Thursday

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Thursday, 28 June 2018 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the story of the beginning of the final downfall of the kingdom of Judah from the Book of Kings, when the king of Judah, Jehoiachin, was taken away into Babylon by its king Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, during the invasion of the Babylonians towards Judah and Jerusalem. The forces of Judah were no match for the Babylonians and they surrendered to the Babylonians.

At that time, the geopolitical situation of the region was volatile, and the kingdom of Judah was caught in between the major powers of the Egyptians and the Babylonians. The kingdom of Judah and its people depended on the Egyptians for protection against the Babylonians instead of depending on God, and they committed sins and wickedness against God. After king Josiah of Judah, there was no more kings of Judah who were faithful to God.

They depended on worldly power and strength to sustain themselves, and they did not repent despite the messengers and prophets sent into their midst calling them to repent from their sins and to turn themselves to God’s mercy and forgiveness. The prophet Jeremiah in particular was active during those days, up to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon.

But the people and their king refused to listen to God or to obey His will. They would rather listen to false prophets who arose, claiming that they spoke in the authority of God, bearing false witnesses and falsehoods that blinded the people of Judah from the upcoming retribution and judgment for their sins. They are indeed acting in the manner that the Lord mentioned in the Gospel today, as those who built their houses on the foundation of sand.

In today’s Gospel passage, we heard of the Lord Jesus teaching the people with a parable, comparing houses built on two different kinds of foundations. One house was built on the foundation of sand, while the other house was built on the solid foundation of rock. And the Lord mentioned how the house built on the firm foundation of rock was able to withstand the forces of wind and waves that batter it, and remained standing, while the house built on the weak foundation of sand collapsed.

What the Lord mentioned to the people with this parable was in fact comparing those who put their trust in the Lord, which is referring to the house built on the solid rock foundation, with those who place their trust in worldly power, strength and abilities, that is those who built their houses on the shaky and weak foundation of sand. For it is in the Lord alone, that we have a certain and sure future, and not in all worldly things that are merely temporary and uncertain.

Yet, it is often that we mankind put our trust too much in worldly things, shown in how we value money, material possessions, fame, glory and honour. We spent a lot of time trying to gain more of those things for ourselves, in pursuit of a successful career, gaining material benefits and fulfilling whatever standards of success and happiness, in accordance to the ways of the world.

And in doing so, we often end up forgetting the main purpose of our lives, that is, to glorify God, by our actions and deeds in life. Instead, our pride and our ego become the centre focus of our lives. We live not for God and for glorifying Him, but instead, for satisfying our own selfish desires, greed and to entertain our own pride, ambition and ego. That was why the people of Judah and their king had fallen into sin, just as we have fallen.

Now, perhaps each and every one of us should look upon the example of one particular saint, whose feast we celebrate today. St. Irenaeus, a renowned bishop and holy martyr of the Church, was exemplary in his actions in life and in his faith, that he ought to be an inspiration for each and every one of us as Christians. St. Irenaeus was the Bishop of Lugdunum in the Roman province of Gaul, in what is now modern day France.

He was especially remembered for his masterpiece, ‘Against Heresies’ written against the dangerous heresies at the time, particularly Gnosticism which were rampant at his time. The Gnostic heresy was a syncretic and false faith, created by the distortion of the truth of the Gospels and the teachings of the Apostles, which gained a lot of influence and sway in many members of the Church.

In particular, Gnosticism espoused exactly all the things that we have just mentioned earlier, the glorification of the earthly and worldly things, the embrace of the pleasures and corruption of the flesh, against the truth of the Lord, which liberated us from all of these temptations and false happiness. St. Irenaeus devoted himself to combatting these heresies and ensured that his flock remained true to the faith in Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to follow in the footsteps of St. Irenaeus, in how he courageously defended his faith and the truth of Christ against the opposition of the world itself, from the pagans who were persecuting the Church and from the heretics who sought to distort and turn the teachings of the Church upside down? Let us all follow in his footsteps and renew our faith in the Lord.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He continue to watch over us, day after day, that we will grow ever more devoted and more committed to Him, in every actions and deeds we do, so that in all of them, we will always glorify God every day and every moment that we live. Amen.

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Thursday, 28 June 2018 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 7 : 21-29

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My heavenly Father. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not speak in Your Name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in Your Name?’ Then I will tell them openly, ‘I have never known you; away from Me, you evil people!’”

“Therefore, anyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts according to them, is like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible collapse that was!”

When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way He taught, because He taught with authority, unlike their teachers of the Law.

