Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.
You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Philippians 3 : 3-8a
We are the true circumcised people since we serve according to the Spirit of God, and our confidence is in Christ Jesus rather than in our merits. I myself do not lack those human qualities in which people have confidence. If some of them seem to be accredited with such qualities, how much more am I!
I was circumcised when eight days old. I was born of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin : I am a Hebrew, born of Hebrews. With regard to the Law, I am a Pharisee, and such was my zeal for the Law that I persecuted the Church. As for being righteous according to the Law, I was blameless.
But once I found Christ, all those things that I might have considered as profit, I reckoned as loss. Still more, everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for all of us to remain faithful, strong and vigilant amidst every moments in our lives when we may face challenges, difficulties, trials, opposition, ridicule, obstacles and other hardships that may dampen our desire to follow the Lord faithfully as His beloved and holy people, as His disciples and followers. We must not easily give up just because of these obstackes and challenges. We need to put our trust and faith in the Lord, that He is always with us in our journey and struggles. We must also realise that as Christians, it is likely that we may face persecution and oppression just as the Lord Himself has faced the same difficulties and persecutions.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Ephesus the exhortation that he gave to the faithful about how the people of God should always strive to put on the whole armour of God, which is a reference to all the many gifts, blessings, graces and all the guidance which we have received from the Lord, the gift of His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit, that become our source of hope and strength amidst all the difficulties hardships, trials and all the darkness surrounding us. The Lord has always provided us with the means and the help needed for us to resist the challenges and to remain strong despite the persecutions that we may face. Most importantly, we must always trust in the Lord and be open to His help, as we likely cannot overcome those difficulties by ourselves without God.
At that time, in Ephesus and in other places, the Christians in the community did face quite a bit of challenges from various sources, from the external attacks and obstacles laid by the local and Roman authorities, the opposition from the pagan worshippers who disliked the spread in popularity of the new Christian faith, as well as from the Jewish authorities and groups who wanted to curb the continuing spread of the Christian faith in proclaiming Christ despite their efforts to snuff the Church and the Christian missionary efforts from the very beginning. There were also significant divisions within the community of the faithful, from the disagreements in how they ought to follow the Lord and His Law and commandments, and also the presence of false teachers and heretical ideas that were already rampant even from those early days of the Church.
Then, in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus in His lamentations on Jerusalem when some of the Pharisees told Him to leave the place because Herod wanted to kill Him for what He has done in His missions among the people. In His response to Herod and the Pharisees, the Lord was in fact also showing premonition of what He would face and suffer during the time of His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, when He would be betrayed by one of His own disciples, rejected and accused by the elders and the leaders of the people to whom He had been sent to, with the people crying out for His punishment and death, even when He had no fault at all with Himself, or deserve any of those punishments.
The Lord lamented over Jerusalem because of the persecutions that He and the many other messengers and prophets had suffered and endured, despite the constant and persistent love and kindness, mercy and compassion that God has shown to them all, to those people who had been stubborn, obstinate and hardened in their hearts and minds, whose sins and wickedness, infidelities and lack of faith had led to them falling ever further and deeper away into the path towards damnation and destruction. God still does not want to see His people suffering and destroyed, and therefore, as we have received such a great grace from God, being loved so much by Him, it is essential and just for us to realise how our sins, wickedness and stubborn attitudes did not help at all.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded that prayer is indeed very important, as the Epistle to the Ephesians had also mentioned earlier. Many of us have lost our path and way in life, falling into the path of rebellion and disobedience against God because we have allowed the temptations, pressures and coercions of the world to pull us away from the path towards God and His salvation. And most importantly, many of those people have not developed good, vibrant and active prayer life in their daily occurrences and moments. Without this important link to God, which prayer provides us, it is therefore easy for us to fall into the attacks of the evil ones, and to the many pressures of the world to push us to conform to its ways, and away from God’s path.
This is why all of us as Christians must always spend good and quality time with the Lord our God, in silent prayer and devotion to Him. Prayer is a way for us to communicate with God, and through this prayer and connection, we can come to know what the Lord wants from us, from our lives and paths going forward. Through prayer, each and every one of us can remain connected and attuned to God’s will, to His love and grace, and it will help us to persevere through the many challenges and trials we have to face in our journey. We should also open our hearts and minds, to be humble in listening to God, and to allow Him to lead us down the right path in life. We should not be like all those who have proudly put forward their greatness and achievements in life, that they end up being stubborn in opposing the Lord and His truth, as those people who have persecuted the Lord and His prophets had done.
