Tuesday

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Tuesday, 18 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Hear the warning of YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah. Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good.

Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow. “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together. Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool.”

“If you will obey Me, you will eat the goods of the earth; but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.

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Tuesday, 11 March 2025 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of firstly the importance for us all to obey the words of the Lord, His Law and commandments, and to follow wholeheartedly everything that He has shown and taught us all through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and also through His Church, by which He has revealed His love and everything that He has intended for us all, His faithful and beloved ones. Each and every one of us are also then reminded of the need for us to be in constant contact and communication with God, our loving Father and Creator so that we may always come to know His will for us, and be attuned to His path and ways, so that we may not end up being distracted, swayed and tempted away towards the path to damnation.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people through Isaiah revealing some information about the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour Whom He has promised to the people of Israel, and of Whom Isaiah had spoken a lot about. The Lord revealed how this Messiah or Saviour would be the One to accomplish His will, like the Word that came out from His mouth to proclaim the will of God and the salvation to all the people. This was in fact a revelation of what God would do for all of His beloved ones in this world, that He would send none other than His own only Begotten Son, the Word of God or the Logos, to be Incarnate in the flesh, by the will of the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be born of the Virgin, His mother, Mary, so that He may become like one of us, the Son of Man.

And through this action, God had made Himself to share in our human nature and existence, taking up upon Himself the Humanity that He has shared with each and every one of us, and which is united to His Divine nature in the person of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Whom we believe to be truly and fully God, and fully Man at the same time. We may not fully realise the significance and importance of such an action by God, which He had willingly done for us, until we realise that precisely because the Lord chose to take up our human nature and embody Himself and His Divinity in that Human form, therefore, He has come to share in our experiences and humanity, and becoming the One through Whom mankind would be reunited with their Divine Lord.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, that the Lord taught His disciples how to pray to the Lord, referring to Him as ‘Our Father in Heaven’. This is the prayer that we all well know and recognise as ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ or ‘Our Father’, in Latin ‘Pater Noster’. In this ideal and perfect prayer, the Lord showed us all how we should pray, not with long litanies of requests or demands, as we may commonly have done, but instead, beginning with praising and glorifying God, thanking Him for all the love that He has shown us. That prayer also highlights our humility and willingness to listen to God our loving Father, in our words ‘Let Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’. Ultimately, prayer is not about us imposing our demands on the Lord, because who are we, the humble creatures of God, to demand things from our Almighty Creator?

And then, what we request is not for grandiose things, but asking for ‘our daily bread’, which highlights and summarises what we all need in our respective lives. God knows what we need, and He will provide for us in manners and ways that may be beyond our knowledge and understanding. We must truly have faith in Him and believe that He can provide us what we need, and that He may guide us in the right paths in life, if we truly trust in Him and put our whole faith in Him. We also ask for forgiveness for our many sins, recognising our shortcomings, faults and weaknesses, being again humble before God, and committing ourselves to do the same to our fellow brothers and sisters. All of these essences and parts in the Lord’s Prayer serve to remind us of our relationship with God, and why it is important for us to deepen our relationship with Him through constant prayer.

First of all, through Christ our Lord, Whom I mentioned earlier having shared in our human nature and existence, we have become sharers in the nature of the Son, Who is both the Son of God and Son of Man. And because the Lord called God in Heaven as His Father, therefore, through this Incarnation of Christ, all of us can also call God as our Loving Father as well, and hence, ‘Our Father in Heaven’. God’s love for each one of us has indeed been revealed as a truly genuine and powerful love, one that resulted in our Creation in the first place, and which endures even our separation from Him through our sins and disobedience against Him. Like that of wayward and prodigal children who disobeyed their parents, no matter what, their parent still loved them all and would want their children to be reunited with themselves. It is therefore the same with the Lord as well.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore as God’s beloved children, His adopted sons and daughters, realise the depth of our sinfulness, our wayward behaviours and actions, our inappropriate way of life and our disobedience against our loving Father, Who has always been so patient in loving us and in trying to reach out to us, to teach us all how to love Him and to follow Him back towards His loving embrace. Let us no longer be stubborn in refusing His love and kindness, and do whatever we can so that our lives may be truly worthy of Him once again, and strive to commit ourselves and our lives to Him from now on, if we have not yet done so. We should humble ourselves and admit our shortcomings and problems before the Lord, so that He may help and guide us in our journey towards Him, and that He may teach us how to be faithful and obedient to Him once again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress ever further through this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to live our lives with faith, devotion and commitment to God, doing whatever we can so that we may come ever closer to our loving Father, and come to know His will, through good quality time and effort spent in establishing a strong and vibrant relationship with God our Father. Let us continue to make the effort to embody our faith in our every actions, to be truly faithful in all things, not merely in words or formality only. All of us should remember the love and mercy that God has shown to us His people, and make good use of the opportunities which had been given to us this Lent such that we will reconcile with our loving Father, and live a life that is in harmony with Him from now on, glorifying Him by our lives, in each and every moment.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen us all with the courage and blessings needed for us to persevere through the many trials and challenges that we may have to face in the midst of our journey during this time and season of Lent. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and bring us all ever closer to Him, to be once again His beloved children and people, the inheritors of the great glory of God, all that He has promised us, through our devotion, faith and commitment to Him. Amen.

