Thursday

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Thursday, 10 September 2026 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded by the Lord through the readings of the Scripture that each and every one of us as Christians need to show love in our everyday life and in all of our actions and interactions. Unless we love, and love generously and sincerely, we truly cannot call ourselves as Christians, for a Christian loves in the manner that God Himself has shown us, to love one another and even those who despise and hate us. We are reminded that the calling to be Christians is one of love and service, especially to those around us whom God had placed in our lives for us to love and take care of, and also to those who are marginalised, forgotten and oppressed, those who had none to love them.

In our first reading today, we heard St. Paul who wrote in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth on the matter of eating of food and meal that has been offered to the idols. For the context, when St. Paul mentioned this, it was because there had been debate and disagreements on whether one was allowed to partake in the food that had been offered to the pagan gods and idols. In the society dominated by Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Anatolian, Phoenician and other pagan beliefs and systems, many of which had pantheons of gods and goddesses, and offerings of foods and drinks were often made to them. At that time, this debate had caused serious divisions among the faithful, and it happened for a good reason as I am about to elaborate on.

Partaking in the food and meals offered to the pagan idols and gods were one of the signs by which one was recognised as a believer, and therefore, as St. Paul mentioned, while he said that technically such meal and offering had no effect in the real and physical way, considering that all those idols and gods were false and unreal, but should any among the faithful partake from those food, what St. Paul meant is that this action might scandalise the faith and lead to the loss of faith in others, because those who witnessed the action without understanding the context and background may end up thinking that it is acceptable therefore for Christians to worship the pagan idols, or that those Christian brethren of theirs had given up their faith in God.

At that time, some among the Christians chose to safeguard themselves and their livelihood by performing pagan rituals and by partaking in the food offered to the pagan idols. Regardless whether they still clung to those old practices, considering how most of them were converts, or whether these had been done purely for the safeguarding of one’s life, the Apostle reminded all of them that they could not and should not do that. The simple reason is that, the actions of those who did so would cause misunderstandings and divisions among the faithful, and would make those who had to suffer for the sake of their faith to lose faith and wonder why there were those who did such a thing just so that they could live a ‘normal’ life. What St. Paul said was that as Christians, we must strive to be always true to our faith and we must show good examples of that faith to each other.

How does this then relate to the matter of Christian love, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the fact that each and every one of us must show care and concern for one another, by being careful in our actions, in our deeds and interactions that we do not unnecessarily cause confusion, division and disagreements among the members of the Church and the Christian faithful. In the manner of how we live, we must always show the way of the Lord in all things, so that we may truly love our brethren and not instead lead them to their downfall. And even more so, in our Gospel today, the Lord then challenged us to do even more than that. If we have already loved and showed care and concern, and helped all those who are dear, close and good to us, to find our way to God, then, we need to do the same to all those who have been difficult with us, those who have persecuted and made our lives terrible, those who consider us their enemies and those who hate us.

Are we able to do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? Indeed, it is easier being said than done, but this is the Christian ideal of love, something that all of us need to look towards and focus our attention on. It is what Christ Himself has shown us, and which He had led us by example, the examples and inspirations of love, to love one another and to love Him, just as much and even more than we love ourselves. Let us all look at Christ Our Lord, His enduring love for each and every one of us. When so many of us refused to believe in Him, persecuted Him and His disciples, He remained firm in His love and in the dedication to serve us, to help us, to care for us and to guide us to the right path. This is the proof of just how great His love is, which He even showed to those who despised Him. Right from the Cross at Calvary, He looked on all those who have condemned Him to death and crucified Him, and prayed to God His Father, not to hold their sins against them, and to forgive them those sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if Our Lord Himself has shown such mercy, compassion and the ability to forgive, to love tenderly and genuinely, and how His disciples and followers, the innumerable saints and holy men and women of God had done, then can we do the same as well in our own lives? This is what we are all called to do, to be true and committed disciples of the Lord, in deed and in action, filled with genuine and wholesome love for all mankind. Let us all be shining examples of faith and be filled with God’s love, so that everyone who sees us, witnesses our actions, and interacts with us will truly know that we belong to God, and know of His truth and salvation, and not be stumbling blocks that caused scandal to our faith by our own lack of faith and disobedience as warned by St. Paul. 

