understanding the faith

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Tuesday, 5 February 2019 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God speaking to us about the wonderful deeds of the Lord, which He performed before all the people and witnesses to show the great wonders of God’s glory and His loving attention to His people, to whom He has sent the Saviour and Deliverer. It was through Christ that God wants to save all of us mankind, and He fulfilled all of His long promised salvation through Him.

That is why we heard all of the wonderful things He performed during His ministry, including the healing of the sick woman with haemorrhage and the rising of the dead daughter of Jairus, the synagogue official. He healed all of them from their problems and sicknesses, because He loved each and every one of them, and had pity on them when they suffered and were asking Him for help and mercy. And He also saw the great faith in each one of them.

All of these things the Lord will do for all those who have faith in Him. He will not abandon all those who have put their trust in Him, and will provide for the needs of those who have strong love for Him in their hearts and minds. God knows the depth of our thoughts and hearts, just as He knew the faith of the woman who was suffering from the haemorrhage. God knew her faith and healed her because of the faith she had in Him.

Today, all of us are called to look deep into our own lives, into our hearts and minds, to see more carefully into our own actions and deeds, our direction in life, our attitudes and behaviours, on whether by these, we have been exemplary in living our lives with faith, or whether we have not had faith in our minds and hearts. Too many of us put our trust first in our worldly provisions and abilities, and God took a secondary and less important role among us.

And yet, for all the lack of faith, disobedience and wickedness that we have committed thus far in our respective lives, we are called to remember just how the Lord continued to love us, despite our stubborn attitude and refusal to walk in His ways. He willingly endured all the suffering and pain, which were supposed to be our burden, just so that we may be saved through our faith in Him.

Many of us think that we have faith in God, but in reality few of us only have that true commitment and devotion to God, that comes from within our hearts. Having faith in God often does not just mean to come and attend Mass regularly as stipulated by the Church teachings and regulations. In reality, for us to have faith in God often means that we must suffer and face rejection, just as the Lord Himself has suffered all the humiliation and rejection before.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, many of those who have gone before us showed us that the reality of this world is such that many of us have not had that deep devotion to God, in times of good and bad, in times of prosperity and in times of hardship and suffering. Many of us remember God only when things turn downhill and we expect Him to come and help us with a quick fix so that we do not need to suffer. And when we continue to suffer, we often become angry at God, thinking that He was not there with us.

That is why today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be inspired by the good examples shown to us by our holy predecessors, those holy and devoted men and women who had stood by the Lord in good times and in bad times, suffering persecution and troubles, challenges and pain, all sorts of difficulties just because of their commitment and belief in God. And today, we commemorate the feast of one of those saints, namely St. Agatha, holy woman and good martyr of the faith.

St. Agatha was born in what is now Sicily in southern Italy, and lived during the years of the tumultuous second century Roman Empire, when many Christians suffered various persecutions by the Roman authorities. But St. Agatha together with the many other holy men and women of God did not easily give up their faith, even under the pain of suffering and oppression. St. Agatha made a holy vow of virginity, committing herself to a life of perpetual virginity dedicated to the Lord.

In doing that, she went up against the advances and efforts of some pagan Roman nobles who were enamoured by her beauty and tried to get her to marry them. Despite all of their advances and efforts to get her to change her mind, St. Agatha remained true to her faith and did not give in to their demands. For her dedication, she was arrested and put to suffer for her Christian faith, as her persecutors hoped that by the sufferings she endured, she would give in to their demands and give up her faith in God.

Nonetheless, St. Agatha remained firm in her commitment, and none that her persecutors did could dissuade or force her to abandon her dedication. She was tortured and suffered grievously, and was forced to endure the tremendous pain of having her breasts cut. But to the very end, St. Agatha did not give up her faith and remained true in her commitment. She was in fact showing the same faith, effort and attitude as the woman who was suffering from the haemorrhage and the synagogue official, who went out all of their way to seek healing and to love the Lord, their God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us then? Are we able and are we willing to commit ourselves and to be truly faithful as all those people which we have mentioned and discussed earlier had done? Are we able to spend our time, and give our effort and attention to the Lord? For after all, He has loved us so much, that He was in fact willing to endure such unimaginable pain and suffering for our sake, that by bearing our sins on the cross He bore, He brought us our salvation.

