Third Sunday of Advent

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Saturday, 23 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of Kanty, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Malachi 3 : 1-4, 23-24

Now I am sending My messenger ahead of Me to clear the way; then suddenly the Lord for Whom you long will enter the sanctuary. The Envoy of the covenant which you so greatly desire already comes, says YHVH of hosts. Who can bear the day of His coming and remain standing when He appears? For He will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used for bleaching.

He will be as a refiner or a fuller. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. So YHVH will have priests who will present the offering as it should be. Then YHVH will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days.

I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the day of YHVH comes, for it will be a great and terrible day. He will reconcile parents with their children, and the children with their parents, so that I may not have to curse this land when I come.

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Friday, 22 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from the first reading we listened to the reading from the Book of the prophet Samuel, in which the young prophet Samuel was brought to the House of God, in fulfilment of the promise and vow which his parents had made when he was conceived in a miraculous way by God’s grace.

Samuel’s mother, Hannah, was one of the two wives of his father, Eliakim. She has not been able to bear any children, and by the standard and custom of that time, being barren of any children was a very big embarrassment for a wife and a woman. The more children a woman has, the more prestige and honour she was accorded to. And thus, Hannah was very distraught that she has not been able to bear any child at all.

She promised the Lord that she would dedicate and consecrate her firstborn child should He endeavour to allow her to bear a child, and her prayer was indeed heard. Samuel was her firstborn son, and she entrusted him after he was weaned to the Judge of Israel, Eli, and from then on, he became Eli’s student and eventually would succeed him as Judge and leader of the entire nation of Israel.

Hannah was so joyful and so filled with the Holy Spirit that she sang wonderfully from her heart, which we have as our Psalm today, the Song of Hannah. She was filled with righteous joy, because God has listened to her predicament and granted her heart’s desire. She was thankful that God has listened to her plea, as she was ridiculed and oppressed by the other wife of Eliakim, Penninah, who often looked down on her just because she had several children with him.

Then, in the Gospel today, we heard another joyful song, that is the song of Mary, the Magnificat, which she sang full of joy and filled with the Holy Spirit much like that of Hannah in the Old Testament. She was joyful because while she was merely a young and humble servant, a woman without much wealth or significance in the eyes of the world, but she was glorified by God and given the ultimate honour of being the mother of God and Saviour of the world.

In all of these, we can see just how great the joy that happened to the two women, Hannah and Mary. And it is this same joy that each and every one of us should also have in this season of Christmas, as we are just three days away from celebrating this momentous event in our history of mankind. But are we rejoicing for the right reasons? Are we rejoicing because we are happy to have a wonderful break and holiday from our usual busy life and work? Are we rejoicing because we are looking forward to all the festivities and the good food we are going to have?

These should not be the main reason for our joyous celebrations, as the main focus of our celebration and joy should be Christ, and we rejoice because of His coming into this world. Before He came, man long waited for the salvation that God had promised to His people, and they were waiting for the deliverance from the depredation of sin and death. Since He came into this world, a new hope had dawned on all of us, and through Christ, we are able to find our way to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend time to prepare ourselves wholeheartedly, that we may be able to celebrate Christmas meaningfully and with true joy, knowing that because of Christ, we have new hope and new life, and all of us who are faithful to Him, will not be disappointed, for He will lead us to a new life and a new existence, and we hope that we will be forever with Him in the glory of everlasting life. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 22 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 46-56

And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour! He has looked down upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed.”

“The Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His Name! From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden.”

“He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

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Friday, 22 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Samuel 2 : 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in YHVH, I feel strong in my God. I rejoice and laugh at my enemies for You came with power to save me.

The bow of the mighty is broken, but the weak are girded with strength. The well-fed must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the proud mother is left alone.

YHVH is Lord of life and death. He brings down to the grave and raises up. YHVH makes poor and makes rich, He brings low and He exalts.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, and raises the poor from the ash heap; they will be called to the company of princes, and inherit a seat of honour.

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Friday, 22 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Samuel 1 : 24-28

When the child was weaned, Hannah took him with her along with a three year old bull, a measure of flour and a flask of wine, and she brought him to YHVH’s house of Shiloh. The child was still young.

After they had slain the bull, they brought the child to Eli. Hannah exclaimed : “Oh, my lord, look! I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to YHVH. I asked for this child and YHVH granted me the favour I begged of Him. I think YHVH is now asking for this child. As long as he lives, he belongs to YHVH.”

And they worshipped YHVH there.

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scripture passages which remind us that we are God’s beloved ones, as those whom He has created out of love, and He is willing to free us from our sufferings and tribulations, caused by our own lack of faith and disobedience against Him. God still loves us despite our stubborn rebellion against Him, and He wants us to be reconciled with Him.

And that was why the celebration of Christmas is truly about a new hope for all of us mankind, that despite our fallen state through sin, which ought to have merited condemnation and eternal suffering in hell, but God is willing to forgive us and embrace us back should we allow ourselves to be forgiven. And we do so through sincere and genuine repentance from our sinful ways, leaving behind our wicked past and walking from now on, on the path of righteousness.

