way that they were observing the Law of God.

That is a reminder to all of us that as faithful and obedient people of God, as Christians, we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by pride and ego, or by other kinds of temptations around us which can lead us astray as they had done to those Pharisees and elders, in hardening their hearts and minds against God. We should instead be humble and be willing to listen to God calling upon us in our lives to follow Him and to embrace His path. We should not let hubris and ego overcome us like what happened to the King of Babylon, thinking that we are superior and better, and instead, we should realise the extent of our flaws and faults, coming to Him and embracing His love and kindness. This Lent especially we have been given these opportunities for us to return to our loving God and Father, and we should not squander it.

May the Lord be with us always and may He in His most generous and rich mercy and compassion continue to help us in our journey back to Him. May our Lenten journey and observances be truly fruitful and blessed, and may God bless us in everything we do, in making us all to be good role models and examples for our brethren around us. May all of us continue to grow in our love and trust in God, and grow ever stronger in our relationship with Him, with each and every passing moments. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

At that time, Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying : You will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One Who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself Who sent Me.”

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Wednesday, 9 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever. Blessed is Your holy and glorious Name, celebrated and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Wednesday, 9 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar questioned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? If you hear now the sound of horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and other instruments, will you fall down and worship the statue I made? If you will not, you know the punishment : you will immediately be thrown into a burning furnace. And then what god can deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we need not defend ourselves before you on this matter. If you order us to be thrown into the furnace, the God we serve will rescue us. But even if He will not, we would like you to know, o king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s face reddened with fury as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up in great amazement and asked his counsellors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the fire?” They answered, “Certainly.” The king said, “But I can see four men walking about freely through the fire, without suffering any harm; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Who sent His Angel to free His servants, who, trusting in Him, disobeyed the king’s order; and preferred to give their bodies to the fire rather than serve and worship any other god but their God.”

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Tuesday, 8 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we draw ever closer to the beginning of the Holy Week, we are reminded of the important events that we are going to commemorate and focus on during this upcoming Holy Week and Paschal Triduum. We heard of the great love which the Lord has shown us all that He sent us His Son to bring us all into reconciliation with Him, so that by His ultimate show of the most generous and enduring love of God, He might restore hope to all of us sinners, and bringing us all into the justification of those who have been made worthy by God’s grace. We are reminded as we come towards the end of this Lenten season that by God’s most generous mercy, we have the means to reach Him and to be once again fully beloved and worthy of Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers we heard of the account of what happened during the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from the land of Egypt where they had been enslaved for centuries towards the land of Canaan, the land promised by the Lord for His people to be their own land and dwelling place. It was there during this journey that the Israelites, having frequently and persistently grumbled and disobeyed the Lord, rebelled and complained against Him, despite all the good things that God had done for their sake. They complained that what they had received were the tasteless manna and they were not keen on journeying through the desert as they had done. Many among them had also grumbled saying that they should have remained in Egypt where they would have good food to eat even though they were enslaved by the Egyptians.

For their lack of faith and trust in Him, the Lord sent fiery serpents as we have heard, and how many of the people were struck by those fiery serpents and perished in the desert. This represented and showed to us the consequences of sin, which is death, that has struck upon the rebellious people of Israel. By their rebellion and disobedience against God, they have sinned against Him, and for their refusal to trust in God and to love Him wholeheartedly, therefore, they had to endure separation and sundering from the Lord and Master of all life. Yet, when the people sought forgiveness from God and showed repentance for their many sins, God showed His mercy and love, offering the assurance of new life and salvation, by what He had told Moses to do, in crafting a bronze serpent and putting them on a standard, promising that all those who were bitten and gaze upon the bronze serpent would not perish but live.

This raising of the bronze serpent of Moses, later on known as Nehushtan, was in fact a prefigurement of Christ’s sacrifice and offering on Calvary, the moment when He bore all of our many sins upon Himself, on His Cross, and was raised on the Cross high for everyone to see. Just like the bronze serpent of Moses raised up high with the figure of the serpent that brought death to the people of God, representing sin and the punishments for sin, the Cross of Christ with the Lord being nailed on it, showed forth the salvation of God through the sins of mankind that He Himself had borne, endured and persevered through, in all the wounds and stripes that He had to face. Yet, amidst all of these, He showed us all His most wonderful love and desire to be reunited with us, by offering us freely His own Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood, broken and shared for all of us to partake, that we may be saved through Him.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who sought to destroy Him and to plot against Him for having disagreed with them and threatened their influence and teachings among the people of God. That was when the Lord revealed to them more of the truth about Himself, how He had come into their midst as sent by the Father to bring about the salvation of the world. He also revealed how He would eventually soon be raised for all to see, much like that of the bronze serpent of Moses, so that through this act, He would become the source of salvation to all who saw Him and believed in Him.

As we heard from our first reading today, this moment of the Crucifixion and its significance as revealed earlier on through the bronze serpent of Moses served as a reminder for all of us of what we are preparing for during this season of Lent. The Lord has reminded us all of everything which He had done for our sake in bearing the massive burden of our many sins, which should have been ours to suffer from. But the Lord in His infinite and ever enduring love for each and every one of us continue to provide for us and reach out to us, desiring our reunion with Him, through our repentance and our willingness to embrace His love and mercy. And thus, as we gaze upon the Lord on His Cross, we should remember just how fortunate and beloved all of us have been, to be shown this most wonderful love of God manifested to us.

Let us therefore deepen our relationship with God and learn to focus our attention and efforts particularly as we are about to enter into the more solemn time of Holy Week, and as we are already in this period of Passiontide, where our attentions are brought to focus on the important events and mysteries that we are about to commemorate during that sacred period and time, leading towards the Paschal Triduum, the most important moments in the history of our salvation, when God Himself offered His own life, His own Most Precious Body and Blood to be the perfect and most worthy offering on our behalf, to bring about our certain reconciliation with our loving God and Father, as He promised us all His constant care and love, giving us opportunities one after another to help us to attain this salvation by His grace, love and mercy.

In this remaining time of Lent before the important events of Holy Week and Paschal Triduum, let us all therefore make good use of this time that we have been provided with so that we may come to realise the state of our sinfulness and corruption because of the sins which we have committed in life. Let us not tarry or delay any longer, but strive instead to seek God and His forgiveness as soon as possible, that by His grace and love, we may truly be cleansed and freed from the chains of our sins, that being purified and made clean once again, we may be truly worthy of God and His love, no longer separated from Him due to our sins. Let us realise that sin is truly something that can bring us all a lot of danger, as what the Israelites in the past had experienced, and we should hence turn away from the path of sin, embracing once again God’s love in its fullest. May God be with us always, and may He strengthen and guide us in our journey towards Him. Amen.