Tuesday

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops, Holy Virgins and Doctors of the Church)

1 Corinthians 12 : 12-14, 27-31a

As the body is one, having many members, and all the members, while being many, form one body, so it is with Christ. All of us, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, have been baptised in one Spirit, to form one Body, and all of us have been given, to drink from the one Spirit. The Body has not just one member, but many.

Now, you are the Body of Christ, and each of you, individually, is a member of it. So God has appointed us in the Church. First Apostles, second prophets, third teachers. Then come miracles, then the gift of healing, material help, administration in the Church and the gift of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Can all perform miracles, or cure the sick, or speak in tongues, or explain what was said in tongues? Be that as it may, set your hearts on the most precious gifts.

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Tuesday, 10 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us have been reminded by the Lord Himself that we should be righteous in all the things that we say and do throughout our whole lives, and we should be exemplary in how we carry out our actions throughout our lives that we may indeed be good and worthy role models, inspirations and strength for one another in faith. All of us have been reminded that as God’s people we must always live in accordance with His ways and adhere closely to Him and the path that He has shown us. We cannot contradict our faith with our wayward and wicked way of life and actions, which would have led us into the path towards our downfall and make us no better than hypocrites and unbelievers.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth in which we are reminded that first of all, each one of us as Christians must always strive to live our lives away from the corruptions and wickedness of the world. All of us must be faithful to the teachings and ways of the Lord, observing wholeheartedly everything that He has called us all to do in completing His commandments and in walking down the path of righteousness and virtue. We must not give in to the temptations of evil and sin, of the corruptions of the flesh and worldliness which are always all around us, threatening to lead us all down the path towards ruin and destruction.

At the same time, we must also not be divided against each other, fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, all of us fellow Christians, holy people of God. As one flock of the Lord’s people, His called and chosen ones, we must strive to live in harmony, respecting one another and caring for our fellow brethren. As what St. Paul had exhorted the Christians who lived in Corinth, each and every one of them must not accuse one another and hand over their fellow brethren to the pagan judges to be punished. They should instead settle their disagreements and divisions within their community, doing the best they could to restore the harmony and peace in the community of God’s faithful people. He reminded them all how those who were wicked and did not follow God’s Law and commandments would have to face the just consequences of their wickedness and be punished for their sins.

Hence, that is why, each and every one of them, and hence, all of us as Christians should keep ourselves away from all sorts of immorality and corruptions of worldly desires, ambitions, from the allures of our human pride, ego and greed, from all the things that can easily lead us astray and bring us all to our downfall if we are not careful and vigilant. All of us have been bestowed with the blessings and grace of God, given and entrusted with His truth and love, and we should therefore commit ourselves to be filled with God’s love and to carry out our lives with great love and compassion for one another instead of with anger, jealousy and hatred. And instead of pride and greed, let us all be humble and be generous in giving and sharing our blessings and riches with one another, that everyone may be truly equally blessed by God.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded that each and every one of us share in the ministry of the Lord and His Apostles and disciples, whom He had called and chosen from this world to be the ones to proclaim His truth, His messages and Good News to all the people of all the nations. As we heard in that passage, the Lord called and named His twelve most important and trusted among the disciples, the ones who would be known as the Twelve Apostles, except that of the traitor, Judas Iscariot. Each and every one of them were introduced by their names, and they would feature prominently throughout the Lord’s ministry, as they all assisted the Lord in many occasions and became the ones to do part of His many works and actions, being sent out with the other disciples to prepare the way for the Lord.

We have also then heard of part of what the Lord had done in His ministry, as He went about many places, teaching many among the people who have come to seek Him, proclaiming the Good News and salvation of God to them all. He taught them all patiently and showed them His compassionate care and love. There were indeed many things that the Lord had done for the sake of His beloved ones, and He has entrusted the same mission and outreach to His disciples and followers as well. And all of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, those whom He had called and chosen to be His own, we should also strive to do whatever He has commanded and taught us to do, so that our lives, in each and every moments may always be filled with true faith and obedience to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our best to love and serve the Lord, and to do our part in helping and guiding our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Let us all not be distracted anymore by any kind of worldly pursuits, attachments and excesses all around us. Instead, let us all strengthen our commitment to God and our love for Him, and let us all, in each and every moments of our lives be truly inspirational and exemplary, through the many virtuous and good words, actions and deeds we carried out. Let us all be true and worthy bearers of God’s light and grace at all times, in every opportunities that God has presented and given generously to us. Let us continue to walk faithfully in His Holy Presence now and always.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to bless and guide us in our journey through life so that we may always be strong amidst the various temptations and challenges that we may have to face in our journey together as Christians, as God’s holy and chosen people, and as His disciples and followers, having been entrusted with the important missions to proclaim His Good News and truth, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 12-19

At that time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, He called His disciples to Him, and chose Twelve of them, whom He called ‘Apostles’ : Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.

Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of His disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And people troubled by unclean spirits were cured.

The entire crowd tried to touch Him, because of the power that went out from Him and healed them all.

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Tuesday, 10 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 149 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise in the assembly of His saints! Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let the people of Zion glory in their King!

Let them dance to praise of His Name and make music for Him with harp and timbrel. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the lowly with victory.

The saints will exult in triumph; even at night on their couches. Let the praise of God be on their lips; this is the glory of all His saints. Alleluia!

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Tuesday, 10 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 6 : 1-11

When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring it before pagan judges, instead of bringing it before God’s people? Do you not know, that you shall one day judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you incapable of judging such simple problems?

Do you not know, that we will even judge the Angels? And could you not decide everyday affairs? But when you have ordinary cases to be judged, you bring them before those who are of no account in the Church! Shame on you! Is there not even one among you wise enough to be the arbiter among believers?

But no. One of you brings a suit against another one, and files that suit before unbelievers. It is already a failure that you have suits against each other. Why do you not rather suffer wrong and receive some damage? But no. You wrong and injure others, and those are your brothers and sisters. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Make no mistake about it : those who lead sexually immoral lives, or worship idols, or who are adulterers, perverts, sodomites, or thieves, exploiters, drunkards, slanderers or embezzlers will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Some of you were like that, but you have been cleansed, and consecrated to God and have been set right with God, by the Name of the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit of our God.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should always put our trust in the Wisdom of God which He has imparted to us through His Holy Spirit, the Advocate, Whom He has sent to us to dwell within us and to empower us all, through His Church and Apostles, through their successors, our bishops and the priests whom He has called and chosen to serve Him and His people, that is all of us. Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord has sent His guidance to us all so that all of us may come towards Him, embracing Him and His love, His path and His truth, that we are no longer lost from Him, and are worthy to receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and glory. We should always allow ourselves to be guided and led by Him, and not by our earthly desires.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth, continuing the series of discourses by the Apostle to the Corinthians which we have heard in the past few days. We heard of how the Lord had sent His Spirit into our midst, revealing to us His Wisdom, and through this Wisdom, showing us all the things that we need to do in order to follow the Lord most faithfully and genuinely. However, many of the people chose to trust in their own power and judgment and hence, they remained oblivious and unwilling to accept the truth, the reality and the teachings which the Lord Himself has presented before each and every one of them. That is because they chose to depend on their own wisdom and power instead of trusting in God.

The Lord has shown us all His Wisdom, and passed them to us through His Church, and as Christians, each and every one of us as God’s holy and beloved people like that of the Corinthians are reminded again and again that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, by our pride and ego, especially if we think that we know it better than others. We must not let the temptations of our worldly knowledge and wisdom to lead us astray, bringing us down the wrong path in life as we choose to side with the flawed and mistaken ways of the world rather than to trust in the Lord and His ever patient guidance and help. All of us should strive to continue to be open-minded and to be willing to listen to the Lord speaking to us, giving us His Wisdom and guidance in all things.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord was teaching to the people in Capernaum in Galilee when a man possessed by evil spirits came to Him and disturbed His session, proclaiming loudly before everyone that he knew Who the Lord Jesus truly was, that is the Holy One of God, the Son of God and the Messiah. As manipulative and dangerous the evil spirits were in harming us and in possessing that man, and as malicious as the evil spirits’ intent might have been, they could not lie but speak the truth about the One Who was before them, the One Whom God Himself has sent into this world to save each and every one of us.

It was indeed a great irony that while many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there and witnessed the many miracles and wonderful deeds that the Lord had done, and all the wisdom and words which He had spoken, and doubting Him and His truth, questioning His authority and authenticity, yet, it was the evil spirits that proclaimed the Lord and spoke the truth about Him, albeit with some malicious intents in doing so. Those evil spirits still tried to disturb the Lord’s works, as knowing that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were against the Lord and His claim to the Divinity of the Son of God, by doing so, they could disturb His works and made Him to face opposition from the Pharisees and the other enemies of the Lord.

