Tuesday

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Tuesday, 14 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard in our first reading from the Book of Exodus, how after more than four hundred years of suffering in Egypt in slavery, God sent His saviour and liberator to His people Israel, through Moses His servant, whom He designed to be special from all the others of His people. He has been marked since His birth to bring about God’s deliverance to Israel.

And then in the Gospel, we heard about Jesus denouncing the cities of the people of God, namely the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Galilee, all the cities where the Jews, the people of God lived. It was in these cities, in these places that Jesus had taught the people and showed His many works and miracles to them. But then why did Jesus rebuke them and criticise them in today’s readings?

That is precisely because even though Jesus had done so many works and miracles among them, the people there indignantly refused to believe in Him and they also refused to listen to His teachings, and instead they continued to live as how they have lived all that while. That inertia and unwillingness to change, even though they have witnessed all the things God had done through Jesus, was what aroused the great anger of God.

The same had also happened in the event of the Exodus at that time, when the people of Israel had seen the might of God, who brought the Ten Plagues to crush the Egyptians and forced the Pharaoh to let them go to the Promised Land. And when he and the Egyptians tried to capture back the Israelites, God opened the Red Sea before His people and made the sea to destroy the Egyptians.

Such was the great power and majesty which God had shown them, that truly, they should have all believed in Him and walked faithfully in His ways. However, as we have witnessed if we read the rest of the account of the Exodus, that the people of Israel, beginning from the worship of the golden calf as their god, and in many other occasions, have refused to believe in God, and constantly rebelled against Him. And to those who continued to be unrepentant, He showed His great wrath and punishment.

This is therefore a lesson for all of us to take note of. Should we linger longer in our ways of sin, the ways of this world and all of its wickedness? Or shall we instead bring ourselves to greater devotion to our Lord and walk faithfully in His ways? The choice is indeed ours, brothers and sisters in Christ, and all of us have eyes to see, ears to listen, hands and limbs to touch and feel, and minds and hearts to discern and understand.

We may not have seen what the Lord had done in His miraculous works and we may not have heard from Him directly His words and teachings, but we believe in Him all the same. Remember what Jesus told Thomas the doubtful disciple after His resurrection when He appeared to him? He said that he believed because he saw Him, but even more blessed are those who did not see and witness anything and yet still come to believe.

Therefore, let us all not walk in the same path as the people of the cities which Jesus had rebuked in today’s Gospel, as even though they witnessed what the Lord had done, but their hearts were hard as stone and their minds closed against the love and truth of God.

In their pride, in their haughtiness, they have walked the same path as that of their ancestors, and they would meet destruction in the end, just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and even worse, as those people did not see God and His works. The greater is the punishment and anger of God for all those who witness His works and yet refused to believe in Him.

Today we commemorate the feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis, an Italian priest who is a preacher and a faithful servant of God, who ministered especially to the sick and wounded, to the poor and those who have nowhere to go to be treated. He founded the Camillian religious order, named after him, which was also known as the Ministers of the Sick.

He and his many other companions worked together to help many people who were suffering from various maladies. They worked together to bring the people who were sick back to good health, and the joy in them, knowing that they were not abandoned but there would still be some out there who cared for them. This was indeed God at His work, which He exercised through St. Camillus de Lellis and those who followed in his footsteps.

Therefore, having heard the story of the works and dedications of St. Camillus de Lellis, are we all moved in our hearts to also do the same for others who are around us? God works through us, and through us He wants to heal us all and make us all whole once again body and soul. If others see what we have done in the Name of the Lord, they may also be stirred in their hearts to come and believe in the Lord as well.

Hence, today, let us all, in the words that Jesus had once spoken, be no longer an unbeliever but believe with the fullness of our hearts, so that through our faith, we may be justified and be brought into the goodness and glory that He has promised to His beloved and faithful ones. May Almighty God guide us in our path, strengthen our faith and bring us all into His everlasting kingdom. Amen.

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Tuesday, 14 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 11 : 20-24

At that time, Jesus began to denounce the cities, in which He had performed most of His miracles, because the people there did not change their ways.

“Alas for you Chorazin and Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more bearable on the day of judgment than for you.”

“And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? You will be thrown down to the place of the dead! For if the miracles which were performed in you had taken place in Sodom, it would still be there today! But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

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Tuesday, 14 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Psalm 68 : 3, 14, 30-31, 33-34

I am sunk in the miry depths where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, swept and engulfed by the flood.

But I pray to You, o Lord, at a time most favourable to You. In Your great love, o God, answer me with Your unfailing help.