Let us all be ever more faithful, and let us all be ever more loving and forgiving, reaching out to others, and learn to forgive those who have hurt us and made our lives difficult. May God be with us and grant us the strength to carry on in this journey of faith, even despite the challenges and obstacles we may be encountering in our paths and journeys each day. Let us all help to inspire one another, in all the things we do, in our interactions with one another and in our authentic, courageous and faithful Christian living, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 September 2026 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 27-38

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “But I say to you who hear Me : Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks, and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back.”

“Do to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favours to those who are good to you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of grace is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return.

But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For He is kind toward the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

“Do not be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

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Thursday, 10 September 2026 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 138 : 1-3, 13-14ab, 23-24

O YHVH, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand, You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

It was You Who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You.

Search me, o God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. See if my steps are going astray, and lead me in Your eternal way.

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Thursday, 10 September 2026 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 8 : 1b-7, 11-13

We know that all of us have knowledge, but knowledge puffs up, while love builds. If anyone thinks that he has knowledge, he does not yet know as he should know, but if someone loves God, he has been known by God.

Can we, then, eat meat from offering to the idols? We know that an idol is without existence and that there is no God but one. People speak indeed of other gods in heaven and on earth and, in this sense, there are many gods and lords. Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from Whom everything comes, and to Whom we go. And there is one Lord, Christ Jesus, through Whom everything exists, and through Him, we exist.

Not everyone, however, has that knowledge. For some persons, who, until recently, took the idols seriously, the food remains linked to the idol, and eating of it stains their conscience, which is unformed. Then, with your knowledge, you would have caused your weak brother or sister to perish, the one for whom Christ died. When you disturb the weak conscience of your brother or sister, and sin against them, you sin against Christ Himself. Therefore, if any food will bring my brother to sin, I shall never eat this food, lest my brother or sister fall.

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Thursday, 3 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to keep in mind that we should trust in the Lord’s wisdom and allow Him to guide us in our path and journey throughout life. We should not do things in the way that the world often told us to do, or to trust in the wisdom of the world because as Christians, many of the things we learnt through the truth and wisdom of God show us that what the world considers as folly and stupid, irrational or strange, is actually the best path, as God knows all things while we mankind, even in our best intellect and wisdom knew only a part of all things, and it is not possible for us to know all things, no matter how much we try.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, continuing from the discourse earlier this week, we heard of the Apostle mentioning how what is wise in the sight of the world is considered as foolish in the eyes of God. This, together with the reference that was made regarding the leaders of the faithful and evangelisers like St. Paul himself, Apollos, a popular Jewish Christian convert and preacher, Cephas, that is St. Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the Vicar of Christ, among others, all these were meant to remind the faithful in Corinth that they must keep their focus in the Lord and not in their own selfishness and divided nature. Otherwise all those divisions could harm and destroy the Church and community of the people of God.

For back then, there had been a rather bitter division amongst the members of the Church and the faithful people of God, as some of the faithful sided with St. Paul while others were siding with Apollos, having differences in their thoughts and preferences. While that would have been natural in any organisation and in our Church even today, but from what St. Paul had elaborated and shared in his Epistle to the Corinthians showed us that the divisions that happened among the faithful seemed to be rather bitter, where that led to the break in the unity of the Church of God, the Body of Christ. Not only that, but the divisions were often particularly bitter and harsh, and they ended up attacking each other, often violently instead of working together to do God’s works.

That was why St. Paul appealed to the people of God in Corinth, to stay away from the temptations of their pride and ego, and to be willing to listen to God’s wisdom and truth, rather than to follow the whim of human and worldly wisdom and ways. Otherwise, that would have caused the divisions and disunity to continue even further, leading to further fracture in the unity within God’s Holy Church, the Christian community. Through the words of the Lord, God and His servants kept on reminding us the members of His Church to trust in His wisdom and love, His truth and grace, because in Him alone we can find the sure path to true happiness and salvation. And this is what we have been constantly reminded, as we heard in these readings today, that we should not cause division among the faithful, and strive to remain united in God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord and His disciples, as He called on His first disciples by the Lake of Galilee or Gennesaret. There He encountered Simon, the future St. Peter, as well as the other fishermen, who had not been able to get any fishes all night long despite their efforts. The Lord told them to lower their nets according to His instruction, and while Simon told Him that they had done work all night and got nothing, but he still obeyed the Lord and did as He asked of him to do. According to conventional and worldly wisdom, this would have been foolish to do, as all the more that Simon Peter and the others must have been experienced fishermen, who must have known that it was pointless to try more.

