Tuesday

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Tuesday, 22 March 2022 : 3rd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 25, 34-43

Azariah stood up in the midst of the fire and prayed aloud : Do not abandon us forever, do not reject Your covenant for Your Name’s sake. Do not withdraw Your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, Your friend, of Isaac, Your servant, of Israel, Your holy one, to whom You promised to multiply their race as the stars of heaven and the sand on the shore of the sea.

Lord, see, we have become the least among the nations in all the world, and we are humiliated because of our sins. At this time, we no longer have a king, or prophet, or leader. We cannot offer You holocausts, sacrifices, offerings, or incense. We have no place to present to You the first-fruits of our crops, and so obtain Your favour.

But at least when we present ourselves with a contrite soul and humbled spirit may we then be acceptable to You, more than by offerings of rams and calves as holocausts, and of thousands of fat lambs. May this sacrifice of ours today obtain for us Your favour for we know that those who trust in You shall never be disappointed.

And now, we serve You with our whole heart, we fear You and we seek Your face. Do not leave us in our humiliation, but treat us according to Your kindness and Your great mercy. Free us in keeping with Your wonders, and give us the glory of Your Name, Lord.

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to be righteous in all of our actions and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives. We have to be humble and attuned to our sins and faults, all the wickedness we have committed, and endeavour to overcome them, replacing them instead with righteousness and virtue. We are reminded to turn away from sin and to embrace God’s path, His love and grace.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the words of the Lord speaking clearly to His people through Isaiah calling on all of them to remember what they are meant to be as the chosen people of God, as those whom God had called to follow Him and to be role models for all of the other people of this world. They were all reminded of the fates of the wicked, all those who have not obeyed the Lord’s will and committed sins against Him. Hence, that was why Sodom and Gomorrah were mentioned, the fate of those two cities destroyed because of the sins of its people.

At that time, the people of Judah had seen what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes that rebelled against the House of David and which for most of its history, rebelled against God as well. The northern kingdom had been overcome, overthrown and conquered by the Assyrians, who crushed their kingdom and cities, destroyed their capital of Samaria and brought off the entire people into exile in far-off Mesopotamia, in exile away from their homeland. This was the fate of those who had disobeyed the Lord, persecuted His prophets and refused to believe in Him.

The same fate would be faced by the people of Judah as well, in due time, as after the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people fell again into sin after a brief return to the way of the Lord, and they would abandon and betray Him, resulting in them also losing their kingdom, their homeland, defeated and humiliated, crushed and conquered by the Babylonians, and brought in shame to exile in the far-off lands of Babylon and beyond, sharing in the fate of those who have disobeyed God earlier on.

Yet, God has always been full of mercy and compassion for His people, and just as He has patiently loved all of them for a long time, despite all that they had done to Him, in abandoning and rejecting Him, the Lord still wanted them all to be reconciled to Him, and He called on them all to return to Him, being penitent and humble, willing to abandon their old ways of sin and evil, and embrace the new path of life that God has shown us, the virtuous and righteous way of life that God has presented and taught to us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to the people regarding the pride and hubris of the elders and the leaders of the people of God, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, all those who were greatly respected in the community for their intellect, guardianship over the Law and the community, and which they then reciprocated with great arrogance and hubris, as they demanded a lot of honour and respect, to be treated with favour and given glory and fame.

That was exactly why many people failed to return to the Lord and remained in rebellion and disobedience against Him. It was the sin of pride, of ego and hubris that had brought many people down into sin, and they were the same ones that had kept people sinning again and again, and falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin and evil. This is why, as Christians, all of us are called to resist these temptations of our pride, ego, our hubris and ambition, all these desires we have for power and worldly glory, for wealth and fame among other things.