Let us all spend some time to reflect on all these, and think of ways how we can be better Christians, through all our everyday actions and deeds, by our every living moments. May the Lord be our guide, and may through the intercession of St. Agatha, holy virgin and martyr, we will draw ever closer to the Lord, our loving God. Amen.

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Monday, 4 February 2019 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture which related to us about the power of God that He exercises in our world, the salvation which He has given to His people, and which He reminded us through various occasions, how He saved His beloved ones by His mighty power through His servants, as mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews, from the days of Moses and the judges of Israel, and then in the Gospel itself we heard the miraculous deed that the Lord Jesus performed as He cast out demons from a man in Gadara region.

We heard of God’s wonderful love and providence for His people, in how He helped all those who have placed their faith in Him. He liberated them from the tyranny and oppression of the Egyptians, the Amalekites, the Canaanites and many others who have became the enemies and oppressors of Israel through the centuries of their stay in the land promised and given to them. He brought them out of their troubles and provided for them, and blessed them.

Then, in the same Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard the mention of all those who have been persecuted and have received oppression and challenges, and yet refused to give in to the demands and pressures from those who sought to destroy them or to subvert them to abandon the Lord. They remained in good faith and committed themselves despite the pains and sufferings, putting their trust in the Lord fully.

The Lord reassured all those who have heard of all these things happening, especially for the early Jewish Christians who were oppressed both by the Jewish authorities and by the Romans and the Gentiles, that He was still with them, providing for them and guarding them despite all the troubles, pains and sorrows that they had to endure. Through the words of the Epistle, the Apostles were bringing this reassurance of God’s promise that He will stand by His people and that ultimately there is nothing, no matter how great, can stand up against God’s power and will.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus cast out from a man who had been ostracised and cast aside from the community because of the numerous multitudes of evil spirits and demons that had possessed him, so many that they called themselves as legion. The Lord showed His might and power by casting out those demons from the man, from whom everyone else had fled. He showed His people, that God’s love and power overcomes everything.

We see how the Lord loves each and every one of us, even those of us who are in the deepest darkness, dirtiest and most tainted by sin. He does not want any one of us, His beloved ones, to suffer the consequences of our unrepented sins, that is, eternal damnation in hell. He Who created us out of love, with His desire to love us and to share the perfect love found in Him with us, certainly wants each and every one of us to be reconciled with Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the true significance of today’s Scripture readings to us all? It is the fact that each and every one of us are God’s beloved people, that we should put our complete trust in Him, knowing that He is always ever present in our midst, and standing by us, even in the moments of our greatest sorrow, suffering, agony and pain. God will not abandon us no matter what, and He will always be there. To trust in God is something that we should be doing.

Let us all therefore learn to put our trust in God, and love Him as much as we can, knowing that He has loved us first, with so much love, that He always stands by us, even in our most difficult moments. Let us all be thankful for all the love and grace that He has given to each and every one of us, and strive to do our best in life, to be faithful and to serve the Lord with all of our hearts and strength. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 February 2019 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we listened to the Lord speaking to us and reminding each and every one of us of what He has called us to be, to become His beloved children and as His followers, filled with His love. He has called us to be open to the love that He has shown us all, and which He has bestowed upon us. Unfortunately, many of us are often too preoccupied and distracted in life, to realise this love that God has placed in our midst, the great gift He has given to each and every one of us.

