Tuesday

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Tuesday, 17 October 2023 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 1 : 16-25

For I am not ashamed at all, of this Good News; it is God’s power, saving those who believe, first, the Jews, and then, the Greeks. This Good News shows us the saving justice of God; a justice that saves, exclusively by faith, as the Scripture says : The upright one shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness, and injustice, of those who have silenced the truth by their wicked ways. For everything that could have been known about God, was clear to them : God Himself made it plain. Because His invisible attributes – His everlasting power and divinity – are made visible to reason, by means of His works, since the creation of the world.

So they have no excuse, for they knew God, and did not glorify Him, as was fitting; nor did they give thanks to Him. On the contrary, they lost themselves in their reasoning, and darkness filled their minds. Believing themselves wise, they became foolish : they exchanged the glory of the Immortal God, for the likes of mortal human beings, birds, animals and reptiles. Because of this, God gave them up to their inner cravings; they did shameful things and dishonoured their bodies.

They exchanged God’s truth for a lie; they honoured and worshipped created things, instead of the Creator, to Whom be praise forever. Amen!

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Tuesday, 10 October 2023 : 27th 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 Scriptures, we are all reminded today to have a listening ear to God’s words and call in our hearts and minds. God has spoken to us in various ways, and He has always reached out to us patiently, urging and leading us all to return to His path once again. He wants all of us to be reconciled with Him, and He wants each and every one of us to be filled with love and grace once again, to be truly worthy of everything that He has prepared for us, meant for us and wanted us to inherit from the very beginning of it all. All of us as God’s beloved people are reminded today through these Scripture passages to be ever more willing to heed God’s words, reminders, and His will for us, as He has always constantly reminded us in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah in which the announcement of Nineveh’s downfall and destruction was made by the prophet Jonah against that proud and mighty city, which was the then capital of the aggressive and expansionist Assyrian Empire. The Lord announced His judgment against Nineveh and its people, because of all the wickedness which they had done, and delivered it to them through Jonah. We heard how the Assyrians in Nineveh, right from its king, all the way down to the simplest, humblest and smallest among its inhabitants all immediately humbled themselves before the Lord and made public show of repentance and regret for their sins. They clearly also seemed to genuinely repentant over their sins, of having committed many wicked deeds prior to that, and even if not, contextually for such proud people and nation, at the pinnacle of their glory, to humble themselves in such a way was truly unprecedented.

What matters is that, those people of Nineveh, the great and proud city of the Assyrians, were willing to listen to the Lord, and change their ways, that while they were truly wicked, evil and sinful in what they had done previously, in disregarding God’s Law and His ways, in committing atrocities and a lot of evil deeds, but they were willing to repent from those sinful deeds and actions, and publicly showed remorse for those wickedness. Through all of these, we are all reminded that first of all, God never despised any one of us, as what He despised is our sins and wickedness, our evil deeds and actions, and not us as individual persons, after all, God has created us because of His love for us.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story of what happened when the Lord Jesus visited the house of His friends, Mary and Martha. Mary and Martha were the sisters of Lazarus, whom the Lord would resurrect from the dead, and they were quite close to the Lord. We heard how Martha was very busy preparing everything for the Lord, which we can assume to be activities and chores like cooking, cleaning among other things. Meanwhile, as we heard that Mary, Martha’s sister, chose to sit and listen to the Lord teaching and speaking to her. Martha became annoyed at her sister and told the Lord to tell her sister to give her some help, only for the Lord to lightly rebuke her and said that Martha herself should do what is important, and that is to welcome the Lord and listen to Him, spending quality time with Him rather than being distracted by the many tasks and preparations that had to be done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it does not mean that whatever things which Martha had done was bad, sinful or terrible. In fact, as we heard from the Scriptures, it was quite evident that Martha genuinely busied herself with the preparations and all the chores because she really wanted to give the Lord a proper welcome, and she did all of them out of good intent and purposes. However, in her focus and attempts to do her best in achieving her efforts to please the Lord in her hospitality, it was likely that Martha was too focused on her work and ended up forgetting what truly matters in the end, that is the Lord Himself, that instead of spending good and quality time with Him, she ended up spending more time and focus on all those chores and work instead.