Therefore, let us all make great use of this Lenten season to be the good members of the Church and the Christian community. Let us all turn towards the Lord with renewed faith and commit ourselves in each and every moments of our lives, from now on, to face the world with the sight of faith, with the determination to carry on living our lives with genuine faith and trust in the Lord, living our every moments with courage and hope, as great role models of God’s path amidst our fellow brothers and sisters. May God bless us all and may He empower us all to live ever more courageously in His presence, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father because you have only one Father, He Who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. 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, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (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, 8 March 2022 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures today, we are all called to pray more and to spend more time in quality moments with God, which we can achieve through that prayerful time and silence, as we come to Him with a contrite and loving heart, remembering His most generous love and compassionate mercy, all that He had done for us, all these while. The Lord has shown us His great willingness to welcome us back to His embrace and to love us once again, and we are all called to remember this love and mercy at all times.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord has shown us all the model prayer that He Himself had made, in praying to His heavenly Father, the model prayer that we all definitely know too well. The Lord’s Prayer, also known as Pater Noster or Our Father, after the very first words in that prayer is a model for all of our Christian prayers, in how we make our prayers and how we can make sure that those prayers help us in deepening our relationship with God, as they should have. Prayer is the way for us to communicate with God, to speak with God our loving Father, and to listen to His speaking in our hearts and minds.

The Lord is indeed Our Father, the One Who created us all out of love, and through Christ, His Son, Who has willingly embraced our humanity and taken up the existence in the flesh, we who share in His humanity has now therefore shared in having the Lord our God as our loving Father. And if God is our Father, then why do we hesitate to communicate with Him and spend quality time with Him? Through what He Himself had done, the Lord reminded us that we have to spend time in prayer to the Lord and pray in the right manner, and with the right disposition in our heart and mind.

First of all, prayer must first be about giving thanks to God, thanking Him for all the wonderful things that we have received, no matter how all they might have been. And least of all, we have to give Him thanks for the continued gift of life that He has blessed us with. We have to thank Him for all the opportunities that He had provided us with, all the people whom He had blessed us with, our families, friends and other loved ones. We have to thank Him for everything He blessed us with despite us having often betrayed Him for false idols in life.

Then, prayer is also about listening to God and not just wanting or even demanding God to listen to us. It is about opening our hearts, minds and our senses to allow for genuine communication between us and God. If we only want God to listen to us and we are not willing to listen to Him, then it is not a communication at all. Our prayer has instead become a litany of demands that we make to the Lord and we are forcing our will on God. How can this be, as we are only a mere creation, daring to make demands on our Lord, Master and Creator?

And then, prayer is also the means by which we also seek the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, as we ask Him to forgive us the multitudes of our sins. It is by God’s grace alone that we can be forgiven, and we who are sinners are in need of God’s forgiveness, that we may be reconciled to Him. The Lord will forgive us our sins, as long as we have ourselves learnt to forgive each others’ sins and faults to one another, just as mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer. We humble ourselves as sinners, all needing that much needed reconciliation with God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to cultivate in us the habit of good and true prayer, prayer that is genuine from our hearts and not prayer that is merely recited without meaning or understanding. This season of Lent is a time for us to reflect deeply on ourselves and our path in life. We have to remember that we have with us now the opportunities for us to return to the Lord and reclaim our positions of honour, filled with the grace of God through our reconciliation with Him. This season of Lent is the perfect time for us to redirect our focus and attention once again at God.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. John of God, a holy servant of God, who dedicated his life to the works of God. He was a young man who became a soldier and later on, disillusioned with the betrayal he experienced and all other matters, he eventually followed the path of God, committed to serve the people of God. And based on his earlier experiences, his journeys in places like Africa and among enslaved Christians and other less fortunate people, he became inspired to work among the poor and the less fortunate, dedicating himself to the service of God.

St. John of God founded the religious order known as the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God with the emphasis and charism in caring and reaching out towards the sick, the poor and the less fortunate in the community. He dedicated his life to serve the Lord and His people and many people flocked to follow his examples and his order flourished in numbers and their works. The Lord has guided St. John of God who responded passionately to His call. And he did this to the very end, even at his own expense, when he eventually died of pneumonia after rescuing a drowning person in a cold river. He did not hesitate to jump into the river to save that person.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in St. John of God we have seen a great role model for all of us, a role model that can and should inspire us in this season of Lent, as a model of virtue and faith, and of selflessness and charity, care and compassion for our fellow brothers and sisters. This is what we have been called to do this Lenten season, to draw ever closer to God through prayer and also through our charitable actions, our giving and love in almsgiving, in loving others more, in sharing more of our blessings with those who have less or none.

