Thursday

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Thursday, 18 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 7 : 7-12

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and the door will be opened to him who knocks.”

“Would any of you give a stone to your son, when he asks for bread? Or give him a snake, when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

“So, do to others whatever you would that others do to you : there you have the Law and the Prophets.”

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Thursday, 18 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your Holy Temple.

And I give thanks to Your Name, for Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

With outstretched arm, You save me from the wrath of my foes, with Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.

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Thursday, 18 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Esther 14 : 1, 3-5, 12-14

Seized with anguish in her fear of death, Queen Esther likewise had recourse to the Lord. Then she prayed to the Lord God of Israel : “My Lord, You Who stand alone, come to my help; I am alone and have no help but You. Through my own choice I am endangering my life.”

“As a child I was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forebears that You, o Lord, chose Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among their ancestors to be Your lasting heritage; that You did for them, all that You have promised.”

“Remember us, Lord; reveal Yourself in the time of our calamity. Give me courage, King of gods and Master of all power. Make my words persuasive when I face the lion; turn his heart against our enemy, that the latter and his like may be brought to their end. Save us by Your hand; help me who am alone and have none but You, o Lord.”

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Thursday, 11 February 2016 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of our Lady of Lourdes (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Lourdes, based on the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, in the grotto of Lourdes in southern France to the young woman, now St. Bernadette Soubirous about a century and a half ago. Our Lady appeared to her, stating on the need for mankind to repent from their sins and to be reconciled to the Lord their God.

On that blessed and glorious occasion, our Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord and Saviour appeared to St. Bernadette to deliver the reminder and the message to mankind, so that we the people who have long been immersed in the darkness of this world, and who have been tainted for long by the taint and corruption of sin, the sickness and disease of the flesh and the soul may be brought to healing in God through His blessed mother.

Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to St. Bernadette on one of her series of apparitions there to her, asking her to dig up a spot on the ground that she had pointed out to her, and from the ground sprang forth a spring of clear water that gushed out forth, and this water is now known by many as the water of the grotto and spring of Lourdes, which is held to have curative and healing properties, and year after year, month after month and day after day, many sick people and people seeking spiritual healing came flocking to Lourdes on pilgrimages.

But we have to be careful lest we think of these as amulets or idols through which we can gain healing or fulfilment, as all these are nothing more than means through which the Lord brought about healing on all of us mankind. And why do we need healing, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we sick or something has happened to us? Are we not healthy, those among us who have no afflictions at all?

Today we commemorate the day of prayer for all the sick, where we commit the petitions for the healing of our body, our mind, heart and soul from all the afflictions, diseases and disabilities that had assailed us. And what are these sickness? We may be thinking only in the terms of the health issues that afflict many of us, such as cancers, diabetes, asthma, allergies and all of these problems, but we cannot forget that each and every one of us, even the healthy ones in the body are afflicted.

And what is this affliction? It is the most dangerous of all of them, that is the affliction of sin. Ever since mankind disobeyed God, sin had entered their heart, and because of sin, our souls had been tainted and corrupted, and the corruption of sin prevented us from being truly reunited with God, for sin is evil and wicked, and there can be no evil or wickedness before God.

And sin if not checked or purified from us, will become a great hurdle, a great obstacle on our path to reach out to the Lord, as it is difficult to resist the temptation to sin, and if we continue to live in the state of sin, the more difficult it is for us to escape its grip. But we do not have to worry, since our Lord Himself had provided the path for us to get to Him and escape from the threat of sin and death.

In the Scripture readings today we are all reminded of the choice we have, the choice between righteousness and wickedness, the choice between good or evil, the choice between hope and despair, the choice between light and darkness, the choice between humility and pride, the choice between temperance and greed, and ultimately, between God and ourselves, and between God and the devil.

God has shown us His mercy and His ways, and He has revealed His path and truths, and taught them to us through His Apostles, who passed down the words and teachings of our Lord Jesus through His Church, and now we all who belong to God’s Church are called to recall His goodness and mercy, and even more importantly, to remember what He had said in the Gospel today.

What is it, brothers and sisters in Christ? Jesus said that all those who are faithful to Him must take up their crosses and follow Him. If we do not take up our crosses and follow Him, then we are not His true disciples, and we cannot have any part in Him. To follow the Lord and to be a faithful Christian requires effort and the understanding that our path will not be an easy one. The world has always been against Christ, and it will be against us too.

Therefore, on this day, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, and through the help of His blessed mother Mary, our Lady of Lourdes, may all of us find healing in Him, and through our hard works and efforts in faith, carrying and bearing our crosses in life, and through righteousness may we be healed from our afflictions, of sin and wickedness, that God will find us worthy and bless us forevermore. God bless us, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 February 2016 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of our Lady of Lourdes (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 9 : 22-25

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of Mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow Me! For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for My sake, you will save it. What does it profit you to gain the whole world, if you destroy or damage yourself?”

