understanding the faith

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Saturday, 12 June 2021 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is always celebrated on the day after the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We remember therefore the loving heart of the Mother of the Lord just after we remember and celebrate the love of our Lord, Who has poured out His love for us from His wounded and bleeding Heart, as He lay dying on the Cross.

Mary was there at the moment of the death of her Son, and she witnessed so many events that had happened throughout her whole life and as she journeyed and followed her Son’s path and ministry. She has always patiently followed Him and kept everything in her heart, all that she had heard and witnessed, including what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, regarding the moment when Jesus was lost to her and St. Joseph, at the age of Twelve as He remained behind in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Again in that occasion we heard how Mary patiently listened and kept everything in her heart, as she heard the Lord Jesus speaking even as a Child, that the Temple of Jerusalem is the House of His Father, His true Father in Heaven. Mary knew in her heart just as she remembered the words of the Archangel Gabriel and all the other signs and words given to her, that her Son Jesus was meant for very great things, and as the old servant of God Simeon spoke to her at the moment of the Presentation of the Lord, that a sword would pierce her own heart, and all secret then shall be revealed.

Mary truly loved her Son, and seeing Him suffering on the Cross must truly be heartbreaking for her, as after all, who would not be in pain to see one’s own child suffer and die? Yet, Mary endured it all with love and faith, knowing that everything is part of God’s plan. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, Mary’s Immaculate Heart is truly so pure and filled with so much love for God, for her Son, and from there also, for all of us. This is because from the Cross, Jesus has entrusted all of us to her, and at the same time, He has also entrusted her to all of us.

That is why, just as much as Our Lord has constantly reached out to us with love, Mary, His beloved mother and our mother, has also constantly reached out to us, asking us and pleading with us to turn away from our path of sin, and be reconciled with God and be forgiven from those sins we have committed. She knew what suffering her Son had gone through for our sake, and the punishment that is due for our sins. And as her own adopted children, certainly she does not want us to fall into an eternity of suffering in hell.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do we realise just how fortunate and how beloved we are to be loved not only by Our Lord, Who poured out for us His loved from His Most Sacred Heart, bleeding, bruised and broken, but also by His mother, Mary, from whose Immaculate Heart pours forth the most wonderful motherly love? Have we realised this and have we been grateful for such great love that we have received? And yet, so many of us still live in the path of sin, in the way of disobedience against God that made Him and His beloved mother, our mother, so sorrowful?

Let us all discern carefully our path in life, brothers and sisters in Christ, that each and every one of us may find consolation and forgiveness through the guidance of our blessed and loving mother Mary, to her Son’s most wonderful mercy and compassionate Heart. Let us all imitate the faith and commitment that Mary had, in obeying the Lord and in loving Him so thoroughly and completely in our own lives, resisting the many temptations to sin and to disobey against His Law and commandments.

May the Lord continue to be with us and bless us in all things, and may He strengthen us and give us the courage to live virtuously and faithfully in accordance to His will. May He guide us towards His path, and may His Blessed Mother, Mary continue to show us the way, through her most loving Immaculate Heart. O, Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us sinners! Amen.

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Friday, 11 June 2021 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, celebrating the most wonderful love that God has shown to all of us, to each and every one of us from His Most Sacred Heart, the heart being the representative of one’s love and emotions, feelings and thoughts. Thus, we remember today the great love that God has for each and every one of us, the love that comes outpouring from His most loving heart.

In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of the prophet Hosea, in which we heard the Lord speaking to His people through Hosea, referring to Ephraim as the son whom God had brought up and led out of Egypt. This was a reference to the Israelites in the northern kingdom of Israel, which capital of Samaria is in the land of the tribe of Ephraim. The prophet Hosea has been sent to the people of the northern kingdom, to remind them of God and to repent from their wicked ways.

However, the people of the northern kingdom continued to sin against God as they had done multiple times previously, and this is what was referred by the prophet Hosea as ‘Ephraim’ having forgotten about God Who had done so much wonders for them and Who had cared for them all those while. And yet, God would not destroy them, as He truly loved them more than He despised their sins and wickedness. He still loved them, and the fact that He sent them the prophet Hosea, it was proof that He still wanted them to be saved.

God loves every single one of us, and He created us all because He loves us all and wants us to share in this love. Unfortunately, due to our disobedience we fell into sin, as we listened to the falsehood and lies of the devil rather than to trust in the Lord. The Lord could have annihilated us and crushed us there and then, willing us out of existence just as easily as He willed creation into being. Yet, He did not do that, and why? That is because He loves us, from His heart.

It is this same love that St. Paul referred to in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, our second reading today, how God has revealed to all of us, His most generous and wonderful love. And He revealed this love in the person of Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son, sent into this world to reveal before all of us the full extent of that love, and it was that same love which St. Paul and the other Apostles and disciples had preached about, and testified, for all the wonderful love He has shown to everyone.

