Tuesday

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Tuesday, 19 November 2024 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Revelations 3 : 1-6, 14-22

Write this to the Angel of the Church in Sardis, “Thus says He Who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars : ‘I know your worth : you think you live but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen that which is not already dead. For I have found your works to be imperfect in the sight of My God.”

“‘Remember what you were taught; keep it and change your ways. If you do not repent I will come upon you like a thief at an hour you least expect. Yet, there are some left in Sardis who have not soiled their robes; these will come with Me, dressed in white, since they deserve it. The victor will be dressed in white and I will never erase his name from the book of life; instead, I will acknowledge it before My Father and His Angels.'”

“‘Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.'”

Write this to the Angel of the Church in Laodicea, “Thus says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation : ‘I know your works : you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! You are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold so I will spit you out of My mouth.'”

“‘You think you are rich and have piled up so much that you need nothing, but you do not realise that you are wretched and to be pitied, poor, blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold that has been tested by fire, so that you may be rich, and white clothes to wear so that your nakedness may not shame you, and ointment for your eyes that you may see. I reprimand and correct all those I love. Be earnest and change your ways.'”

“‘Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My call and open the door, I will come in to you and have supper with you, and you with Me. I will let the victor sit with Me on My throne just as I was victorious and took My place with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.'”

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must always continue to live our lives well in the manner that the Lord has shown and taught us. We must always be righteous and good in all of our words, actions and deeds, so that the Lord will find us all to be worthy and just, worthy of the eternal life and true happiness that He has promised to each one of us. As Christians, it is expected that all of us should always be full of faith and zeal in living our lives, in each and every moments in them to be truly shining and worthy beacons of God’s light and grace. And if we are truly God’s people, His followers and disciples, then we should always live our lives with God’s teachings and truth at the forefront in our lives at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Titus, we heard of the words of St. Paul to his protege, who was one of the first bishops of the Church as the successors of the Apostles that they and all the other faithful people of God must always be good, virtuous and faithful to the Lord so that in all their daily living, each and every one of them, in their own respective capacities and parts of the community they were living in that they may become worthy bearers of Christ’s truth and Good News to everyone they encountered and interacted with. They have to be truly devoted to God through their faithful observance and living of the Lord’s Law and commandments, and by showing Christian charity and virtue in all the things that they say and do.

To be Christians, it is always important for all of us to be truly faithful to God, not just in appearances and formality, not just in words and proclamations, but also in all of our every actions and deeds, in our every good works and contributions, our every encounter with everyone around us, those whom we meet in our daily lives. As Christians, all of us ought to be good, worthy and righteous in all things, to strive to do what the Lord has called and commanded us all to do, to be truly devoted to Him in all things, doing our very best so that our whole lives may indeed be full of virtue and goodness, that through us, many more people will come to know the Lord and believe in Him, experiencing His love and grace, His kindness, compassion and mercy through our own loving actions, words and deeds.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples highlighting the fact and reality that we are all servants of the Lord, our Master and each and every one of us should always remember that we should only do what our Lord and Master has wanted and called us to do, and then at the same time, we should not be conceited and proud, thinking that we deserve more things or that we ought to have more just because of our actions, works and deeds, or end up demanding the Lord to reward us for whatever we have done in His Name, in our obedience and contributions to the Church and the works of salvation, our many missions and outreach to everyone around us.

It is a reminder for us that salvation in a grace from God for us, and we are saved by our faith in Him, which we make alive and genuine through our actions and works, our contributions and efforts in life. But we are not saved solely through our own efforts and works, as without true and genuine faith in God, those efforts and works are meaningless. Similarly, faith that is not made alive, real and manifest through active contributions, actions and genuine Christian virtues, efforts and works is also dead and meaningless. Hence, we are all reminded today that we must always put the Lord our God at the centre and as the focus of our whole lives and existence. Then, at the same time, we must also actively live our lives as Christians, in following the Lord ever more courageously and faithfully at all times, obeying Him in all the Law and commandments He had presented to us, and answering His call to us, that He made to each one of us.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a faithful and holy servant of God, who as bishop of the Church was truly a courageous and dedicated servant of God, being martyred for his faith against all those who refused to listen to reason and embrace the true teachings of the Church and the unity of the Church against all the divisions that had brought about much harm to the Church and the faithful. St. Josaphat was one of the Eastern Orthodox bishops in Ruthenia, what is today part of Poland and Ukraine, where he was one of the leaders of the faithful people of God. Amidst the efforts of the time in that region to reconcile the divided Church and the Christian communities between those who are in communion to the Pope and those who have separated themselves from the communion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, St. Josaphat rose to prominence in his efforts to bridge this gap.

