Thursday

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Thursday, 3 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded yet again of God’s ever encompassing presence, love and kindness, by which He gathered each and every one of us, His beloved ones, from being scattered all over the whole world. He came into our midst, dwelling among us, showing us all how much He has loved us all these while. And He came into our midst bearing His truth and love, His Law and commandments, His path and salvation. He established His Kingdom and dominion over all of us, delivering us all from the tyranny and power of sin and evil, which have had power and control over all of us, for a really long time, just like how God has come and rescued His people, the Israelites, from the tyranny and dominion of the Egyptians and their king, the Pharaoh.

In our first reading today, all of us heard from the final chapter of the Book of Exodus in which the details about the building and establishment of the Holy Tent or the Tent of Meeting, the centrepiece and focus of the whole community of the people of Israel where the Lord’s very own Holy Presence resided among His people, enthroned upon the cherubim statues on the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant itself contained the two slabs of stone with the Ten Commandments of the Lord, the Staff of Aaron and the manna, the bread of heaven by which God gave the people of Israel sustenance throughout their journey in the desert. Then, we may also not realise it at first, but the Ark of the Covenant and all the things contained within were actually a prefigurement of the New Covenant that God would bring unto this world.

How is that so? That is because Mary, the Mother of God, according to the teachings and traditions of the Church, is the New Ark of the New Covenant, by bearing within her the Lord and Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And because through His Son, our Saviour, God established with us a New and Eternal Covenant, thus reconciling us all to Himself and establishing with us that enduring and lasting connection by which God willed us all to come to Him and to be reunited to Him. If the Holy Tent of Meeting represented the love and the willingness of God to be with His people, even while He was still intangible in His Holy Presence upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the Tent and later on the Temple of God in Jerusalem, then by the incarnation of the Son and Word of God Himself in the flesh, becoming the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, God has revealed unto all of us His love manifested perfectly in the flesh, before all of us.

Yes, it means not only that His love has been made manifested even more clearly to us, but His love and truth, His glory and Presence have been made tangible and approachable to us. The Lord Himself came into our midst, walking in our sight and dwelling place, and coming to touch us and to bring healing upon us all. And in our Gospel passage today, the same Christ, Son of God, our Saviour, revealed more of the Lord’s intentions in leading us all to salvation and eternal life in Him and through Him. God does not abandon us all and He has always patiently guided us to Himself. However, at the same time we must also realise that we cannot take God’s love and patient care for us for granted, just as the Gospel passage today highlighted how the kingdom of heaven, which reach is truly great, gathering all the faithful people of God, but those who remain out of its reach to the end shall be crushed and destroyed.

We are all therefore reminded each and every moment that we are the disciples of the Lord, His followers and beloved people, and all of us have been given so many opportunities and chances to seek the Lord, His forgiveness and grace. Each and every one of us have been called to seek the Lord, to find Him and to gain His forgiveness. If we are truly God’s people, then we should not have disobeyed against Him and sinned against Him, and we should not allow the temptations of worldly glory, fame and desires to lead us astray. The Lord has extended to us many chances and opportunities for us to seek Him, again and again, as He reached out to us with love, and He sent unto us His most generous forgiveness, promised unto us through Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. And it is now truly up to us to embrace His love and forgiveness that He has given us most freely and most generously.

Many of us and our predecessors had remained in the path of sin and evil because we did not open our hearts and minds to the Lord, and we did not let Him to enter into our beings, to transform us from the creatures and people of darkness into the people and creature of light. All of us have the capacity and the potential to do what is good, right and just in the presence of God, or to do what is evil and wicked in the sight of the Lord. It is our free will and choice to do what we can, be it good or bad, just or evil, and we have been given the wisdom and the ability to embrace this choice, and it is really up to us to choose our path in life. Are we going to continue to follow the false way of worldly temptations and evils, the allures of worldly attachments and glories, or are we going to embrace the Lord more wholeheartedly and dedicate ourselves henceforth with our whole heart and mind, in following God at all and every moments of our lives?

Let us all therefore discern carefully our path going forward in this life, and let us all turn once again towards God’s ever generous love and mercy. Let us all no longer be ignorant of this love and compassionate mercy that God has given us, ever since the very beginning, be thankful and be grateful for all that He had done for us. Let us no longer be wayward and rebellious in our path and way of life. Let our every actions, words and deeds, our every moments and our every interactions be filled with God’s grace and love, and be truly exemplary and faithful to Him, so that by our role model and great examples we may inspire many others who see and witness our works and lives, and all those whom we encounter and interact with, may all of us be the guiding beacons of God’s light and truth. It is through each and every one of us, that the kingdom of God becomes manifest in this world, through our every actions and exemplary deeds.