They themselves had witnessed and seen the Lord’s ultimate expression of true love for each and every one of us, as He picked up His Cross and bore it upon His own shoulders, bearing upon them all of the punishments and the sufferings that are due for our sins and disobedience. He willingly laid down His own life, and was tortured and suffered for us that all of us may live. This action of Our Lord’s Most Holy Passion reminds us all that His love for us is truly vast and boundless, and enduring even despite our constant disobedience and refusal to believe in Him.

God’s most loving Heart continue to ache because of all of us being distanced from Him, separated by the chasm of sin. He wants to reach out to us and to embrace us with His mercy and compassion. However, unless we embrace that same mercy and compassion, by turning wholeheartedly towards Him, then we will still remain sundered from Him. That is why, He has always sent us reminders and His servants to call us to embrace Him and His loving Heart, to repent from our faults and sins, and to be forgiven from those sins.

As He lay dying on the Cross, He showed us all the most compassionate and loving face of God, a reminder of just how blessed and fortunate each and every one of us are. Through Him, we have received the assurance of eternal life and true joy, and we are all called to devote ourselves to this most loving aspect of Our Lord, His love being outpoured from His wounded and bleeding Heart, a vision seen by one of the most famous visionaries of the Church, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque saw a vision of the Lord and His Most Sacred Heart, calling on all mankind to turn towards Him and to seek Him, to be forgiven their sins and to find refuge in Him. Through this, the Lord wants us all to know just how wonderful His love for us is, and how blessed we are to be so beloved in such a manner by the Lord, Who generously showered us with His love and kindness despite us having betrayed Him, abandoned Him and refused to listen to Him and obey Him all these while.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we still going to be stubborn and refuse to believe in Him, although He has shown us all of His love? Do not forget that He has died for all of us, the testimony of which has been made by the pouring of blood and water from His pierced heart at the moment of His death, as mentioned in our Gospel passage today. Scientifically and medically, that is the sign that someone has truly died, and hence, the soldier who pierced the side of the Lord showed that the Lord died, on the Cross, all for our sake.

And through His Precious Blood, we have been washed clean from the taints of our sins and evils. We have been cleansed and purified from those wickedness and impurities that tainted our hearts, the taints of our sins. Yet, many of us remain in the stranglehold of sin, because we still allow sin reign over us, and we allow ourselves to be swayed by its many temptations. This is why we are all called to put our trust in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to come to Him and to open our own hearts, and to find Him that we may enjoy the fullness of His love and mercy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. As all of our priests have been called to be in the person of Christ ‘Alter Christus – in persona Christi’ in the celebration of the Eucharist and the Sacraments, they have been called to model themselves after the one Eternal High Priest, Christ Himself. We therefore pray that just as we all trust in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, they too shall always trust in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and model themselves and their hearts after Him.

We pray for holy and dedicated priests, who is as enthusiastic and passionate in reaching out to the people of God as the Lord has tirelessly sought each and every one of us for such a very long time. We pray that they will all be as patient and loving as the Lord has been patient and loving towards us. And last of all, we pray that we ourselves may be ever more faithful to the Lord and that we may be ever closer to His Most Holy and Sacred Heart, to be forgiven by Him and to be filled with His love and grace.

May God be with us all, and may He strengthen each and every one of us to live faithfully in love, and may He empower all of us to remain faithful despite the challenges and trials we may encounter in life. May God bless us all in each and every one of our good endeavours, in our every good works and efforts, for the love of His Most Sacred Heart. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Amen.

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Thursday, 10 June 2021 : 10th 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 reminding us to be faithful to Him, to His Law and commandments, that we will truly be faithful to the Lord not just in name only but also in spirit, and truly appreciate and understand the meaning, intention and the purpose of the Law and the commandments of God. The Lord has called us all to follow Him, and we ought to walk in His path sincerely and with genuine love and commitment for Him.

This means that we should not just obey the Law for the sake of obeying it, or doing so without understanding the true meaning and intention of the Law. Or else, we will end up like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom enforced a strict interpretation and obedience to the Law, its rules and regulations, and yet, failed to understand and appreciate that the Law of God was meant to lead God’s people to Him and to teach them all to love Him and to be filled with love, to know love and to practice love in their lives.

In our first reading today we heard the words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, reminding them and all of us that we have received the truth of the Lord from none other than Christ Himself, and through the Holy Spirit as passed down to us through the Apostles and the Church. What was unknown to the people of the past, as highlighted by the figurative ‘veil of Moses’ has been made known and revealed by the revelation of Christ, the Saviour of the world. The Lord is no longer hidden from us and He has made Himself known to us.

And therefore, all of us as Christians we have been blessed to know the Lord much more personally, to recognise His truth and to know His love, to be at the receiving end of that love. Do we realised then just how blessed and beloved we are, brothers and sisters in Christ? Or do we still take it for granted that we have been so fortunate? This is what each and every one of us need to reflect as we discern our path in life. We have to be faithful ever more in our every actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another, that we truly embody our Christian faith and truth.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to the people and to His disciples that they ought to be faithful and to follow the Lord more faithfully than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, for those people only applied and understood the Law superficially and did not truly love the Lord from their heart. Their actions and obedience to the Law came about because they were swayed by their pride and desire for worldly glory and praise, their influential and powerful position in the community among others.