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was one of the bishops who accepted the agreements of reunion between the Churches, which was also known as the Union of Brest, about four centuries ago. He worked hard to bridge the differences between all those who supported and those who refused to embrace the efforts at reunification and reconciliation between the faithful members of the Body of Christ, the Church. But he still faced a lot of opposition and rejection from many of those who refused to listen to reason and truth, and in the end, he was martyred and suffered a terrible fate as those who opposed him and his efforts at reunion of the churches mobbed and attacked him, and brutally murdered him. Nonetheless, the inspiration and courageous examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych continues to inspire many people even to this day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discerned and discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and as we have heard from the life and inspiring examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, let us all therefore be resolved to live a good and worthy life in the manner that God has called us to in each and every moments, opportunities and occasions throughout our lives. Let us all be the shining examples and role models for one another in faith in all things, and help one another to remain firmly faithful to the Lord, to be truly committed in actions and deeds, to be courageous despite all the challenges and difficulties, trials and hardships we may encounter in our journey in life. May God continue to bless us all, and may He empower us all to remain ever always in His loving presence, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 17 : 7-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner?’ No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterwards.'”

“Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I do not think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.'”

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 36 : 3-4, 18 and 23, 27 and 29

For they will fade as any green herb and soon be gone like withered grass.

The Lord watches over the lives of the upright; forever will their inheritance abide. The Lord is the One Who makes people stand, He gives firmness to those He likes.

Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. The righteous will possess the land; they will make it their home forever.

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Tuesday, 12 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Titus 2 : 1-8, 11-14

Let your words strengthen sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be sober, serious, wise, sound in faith, love and perseverance. The older women in like manner must behave as befits holy women, not given to gossiping or drinking wine, but as good counsellors, able to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be judicious and chaste, to take care of their households, to be kind and submissive to their husbands, lest our faith be attacked.

Encourage the young men to be self-controlled. Set them an example by your own way of doing. Let your teaching be earnest and sincere, and your preaching beyond reproach. Then your opponents will feel ashamed and will have nothing to criticise.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, teaching us to reject an irreligious way of life and worldly greed, and to live in this world as responsible persons, upright and serving God, while we await our blessed hope – the glorious manifestation of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus. He gave Himself for us, to redeem us from every evil and to purify a people He wanted to be His own and dedicated to what is good.

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Tuesday, 5 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all presented with the important reminder for all of us not to allow ourselves to be swayed by all the false leads and temptations of this world which may bring us into the wrong paths and directions in life, as all those things may hinder us from truly being able to embrace God’s path wholeheartedly and prevent us from accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour, from following the path that He has shown us and from coming close to the salvation which He has generously provided, granted and reassured to us all these while. Our inability to detach ourselves from the various worldly attachments and distractions is a major reason for us to keep falling into the path of sin.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Philippi in what is today part of Greece, we heard of the Apostle reminding the people of God there to be faithful and obedient to God in the same manner as how Christ has been obedient to the will of His heavenly Father, and just as how He has shown us what it truly means to be a people whom God had called and chosen. The Lord showed us all of these through His willing acceptance of the role that He has been entrusted with by His Father, that is to become the Mediator of a New Covenant between God and mankind, and to be the One through Whom all of us mankind are to be saved and liberated from the dominion of sin and evil.

First of all, we have to understand that we have suffered sin and its consequences in the first place because of our refusal to obey the Lord and as we had preferred to follow the whim of our own desires and worldly ambitions, all of which had led us into this path of rebellion and disobedience, separating and sundering us away from the Lord, from His love and grace. had made us to disobey the Lord and His commandments, leading us to be corrupted by sin, and hence, defiled and corrupted as we are, we can no longer stay in the presence of the Lord, He Who is all Holy and perfect, and in Whose Presence sin and corruption of the world cannot exist or stand. That is why, by our own conscious choice to abandon God and to embrace the path of sin, we have ended up being separated and sundered away from God’s love and grace. Yet, the Lord has never given up on us, and He has given us none other than His own Son, so that if we desire knowledge, glory and power of the Lord that led us to sin, by His selfless giving and show of perfect obedience, He may lead us all back to Himself.

