Tuesday

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Tuesday, 26 November 2019 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture readings a rather apocalyptic warning of what is to come in the future, as towards the end of this current liturgical year we are constantly reminded of the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and King which is certain to come at the end of time just as He has promised to us all. That is why today’s readings are focused on signs of times and premonitions to remind us of this fact.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of how Daniel the prophet interpreted the dream of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who was perturbed by the strange dream that he had received in his sleep. The king saw a great statue made up of many parts and then suddenly a great rock came to destroy the entire great statue and demolished the whole statue until nothing was left behind.

As Daniel explained it to the king, the great statue represented the great realms and kingdoms of the world, including that of the Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. They would come one after another, as the Persian Empire, Alexander’s Empire and its successors, and the Roman Empire would show us over the thousand years and more after the time when Daniel explained the dream to the king.

But what is constant is the fact that each of those great and powerful realms of the world did not last, but eventually were overthrown and destroyed, replaced and overcame, but the reign of God in truth cannot be overcome. And it is what was represented by the great big rock that came to destroy all of the great statue, that actually represents the kingdom of God in this world that is none other than His very own Church.

Do we all remember that the Church was established by the Lord on the foundation of Rock, the Rock of St. Peter? The Lord Himself bestowed a new name to Simon, His principal and leader of all the Apostles, the name Peter which is the Greek equivalent of the original Aramaic, ‘Kephas’ which is truly symbolic and related to what we have just heard in the story of king Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, of the great Rock of the Church that overcomes all the kingdoms and powers of the world.

This is related to what the Lord Jesus has told His disciples in our Gospel passage today, as we all heard of the warning which the Lord Jesus spoke of, as He spoke of the coming of difficult and challenging times, of the time when the Temple and city of Jerusalem would be destroyed and overturned, a premonition of what was to come just about four decades after when the city of Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed after the failed insurrection of the Jews.

He also spoke of the coming of difficult times, of persecutions and troubles that the Church and the faithful would have to endure plenty of sufferings and pains, oppositions and obstacles even from those who were close and dear to them. They would have to bear and persevere through those times, facing false guides and leaders who would try to lead them astray to the wrong paths, amidst the pressures of the world to conform to the ways of sins among many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, yet despite all these trials and challenges that the faithful would have to face and endure, but as we have just discussed earlier, linking to what we have talked about the vision of king Nebuchadnezzar and the prophet Daniel’s explanations, we can see how the Church of God has been built and affirmed by God Himself on firm and strong foundation in Him and in the faith of the Apostles.

Therefore, we should not worry or be afraid, for none of those challenges will ever be great or difficult enough to overcome the Church. The Church has persevered through many trials and persecutions and it will certainly be able to bear through many more in the years to come. We must not lose faith but instead be ever hopeful and put our trust in the Lord at all times. For God will surely always be with us and He will continue to love us all the time.

Let us all put our complete faith and trust in God, devoting ourselves at all times in the service of God and loving Him with all of our hearts from now on. Let us all dedicate ourselves to the greater glory of God by our words, actions and deeds at all times. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 26 November 2019 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 21 : 5-11

At that time, while some people were talking about the Temple, remarking that it was adorned with fine stonework and rich gifts, Jesus said to them, “The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another of all that you now admire; all will be torn down.” And they asked Him, “Master, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”

Jesus said, “Take care not to be deceived, for many will come in My Name, saying, ‘I am He; the time is near at hand!’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled times, do not be frightened; for all these things must happen first, even though the end is not so soon.”

And Jesus said, “Nations will fight each other and kingdom will oppose kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues; in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.”

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Tuesday, 26 November 2019 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 3 : 57, 58, 59, 60, 61

All the works of the Lord, bless Him, praise Him, exalt Him forever.

Angels of the Lord, bless Him, praise and glorify Him forever.

Heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him forever.

All the waters above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him forever.

All the powers of the Lord, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him forever.

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Tuesday, 26 November 2019 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 2 : 31-45

Daniel said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “In your vision you saw a statue – very large, very bright; terrible to look at. Its head was of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. As you watched, a rock cut from a mountain, but not by human hands, struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay; smashing them.”

“All at once the iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold crumbled into pieces, as fine as chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind swept them off and not a trace was left. But the rock that struck the statue became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.”

“That was the dream. Now the interpretation. You, o king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given dominion, strength, power and glory, and into whose hand He has placed humankind, the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, making you ruler over them. You are that head of gold.”

“After you, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise. Then a third kingdom, of bronze, will rule the whole world. Last shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; and just as iron breaks and crushes everything else, so will it break and smash all the others.”

“The partly-clay and partly-iron feet and toes mean that it will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of the iron, just as you saw iron mixed with clay. And as the toes were partly iron and partly clay, the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. Just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, the people will be a mixture but will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.”