But I myself am humbled and wounded; Your salvation, o God, will lift me up. I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving.

Let the lowly witness this and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity.

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Tuesday, 14 July 2015 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Exodus 2 : 1-15a

Now a man belonging to the clan of Levi married a woman of his own tribe. She gave birth to a boy and, seeing that he was a beautiful child, she kept him hidden for three months. As she could not conceal him any longer, she made a basket out of papyrus leaves and coated it with tar and pitch. She then laid the child in the basket and placed it among the reeds near the bank of the Nile; but the sister of the child kept at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile; her attendants meanwhile walked along the bank. When she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to fetch it. She opened the basket and saw the child – a boy, and he was crying! She felt sorry for him, for she thought : “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

Then the sister of the child said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and the girl went to call the mother of the child. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take the child and nurse him for me and I will pay you.”

So the woman took the child and nursed him and, when the child had grown, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. And she named him Moses to recall that she had drawn him out of the water.

After a fairly long time, Moses, by now a grown man, wanted to meet his fellow Hebrews. He noticed how heavily they were burdened and he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own people. He looked around and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

When he went out the next day he saw two Hebrews quarrelling. Moses said to the man in the wrong, “Why are you striking a fellow countryman?” But he answered, “Who has set you prince and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must be known.”

When Pharaoh heard about it he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

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Tuesday, 7 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the work of God, who went here and there to cure and heal those who were sick, those who were possessed by the evil spirits, those afflicted by their sinful ways, and brought them to righteousness and salvation once again. And yet, some of His people doubted Him, even those who had seen His mighty deeds and power.

We can see this in the struggle which ensued between Jacob and God as Jacob made his way back from exile to the land of Canaan. He fled into exile to the house of his relatives back in Abraham’s homeland because of the great fear for his life, for having stolen the birthright and blessings which his brother Esau should have received from their father, Isaac.

And even though God had affirmed him in His love and showed how much he will be cared for, with all the blessings he received during his years in exile, having possessions, wealth, good wives and family with all of his children, but deep inside, he still had his doubts, and he still feared the retribution of Esau even as he travelled back to the land of Canaan, which God had promised him and his ancestor, Abraham.

That was why it is likely God appeared to him to show him that if he trusted in God, there would be nothing that he needed to fear from. He struggled with God and survived, and that was why he was given the name Israel, which literally means struggling with God. This is to show us that if God is behind us and giving us strength, then we really have no need to fear, for He will support us and help us in all that we need.

But doubt is indeed our greatest challenge, the inability to put our complete trust and faith in the Lord. And for the people of Israel, if we witness their actions and deeds throughout the entire Scripture, we see how they struggle to commit themselves to the Lord their God, as their hearts, minds and attentions are not fully focused on Him, but rather on the things of this world, trusting in their own power and abilities rather than putting their trust in the Lord.

They doubted Jesus because they were unable to comprehend the fullness of God’s truth and love, which He manifested perfectly in Jesus Christ, who healed many and cast out demons and sickness from many, simply because of one fact, that God loves us so much, and so great was His love, that He is willing to come down to earth to dwell with us and to succour us from the torture that is our sins.

And He has given us so much goodness for so little a price. All we need to do is to cast away our doubts and faithlessness, and embrace His love, which He had given for us freely, that we too may have love in us. And all of us who have believed in Him and followed Him, should realise that there is something for us to do, to help Him to bring the love which He had shown us, and the Good News of His salvation to the rest of the people, to all those who have yet to hear them and witness them.

The Lord had said, that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Indeed, this is the problem facing this world now. There are so many opportunities in this world, to bring men closer to God and bring them from doubt into faith, but there are so few willing to devote themselves to the tough job and challenges of bringing that Good News to those who are willing to hear it, and yet have no opportunity to do so.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect today and think about the mission which God had given us through His disciples. Do we remember what the Lord Jesus told them before He ascended into heaven? He commanded them all to go forth to all the nations, to the very ends of the earth, and to baptise all nations and all peoples in His holy Name, and make them His own, united through His Church.

It is here then that our role is important, as we are the ones to continue the good works of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, who had begun what He had commanded them to do. We do not have to start with big things and then thinking that it is too much and impossible for us to do. Rather, start from something as simple as having a strong faith on our own, and then show that great faith through real and true actions, all of which reflect the nature that we belong to the faith and to the Lord.

Let us now pray that we will be able to carry out this mission, and that people through our works will come flocking to the Lord our God, so that all of us may receive together the salvation and grace which He had promised all those who believe in Him. May Almighty God bless us and guide us in this path, and in all of our endeavours in faith. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 9 : 32-38

At that time, when the two blind men had just left, some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb, because he was possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and He cured every sickness and disease. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send workers to gather His harvest.”