The Lord told them all that to be faithful, one must really understand that the Law is truly about love, showing and teaching us how to love one another just as we also ought to love the Lord wholeheartedly, more so than we love ourselves. If we love ourselves too much, like that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, then we will realise that we may have no place for God and for others in our hearts and minds. That is why we need to get rid from ourselves the excesses of our human pride and desires, that we may come to realise God’s love and what we all need to do to be faithful to Him.

Let us all therefore be true Christians in all of our words, actions, dealings and interactions, showing love and concern for one another, and be willing to forgive one another our faults and mistakes towards each other, just as the Lord Himself has loved us and is willing to forgive us our sins despite our numerous faults, mistakes and trespasses. This is why, brothers and sisters, if we do not know how to live our lives as Christians, then we do not need to look further than the Lord Himself as our example, and also we have the amazing saints, our holy predecessors, whose lives can be inspiration for us to follow.

May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen us that we may always be faithful and may grow ever more in love towards Him. May He guide us and give us the encouragement and the energy to persevere through the many trials and challenges that we may have to face in our respective journeys of faith. May God bless us all, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 June 2021 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Deacons)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of the Lord in the Scripture, to obey the Law of God and to walk in His path faithfully, that in all things and in all of our actions we will always be righteous and act in accordance to the teachings and truth of the Lord. This is our calling as Christians, and this is what we are expected to do as those who follow the Lord and profess our faith in Him. Otherwise, we are no better than hypocrites who profess to be faithful and yet lacking genuine faith.

In our first reading today, we listened to St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth speaking to us and all the faithful that we are all the ministers and partakers of the New Covenant that God has established with each and every one of us. As such, as the Lord has called us to follow Him and to do His will, we ought to be proud and committed to this mission which He has entrusted to us. To be those whom God loves and cares for is truly a privilege, a wonderful honour, that surpasses even the glory of those who went before us in the Old Covenant.

And the Law of God is always before us, as the reason for our faith and existence, as something that God has placed in our midst to be our guide and focus, so that we will not easily be swayed into the wrong path in life. He has given us all this Law that we can remain firmly centred on Him and that we will not be distracted by the many temptations present all around us, or all the falsehoods and lies of the devil trying to derail us off the path towards God and His salvation.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and to the people gathered regarding the matter of the Law, as He has always been confronted and opposed by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, all those who rigidly and jealously defended the Law of Moses and its interpretation, their own perception and way of understanding the Law of God as revealed through Moses. And when the Lord came into this world, revealing the truth about the Law, they charged Him with breaking the Law and disobeying its tenets.

It was in fact the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were in the wrong, as they had lost their way and misinterpreted the Law as a culmination of centuries of misunderstandings and failure to appreciate the true meaning and purpose of the Law. They applied the Law and understood it only rudimentarily, using the Law instead to impose harsh limitations and burdens on the people, and using the Law to bring about control and segregation among the faithful, with the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law priding themselves for being the ones who were supposedly most knowledgeable and most obedient to the Law.

Yet, the Lord revealed that the Law of God is not about all that, for His Law is the Law of Love, and is intended to bring all of us mankind to discover more about the Lord and to grow to love Him. All the commandments and the tenets of the Law were in fact guidance and help for everyone that all of us may be reminded and may be strengthened in our journey of faith, that we can remain focused, centred and obedient to God in all things, by our love for Him and by the genuine relationship we build up with Him and with one another, and not through fear and oppression as advocated by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, we have received this same truth from God and we have become the ministers of Our Lord’s New Covenant, and the ones who should know and understand the more perfected Law, and thus, we should become its faithful witnesses and missionaries, to reach out to more and more people bearing the truth about the Law and the Lord. We have to be active in living up to our Christian faith and expectations, to be truly obedient to the Lord and to walk in His ways, always and at all times.

Today we also celebrate the feast of St. Ephrem, a holy and dedicated servant of God, a renowned Deacon and later honoured as one of the Doctors of the Church. St. Ephrem is a great role model and inspiration for all of us on how we can be also dedicated to the Lord and obey His Law faithfully as examples on our own to our fellow brethren. St. Ephrem faithfully served the Church and his local community of faithful and beyond as a deacon, and also through his many works and writings, he defended the true faith against the falsehoods of many heresies that were rampant at that time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to commit ourselves to love the Lord and to be genuine Christians in our lives? Are willing to follow the path that God has shown before us, and to spend the time and the effort to glorify the Lord by our lives? Let us all commit ourselves anew to Him and let us be ever more faithful, be ever more dedicated in all things. May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen us with the courage to remain faithful to His Law and commandments, that we may be great inspiration and examples for one another. Amen.

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Tuesday, 8 June 2021 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of God in the Scriptures today, we are all reminded as Christians to be active in living our faith and to say yes to the Lord, to Him calling us to serve Him. We should be the salt of the earth and the light of the world just as the Lord mentioned it in His parable to His disciples, that as Christians, we are truly active and devoted to the cause of the Lord, and live our lives in the most Christian way possible.

