Thursday

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Thursday, 28 March 2024 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this morning we all gather together to celebrate this occasion of the Chrism Mass, when everyone assembled together, the priests of each dioceses in the world, in their respective dioceses, together with their respective shepherds, the bishops of the dioceses, to renew their commitment to the Lord, renewing their priestly vows and promises, and at the same time also celebrating the blessing and the consecration of the holy oils that are crucial for the use in the Church and its liturgical celebrations. On this day, this Chrism Mass, which is usually celebrated traditionally on the morning of the Holy Thursday, but which can be celebrated on other days, we all remember how our priests have dedicated and committed themselves and their lives to God, answering and heeding His call to be His servants, to be the ones to minister to His people.

In our first reading today, we heard from the passage of the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the prophecy about the coming of God’s salvation that would come through the Saviour, Messiah or Christ, and everything that He would do for the salvation of the world. It was the Lord Jesus in our Gospel passage Who chose this exact same passage given to Him, to proclaim the fulfilment of everything that God has prophesied and promised to all of His people, through none other than Him, as the One Who would save the whole world, all of mankind, from the destruction due to our sins and wickedness, our evils and our infidelities. God has sent His own Beloved Son to our midst so that through Him He might gather us all, and being our High Priest, He might offer for us all, the perfect and most worthy offering and sacrifice for the atonement of our sins.

That is what we are going to celebrate starting this evening with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Institution of the Sacred Priesthood, that is foreshadowed now in this Chrism Mass. This is also what we are commemorating in this Paschal or Easter Triduum, as we are about to enter into the commemoration of the most important and remarkable events that happened two millennia ago, when Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, gave Himself to be betrayed and rejected, persecuted and oppressed, and condemned to death, so that He might offer on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary, the most perfect offering of His own broken and Most Precious Body, and the outpoured Most Precious Blood that He had given freely to all of us.

All these came to be so that He might free us all from the tyranny of sin and death, breaking forever the chains and the power, the dominion and control that sin has over any one of us. Through His perfect obedience, He has ended the dominion of sin, caused by the disobedience of mankind. He has shown us how to be truly and perfectly obedient to God, our heavenly Father and Master, by taking up His Cross, and willingly took it up all the way to Calvary, where He laid dying, suspended between the Heaven and the earth, bloodied and broken, having offered Himself, as our Eternal and True High Priest, giving to us all the new hope of eternal life, the freedom from the dominion of sin and death.

And He did not do it all alone, as He has called those whom He had called and chosen, to walk in this path, to be His servants, to be priests like Him, in the Order of Melchizedek the High Priest, to be God’s priests and servants forever. He has given the authority and power to all of His priests, those who are serving all of the people of God, namely our Pope, our bishops and priests, with the power to turn the bread and wine at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to be His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, being offered freely for us, for our salvation, at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Mass. He has empowered all the priests to celebrate this Eucharist for us, so that all of us may also benefit and witness the same Sacrifice that He has performed at Calvary, for our redemption and salvation.

That is why today, the priests of the whole world renew their commitment to serve the Lord, to be His representatives in this world, to be the ones to celebrate the Sacraments, particularly that of the Holy Eucharist, to bring forth unto us all the same Sacrifice at Calvary, done in their presence ‘in Persona Christi’ during the time of the Consecration of the bread and wine, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, and by the authority given to all of them through the Church and the Apostles, from the Lord Himself, they may turn all the bread and wine, into the very essence and Real Presence of the Lord Himself, into His Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, which all of us partake, in one Holy Communion of all the faithful, that we become part of this same One Body of Christ, the Church.

That is why the role of the priests here are very important, as they are the only ones who can do so, and they are the ones given the power and authority to do this, and no one else. Without priests, we will not have the Sacraments to help us in our journey towards God and our salvation in Him. That is why today, as the priests renew their commitment to the Lord, let us all also pray for them and give them more of our support, strength and help, so that in whatever challenges and responsibilities that they are carrying, they can continue to shoulder them faithfully and courageously, doing whatever they can to serve the Lord to the best of their abilities, at all times and circumstances.