In all that we have heard today, from the readings of the Old Testament, New Testament and the Gospel passage, we heard of various expressions of God’s love, and how His servants have acted out of love for Him, and we are all called to emulate and show that same love that God has given to us, in our own lives. If we do not love each other as God has loved us, then we have not truly lived up to the fullness of our Christian faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, St. Paul wrote about the variety of gifts and wonders that God had given to us, in the various miracles, powers and talents He blessed us with, and yet, St. Paul reminded the faithful that all of those things are meaningless and useless, unless there is love in us, at the centre of our every actions and words, attitudes and direction in life.

In the first reading today, we heard of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, one of the most important and prominent prophets of the Old Testament time. The prophet Jeremiah was called by God to be His servant, to follow Him and to perform the great tasks entrusted to him, that is the conversion and repentance of the people of the kingdom of Judah, who is falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin and disobedience against God.

The prophet Jeremiah had a difficult task, and he encountered numerous challenges throughout his ministry, if we read more about his story as recorded in the Book of Kings. He had to face the wickedness of the people of Judah and their kings, together with their unwillingness to repent and change their ways, despite repeated reminders from the prophet, and the signs and warnings he gave of the inevitable coming of the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem.

He also had to go against many false prophets and lying seers and influential priests and leaders, who gave false prophecies and ideas to the people and the king, and the prophet Jeremiah was therefore seen as a crazy, unstable and unreliable madman, and worse still, some even saw him as a traitor to the nation, for having spoken such prophecies of the upcoming downfall of the kingdom of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of the people.

And the prophet had to endure so many sufferings and pains, incarceration and prison, on top of the rejections and other forms of humiliations he had had to endure throughout his years of ministry. Any reasonable human beings would have given up their works and efforts in the face of such enormous opposition, challenges and difficulties. But why did Jeremiah not give up? He continued on regardless, and continued to be true to his mission to the very end.

That is because of his love for God, his understanding of God’s will, and how despite all the things that he had to suffer, but God had entrusted in him a very important task, which he had to do for the benefit of his fellow men, even if those people were stubborn and hard hearted, constantly refusing to believe in the word of God that he spoke of. He put his trust in God, that God will provide for him, and if he had not done what the Lord had commanded him to do, then many of his fellow men would have fallen deeper into sin and therefore into damnation.

In the Gospel today, we heard something that is very similar, of the moment when the Lord Jesus came among His own townspeople and neighbours in the village of Nazareth, where He proclaimed the truth about Himself and about the fulfilment of God’s salvation. The people went up against Him and many doubted Him, thinking of Him as a liar and upstart, using the argument that He was merely the Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, whom they had known for many years.

The Lord Jesus also encountered numerous other difficulties and challenges, throughout His earthly ministry. There were many who listened to Him and followed Him, but there were equally many if not more, who refused to believe in Him, doubted against Him just as what the people of Nazareth had done, and went against Him, particularly many among the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the priests of the Temple of God. In addition, the king Herod and his supporters, the Herodians and the Sadducees were also against the Lord.

They tested Him, made His journeys and teachings difficult, placing obstacles and barriers, challenges and persecutions, all for the sake of maintaining their own authority, their own prestige and status within the community of the people of God. They did not want to lose the privileges and the good things that they have gained for many years just because of the apparent challenge from that seemingly charismatic prophet, Jesus Christ, Whom they saw as a dangerous rival to their worldly schemes and ambitions.

We see in all of these, the lack of love which many of the people of God unfortunately experienced, that they did not have that love which they ought to have for God. In them, there is no place for God, for their hearts and minds have been filled up and corrupted by worldly desires, ambitions, ego, pride, and many other forms of distractions and temptations that have often prevented us from being able to love from our hearts. Instead of loving God, and loving our fellow men as we have been taught to do, we only care about our own desires and wants.