In our first reading today, St. Paul exhorted the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth to be faithful and dedicated to God, to respond to the Lord’s call with a resounding ‘Yes!’, and not to be hesitant anymore in responding and answering the Lord’s call. The Lord has given all of us His guidance and strength, and the Holy Spirit has also come down upon us through His Church, and by the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation that we have received.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit has dwelled within us and has given us wonderful gifts, that may be distinct depending on our calling and actions in our respective lives. But many of us have not realised, recognised and utilised these gifts that we have received from the Lord, and we end up hiding them, not recognising them and leaving these gifts, these talents and abilities, as well as opportunities to remain dormant within us. Many of us do not know what we are supposed to do with our lives, in serving the Lord and following Him.

And this is what the Lord meant when He said that if the salt has lost its saltiness, then it is useless, and if the light is hidden and cannot be seen, then it is useless either, and therefore is pointless to have either one of those. The Lord also used the example of salt and light because these two are indeed very important commodities that were crucial to many people of that time, just as it is still important even to the present day. It was very important for the people to have and use salt, because of its preservative qualities, allowing it to preserve food and keeping them longer, and at the same time also providing flavour to food that is bland.

Meanwhile, light is very important because at that time in particular, at a time and age when electricity and night lighting were not yet available, darkness of night always hindered many actions and activities, and unlike today when lighting and electricity are so easily available to many people all around the world, lighting in the form of burning candles and other forms of illumination were expensive and difficult to obtain. Hence, by using the examples of salt and light in His parable, the Lord wanted to highlight just how precious are the gifts that we have received from the Lord through His Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we still going to be stubborn in refusing to acknowledge the gifts and opportunities that the Lord has provided for us, remaining idle and not doing what we can do in order to take part actively in the actions and works of the Church? All of us are reminded today that we cannot be idle and ignorant of our calling and responsibility as Christians. Without real and genuine action, commitment and contribution, our faith is truly meaningless and dead, and such faith is useless for us.

Let us reflect on these words that we have received from the Lord, and discern the path that we all ought to take from now on. Are we going to continue to ignore the Lord’s calling and the mission He has entrusted to us? Or are we going to allow Him to lead us down the path He has shown us, entrusting ourselves and our future to Him, and walking faithfully with Him, dedicating ourselves through service to others, by loving those whom He has placed in our path, and showing that we are truly Christians not just in name only?

May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen us with the courage and resolve to be salt of the earth and the light of the world, to be no longer fearful but filled with faith and trust, in proclaiming the truth of God through our words and actions, in our community and to all whom we encounter throughout our lives. May God bless us all and our good works and endeavours, for His greater glory, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 7 June 2021 : 10th 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 Scripture, we heard the words of encouragement from the Lord reminding us all that if we are faithful to the Lord and follow His ways, then we have nothing to be worried about, and we do not need to fear, for the Lord will bless us and protect us, and we will be provided for, and strengthened by grace. The Lord will always be by our side, even when we ourselves do not realise it. He has always been there for us, all the time.

In our first reading today, as we listened to the words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, we are reminded by the Apostle that no matter what sufferings and challenges we face in life, God is always by our side and He will never abandon us, no matter what. If we persevere faithfully through those trials and challenges, and remain faithful to Him, God will bless us and keep us in His grace and blessings. We have nothing to fear if we put our trust in the Lord, as our rewards in Him shall be great.

The Gospel, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew recounted to us the famous Sermon on the Mount by the Lord Jesus, also known as the Beatitudes. In that Beatitudes, we heard about the Lord speaking to encourage those who are faithful to the Lord and are righteous and just in their way of life, living as true and genuine Christians, in showing love to one another, in bringing peace and harmony to the community, and in being selfless and generous in giving, all that the Lord has therefore called on all of us to do in our own lives.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, through what St. Paul and the Lord Himself have told us, as Christians all of us are reminded to be virtuous and exemplary in our lives, that in our every actions, words and deeds we will always exhibit the most Christ-like attitude and behaviour, that came genuinely from our hearts, from our deep love for the Lord and from our enduring faith and commitment to the Lord. This is our Christian calling in life, and what each and every one of us are expected to do, in our own lives as Christians.

Unfortunately, many of us have yet to practice these in our own lives, and many of us live our lives much as the rest of the world have also done. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if that is the case, then are we not Christians just in name only? And in fact is it not scandalous and improper for us to even be calling ourselves as Christians, if our actions prove to be even contrary to the teachings of our faith? And yet, that is what quite a few of us have been doing, in being selfish and evil towards others, in manipulating and exploiting others, especially those who are weak and less fortunate.