That is why, as we reflect upon these words from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all keep in mind of the need for us to listen to the Lord and to open our minds and hearts that we may truly communicate with Him, and place Him once again at the centre and as the focus of our lives and attention. Without this focus, we will easily end up being distracted by the many things, attachments and concerns present all around us, that we may end up walking down the wrong path, losing our focus and attention on the Lord, His ways and teachings, which we should have been following throughout our lives. The Lord wants to remind us that we should always keep our focus on Him, and try our best not to be easily distracted by the many temptations and distractions present in the world all around us.

How do we do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? First of all, we should have the humility to realise that we all need God in our lives, and that we need His wisdom and love, His grace and compassion, at all times. We need to remind ourselves that our lives do not just revolve around ourselves, and we cannot exist without God. We have to keep ourselves, our attention and our gaze towards the Lord, desiring to be reunited with Him and to walk in His path as always. We should keep ourselves away from the path of disobedience, sin and evil, and guard ourselves, being ever vigilant so that we may not fall into temptations and the allures of false pleasures and glory, which may cause us to be corrupted by the falsehoods and lies that the evil one and all those seeking our downfall and destruction had spread to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive from now on to do God’s will in all opportunities and at all times, and let us all be the good inspiration and examples for one another, in how we live our lives so that we may always be exemplary in our path and in how we commit ourselves with devotion to God. May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey and path towards Him, so that we may inspire many others, and we may truly live our lives worthily as good and faithful Christians, in all times and opportunities. May all of us be good role models and be good and shining beacons of God’s light and truth to all the others present in this whole world. May God bless us all and may He help us in our path and journey, all throughout our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 10 : 38-42

At that time, as Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He entered a village, and a woman called Martha welcomed Him to her house. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to His words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving, and finally she said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me!”

But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

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Tuesday, 10 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 7bc-8

Out of the depths I cry to You, o YHVH, o YHVH, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.

If You should mark our evil, o YHVH, who could stand? But with You, is forgiveness, and for that, You are revered.

For with Him, is unfailing love and with Him full deliverance. He will deliver Israel from all its sins.

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Tuesday, 10 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jonah 3 : 1-10

The word of YHVH came to Jonah a second time : “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and announce to them the message I give you.”

In obedience to the word of YHVH, Jonah went to Nineveh. It was a very large city, and it took three days just to cross it. So Jonah walked a single day’s journey and began proclaiming, “Forty days more and Nineveh will be destroyed.”

The people of the city believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. Upon hearing the news, the king of Nineveh got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. He issued a proclamation throughout Nineveh :

“By the decree of the king and his nobles, no people or beasts, herd or flock, will taste anything; neither will they eat nor drink. But let people and beasts be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call aloud to God, turn from his evil ways and violence. Who knows? God may yet relent, turn from His fierce anger and spare us.”

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not carry out the destruction He had threatened upon them.

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Tuesday, 3 October 2023 : 26th 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 Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that we should always listen to the Lord and obey His words and commandments, His Law and walk always in His path at all times. All of us should always strive to follow the Lord in everything we say and do, so that in our every actions, words and deeds, we will always be exemplary and be truly filled with faith, with inspirational examples and grace of God. Each and every one of us as Christians should be truly faithful not just in mere formality and appearances only, but we must also embody our faith truly in every aspects of our lives. We must not be idle in how we live our faith, and definitely, we cannot act in ways that are contrary to our faith and beliefs in God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Zechariah, we heard of the words of the Lord being spoken to His people, the Israelites, who had earlier on been exiled by their defeat at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The prophet Zechariah came to the people of God after they had been allowed to return to their homeland, and when they had begun to rebuild their livelihood and towns. And we heard how the prophet mentioned God’s words to His people, reminding them that He is calling on all the people, of all the whole world to come to Him, and that they, the Jewish people, was to become the examples and role models for all the others to follow, as the ones whom God had first chosen and called from among the nations.

This highlighted the fact that God does not just exclusively give His love, attention and grace upon the Israelites alone, contrary to the belief of some who thought that the Israelites and their descendants, the chosen people of God, were the only ones worthy of God and His salvation. On the contrary, God Himself had made it clear that everyone in this world who desire to seek Him and follow Him, all those who are willing to obey Him, His Law and commandments, will also be His people, and become part of the one flock and body of the believers that God would assemble, and all these had come to fruition and fulfilment through Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, through Whom everyone has been called, gathered and united as one people, as part of His one Body, the Church.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus and how He was not welcomed by a village of the Samaritans, who refused to allow Him to enter because they knew that He was on His way to Jerusalem. In order to understand and appreciate the significance of this event better, we must first understand the dynamics of the often complicated relationship and interactions between the Samaritans and the Jewish people at that time. The Samaritans were the descendants of the Israelites who once lived in the territories of the northern kingdom of Israel, and who had intermingled with the other peoples that settled in the region after the destruction of that kingdom by the Assyrians. They still practiced the belief in God, and had their own Scriptures similar to the Jewish Scriptures, but with some differences emphasising that their version of belief and faith was superior than that of the Jews.