We may have all the talents, gifts, wonders and all other sorts of amazing things in our life, but if we are unable to love from our hearts, then everything that we have and everything we possess are meaningless and useless for us. Why is that so? That is because God has created us all to love, and to exist in love with Him and one another. And love is the essence of our existence. The moment we stop loving, we end up becoming selfish, egoistic, greedy and wicked, filled with all sorts of negativities that could have been avoided if only we allow ourselves to be filled with love.

What is love, brothers and sisters in Christ? Love is what the Lord Himself has shown us, not just by mere words but also through real actions. He showed us what love is all about, and taught us how we should also love through our words and actions in life. Many of us mistook love for desire and greed, and many also mistook love for pride and ego, or lust and promiscuity. All these are false forms of love that the devil has put in our midst in order to confuse us and to prevent us from finding our way to God’s salvation.

God has shown us what love is all about. True and genuine love is selfless and sacrificial in nature, filled with commitment and giving. He showed us what perfect love is, when He patiently ministered to us and cared for us, even with all of our rebelliousness and stubbornness, refusing to believe in Him and to love Him. We even ended up hating Him and being angry with Him, when we misunderstood His intentions, will and love for us. But God still loved us all nonetheless, even to the greatest of sinners.

It is this love that is reflected in His disciples and followers, including in prophet Jeremiah, in how he still carried out his obligations and calling as prophet despite all the nasty persecutions, troubles and sufferings that he had to face for so many years. All of these allowed him and multitudes of saints and martyrs to show the same love, first for God and then second, for their fellow men, even to those who have made them to suffer and persecuted them.

All of these are caused by them being inspired by none other than the examples of true love that the Lord Jesus has shown us, by His ultimate, loving sacrifice on the cross. He emptied Himself and embraced fully all the grievous and painful punishment that should have been ours to bear. His love for each and every one of us was so great, that He was able to endure all those wounds and pains inflicted on Him. His love for God, His Father and for each and every one of us, is the same love that we must have, every single moment of our lives.

Now then, brothers and sisters in Christ, how should we then emulate and show genuine love in our actions, words and dealings each and every days of our life? It is by learning to show love, selflessness and genuine compassion for those whom we encounter daily in our own lives, to not be selfish and be filled with desire and greed. Let us be generous in our giving and in our love, forgiving those who have caused us much pain and suffering. It is when we have this love in us, and God is at the centre of our lives, that we will have found our true peace in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all pray that we will be given the courage and strength, to show love in all and everything that we say, do and act in our daily lives, that even when the world itself is against us, and even when we are tempted to give up and find another way, we will remain strong in our love and in our faith in God, and filled with this love, we will not be swayed by the falsehood of the devil, and be able to live our lives faithfully from now on. May the Lord continue to be with us and guide us in our path. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 February 2019 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the great feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which is celebrated every second day of the month of February, which is also the fortieth day after Christmas. Today, traditionally is the last day in the whole of the Christmas season, in which the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, and earlier on, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, marked the transition from the celebration of the birth and the early life of the Lord Jesus, towards His public ministry and eventually to the upcoming season of Lent preparing us for the eventual coming of Easter.

On this day we recall the moment when the Lord was brought to the Temple of Jerusalem as mandated by the Law, and offered to the Lord as the firstborn of the family. This was the day when the Lord was presented officially before His people, when the relationship between Him, as the Son of God, was presented before His Father, symbolising the mission which He was about to take upon, as the Saviour of the world and of all mankind. He was consecrated to the Lord, His heavenly Father, to become the one true High Priest of all.

All of these were mentioned in the book of the prophets of old, including the proclamation by the prophet Malachi in our first reading today, that God would send to mankind His deliverance and salvation through the High Priest He would appoint to be the Envoy and Mediator of the new Covenant He would make with His beloved people. And in the second reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Jewish Christians were reassured of the High Priesthood of Christ, the fulfilment of God’s ancient prophecies, that He would save His people, and all these had happened through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

And the wonders of God’s mighty works lie in the very fact that He chose this way in order to save us His beloved ones, by directly embracing us with love, coming in the flesh and becoming as one of us, assuming the form and substance of Man, so that by uniting our own humanity with His, He would be able to offer the perfect sacrifice offering of love, to be the atonement for all of our sins, of the combined weight of humanity’s sins, past, present and future till the end of time. He did this, by becoming the High Priest Who redeemed us, once and for all by His loving sacrifice on the cross.