Today we also mark the occasion of the blessing of the holy oils, the Oil of the Catechumens used to mark the catechumens seeking for baptism and reception into the Church, the Oil of the Sick used in the Sacrament of the Sick and for the ministry to the ones who are suffering from illness and in the danger of death, and lastly the Sacred or Holy Chrism used in various purposes in the Church and its various liturgies, from the baptism and confirmation liturgies, for those who are baptised and confirmed in the faith, in the Ordination of those called to the Holy Orders, and in the Consecration and Dedication of churches and altars, to mark as sacred, holy and worthy all those that had been set aside for Divine worship and purpose. Like the kings of old had been consecrated to God with the pouring and anointing with the holy oils, thus, each and every one of us have received the holy oils at different stages and parts of our Christian living as well, as part of our mission and calling in life.

Yes, these holy oils have been blessed today so that we can also remember what the Lord had called us to do with our lives, in the respective missions that have been entrusted to us. While primarily we focus our attention today to those who have given their lives and dedicated themselves to the ministry of sacred priesthood, but we should also remember that each and every one of us in our respective parts and areas of life also have specific calling, ministries and vocations to do, and we have been called and reminded to follow them faithfully, and to do whatever we can so that our lives and vocations may be carried out well and faithfully, and by our lives and actions, we may truly glorify God and lead even more people ever closer to God and His salvation.

All of us must always be active members and parts of the Church, as the priests alone cannot do everything on their own. Instead, each and every parts and members of the Church must actively contribute in whatever way they can, so that through their actions and contributions, each and every one of them may assemble their efforts together and bring about lots of good deeds and actions that will help so many in their journey towards the Lord. Let us all therefore also commit ourselves anew on this occasion, together with all the priests who have renewed their priestly vows and promises this day, that each and every one of us will also continue to commit ourselves to live our lives worthily in the manner that the Lord has shown us through His Church. May the Lord be with us all, and bless particularly all of our priests, in everything that they all do, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Thursday, 28 March 2024 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 4 : 16-21

At that time, when Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written : “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”

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Thursday, 28 March 2024 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Revelations 1 : 5-8

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loves us and has washed away our sins with His own Blood, making us a kingdom and priests for God His Father, to Him be the glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

See He comes with the clouds and everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him; on His account all the nations of the earth will beat his breast. Yes. It will be so. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, He Who is, Who was and Who is to come : the Master of the universe.

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Thursday, 28 March 2024 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 21-22, 25 and 27

I have found David my servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain him.

My faithfulness and love will be with him, and by My help he will be strong. He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’

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Thursday, 28 March 2024 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 61 : 1-3a, 6a, 8b-9

The Spirit of the Lord YHVH is upon Me, because YHVH has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison; to announce the year of YHVH’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God; to give comfort to all who grieve; (to comfort those who mourn in Zion) and give them a garland instead of ashes.

But you will be named priests of YHVH, you will be called ministers of our God. I will give them their due reward and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a race YHVH has blessed.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of God’s great love by which He has established and renewed His Covenant with us, again and again, from the beginning of time, and which He has constantly remembered, and last of all, He renewed it for all of us through none other than His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, all of us have received the assurance of God’s love and grace, the promise of eternal life and true joy with Him, and all these have been shown to us through the New and Eternal Covenant which He has established through His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and ultimately through His glorious Resurrection.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of the moment when God established His Covenant with Abram, His faithful servant. Abram was called from the land of Ur to follow the Lord to the land of Canaan, which the Lord had promised to give to Abram and his descendants. Abram at that time while he was a really wealthy man, and yet he had no legitimate descendant to be his heir and successor, and yet such a promise from God might seem to be rather far-fetched, surreal and unrealistic. Yet, Abram trusted in the Lord and obeyed His call, leaving everything behind in his homeland and journeyed to wherever God wanted him to go. Thus, with the righteousness, obedience and virtues that Abram had shown, God blessed him and chose him to be the one with whom He would establish His Covenant with.

