Tuesday

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Tuesday, 8 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the passage from the Book of Numbers, telling to us the moment when divisions rocked the community of the people of Israel, with the siblings of Moses, the one whom God appointed to be the leader over the entire people of Israel, trying to stake a claim on leadership and power over the whole community.

Aaron and Miriam resented the fact that even though they were the siblings of Moses, whom God appointed to be leader and to be the one through whom He spoke to Israel, they had no authority or power whatsoever. They were not given the position of honour, even though Aaron was indeed appointed as the leader of the priests, the Levites. In all of these, we can see how human pride and ego had taken the better of both Aaron and Miriam.

Then, in the Gospel today, all of us heard of another confrontation that occurred between Jesus and His disciples with the Pharisees, who in many occasions continued to hound the Lord and follow His works closely, often with contempt and criticism, because in their eyes, what the Lord Jesus and His disciples had done did not conform with their teachings and the way approved by them.

However, the Pharisees had become drunk with the temptation of worldly power and glory. They occupied the upper strata of the society at that time, and they were highly esteemed, and even feared by the others in the society. They had the influence and the power to even dictate the life of others, as those appointed to be the guardians of the laws and customs of the Jewish people. But, they have misused the authority granted to them and ended up opposing God's good works, just as Aaron and Miriam had risen up against God and Moses.

In all of these, we see the dangers of the temptation of worldly power, the ego that lies inside each and every one of us, which is a great obstacle on our path to reach the Lord. The devil is always active in his efforts to tempt us with power, worldly glory, fame and all other forms of persuasions, through which he convinced us that all that we have attained in life are due to our own power and might.

But we must know that all of us humans are intrinsically greedy and filled with ego, ambition and desires, and unbridled power can corrupt us in heart and mind, as we end up as what Aaron and Miriam had done, desiring control, glory and prestige of the position that they desired, and as what the Pharisees had done, in jealously guarding the power, authority and the prestige which they had attained in the society, refusing to let even the Lord Who came to bring His truth to the people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all remember what the Lord said in the Gospel today, that all those that do not belong to God shall be uprooted and destroyed, all those who have refused to obey the Lord and walk in His ways and instead preferring to follow their own standards and ways. Let us not be taken over by our ego and by our greed, and instead, let us actively seek to be true Christians, who is humble, obedient and loving in all of our actions and deeds.

Let us all follow the example of St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans after their founder. St. Dominic is one of the most influential and well-known saints, remembered for his hard work and evangelisation drive among the people of God, and he worked hard to convert many people who have fallen into heresy, particularly in what is now southern France, where the Albigensian heresy was at its height at that time.

He founded the Dominicans as a religious order, gathering many other people who were willing to give their lives for the sake of the Lord, doing His will and caring for His people, by teaching them the Word of God. They travelled frequently, preaching the faith to the people through words as well as through actions, in their many works of charity among the people, resulting in many souls being saved from damnation due to heresy and sin.

The hard work of St. Dominic and his companions, and many other holy men and women of God throughout the ages are reminders that we as Christians are also able to do the same in our own respective lives. It is too often that we have been preoccupied with our attempts to bring more wealth, power, fame and glory upon ourselves, at the expense of our relationship with God, distancing ourselves from Him because of our sins.

Let us therefore strive to do more in our lives, to devote ourselves to the Lord and His cause. Let us commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, that we will no longer seek personal glory or worldly pleasures, but instead, following the examples of St. Dominic and the many other holy men and women who had gone before us to the glory of heaven, by doing God's holy will, we too may be worthy to share in the glory of the saints in heaven. Let us cast aside our pride and therefore be worthy in the sight of God, our Lord and loving Master. Amen.

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Tuesday, 8 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14

At that time, some Pharisees, and teachers of the Law, who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, "Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? For they, they do not wash their hands before eating."

Jesus then called the people to Him, and said to them, "Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth."

After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?" Jesus answered, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind, leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit."

Alternative reading

Matthew 14 : 22-36

At that time, immediately, Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself, to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone.

Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it. At daybreak, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once, Jesus said to them, "Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!"

Peter answered, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." Jesus said to him, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and began to sink; and he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, "Man of little faith, why did you doubt?" As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, "Truly, You are the Son of God!"

They came ashore at Gennesaret. The local people recognised Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought to Him all the sick people, begging Him to let them touch just the hem of His cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.