In order to understand and appreciate the significance of this event better, we must understand the role of the priesthood in the ancient Israel, where priests had been chosen from among the descendants of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. The priests were entrusted with the role of intermediary between God and His people, to be the ones who would bring God’s people back towards Him, by the offering of sacrificial offerings, the blood of animals, of goats, lambs and pigeons.

And there was, in Christ, a far greater, more worthy and more wonderful sacrifice and offering, the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, acting by Himself as the High Priest, offering those worthy offerings for the atonement of all of our sins, of mankind throughout all time and ages. He established therefore a new Covenant between God and us mankind, sealed not in the blood of lambs and imperfect animals, but with His own Most Precious Blood, the Blood of the Lamb of God.

Today, as we recall the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple of Jerusalem, we are looking towards the Lord’s role in our salvation, remembering how our one and true High Priest laid Himself on the altar of the cross, bearing all the multitudes of our sins and impurities, our iniquities and unworthiness, so that by His perfectly selfless and loving action, all of us who place our trust and faith in Him may be saved, by our faith in Him.

We recall the love that He has for each and every one of us, that He was willing to endure such pain and suffering for our sake. He endured all the wounds and troubles for the sake of our salvation. Every single wounds that have been inflicted on the Lord are caused by the sins we have committed, whenever we have caused suffering on others, or because of our selfishness and greed that lead us ever deeper into the chasm of wickedness and sin.

But the Lord loved us so much, that He gave us the gift of His Son, our High Priest and Saviour, through Whom we have received the opportunity to achieve redemption and eternal life. And this He has extended to us through His priesthood, the ministerial priesthood that He has established within His Church, to become in His persona, the intermediary between us and God. He called those whom He deemed to be worthy, to become His priests, bishops and all those ordained to the holy orders, to offer at the celebration of the Holy Mass, the same sacrifice He has done at Calvary.

Through our priests and all those who have been consecrated to God, including all those who have devoted themselves to the religious life and life dedicated to God’s glory, we have seen the light of Christ in our midst, despite all the darkness of mankind’s sins and iniquities. Through the examples and perseverance of all those who have lived their lives with faith, imitating Christ’s own obedience and loving sacrifice, we have seen the light of our salvation, and have hope in us.

There are also many of those who have also dedicated themselves to a life of prayer, prayers dedicated to many of us, and to holy life that brings about much inspiration to the rest of us the faithful people of God. They have followed the example and commitment of Christ, and become inspiration to us all. They spent their days and time in prayer, and go about everything in life, centering themselves so completely on God.

That is why, today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must spend time to pray, and not just today, but each and every days from now on, for those who have dedicated themselves to the Lord and lived a consecrated life in God. We should give our full support and also encouragement to them, for indeed, as difficult as our faith life may be, with all of the temptations and challenges, they have even more difficulties in all of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us all renew our commitment to love and serve the Lord with zeal, courage and faith, especially because of the wonderful love that He has shown us all. Let us all heed His call, and do our best in whatever we do, in order to do His will and devote ourselves to His cause. And let us continue to support the efforts and good works of the Church, particularly those who have been called to the holy orders and consecrated life. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 1 February 2019 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God reminding each and every one of us that we must be obedient to the will of God, be patient while living our lives in faith for while we may encounter plenty of challenges and difficulties along the way, but in the end, our patience in faith will bear rich fruits, from which we shall receive just rewards from God for all of our commitment and devotion to Him.