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Tuesday, 7 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 16 : 1, 2-3, 6-7, 8 and 15

Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.

Let my defense come forth from You; Your eyes see what is right. You have proved my heart, searched me at night, tested me by fire, and You have seen no wickedness in me.

I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.

Keep me as the apple of Your eye; under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.

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Tuesday, 7 July 2015 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 32 : 23-33

Jacob took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons, and sent them across the stream and likewise everything he had. And Jacob was left alone. Then a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the Man saw that He could not get the better of Jacob, He struck him in the socket of his hip and dislocated it as He wrestled with him.

The Man said, “Let Me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go until You have given me Your blessing.” The Man then said, “What is your name?” “Jacob” was the reply. He answered, “You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have been strong-with-God as you have been with men and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob asked Him, “What is Your Name?” He answered, “Why do you ask My Name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Penuel, saying, “I have seen God face to face and survived.” The sun rose as he passed through Penuel, limping because of his hip.

That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sciatic nerve which is in the hip socket because the sciatic nerve in Jacob’s hip had been touched.

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Tuesday, 30 June 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Church celebrates and commemorates the memory of its first martyrs, the first ones who shed their blood and lives for the sake of the Faith, and for the sake of the Lord. Today is a reminder to all of us, that our faith in God requires not just passivity and lip service, but real dedication and commitment, for all the challenges that we will encounter as part of our faith journey.

In the first reading, we heard about the famous destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities infamous for their immorality and vice, where all their people were filled to the brim with sin and wickedness. God punished them all because they did not repent and change their ways, and they were destroyed and banished from the face of the earth forever, to suffer eternal punishment for their sins.

But God showed mercy on Lot and his family, who were the only ones to be found worthy from all the people in the two cities. They were rescued by the angels who led them out of danger into safety. Lot and his family had been persecuted for their righteous ways, and for sheltering the strangers who were truly angels, whom the sinful people in their lust desired to take upon themselves in sexual perversion.

In the Gospel, we see a parallel with Jesus and His disciples who were travelling through a great storm, and the boat was being rocked greatly by the wind and the waves, that the disciples feared that it would sink with them. They feared because they had little faith and Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith. Jesus showed His power and authority, calming the storm before His disciples.

How does all these relate to what we celebrate today? It is because we have to remember the fact that this world and all its ways are diametrically opposite to that of the ways of our Lord. And Jesus Himself warned His disciples that the world that had rejected Him, will also reject and persecute His disciples and followers. And hence, so many of the faithful had been martyred throughout the ages, since the very beginning of the Church until now.

And what we heard in the readings today are our natural reactions to such difficulties, sufferings and persecutions. Like the disciples who were afraid of the storm, representing our challenges and the temptations of the world, we too have fear in our hearts, uncertainty and doubt. There are indeed times when we lack faith in God, and not understanding that He has the power to save us, we resort to methods to preserve ourselves, but more often than not, causing us to sink deeper into the troubles.

And we also often act like Lot’s wife, who turned and looked back at the city that was burning and being destroyed by the Lord, and she turned into a pillar of salt for her disobedience and inability to detach herself from the city. For it was likely that she enjoyed the life she had in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, and running away into the wilderness seemed for her to be a path to uncertainty.

It is therefore her desire and her inability to part with that desire which led to her undoing, and the same also applies to us as well. We ought to therefore learn from the examples of the martyrs in this regard. They were offered the good offers of safety and goodness in the world, and they were offered good prestige and fame in the world, if only that they would abandon their faith in their God.

But they refused, for they knew that to do so would mean accepting temporary joy and happiness that do not last, and condemn themselves to an eternity of suffering, of having been separated from God. They persevered, and although they suffered, they received great consolation and the promise of eternal life which God had promised to all of us who are faithful. Their examples spurred many others to follow in their footsteps.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow the examples of the first martyrs and the other martyrs of the Church, those who have defended their faith in the Lord to the very end. May Almighty God bless us with faith and be with us always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 30 June 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 8 : 23-27

At that time, Jesus got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning a fierce storm hit the lake, with waves sweeping the boat. But Jesus was asleep.

They woke Him and cried, “Lord save us! We are lost!” But Jesus answered, “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?” Then He stood up and rebuked the wind and sea; and it became completely calm. The disciples were astonished. They said, “What kind of Man is He? Even the winds and the sea obey Him.”