And there are many more among us who have succumbed to the temptations of the world, the temptations of worldly pleasures and glory, that we have ignored and abandoned God’s truth and way, in exchange for the ways of the world. Is this what we are called to do as Christians? No, certainly we are not! As we heard from the Scriptures today, we are all called and challenged to be different from the world, to show love, care and compassion when there is so much hatred and evil in this world, and to show mercy, peace and reconciliation when there are so much violence and bitterness in our world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are willing and able to commit ourselves anew to the Lord and His path from now on, if we have not yet done so? Let us all realise our Christian mission and calling, all that we have been expected to do, as part of this one Church and one community of the Christian faithful. Let us all devote our effort, time and attention to serve the Lord more faithfully, and persevere ever more strongly in faith, dedicating all that we can to bring glory to the Lord and to show our Christian faith, love and charity to one another.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He always bless us in our every endeavours, and let us also ask Him to strengthen us and to give us the courage, the energy to go on when things are challenging in our lives and in our path. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 June 2021 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, celebrating this very important aspect of our faith that is central to our Christian beliefs. What is this central tenet and teaching, brothers and sisters? It is the belief that in the celebration of the Holy Mass, the Lord has appeared to us in the flesh and blood, in the Most Holy Eucharist at the Holy Sacrifice on the Altar. The bread and wine offered by the presider of the Mass has been turned into the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord.

This is the same belief that many of our separated brethren holding faithfully the Apostolic Tradition such as those in the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox churches also hold, as they all just like us, believe that the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, in His complete presence, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, all entirely present in the bread and wine transformed in reality and matter into the matter and the nature of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. There are of course those who still deny this truth, claiming that the bread and wine are just merely symbolic or that they did not really turn into the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Some may come to think of that because although the bread in the Eucharistic host and the wine in the chalice remains in appearance, taste and our human recognition as bread and wine, but what is indiscernible by our human senses is the truth that by the same power and authority that the Lord has given to His Apostles, our bishops and priests who offered the bread and wine, had turned the bread and wine, by the Holy Spirit descending onto the gifts and offerings, they had been turned completely into the matter of the Body and Blood of Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

All the early Church fathers and the Ecumenical Councils, the Apostolic traditions and others concurred that the Eucharist is none other and nothing less than the Lord Himself truly present in all completeness and perfection, not just merely symbolic or spiritually present as argued by those who reject this truth. We believe in the Doctrine of the Transubstantiation, which means exactly what I had just elaborated slightly earlier on, that the bread and wine has been completely transformed in matter and reality, fully and perfectly into the Body and Blood of the Lord, although in the appearance it is to us still that of bread and wine.

In fact there is an important parallel here to Our Lord’s own Incarnation in the Flesh, as He assumed the form and existence of Man. In what is another very important tenet of our faith, we believe that Jesus Christ, is both Man and Divine, having two natures that are distinct and different from each other, and yet are perfectly and completely united in His one Person, inseparable and indivisible. The world may perceive Him as a Man, and He did indeed appear as a Man, but in truth, He is fully Divine as well, as He showed His disciples at the Transfiguration and after He has risen from the dead.

Therefore, in a similar manner, the bread and wine although they have the appearance of bread and wine, and yet unmistakably they are fully by nature and reality, the very essence, matter and Body and Blood of Our Lord. However, it goes further that the bread and wine has also been completely transformed and are no longer just mere bread or mere wine. This is what we have seen, known, understood and acknowledged with the eyes of faith. We have received the truth from God, and we believed in it, and we put our faith in Him, because we believe in His Real Presence in the Eucharist.

And this is where then we have to appreciate that the Lord has given us all an immeasurably great gift as He gave to us nothing less than His own Precious Body and Blood, to be shared amongst us and to be partaken as we become members of His Body, the Church of God. All of us who share in this Holy Communion are therefore said to be in Communion with one another, united as the visible Body of Christ, the Church, and those who have not partaken in this same Eucharist, are separated and sundered away from this Body of Christ, our separated brothers and sisters, some of whom did not acknowledge the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, yet, that is exactly what the Lord has told all of us, His people, plainly and clearly. In our Gospel passage today, as He gathered His disciples for His Last Supper with them, He told all of them as He broke the bread and offered it and the wine to the Lord, that the bread, is His Body, and the wine, is His Blood, plain and clear, concise and precise, never mentioning once that what He had done was just something symbolic or something that is not real. The same bread and wine transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord at the Last Supper, which was not yet complete that night, is the same bread and wine at the Holy Mass transformed into our Lord’s Real Presence.

When He spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life before the assembled people, in one of His teaching sessions, He also referred to Himself as the Bread of Life, and explicitly and clearly mentioned that His Body is real Food, and His Blood is real Drink, and these things He spoke clearly and precisely too, without being ambiguous or figurative, and He clearly referred to all those who share in His Body and Blood that they will enjoy eternal life and will not perish, but live wonderfully with God forevermore. That moment is a foreshadowing of what would happen at the Last Supper and the Passion of the Lord.

The Lord completed His offering, of His own Body and Blood, as the High Priest representing all of us mankind, and at the same time as the Lamb of Sacrifice Himself, the Paschal Lamb, brought to the Altar on Calvary on Good Friday, the Altar of the Cross. And those who thought mistakenly that the Holy Mass is a repeat or reenactment of the Sacrifice of the Lord on the Cross failed to understand that at every single celebration of the Holy Mass, by all priests, bishops, and even the Pope, all of these are the very same Sacrifice that Christ has performed at Calvary, on the Cross that He had died on.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Altar on which the priests celebrate the Eucharist is the same Altar of the Cross on Calvary, and the same Body and Blood shed and given to us is the same sacrifice made two millennia ago, for all time and all occasions, the same offering and Sacrifice of the Lord, the Eternal High Priest, Who through His representatives, the ordained ministers, in persona Christi, or in the person of Christ, performed the very same sacrifice of Calvary at every single celebration of the Holy Mass, without exception.

