Thursday

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Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 41 : 13-20

For I, YHVH, your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you : “Fear not, I am your assistance.” Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, and you, people of Israel, so frail. I am your Redeemer, says YHVH, the Holy One of Israel, your Helper.

I will make you a thresher, new and with sharp double teeth : you will thresh hills and mountains, crushing them and reducing them to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will carry them off and the storm will scatter them. But you will rejoice in YHVH and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and the afflicted seek water, and find none. Their tongues are parched with thirst. But I, YHVH, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up streams over the barren heights and let the rivers flow through all the valleys; I will turn the desert into lakes and brooks and the thirsty earth into a land of springs.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle and the olive; I will plant in the wasteland fir, cypress and pine – that all may see and know, consider and understand, that the hand of YHVH has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

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Thursday, 3 December 2015 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we remember in our memory the great saint and missionary, St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of missions and the saint whose many works had allowed for the propagation of the faith and the spreading of the Church throughout many parts of the world, including and especially that of Asia and its many regions.

St. Francis Xavier is a role model for us all, and many still walked and followed in his footsteps even after all these years. After all, without his contributions, there would not be the Church in the many parts of Asia, such as India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indochina, Indonesian Archipelago, China and further beyond even up to Japan. This great saint is one of the many saints whose efforts spearheaded the evangelising mission of the Church to the many peoples who have not yet heard about the Lord.

And in his journeys he encountered many difficulties, challenges, and even rejections by the people to whom he was going to minister and preach. There were those who refused to listen to the word that he preached, the Good News that he had carried with him, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But all these did not make St. Francis Xavier and his fellow missionaries to give up, and instead he tried all the harder.

What we heard in the Scripture readings today are the exhortations and reminders for us that as a follower and disciple of our Lord, we all have certain obligations and missions that have been entrusted to us. And one of our chief tasks is for us to be witnesses of God’s truth and the Good News of His salvation, and preach these to the people, in particular those who have not yet heard of them, or to those who have fallen and failed along the way.

And we cannot think that the works of St. Francis Xavier and all those missionaries who have toiled and laboured hard for God and for His people are done and completed. The work is always there, and there is always likely something for us to do, for the sake of those who are still lost and who are still unable to find their way to reach out to the Lord.

We are the new missionaries of our own time, just as it becomes the obligation of all the faithful to testify for their faith and become witnesses for our Lord, and be the bearers of His salvation to many more people. In this we have to heed the mission which God had entrusted to His Apostles and to the other disciples just before He was about to leave and ascend into Heaven.

His command was so that all the nations will receive the baptism of the Lord and that they will listen to the Good News and believe in all that the disciples of the Lord, as the witnesses God has appointed to be those who will be able to testify the truths that Jesus Himself had revealed to the whole world. And through us, many good works will be done for the greater glory of God and for our own salvation.

As those who have been called and chosen from the world to be the followers of Christ, we cannot profess to be ignorant of the plight of those who have not yet attained salvation in the Lord because they have not yet heard or witnessed the Good News of our God. Instead, it is our duty and obligation to show them the way to the Lord. We have to do our best, so that we may each other be able to find our way to the eternal life God had promised all of His faithful.

Therefore, as we prepare for the coming of the joyous and festive season of Christmas, let us all also take note that we should not forget about the less fortunate and those who are weak, sick and dying. Rather, let us all share whatever goods and blessings we have with one another, so that we can enjoy together and celebrate together the spirit of Christmas, that is thanksgiving for all the goodness and love God had shown us all.

Let us all imitate Him in all of our words, deeds and actions, so that in all the things we do, we will inspire many others, those who look at us, hear us and witness our acts, will see God’s works being done through us. In the footsteps of the missionaries like St. Francis Xavier, we as the new missionaries of the Lord should practice what we believe in, or else no one will believe in what we preach or teach to them.

Let us all lead by example and be inspiration to others around us, inspired by St. Francis Xavier and his works. Let us all devote ourselves, our time and our commitment to bring God’s Good News to more and more people, so that more and more souls can be saved from death and damnation, and be brought together as one people into the glory of Heaven. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 December 2015 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 15-20

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.”

“Signs like these will accompany those who have believed : in My Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

So then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His place at the right hand of God. The Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

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Thursday, 3 December 2015 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 116 : 1-2

Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him. How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.

