Tuesday

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we begin the celebration of the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year, which will continue until the beginning of the season of Advent on Ash Wednesday. Today from the Scriptures, we heard about the Lord Jesus, our God and Master, to Whom the authority belongs, to make all things and all creations, good or evil, to bow down before Him and obey Him.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul written to the Hebrews, the Apostle wrote about Jesus, Who have come into the world as the Messiah and Saviour, but He was not just like any other prophets or any other human beings, in that He was special, for He was not just a mere Man, but also the Almighty God, Lord and Master of all. He was the Son of Man Who is also the Son of God.

To Him, the Father has given the dominion over all things. For it was also through Him that everything in creation was created, from beings of the flesh to the beings of the spirit, of Angels and fallen angels, good and wicked spirits, even the evil spirits that were told in the Gospel today to have inhabited the man in the synagogue. That was why Jesus was able to cast out the evil spirit from the man, since He is the Master even over that evil spirit.

He taught with true authority, for power and authority truly belong to Him. That was why all were amazed at His teachings just as they were amazed at how even demons and evil spirits had to obey Him. Satan might boast of his might and power in the world, being once the mightiest of the Angels of God, as Lucifer, but he was still a creation, and nothing compared to the One and true Master of all. Even he had to obey the Lord, and in Jesus, Satan knew that his fate would be sealed.

But in his pride and desire to rule over all things, the devil supported by his angels and fellow evil spirits wanted to see us destroyed, and if he is to be defeated and destroyed, then he would want us to also suffer the same fate as well. And that was why he had always been at work, trying to undermine us and our efforts to seek the Lord. He placed many obstacles and temptations on our path, that we may falter and fall into sin.

That was also why, even though the Lord Jesus had clearly shown Who He was, what He was sent into this world for, and what He has done, to all the people to see, there were always those who refused to believe in Him, as most of the Pharisees and the elders, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests did. They refused to believe in Him because in their hearts which they had hardened, they followed the whim of the desires and pride.

They certainly knew that the words of the Lord Jesus were true, as they were certainly well versed in the matters of the Scriptures and the prophecies of the prophets. They were the ones who should have welcomed the Lord and recognised Him the first among all others, and then proclaimed Him to the other people. Yet, they did not do that because they were afraid that this Man would be their undoing, that they would lose their influence and the privileges they have enjoyed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should learn from all of these, and learn to be humble and to follow the examples of Jesus our Lord. He obeyed the will of His Father, and by His obedience we have all been saved, all of us who believe in Him and in His words. And although He has power and authority, dominion and control over all of creation, He did not boast of them, and neither did He become vain and proud in His ways.

Let us all Christians devote ourselves, our time and our efforts to serve the Lord humbly and with genuine faith. Let us not give in to the temptations of Satan and free ourselves from all forms of wicked deeds, from all pride and human greed. May the Lord help us in this endeavour, that we may live with Him filled with His grace and blessings. May He keep us in His love always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 1 : 21b-28

At that time, Jesus taught in the synagogue on the sabbath day. The people were astonished at the way He taught, for He spoke as One having authority and not like the teachers of the Law.

It happened that a man with an evil spirit was in their synagogue, and he shouted, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus faced him and said with authority, “Be silent, and come out of this man!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and, with a loud shriek, came out of him. All the people were astonished, and they wondered, “What is this? With what authority He preaches! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey Him!” And Jesus’ fame spread throughout all the country of Galilee.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 8 : 2a and 5, 6-7, 8-9

O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your Name throughout the earth! What is man that You be mindful of him, the Son of Man, that You should care for Him?

Yet You made Him a little lower than the Angels; You crowned Him with glory and honour and gave Him the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.

Sheep and oxen without number and even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all that swim the paths of the ocean.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 2 : 5-12

The Angels were not given dominion over the new world of which we are speaking. Instead someone declared in Scripture : What is man, that You should be mindful of him, what is the Son of Man that You should care for Him? For a while You placed Him a little lower than the Angels, but You crowned Him with glory and honour. You have given Him dominion over all things.