Meanwhile, the Jewish people, who were descended from the Israelites who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, and were exiled in Babylon, and who have always centred their worship and community in Jerusalem, their Holy City and capital, contended that their faith and belief are the ones that are true, while the Samaritans were heretics, or even worse still, pagans and unbelievers. All of these differences, disagreements and misunderstandings eventually led to bitter discord and unresolved hatred between the two peoples. While the Samaritans were often welcoming and open to listening to the Lord, as shown in other parts of the Gospels, on this regard and example, when they found that the Lord was on His way to Jerusalem, they too hardened their hearts and minds like those of the Jews, in refusing to listen to the Lord and in refusing to welcome Him.

This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard these Scripture readings today, all of us are reminded that we should not allow ourselves to be easily misled and misguided by our prejudices, biases and all the other things which often kept us away from the truth of God and His love. We should not allow the devil and all those who have often tempted us with falsehoods and lies to bring us to the wrong path in life, and we certainly should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by those temptations and evils, that we end up being prejudiced and held up grudge or hatred against others, or comparing ourselves and looking down upon others simply because we think that we are somehow better than them or more worthy than they are.

Let us all instead heed God’s call faithfully once again in our hearts and minds, and be touched by His love and truth, His grace and goodness in all things. Let us all remind ourselves what it truly means for us to be Christians, that is to love the Lord our God with all of our strength, with all of our capacity and abilities, and to love in the same way to our neighbours and fellow brothers and sisters around us, not looking or focusing on our differences and disagreements, but instead striving to overcome them, and to rebuild genuine connections and fill ourselves once again with God’s generous love and kindness, with His goodness and grace. Each and every one of us as Christians should indeed be great role models of love and faith for our fellow mankind, in all of our works, actions, words and deeds.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Master continue to guide us in our journey of faith and live, and may He continue to empower and strengthen each and every one of us so that we may truly indeed glorify Him by our every efforts and actions, in all the things we do and act in our daily living. May God bless our efforts and works, and guide us all so that we may truly be worthy and good role models, and as shining beacons of His light and truth, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 October 2023 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 9 : 51-56

At that time, as the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, He made up His mind to go to Jerusalem. He sent ahead of Him some messengers, who entered a Samaritan village to prepare a lodging for Him. But the people would not receive Him, because He was on His way to Jerusalem.

Seeing this, James and John, His disciples, said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to reduce them to ashes?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.

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Tuesday, 3 October 2023 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 86 : 1-3, 4-5, 6-7

He Himself has built in in His holy mountain; YHVH prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns. Great things have been foretold of you, o City of God.

Between friends, we speak of Egypt and Babylon; and also Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia : “Here so-and-so was born.” But of Zion, it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.” For the Most High Himself has founded her.

And YHVH notes in the people’s register : “All these were also born in Zion.” And all will dance and sing joyfully for You.

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Tuesday, 3 October 2023 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Zechariah 8 : 20-23

YHVH, the God of hosts speaks, “Peoples will come from other nations, people from great cities. The inhabitants of one town will talk with those of another, and, say : ‘Come, let us go and implore the favour of YHVH, and I, too, will seek YHVH.’ Many great peoples and powerful nations will come, seeking YHVH, God of hosts, in Jerusalem and pray to Him.”

YHVH, the God of hosts assures you. “In those days, ten men of different languages spoken in various lands, will take hold of a Jew by the hem of his garment and say : We, too, want to go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

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Tuesday, 26 September 2023 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should be ever faithful to the Lord our God, in all of our lives, in all of our words and actions. We should always strive to be holy and to be faithful and committed to God, just as all of us have been expected to do as God’s holy and beloved people, whom He had called and chosen from this world to be His own. The Lord has shown all of us His ever patient and generous love, compassion and mercy, calling on all of us to turn once again towards Him, to turn our backs against our past sins and wickedness that had once separated all of us from His amazing love and kindness. He wants each and every one of us to be redeemed and to be reconciled fully with Him, so that through Him we may indeed have love and eternal life.