“In the time of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, never to be destroyed or delivered up to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and put an end to them; and it will endure forever. This is the meaning of your vision of a rock cut from a mountain not by human hands; the rock, which struck the statue and broke into pieces the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation reliable.”

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Tuesday, 19 November 2019 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to listen to what the readings have spoken of today, especially with regards to the matter of sin and the judgment of our souls. As we quickly approach the end of the current liturgical year and soon to begin a new liturgical year cycle with the season of Advent, this is a good time for us all to take stock of the past year.

In our first reading passage today, taken from the second book of the Maccabees, we heard of the sorrowful tale of the suffering, death and martyrdom of Eleazar, one of the elders of the people of Judah, who was forced by the king to disobey the Law of God and follow the way of the pagans. Eleazar refused to obey and remained steadfast in his faith in God and in the obedience to His Laws.

In fact, as mentioned in the passage, even when the king’s enforcers tried to make a compromise that Eleazar could pretend to eat the meat forbidden by the Law but in fact was eating a meat that was allowed by the Law, Eleazar refused to comply, as he knew that by doing so, while he might save his life and be spared of the sufferings and painful death he would have to suffer from and the martyrdom he would have to go through, but he would scandalise his faith and become a bad role model and example.

Eleazar showed us true and genuine faith in God, faith that was not shaken even by the threat of suffering and pain, or distracted by the temptations of worldly pleasures and satisfactions, or defeated by the pressure to conform and to obey the will of those who are against God’s will and laws. Eleazar stayed true to his faith and dedicated himself wholly to God to the very end, knowing that while he suffered, but God will surely remember him and his faith.

Then, in our Gospel passage today we encountered Zaccheus, the tax collector who was short in posture, and who wanted very badly to see the Lord Jesus that he went through the dense crowd and climbed a sycamore tree just to see Him. And even more, when the Lord knew that Zaccheus was up on the tree and called him down, and as the Pharisees were kind of rebuking and judging Zaccheus for being a sinner, he made a public profession of faith before all those who were gathered.

Zaccheus proclaimed with great faith that he would right all the wrongs he had once done, and if necessary paying back all those whom he had cheated or treated unfairly many times more than what they had suffered or been cheated from. It is definitely a true declaration of faith and love for God, as it would have been incredibly difficult for anyone to make such a declaration and humiliating oneself before many people.

Yet again, in this case, we can see clearly the faith that Zaccheus had in the Lord, as contrasted to the lack of faith among many of the people especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom in fact opposed the Lord and His works. Just like Eleazar we have mentioned and talked about earlier on, Zaccheus is also a great example of a person who have faith in God and love Him with all of his heart.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us then? Have we been faithful in our lives, in our actions, words and deeds before God and people alike? Have we been exemplary in how we lived our lives thus far that all those who see us, hear us and witness us know that we truly belong to God? Or have we instead lived our lives in opposition to God and in ignorance or even defiance against His will?

God has given us all free will to choose the path that we want to take as we move forward in our respective lives, and the decision is ours to make, if we want to follow God or whether we prefer and want to follow our own path, away from God. Let us all then also remember that all those who remain faithful to God, God will also bless them and protect them, and their rewards in the end will be wonderful.

For God Who loves us all will restore to us the true joy and glory that had been lost from us because of sin, and that is the promise which Eleazar looked forward to even as he waited for the suffering and the pains he would have to suffer for his consistent and adamant faith, and which Zaccheus, the repentant sinner also rejoiced for, because he knew that God is a loving and forgiving God Who wants each and every one of us to be reconciled with Him.

May the Lord guide us all through the right paths in life, and may He strengthen us all to live ever more faithfully, and with greater love and devotion towards Him. May He inspire us all to walk in the footsteps of Eleazar the courageous and Zaccheus the repentant sinner. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 19 November 2019 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 19 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus entered Jericho and passed through the city, a man named Zaccheus lived there. He was a tax collector and a wealthy man. He wanted to see what Jesus was like, but he was a short man and could not see Him because of the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree. From there he would be able to see Jesus, Who was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, Zaccheus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house today.” So Zaccheus climbed down and received Him joyfully.

All the people who saw it began to grumble, and said, “He has gone as a guest to the house of a sinner.” But Zaccheus spoke to Jesus, “Half of what I own, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.”

Looking at him Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

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Tuesday, 19 November 2019 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 3 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

O YHVH, how great in number are my foes! How numerous are they who rise against me! How many are they who say of my soul : “There is no help for him in God!”

But You are my Shield, o YHVH, my Glory; You lift up my head. Aloud I cry to YHVH, and from His holy hill He answers me.

If I lie down to sleep, again I awake, for YHVH supports me; no fear of the thousands standing against me.

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Tuesday, 19 November 2019 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Maccabees 6 : 18-31

Eleazar, one of the prominent teachers of the Law, already old and of noble appearance, was forced to open his mouth to eat the flesh of a pig. But he preferred to die honourably than to live in disgrace, and voluntarily came to the place where they beat him to death. He spat out bravely the piece of meat, as should be done by those who do not want to do things prohibited by the Law, even to save their life.