When it is said that God gave Him dominion over all things, nothing is excluded. As it is, we do not yet see His dominion over all things. But Jesus Who suffered death and for a little while was placed lower than the Angels has been crowned with honour and glory. For the merciful plan of God demanded that He experience death on behalf of everyone.

God, from Whom all come and by Whom all things exist, wanted to bring many children to glory, and He thought it fitting to make perfect through suffering the Initiator of their salvation. So He Who gives and those who receive holiness are one. He Himself is not ashamed of calling us brothers and sisters, as we read : Lord, I will proclaim Your Name to My brothers; I will praise You in the congregation.

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Tuesday, 3 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which we often have not used and mentioned properly. We have to remember first and foremost, the third commandment in the Ten Commandments which Moses had received from God Himself. It said, “Keep holy the Lord’s Name”.

In the prayer Pater Noster, or the Lord’s Prayer which our Lord Jesus Christ had taught us, we also heard the words, “Holy is Your Name”. Then we should ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ, in our daily lives, in the days past, have we mentioned or uttered the Holy Name of the Lord without thinking and with abandon? Have we desecrated the Holy Name of God by what we have done? If we have done so, remember that it is a great sin to do so.

The Name of the Lord was so holy that in the past, it was considered a great sin, indeed a blasphemy to even say it out, even in private, and less properly even so in public. The Most Holy Name of God was supposed to be unutterable, the Name YHVH, which many of us nowadays also used with abandon in our praise songs and celebrations. And the Lord’s Name, the Name above every other names, Jesus Christ, has been revealed to us, and yet some even used it when they uttered vulgarities and wicked words. Do we even realise what a sin it is that we have done?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is sad and indeed lamentable how we mankind have misused and mistreated the Holy Name of our Lord, when the devil and all of his wicked allies fear His holy Name, running and scattering when they heard someone utter it with proper and devout faith. They feared the Holy Name just as much as the evil spirits feared very much when Jesus cast them out from the bodies of the people whom they had possessed if we read through the Gospels.

It is exactly just like when we call our friends’ names and our family members’ names. When we call their names, they know they have been called and they will come. In the same way therefore, when we call on the Holy Name of the Lord, He will come upon us, and no evil spirit, even Satan himself, will be able to bear to be in the Holy Presence of our God. They will all run away in fear and leave us alone, if we call on Him with faith.

It is sad also to note how the venerable practice of bowing at the Holy Name of Jesus, and indeed genuflecting or kneeling during certain times of the year, including that of today, when we hear the Name of Jesus mentioned, had vanished from many of our churches and parishes around the world. This has contributed to the decrease in our respect and appreciation of the Holy Name. And that is why we disrespect and misuse and think lightly of uttering our Lord’s Name without care.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our own lives. Have we been truly worthy of the Lord to mention His holy Name? Are we all truly knowing of what we are doing in this world? Let us all contemplate on this as we embark through this new year. Shall we treat the Holy Name of God with respect, and indeed, utter it with pride and faith, knowing that all who hear it, will know that we belong to Him.

Let us all thank God for His love for us, He has willingly become Man for our sake, so that through Jesus Christ our Lord, we may receive salvation and the grace of eternal life from Him. Let us all give Him thanks and praise Him, bow down before Him and rejoice whenever we hear His holy and wonderful Name being mentioned. That is because His Name is not just like any other names, but through that Name, we have been saved.

May the Lord bless us all and keep us, and may He strengthen each and every one of us to become ever more devoted disciples and followers of His. Let us draw closer to Him and find our way to Him, and let us put our complete trust in Him from now on. May the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us, and may He answer when we call on Him in our times of need, to defend us from evil and darkness. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 1 : 29-34

At that time, the next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! It is He of Whom I said : A Man comes after me, Who is already ahead of me, for He was before me. I myself did not know Him, but I came baptising to prepare for Him, so that He might be revealed in Israel.”

