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Monday, 18 November 2013 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of Basilica)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we listen today to the beginnings of a great tragedy, where the people of Israel, was subjected to the attempts of acculturation and Hellenisation, which happened during the years after Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world. They suffered persecution and ridicule, subjected into attempts to corrupt them from the one and true faith in God.

In the second reading, the same happened, with St. Paul being led into custody of the Romans, brought to Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, to be judged by the Emperor for his supposed crimes. St. Paul was charged by his Jewish opponents, who resisted his attempts to bring the Good News to them. Rather than being killed at Jerusalem, St. Paul chose to appeal to the Emperor, and in doing so, as we listened, he gained a chance to evangelise yet one last time, at the city of Rome, where the centre of our Church now lies.

Today we listened to the tale of both St. Paul and St. Peter, the earlier as mentioned, and the latter, as we listened to the story of Jesus performing the miracle of walking on the water in the middle of the storm. St. Peter took the scene, as he tried to walk on the water and as he doubted, he almost sank into the water. Jesus rescued him and chided him about his lack of faith in Him. So we heard today about both St. Paul and St. Peter, who at the end of their lives, went to Rome to be martyred there.

Yes, in that old and venerable city, the Eternal City, as many would call it. It is where the two greatest saints and pillars of the Church were welcomed into the hands of the Lord through holy martyrdom. Today we mark the commemoration of the dedication of two great basilicas, namely the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, where most of the Pope’s celebrations take place, and the Papal Basilica of St. Paul, also known as St. Paul Outside the Walls, because it was located outside the walls of the ancient city of Rome. It was also where St. Paul stayed during his two year stay in Rome, prior to his martyrdom by the Emperor Nero.

These two saints were exemplary in their actions, just as what some brave people of Israel, God’s first chosen people had done at the time of persecution under the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes. They stood up bravely and courageously for their faith without being corrupted or tempted by the offers of worldly pleasures and temporary glories offered to them, if they just would betray the Lord and their faith.

Yet these people were also pretty much ordinary people like ourselves, and they too were much like us sinful and weak, as St. Peter himself had shown in that storm in the lake, where his lack of faith to God made him almost sink as he walked on the water towards Jesus. St. Paul was once a great enemy of the faith, and he hounded many hundreds if not thousands of the early believers of the Lord, sending them to their deaths. We too lacked the faith at times, brothers and sisters, and doubt is always in our mind.

And yet, through Christ and His love, they have been transformed into powerful tools of His presence and love. God made them to be the bearers of the Good News and they went on faithfully with their missions to the end. And through their hard and dedicated works, many people were saved. Their works of salvation continues even today, through their successors, our bishops and their priests, and primarily, the Bishop of Rome, our Pope, now Pope Francis, the leader of the entire Universal Church.

It is often that times are truly hard for our Church, especially in the recent times. The ways of the world are increasingly becoming more and more antithesis to what our Church stands up for, that is our faith in God, true and just. The corruptions of this world threaten to sink many people in the storm of this turbulent world. Remember what had happened to St. Peter in that stormy night.

The Lord picked him up by the hand and strengthened his faith. Indeed, St. Peter was to abandon his faith yet another time, when he denied knowing the Lord, not just once, but three times in total! He did so, because his faith in God is wavering, having seen Jesus, the one hope that he and the other apostles had had, captured, tortured, and mocked like a lowly criminal. He abandoned the Lord for the security of the world.

St. Paul too was a leading Jew, who was a Pharisee and very strict in his observation of the Law, and was particularly hostile to the followers of Jesus in the early days of the Church. He hunted them without mercy, and caused the death of many people of the Lord. He took part in the stoning and murder is St. Stephen, the first martyr, and was a great scourge to the faithful.

Then what differentiates them from the people of Israel, who abandoned their faith in God, for the sake of their own security and to secure the favour of the king? And how was St. Peter even different from Judas Iscariot, the traitor? Did they both not betray the Lord? One through direct betrayal and the other by abandoning Him at the time of His greatest sorrow?

That is because, St. Peter professed his true and undying faith in the Lord, and he repented from his past mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, as is common to us because of our humanity, for we are predisposed to sin ever since we were exposed to it. What is important is that, we learn from those mistakes, face them with courage and faith, and repent, that is change our ways, to conform again to that of God! That was what St. Peter, as well as St. Paul had done.

Judas Iscariot felt the guilt after he had betrayed the Lord, but instead of learning from his mistakes, and accepting the chance of repentance the Lord gave him, he chose the quick way out, that is suicide. He did not repent, and therefore was counted among the lost ones. He also stole the money of the Lord and His disciples and was unrepentant about it, even to the end.

St. Peter professed his love and dedication to the Lord, and he showed it with true sincerity, knowing fully the guilt and the faults he had done, and yet, he still professed that love he has for God, and the Lord gave him, the stewardship over this world, over all of the faithful ones in God, as His Vicar on earth. St. Paul too met a life-changing experience, after the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and the truth about all things were revealed to him in its entirety.