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Thursday, 28 June 2018 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 78 : 1-2, 3-5, 8, 9

O God, the pagans have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy Temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given Your servants’ corpses to the birds, and the flesh of Your saints, to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out the blood of Your faithful, like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbours. How long will this last, o YHVH? Will You be angry forever? Will Your wrath always burn to avenge Your rights?

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us, for the sake of Your Name.

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Thursday, 28 June 2018 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Kings 24 : 8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. Jehoiachin treated YHVH badly, as his father had done.

At that time, the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to attack Jerusalem, surrounding the city. Nebuchadnezzar came while the city was being besieged by his men. Jehoiachin, king of Judah, surrendered, together with his mother, his servants, his leaders and the palace officials. It was the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar captured them and he took away the treasures of the House of YHVH and of the king’s house. He also destroyed all the objects of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the Sanctuary of YHVH. So the word YHVH had spoken, was fulfilled.

Nebuchadnezzar carried off into exile all the leaders and prominent men, the blacksmiths and locksmiths, all the men of valour fit for war. A total of ten thousand were exiled to Babylon. Only the poorest sector of the population was left. Nebuchadnezzar also carried away Jehoiachin, with his mother, his wives, the ministers of the palace, and the prominent men of the land.

So all the prominent people, numbering seven thousand, the blacksmiths, numbering a thousand, and all the men fit for war were deported to Babylon by the king of Babylon. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king of Jerusalem, in place of Jehoiachin. And he changed his name to Zedekiah.

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Thursday, 21 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the story of the prophet Elijah being taken up into heaven, which we have also heard yesterday in the account taken from the Book of Kings. Today it is the prophet Sirach’s recollection of the events surrounding the last moments of the prophet Elijah on earth, before he was taken up on a flaming chariot into heaven.

The many works of the prophet Elijah was highlighted, how he had faced up even the powerful but wicked kings of Israel, Ahab and his sons, and his wife, Jezebel. He had to face many difficulties and challenges throughout his journey and mission, and he had to flee into the desert for the safety of his life. But God was with him, and he was well taken care of in the desert, and in the hands of the widow of Zarephath.

Yet, as mentioned by the prophet Sirach, despite the many successes Elijah had performed, in how he helped to bring down the wicked kings of Israel of the house of Ahab, and also ended the threat of foreign nations on Israel, and in anointing his successor, Elisha, to carry on his works, but many of the people of God still remained in sin and rebellion against God.

That is why the Lord sent His own Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring into the world the completion of the works which He has begun in His prophets and messengers. He delivered into the world the message of love from His Father, and then, in today’s Gospel passage, we heard of Him teaching the disciples and the people how to pray to God, in the Lord’s Prayer.

We may be wondering what is the significance of the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples to our first reading and also to our own daily lives. However, first of all, we must understand and realise that prayer is central to all Christians’ life. Without prayer, and meaningful prayer that is, our Christian faith and life is likely empty and meaningless. This is what many of us have failed to realise.

That is because we do not truly understand what prayer is. Prayer is not just series of words and supplications, litanies of words to be uttered and said in churches and in our own homes. If we do not mean what we say in our prayers, and if we do not understand prayer and how we can use it appropriately, then we will end up having faith like the Israelites during the time of Elijah, and the faith of the Pharisees.

The Lord’s Prayer shows us what true prayer is all about. First of all, a prayer is a means of communication between us and God, where we open ourselves, our hearts and minds to God speaking to us, just as we also speak to Him. And prayer is not about making demands to God, as what we often would have done. Instead, it is about thanking God and praising Him for all that He has done for us, in times of good and in bad times.

Prayer is also about knowing what God wants us to do in our lives, by listening to His will being spoken in the depth and the silence of our hearts and minds. But too often, we are too preoccupied and busied by the many concerns and worldly things we have in life, in our career, pursuit for money, wealth, power, fame, influence and others, that we have not been able to listen to God speaking to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in that case, let us all follow the examples set by a holy servant of God, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, whose feast we celebrate today. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born as the eldest son in the influential Gonzaga family, where he was destined to inherit his father’s great wealth and influence. He was brought up with the best training and education to be successful in the world.

However, he experienced many of the excesses and wickedness of the Renaissance era lifestyle, and went through a conversion experience to the faith, especially under the guidance of St. Charles Borromeo, then Cardinal Archbishop of Milan. He went through a life of prayer and chastity, and desired even to become a priest and missionary. His father in particular was furious at the decision taken up by St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

But St. Aloysius Gonzaga eventually had his way, and renouncing all worldly titles, inheritance and rights, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and began his study to become a Jesuit. He was well known for his great piety and asceticism, and his prayerful life was an inspiration to many others in the community. And one day, when a deadly epidemic came to the city, St. Aloysius Gonzaga insisted to help out with the victims, and he fell sick from the epidemic, and died at a young age.