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Tuesday, 8 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 6bc-7, 12-13

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone, have I sinned.

What is evil in Your sight, I have done. You are right when You pass sentence; and blameless in Your judgement. For I have been guilt-ridden from birth; a sinner from my mother's womb.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

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Tuesday, 8 August 2017 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Numbers 12 : 1-13

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married and they said, "Has YHVH only spoken through Moses? Has He not also spoken through us?" And YHVH heard.

Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on the face of the earth. Yet suddenly YHVH said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting." The three of them came out.

YHVH came down in the pillar of cloud and, standing at the door of the Tent, called Aaron and Miriam. They both went out and He said, "Listen carefully to what I say, 'If there is a prophet among you, I reveal Myself to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. It is not so for My servant, Moses, My trusted steward in all My household.'"

"'To Him I speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles, and he sees the presence of YHVH. Why then did you not fear to speak against My servant, against Moses?'" YHVH became angry with them and He departed. The cloud moved away from above the Tent and Miriam was there white as snow with leprosy. Aaron turned towards Miriam and he saw that she was leprous.

And he said to Moses, "My lord, I beg you, do not charge us with this sin that we have foolishly committed. Let her not be like the stillborn whose flesh is half-eaten when it comes from its mother's womb."

Then Moses cried to YHVH, "Heal her, o God, I beg of You."

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Tuesday, 1 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from the Gospel passage we heard the famous parable of the sower, which reminds us all of the obligation that we need to do in our respective lives, to lead a faithful and righteous life, filled with faith and commitment to God, by our actions, words and deeds in this life. We are called to a life that is fruitful and blessed by God.

In that parable, we heard about what happened to the various seeds sowed by the sower, which fell on different types of soils. Some fell on the roadside and were eaten up by the birds of the sky, while some others fell on rocky ground, and were unable to grow deep roots and thus were scorched by the hot sun. And still some others fell among thistles and brambles, which grew around the budding plant and choked the life out of it.

And lastly, some seeds fell onto the rich and fertile soil, which then allowed the seeds to grow healthy and strong into good plants that bore fruits in many multiples of what had been planted. This is what the Lord Jesus had told His disciples, so that all of us who have heard it as well, may know of what we need to do in our lives so that we will be found to be filled with the good fruits of our faith.

For you see, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the seeds mentioned in the Gospel today are the seeds of faith which have been given to us all. All of us have heard the words of the Lord, through the Gospels we read, through the Scripture passages we have spent time going through, through the Church teachings and catechism, through the homilies, sermons and teachings by the priests and other faith educators alike.

However, as the Gospel showed us, even though all of us received the same seeds of faith, but the outcome of the seeds can greatly differ from one situation to another, and from one person to another. And it depends greatly on whether we provide the optimum condition and environment for the seeds to grow healthy and strong, just as the rich and fertile soil allowed the seeds to grow and produce huge returns in fruits and products.

If we do not actively try to cultivate and grow in our faith, then we will end up failing to achieve what it is that God wants us to be, to be fruitful people of God. Yet, that is the reality for many of us, who are tempted by many things in this world, the temptations of power, wealth, fame and worldly glory, which Satan is actively putting in our path, hoping to prevent us from attaining the salvation which God promised to all those who are faithful to Him.

It is often that we are too busy with ourselves and with our worldly preoccupations that we fail to do what we need to do in order to become fruitful in the sight of God. We spend our time worrying about our lives and we prioritise our work and busy life schedules over that of the Lord. We put God aside and often ignore Him and His attempts to reach out to us. We usually remember Him only when we are in trouble and in need of help, and we tend to be angry at Him when He apparently does not answer our prayers.

But that is because we are still yet putting our own needs, our own desires ahead of the Lord's will for us. We are often so concerned about ourselves, and thinking solely about ourselves in our selfishness, that we end up becoming like those seeds that failed to grow and produce their crops. Satan then has been successful in his attempts to turn us away from God and ensure our downfall because of our sins.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that as Christians all of us have the obligation to do God's will in our lives. We must be sincere and true in our faith, and that means, all of us will need to show genuine love to our brethren, even to those who are strangers and even those who hated us. We must lead by example in our life, beginning from even the smallest things that we do in our everyday life. And let us not forget to spend time with the Lord, seeking Him through prayer that comes from our hearts that we may know what His will is for us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we also celebrate the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a holy bishop and religious, who is the founder of the Redemptorist order, also known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. St. Alphonsus Liguori was renowned for his great devotion and his missionary work among the poor, and even when he was made a bishop, he continued to devote his time and effort to care for the least and the weakest in the society.