Today, which is also the Eve of All Saints’ Day, the beginning of Allhallowtide and which we all celebrate as Halloween, we also remember all those holy and devoted people of God, our holy predecessors, whom have persevered through the many hardships and obstacles as mentioned, and they did not give up their faith in God. On the contrary, they remained faithful and committed to Him, living their lives and enduring through the many persecutions and challenges with joy, knowing that they have obeyed the Lord and lived their lives according to the path that God has shown them. We should also therefore be inspired by their good examples and inspiration, and remain strong in our own faith, remembering that all those saints and martyrs are in fact still with us, constantly praying for us and supporting us in our journey.
May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to strengthen and empower each and every one of us with the power, wisdom and guidance, the ‘armour of God’ needed for us to resist the temptations and pressures in life. May He continue to guide us in our journey of faith and life, helping us to be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us by our faithful journey and obedience to God and His will, keeping in mind at all times to maintain a good relationship with God through prayer and other means. May He continue to bless us in our every good efforts and works, our every commitments to His cause, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, truly worthy of Him, we may continue to proclaim Him as always in our communities and among all those whom we encounter in life. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 13 : 31-35
At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and gave Him this warning, “Leave this place and go on Your way, for Herod wants to kill You.”
Jesus said to them, “Go and give that fox My answer : ‘I drive out demons, and I heal today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish My course!’ Nevertheless, I must go on My way today, and tomorrow, and for a little longer; for it would not be fitting for a Prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem.”
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I tried to bring together your children, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, but you refused! From now on, you will be left with your Temple, and you will no longer see Me, until the time when you will say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.'”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 143 : 1, 2, 9-10
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.
My loving God, my Fortress; my Protector and Deliverer, my Shield where I take refuge, Who conquers nations and subjects them to my rule.
I will sing a new song to You, o God, I will make music on the ten-stringed harp, for You Who give victory to kings and deliver David, Your servant.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Ephesians 6 : 10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord with His energy and strength. Put on the whole armour of God to be able to resist the cunning of the devil. Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil.
Therefore put on the whole armour of God, that in the evil day, you may resist and stand your ground, making use of all your weapons. Take truth as your belt, justice as your breastplate, and zeal as your shoes to propagate the Gospel of peace. Always hold in your hand the shield of faith to repel the flaming arrows of the devil. Finally, use the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God.
Pray at all times as the Spirit inspires you. Keep watch, together with sustained prayer and supplication for all the holy ones. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, I may be given words to proclaim bravely the mystery of the Gospel. Even when in chains I am an ambassador of God; may He give me the strength to speak as I should.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Words of the Scriptures, we are all called to keep in mind our faith in the Lord and how our lives all should be focused and centred on Him, and in everything that He has presented to us, in the love and generosity, all the kindness and mercy that He has always shown us, and at the same time we are also reminded of the kind of challenges and obstacles that we may encounter in our path as faithful Christians, because of the opposition that may arise from all those who refuse to listen to the Lord and acknowledge Him, which may lead to friction and conflict in our lives, and yet, we should not give up our faith easily because of all those.
In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Ephesus we have been listening to for much of this week, in which the Apostle kept on reminding the faithful there of the love of God and how all these have been manifested through Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. God has never given up on us despite everything that we have done in disobeying Him and being stubborn in our attitude and constant refusal to follow His path. God has always been patient in reaching out to us and in attempting to help us, guiding us so that we may find the right path towards Him. And through His Son, He has shown us all the sure path to eternal life, by His perfect obedience to His Father’s will and by His love for us.
St. Paul reminded all of the faithful that through the ever enduring and patient love that God has always had for each and every one of us, we have been truly fortunate to receive the great grace of His love and blessings, His strength and power through the gift of the Holy Spirit that He has bestowed upon us, the gift of life and all the opportunities and other wonderful things and opportunities that we have been given. Therefore, it is important that each and every one of us, as God’s holy and beloved people, we must be truly appreciative of this fact, and be grateful for all of those things we have received, and then strive to be good and worthy of God, to be truly faithful as Christians, to be full of love both for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, as we all should be.
Then, in our Gospel passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples telling them all that His coming into this world would bring about divisions, strifes and conflicts, disagreements and conflicts within their families, relatives and circles of friends, and how they would have to contend with these divisions, challenges and trials, which were likely contrary to what those disciples had been expecting. As at that time, many of the Jewish people were expecting the coming of the Messiah or the Saviour, the Son of David, Who was prophesied to be the One to deliver them from their troubles and enemies, and many among the people had likely expected Him to come to reestablish the great Kingdom of Israel.