Then, we should also reflect on the importance of Christmas to ourselves. The timing of Christmas itself is truly symbolic, as in most of the places where Christmas is celebrated, it happens in the midst of the winter season. In fact, tomorrow is the date of the winter solstice, the time of the year when the sun is at the lowest in the sky and when daytime is at its shortest. After that, the time of day is starting to lengthen again and the time of the dark night shortens.

In the past, during the time of the later Roman Empire, the date for the celebration of Christmas used to be a pagan festival worshipping the Unconquered Sun or Sol Invictus, a cult that gained popularity during the later years of the Roman Empire. It celebrated the triumph of the sun as in the past winter is always associated with darkness and cold weather. And the day when the sun starts to appear for longer again in the sky was thus celebrated.

But with the coming of Christianity and its triumph against the false pagan gods and idols, including that of the Sol Invictus cult, the celebration that was once celebrating the sun, gained a far greater and more important significance as the celebration of the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all mankind. There is even a Biblical and traditional explanation as to why we celebrate His birth around this time of the year.

And what is this explanation? It is that the birth of Christ is also related to the birth of the Paschal lambs or the Passover lambs according to the Jewish tradition, which must be a young lamb less than a year old, and at that region, lambs usually give birth in the midst of winter, around the time of Christmas. And we all believe as Christians that Christ is our Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, Who willingly sacrificed Himself that through His death all of us who believe in Him may have life in us.

This is the how our historical Christmas celebrations came about, and why we celebrate it at this time. But even more important than all of that is the fact that Christmas is the celebration, not of the sun worship I mentioned earlier, and not of some secular event or mere merrymaking, but instead it is the birthday of the One through Whom God made His love for us evident.

Jesus Christ is the proof of God’s love, for as in the Gospel of St. John, He mentioned Himself that, God so loved the world, that He gave us His only Son, that all who believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. And yet, many of us are not aware of this great love which God has shown us, and which we should be grateful for. There is no one and nothing else that loves us as much as Our God does.

But mankind prefers to follow the ways of this world, by their merrymaking and festivities which exclude Christ from the celebrations. Our Christmas celebrations become a celebration of human and worldly vanity, greed, ambition and desire for pleasure and glory. We spend our Christmas trying to outdo one another in glamour and prestige of our gifts and revelries, trying to show off ourselves and achievements.

And all of these are fuelled further by worldly temptations and all the materialistic attitudes surrounding the secular celebrations of Christmas around us. We see all the branded goods and items, all the good shopping deals and discounts being paraded and shown all around in shopping malls and many markets, and many of us throng those places in order to get good bargain on good items.

Some of us are worrying on what kind of new clothes or accessories we should be getting this Christmas, while some others worry about how to decorate their houses and places in the best way possible to impress others who come to see our homes. And we also worry about we are to give and to receive in our Christmas gifts, and we are worried that we will be getting less than that of the previous years.

And where is Christ in all of these? He is nowhere to be found. He has often been overlooked and forgotten in our celebrations and revelries. He has been sidelined and replaced by other familiar figures like Santa Claus, the reindeers, the snowman and all of the other usual secular Christmas paraphernalia. This is what all of us as Christians should reflect on, as we progress towards Christmas. Have we done all these in how we celebrate this important event of our faith?

It is time that we rediscover our reason of celebrating Christmas, and there is no better way than putting Christ back at the centre of our Christmas joy and celebrations. It is because of Him that we have Christmas, and it is because of Him that we can rejoice in Christmas. He is the very reason of our joy, because we have once been deemed as lost and fallen from grace, without hope in the darkness. But through Christ, all of that have been changed through His light, with a new hope and way out from our predicament has been provided.

Perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of one of our great and holy predecessors, whose faith and devotion to the Lord can become an inspiration to each and every one of us that we may aspire to live our lives ever more faithfully. He is St. Peter Canisius, a member of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, a priest and later eventually made a Doctor of the Church for his great contributions to the Church and the faith.

St. Peter Canisius lived during a tumultuous and difficult time for the Church, being assailed from within and from outside by those who sought its destruction. At the time, the Ottoman Turks were threatening the entire Christendom and were invading into the domains of Christian rulers and conquering many parts of the Christian world, and then, religious unrest due to the rise of the Protestant heresies in many parts of northern and central Europe threatened to cause the destruction of Christendom.

That was why several people, gathered and inspired by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founded the new society of priests, named the Society of Jesus, to be at the forefront of the Counter Reformation effort, and many of them were also sent to the foreign lands as part of evangelisation to the new lands then recently discovered due to the rapid expansion in European discovery. St. Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci were some of the famous ones among these missionaries.

Meanwhile, St. Peter Canisius worked hard among the areas affected by the false teachings and heresies, encouraging the people through words and actions, through his pious devotion and careful explanation of the true teachings of the faith as espoused by the Church. As a result, thousands and tens of thousands returned to the embrace of the Holy Mother Church and were reconciled with the Lord.