Thus, God reassured Abram of everything that He has promised, and as was common, He changed Abram’s name to that of Abraham, the name that we are all surely more familiar with. Abraham was the progenitor of many nations, the father of numerous peoples, and was especially the father of the nation of the Israelites, whom God would choose and call to be His first beloved nation and people. God was always faithful to His Covenant, guiding and leading those whom He had called and chosen, and as we all know, God kept faithfully guiding those same people despite their stubbornness and disobedience. He led them all out of the land of their misery and sufferings in Egypt, bringing them all the way to the land of Canaan, just as He has promised Abraham.

God remained faithful to His Covenant even when His people continued to disobey Him as just mentioned. If we read through the Old Testament and are familiar with the history of the Israelites, then surely we are all familiar with how those people of God had constantly rebelled against Him, turned their backs against His Law and His ways, and chose to follow instead the path of the pagan gods and idols, betraying the Covenant which the Lord had established and renewed with them again and again. God did chastise and punish those who have disobeyed against Him, but He did so out of love and compassion, as a loving Father Who truly cares for His wayward children, wanting to discipline and help them so that they all may grow ever better in their attitudes and righteousness in life.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the example of one such disobedient and stubborn attitude that God’s people has shown, in how the Jewish people treated the Lord Jesus, the One Who had been sent into our midst, Son of God Himself, incarnate in the flesh, so that by His revelation and truth, He might lead us all towards God and His salvation. Yet, those people, the Jewish people, descendants of the remnants of the Israelites, whom the Lord first ministered to, refused to believe in the words that God’s Saviour and Son has spoken to them. The Lord Himself has spoken such truth and wisdom that no one who heard them could have not believed in Him, and performed such miracles and wonders just as the prophets and messengers of God had spoken in the past, and yet, some of the people accused Him of colluding even with the prince of demons in doing so.

They refused to believe in the Lord and as we heard in today’s Gospel, they even accused Him of having a demon in Him just because they refused to believe in what He had presented to them. They refused to believe that the Lord was greater even than Abraham, their forefather, and claimed that just because they were the children and descendants of Abraham, then they knew it better than the Lord Himself and His truth. Why is that so? That is because of their ego and pride, which was a common attitude at the time, especially among the Jewish elites, namely the Pharisees and the Sadducees among them, who considered themselves better and superior to all those who have not believed in the same way as they have believed.

Yet, God still cared for them and patiently reached out to them nonetheless. And as a sign of things to come, as we are now about to enter into the most solemn celebrations of the Holy Week of the Lord’s Passion, suffering and death, therefore we heard how these confrontations and disagreements made it such that even the Lord had to hide Himself and not to show Himself in public places. Symbolically during this period of time this week and next week, also known as the Passiontide, the images and statues in the churches are covered and veiled, so that not only we can focus more on the important events of the Lord’s Passion during the Holy Week, but this also symbolically represented the Lord being in hiding during this period.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do whatever we can so that we may grow ever closer to the Lord this time, and make best use of whatever opportunities and help that we have been given, so that we may grow ever stronger in our faith and commitment to God. As we approach ever closer to the momentous events we are going to commemorate during the upcoming Holy Week, let us all come ever closer to the Lord, doing whatever we can so that by our actions, words and contributions in life, we can continue to glorify the Lord by our lives. Let us all continue our Lenten journey faithfully, and remind ourselves ever of God’s love and His commitment to the Covenant which He has made with us. Let us all seek God’s mercy and love, and renew our desire to love Him once more with all of our heart and might. May God bless us always, in all of what we do, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 51-59

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”

Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He Who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word. As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.”

The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

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.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 17 : 3-9

Abram fell face down and God said to him, “This is My covenant with you : you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants.”

“And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between Myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land you are living in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession and I will be the God of your race.”

God said to Abraham, “For your part, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.”