Ever since, both Apostles, as well as the other apostles and disciples of Christ, tirelessly laboured for the sake of God and His kingdom, without end going from one end of the earth to the other, as witnesses to God and His saving power. They laboured hard and the fruits grew aplenty, as the faith spread among many, converting many to the cause of Christ. And despite the storm that threatened to engulf all the faithful, they stabilised the ship, and made it last to the present day.

St. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome, at the site now where the Basilica of St. Peter now stood. He chose to do so because he found himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way the Lord had done. St. Paul too was beheaded in Rome, after the burning of Rome was blamed by the reigning Emperor, Nero, on the followers of Christ. See the dedication, faith, and love that these two saints have for our Lord!

Today, therefore, as we commemorate the two great Basilicas dedicated in their honour, that of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, and St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, let us take this opportunity to reflect, on whether we have taken the same choice or whether we will be ready to commit ourselves to the same choice that both saints had chosen. Remember that saints too were called from sinners. We can opt to choose the easy way, that is what Judas and the people of Israel had done, or take the difficult and challenge-ridden path that the Apostles had once taken, all the way to the end, where the glory of heaven awaits them.

May our Lord Jesus, who helped St. Peter out of the water in his doubt, also help us to overcome our doubts and empower us with love, hope, and faith, that we will be able to make a commitment towards reaching out to the Lord, choosing the right path in the end. May He continue to love us and watch over us. Amen.

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Friday, 15 November 2013 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the reading today, particularly that of our first reading today, can be no further from the truth. This is the reality facing mankind today. Our world has grown to be a world where people turned skeptical, especially against anything that they cannot truly prove by their common sense. Men believe the things that they can see and are awed by the achievements that they had made.

Mankind become ensnared in their own selves, and praise their own greatness, through the achievements they had accomplished. Mankind were not satisfied with just believing in God and all of His goodness, because the devil had sown in each one of us, distrust and lack of faith, the seeds of rebellion against God and His will.

They grow merry and indulge themselves in the pleasures of the world. They give no regards to the Lord or to His laws and precepts. They grow only to care for themselves and turned themselves against one another. They grow engrossed in the pleasures that they see and observe in this world, thinking at the same time that they are smarter and wiser than their Creator. Their attachment to the world, became their greatest undoing.

The Lord will punish these people who grew proud and become disrespectful of their Lord and God. This is sadly the things that is happening now in our world. Mankind grew more and more disrespectful of the Lord their Creator, being distracted by the pleasures of this world, and by the beauty of God’s creations themselves. They worshipped these, regarded these as thing of marvel and worthy of praise, and yet do not praise the very One who created them all, in their ignorance.

Take for example, the growing apathy for the faith and for God, which many people attributed to their attachment to ‘science’ and ‘reason’. They argued that they discarded their faith because of the advancement of science, which opened their eyes to reason and therefore, they argued again, opened their eyes and minds to rational thinking. Thus, they grew hostile to any ‘superstitions’ which to them is exemplified by none better than our faith itself.

These people allow their ego and their senses to delude them, into thinking that what is actually real is unreal. God is real, and He is truly present for us, with us, and even within us. Remember that it was Him who gave us life! And yet, because we cannot truly feel Him with our feeble and limited senses, we think of. Him as non-existent, and instead chose the things of creations that He made, as new object of marvel, and even to the point of worship.

Brethren, this was no different from how people in the past, in many different civilisations, and some even until today, worship the natural elements and other things of great wonders to us. They worship the sun, the stars, the moon, the trees, animals, and other natural objects, even this world itself. This is no different from what is happening today.

We may not worship these inanimate objects, the creations of God anymore, but we have done essentially the same in a different way. First, we worship money and all things of material, giving it great honour and place it foremost before all other things. Then, we also marvel a lot at our universe and its splendour, seeking to see more, understand more, and find out more about the mysteries of our universe, but doing these, without giving due honour to the One who created them all, that is God.

We tend to forget that these wondrous things are merely things created, and they are just like us. It is perfectly alright for us to go and observe them, observe and note the phenomena that happen around us, and learn from them, as it is in our nature to be curious and want to seek more. But what is not right is if we do not pay attention or honour the One who created them all, who is God. These things may indeed be distractions in our attempt to seek God if we are not careful.

Use science, learning, and wisdom of the world for good, that is to utilise them for good purposes, and for tools to help us on our way to reach God our Lord and Creator. Do not let them instead control us or corrupt us in any way. That is what St. Albert the Great, the saint whose feast we are celebrating today has exemplified through his own life. A pious saint, and yet a wise and well endowed saint, with the knowledge of the world and with great faith to the One who created all things.

St. Albert the Great was a religious who was made a bishop in the medieval era Europe, where he spent much of his time in intellectual pursuit, studying the ancient philosophers and various other knowledge. St. Albert the Great learnt a lot of knowledge and worldly wisdom, and it was reflected in his numerous writings and works. And yet, at the same time, his piety and zeal for the Lord burned brightly, and his faith is undimmed.

St. Albert the Great went around Europe at the time, preaching the Good News, and was particularly caring about the people who are without wisdom and knowledge. He established many institutions of learning and schools, aimed at bringing more people to be aware of their surroundings, understanding their existence, and the beauty of God’s creations, while at the same time rooting out any misunderstandings about the faith in the people.