May the Lord our God, our Saviour and King continue to be with us and may He guide and empower each and every one of us in our journey and faith in life. May He bless our every actions and endeavours, our every good efforts so that in everything that we do, we will always commit ourselves to the cause and the path that the Lord has shown us, the path of His righteousness and justice. May God be with us always, and bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 47-53

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net, let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish into buckets, but throw the bad away. That is how it will be at the end of time; the Angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just, and to throw the wicked into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”

Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So He said to them, “Therefore, every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder, who can produce from his store things both new and old.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left that place.

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Thursday, 3 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 83 : 3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11

My soul yearns; pines, for the courts of YHVH. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, at Your altars, o YHVH of hosts, my King and my God!

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy, the pilgrims whom You strengthen, they go from strength to strength.

One day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be left at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

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Thursday, 3 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 40 : 16-21, 34-38

Moses did this; he did exactly as YHVH had commanded him. The Holy Tent was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. Moses set up the Holy Tent. He fixed the bases for it, put up its frames, put its crossbars in position, set up its posts. He spread the tent over the Holy Tent and on top of this the covering for the Tent, as YHVH had commanded Moses.

He took the Covenant and placed it inside the Ark. He set the poles to the Ark in place and put the mercy seat on it. He brought the Ark into the Holy Tent and put the screening veil in place; thus he screened the Ark of YHVH, as YHVH had commanded Moses.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Glory of YHVH filled the Holy Tent. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the Glory of YHVH that filled the Holy Tent. At every stage of their journey, whenever the cloud rose from the Holy Tent, the people of Israel would continue their march. If the cloud did not rise, they waited and would not move their camp until it did.

For the cloud rested on the Holy Tent by day, and a fire shone within the cloud by night for all the house of Israel to see. And so it was for every stage of their journey.

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Thursday, 27 July 2023 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of just how blessed and fortunate each and every one of us are, to have been so loved by God, and to have been so lucky that the Lord has always had His eyes on us, as His most beloved creation. All of us have received the grace of God, Who willingly established a Covenant between Him and all of us, as He promised all of us the loving grace and blessings that He reserved for all of us, His beloved people, from the people of Israel at first, and then to all the people of this whole world. Therefore, all of us should be thankful and appreciative of everything that we have experienced, and all the privileges that we have received from the Lord. Unfortunately, the reality is such that many of us are often ignorant of the great love of God and many of us did not appreciate what we have received and what we have been blessed with.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus, of the time and moment when the people of Israel came to the region of Mount Sinai, where God would establish His Covenant anew with them, and hence, God told Moses of what He would establish with His people, as He came down upon the mountain to be with them, and to dwell in their midst. Through Moses, God would pass to His people His Law and commandments in order to help guide and lead them down the right path, so that they would not end up going down the wrong path in life, and that they would be able to live their lives more faithfully and worthily as the people that God had blessed and chosen to be His own. The Lord came to show His people that He has always been with them, guiding, providing and helping them along the way, and He has always been true to the promises that He has made to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus spoken to His disciples who asked Him about why He was often speaking in parables and veiled words and terms. And the Lord responded to them, saying that everything that He has said and spoken, all were meant to reveal the truth about Himself and all that God has done out of love for every one of us, but because of the stubbornness of mankind, and all the doubts and lukewarmness of their faith, their lack of love for Him, and their lack of trust and faith in Him, that is why, many of those who have heard of the Lord could not comprehend or appreciate the meaning of His truth and the extent of the love which He has shown them very generously, time and time again. This is such that even if the Lord were to speak frankly and most clearly, many among the people would still fail to understand and appreciate them.

For example, even when the Lord Jesus had performed so many wonders and miracles, and showed His wisdom and truth, His teaching authority and greatness, many of the people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the chief priests and elders still refused to believe in Him, and were adamant in their rejection of His works and truth, even going so far as to condemn Him and to accuse Him of colluding with Beelzebul, the prince of demons, or of committing blasphemy against God for His teachings and sayings. This is just the same like how during the time of the Exodus from Egypt and afterwards during the journey of the Israelites through the desert, when despite having repeatedly seen the greatness and glory of God, His faithfulness, love and works in their midst, many of the Israelites still doubted the Lord, disobeyed against Him and refused to believe in Him.

