Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)
Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7a
Out of the depths I cry to You, o YHVH, o YHVH, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.
If You should mark our evil, o YHVH, who could stand? But with You, is forgiveness, and for that You are revered.
I waited for YHVH, my soul waits; and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects YHVH more than watchmen, the dawn. O Israel, hope in YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)
Romans 3 : 21-30a
But, now it has been revealed, altogether apart from the Law, as it was already foretold in the Law and the prophets : God makes us righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ, and this is applied to all who believe, without distinction of persons.
Because all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God; and all are graciously forgiven and made righteous, through the redemption effected in Christ Jesus. For God has given Him to be the Victim, Whose Blood obtains us forgiveness, through faith.
So God shows us, how He makes us righteous. Past sins are forgiven, which God overlooked till now. For, now, He wants to reveal His way of righteousness : how He is just, and how He makes us righteous, through faith in Jesus. Then, what becomes of our pride? It is excluded. How? Not through the Law and its observances, but through another Law, which is faith. For we hold, that people are in God’s grace, by faith, and not because of all the things ordered by the Law.
Otherwise, God would be the God of the Jews; but is He not God of pagan nations as well? Of course He is, for there is only one God.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are all reminded that all of us should always listen to the Lord, our loving Father and Creator, and be obedient to His will, His words and commandments. As Christians, each and every one of us have been adopted and made to be God’s own sons and daughters, and therefore, with God as our own Father, we should do what He has taught us to do, and we should not do things which are not in accordance to His will and His ways, or otherwise, we will be held accountable for all of our actions and way of life, and if we have not been doing what we have been asked to do, or if our actions have been wicked and sinful, then we will have to answer and face the consequences of all of those on the Day of Judgment.
In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Malachi, we heard of the Lord’s words to His people, reminding all of them how He has always been patient and kind towards them, and how He has always cared for them and loved them despite their many and repeated transgressions. And yet, we also heard how the people were ignorant of their transgressions, wickedness and sins, and hence, they continued to sin against Him. There were of course those who have listened to the Lord and heeded His words, and then returned back to the Lord, being repentant over their sins. The Lord then highlighted to all of the people how the righteous and just would be vindicated, blessed and receive the fullness of God’s grace, inheritance and love, while the wicked would perish by their sins and evils.
This is why all of us are today both reminded of God’s love, mercy and compassion, and at the same time, also His hatred against sin, wickedness and evil, against all sorts of disobedience and vile things of this world, His justice and the punishments that He will mete out against those who have sinned and refused to repent from those sins. God is always full and rich with His mercy, ever generous with His love, compassion and kindness, having always reached out to us, at all times and in all and every opportunities, giving us all many chances, one after another, reminding us and helping us all throughout our way that we may turn away from our wrong, mistaken and evil paths, and embrace once again the path of God’s righteousness and truth, His wisdom and love, and be filled once again with His grace, love and truth. It is our calling as Christians to embrace this path, and to help others all around us to walk down this same path.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Luke, in which the Lord compared the love of God with the love of a most loving father, who has always cared for his beloved children, no matter in what circumstances and what background they have. God had created us all with love, and He has always cared for us, at all opportunities, and hence, He loves us all, cares genuinely for us, and He wants to remind us to always be filled with the same love that He has for us, and to be ever righteous and good to one another all around us. The Lord Jesus mentioned how there is no friend who would not be moved to help should one look for assistance and help, or else, that friend is truly no real friend at all. If a friend can be moved and touched to help and assist us when we are in need, and when we ask them, then all the more that God, our loving Father will help us and assist us, when we are in need and if we ask Him.
However, more often than not, we do not turn to our Lord first, as we often sought for consolation, help and assistance from our worldly means and abilities, our various tools and other worldly methods in order to settle our problems and issues. And that is why we end up getting further and further away from the path that the Lord has set before us, as we ended up following the whim of our own desires, and the many temptations and pressures all around us. Not only that, but we are also often reluctant to ask the Lord for help and assistance, and we keep Him as a distant figure away from us, which we have only remembered whenever we are in desperate need for help, and yet, on other occasions, we tend to forget about Him and ignore Him, His words, His commandments and Law, and choose to live our lives in our own way.
Then, it is also our pride and ego which have often kept us away from the Lord and His path. We are often too proud to admit that we are flawed and imperfect, with inability to do things on our own and without God’s help and assistance. That is why we tend to follow our own path and ways, and do things in our own way, disregarded the Lord’s words and commandments, and ignoring all the advice and help which He has always provided to us all along the way. But, more often than not we ended up doing things even worse, and make things fail even further. For truly without the Lord, our loving God and Father, we cannot truly and fully realise our potential and works in this life. It is only by God’s grace and help, His guidance, wisdom and love, that each and every one can truly walk down the path of true greatness and grace, and be exemplary and great role models of our faith.