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Thursday, 3 December 2015 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 9 : 16-19, 22-23

Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel : I am bound to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted this office against my will. How can I, then, deserve a reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.

So, feeling free with everybody, I have become everybody’s slave in order to gain a greater number. To the weak I made myself weak, to win the weak. So I made myself all things to all people in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. This I do for the Gospel, so that I too have a share of it.

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Thursday, 26 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard yet again the opposition that came against the faithful servants of God, as exemplified by the prophet Daniel, the servant of God in Babylonia and Persia, who had gained the favour of the Persian king Darius and his predecessors, but who had also gained the enmity and opposition by those who disliked and resented his piety and faith to the one and only True God.

Daniel did not fear these enemies and the persecutions they threatened against him. And even though they in their machinations and schemings managed to get Daniel to be punished and thrown into the lion’s den, he continued to believe and to have complete faith in the Lord Who had guided him and protected him and his friends for all those while.

And in the end, God protected him and prevented the lion from even touching him at all, even the hungry lions would not open their mouths against the faithful servant of the Lord. And the machinations and works of the enemies of the Lord were undone, as they were instead then thrown into the lion’s den in the place of Daniel, and they were immediately swallowed whole by the lions.

In the Gospel today, our Lord Jesus spoke about the coming days of trouble, difficulties, persecutions and challenges against all those who profess the faith in the Lord, and all those who faithfully keep His laws and commandments. And great calamities indeed would come to engulf the faithful, their lands and their societies, with those pagans and godless ones persecuting those who have their faith in the one and only True God.

If we look at all these, surely many of us would be afraid and daunted, in what we are to expect if we remain true and faithful to our Lord. No one naturally prefer to have suffering and pain over enjoyment, pleasure and good things, but this is the fate we are to suffer if we remain faithful in the Lord, and all for a good reason, that is because this world and its ways are most often directly in opposition to the ways and laws of the Lord our God.

Therefore, this is why the Lord reminded us of the fact of this suffering that would come when we walk in His path and continued to go on to reach out to His salvation. The devil that has been given the dominion over this world does not want us to be saved, and he wishes for us to suffer together with him in eternal damnation in hell, and the way to do so, is by tempting us to sin and to fall into the eternal darkness.

And there are many ways that the devil and his fallen angels can do in order to tempt us, by making the path towards damnation and eternal suffering more acceptable and preferable for us, by showing the false lies and false promises of pleasures and good life, which in fact was the vileness of gluttony, pride, greed and many other wicked things abominable in the sight and in the presence of God.

Remember that our Lord Jesus Himself on another occasion had said that all those who labour and are heavily burdened should come and seek Him? He said it so because in Him, those who have laboured hard will find rest, that is real, genuine and true rest that cannot be found elsewhere. His yoke is light and His loving hands and heart are always with us.

He has promised us that He will come again one day, in order to judge the world and all of creation, and He will gather all of His faithful ones to Him, while casting out and rejecting all those who are wicked and those who had not walked according to His ways into the eternal damnation in hell. God will not abandon all of His faithful ones, but instead, He will bring us all into the eternal life and into life ever blessed in the glory of Heaven. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 26 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 21 : 20-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that the time has come when it will be reduced to a wasteland. If you are in Judea, flee to the mountains! If you are in Jerusalem, leave! If you are outside the city, do not enter it!”

“For these will be the days of its punishment, and all that was announced in the Scriptures will be fulfilled. How hard will it be for pregnant women, and for mothers with babies at the breast! For a great calamity will come upon the land, and wrath upon this people. They will be put to death by the sword, or taken as slaves to other nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled upon by the pagans, until the time of the pagans is fulfilled.”

“Then there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, perplexed when they hear the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will faint with fear at the mere thought of what is to come upon the world, for the forces of the universe will be shaken. Then, at that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

“So, when you see things begin to happen, stand erect and lift up your heads, for your deliverance is drawing near.”

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Thursday, 26 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 3 : 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74

Dew and frost, praise and exalt Him forever.

Ice and cold, praise and exalt Him forever.

Frost and snow, praise and exalt Him forever.

Days and nights, praise and exalt Him forever.

Light and darkness, praise and exalt Him forever.

Lightnings and clouds, praise and exalt Him forever.

Earth, praise and exalt Him forever.