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Thursday, 11 February 2016 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of our Lady of Lourdes (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Thursday, 11 February 2016 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of our Lady of Lourdes (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 30 : 15-20

Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. I command you to love YHVH, your God and follow His ways. Observe His commandments, His norms and His laws, and you will live and increase, and YHVH will give you His blessing in the land you are going to possess.”

“But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan. Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.”

“Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live, loving YHVH, listening to His voice, and being one with Him. In this is life for you and length of days in the land which YHVH swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

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Thursday, 4 February 2016 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the word of God speaking to us through the Holy Scriptures about the king David of Israel who was about to die and join his ancestors in the afterlife, giving his own son, Solomon, advice for him how to be faithful to God and keep all of His commandments, and why all those were necessary if he was to keep God’s grace.

He said all those things to Solomon his son, because after all the power, majesty, grandeur and strength that God had given him, it will easily tempt anyone just as it had tempted him. We noticed from our previous day’s readings and before that, how even king David himself, a very faithful and devoted servant of God, as a man, was still tempted with lust and power, as he sinned against God when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and when he, in a moment of pride, decided to disobey the Lord, and counted the people of Israel to fulfil his own ego.

In the same way therefore, it is also a reminder for all of us, that we too should be careful and be vigilant in our own lives, lest the devil comes to tempt us with all the lies and all the temptations of pleasures and goodness of this world. It is our human nature to be weak against all these temptations, just as the Lord Jesus Himself said of His disciples, that while the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

In the end, what David feared did come true, as Solomon, while he was mostly faithful to the Lord, especially at the start of his reign, all the temptations of worldly power, influence, fame and all the allures of women and pleasures of the earth were too much for him to resist, and he fell into sin and wickedness. Thus, king Solomon fell into sinful life towards the end of his life, preferring to listen to his many wives rather than to listen to God.

Today therefore, is a reminder not just to those who lived in the past and erred, but even more importantly, it is a reminder for all of us not to repeat the same mistake that king Solomon had done. Wise as he was, surpassing any man or creature before him and ever since except for God, but he was not able to resist the temptations and lure of worldly pleasures and therefore, he fell.

In the Gospel, we heard how Jesus commissioned His Apostles and sent them to preach the word of God and the Good News, preceding Him as He went about the villages and towns throughout Galilee and beyond, ministering to the people of God in those places. He commanded them not to bring anything beyond what they absolutely need for the journey, and to not be complacent about these things lest they were tempted.

This is because their mission was a mission of evangelisation and of service, that is to bring the word of God to the people still dwelling in ignorance and in the darkness of the world. It was not to impress the people through wealth, fame, affluence, or by offering them with worldly goods and properties, but through simple gestures and service, walking faithfully in the path of the Lord.

If one is to follow faithfully in the ways of the Lord, then indeed we should abandon all forms of worldliness and attachments to the things of this world, such as pride, greed, fame, affection, affluence and all the other things that distract us from the true goal beyond others, that is God and His love. Even Solomon and David themselves could fall into the trap of sin, as faithful as they were, and even more so for us, living in a world today where the temptations of evil are growing from time to time.

Let us all this day commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us dedicate ourselves to resist the temptations of the flesh, and seek beyond what the body and the flesh desired, but seek for greater satisfaction and for greater truth that can be found only in God. Let us all dedicate ourselves in the way of the Lord, and labour so that in all the things we do, we may bring greater glory to God, and bring salvation to ever more souls.

May Almighty God bless us and keep us, strengthen us and empower us, and may He bring us up from the darkness of sin and death, and deliver us into a new life blessed by His love and grace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 February 2016 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus called the Twelve to Him, and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits. And He ordered them to take nothing for the journey, except a staff : no food, no bag, no money in their belts. They were to wear sandals and were not to take an extra tunic.

And He added, “In whatever house you are welcomed, stay there until you leave the place. If any place does not receive you, and the people refuse to listen to you, leave after shaking the dust off your feet. It will be a testimony against them.”

So they set out to proclaim that this was the time to repent. They drove out many demons and healed many sick people by anointing them.

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Thursday, 4 February 2016 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Chronicles 29 : 10bc, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd

May You be blessed, YHVH God of Israel our ancestor, forever and ever!

Yours, YHVH, is the greatness, the power, splendour, length of days, glory, for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is Yours. Yours is the sovereignty forever, o YHVH.

You are supreme Ruler over all. Riches and honour go before You.

You are Ruler of all, in Your hand lie strength and power; You are the One Who gives greatness and strength to all.