Tuesday

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Tuesday, 21 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour!

He has looked upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!

From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

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Tuesday, 21 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Zechariah 2 : 14-17

Sing and rejoice, o daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell among you,” says YHVH. “On that day, many nations will join YHVH and be My people, but My dwelling is among you.”

The people of Judah will be for YHVH as His portion in His holy land. He will choose Jerusalem again. Keep still in YHVH’s presence, for He comes, having risen from His holy dwelling.

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Tuesday, 14 November 2017 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture passages, we heard how all of us mankind are God’s servants, and all of us are created by God’s love, and we are created as God’s children and servants. And as children and servants, all of us must obey the will of God our Father, Creator and Master. Yet, we know how mankind have sinned and disobeyed the Lord, through our sins.

And the just consequence for sin is death, as sin separates us from God, the Lord and Master of all life. Without God, we cannot exist, and we shall only suffer in the absence of God’s love and grace. And that is what was going to happen to all of us to our immortal soul, cast in the darkness away from God’s love. For while the body and the flesh is finite and mortal, but the soul is immortal.

If we do not walk in God’s ways and continue to sin against Him, then our lot will be that of eternal damnation and suffering, not because of the fires of hell which is often in our imagination and understanding of what hell is about, but rather because we have no hope of escape from the torment in hell. And the suffering to be experienced in hell is caused by the total separation between us, from God’s love. That eternal suffering come about because of the sundering, where in an eternity of despair we know that there is no escape for us from that state.

This is the eternal torment, knowing that there is no way forward for us except to endure forever this separation from God’s love. And this is what each and every one of us Christians should do our best in order to avoid falling into this state. Yet, many of us continue to ignore God’s reminders and warnings, even though He has endlessly tried to remind us via various means, calling us to return to Him and to be reconciled with Him.

We live at a time when we tend to put God aside, and focus on the many distractions that exist in this world, to the point that we forget about Him. We often find excuse so as we do not have to follow His ways, and we are often too preoccupied in doing our daily businesses that we end up failing to be good disciples of the Lord. As a result, that is why there are so many of us who are in danger of falling into eternal damnation, if we do not do anything about our current state of grace and faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to take note that we should no longer allow the temptations of this world to sway us to do whatever it is that the devil wants us to do. Instead, we should let the Holy Spirit to be the Guide of our lives, rather than allowing our human desires to guide our ways. We must persevere through many challenges and even oppositions to our way of life, if we are to live according to God’s ways.

But let us now ask ourselves, have we let the Lord through His Holy Spirit to guide our lives? Too often, we are so stubborn in our ways that we want to forge our own path. Yet we have to realise that in God alone lies our only hope, and it is He alone Who is worthy of trust. If we rely solely on our human power, abilities and talents, we are bound to fail, for without God, nothing that we can do will truly be successful.

And ultimately in the end, we have to render accounts of each of our own lives, what we have achieved and done, in this opportunity given to us by the Lord. If we are not faithful, and wander away in sin, we will be judged by those sins, and our souls will be in great danger of damnation. Is that what we want, brethren? An eternity in suffering? Does it worth a lifetime of joy and pleasure, that is insignificant compared to an eternity of damnation?

Let us all renew our commitment to the Lord from now on, brothers and sisters in Christ, so that in everything we say, do and act, we will try our best to be righteous and to obey the commandments of Our Lord, that is to put the Lord as the priority and focus of our lives, and to love Him and our fellow men wholeheartedly. May the Lord help us in our endeavour, and may He continue to guide us on our path. Amen.

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Tuesday, 14 November 2017 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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.'”

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Tuesday, 14 November 2017 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 16-17, 18-19

I will praise YHVH all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in YHVH; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

The eyes of YHVH are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked, to destroy their memory from the earth.

YHVH hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. YHVH is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.

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Tuesday, 14 November 2017 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Wisdom 2 : 23 – Wisdom 3 : 9

Indeed God created man to be immortal in the likeness of His own nature, but the envy of the devil brought death to the world, and those who take his side shall experience death.

The souls of the just are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the unwise they appear to be dead. Their going is held as a disaster; it seems that they lose everything by departing from us, but they are in peace.

Though seemingly they have been punished, immortality was the soul of their hope. After slight affliction will come great blessings, for God has tried them and found them worthy to be with Him; after testing them as gold in the furnace, He has accepted them as a holocaust.

At the time of His coming they will shine like sparks that run in the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their King forever. Those who trust in Him will penetrate the truth, those who are faithful will live with Him in love, for His grace and mercy are for His chosen ones.