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Tuesday, 11 March 2025 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will, be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.”

“Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”

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Tuesday, 11 March 2025 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 33 : 4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

Oh, let us magnify YHVH; together, let us glorify His Name! I sought YHVH, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, YHVH hears and saves them from distress.

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, 11 March 2025 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 55 : 10-11

As the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is My Word that goes forth out of My mouth : it will not return to Me idle, but it shall accomplish My will, the purpose for which It has been sent.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the last day before the beginning of the season and time of Lent, which will begin tomorrow with the imposition of the blessed ashes on Ash Wednesday, the very first day of the Lenten season. On this day, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, let us all remind ourselves of the calling which all of us have received from the Lord for us to follow Him and the path that He has shown to us so that we may continue to walk down the path of righteousness and virtue in life. We have been reminded of God’s great and most generous love and mercy, and we should make great use of the opportunities that God has granted to us to reach out to Him and to be fully reconciled and reunited with Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the exhortation from the prophet Sirach we have been listening to for the past few weeks, we heard of the words of the prophet reminding all the faithful people of God and hence all of us to be generous in offering ourselves to the Lord because He is truly full of love and mercy, and if we do what is right and just, worthy in the eyes of the Lord, committing ourselves to His cause and be good in all of our actions, words and deeds, then all of us will truly be blessed and rewarded by the Lord in the end. It is a reminder for all of us to live our lives worthily in the best way we can, to be good inspiration and role models tor our fellow brothers and sisters around us by our living and vibrant faith.

Then in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord affirming His disciples, who, led by St. Peter, had declared their commitment and loyalty to Him, stating how they had left behind everything to follow the Lord, their family, their loved ones and their worldly possessions. The Lord reassured them all and said that no one who had devoted themselves and made sacrifices to follow Him would be found wanting, echoing what the prophet Sirach had mentioned in our first reading passage today. Essentially it is a reminder for us all that the Lord loves the righteous and virtuous, and those whom He deems to be worthy shall be truly blessed and cared for by Him, and they shall not be lost from Him.

On the other hand, if we are wicked and evil in our ways, disobeying God’s Law and commandments, then we likely have to face the consequences of our actions and disobedience, our wickedness and evils. While God loves us all most dearly, He also despises the sins and wickedness which we have committed in our lives, and no wickedness, evil or sin can exist in His Holy Presence. If we continue to commit wickedness and evils, sins and all sorts of disobedience against God, then in the end, it is by those disobedience and wickedness which we will be judged by, and if we are not careful, we may end up in eternity of suffering and regret in the damnation of Hell. This is something that the Lord does not want to happen to us, and He has provided us with all the means to avoid it, but it is up to us to make the conscious effort to come back towards the Lord with repentance and virtuous life.