Let us all make great use of this ample opportunity during this blessed season of Lent to come ever closer to God. Let us all be inspired by the great examples of our predecessors, to walk in the path of Our Lord and His saints. Let us all make this Lent a truly meaningful and good one for all of us, that we may each and all come to God’s presence, and be worthy of God and His love and grace. Amen.

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Tuesday, 8 March 2022 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (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, 8 March 2022 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (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, 8 March 2022 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (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, 1 March 2022 : 8th 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 Lord in the Scriptures, we are all called to follow the Lord with great devotion and commitment, giving ourselves to the mission which He has entrusted all of us and which He has called us to do in our lives, in our world today. Each and every one of us as Christians have received this same calling from the Lord, to follow Him and to dedicate ourselves and our every beings and contributions to His cause. We are God’s chosen people, His beloved children.

In our first reading today, we heard the words of the Apostle St. Peter who spoke to us through his Epistle regarding the revelation of God’s truth which all Christians have received from the Lord Himself, through Christ Who has come into this world, our Lord and Saviour, and which He has passed down to us through His Church and His disciples. And this truth which we have received, the love that we have been blessed with by God, the kindness and attention that we have received from the Lord, all these should be our motivation to live our lives wholeheartedly, walking in the path that God has shown us.

Unfortunately, the reality is such that, many of us are often not doing what we are supposed to do as God’s followers and disciples. We carry on living our lives while ignoring the calling of the Lord, living our lives in the way that we want it to be, and not following or listening to the words of the Lord speaking to us in our hearts. We often closed our hearts to God, and it is often simply because we are too busy thinking and worrying about our daily worldly agenda and matters. We barely spent any time even for the Lord, preferring to spend a lot of time instead for things that satisfy us, our desires and wishes.

We do not have to look far beyond ourselves and our fellow brothers and sisters in faith. How many of us know of fellow Christians, even those from within our own families and circle of friends, who have lapsed from the faith, or stopped attending and participating in the Holy Mass and other celebrations and events of our faith life? And even among all of us who are still actively participating in the Church and the various activities of faith, how many of us spend good quality time with the Lord, especially through prayer?

In our Gospel passage today we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples, reassuring them all that those who have given themselves and their lives to Him, in great dedication and commitment, shall never be disappointed. This is because God Himself knows everything that they have done, and while the disciples and followers of the Lord may encounter challenges, trials and sufferings because of their faith, but their faith and commitment to God will always be remembered, and because of this, all of us should not be hesitant anymore in following God.

That is yet another reason why people often did not follow the Lord wholeheartedly, as we are often afraid of the persecutions, sufferings, trials and various other obstacles that we may have to endure in following the Lord. And because of these too, we are often afraid of losing our worldly privileges and all the good things we have enjoyed in life, and we are afraid of losing them. Hence, that was why we ended up veering off away from the Lord’s path and turned more and more into the divergent paths of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we are about to begin the season of Lent starting tomorrow with Ash Wednesday, all of us are reminded to put away our many concerns, fears, attachments and all things that have kept us away from God for so long. If we have been distracted from following God all these while, then let us make it our Lenten commitment and pledge for us to follow the Lord with ever greater dedication and to purify ourselves from the many temptations and the many corruptions that have often prevented us from finding our way to the Lord.

Let us all devote ourselves anew to the Lord, and strive to give our very best to Him, making use of this great opportunity we have received in this upcoming season of Lent, to redirect our attention and focus once again on Our Lord, on His truth, love and grace. Let us be deepen our relationships with Him through prayer, and commit ourselves more and more to do greater works for His greater glory. May all of us have a blessed season of Lent starting tomorrow, and may God be with us all. Amen.