When the Lord told His disciples ‘to do this in memory of Me’ it was not merely a memorial as how some misunderstood it. Instead, through that act, the Lord had authorised and empowered His disciples and their successors to be the priests ordained in His ministry, to be His priests representing Him in offering the most worthy sacrifice, the sacrifice of Our Lord Himself on the Cross. They are to perform the same offering and sacrifice of Our Lord that every Mass we are in fact celebrating and commemorating Our Lord’s Passion, His suffering and death for our salvation.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us ask ourselves, whether we have truly believed in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, in His Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood that we celebrate every Mass, and which we share together as one Church, the one Body of Christ. Do we really appreciate God’s love given to us by the shedding of His Body and by the outpouring of His Blood? Remember that by His sacrifice, Our Lord has purchased us from our sins, and freed us from the certain destruction due to those sins.

If we truly believe in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, then why we have not given Him the respect and worship that He truly deserves from us? Why have we instead acted as if the celebration of the Holy Mass is just like a mere ordinary gathering, and worse still, with inappropriate and profane music and attitudes unworthy of God? And how many of us also turned up at the Holy Mass unprepared both in body and soul, being dressed inappropriately and unrepentant from our sins?

There had been comments by those who had not believed in the Lord’s Real Presence, His Holy Body and Blood in the Eucharist precisely because as Catholics, we ourselves have not acted in the manner fitting the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. If only that we ourselves have behaved ourselves and acted appropriately, there can be so many more people who will be convinced of the truth and come to believe in the Lord and in His Real Presence as well. That is why, as Christians, we have to understand our faith well and we have to live up an upright and good life in accordance to our faith.

We have to remember the love that God has shown all of us by His coming into the world in order to save all of us and seal with us a New and Everlasting Covenant, one that will last forever, undoing the effects of our sins. The Covenant of God was sealed by none other than the outpouring of the Blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Himself, Who surrendered Himself in perfect obedience and suffering, so that through Him, and by His suffering and death we may experience and receive the sure promise and guarantee of eternal life in glory and true happiness with God.

Today therefore, on this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, of Our Lord’s Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood, broken and shared with us, let us all reflect on Our Lord’s most generous and enduring love for us, and we should also reflect on our attitudes towards the Lord, truly present in His full Divinity, His presence in the Flesh in the bread and wine transformed into the essence and reality of His Being. Let us all truly profess faith in the belief of the Real Presence of Our Lord from now on, striving to do our best to glorify the Lord especially at every celebrations of the Holy Mass, where He is truly present before all of us.

And let us all also strive to make our lives holy and worthy, to be exemplary in our way of living, in the most Christian manner possible, that as we share in the Lord and receive Him in the Eucharist, we may truly be worthy to be the dwelling place of Our Lord, the Temples of the Holy Spirit, of His Real Presence entering into us and uniting with us, body and soul. May the Lord be with us always, through His Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood, that through Him we may be sanctified and made worthy, and in all things, we may become great role models and inspiration for one another. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 June 2021 : Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we listened to the words of the Scripture in which we are called to remember the need for us to seek the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness, and not to remain in sin any longer, but allow the Lord to enter into our lives, into our hearts and deep into the very core of our beings, that we may be healed and purified from our sins. God alone can heal us from our sins, and from all those wickedness and sins, we have to be rescued and saved.

In our first reading today, we heard an account of the moment when mankind fell into sin, as our first ancestors, Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord and chose to listen to the words and lies of Satan, succumbing to the temptations of the evil one and to the temptations of their own selfish desires and pride. They chose to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, and as such, sin entered into mankind for the very first time.

And because of that sin, mankind were cast out of the Gardens of Eden, and that was due to our own conscious choice in rejecting God and embracing the falsehoods of the devil instead. Yet, God did not just destroy or annihilate us, although He could have easily done so, or condemn us into hell for our sins, although He rightfully and justly could have done so, given that the punishment for sin is death, and death should have lead us into an eternity in hell.

But this did not happen because God still truly loved us despite all that we had done to spite Him, in rejecting, abandoning and betraying Him. God still loves us so much that He gives us chances and opportunities, again and again, reaching out to us, sending us reminders and help to allow us to find our way back to Him and to be reconciled to Him. This is what the Lord wants to do with us, because each and every one of us are precious in His sight. All of us have been created by God with love, and it is with this same love that the Lord continues to care for us.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the confrontation between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who disagreed with Him and opposed His works, simply because He did not do things according to their preferences and path. They refused to believe in Him and even accused Him of colluding with Beelzebul, one of the princes and leaders of the demons. This was indeed a really grave accusation, one that is baseless and unbecoming of those who were supposed to know the Law and the Prophets better than others.