St. Alphonsus Liguori founded the Redemptorist order to gather more people who also wanted to show God's loving mercy to His people, calling more people who were out of reach from the Church and who had distanced themselves from the Church to come back to the loving embrace of God. Through his hard work and exemplary life, he inspired many others to follow his footsteps, and many, countless souls were saved from the damnation in hell.

All of us should also imitate the good examples of St. Alphonsus Liguori, by practicing our faith through our actions, filled no longer with selfishness or the desire to satisfy our personal ambitions and greed, but instead through humility and real commitment, that we all do what is asked of us by the Lord. May God help us all in this endeavour, and may the intercession of St. Alphonsus Liguori be our help in providing us the courage to do what we must do as Christ's disciples. Amen.

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Tuesday, 1 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 36-43

At that time, Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." Jesus answered them, "The One Who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the Angels."

"Just as the weeds are pulled up and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send His Angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear."

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Tuesday, 1 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 102 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

YHVH restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed. He has made known His ways to Moses; and His deeds, to the people of Israel.

YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever.

He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve. As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins. As a father has compassion on his children, so YHVH pities those who fear Him.

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Tuesday, 1 August 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 33 : 7-11 and Exodus 34 : 5b-9, 28

Moses then took the Tent and pitched it for himself outside the camp, at a distance from it, and called it the Tent of Meeting. Whoever sought YHVH would go out to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. And when Moses went to the Tent all the people would stand, each one at the entrance to his tent and keep looking towards Moses until he entered the Tent.

Now, as soon as Moses entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the Tent, while YHVH spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance to the Tent, they would arise and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent. Then YHVH would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his neighbour, and then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the Tent.

And Moses called on the Name of YHVH. Then YHVH passed in front of him and cried out, "YHVH, YHVH is a God full of pity and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in truth and loving kindness. He shows loving kindness to the thousandth generation and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin; yet He does not leave the guilty without punishment, even punishing the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

Moses hastened to bow down to the ground and worshipped. He then said, "If You really look kindly on me, my Lord, please come and walk in our midst and even though we are a stiff-necked people, pardon our wickedness and our sin and make us Yours."

Moses remained there with YHVH forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the Covenant – the Ten Commandments.

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Tuesday, 25 July 2017 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together with the entire Church the great feast of the Holy Apostle St. James, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord. He was the brother of St. John, also Apostle and one of the four writers of the Holy Gospels, the sons of Zebedee. They were once fishermen working at the lake of Galilee, together with St. Peter and St. Andrew, whom the Lord called to follow Him and henceforth were counted among His principal disciples.

The Apostles of the Lord were the pillars of the Church, which foundation is St. Peter, the Rock, on which God had established His Church, and whose head is the Lord Himself, represented on earth by the Apostles and their successors. It was the Apostles who continued the good works of the Lord and established the strong structures and foundations for the early Church, which faced many persecutions and difficulties from those who wanted the Church destroyed and the faithful scattered.

The Lord Jesus Himself had reminded His Apostles in various occasions, including in what we heard today as part of our Gospel passage, telling His disciples James and John, that suffering would be the part of their lives for having followed the Lord and obeyed His commandments. He mentioned it as He said to them, that if they were to follow Him, they would have to drink from the same cup that Christ would drink from, the cup of persecution and suffering.

But the two Apostles did not understand this at first, and neither did the other Apostles. What we heard in the Gospel today, is how we mankind often respond in our own respective lives. When we are presented with the opportunity to gather for ourselves power, influence, fame, glory and honour, or even wealth and possessions, we will be tempted to do whatever we can in order to secure these for ourselves, and for our own benefits.

That was exactly what the Apostles St. James and St. John did, as they were brought by their mother to the presence of the Lord. The mother of the two Apostles asked if the Lord Jesus would be able to grant them special privileges above that of the other Apostles, by granting them positions of honour on His left and right. For that time, to be at the left and the right hand of a ruler such as a king, is an extremely honourable and great position to have.