But the fact remains that they acknowledged the Lord and spoke the truth about Him while those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who took great pride in their knowledge and sense of superiority over others around them, refused to listen to Him or to acknowledge His truth. Their pride and ego, their worldly knowledge and wisdom which they depended on very much prevented them from accepting the truth with humility and grace, and thus was why they continued to oppose the Lord despite having witnessed for themselves again and again, what wonders and miracles the Lord had done, and hearing all the wisdom and great teachings that the Lord had spoken and taught before all of them. This is what we must not do ourselves as Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great, a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church, who dedicated himself to the Lord and to His people, carrying out many great and wonderful works for the benefit of the people of God. Pope St. Gregory the Great was born as the son of a Roman senator during the years when the Roman Empire just restored their rule over Rome after several decades of rule by the Germanic kingdoms. He lived in a monastery that he established within his Roman estate and was quite involved in the Roman matters and governance, and his grandfather was also elected as an earlier Pope. He was well-educated and became a government official, and then ordained as a deacon and becoming the Roman ambassador to the Imperial court in Constantinople.

After his years of experience as the ambassador of Rome to the Imperial court, eventually Pope St. Gregory the Great was elected as the successor of St. Peter, and immediately he began to embark on a great campaign to reform the Roman Church and also participate in the leadership over the Universal Church. Pope St. Gregory the Great was deeply involved in many theological disputes and matters of that time, and he also actively contributed to the works of the evangelisation, as he was well-known for sending many missionaries to many parts of the world where there were still no established existence of Christianity and its beliefs, such as parts of Germania and also Britain and Ireland, where he sent St. Augustine of Canterbury and other saints and missionaries to work the rich vineyard of the Lord.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was also well-renowned for his contributions to the reform of the Church liturgy and worship practices, known well for the origins of the Gregorian liturgy and chants, among others. Through his tireless efforts and works, Western Christianity as we are all familiar with today began to come to be, uniting the various divided factions and diverse practices of the early Christian Church, and helping the faithful to overcome the temptations of worldly pride and glory, trusting completely in the Lord and following Him, as this truly great Pope and servant of God helped to lead so many people back towards the Lord, to His love and truth, to His salvation and eternal life that He has promised, committing himself thoroughly to the end of his life.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and hopefully been inspired by the great story and examples showed by Pope St. Gregory the Great and having discussed and discerned the message of the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all therefore do our best to live our lives with full trust in the Lord and His Wisdom just as Pope St. Gregory the Great and many other holy men and women, saints of God had done before us. Let our lives be truly faithful and committed to the Lord in all things, and let us continue to do God’s will as much as possible in our daily living and actions, now and always, being good and worthy inspiration to one another. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 4 : 31-37

At that time, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings. They were astonished at the way He taught them, for His word was spoken with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I recognise You : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm. Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”

And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 144 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14

Compassionate and gracious is YHVH, slow to anger and abounding in love. YHVH is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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Tuesday, 3 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 2 : 10b-16

Because the Spirit probes everything, even the depth of God. Who, but his own spirit, knows the secrets of a person? Similarly, no one, but the Spirit of God, knows the secrets of God. We have not received the spirit of world, but the Spirit Who comes from God and, through Him, we understand what God, in His goodness, has given us.

So we speak of this, not in terms inspired by human wisdom, but in a language taught by the Spirit, explaining a spiritual wisdom to spiritual persons. The one who remains on the psychological level does not understand the things of the Spirit. They are foolishness for him; and he does not understand, because they require a spiritual experience.