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Tuesday, 7 November 2017 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel passage today the Lord Jesus reminded us of the need for all of us Christians to follow Him and to listen to His will, and not be distracted by the many temptations of life in this world. In that Gospel Jesus used the parable of the feast and its guests in order to teach the people, showing them the fact that while many have been called, but few will be chosen in the end.

The man who held the feast is none other than God Himself, Who has invited His people to come into the eternal banquet of heaven. Yet, as we heard from the passage, God’s call went unheeded, as those who were invited to the feast refused to come for the event. They came up with various reasons why they could not come to the event as we heard in the passage.

All of these represent just how stubborn we mankind can be in resisting God’s call, and how temptations can easily turn us away from God’s path and into the path to our doom. There are many of these temptations that we are all quite familiar with, the temptation of power, of wealth, of worldly glory, of pleasures of the flesh, of wickedness, and many others.

These are the obstacles that can indeed hamper us in our way towards salvation and eternal glory in God, for these things can distance us from God, and make us to be unworthy of Him. Many of us also have this misconception, thinking that God is forever merciful and loving, and that there is no way that God will cast us all who have believed in Him into the sufferings in hell. Yet, that is the reality, that even Christians may end up in hell, should they wander away from the Lord’s path.

God offers us His mercy and love freely, but should we refuse to accept that mercy and love, and stubbornly close our hearts and minds against Him, then in the end, it is we ourselves who have caused our downfall into damnation. God is always ready to forgive us our sins and trespasses, and He is always willing to welcome us back and to be reconciled with us, but are we willing to be forgiven?

And more importantly, are we willing to make the sacrifices to make changes in our lives that we may be truly reconciled with our God? It is easier said to be done, if we want to be truly faithful to God. There will be inconveniences, but that is what all of us as Christians need to be prepared to do if we are to follow God.

Then we should also heed what we heard in our first reading today, where St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome pointed out how Christians should live their lives. We should follow what St. Paul had mentioned, in our interactions with one another. What does this mean? As mentioned, we should love one another tenderly and genuinely, seeking to be compassionate to those who are in need. We should reach out to our brethren who are unloved, weak, poor or those who are hated by the world.

These will not be easy, as we have to persevere against those who disapprove of our actions and our faith in God. Yet, through our commitment to Him, if we truly love Him, we will not easily fall into temptation, just as our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs had done. Let us all therefore draw ever closer to the Lord, and ensure that in everything we say, and we do, we always do them for the greater glory of our God.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless us and all of our works day after day, so that, through our efforts, and through the love which we show Him, we will be able to resist the many temptations of power, of money, of glory, of fame, of the many other things that Satan is using to bring about our downfall. May the Lord empower each and every one of us to become His committed disciples. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 November 2017 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 15-24

At that time, upon hearing the words of Jesus, one of those at the table said to Him, “Happy are those who eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God!”

Jesus replied, “A man once gave a feast and invited many guests. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those he had invited to come, for everything was ready. But all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘Please excuse me. I must go and see the piece of land I have just bought.'”

“Another said, ‘I am sorry, but I am on my way to try out the five yoke of oxen I have just bought.’ Still another said, ‘How can I come, when I have just got married?'”

“The servant returned alone, and reported this to his master. Upon hearing his account, the master of the house flew into a rage, and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly, into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'”

“The servant reported after a while, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, but there is still room.’ The master said, ‘Go out to the highways and country lanes, and force people to come in, to ensure that my house is full. I tell you, none of those invited will have a morsel of my feast.'”

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Tuesday, 7 November 2017 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 130 : 1, 2, 3

O YHVH, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.

I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child, on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.

Hope in YHVH, o Israel, now and forever.

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Tuesday, 7 November 2017 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 12 : 5-16a

The same with us; being many, we are one body in Christ, depending on one another. Let each one of us, therefore, serve, according to our different gifts. Are you a prophet? Then give the insights of faith. Let the minister fulfil his office; let the teacher teach, the one who encourages, convince.

You must, likewise, give, with an open hand, preside with dedication, and be cheerful in your works of charity. Let love be sincere. Hate what is evil and hold to whatever is good. Love one another and be considerate. Out do one another, in mutual respect. Be zealous in fulfilling your duties. Be fervent in the spirit, and serve God.

Have hope and be cheerful. Be patient in trials and pray constantly. Share with other Christians in need. With those passing by, be ready to receive them. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not wish evil on anyone. Rejoice with those who are joyful, and weep with those who weep. Live in peace with one another.