Tempus Quadrigesima

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Tuesday, 20 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures the unique relationship that Our Lord Jesus Christ has with His Father in heaven, as we listened to the reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, speaking to us about the Word which came from God, and which would not return to Him until that Word has accomplished all that God had willed to do through the Word.

We know that Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour is the Divine Word Incarnate, Son of God, through Whom the Father willed all creation into being, including all of us mankind at the beginning of time. And when the Father sent Him into the world, as we remember from the Gospel of St. John, ‘For He so loved the world, that He gave us His only beloved Son, that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have eternal life’, we gain for ourselves a loving Saviour and Lord.

And Jesus showed us all the example of a faithful and obedient Son, obeying the Father’s will in everything, which is summarised in His short but exceedingly beautiful prayer, which we pray as the Lord’s Prayer, Pater Noster, a prayer which we heard as part of our Gospel reading today, which summarises everything that a prayer should be and ought to be.

First of all, a prayer is a way for us to communicate with God, and that was what Our Lord did, speaking directly to the Father, calling upon Him and praising Him, for we have been given this great privilege, having shared in Christ’s humanity, to be able to call God as our Father. And as a child addressing and talking to his or her father, we too ought to speak to God through prayer, directly to Him, and He will listen to us.

However, many of us forget that the essence of prayer is not for us to demand from God anything, or to have our wishes and wants fulfilled. This is what many of us have misunderstood from prayer and from our devotions, as many of us think of God as a wonder worker Who can satisfy all of our needs and fulfil all of those things which we want and desire. No, this is not true prayer, as a true prayer is in essence, opening a two-way communication between us and God.

Many of us are able to speak with God, through our prayers and petitions. However, how many of us are actually able to listen to Him? It is too often that we are preoccupied in our concerns, our desires and thoughts, that we failed to listen to the Lord speaking in the depths of our hearts. The noise of this world, all of its temptations and concerns deafened us to the Lord’s words in our hearts.

And a prayer is not just about ourselves, as if we often notice that what truly distracted us from being able to listen to God was because we are so self-centred, thinking only about ourselves, about what we want in life, and we sometimes even demanded that God take action for our sake. This ego and desire, the focus on the ‘I’ and ‘Me’ are all that caused us to drift away from God and into sin.

Prayer is also about thanksgiving, for Jesus Himself thanked His Father for all the goodness He has blessed all of us with, but in our own prayers, how many of us remembered to thank God first for all the blessings which He had given us? We always remember God only when we are in need of His providence and help, and when He has given us all that we wanted and desired, we are very quick in forgetting Him and never thanked Him as we all should have.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we proceed through the season of Lent, let us all strengthen our relationship with God, through prayerful life and committing ourselves to acts of charity and love for others. It is important that we learn how to pray in the right way, as we have just discussed, not prayer focused on ourselves and our selfish interests and desires, but prayer that is truly allowing us to speak to God and to have a proper conversation, that we also put forth a listening ear, open mind and open heart to listen to God speaking in our deepest selves.

Let us all follow the examples of Our Lord Jesus Himself, Who obeyed the will of His Father perfectly, doing what He had commanded Him to do and even to the cross at Calvary, by which we were saved. Let us learn to get ourselves rid off our pride, arrogance, stubbornness, and all the things which have become obstacles in our journey of faith towards the Lord. Let us instead grow to be humbler and more dedicated in our faith, doing whatever we can to live ever more in accordance with what the Lord had taught us.

May the Lord bless us all and may He continue to watch over us and protect us, every day of our lives. May our Lenten observance and efforts be good and meaningful to our spiritual growth, that we may grow ever closer to God, day after day. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will, be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.”

“Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”

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Tuesday, 20 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 33 : 4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

Oh, let us magnify YHVH; together, let us glorify His Name! I sought YHVH, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, YHVH hears and saves them from distress.

The eyes of YHVH are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked, to destroy their memory from the earth.

YHVH hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. YHVH is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.

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Tuesday, 20 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 55 : 10-11

As the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is My Word that goes forth out of My mouth : it will not return to Me idle, but it shall accomplish My will, the purpose for which It has been sent.