Yet, as shown by the Lord’s instructions and what happened afterwards, Simon Peter and the other fishermen immediately got a catch so massive, with so many fishes trapped in their nets that their boats almost sank from the great weight of the fishes. This miracle showed us all that what the world considered foolish, is actually the truth and possible in the sight of God. We must not put our faith in the Lord and His truth on the backbench, but instead, put it at the forefront of our lives. We have to prioritise Him and not to forget that His way and truth is the better way forward. We have to learn to trust in Him more the way that Simon, St. Peter, trusted in Him and humbled himself before the Lord, in listening to and obeying the Lord’s words.

In the same way therefore, each and every one of us as Christians ought to be more trusting in God, putting our faith and trust in Him, and not to pride ourselves on our human achievements and greatness, our wisdom and glory. We have to learn to listen to the Lord and allow Him to lead and guide us down the right path. We should listen to the Lord calling us deep within our hearts and minds, and turn towards Him with full of faith and desire to obey Him and to do His will. And as we heard in our Gospel passage today, through the same event of the miraculous catching of fishes, we see how through God’s guidance, as the Church, all of us can gain so much more from our efforts. We ought to trust in God to guide us in our actions so that we may continue to go forth in faithfully obeying His commandments and doing His will.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, one of the great Popes, a great servant of God and reformer, who dedicated himself to the greater glory of God. Pope St. Gregory the Great reformed the Church in many different ways, reformed the Roman clergy and also influenced the greater Church community, purifying them from the excesses and corruptions of the world, enforcing a new and more rigorous practice and discipline in the Christian community. Pope St. Gregory the Great also spent his time and effort in expanding the reach of the Church and the Christian faith, sending out many missionaries to spread the Good News of God to more and more people all around the world.

Pope St. Gregory the Great spent a lot of time reforming the way the Church worshipped as well, laying the foundations of what would later be known as the Gregorian Chant, and also regulated the liturgy into a more synchronous form, and also brought the Church liturgy both in the West and the East to be more coordinated and laid the foundations of what today would become the Holy Mass as well as the Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Church. He wrote extensively in various letters and also other works, in opposing the various heresies of the day and in helping to guide the members of the faithful to turn back towards the Lord with faith. It was thanks to his efforts and all the initiatives that he began which helped the Church to grow and remain strong as it was during his time and for centuries afterwards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to and remember the words of the Scripture and as we remember the great deeds and works, the faith and dedication with which Pope St. Gregory the Great had committed himself, each and every one of us are reminded to live our lives to the fullest, in the path that God has shown us, obeying Him and focusing our attention on Him and not to ourselves, distancing ourselves from the temptations of worldly glory and greatness, and turning away from the allures of worldly excesses and ambitions, of pride and immorality, of hubris and human greed. All of us should guard ourselves against all those temptations and do our best to inspire one another to remain true in faith in God in the way that Pope St. Gregory the Great himself had inspired us.

Let us all therefore seek the Lord with all our heart, committing ourselves at all times to glorify Him by our lives. Let us all renew our commitment to serve Him with zeal and dedication, that we will always put God as the priority and focus of our lives. Let us all continue to work towards unity and harmony within the Church, and do our part to contribute to the good missions of the Church, the works and efforts of evangelisation and proclaiming of the Good News to many more people all around us, throughout our own exemplary living as Christians. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 5 : 1-11

At that time, one day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat, and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.

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Thursday, 3 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Thursday, 3 September 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 3 : 18-23

Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says : God catches the wise in their own wisdom. It also says : The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.