In our first reading today, in continuation from the reading of the Book of the prophet Ezra from yesterday, we heard of the continuing restoration of Israel, its people and fortunes after they had all been allowed to return from their exile in the distant lands of Babylon and beyond. Back then, the descendants of the people of Israel and Judah had been humiliated and made to suffer because of their own folly and disobedience, by their refusal to obey God’s will, Law and commandments, and by their wickedness and evils, in worshipping pagan gods and false idols, which made them to stumble and fall, and eventually had their cities destroyed, and the great Temple of God in Jerusalem, the House of God built by King Solomon, destroyed as well, and the Ark of the Covenant that had been with them since the time of the Exodus to disappear from their midst.

But as mentioned yesterday, God moved the heart and mind of King Cyrus of Persia, who conquered Babylon and then allowed the Israelites and their descendants to return back to their homeland and rebuild their Temple which had been destroyed decades earlier. And as we heard in today’s reading, King Darius of Persia, Cyrus’ successor, encouraged the people of God to rebuild the Temple, the House of God in Jerusalem, as the reconstruction of their homeland continued, with the reestablishment of order and the community, with the appointment of priests and those in charge of various events and festivals, as it was in the days of old when God’s Law and commandments, His festivals and events were still celebrated by the Israelites before their downfall and humiliation. This was a sign and proof of God’s continuing and enduring love and guidance for His people.

We heard of how the planning for the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of the community of the Israelites continued to go on, under the leadership of the priest and prophet Ezra, who have led the people of Israel from their exile with the other elders, reestablishing the festivals and celebrations of the Lord according to His Law, and how the people once again gathered in joy to celebrate their faith in accordance with God’s Law and commandments, with their priests and all the other functionaries and celebrants in tandem, showing that the people of God had truly been restored to the favour and grace of God, after they had once fallen from that favour by their own folly, by their wickedness, evils and disobedience against God, by their refusal of God’s ever generous love and compassionate mercy in all things.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord speaking to the people, about the matter of obeying and following God, when His disciples and family reminded Him that His mother and others were waiting on Him as He was busy teaching and ministering to the people of God. At a glance, it might seem that the Lord had been rude to His own mother, but in fact, He was highlighting that His mother, Mary herself, was and is still the perfect example of that obedience and righteousness in God, that all of us as God’s people should follow in our own lives, in doing what He had told and taught us to do, and abandoning our past sinful and wicked ways of life, just as our predecessors had done.

That is why, as we are all reminded by the Sacred Scriptures today, each and every one of us as Christians ought to be ever faithful and committed to God, exemplary and worthy in all of our lives and actions, so that in our every words and actions, we should always embody our faith in God, which should truly shine through our lives, our every words and actions in life, that then should become inspirations for everyone all around us to follow, in their own lives and actions, that all of us may indeed be genuine and faithful people of God in all things, not just in mere name and formality only. This is what we have been reminded to do, to be like the people of Israel who had been restored to God’s favour and grace, that we may also experience the same as well.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of two great saints, St. Cosmas and St. Damian, whose faith and devotion to God, and whose actions and contributions to their fellow brothers and sisters, fellow faithful people of God, should inspire all of us to live our own lives faithfully and worthily of the Lord. St. Cosmas and St. Damian were known to be a pair of twin brothers who were both physicians, renowned for their care for the sick and the needy in their community, as they provided care for the physical ailments of the people, and gave the care for free to the poor and those who could not afford to be healed. Miracles were attributed to them, and many came to them seeking for help.

Their faith and dedication to God also became inspiration to many people, as they lived virtuously and with great dedication to God. And as they were arrested and persecuted by the local governor for being Christians, then being the height of the intense persecutions of Christians under the Diocletianic Persecution, they remained firm to their faith in God to the very end, as they gave up their lives in honouring God, in refusing to bend to the demands of the pagan authorities to obey the Emperor’s orders and to abandon their Lord, God and Master. They chose to live worthily and die in faith and obedience, showing every members of the Christian faithful what it truly means to be Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we all therefore be inspired by these great examples as well, that each and every one of us should be great role models and inspirations ourselves to our fellow brothers and sisters, in all of our lives, actions and deeds. Let us all be the bearers of the light of God to our fellow brethren, especially all those who have not known God and His love, His truth and Good News. Let us all do our very best to glorify God by our lives and actions, and be with Him, doing our part to serve Him all the days of our lives, as we should have done. Amen.