Tuesday

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Tuesday, 7 April 2020 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we draw closer to the glorious Easter Triduum, we should all be preparing for the celebration of this venerable and great celebration, by spending more time with God, devoting our time to reflect on our lives, doing spiritual exercises and focusing our attention on the Lord and on what He has done in order to bring His salvation to all of us. He has willingly embraced the burden of the Cross and endure all the pain and suffering for our sake, that we may be saved.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people about the coming of His Servant by Whom salvation of the world would come. The light of the nations shall come forth from the Saviour sent by God, and all of these brought hope to the people of God then suffering and oppressed, with the northern kingdom of Israel then having been conquered by the Assyrians and its people brought into exile in far-off lands. The southern kingdom of Judah then were also troubled by the Assyrians who once sent a great army to besiege Jerusalem.

God essentially promised to save His people, and all of these were to be fulfilled through Christ, the Son of God, Whom He sent into this world to be its Saviour. And in our Gospel today, we heard the narrative heading towards its climax, as the Lord and His disciples talked about His impending suffering and death, and the Lord speaking openly before all of them how He would be betrayed by one of His own closest confidants, namely Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And He also foretold of St. Peter’s denial of Himself, which would happen when He was arrested.

All of the readings today help us to focus our attention to the upcoming celebrations of the Easter Triduum when we are going to enter into those most important moments in the history of our salvation. We are called to spend this time to reflect on God’s amazing and ever enduring love for us all that He was willing to go through all the challenges and troubles to save us from our distress and troubles. We are called to look towards our Lord and Saviour especially in these dark and difficult times.

We all know how the current global pandemic has been severely affecting many communities and peoples all around the world. Many people have suffered and are still suffering, hundreds of thousands are being hospitalised, tens of thousands had perished from this disease. Many others had lost their jobs and employments, many of them were struggling to make ends meet as they were breadwinners for their respective families. Many are worried how they are going to live through these difficult moments, with all the restrictions and limitations in place.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is exactly where more importantly for us all that we must direct our attention to the Lord, and commit ourselves with greater zeal and faith in God. This is the time for us to remember that no matter how dark and difficult the times may be, but God’s love and providence are even more powerful and are greater than all the sum of our fears and insecurities. We must have faith in God and trust in Him that He will provide for us and will not abandon us to the darkness.

Sadly this is where we know that the devil is very cunning, in trying to heighten our fears and make us distracted from God, by making us feel scared and lonely in this difficult moment, with all the fake news and fear-mongering being everywhere all around us. Because of this, we see all the selfish attitudes of people who are hoarding goods and essential items, which denied those people who really need them of the things necessary for them to sustain themselves.

And many of these attitudes and selfishness are sadly shown by some of us Christians, who placed our own needs and desires above that of the rest, even causing harm and hurt to others just so that we can safeguard our own interests and indulge in our own desires. And this is where we must be always vigilant, that we do not end up falling into temptation like how Judas Iscariot fell into the temptation of quick money and personal benefit, ending up committing a great sin before God and mankind alike. We must make use of this opportunity instead to allow our Christian faith and virtues to shine brightly in the midst of all the darkness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore make good use of this Holy Week and make it a meaningful time for each and every one of us. May we bear in our lives the spirit of openness and humility, allowing God to be glorified through our actions and our lives, that we may bring the light of Christ and the hope of Easter to our brothers and sisters, to all those who are now suffering and in despair. Let us all bring forth God’s light and dispel the darkness of fear, uncertainty and evil in our midst. Trust in God and put our complete faith in Him, for in Him alone is our sure assistance. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 April 2020 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 13 : 21-33, 36-38

At that time, after He said a discourse to His disciples after He washed their feet, Jesus was distressed in Spirit, and said plainly, “Truly, one of you will betray Me.” The disciples then looked at one another, wondering whom He meant. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining near Jesus; so Simon Peter signalled him to ask Jesus whom He meant.

And the disciple, who was reclining near Jesus, asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “I shall dip a piece of bread in the dish, and he to whom I give it, is the one.” So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And as Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus then said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

None of the others, reclining at the table, understood why Jesus said this to Judas. As Judas had the common purse, they may have thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or “Give something to the poor.” Judas left as soon as he had eaten the bread. It was night.

When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God will glorify Him, and He will glorify Him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for Me, but as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you : where I am going you cannot come.”

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but afterwards you will.” Peter said, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I am ready to give my life for You.”

“To give your life for Me?” Jesus asked Peter, “Truly I tell you, the cock will not crow, before you have denied Me three times.”

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Tuesday, 7 April 2020 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 70 : 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15 and 17

In You, o Lord, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced. In Your justice help me and deliver me, turn Your ear to me and save me!