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Monday, 19 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings serve as reminders for us, especially in this season of Lent, to reexamine our actions and deeds in life thus far, and ask ourselves whether we have been truly faithful and good disciples of Our Lord, or whether we have wandered off and fallen into sinful ways. In the first reading we heard God’s reminders to His people as He delivered to them through Moses, His servant, on how to be faithful to His laws and commandments.

During that time, the people of Israel often disobeyed the Lord, and some even followed the pagan customs of the people they encountered during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They did not know how to differentiate what was right from what was wrong, and they did what were considered wicked and sinful in the sight of God, oppressing their neighbours and those who were weaker than them.

As a result, God handed down His laws and commandments to them, through Moses, by which He expected them all to follow and to obey those laws and commandments, so that they might no longer sin but instead find a renewed life and existence in obedience to God and therefore they would be worthy to receive the fullness of God’s promises and graces.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all also God’s people, thus we are also expected to do the same with our own lives. We should listen to the commandments which God had passed down to us, and which He reinforced through the teachings of the Church He established. What does this mean? It means that we should be just in our actions, and show love to others in our dealings with them.

We should help those who are poor and downtrodden, sharing with them the blessings we have received, the excesses and the spare that we can give to them. Are we not moved to mercy and compassion when we see someone who is suffering from hunger, from loneliness, from sorrow, from persecution and from many other unfortunate occasions? When we are in the position to help, are we doing what we can in order to help?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel today, we heard about the account of the Last Judgment, which the Lord Jesus shared with His disciples and with the people who listened to Him. In that account, He foretold to them, how all of us mankind will eventually face this great judgment of all, when all of us will be judged not only by what we have done in life, but also by what we have not done or failed to do in our lives.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are often familiar with the sin caused by our actions, which are done in disobedience to God, which is the sin of action. However, do we also know that there is also the sin of omission? The sin of omission is caused by our conscious refusal and rejection of doing what we could have done, for the sake of those who are in need, while we are in the perfect position to be able to do so.

In the Gospel passage, we heard how the Lord Jesus cast out all those who have committed the same sin of omission from His presence, because they have seen Him in the least of their brethren, who were in need and who could have been helped by those who saw and knew their plight, and yet, those who were in the perfect position and capacity to help refused to do so, and turned a blind eye and deaf ear to their sufferings.

Those who refuse to do what the Lord had commanded us to do, will suffer the just rewards of their refusal, that is eternal damnation and suffering in hell. That is what the Lord had made plain before all of the people, warning them to remain true to His teachings and to do what must be done, in order for them to gain justification and to be worthy of God’s kingdom. Now, the choice is in our hands, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Shall we do our best in this season of Lent, particularly at this time of great grace, which the Church had set aside for us that we may turn away from our sins and to embrace God’s ways? Shall we do what we can, whenever we see others who are in need in our midst, not necessarily for money or worldly goods, but even for a simple care, love and attention? Shall we be more generous in giving alms and love for our brethren, that we are no longer oblivious to their need and cry for help, but instead be ready to help them with all of our hearts?

May the Lord be with us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, that He may continue to bless our works and endeavours throughout this season of Lent. May all of our good works and actions bring us ever closer and help us to realise ever more, of the responsibilities we have as Christ’s disciples. May the Lord bless our work, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 19 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 25 : 31-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory with all His Angels, He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be brought before Him; and, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will He do with them, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.”

“The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, blessed of My Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to see Me.’”

“Then the righteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and give You food; thirsty, and give You something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome You; or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and go to see You?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it to Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of My sight, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give Me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’”

“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me.’ And these will go into eternal punishments; but the just, to eternal life.”

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Monday, 19 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 15

The Law of YHVH is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of YHVH is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of YHVH are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of YHVH are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

The fear of YHVH is pure, it endures forever; the judgments of YHVH are true, all of them just and right.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart find favour in Your sight, o YHVH – my Redeemer, my Rock!

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Monday, 19 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Leviticus 19 : 1-2, 11-18

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them : Be holy for I, YHVH, your God, am holy. Do not steal or lie or deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by My Name so as to profane the Name of your God; I am YHVH.”

“Do not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your God; I am YHVH.”

“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbour fairly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbour; I am YHVH.”

“Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbour frankly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself; I am YHVH.”

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Sunday, 18 February 2018 : First Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the first one in the season of Lent, all of us are gathered together to celebrate the Eucharist and having heard the word of God from the Scripture passages today, we are all called to remember what we all need to do during this time of Lent, the time of renewal and rejuvenation of our spiritual, mental and physical existence.

The season of Lent spans the forty days period between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday, marking a special season and time of preparation and contemplation, during which time we also practice fasting and abstinence, namely the practice of restraining our physical bodies by means of reducing our intake of food to just one full meal and two smaller meals, as well as not eating certain kind of food such as meat during Fridays in remembrance of Our Lord’s sacrifice on Good Friday.

This is a special time set aside by the Church for the good of all the faithful, because all of us indeed need to be fully prepared to celebrate the most important mysteries and tenets of our faith which culminates during the Holy Week and Easter, when we commemorate the suffering, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who died on the cross that all of us who believe in Him may live.

Why do we need to prepare ourselves to celebrate those important events of our faith? That is because we should not and indeed must not be giving lip service for our faith, and if we come to the celebrations of the Holy Week and Easter without preparing ourselves first, in body, mind, heart, spirit and soul, we are shortchanging ourselves and not helping ourselves in our journey to seek God’s salvation.

Each and every one of us must take it seriously upon ourselves, to prepare ourselves spiritually throughout this season of Lent. The time of Lent itself, spanning forty days has a very rich biblical background and roots, if we refer back to what we have heard in today’s readings and from our understanding of the Scriptures. The number forty has a very significant meaning, often found throughout the Scriptures representing a significant length of time linked with a time used for preparation before a certain holy occasion.

For example, Moses spent forty days atop the mount Sinai with God, as he listened to Him speaking His words and passing down His laws and commandments as part of the Covenant He made with them, and then the prophet Elijah also spent forty days and forty nights in journey through the desert as he travelled to meet God after he was terribly persecuted in the land of Israel. When Elijah met God, He made it clear to him what He wanted him to do for the sake of His people, to call them to conversion and repentance.

In our first reading today, we heard about the Great Flood which happened at the time of Noah, in the early years of mankind’s history. Much of the world were then filled with wickedness and sin, and Noah alone among all those people, the descendants of Adam and Eve, remained faithful to God and His ways. The Lord sent the flood through non-stop rain and the seas which lasted for forty days and forty nights before it stopped and the water starting to recede after that.

Again, in this case, we see the importance attached to the number forty as a period of time spent, as a major event in the history of our faith took place. Then, later on, in the Book of Exodus, we may also remember how the people of Israel spent forty years in the desert, as they waited for the opportunity to enter the Promised Land after their Exodus from Egypt. The journey should not have taken that long, but the people of Israel rebelled against God, and as they continued to be stubborn and refused to obey Him, God punished them to wander off in the desert for forty years.

In all these, we see the journey and the progression made during that period, be it forty days or be it forty years in the case of the Israelites. From a state of sin, disobedience, wickedness, unworthiness and from the clutches of darkness, those who were involved were transformed by their respective experiences, into a new state, a state of grace, of obedience, of righteousness, of joy and entering into a new Covenant with God.

In the first reading today, God made a Covenant with His servant Noah, after the end of the forty days and night of rain and after the Great Flood receded. He promised him and his descendants that He will never again send any flood to destroy the earth and its entire inhabitants as He had done at that time. He put the bow in the sky, the rainbow as the sign of His covenant and as a remembrance of His saving love, having spared Noah and his descendants, including all of us from total destruction, because of their faith.

And God renewed the Covenant He made with Israel after they had survived the forty years of journey in the desert and entered into the lands which He had promised to them and settled there. It was a time of renewal and a time of renewed grace, which was once lost because of the disobedience of their forefathers. Those who have disobeyed the Lord perished in the desert and were left behind, while those who were faithful were allowed to enter into the Promised Land and settle there.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how are all these readings and references I brought from the Scriptures relevant to us? They are indeed important for us, to be remembered and to be reflected upon, as we embark on our own forty days of preparation during this season of Lent. The first thing that we must ask ourselves is, ‘What have we done or what do we have in mind, in order to make our observation of Lenten practices more meaningful and fruitful?’