Through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Lord has made available to us the sure path towards His salvation and eternal grace, opening the doors of His rich and most generous mercy, love and compassion, calling on all of us to come back to Him and to follow the examples showed by His Son, to be obedient and humble in our ways, so that through our humility and obedience, we may finally be freed from the dominion of sin, evil and darkness around us. God has always loved us all and He has always sought for the reconciliation between us and Himself. This is why we must not resist anymore or be ignorant of the efforts that He has made to bring us back to His loving Presence. He wants us to walk down this path of forgiveness and reconciliation, and if we continue to disobey and disregard His love, then in the end, we will regret our course of action.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, which was taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard the parable that the Lord Jesus used to teach the people, in which the story of how many of the people that a man had invited to come to his banquet refused to come and attend the banquet due to their various excuses and reasons, as they used those excuses to tell the envoy and messengers the host sent out that they could not come to the banquet despite having been invited to come to it. Essentially, each one of them were putting their own personal reasons and actions, their own attachments above the rich and wonderful banquet that they had been invited to attend, which they did not have to pay for at all, not even for a single cent.

We heard then how the host was furious at the rejection and refusals shown by those invited guests, and he told his servants to go out to the streets and to invite all those who were there to his banquet, to gather everyone to come to his table where he would provide for them rich and wonderful food and drink. This is in fact a metaphor for our own situation, as we all have been invited to God’s holy Presence, to come together and to enjoy the glorious inheritance that He has prepared for all of us. But many of us had disregarded His calling and generous offer, much like those ungrateful and wicked invited guests that had snubbed the host and refused to come to the banquet to attend to their own personal ambitions and things.

Therefore, it is a reminder fo all of us that if we put our own worldly ambitions and desires, our attachments to worldly matters and pursuits, all these above that of obeying God’s Law and commandments, and if we allow our many distractions and temptations present around us to lead us away from the Lord and His path towards salvation and eternal life, then we shall share in the fate of all those who have refused to attend the banquet that they had been generously invited into. Those who have fallen into Hell and damnation are those who have consciously refused the Lord and rejected His generous offer of love and mercy, and it is not God Who condemns us and strikes us down, but rather, our own wickedness and sins, and our own stubborn attitude, our rebelliousness and disobedience are what will condemn us into an eternity of darkness and destruction.

Let us all therefore abandon this prideful and wicked attitudes we have, be more humble and welcoming towards the Lord and His generous love. Let us turn away from our sins and evils, and embrace wholeheartedly the love of God, the kindness, compassion and mercy which He has generously poured down upon us. Let us remember the love of God shown to us through His beloved Son, His loving sacrifice on the Cross, which He has freely and willingly given to us, so that through Him, we may all have a part in the eternal and most joyful banquet of Heaven, which we shall all partake, and we will all be sharing in the love and wonders of the Lord forever. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to empower us to live ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 15-24

At that time, upon hearing the words of Jesus, one of those at the table said to Him, “Happy are those who eat at the banquet in the kingdom of God!”

Jesus replied, “A man once gave a feast and invited many guests. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those he had invited to come, for everything was ready. But all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘Please excuse me. I must go and see the piece of land I have just bought.'”

“Another said, ‘I am sorry, but I am on my way to try out the five yoke of oxen I have just bought.’ Still another said, ‘How can I come, when I have just got married?'”

“The servant returned alone, and reported this to his master. Upon hearing his account, the master of the house flew into a rage, and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly, into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'”

“The servant reported after a while, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out, but there is still room.’ The master said, ‘Go out to the highways and country lanes, and force people to come in, to ensure that my house is full. I tell you, none of those invited will have a morsel of my feast.'”

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Tuesday, 5 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 21 : 26b-27, 28, 29-30a, 30c-32

I will fulfil my vows before all who revere You. The lowly will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

The whole earth will acknowledge and turn to the Lord; the families of nations will worship Him.

For dominion belongs to YHVH and He reigns over the nations. Before Him all those who rest in the earth will bow down, all who go down to the dust.

My soul will live for Him. My descendants will serve Him and proclaim the Lord to coming generations; they will announce His salvation to a people yet unborn, “These are the things that He has done.”

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Tuesday, 5 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 2 : 5-11

Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had : Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in His appearance found as a Man.

He humbled Himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted Him and gave Him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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Tuesday, 29 October 2024 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that as Christians, each one of us must always cultivate good faith in the Lord and inculcate in each and every actions and parts of our lives good attitudes and behaviours in accordance to what the Lord Himself had told us to do, and then also provide good and suitable condition for us all to grow ever stronger and more vibrant in our faith in God. This has been highlighted throughout our Scripture passages today, and all of us are reminded to continue to do our best to live our daily lives as good and faithful Christians in each and every moments, and in every interactions and actions we carry out so that we and many others may grow ever stronger in faith and draw closer to the Lord.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Ephesus, we heard of the words of the Apostle reminding all the faithful in that area to remain truly faithful to God and His Law, His commandments and teachings, especially in today’s passage context, is about the matter of family and relationships, between that of husbands and wives in their respective families, and how they and the other members of the family ought to react and behave in their various interactions with one another, and how all of them as parts of the Christian community and in their own Christian families should live their lives and carry out their actions to be truly faithful in all things in following God’s path and commandments.