Be my Rock of refuge, a Stronghold to give me safety, for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o Lord, have been my Hope, my Trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

My lips will proclaim Your intervention and tell of Your salvation all day, little though it is what I can understand. You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim Your marvels.

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Tuesday, 7 April 2020 : Tuesday of Holy Week (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant, through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought, “and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my Strength.

And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said : “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

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Tuesday, 31 March 2020 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of just how each and every one of us are sinful people in need of healing and forgiveness from God. The Lord has shown us the path going forward in life and if we are willing to follow Him, we will receive from Him the assurance of eternal glory and life through Christ, His Son, our Lord and Saviour.]

From our first reading today, we have heard of the rebellion of Israel against God, their lack of gratitude and appreciation for all that God had done for them, even though He had been so generous towards all of them. God has given His people food to eat, the manna He sent to them every morning except on the Sabbath day, as well as large birds to supplement these in the evenings, and gave them all plenty of clear and good quality water in the middle of the lifeless and desolate desert.

Yet the people refused to appreciate this wonderful grace of God, which He has lovingly and patiently extended to His people. The people had repeatedly grumbled and disobeyed the Lord, spurning His love and betraying Him for pagan idols of their neighbours. Despite all these, they still grumbled why God led them to such a desolate place although He had freed them all by mighty deeds out of their suffering in Egypt.

That was why the fruit of their disobedience is punishment, represented by the fiery serpents sent against them to remind them of the sins they have committed against God. The serpents bit many of them and many died, again a reminder that death is the result and consequence of sin. Unless we repent from those sins, as what the Israelites did, regretting their rebellion and disobedience, and begging Moses to intercede on their behalf, unless we do these, we too will perish from our sins.

And then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus reminding yet again how sin leads to death, and how He Himself is going to His own death as He has repeatedly mentioned to His disciples of His upcoming suffering and death. He mentioned of how He Himself would suffer and die, lifted up on the Cross high for all, in an obvious parallel to what had happened with Moses and the Israelites in our first reading today.

Moses was told to craft a bronze serpent and put it on a long pole that many people can see it from afar, and those who have been bitten by the serpents and saw the bronze serpent of Moses would not perish but live. In the same way, Christ is lifted up high on the Cross for everyone to see, to be the source of hope and the assurance of salvation for all of us sinners who have been bitten by the sting of sin.

God has loved us all so much that He was willing to endure all that suffering, pain and punishments for us. His crucifixion is the real proof of how much His love is for us and how precious we are all to Him. God’s love is so great that He even wants to forgive us all from our sins and our terrible rebellions against Him. Nonetheless, at the same time again, He also wants to remind us that all sins are dangerous to us, as sin will become our undoing if we continue to allow them to corrupt us and bring us down.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, every time from now on, as we look on the crucifix, on which Our Lord is hung, we are looking at the concrete evidence of God’s love for us, and also the hope and light that He has brought upon us as we still live in the darkness of this world. And now that we see just how much He has cared for us, are we willing to make that commitment to serve Him and to turn away from our sinful past?

Let us all make good use of the time and opportunity that God has granted us, to be reconciled to Him and to embrace His love once again. Let us all sin no more, and be not stubborn anymore in continuing to walk down the path of evil. Instead, let us all draw closer to God, and embrace fully His compassion and mercy, and become from now on, good and faithful Christians, devoted to God at all times.

May God bless us all, and may He strengthen us to serve Him and to follow His path with fervour and zeal. May God empower us all to live more faithfully and to be the bearers of His light in the darkness of this world that even more people may be saved through our faith, that more and more people will turn towards Christ and love Him as their Hope and Saviour. Amen.

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Tuesday, 31 March 2020 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 21-30

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “I am going away, and though you look for Me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does He say that we cannot come where He is going? Will He kill Himself?”

But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.” They asked Him, “Who are You?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One Who sent Me is truthful and everything I learnt from Him; I proclaim to the world.”

They did not understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of Myself, but I say just what the Father taught Me. He Who sent Me is with Me and has not left Me alone; because I always do what pleases Him.”

As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in Him.

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Tuesday, 31 March 2020 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 101 : 2-3, 16-18, 19-21

O Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me when I am in trouble. Turn Your ear to me; make haste to answer me when I call.

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.

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Tuesday, 31 March 2020 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Numbers 21 : 4-9

From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”

YHVH then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against YHVH and against you. Plead with YHVH to take the serpents away.”

Moses pleaded for the people and YHVH said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.

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Tuesday, 24 March 2020 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we continue to progress through the season of Lent, we are reminded of the coming of our wonderful reconciliation and healing in the hands of God, through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today. From the first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the vision Ezekiel received of the glorious Temple in heaven, while from the Gospel passage from St. John’s Gospel we heard of the healing of a man by Jesus, who had been sick for thirty-eight years long.