That is why all of us must always strive to be humble before the Lord, and to be open-minded and be willing to embrace God and His path, in all of our days, and in all opportunities and moments. We must always be in touch with the Lord’s will, and strive to communicate with Him, and to find out what it is that He has intended for us to do with our respective lives. Otherwise, without that close and vibrant relationship that we ought to have with the Lord, we may end up easily being swayed and tempted by the many currents of worldly temptations and evils, with all the wicked desires and all the things that had kept us away from the Lord. This is why, as Christians, all of us cannot have a shallow faith or faith that is merely superficial in nature. We must have a strong and genuine faith that is rooted in strong love for the Lord, and in the strong desire to commit ourselves to Him, at all times, and we can do that, through our good habits in cultivating a life full of prayer and virtue.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord faithfully from now on, deepening our relationship with Him through prayer and devotion, and by spending more quality time with Him, that we always seek to keep in touch with our loving God and Father in all things. We must not lose focus and attention on the path that God has shown us, and we should always kept Him at the centre and as the focus of our whole lives and existence. May the Lord continue to help and guide us in all of our efforts and journey throughout life. May He empower each and every one of us, and give us the courage and strength to do His will. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 11 : 5-13
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is travelling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside, ‘Do not bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I cannot get up and give you anything.'”
“But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need. And so I say to you, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.”
“If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Blessed is the man 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 YHVH 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 YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Malachi 3 : 13-20a
You say very harsh things about Me, says YHVH, and yet, you say : “What harsh things did we say against You?” You say : “It is useless to serve God. There is no benefit in observing His commandments or in leading an austere life for His sake. Happy are the shameless! Those who do evil succeed in everything; though they provoke God, they remain unharmed.”
Those were the very words of those who fear YHVH. YHVH listened and heard what they said. He ordered at once, that the names of those who respect Him and reverence His Name be written in a record. And He declared, “They will be Mine on the day I have already set. Then I shall care for them, as a father cares for his obedient son. And you will see the different fates of the good and the bad, those who obey God and those who disobey Him.”
The day already comes, flaming as a furnace. On that day, all the proud and evildoers will be burnt, like straw in the fire. They will be left without branches or roots. On the other hand, the sun of justice will shine upon you who respect My Name and bring health in is rays.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the mission that each and every one of us have in our lives, as God’s people, as Christians, that we are all expected to be a people filled with God’s love and grace, with all of His virtues and righteousness, and hence, we should always strive to be exemplary in all of our actions, words and deeds, in our every moments in life. All of us should always strive to live our every moments with dedication and love for God, so that by our every examples and good efforts, we may indeed be the bearers of His truth, love and Good News in all things and at all opportunities.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Nehemiah, we heard of the actions of the priest and prophet Ezra who led the people in the celebration of the Lord’s festival and gathering, as Ezra and Nehemiah assembled all the people of God who have relocated back to their ancestral lands. Ezra and Nehemiah called on the people of God so that they could all be reminded of the Law of God which their ancestors and predecessors had disobeyed and failed to fulfil and obey, which led them to their downfall and destruction. That is why, the people of God were reminded of those Law and commandments, so that they would not repeat the mistakes and failures of their ancestors, as they had been shown great mercy, forgiveness and compassion from God.
Back then, most of the people were illiterate and were unable to read the Scriptures, or to comprehend the Law in words of the Torah or the scrolls of the Law. Instead, they heard and passed down those laws and commandments, traditions and practices through oral traditions and inheritance, from generation to generation. And hence, this teaching session just as what we have heard in our first reading today was truly a really important one for the people of God, as after many decades in exile and after many generations previously having neglected the Law and the commandments of God, many would have forgotten or become ignorant of what they would have to do as the followers and the people of God, whom He had chosen from among the nations.
Upon hearing the Law and the commandments of God, we heard how the people became visibly upset and sad, because they rightfully feared the retribution and punishments from the Lord for their sins and wickedness, and for having neglected the Law and the commandments of God just as their predecessors had done before them. But Ezra told the people not to despair or be sad, because they have been reminded of the Law so that ultimately, they might turn away from their past mistakes and return once again to the path of righteousness and virtue that the Lord has taught and shown to them and their ancestors. They should put their trust in the Lord, live their lives faithfully and commit themselves henceforth to the Lord and His cause.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Who sent out His disciples before Him, a total of seventy-two of them, which were among His close confidants and followers. He entrusted to them the care of His flock and also the missions which He wanted them all to carry out, as they had been sent to proclaim God’s Good News and truth among the people who have not yet known the Lord and this truth, His love, kindness and mercy. And linking to what we have discussed and learnt earlier from our first reading today, each and every one of us should keep in mind that every one of us as Christians have the same responsibilities and missions as those disciples of the Lord, in going forth and continuing the mission which God has entrusted to us, His Church.