If we look through the history of man, through many nations and peoples, we will then realise just how much mankind were willing to go in order to satisfy their own needs, wants and desires. It was the desire for more power and influence that had caused much sorrow and bickering among the peoples, even to the extent of going to wars and conflicts in order to accumulate more power for themselves, not minding the suffering those conflicts caused upon others.

And many of these were done by the leaders of the people, who themselves had had power and influence, wealth and possessions. One might be wondering that those people already had plenty of those, be it money, wealth, fame, and all other forms of worldly glory, but if we look deeply into ourselves and study our history more closely, we will quickly realise just how difficult it is to satisfy our desires and our greed.

We mankind are by our nature greedy and selfish, and we always want to seek what we do not have, and what we think will be good for us to possess. If we already have them, then we will be craving for even more, for whatever we have tasted and received, will soon be not sufficient for us to satisfy our ever growing greed and desire, especially for power, fame and material wealth.

That is what the Lord Jesus wanted to warn us against, that all of us Christians must not walk that path, but instead take an entirely different path. We are very familiar with the path I have mentioned earlier, that the greater the power we have, the more we desire power and glory, and the more we want our needs and desires to be served. Yet, the Lord showed us the meaning of our Christian virtues and what we Christians must do in order to follow Him faithfully.

The Apostles were called not to a position of honour and glory in the traditional sense of how honour and glory are seen by the world. They do not come to be served but to serve others with all of their might. The greater they become, the humbler they are called to be, and the more they are called to do for the sake of those who have been entrusted under their care.

And the Lord Jesus Himself showed by example, that even He, Who is the Lord, God and Master of all, were willing to serve His disciples, caring for them and humbling Himself before them, particularly at the Last Supper when He performed the washing of the feet on them, a job reserved only for the slaves, the lowest strata of the society at that time, those who have no power and dignity at all, and yet, God allowed Himself to do what He deemed was right.

Yes, and it was right according to the Lord, that all of us Christians should let go of our ego and pride, our desires and greed, and all those things that have in fact become great obstacles on our path to seek the Lord and His salvation. We must listen to the Lord and obey to Him, and follow Him in this path that He has shown to all of us, the path of the cross.

What does it mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that all of us must realise that as Christians, we are continuing what the Apostles have begun before us, the task which God had entrusted to them, which are not easy tasks, but very difficult assignments, considering just how much the Apostles had to suffer in order to carry out their missions. They had to endure rejection, ridicule, persecution, torture, imprisonment, and they even have to literally shed their blood and lay down their lives for the sake of the Lord.

That is the cup of suffering that they have to share with the Lord, and the cross that they had to bear. The Lord said that all those who are faithful to Him and who wants to follow Him must take up their crosses and follow Him, walking with Him along the path of suffering. This is what we all also need to share together, that we have to persevere despite the challenges and obstacles from the world. We cannot give up, for what is at stake is none other than the salvation of our souls and those who are around us.

There are still many things left undone, which the Church is continuing to do, shouldering the same burdens and works entrusted to it by the Lord. The Apostles had shown us all the way, that to go greater in the sight of God, we do not do as what the world has always taught us to do, but instead, we become greater through humility, through selflessness and love for our fellow brethren, for all those who are suffering, that we show mercy and love to them.

Let us all therefore, follow the footsteps of St. James the Apostle, and work hard in our own ways to contribute to the Church. It was told that St. James went to many places including to what is today Spain, where his principal shrine at Santiago de Compostela is located at. Let us have the same fervour to bring the Word of God to our fellow men, by practicing our faith actively through actions and deeds, that we may become the bearers of the light of Christ to our brothers and sisters. May the Lord bless us always and may St. James intercede for our sake before Him. Amen.

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Tuesday, 25 July 2017 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 20 : 20-28

At that time, the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favour. Jesus said to her, "What do you want?" And she answered, "Here, You have my two sons. Grant, that they may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your kingdom."

Jesus said to the brothers, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They answered, "We can." Jesus replied, "You will indeed drink My cup; but to sit at My right or at My left is not for Me to grant. That will be for those, for whom My Father has prepared it."

The other then heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to Him and said, "You know, that the rulers of nations behave like tyrants, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you : whoever wants to be great in your community, let him minister to the community. And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man, Who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many."