And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove from heaven, and resting on Him. I myself did not know Him, but God, Who sent me to baptise, told me, “You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting, on the One Who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”

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Tuesday, 3 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

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Tuesday, 3 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 2 : 29 – 1 John 3 : 6

You know that He is the Just One : know then that anyone living justly is born of God. See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when He appears in His glory, we know that we shall be like Him, for then we shall see Him as He is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as He is pure. Anyone who commits a sin acts as an enemy of the law of God; any sin acts wickedly, because all sin is wickedness.

You know that He came to take away our sins, and that there is no sin in Him. Whoever remains in Him has no sin, whoever sins has not seen or known Him.

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Tuesday, 27 December 2016 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, after yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, today we remember and honour one of the twelve principal and most important disciples of our Lord, and one of the four writers of the Holy Gospels, namely St. John the Apostle and the Evangelist. He was the disciple beloved by the Lord and the only one among the Twelve Apostles who did not suffer martyrdom.

He was also likely the writer of the Book of the Revelations or the Apocalypse, which contains the visions of what is to come for us in this world, as the Lord revealed His will to St. John, the warnings about the persecution that is to come for the faithful, and the challenges many of them will have to endure as those who believe in the Lord and as those who walk in His ways.

St. John has followed the Lord Jesus from the very beginning, as he was one of the four fishermen whom the Lord called at the beginning of His earthly ministry, together with his brother, St. James, with St. Peter and St. Andrew, the fellow Apostles of the Lord. He witnessed all that the Saviour had done, in all His teachings and works of mercy among the people, healing those who were sick and with afflictions.

And despite the doubts that he and his fellow Apostles had, and the amazement and wonders they always had at what Jesus did, St. John and his fellow disciples of the Lord believed in Him, and by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they became witnesses to the Lord’s actions among the people, spreading the Good News of God’s salvation to all of them.

And so that the people would be able to remember what they have testified and witnessed for the sake of the Lord, St. John together with some other Apostles and disciples wrote down what they have preached and said, in the many letters and Epistles that they wrote, and also the four holy Gospels, one of which was written by St. John, relating about the life of Jesus and the proof of His earthly ministry.

Through all of these we have received the same witness which the Apostles and the disciples had made before the world, just as many generations of the faithful throughout the ages had also received the same witnesses of faith through the Scriptures. Let us remember that saints and martyrs, our forefathers had to toil and suffer for the sake of their faith, risking their lives so that many more people could be saved through their efforts, including eventually all of us as well.

Now, the challenge is for us to continue their works, as the work of the Apostles is not yet complete. There are still many people who have not yet heard of the Lord and His salvation, and it is now up to us to do the work to spread the Good News of the Lord to our brethren who are in need and continue the good works the Apostles have started. And we do this, by applying what we believe into our own actions and deeds.

It is important that we should do as we preach and say, or else no one will believe in us. The Apostles including St. John demonstrated it to us well, as they were ready to live fully in their faith, including standing up for the Lord’s sake against those who would accuse them and cause harm against them. He did not fear the persecution of the world, but remaining true to the mission which had been entrusted to him and the other Apostles, that is to show the love of God to all the nations and call them into repentance and to turn themselves to God.

They showed love, care and concern for the poor and the less fortunate, caring for their flock as the Lord had instructed them. And they shared their joy and blessings among themselves, helping each other out of charity and love. They did what the Lord had asked them to do and taught them to do, and as a result, many people saw what they did and listened to their witnesses and believed. The same too should be done by each and every one of us.

Therefore, brethren, in the spirit of what St. John the Apostle and Evangelist had done for the good of the Church and of God’s people, let us all as Christians dedicate ourselves anew to God and to His ways. Let us commit ourselves wholeheartedly to His ways, and no longer believing Him just through words but also through actions. Let our Christmas season and celebration be filled with joy, as we share our joy with those who have little or none to celebrate with.

May the Lord bless us all and keep us in His grace. And may St. John the Apostle and Evangelist intercede for our sake before Him, that He may awaken in each and every one of us the strong desire to love Him and to obey His will as St. John himself had once done. May God be with us all and with our endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 27 December 2016 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 20 : 2-8

At that time, Mary of Magdala ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go out to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat.

The napkin, which had been around His head, was not lying flat like the other linen cloths, but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.