The Lord then told those who opposed Him that whatever He had done, all had come from the Lord and it was folly to suggest that the devil or his fellow demons could have any part of it. The irony is that, the devil and all of his allies were, although divided at times, no more united than at the moment that they are going against all of us, God’s faithful people. Although they might not be fully united in all things, but they all shared the desire to see the downfall of mankind, to drag us deep down with them into eternal damnation and suffering.

The Lord proved that it was folly and indeed malicious to accuse Him of colluding with the forces of evil in order to perform His miracles and healing, for after all, everything that He had done, were all done in accordance with the words of the Scriptures, with the words and teachings of the prophets, their predictions and prophecies, all of which spoke about Christ, His entry into this world and all that He would do for the salvation of all the whole world. But those who refused to believe in Him were blinded by their jealousy, pride and worldly desires, by the temptations of the flesh, that they fell, just as their ancestors had once fallen.

Those teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were also stubborn in their opposition against the Lord because they were angry at the Lord Jesus for claiming to be able to forgive sins when God alone is able to forgive sin. This again showed them succumbing to the temptations of their pride, their desire for power and influence within the community, that they refused to accept the truth that their way of observing the Law was incorrect, and that their teaching authority and leadership could be challenged by someone else far greater than they were.

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth reminded them and all of us to reject this path of sin, and to return to the Lord, seeking beyond the temptations of worldly pleasures and desires, and to wish for the true happiness that can be found in God alone. He reminded all the faithful that while things of this world will fade away and disappear, all sorts of earthly glory will eventually fail, the Lord alone is a source of certainty and assurance amidst all the uncertainties of this world. The Light of God is the light that leads us down the right path, and which we should follow instead of the path of sin.

Yet, many among us still chose to walk down that path of sin, following so many others who had fallen into the same temptations, and many still refused to follow the Lord, despite the fact that following the devil and his false path obviously and certainly will lead to our own destruction. That is because many of us are unable to resist the temptations present all around us, and our faith and trust in the Lord is weak. That is why we need to strengthen our faith in God by building up our relationship and connection with Him.

Many of us are still Christians in name and formality only, not living our faith in the genuine manner required of all of us. If this is how we are going to continue living our lives, then more likely than not we will end up falling further and deeper into the path of damnation through sin. We have to be careful because the allure of sin is truly powerful, and unless we take due precaution and care, we will be easily tempted by it. This is why, today, all of us are reminded of this fact, of the need for us to renew our relationship with God, and to be reconciled with Him through the Church.

The Lord has given us plenty of opportunities to be reconciled with Him, and most importantly, He wants to be reconciled with us. Are we still going to be stubborn and are we still going to refuse His love, mercy and compassion? Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, all that He has done for our sake, in His selfless giving of Himself on the Cross, that by His suffering and death we are freed from the tyranny of sin and shown the way to everlasting joy and true happiness, free from the bondage and power of sin that had us kept in chains for way too long.

All of us are called to return to God and to seek His ever generous and ever available mercy and compassion. Let us all be reconciled to Him and ask Him for His forgiveness, that by His grace and love, we may be made whole again, and be worthy to receive the fullness of His wonderful love as well as all the inheritance and things that have been intended for us as the most beloved and precious ones among all that He had created from the very beginning.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen each and every one of us with the resolve to remain faithful to Him, and to resist the temptations of our flesh, and the many allures of this world that we may walk in the right path, and staying true to the calling that the Lord has given us. May God bless us all in our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 June 2021 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all reminded to be good and faithful, to be righteous and just in all of our actions and dealings, that we may be exemplary and as good inspirations to one another in faith. All of us are called to give of ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly, sincerely and with good commitment.

In our first reading today, we heard the conclusion of the story of Tobit which we have heard for much of the past week. Tobit was an Israelite exile in the land of Assyria, who encountered an unfortunate incident and had lost his eyesight, but through his prayer and virtue, God listened to Tobit and helped him, sending to him the Archangel Raphael to assist him and to restore his eyesight. He showed us that He truly loves us and He hears our prayers.

Not only that, but Archangel Raphael also helped and guided Tobias, Tobit’s son, on his journey to meet Tobit’s friend, Ragouel. He helped Tobias in the journey, and not just that, but he also helped to free Sara, Ragouel’s daughter, from the oppression and troubles she had from the demon Asmodeus. The Archangel Raphael showed Tobit and his family, and all of us, the love of God and the generous mercy and compassion that He has for each and every one of us.

And in today’s first reading, Archangel Raphael revealed himself to Tobit and his family, that all that he had done, all are God’s way of showing His love and care to His faithful ones. Archangel Raphael showed Tobit how God knows all that he had done, in him being virtuous and just, in caring for his fellow exiles, burying one of his fellow countryman who had died, and showed care and concern for his own brethren, showing no concern for his own selfish needs and desires. And God of course listened to his prayers and knew what is needed.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord and His disciples encountered an old, poor widow at the Temple of Jerusalem, who donated two small copper coins to the Temple treasury, and compared to all others who donated plenty of money and offerings, what the widow gave to the Temple was almost worthless and paltry in comparison. But she gave all that she had, even when she herself did not have enough to go on for herself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are called to reflect on all these things that we have heard and witnessed. We are all called to love the Lord wholeheartedly just as much as the Lord Himself has loved us. As Christians, we should devote ourselves and our time to walk in the path that the Lord has set before us. And if we have not done whatever we could to glorify the Lord and to follow Him, then we should commit ourselves more and follow God with ever greater zeal and faith, in each and every moments of our lives.