On the other hand, the spiritual person judges everything, but no one judges him. Who has known the mind of God so as to teach Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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Tuesday, 27 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scriptures where we heard about the continuation of the discourse on the woes of the Pharisees in our Gospel passage today as the Lord continued on His criticism and rebuke on the Pharisees, the religious elite of the Jewish community who often opposed the Lord in His ministry and works, as well as the exhortation by St. Paul to the faithful people of God in Thessalonica on how they ought to stand firm to their faith in God, not allowing themselves to be easily swayed by falsehoods and temptations around them, to prevent them from falling into sin. Through all these, we are all reminded that we should continue to be faithful as Christians in all of our lives and actions, to be truly faithful to God and not merely be outwardly pious but having no love for God in us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, in what is now part of Greece, continuing from what we heard in yesterday’s passage, the Apostle reminded the people of God not to be easily swayed and tempted by various false messages and misleading details which might tempt them to give up their faith in God. That is why the people of God must have strong and enduring faith to persevere amidst the various challenges, trials and temptations surrounding them. There were a lot of misleading teachings and messages going around even since the very earliest days of the Church as evidenced in that Epistle that St. Paul wrote and sent to the Thessalonians. There were quite a few of those who tried to appropriate Church and Christian teachings to suit their own agenda.

That was why they mixed parts of the Christian teachings and truth with their own misinformation and ideas, which resulted in not few among the Christians to be swayed into their erroneous and heretical paths. St. Paul was working hard against all those heretics and all the false prophets and messengers, all those irresponsible and wicked people who sought to lead the people of God into the wrong paths for their own selfish agenda and benefits. He persevered through the challenges to slowly and patiently guide the people of God to return back once again to Him, and to return to the path of virtue and righteousness, abandoning whatever wrong and misguided ideas that they had been exposed to through those false leaders and heretics.

In our Gospel passage today, as mentioned earlier we heard from the we heard the continuation of the woes and criticism, rebuke and words that the Lord Jesus had against the Pharisees, who were the religious elites of the Jewish community at that time. The Pharisees often looked down on others around them and considered themselves as superior in matters of faith and piety, as the guardians of the Law and commandments of God. They also adopted a rather strict interpretation of God’s Law, the Law revealed through His servant Moses, and this brought great difficulties upon the people as many of them had to face tough challenges and hardships amidst obeying the many precepts and tenets of the Law of God.

What the Lord harshly criticised and rebuked the Pharisees for is their inconsistency in applying the rules of the Law, which were meant to advantage and benefit themselves. The Pharisees liked to parade their piety and obedience to God, their prayers and practices, but they themselves did not truly obey and follow the Law of God faithfully and sincerely as they should have done. Worse still, they also made it difficult for many others to follow the Lord and closed the doors to many of those whom they judged and deemed to be unworthy, being prejudiced and biased against those like the prostitutes and the tax collectors, those afflicted with diseases and possessed by evil spirits among others.

All these people were ostracised by the Pharisees and the rest of the Jewish community, but the irony is that they were the ones who were seeking the Lord the most earnestly and hence were closer to the Lord’s salvation than the Pharisees themselves. Those Pharisees were blinded and misguided by their own ego and pride, by their own mistaken knowledge and understanding of the Law, which is similar to what St. Paul had warned and advised the faithful in Thessalonica against, that they must not fall into this wrong path, to the path that does not lead towards God. This is why we are also reminded not to walk down this path, and we should indeed spend more time to connect ourselves well to the Lord and to renew our faith in Him. We should also help one another to remain true to our faith in God.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Monica, the mother of the well-known St. Augustine of Hippo, and who is the patron saint of mothers. St. Monica is a truly great saint who can be our great inspiration in how we should live our lives as faithful and holy people of God, in her tireless commitment to her son, her prayers and patience in guiding him towards the Lord. St. Monica was a Christian married to a Roman pagan influential man, and her son, St. Augustine of Hippo was a brilliant young man, but he was easily influenced by the many debauched and wicked influences of his time, and became a Manichaean, indulging himself in all sorts of wicked behaviours and even fathered a child out of wedlock. One can only imagine the frustrations that St. Monica might have to experience.

And yet, St. Monica went through it all patiently, always there to pray and support her son, praying for his conversion and change of heart. Slowly but surely, this impacted the members of her family, beginning from her husband, who converted to be a Christian before he passed away, and then St. Augustine of Hippo himself, who was called by God and then, under the tutelage of St. Ambrose of Milan, finally embraced the Christian faith and the Lord fully, abandoning his past wicked way of life. St. Monica was by her son’s side throughout the whole entire journey, and has always shown her love to him, reminding us all what it means for us to be a Christian and a disciple of Christ, in how we ought to love one another and to help one another in our path towards the Lord’s salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our best to proclaim the Lord ever more faithfully in our whole lives, and do our part as Christians to be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to bless and guide us in our journey, strengthening us all to walk ever more faithfully in His path, now and always. Amen.