Those in charge of this impious banquet took him aside, since they had known him for a long time, and tried to convince him to pretend to be eating the meat, but in reality, to eat something allowed by the Law and prepared by himself. In this way, he could escape death, and be treated with humanity for the sake of their long-time friendship.

But he preferred to make a noble decision worthy of his age, of his noble years, of his shining white hair, and of the irreproachable life he had led from childhood. Above all, showing respect for the holy laws established by God, he answered that he would rather be sent to the place of the dead. And he added, “It would be unworthy to pretend at our age, and to lead many young people to suppose that I, at ninety years, have gone over to the pagan customs. If I led them astray for the sake of this short life I would bring disgrace to my old age.”

“Even if I could now be saved from mortals, I cannot – whether living or dead – escape from the hands of the Almighty. I prefer to bravely sacrifice my life now, as befits my old age. So I shall leave an excellent example to the young, dying voluntarily and valiantly for the sacred and holy laws.” Having said this, he gave himself over to death.

Those who escorted him considered his words foolishness, so their previous gentleness turned into harshness. When he was almost at the point of death, he said groaning, “The Holy Lord, Who sees all, knows that though I could have saved myself from death, I now endure terrible sufferings in my body. But in my soul, I suffer gladly because of the respect I have for Him.”

In his death, he left a noble example and a memorial of virtue and strength, not only to the young but to the whole nation.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2019 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of just how fortunate all of us are to be the servants and followers of God because each and every one of us are truly precious in His eyes, and we are the most beloved and wonderful of all His creations. As mentioned in the Book of Wisdom from which our first reading was taken from today, although we may have been punished for our sins, but ultimately, immortality and eternal joy is what we have been destined for.

And it is also mentioned how the souls of the just are in the hands of the Lord, and He will surely never let us down, for if He can be so generous in mercy and compassion on all those who have disobeyed and sinned against Him, giving them opportunities one after another and patiently calling on them to return to Him, all the more He will bless and love all more abundantly those who love Him and serve Him. That is why we should really be thankful and grateful for God’s love.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus used the parable of a servant to illustrate this more succinctly, as He compared the relationship we have with God with that of a servant and his master. At that time, as was common, any servants must obey the commands and expectations of their masters, and they had to do whatever they were told to do, as part of their job and duty, or else they would be punished or fired from their employment.

Therefore as all of us are God’s servants and followers, we ought to do what we are called to do as our obligation and duty to Him, and all the more because our Master is truly a loving and caring Master Who is always ever concerned for our well-being and Who went out of His way to ensure our safety and our salvation from the destruction we should have suffered from because of our sins and wickedness.

Unfortunately, many of us had preferred to remain in sin because we allowed ourselves to be tempted by the many temptations of this world which caused us to fall deeper and deeper into sin and into paths that led us away from God. And the devil and all of his forces are always ever active in trying to strike at us, persuading, coercing, tempting and pressuring us to walk down the path of sin and to disregard and abandon our responsibilities as God’s followers and people.

And amidst all these darkness, we should seek the sources of light, our inspirations in life, by looking at those who have been faithful in their lives and actions, our holy predecessors who showed us the way forward in faith, in their tireless dedication and commitment to God, in their righteousness and in their willingness to suffer and even to die for the sake of their Lord and Master, for their faith in Him.

Today, we have St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, the great martyr of Church and Christian unity, who was a bishop of the Church in what is now Ukraine, during the time when some members of the splintered and divided Church began to seek reconciliation and reunion with the Holy Mother Church. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was one among those bishops belonging to the Eastern Orthodox communion seeking to return to the embrace of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church under St. Peter and his successors.

Through the Union of Brest which was affirmed in the year of Our Lord 1596, several bishops and their flock rejoined the Mother Church, as what would become eventually the many Eastern Catholic Churches today. Unfortunately, there were quite a few communities and their leaders who were against reunification and reconciliation, and these caused bitter troubles and difficulties for the Christian faithful and their leaders including that of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych.

Regardless of the challenges and the oppositions he had to face, St. Josaphat Kuntsevych worked tirelessly among the people of God, enduring the difficult challenges and committing his time and effort to serve the Lord as a faithful servant and disciple. His efforts managed to gain converts among those who still resisted the efforts at reunion and reconciliation. Nonetheless he still faced significant resistance and eventually, he was murdered by his enemies.

The courage and faith which St. Josaphat Kuntsevych showed us all amidst persecution and challenges of the world both remind us of the obstacles that we as Christians will encounter in life of being faithful to God and also encourages us to follow in his footsteps in serving God just as he has done. Let us all dedicate ourselves anew to God and love Him with ever greater faith and zeal from now on. May God bless us all and be with His Church, and unites all those who believe in Him in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2019 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 17 : 7-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner’? No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterward.'”

“Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I do not think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.'”