Today, we should look upon the examples and inspiration set up by St. Boniface, a great saint and servant of God, who was a renowned missionary to the region now known as Germany. His dedication and contribution in all things were so profound that he was called the Apostle to the Germans. St. Boniface helped to establish a firm foundation of the Church by his contributions and works, reaching out to the still pagan populations in Germany, while strengthening the faith in those who had already believed in Christ.

It was not an easy journey as there were plenty of obstacles and also opposition against his work. In a now famous occasion, St. Boniface converted the people of an entire town when he chopped off a great sacred oak revered by the local pagans, and when a great gust of wind brought down the oak and nothing happened to the saint, the whole populace believed in God and turned to the Christian faith, giving themselves to be baptised in the faith. Through this occasions and many other moments of his works, St. Boniface reached out and preached the truth of God to many people.

And he gave it all to the mission he has been entrusted with, just like the poor widow giving everything she had in the offering to the Temple. St. Boniface helped to strengthen the foundation of the Church and converted many pagans to the true faith, and eventually, in his missionary works among the pagan Frisians in northern Germany, he was martyred during one of his missionary journeys, when he was ambushed by group of armed robbers, and killed. To the very end, St. Boniface remained firmly faithful to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the examples showed by the saints, especially that of St. Boniface, and let us all be true and genuine Christians, in all things, in all and every one of our actions and works. Let us all turn towards the Lord and put ourselves with full trust to the Lord. May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us at all times, and may He empower each one of us with the strength and courage to carry on living our lives with faith and commitment. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 4 June 2021 : 9th 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 Scripture, we are called to reflect on the most amazing and wonderful love of God which He has expressed from time to time again, by giving us His love as evident in the readings we have just heard. In our first reading today, we have the story of how Tobit was healed by God through His Archangel Raphael, concluding the amazing story of God’s providence to His servants in their hour of need. Then in the Gospel, we heard of the revelation that Jesus made to the people gathered, how He was indeed the Messiah, the Son and Heir of David, as promised and prophesied.

In our first reading, Tobit was one of the Israelites who had been brought into exile by the Assyrians who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, its cities and brought most of its people into exile. He was righteous and God-fearing, and an accident caused him to lose his eyesight. Nonetheless, he remained firm in his faith and never lost hope. He prayed to the Lord and the Lord heard his prayers and remembered his virtues and charitable actions to his fellow brothers and sisters, and thus, God sent Archangel Raphael to assist Tobit and to heal him from his blindness.

After helping Sara, the wife of Tobit’s son, Tobias, freeing her from the influence of a powerful demon, the Archangel Raphael then administered God’s healing for Tobit, opening his eyes and allowing him to see once again after what must have been quite some time. His sight restored and his energy restored, Tobit became whole once again, by the grace of God. Tobit and his whole household henceforth praised and glorified the Lord for all of His wonderful deeds, for His love and His faithfulness to the Covenant that He had made with His people.

What we heard in our Gospel then is an even more powerful reminder for us of God’s love, for that time, God sent not just one of the Archangels, but His own Begotten Son, the One and only promised Saviour of the world, that by His entry into this world, He has brought healing and salvation to us all. He is the fulfilment of all the prophecies and all the promises of God made through His messengers and prophets. And through Christ, all of us have been healed and made whole, the veil of darkness and the power of sin had been lifted up and away from all of us.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having been reminded as such of God’s generous love and kindness, have we realised and appreciated just how fortunate all of us are to have been beloved in such a manner by God? We are mere sinners, weak and unworthy, wicked and terrible, corrupted and dirty, and yet, God willingly embraced us, sought us and wanted us all to be healed, made whole and rejuvenated, reconciled fully and completely with Him.

That is exactly just how beloved and how fortunate all of us are, and many of us unfortunately still do not yet recognise this fact and reality. And we continue to disregard the Lord and His generous love for us. We focus on ourselves and our worldly desires, and we turn away from God’s truth and way, following our own selfish desires and wants, our ambition and pride. Today we are all called to discern carefully our path going forward in life, that we do not end up in the wrong path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all seek the Lord therefore with renewed faith and conviction, and let us all turn towards Him with new dedication. We are all called to be genuine in how we live our lives, full of Christian charity and faith. Because God has loved us so much then it is only right and just that we also love Him and dedicate ourselves to Him. It is a constant reminder for us that we must not be idle or ignorant of our Christian faith and calling. As much as we are able to, in every opportunity, we should show good examples in our actions in life.

Let us ask the Lord for strength and courage, that we may persevere in being faithful and good throughout life. May all of us draw ever closer to the Lord and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, and may all of us grow ever stronger in our Christian faith and commitment. May God bless us all and our many works, and may He remain with us always, through every moments of our lives. Amen.