In our first reading today, through the vision which the prophet Ezekiel received from God, we have seen the promise of a wonderful and glorious eternal life and joy that God promised to His people, at that time when the fortunes of the people of God were truly at a very low level. During the life and ministry of the prophet Ezekiel, the last bastion of the Israelites, namely the kingdom Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed and conquered by the Babylonians who brought many of the people into exile, and the Temple of Jerusalem built by king Solomon was also destroyed.

The destruction of that very visible and important centre of the faith and community of the Israelites was indeed a very tragic event that was brought about by the disobedience and the sins of the people themselves, as they distanced themselves from God and disobeyed His commandments and laws, persecuted all the prophets and messengers that had been sent into their midst to remind them to be faithful to God and to repent from their sinful ways. Instead, they continued to dwell in sin and became even worse in their deeds.

But despite all these, and despite the stubbornness constantly showed by God’s people all those while, and for all the wickedness and evil they had committed, God’s love for all of us His people is still far greater than His hatred for our sins. It is our sins and wickedness that He despises, for those things are wicked and corrupt, and have no place in His presence. But all of us sinners, we are all beloved by God and He wants us all to be freed, liberated and purified from the corruptions of our sins.

Thus, through the prophet Ezekiel, God has revealed a glimpse of His plan of salvation and restoration for His people. He showed the prophet the vision of the heavenly Temple, as the restoration of the Temple once lost to the people of Israel, the promise that God would once again dwell amidst His people, and from the Temple, would come the life-giving water and spring of life as seen by Ezekiel. And in truth, this vision of Ezekiel is a prefigurement of Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of us all, Who in our previous Sunday Gospel passage, told the Samaritan woman that He is the source of the life-giving water and in Him is the eternal spring of life.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the sick and diseased people who gathered at the Pool of Siloam near Jerusalem, which was a place renowned for its healing properties. But for a man who had laid there for over thirty-eight years, healing and hope seemed to be truly far off and fleeting. No one helped him to get into the water to be miraculously healed, and he suffered all those years waiting for hope for healing. It was until the Lord Jesus came by him, that he finally received healing, by the hands of the Lord Himself.

The Lord has shown us His mercy and love through Christ, and He wants us all to be healed through our faith in Him. He wants us all to receive once again the fullness of His grace and inheritance, and gathering all of us once again together to worship Him. All of us who have sinned against God have fallen ill with this disease and corruption of sin, and we are all in need of healing, as unless we are forgiven our sins, we may end up being condemned by those same sins and faults we have committed.

God alone can forgive us our sins and heal us from our afflictions, and we are called today to reflect on our own lives and our actions thus far. In this time and season of Lent all of us are called to be more faithful to God, to trust Him more, and to draw closer to Him. God has given us a new hope and that assurance of salvation through Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, but it is up to us whether we want to embrace that generous offer of mercy and love He has offered us all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive and do our best to put God once again at the centre of our lives and existence. Let us all turn away from our sinful ways and reject all sorts of sins and wicked behaviours we have committed all these while, and be like that sick man, who sought healing from God and receive it through our faith in Him. Let us all purify ourselves, our thoughts, intentions and all of our actions especially during this great opportunity given to us in this season of Lent.

And last of all, as we know how many people in various places and communities are now suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, let us all also ask God to bring His wonderful grace and healing upon us all, that all those who are afflicted may be healed and comforted, and those who have lost their loved ones may find peace in God. May God bless us always, protect us and be with us at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 24 March 2020 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 5 : 1-3, 5-16

At that time, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, there is a pool (called Bethzatha in Hebrew) surrounded by five galleries. In these galleries lay a multitude of sick people : blind, lame and paralysed.

(All were waiting for the water to move, for at times an Angel of the Lord would descend into the pool and stir up the water; and the first person to enter the pool, after this movement of the water, would be healed of whatever disease that he had.)

There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him, and because He knew how long this man had been lying there, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” And the sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; so while I am still on my way, another steps down before me.”

Jesus then said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk!” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his mat and walked. Now that day happened to be the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had just been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and the Law does not allow you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The One Who healed me said to me, “Take up your mat and walk!”

They asked him, “Who is the One Who said to you : Take up your mat and walk?” But the sick man had no idea who it was Who had cured him, for Jesus had slipped away among the crowd that filled the place. Afterwards Jesus met him in the Temple court and told him, “Now you are well; do not sin again, lest something worse happen to you.”

And the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had healed him. So the Jews persecuted Jesus because He performs healings like that on the Sabbath.