Those same Israelites hurled abuses against God and Moses, and blamed them for the hardships that they had to endure during their journey in the desert, where they ungratefully said that the Lord was leading them to their deaths, and how they could enjoy many great things in life, food and merriment in Egypt despite having greatly suffered in being enslaved by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh. Those ungrateful and faithless Israelites hence sought false and pagan idols, like how they built a golden calf to be god over them just not long after the event mentioned in our first reading today. Not long after God had shown His greatness before them and made a new Covenant with them, and gave them all His Law and commandments, their lack of faith and trust in Him and impatience led them to abandon their Lord and Master for the false golden idol, modelled after the gods of their former slavemasters, the Egyptians.

The Lord has also given His people so much throughout their journey, providing them with so much food and provisions along the way, feeding them daily with the heavenly bread, the manna, and also flocks of birds to nourish and provide for them in the midst of the lifeless desert. He gave them good and crystal-clear water to drink when there was none at all in the desert, and yet, the people still complained of being left without food and provisions, an accusation which was totally not right and ungrateful for those people to make against God. And why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because the people of God, the Israelites were easily swayed by worldly desires and attachments, by the whims of their greed and ego, such that the devil easily made them to stumble in faith and in losing their way, drawn by the false paths of evil and sin.

Now, all of us are reminded therefore by these Scripture readings, of the need for each one of us to remember the love of God, and the truth which He has brought upon us. All of us should realise just how fortunate and blessed we are to have received these great graces and blessings of God, that we have been given such opportunities and blessings by God, to be His own chosen people. We should turn away from all the things that keep us away from God and His truth, and from all the corruptions and attachments that have often become obstacles in our journey of faith towards Him. All of us should remind ourselves and each other that we are all, as God’s beloved people, the faithful Christians, should put Him at the centre and as the focus of our lives and works. All of us should endeavour to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and dedicate our whole lives and actions to serve Him with faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore renew our commitment to love and serve the Lord with ever greater faith and zeal, from now on. May all of us continue to walk ever more faithfully and worthily in God’s Presence, at all times, and be great role models and inspirations for one another in faith. May God bless us all, in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 27 July 2023 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 10-17

At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has will be given more; and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables; because they look and do not see; they hear; but they do not listen or understand.”

“In them, the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled : However much you hear, you do not understand; however much you see, you do not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them.”

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them; and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.”

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Thursday, 27 July 2023 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 3 : 52a, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory; Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You, on the throne of Your kingdom; honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You, Who fathom the depths, Who are enthroned on the Cherubim; praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You, in the firmament of heaven; praised and glorified forever.

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Thursday, 27 July 2023 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 19 : 1-2, 9-11, 16-20b

Exactly two months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. They arrived there coming from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

YHVH spoke to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud so that the people may hear Me speaking with you and trust you always.” Then Moses related to YHVH what the people had said. Again YHVH spoke to Moses, “Go to the people and have them sanctified today and tomorrow; let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day YHVH will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses then made the people leave the camp to meet God and stand at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because YHVH had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently, while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder.

When YHVH had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit.

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Thursday, 20 July 2023 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the love and kindness of God, Who has always loved us all, His beloved ones. Through the examples highlighted in our reading passages today, and by the Lord’s own words, we are reminded of God’s ever gracious kindness and love, in caring for the needs of His people, and in delivering them out of the hardships and challenges that they are all facing in this world. We heard from the Book of Exodus of the sending of Moses to the Israelites in Egypt, in order to deliver them all out of the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, while the Gospel today reminded us of the love of God Who wanted us all to come to Him and receive rest in Him, to share our burdens and sufferings together.

In our first reading today, from the Book of Exodus as mentioned, we heard of the moment when God reassured Moses, His servant, as He called him at Mount Horeb through the miraculous burning bush. God introduced Himself clearly as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Whose Name is I AM WHO AM (YHVH), the God of Israel and God of all mankind, the Creator and Master of all the whole universe. Moses believed in the Lord and wanted to do what he has been asked to do, but he was still uncertain as he was afraid that he would not be well-received among the Israelites, and that he was not eloquent in speech or charism. But God reassured Moses and told him that He would guide him in everything that he would be doing for the sake of His people, and told him how He has endeavoured to bring all of His people, the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt.