Because of this, let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you; Paul, Apollos, Cephas – life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

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Thursday, 27 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded of the calling for all of us as Christians to remain faithful to the truth, teachings and the way of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We must always be ready and vigilant, and not to fall into the trap of complacency and sloth, or lukewarmness in faith and mediocracy. Each and every one of us as Christians are expected to live our lives full of faith and to do whatever we can in order to proclaim the truth of God and the glory of God through our daily living, our every words, actions and deeds. As Christians we are all called to proclaim the Lord and His Good News not just through words only, but also through our real actions and deeds rooted in our strong and genuine faith in God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, as the Apostle exhorted the faithful there to continue to remain steadfast in their faith and obedience to God through His Son, their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He reminded them of the wisdom and the light that they all had received from the Lord Himself, as they received those through the Apostles, from St. Paul himself and the other missionaries, and inspired from the Holy Spirit that has been given to them by the laying of the hands. They had received the wisdom and truth of God, and are therefore called to be faithful witnesses of the Lord and their Christian faith as they have been entrusted with by the Lord Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples with the parable of the faithful and bad servants, through which the Lord wanted to highlight the importance for each one of us, His followers and disciples, to live our lives most worthily at all times, and to do whatever we can in obeying His Law and commandments, and in doing our best to proclaim the truth of God by our exemplary actions. We cannot live our lives the way that hypocrites had done, that we do things contrary to what we profess to believe in. And we can neither neglect our obligations and responsibilities in living a good and faithful Christian life, when we are all called to be leading virtuous and good Christian living at all times and circumstances.

That is because as the Lord highlighted, the moment of our reckoning, for our actions and deeds, and for our whole lives can come at anytime. Through that parable of the two stewards, the Lord compared their examples with our own lives, reminding us that the moment for us as the stewards of the Lord’s creation, accounting for our lives in this world, can happen at anytime. We all ought to remember and know that while the most certain thing that will happen to each one of us is death, but at the same time, the most uncertain thing for us is to know the time of our death, as no one will ever know when they exactly will reach the end of their worldly existence. God alone knows that detail and all of us certainly will face that moment of reckoning when we will have to account for our lives and actions before Him.

That is why, all of us as Christians ought to prepare ourselves well for the inevitable, and we have to keep in mind what we have heard in today’s Scripture passages so that we can keep ourselves in check and also attuned to the expectations that the Lord has placed on us. If we have been delaying and been lukewarm in our faith, and not doing what the Lord has expected each one of us to do, then we really should spend the time to start doing what we should be doing, in living our lives in accordance with God and His ways from now on, and we can also seek inspiration on how to do so by looking upon the good examples set by our holy predecessors who have lived courageously and faithfully in the manner that God Himself has taught and shown them.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Monica, the mother of the well-known St. Augustine of Hippo, and who is the patron saint of mothers. St. Monica is a truly great saint who can be our great inspiration in how we should live our lives as faithful and holy people of God, in her tireless commitment to her son, her prayers and patience in guiding him towards the Lord. St. Monica was a Christian married to a Roman pagan influential man, and her son, St. Augustine of Hippo was a brilliant young man, but he was easily influenced by the many debauched and wicked influences of his time, and became a Manichaean, indulging himself in all sorts of wicked behaviours and even fathered a child out of wedlock. One can only imagine the frustrations that St. Monica might have to experience.

And yet, St. Monica went through it all patiently, always there to pray and support her son, praying for his conversion and change of heart. Slowly but surely, this impacted the members of her family, beginning from her husband, who converted to be a Christian before he passed away, and then St. Augustine of Hippo himself, who was called by God and then, under the tutelage of St. Ambrose of Milan, finally embraced the Christian faith and the Lord fully, abandoning his past wicked way of life. St. Monica was by her son’s side throughout the whole entire journey, and has always shown her love to him, reminding us all what it means for us to be a Christian and a disciple of Christ, in how we ought to love one another and to help one another in our path towards the Lord’s salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our best to proclaim the Lord ever more faithfully in our whole lives inspired by the courage and faith, the dedication and love which St. Monica has shown, especially to her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, and do our part as Christians to be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to bless and guide us in our journey, strengthening us all to walk ever more faithfully in His path, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 27 August 2026 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 24 : 42-51

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Stay awake then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Obviously, if the owner of the house knew at what time the thief was coming, he would certainly stay up and not allow his house to be broken into. So be alert, for the Son of Man will come at the hour you least expect.”

“Imagine a faithful and prudent servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time. Fortunate, indeed, is that servant, whom his master will find at work when he comes. Truly I say to you, his lord will entrust him with everything he has.”

“Not so with the bad servant, who thinks, ‘My master is delayed.’ And he begins to ill-treat his fellow servants, while eating and drinking with drunkards. But his master will come on the day he does not know, and at the hour he least expects. He will punish that servant severely; and place him with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”