At that time, the people of God and those who have embraced the Lord and His truth, His ways and teachings were living amidst many people whose ways were morally and spiritually corrupt, all those who allowed worldly vices and temptations to lead them astray from the path of virtue and righteousness. Hence, St. Paul told the faithful that they all ought to follow faithfully what the Lord Himself had told His disciples and passed through His Church, in all the rules and obligations that they ought to follow so that they may truly live a genuinely Christian way of living, in devoting their time and efforts to be good role models and examples for everyone around them, to show them how one ought to live as a follower of Christ and His teachings.

St. Paul also pointed out how the faithful Christian family is just like the Church in its structure, function and dynamics, and indeed up to this very day, the family is still and is always the basic unit of the Church, and are like the bricks that make up the whole structure of the Body of Christ, that is the Church. Like the Church with the various diverse people making up its parts, thus the family with the various people inside it, be it the father, mother, husband, wife, child and even extended ones like grandparents and grandchildren, all these have to work in tandem and harmony, live and coexist with love and compassion, care and concern for one another, so that not only that the family will truly function and grow well, but also the whole Church as well. If our own families are broken and are divided against each other inside, how can we expect the Church to be vibrant and strong as well?

Then, in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we also heard about the Lord speaking to His disciples and those assembled in the crowd listening to Him with two parables by which He wanted to highlight and to teach them about the Kingdom of God, and He used the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the measures of flour to highlight these ideas. The Lord liked to use these parables because first of all majority if not most of the people at that time were uneducated and illiterate, and if He had used complicated theological and intellectual terms and ways to teach the people, then they would not have understood the meaning and significance of what He wanted to tell them.

And hence, He used the examples of mustard seed and the measures of flour and yeast in the dough because many of the people were either farmers or involved in agriculture, and many of them were involved in bread-making or were familiar with the process as bread was an important core staple food of the time of the Lord. Through these He wanted to highlight to everyone who have been waiting for and expecting the coming of the Kingdom of God, which they expected the Messiah or the Saviour to bring into their midst, has actually already existed among them with the coming of the Lord, Who showed and taught them how to cultivate the Kingdom of God, that is none other than the Church, which He has established in this world.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church highlighted that the Church came forth from the Lord, with the outpouring of Blood and water that were shed on Good Friday, at the moment when the Lord in His Passion suffered and died for all of us. By uniting all of us to His humanity and by offering Himself as the perfect and worthy offering for the atonement for our sins, He has united us all as one Body and community of believers, all those who share in the promise of everlasting life, the Church of God, the Kingdom of God manifested in this world. However, as the parables of the Lord mentioned today showed us, that to grow and manifest the Church, there is a need for us all to cultivate lives that are truly good, righteous and worthy of God in all circumstances and occasions.

Those who are familiar with agriculture will know that for seeds to be able to grow into a healthy and good plant, those seeds will need to receive the right condition, of having enough water, warmth and oxygen from the air, and also afterwards constantly being provided with the loving care and maintenance by the one who planted it. Similarly, in order to make the bread dough to rise properly and become a good quality and delicious bread, the dough has to be put under the right condition, being added with yeast and deprived of oxygen so that the fermentation of the sugars in the bread can be done properly and the bread will rise and form into a good and proper bread, one that is truly desired, soft and full of flavour.

Therefore, in this same manner, in order for us to grow in faith and to be ever closer to God, to be better Christians we will have to strive to provide the best conditions available so that we may nurture our faith in the Lord, especially within our families and among those who are close and dear to us, linking to what we have discussed earlier from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians. We should do this through constant and meaningful prayer life and practice, both personally and together within our families, our circles of friends and relatives, and more. We should also continue to show genuine love to one another, forgiving each other our mistakes and imperfections, our faults and flaws, our trespasses and sins. As Christians we must always be full of love and compassion, mercy and kindness just as Our Lord Himself has been full of these for us.

Therefore, let us all continue to strive to grow in our faith in God, doing whatever we can so that by our lives and dedication to Him, we may always show good examples and be inspiration for everyone around us, teaching and showing all on how we should live our lives as Christians in all things. Let us all continue to nurture our faith and give ourselves the best condition that we may continue to be inspired to follow God at all times. And may the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our path, and may He continue to bless us in all and everything that we say and do, in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.