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Thursday, 26 November 2015 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 6 : 12-28

So some men opposed to Daniel went to the king and reminded him about the prohibition, “O king, did you not publish a decree that anyone who prays or makes petition to any god or man except to you would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “Yes, and the decree stands, in accordance with Medo-Persian laws which cannot be altered or annulled.” Then they said, “But the Jewish exile Daniel pays no attention to you and to your decree. Three times a day he still prays to some God other than you.”

Greatly aggrieved at what he heard, the king decided to help Daniel. He made every effort till sundown to save him. But the men kept coming to him and insisting, “Remember, o king, that under the Medo-Persian laws every decree of prohibition issued by the king is irrevocable.”

The king, therefore, could not help giving the order that Daniel be brought and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, Whom you serve faithfully, save you.” A stone was placed at the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with that of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might remain unchanged.

Then the king returned to his palace and spent a sleepless night, refusing food and entertainment. Very early next morning, he rose and hurried to the lions’ den. As he came near he called in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, did your God Whom you serve faithfully save you from the lions?”

Daniel answered, “Live forever, o king! My God sent His angel who closed the lions’ mouths so that they did not hurt me. God did that because I am innocent in His sight. Neither have I wronged you, o king.”

The king felt very glad and ordered Daniel released from the lions’ den. No wound was found on him for he had trusted in his God. At the king’s order, the men who had accused Daniel were thrown into the lions’ den, together with their wives and children. No sooner had they reached the floor of the den that the lions lunged at them and tore them to pieces.

King Darius wrote to the nations, to peoples of every language, “Peace to you all! I decree that throughout my kingdom people should reverence and fear the God of Daniel. “For He is the living God, and forever He endures; His kingdom will not be crushed, His dominion will never cease. He rescues and He delivers; He performs signs and wonders both in heaven and on earth. And He came to Daniel’s rescue saving him from the lions’ tooth and claw.”

Daniel greatly prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

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Thursday, 19 November 2015 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we heard about the tribulations that continued to face Israel at the time about a hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, as we continued from the narrative told from the Book of the Maccabees, of the Jewish rebellion against the tyranny and pagan rulership and imposition by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire and his successors.

We heard about how the king enforced the decree of pagan worship and submission to the Greek culture and way of life to his entire kingdom, including the people of Israel who lived in territories ruled by the king. As a result, dilemma and conflict arose, as there were those who readily and willingly accepted the king’s order and gained important court position and influence as a result, and those who refused to follow the king’s orders.

The king and his officials ordered the people of God to abandon their righteous and devoted ways, and instead of sacrificing to the Lord and worshipping God alone, they were compelled and forced to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods of the Greeks at the time. And this is a perversion and aberration to the rule that God had established with His people, that they ought to have no other gods beside Him and worship Him alone.

Yet, there were those who followed the king’s commands and succumbed to either the pressure and threats given by the king’s officials, or they were bought over by the temptations of pleasures and wealth that accompanied their acceptance into heresy and darkness. But in this, we saw how the righteous servant of God, Mattathias, in his great anger, struck at those who have betrayed the Lord and rejected Him.

In the Gospel today, our Lord Jesus lamented over Jerusalem and all the terrible things that would happen to it in the near future of His time. He was telling the people of the upcoming downfall and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans which would happen about four decades after Jesus had prophesied about the downfall of the holy city to the forces of the enemies of the faithful.

The city of God was besieged by the Romans just as it had been during the days of the Babylonian invasion under king Nebuchadnezzar. And on both occasions, the city was destroyed, its walls and gates were thrown down, the buildings, houses and palaces were destroyed, and most important of all was that the Temple of God, the Dwelling place of our Lord were torn down and destroyed.

These reminds us that living righteously in a world filled with sin and darkness will not be easy, and indeed is not easy. There will be opposition, struggle, resistance and suffering for our contrasting ways as compared to those of the world’s. But if we persevere, the rewards will be great and God will bless us without compare. He is always rich with His mercy and blessings for those who have kept their part of the covenant with Him.

Now we are all the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple of God’s Holy Presence, for God Himself dwells in us, as we have all received His Most Precious Body and Blood into ourselves. Let us make ourselves worthy, honourable and holy so that we shall be ever worthy of the Lord and will always receive His grace at all times. Shall we commit ourselves to actions that are in accordance to His will and be ever loving and faithful in all of our actions? Let us all do this, for the sake of the salvation of our souls. May God bless us always, now and forever. Amen.