Back then, the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had been living in Egypt for about four centuries, where they had spent many generations building their lives and grew rapidly in numbers, being blessed bountifully by God, which brought about fear, jealousy and opposition from the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, the one reigning then who did not know of the great deeds of Joseph, who had once led Egypt as Regent in avoiding great disasters due to the extensive famine that happened during his time. The Lord has blessed Joseph and his whole family, keeping in mind what He has promised to his father Jacob and his ancestors, in blessing them and providing for them, and thus in the land of Egypt, the Israelites prospered and multiplied greatly in numbers, which led to the persecution and oppression of God’s people by the Pharaoh and the Egyptians who enslaved them.

God did not forget about His people, and through Moses, God was delivering them all from their darkness and suffering into the new light and hope that He reassured all those who have kept their faith in Him. God did not wish to see the suffering of His faithful, which was caused by the wickedness of man’s evil desires, their jealousy, greed and fears, which manifested in such acts of tyranny and evil, in how the Egyptians and their Pharaoh treated the Israelites, as slaves and less than human beings. Therefore, God reassured Moses and sent him into Egypt so that He might rescue the Israelites through him, and bringing them all out of the land of Egypt by His great power, God proved ever true and faithful to the Covenant that He had made and renewed again and again with us, showing us just how patient and enduring His love for us has been.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples telling all of them and all the people to come to Him, all those who are heavily burdened, troubled and are in suffering, and that He will give them all rest in Him because His yoke is light and He is truly filled with love for each and every one of His beloved ones, whom He was willing to gather from all the far corners of the whole world. Through all of these words, just as the Lord reassured Moses and His people Israel of His salvation, thus, the Lord Jesus manifested God’s love and compassion towards us in an even more perfect manner, being the Love of God manifested in the flesh, as God Himself came into our midst, descending from His heavenly Throne, to come and dwell with us. He gathers us all to Himself and reminds us all of the love He has for us, through which He willingly leads us to freedom from our sins, which has enslaved us all.

Yes, this means that just as the Israelites had been freed from their enslavement by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, thus all of us in the similar manner have also been liberated and made free from the tyranny of sin and the evil one and his forces seeking our destruction and damnation. At the same time, if we pay more attention to what we have heard from the Lord’s words, He is also reminding us all that to follow Him does not mean that we will immediately be freed from all sufferings and that we will immediately enjoy eternal bliss and joy. Much like the Israelites who have endured forty years of journey in the desert after their Exodus from Egypt, due to their stubbornness and continuous failures to resist the temptations of sin, thus all of us in our own lives, we are also called to be prepared for what may be an arduous journey of faith and life, in striving for the glory of God and His salvation.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Apollinaris, a great saint and man of God whose life and works, whose actions, words and more things about him may hopefully inspire more and more amongst us to be ever more faithful to the Lord and to be more worthy of Him. St. Apollinaris, also known as St. Apollinaris of Ravenna was the Bishop of Ravenna and one of the earliest Church fathers being according to the sacred traditions, a contemporary of the Holy Apostles. St. Apollinaris was probably also one of the disciples of the Lord, and at least was a disciple of St. Peter the Apostle, the first Pope. According to Church traditions and martyrology, St. Apollinaris was a dedicated bishop and servant of God, who devoted his life to the care of his flock, much like how the Lord Himself has sought His lost sheep as we heard in our Scriptures today.

Consequently, he cared for them and remained firm in his faith and dedication to God despite the challenges that he had to face throughout his ministry, amidst the many persecutions and oppressions against the early Christian communities, the Church of God by the Roman authorities. St. Apollinaris did what he could to protect those under his care, hid many of the Christians including those who have been banished, exiled and punished for their faith in God. Eventually, he himself was persecuted and martyred for everything that he had faithfully done for the Lord’s sake and in defiance against the orders from the Roman state itself, and to the very end, he remained firmly faithful, and prophesied that eventually the Church would triumph against all of its oppressors, which indeed did come true.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence follow the examples of St. Apollinaris of Ravenna and remind ourselves of all of his dedications and works for the glory of God and for others, just as we also recall the great love and kindness that God has shown us. Let us all remember that each one of us as Christians have important duties and responsibilities, in proclaiming the truth and Good News of God to the whole world. May the Lord continue to guide us in our path, and empower us so that we may continue to strive to do our best in faith, in persevering strongly despite the many trials and challenges we may have to face in our path. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 July 2023 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 11 : 28-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For My yoke is easy; and My burden is light.”