That is why as Christians all of us ought to strive to live our lives each day with careful actions and virtuous way of life, rejecting the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, the sins of the world around us, and all the coercions and pressures to embrace this path of wickedness and pleasures. We must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by those pressures and temptations, and instead we should continue to be resolute in our dedication and commitment to the path of the Lord and His righteousness. We must do our best to live our lives worthily and distancing ourselves from the evil ways. This is of course something much easier said than done, but we must make the conscious effort to adhere ourselves to the path of God, or else, we may easily be pulled into the path of sin and darkness, and we should look for inspiration from among our holy predecessors.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Casimir, also known as St. Casimir of Poland, who was a royal prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was a bright and pious person even since his early youth and he was brought up well in the various areas of education and knowledge, and he grew up to be a fine young man, who was full of vigour and also care for the less fortunate and the needy, and was also inclined to the religious life and calling. While in the secular world he encountered failures such as the failed efforts by his supporters and family to install him as the King of Hungary due to the claims that his family on the Hungarian throne, but in the spiritual matters, St. Casimir was well known for his devotion to God, his pious and worthy lifestyle, and his care for the needs of the people.

St. Casimir was known for his great humility and other virtues in life, refusing the commonly debauched ways of the people and nobility of his time, especially with regards to women and merrymaking. He spent his time frequently in prayer and charitable works, and he continued to lead a life that was worthy of God, refusing the match proposed to him by his family, while also sensing and knowing that he did not have long to live in the world. Shortly afterwards, St. Casimir fell seriously ill and eventually passed away due to the illness at a relatively young age of twenty-five. While his earthly life and existence was short, nonetheless, through his exemplary faith and actions, St. Casimir has shown many people who were his contemporaries and many others throughout time, even to this present day, how we all ought to be as disciples and followers of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have reflected from the words of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and examples of St. Casimir of Poland that we have just discussed, all of us are reminded to be good role models and inspirations for our fellow men and women, living our lives with righteousness and grace, to be truly faithful in all things and circumstances. We should be the shining beacons of God’s light, hope and Good News in our darkened world, corrupted and filled with sin and evil. Through our commitment to God, our righteousness and virtue, we should bring God’s light into our world, inspiring many others around us to follow the Lord as well. It is by our good life and examples that we can do this, to fulfil what the Lord has entrusted to us. 

Let us all therefore do our part as Christians, to be the faithful and devoted missionaries and evangelising disciples, doing our best to proclaim the Lord to all. And as we all enter into this time and season of Lent tomorrow, let us all continue to strive to resist the temptations of sin, and continue to keep our lives truly holy and worthy of the Lord, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 10 : 28-31

At that time, Peter spoke up and said, “We have given up everything to follow You.” Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward.”

“I say to you : even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time, and in the world to come eternal life. Do pay attention : many who are now first will be last, and the last, first.”

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Psalm 49 : 5-6, 7-8, 14 and 23

Gather before Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The heavens will proclaim His sentence, for God Himself is the Judge.

Hear, o My people, for I am speaking. I will accuse You, o Israel, I am God,  your God! Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

Yet offer to God a sacrifice of thanks, and fulfil your vows to the Most High. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Sirach 35 : 1-15

Keeping the Law is worthy many offerings. Being faithful to the commandments is like a peace offering. Returning kindness is an offering of fine flour; giving alms is a sacrifice of praise. Renouncing sin pleases the Lord, and shunning injustice is a sacrifice of atonement.

Do not appear before the Lord with empty hands. The commandment requires that you bring an offering. When the offering of the righteous is burnt on the altar, the fat drips down and a fragrant aroma rises to the Most High. The sacrifice of the just man pleases God and will not be forgotten. Honour the Lord with a generous heart and do not be stingy with the first fruits of your harvest.

Offer your gifts with a smiling face and when you pay your tithes do it gladly. Give to the Most High as He has given to you; give generously to the Lord according to what you have; the Lord will repay, He will reward you sevenfold. If you attempt to bribe Him with gifts He will not accept them; do not rely on offerings from dishonest gain.

The Lord is Judge and shows no partiality. He will not disadvantage the poor, He Who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow. When tears flow down her cheeks, is she not crying out against the one who caused her to weep?