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Thursday, 14 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we must all be truly faithful and committed to God, in following and obeying His Law and commandments, and not just merely paying lip service to the Lord. We must always be truly genuine in what we believe in, in all of our every words, actions and deeds, or otherwise we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers who do not truly have faith in them. We have heard from the Scriptures and from past examples of our history how many people, our predecessors have disobeyed the Lord, refused to obey and follow His Law and commandments, and consequently fell into the path of sin, wickedness and evil. If our lives are not strongly anchored and rooted in Christ, then it will be very easy for us to fall deeper and deeper into the darkness of sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the story of the disgraceful moment when the Israelites, the people of God rebelled against God was told to us. At that moment, which was just very recently after the Israelites themselves had been led out of the land of Egypt by God Himself, from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, they had quickly turned away from the path of the Lord, abandoning Him for a false god and idol, making a fool of themselves and a mockery of their faith in God. They made for themselves an idol from molten gold, crafted ironically in the image of the gods of the Egyptians, a calf like that of a popular Egyptian deity, calling that idol the God Who had saved them from the land of Egypt, when it was the Lord Who had done so, and had been with them throughout the journey.

At that time, as we all should already well know, the Lord was giving to His people His Law and commandments, which He passed down to them through Moses, His servant and leader of the Israelites. Moses went up the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, after God had established His Covenant anew with His people, renewing the Covenant that He had made with their ancestors. God gave His Law and commandments, the rules and all matters that can help the people to remain firmly attached to the path of righteousness, only for those same people to quickly lose faith in Him, and thinking that Moses was already dead. Despite having witnessed God’s power and all the things He had done for them, in so many occasions, but they still failed to trust Him and did not truly have faith in Him. They hardened their hearts and minds against God, and rebelled against Him.

This is a reminder for all of us that each and every one of us must not merely be superficial in our faith in God. Unless we develop the genuine relationship and connection with God, deepening our trust and faith in Him, then there will be no way and path forward for all of us in our journey towards God and our salvation in Him. Moses had faith not only in God but also in all the people whom he cared and loved for, despite their stubbornness and wickedness, and interceded for them, pleading on their behalf before God, when God wanted to wipe them all out and destroy them for their wickedness, disobedience and unfaithfulness. But God also revealed that despite the anger He had towards the sins and wickedness which those people had committed against Him, He still loved them all nonetheless, and wanted them to return to Him with repentant and contrite hearts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the same kind of stubbornness and wicked attitudes that the people of God had exhibited as they all refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, in everything that God had done for them through His Son, Who is Our Lord and Saviour. The Lord had brought to them His truth, His Law and commandments personified in Him, the very essence of the Law and the Word of God manifested to us in the flesh, and He has performed many wonders and miracles, fulfilling the many prophecies and predictions that the prophets and messengers of God in the past had all spoken about. Yet, it was those very people who were supposed to be most knowledgeable and understanding of the Law and commandments of God, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were the most stubborn in opposing God’s Saviour.

Why was that so? That was because they were prideful and arrogant, thinking that they were better than anyone else, that their way of observing the Law, their intellect and understanding of those laws and rules of the Lord could not be wrong, mistaken or superseded by the truth of God. That was why they hardened their hearts and minds against God, persecuting Him and rejecting His Saviour, doubting Him and making it difficult for Him to carry out His works and ministry among the people of God, saying that He had been acting and going against the Law when it was actually their stubbornness which made them to be unable to see the truth and accept that. It is why the Lord told them off very clearly that it would be Moses himself and the Law that would judge them, for their lack of understanding and appreciation of God’s Law and His true intentions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to live our lives well throughout this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to spend good and quality time to deepen our relationship with God. We have been given the time and opportunity to fix our mistakes and faults, and to reflect upon the wickedness and sins we have committed in our lives thus far. God has always been kind, merciful and compassionate, and He has always ever patiently reached out to us, showing His willingness to be reconciled with us, to forgive us all our sins and mistakes, and to lead us all patiently and lovingly to His Presence once again. Now, the question is, are we all willing to embrace His mercy, compassion and love? Are we willing to commit ourselves to the path of forgiveness and grace, and enduring the sufferings and challenges that we may have to encounter in this journey?

May the Lord our loving God and Master continue to love and guide us all in our journey in life, and may He empower each and every one of us in our path, so that we may continue to remain faithful to the calling, mission and vocations which He has entrusted to us. May God be with us all and may He bless us all with His guidance and strength, and bless our every good efforts, deeds and works, in all circumstances and things, now and always. Amen.