Thus, it must have been a surprise for many among the Lord’s disciples to hear Him saying all that, as they must have expected Him to be that great, conquering King, Who would lead them all in the victory and triumph against the Romans, and then ushering an era of peace and harmony for everyone. But the Lord was speaking the truth and He gave them all a premonition of things to come. The reality is that many in the world were not welcoming of what the Lord Himself has come into this world to deliver to us, His truth and Good News. Many of them had hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord, and resisted Him, and their opposition would translate into all these hardships, conflicts, strife and all the trials facing those who follow the Lord and His teachings.
But this should not then discourage us from following the Lord ever more faithfully, as we are all aware of these trials, tribulations, challenges and difficulties that we may have to face, and we must remain focused on the Lord and His love, and keeping in mind that God’s love for us will make all things possible for us. We must never be afraid and hesitant to commit ourselves more to the Lord, despite the opposition, disagreements and challenges we may have to face, even from all those who are close and dear to us. History has shown how many of our holy predecessors had faced opposition, challenges, and even persecution from their own family members and friends, but they remained firmly in faith to the Lord. And most importantly, we must always remember not to retaliate or hate those who persecute us.
On the contrary, just as the Lord Himself has told us, we should pray for those who hated and persecuted us, and forgive them, and the Lord Himself has done so as well. After all, has He not forgiven us all many times, all of us who have often tested His patience and continued to disobey and disregard His love and compassion? He forgave those who persecuted them from His Cross, prayed for them and shed His Most Precious Blood, and broke His Most Precious Body for all of them as well. If God Himself has shown His love and forgiveness in that way, then we too, as Christians, should follow in His footsteps and examples, and be the good examples of love and forgiveness, compassion and kindness in the midst of our communities, amidst our family, relatives and friends, at all times.
Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret, the Founder of the congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known commonly as Claretians as homage to their founder. This great and holy man of God was a dedicated servant of the Lord who devoted his life for the good of many of the faithful entrusted under his care in his various capacities and responsibilities throughout his life, spending a lot of time and effort to reach out to many people especially those who were marginalised and less fortunate, showing God’s love and care for them. He was born in Spain, and grew in a large family of weavers, and after a career as weaver and programmer, he eventually felt the call to religious life and becoming a priest after a period of preparation, being sent as a missionary to many places.
He went from place to place, carrying out his mission faithfully and with great patience and love for those whom he had ministered to, and many came to listen to his preachings and works, touching the hearts of countless people throughout his missions. After establishing the Claretians, God would call him into an even greater mission with the responsibility of being the Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba in what was then Spanish colony of Cuba in the Americas, where he was involved in a thorough reform of the Archdiocese, its seminaries and institutions, strengthening the discipline and spirituality among the clergy and the faithful alike, and through his works and ministry, which according to eyewitnesses and evidence, involved even miraculous occasions, St. Anthony Mary Claret inspired so many people to come closer to God.
Throughout his later missions and works, when he returned to Spain as the confessor to the Queen of Spain, Queen Isabella II, and his many other works and ministry, St. Anthony Mary Claret continued to inspire many people, and touched the lives of many as he continued to minister faithfully to them and to bring more and more people closer to God. His inspiration and examples, his dedication to God which he carried on until the end of his life should inspire us all as well, in how we should live our lives faithfully and with faith, so that our own lives and examples may truly be good and worthy of those whom God had called and chosen, to be called as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence let us all continue to centre and focus our lives on the Lord, and let us continue to do our best so that our whole lives may truly proclaim the Lord, His truth and love, His Good News and truth, by our every actions, just as St. Anthony Mary Claret and our many other holy predecessors had done. May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith and love for Him, and help us to persevere through the many challenges and trials, obstacles and persecutions that we may have to face in the midst of our faithful journey towards Him. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Luke 12 : 49-53
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “I have come to bring fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what anguish I feel until it is finished! Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house five will be divided : three against two, and two against three.”
“They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 32 : 1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19
Rejoice in the Lord, you who are just, praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises.
For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.
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.
But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Ephesians 3 : 14-21
And, now, I kneel in the presence of the Father, from Whom, every family in heaven and on earth has received its name. May He strengthen in you, the inner self, through His Spirit, according to the riches of His glory; may Christ dwell in your hearts, through faith; may you be rooted and founded in love.
All of this, so that you may understand, with all the holy ones, the width, the length, the height and the depth – in a word, that you may know the love of Christ, that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled, and reach the fullness of God.
Glory to God, Who shows His power in us, and can do much more than we could ask or imagine; glory to Him, in the Church, and in Christ Jesus, through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 