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Tuesday, 25 February 2025 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture readings today, we are all reminded that as the followers and disciples of the Lord, we may be facing a lot of struggles, hardships, trials and difficulties in our path, and we have to be prepared and ready for this eventuality. We should not be ignorant of the responsibilities and all the aspects of our Christian living and calling, in each and every unique missions and vocations that the Lord has entrusted to each one of us in this world. We must live our lives worthily as those who belong to the Lord, as His beloved and holy people, such that everyone who witness us and our works may come to know of God’s truth and love, manifested through our actions and every parts of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Sirach in which the prophet reminded the faithful people of God of the difficulties that they might have to endure as part of their journey as God’s people, and yet, at the same time, he also exhorted them to remain true to their faith and trust in God, that they would not abandon Him or seek other avenues of help amidst the challenges and hardships they might be enduring from. The prophet Sirach reminded the people of God to remain steadfast and committed to the Lord regardless of what they had to encounter, to be confident in their Lord and Master, and how He would protect them and provide for them all that they needed. In the end, despite the hardships and challenges that they had to endure, those who remain faithful will enjoy the rich rewards from the Lord for their faith.

The prophet Sirach also mentioned the historic examples of how God had been with His people, patiently guiding them and taking good care of them such that despite their sufferings and the many tribulations they faced, and despite the stubbornness that those people had shown against their loving God and Master, the Lord still cared for them nonetheless, showing them His mercy and kindness, sending them His messengers and servants, the many prophets that He had sent for centuries up to the time of the prophet Sirach, who was active about two centuries or so prior to the coming of Christ into this world. God has always been with the people whom He loved and had chosen, and He repeatedly guided them, prodding them from time to time so that they would return to the path of righteousness, and He gathered them back again and again whenever they had erred and wandered off from His path.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord telling His disciples after He had miraculously healed a boy that was possessed by evil spirits, that He, as the Son of Man and the Saviour of all, would have to suffer greatly for the sake of the world and all mankind, and He would have to face persecution and rejection from even those elders and leaders of the people, to be mocked and reviled, made to endure the worst of humiliation and pain for our sake, His beloved people, whom He has painstakingly called towards Him, to be punished instead of us so that by His wounds, by His outpoured Precious Blood, all of us may gain healing and reconciliation with our loving God and Father, all of which he had intended for us from the very beginning.

Through this revelation, the Lord wants each and every one of us to realise that we are really called to be obedient to God and to be humble, just as the Lord went on to chide His disciples for arguing amongst themselves on who among them were the greatest of the disciples. He told them all that in order for them to be truly great in the eyes of the Lord, they should be like those little children, who came to the Lord sincerely and because they truly loved Him and wanted to devote themselves to Him. Those children were used by the Lord as examples and comparisons for their faith because for those who know how children behave, those little children are truly sincere in their faith and beliefs, and they are truly pure in their intentions, still not corrupted yet by the temptations and desires of the world.

The Lord Himself, as the Son of Man, as the Son of God the Father showed the perfect example of obedience to the Father’s will, as mentioned, how He was tasked to be the One to liberate the whole world and to redeem everyone through the bearing of the burdens of our sins on the Cross. The Lord, Who was without any blame or sin, was forced to bear the burden and punishments of the sins of everyone else, but He did this willingly and obediently, to show us all what it truly means to be a disciple and follower of God, and what it means to be truly faithful in our lives. He also showed us all the perfect example of love, manifesting before each one of us the perfect love that God has always had for us, a love that is ever enduring and strong despite the disobedience and stubborn attitudes that we often showed to Him.

Therefore, as Christians, as God’s followers and disciples, all of us are expected to follow in the good examples that our Lord and Master Himself has shown us, in His ever patient and wonderful love, and in how we should continue to devote ourselves thoroughly to His cause, resisting the temptations of this world, the desires for worldly pleasures, ambitions and attachments that can lead us astray from the path towards righteousness in God. God has given us the perfect means for us to reach out to Him and that is through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Himself, Whose loving and most selfless sacrifice on the Cross has opened for us the path to the salvation in God, the reconciliation and reunion with our loving God and Father. And just as the Lord Himself has shown us the example of faith, love and obedience, then we should also do the same in our lives as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be good and exemplary Christians in all things, not just in mere words but also in our everyday living and actions. Let us all be ever more committed and courageous in doing God’s will and in carrying out whatever it is that He has entrusted to us to do, so that by our good examples and actions, we may grow ever stronger in our faith and conviction to follow and serve Him at every moments in our lives, and be more strengthened and encouraged despite the trials and challenges that we may have to face in our journey of life. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.