Now, as we heard earlier on, it means that each and every one of us should always strive to live our lives faithfully and with genuine devotion, so that we may indeed be filled with God’s grace and love in all things, and that our lives may be truly exemplary and inspirational in our faith. It is by our actions and examples that we can remind one another, our fellow brothers and sisters around us, of what we need to do in remaining ever faithful and committed to God. We should not only just observe or remember His Law, commandments and teachings externally but we must also be truly genuine in loving the Lord wholeheartedly from the depth of our hearts and minds. We must be truly be faithful, so that by our examples, we may help lead others ever closer to God, His love and mercy.
Today, we celebrate the feast of a great and renowned saint who lived and worked in the previous century, who helped many of us to come to know the love and mercy of God, His compassion and kindness, in the figure and persona of the Divine Mercy of God. St. Faustina Kowalska, a religious nun who was famous for her vision of the Lord’s aspect as the Divine Mercy, through her words and writings helped the world to come to know the vastness of God’s love and merciful kindness towards each and every one of us. She had felt the calling of religious life from early on in her life, and embraced that call by becoming a religious sister, and entering a convent in Warsaw, in her native Poland.
St. Faustina Kowalska was renowned for her great piety and dedication to God, and she periodically received visions of the Divine Mercy in the convent, throughout her period of prayers and contemplation, in which the Lord continued to reveal Himself and His desire for all mankind to embrace His ever generous love and mercy. St. Faustina Kowalska faced a lot of trials and hardships in the process, as there were quite a few who were skeptical about the veracity, authenticity and orthodoxy of her visions, and she faced interdict, restrictions and questioning from the religious superiors and other leaders of the Church regarding her visions and writings. Nonetheless, St. Faustina Kowalska persevered on and continued to do what the Lord had told her to do, and eventually, many years after her passing, she was vindicated, and her vision of the Divine Mercy of God became a very popular devotion in the Church.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard and discerned on the readings from the Sacred Scriptures that we have just received, and also through the inspiring example and story of the life of St. Faustina Kowalska, let us all therefore do our part as members of God’s Church, as His beloved people and as His disciples, to proclaim Him and His truth, His love and Good News through our own exemplary lives and examples. Let us always strive to live our lives worthily of the Lord, as our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs, and like St. Faustina Kowalska have shown us, while resisting the temptations to sin and to disobey God. May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us all in our journey of faith throughout life. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Luke 10 : 1-12
At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest.”
“Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”
“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’ But in any town where you are not welcome, go to the marketplace and proclaim : ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off and leave with you. But know for a certainty that the kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”
“I tell you, that on the Day of Judgment it will be better for Sodom than for this town.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 11
The Law of YHVH is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of YHVH is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of YHVH are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of YHVH are clear : they enlighten the eyes.
The fear of YHVH is pure, it endures forever; the judgments of YHVH are true, all of them just and right.
They are more precious than gold – pure gold of a jeweller; they are much sweeter than honey which drops from the honeycomb.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Nehemiah 8 : 1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12
In the seventh month, all the people gathered as one man in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which YHVH had given to Israel. Ezra brought the Law before the assembly, both men, women and all the children who could understand what was being read.
It was the first day of the seventh month. So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon, before the men, women and those children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the Law. Ezra, the teacher of the Law, stood on a wooden platform built for that occasion.
Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was in a higher place; and when he opened it, all the people stood. Ezra praised YHVH the great God; and all the people lifted up their hands and answered, “Amen! Amen!” And they bowed their heads to the ground.
The Levites explained the Law to the people who were standing. They read from the book of the Law of God, clarifying and interpreting the meaning, so that everyone might understand what they were hearing. Then Ezra, the teacher of the Law, said to the people, “This day is dedicated to YHVH, your God, so do not be sad or weep.”
He said this because all wept when they heard the reading of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go and eat rich foods, drink sweet wine and share with him who has nothing prepared. This day is dedicated to the Lord, so do not be sad. The joy of YHVH is our strength.”
The Levites also calmed the people down, saying, “Do not weep. This day is a festival day. Do not be sad.” And the people went their way to eat, drink and share, and they had a great feast, because they had understood the words that had been proclaimed to them.