We do not need to look any further than the examples set by the Lord Jesus Himself, Whom in the Gospel today mentioned about His temptation by the devil in the desert as He fasted there for forty days. Again, in this yet another occasion, the number forty made its appearance. This time, it represents the time spent by the Lord right after His baptism by St. John the Baptist before He began His earthly ministry.

The devil tempted the Lord Who was hungry after going for forty days without food and sustenance, telling Him that He could just turn the stones into bread, and His hunger would have been easily satisfied. But the Lord rebuked Satan, saying that ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Through those words, the Lord Jesus is indeed speaking to us and calling on us to be faithful to Him in this season of Lent.

And how do we do that? In this season of Lent, as mentioned, all of us fast and abstain on certain times and periods, with the purpose of resisting the temptation of greed, of human desires and wants. But do we realise that fasting and abstaining alone is not enough, if we do not fully comprehend its significance? If we just do those practices for our own benefit, then I fear that we may not be doing it right.

Instead, we should heed what the Lord said, ‘but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ as reminders that we should do our fasting, abstinence and other forms of piety and Lenten observances because ultimately we love the Lord, and we want to listen to Him and do His will, and obey Him in everything that He has commanded us to do. This is what all of us should be doing as Christians.

And then, we should also be always vigilant lest the devil tempt us in many other ways, as he had done to the Lord Himself. The devil tempted the Lord with power and pride, when he asked Him to leap down from the top of the Temple of Jerusalem, arguing that the Angels would not let His feet to hit the ground. Satan tempted the Lord with pride, knowing that it is pride that was the greatest of his own sin, having been proud with his own greatness, once the greatest and most brilliant among the Angels, Lucifer, fallen from grace because of his pride.

But the Lord would not fall into the temptation, and rebuked Satan for his attempt to test God with that act. Yet, Satan is not a being who would just easily give up. If he could not tempt the Lord, he would just continue to tempt us as he had always done, tempting us with pride, and also with power and worldly glory, as how he showed Jesus with all the kingdoms and the glories of the world, saying that he would give it to Him if only He would worship him. The Lord rebuked him and cast him away, saying that God alone is worthy of worship.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during this time of Lent, we are called to spend our time well, on a time of preparation, on a time of spiritual renewal and the rediscovery of our faith, by means of prayer, by being closer to God, and by resisting the temptations with which Satan and his allies are trying to subvert us and to snatch us away from God and His saving grace.

Are we able to stay strong in our faith and resist the temptations of our flesh, imitating the examples shown by Our Lord Himself? Are we able to move beyond worldly matters and concerns, and grow to love the Lord ever more strongly, as we deepen our prayerful and love-filled relationship with Him? Are we able to show the same love to our brethren as well? There are many out there who are in need of our help and our love.

When we fast and abstain in this season of Lent, instead of just omitting the meal and the food, let us all use the spare food, the blessings and graces we received to be more charitable for the need of those who have little or none on their own. While we restrain our human greed, ambition and desires, let us remember how our greed and our desires have caused many to suffer, from hunger, from lack of love, from destitution and more.

Let us pray, that all of us Christians throughout the world, within our families and among our friends, we may all benefit greatly from this season of Lent, drawing ever closer to God’s grace, and be worthy to receive His love, mercy and compassion. May we spend these forty days with full understanding of how by growing stronger in spirituality and in our relationship with God will enable us to be better disciples and followers of the Lord. Let us all be more charitable, generous with our giving and loving for our brethren, especially those who are in need.

May the Lord be with us throughout this forty days of prayer and contemplation, throughout this season of Lent, that we will be able to make best use of it, for the sake of the salvation of our souls, that we will be worthy in the end, to receive the fullness of God’s promise as He has made through His Covenant with us, made through the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross, the reason why we fast and why we abstain, to prepare ourselves to commemorate the greatest event of our faith, Our Lord’s suffering, death and glorious resurrection. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 February 2018 : First Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Mark 1 : 12-15

At that time, the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. He stayed in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, but Angels ministered to Him.

After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee and began preaching the Good News of God. He said, “The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News.”