Through St. Albert the Great, many souls were saved and taken away from damnation, by enlightening them with the knowledge of the world, and even more importantly by endowing them with greater understanding of the Lord their God and Creator. It is through him that many has been made aware of the love of God, and the care that He has for all of them.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, inspired by the example of St. Albert the Great and other saints, let us adore the Lord our God, and praise Him for His wonderful works, just as we adore and be captivated by the good things we observe around us. Let us not be distracted and be misled by the evil one, and let us make the effort, to strengthen our faith, that in all things we do, we will always proclaim the Lord, profess the Lord, and be with the Lord at all times. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 September 2013 : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 25-33

One day, when large crowds were walking along with Jesus, He turned and said to them, “If you come to Me, unwilling to sacrifice your love for your father and mother, your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters, and indeed yourself, you cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not follow Me, carrying his own cross, cannot be My disciple.”

“Do you build a house without first sitting down to count the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise, if you, have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone will make fun of you : ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'”

“And when a king wages war against another king, does he go to fight without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand can stand against the twenty thousand of his opponent? And if not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers for peace talks. In the same way, none of you may become My disciple, if he does not give up everything he has.”

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Thursday, 8 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 13-23

After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them You are John the Baptist, for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Bar-Jona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.

And now I say to you : You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. From that day Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; that He would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that He would be killed and be raised on the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to reproach Him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to You!” But Jesus turned to him and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

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Wednesday, 10 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of Christ calling His twelve disciples, the principal disciples who later would become the apostles, and how He sent them in mission to the people of God in service. The disciples had been sent to be the extension of God’s love and ministry in the world, to share His love with all the people whom He loved.

Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, too was called by the Lord out of Canaan, to become a great disciple of the Lord in Egypt and beyond, preparing that country for the worst famine the world had ever witnessed, and ensured that many people would not die of hunger, but remain living. The brothers of Joseph, the other sons of Jacob, might have had evil intention when they sold Joseph to the slavers who brought him to Egypt, but God has His plans.

He called Joseph to be a great saviour of people, the Egyptians and many others around the world, and indeed, ironically, his brothers would later come and beg him for mercy, both for food, and also for the sake of their brother, Benjamin, whom Joseph asked for, and the brothers feared that he would be lost the same way Joseph was ‘lost’ and that would grieved Jacob to death.

God called Joseph to be the progenitor and initiator of Israel’s migration to Egypt, where, in the next four hundred years or so, they would grow to become a great nation, until the Pharaoh at that time wanted to get rid of them because there were so many people of Israel around in Egypt. Joseph was then called, first through slavery and then into a position where he could actually affect the lives of many, and he exercised his power in accordance with God’s will, and many lives were saved.

The same happened to the Apostles, whom the Lord called out of their disparate and humble origins, some being fishermen, some tax collectors and sinners, and some even murderers and zealot fighters. He called them all to follow Him and began a new life, a life of total service to the Lord. The Apostles would follow Christ, and except for Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ to the chief priests. they all remained faithful, even to the end of their lives.

The Apostles continued the work of Christ after His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. They received the Holy Spirit and began the good works of preaching the Good News to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem, throughout the entire land of Judea, and later the entire Roman Empire, and to us now, the whole world. Now the whole world had listened to the Good News of Christ, and many have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but not all have done so.

We have all been called to be disciples of Christ too, brothers and sisters! To be the modern apostles and preachers of the Good News of the Lord. We have been chosen and have been given gifts through the Holy Spirit, in order to bring God’s message ever closer to mankind, that salvation may eventually reach everyone, every children of God.

Some of us are called to be fathers and mothers, to recreate the Holy Family in our own humble families, raising our children with love, care, and kindness, that they will grow up to become faithful and loving children of God. Some are called to be friends to be friends to those who are lonely and without love, and those who lie in despair, to bring hope and love to them, that they will be able to begin a new, more purpose-filled life.

And finally some are called to follow the Lord completely, just as the apostles had done, leaving everything and giving themselves completely to the Lord. They gave themselves to become the bride of the Church, the servants of God’s people, and the shepherds of God’s flock. We are now facing a severe lack in the recruitment of our new priests and religious members of religious orders. While in some parts of the world, recruitment is still going strong, in many parts of the world, the numbers have dropped significantly.

That is why, brothers and sisters, we have to embrace our calling in life. For those of us called by the Lord to follow Him, pray and pray hard, so that the Lord will guide us in the process, so that in the end we will be able to make a carefully thought decision, so that we will be able to give our all through our service and love, to God and to our fellow men.

Do not bar one another’s path to the Lord, and instead, support one another, sow a beneficial atmosphere for learning of the faith and that of love. In that way, we will become truly children of God, and supporting one another, we also help everyone to accomplish the missions God had entrusted them in life.

May God grant us wisdom and strong discernment to pick the path of our choice in life, and that the choice we made will be in tandem with God’s will. May our work and actions be fruitful, to ourselves, to our families and friends, and to all those around us, and to those whom we have interacted with in our lives. God bless us all, and may He strengthen our resolve to follow Him just as the apostles had done. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 18-27

The Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : ‘If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”