St. Peter Canisius was well known for his writing of the Catechisms of the Christian faith, which became a gold standard in catechism and teachings of the faith to many catechumens and other candidates who were willing to embrace the Christian faith. He was also remembered for his great devotion to Mary, the holy Mother of God, and his Mariology was among the best that has been compiled. For all these great contributions he had done, he was bestowed with the title of Doctor of the Church several centuries after his passing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, witnessing the examples shown by St. Peter Canisius and his courageous and zealous compatriots in faith, the early pioneers of the Jesuit order, we should follow in their footsteps and commit ourselves to the Lord in the same manner. We should renew our focus and attention to the Lord, and one good way that we can do it at the moment, is as I have mentioned, by restoring Christ to the centre of our Christmas joy and celebrations.

Let us ask St. Peter Canisius to intercede for each and every one of us, that we may grow ever more faithful and devoted, day after day, drawing strength from our commitment to the Lord, and becoming ever closer to Him and walk always in His ways. May our Christmas celebrations be meaningful for us, and may we be thoroughly prepared to celebrate it with all of our hearts attuned to God, the reason for our joy this Christmas. May God bless us always. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 39-45

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women; and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you, who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 32 : 2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Give thanks to YHVH on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design, through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is YHVH – the people He has chosen for His inheritance.

In hope, we wait for YHVH, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust on His holy Name.

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Song of Songs 2 : 8-14

The voice of my Lover! Behold He comes, springing across the mountains, jumping over the hills, like a gazelle or a young stag. Noe He stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My Lover speaks to me, “Arise, My love, My beautiful one! Come, the winter is gone, the rains are over. Flowers have appeared on earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard. The fig tree forms its early fruit, the vines in blossom are fragrant. Arise, My beautiful one, come with Me, My love, come.”

“O My dove in the rocky cleft, in the secret places of the cliff, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice. Your face – how lovely! Your voice – how sweet!”

Alternative reading

Zephaniah 3 : 14-18a

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day, they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love. For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the feast. I will drive away the evil I warned you about.

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Wednesday, 20 December 2017 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we are just a few days away from Christmas, we are reminded yet again by the readings taken from the Scriptures, speaking to us about the reason of our Christmas joy and celebrations. Christmas is truly about Christ, Who was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother two millennia ago in Bethlehem.

In the first reading today, we heard the prophet Isaiah in his interaction with the king Ahaz of Judah to whom God asked for him to request for a divine sign. What we have heard in that passage might be strange to us if we do not understand the context in which it had happened. If we read more about the king and the history of the kingdom of Judah in the Book of Kings and the Chronicles, then we will know that many of the kings of Judah had not been faithful to the Lord unlike David, their forefather.

Many of them had misled the people entrusted to them, and instead of obeying God and His commandments as instructed, they chose to worship the pagan gods and idols of their neighbours. Despite the works of the prophets who were sent to them, calling them to repent from their sins, many of the people persisted in their wicked ways and did not repent. They did not have faith in God, but rather in their own human intellect, strength and power.

That was why, when king Ahaz refused a sign from God, saying that he did not want to put God to the test, he was being hypocritical and not being humble or obedient as we might have thought otherwise. When on one hand he seemed to be humble by refusing to ask for a sign from God and testing God, but on the other hand, through his actions, king Ahaz as well as his ancestors had tried the patience of God many times, by their sins and disobedience.

Yet, we come to the essence of Christmas itself, as God Himself is always ever faithful to the Covenant which He had established with us mankind, and the love He has always had for each and every one of us. Christmas is about love, and not just about any kind of love the world knew, but the love of God made Man in Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, Our Lord and God.

His coming into this world was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, to show that while we mankind had repeatedly disobeyed, betrayed and abandoned God, but God is ever faithful, and He would show them the ultimate sign and proof of His love, which was fulfilled in Jesus. The Archangel Gabriel who appeared to Mary in our Gospel passage today declared the complete fulfilment of this prophecy, as the Messiah was finally to be born into the world.

And indeed, if we reflect more deeply on today’s Scripture passages, we should immediately notice the contrast between the responses made by king Ahaz of Judah and by Mary, the mother of God. While king Ahaz refused to listen to God or to obey Him, Mary on the other hand listened to the Lord, and despite the uncertainty and fears that must have been in her mind and heart at the time, she devoted herself completely in obedience.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach Christmas, let us all realise that God has given us free will to choose whether we want to obey Him or to disobey Him. Thus, now, shall we choose wisely and pick the side of God, as Mary has done? Mary is the perfect role model for our faith, and by following her examples, we can only draw closer to the Lord and find our best and most straight way towards Him.

Let us imitate her humility and devotion to God, her righteous life and obedience to God’s will. By doing so, we will be able to truly appreciate the meaning of Christmas, as a celebration of God’s love. Let us therefore, be loving just as Our God has loved us, and show tender care and compassion for our fellow brothers and sisters, especially to those who are in need, and those who have little to spare for themselves that they too, may be able to rejoice in our celebrations as well.

May our upcoming Christmas celebrations be truly joyful and wonderful for the right reasons, and may through the grace of God, we find true peace and harmony in this wonderful time, as we rejoice for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, by Whose birth this world and its people have received salvation. Amen.