Yet, as we can see, St. Aloysius Gonzaga has shown us what being a true Christian is all about. He gave up everything for God, and followed God’s calling in his life. He devoted himself through deep and living prayer life, and loved his fellow men, caring for others who were sick and dying, at the cost of his own life. He should be our inspiration, brothers and sisters, in how we should live our own lives.

Now, let us pray, that God will continue to inflame in us the love for Him, and the sincere and strong faith, just as what St. Aloysius Gonzaga has shown in his own life. Let us all devote ourselves more faithfully to the Lord from now on, and turn towards Him with all our hearts, minds and love Him with all our might. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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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Thursday, 21 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

Fire goes before Him, burning His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth watches and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

Shame on worshippers of idols, on those proud of their worthless images. Let all spirits bow before Him.

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Thursday, 21 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Sirach 48 : 1-15 (Greek Septuagint – Sirach 48 : 1-14)

Then came the prophet Elijah, like a fire, his words a burning torch. He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number. Speaking in the Name of the Lord he closed down the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.

How marvellous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal? By the word of the Most High you brought a dead man back to life; you brought kings to destruction and thrust famous men from their beds. You heard a rebuke at Sinai and sentences of punishment at Horeb; you anointed kings to be avengers and prophets to succeed you.

You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. It was written that you should be the one to calm God’s anger in the future, before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live. Such was Elijah, taken up in a whirlwind, and Elisha was filled with his spirit. During his life no leader could shake him, no one dominated him. Nothing was too difficult for him and even in death his body prophesied. In life he worked wonders, in death his deeds were amazing.

Despite all this, the people were not converted and did not turn away from sin; not until they were deported far from their country and scattered over the earth.

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Thursday, 14 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the word of the Lord Jesus, reminding us that as Christians, each and every one of us ought to remember our obligation to obey and follow the way of the Lord as He had taught us through His Church. The Lord reminded us that we must be loving towards one another, and we must not hold any grudges or hatred towards our brethren.

The reality is that, many of us have grudges against each other, especially when we have conflicting desires and wishes, when our human ambitions clash, and we do not want to give in to each other. This is exactly why we bicker and fight, even within our families and our closest relationships. If we think that close friendship and family relationship prevent us from having all these, I am sure that all of us who fought our close friends and families, our spouses, children or parents will be able to realise the truth.

In the first reading today, we heard about how Elijah spoke to king Ahab of Israel about God Who finally was going to give rain to the land after three long years of absence, and the rain did come as He had promised. In the first place, the rain was held from the land of Israel as punishment for the people’s sins, which were caused by the sins of their king, Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.

Both of them had acted wickedly and committed sins abhorrent to God, by acting tyrannically and abusing the power and authority which had been given to them. One particular occasion was the murder of the vineyard owner Naboth, who refused to sell his vineyard, part of his ancestral land and rightful possession to the king. The king desired the vineyard as he wanted to turn it into his own vegetable farm.

The king was very angry and was emotionally affected after that refusal from Naboth, but his queen, Jezebel, inflamed his heart and encouraged him to act tyrannically by reminding him that as king, he could do whatever he wanted, and he could have whatever he wished to have. To that extent, they arranged a sham trial where Naboth was wrongly accused of blasphemy against God, and was stoned to death.

That was how power, human greed and ambition led man to sin against God. And unless we make the effort to resist the temptation of those worldly desires and power, we will end up falling into sin as king Ahab had done, and in doing so, he led many more people down the path of sin. And that is also because he had no faith in God, and God was not at the centre of his life, but rather himself and his selfish ambitions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to a holier life in our daily lives. And what does this mean? It means that as the Lord Jesus Himself had said, that as Christians, we must strive to be exemplary in our actions, forgiving those who have hurt us and not to hold grudges against each other. We are called to love one another, and even those who have not loved us or even hated us and persecuted us.

Remember that the Lord asked us to pray for our enemies and those who persecuted us? This is what we must then do, or else we risk holding grudges and hatred against each other, which eventually leads to sin. Is this what we want to happen to us? Surely, it is not. The Lord Jesus Himself forgave His enemies from the cross, all those who have condemned Him to death. If He has done so, then why can’t we?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore devote ourselves, our effort and attention to be ever more faithful to the Lord, our God, by loving more generously, and placing Him at the centre of our lives. May God bless us all and may He be with us, all the days of our lives. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you then, if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial.”

“Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister, ‘Fool!’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”