In today’s Scripture passages, God speaks to us by the means of parables, in which through Jesus Christ, He revealed to us what the kingdom of God is like, which He compared to a growing mustard seed and like that of seeds being sown in fertile and rich soil, growing into a healthy and good, fruitful plant. All of these are reminders for us all to be patient in faith, as all those who have grown a plant before would have known, how it takes a lot of time and effort before a plant can grow into its full maturity.

In the first reading today, from the Epistle of the Hebrews, the faithful Jewish Christians in the early Church were encouraged and reminded of the good deeds that they have done in faith, despite all sorts of persecutions and challenges that they had to endure. They were encouraged to continue the good deeds and the love that they had shown to one another, and even though persecutions would continue, but God will reward their faith in the end.

In what we have heard from our first reading passage and the Gospel passage today, we are all reminded that our faith is one that needs to be practiced and lived with all of our hearts and minds, with all of our efforts and strength. It is not enough for us just to claim our Christian faith and belief, and yet doing nothing to fulfil God’s will and do what He has asked and commanded us to do as His followers and disciples.

Yet, it is often that many of us Christians are unaware of what we have to do in our own respective lives, in living up to our faith. Many of us are ignorant and complacent of the demands and requirements of our Christian faith, to live out what we believe in our lives, through what we say and do, and by all of our actions and deeds. Many of us often do not realise the importance of living our faith as we should have, and many of us do not have the patience to follow the Lord and obey Him as we should have.

Many of us seek quick fixes and shortcuts, preferring path with lesser challenges and difficulties. But this is where we can easily end up falling into the traps prepared for us by the devil, who is always ready to strike at us just as how plants can be easily struck down by various unfortunate events as they grow from a small seed into a fully grown plant. The devil often strikes at us with temptations and persuasions meant to distract us and to lure us away from God’s salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to reflect on our own lives. How have we lived our lives thus far? Have we been obedient to the Lord and live up to what we have faith and belief in? Or have we instead chosen to follow the false ways of Satan and his fellow tempters and wicked spirits? We are called to discern on how we have our lives so that we may know how to progress in our respective lives from now on.

Let us all understand of what we need to do in our own lives as Christians, which often does not require us to start with a great and difficult venture. It all boils down to the appreciation of our faith in our daily living, in our every actions, in every words we say to one another, that we show the good examples of our faith, and how we can convince others of this faith that we have. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, there will be challenges and inconveniences, difficulties and troubles that inevitably will come our way, but this should not discourage us from trying our best to live our lives as we should, in accordance to the ways of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us turn ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord from now on, loving Him and loving one another to the best of our abilities. Let us devote our attention and effort to serve Him at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 31 January 2019 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words from the Scripture telling us about the need for each and every one of us to be faithful to God, and to live out our lives with faith, and not with just empty gestures and superficial dedication. The Lord has given us many talents, abilities and blessings as gifts, and rightfully we are expected to make good use of them, for the benefit and for the good of all of God’s beloved children.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard about the short parable with which the Lord Jesus taught His disciples, with regards to the use of a light that ought to be placed on a lampstand and not to be hidden. This must be understood in the context of the importance of light for the people at that time, and even in our present day world. Light is very important because in a world where the absence of light is often feared and undesired because of the darkness and our inability to see or to experience things around us, light is truly a very important thing to have.

If light is covered up, then it becomes useless, as its light then cannot be seen by anyone. It is also senseless and meaningless for light to be hidden and not be seen by anyone. Therefore, when we heard the parable that the Lord mentioned about light, it was in fact a comparison to the talents, abilities and blessings that God has given to each and every one of us. Hiding up the light is essentially keeping our talents and abilities without using them for the benefit of men.

That is what the Lord told to the people, with the intention to remind them that each and every one of them have been given plenty of blessings, talents and abilities in order to be used for the benefit and good of one another, and yet, many of them have misused those gifts and blessings. Throughout history, we have seen many circumstances and occasions when there had been suffering because of the misuse of these talents and abilities.

In addition, there had been many occasions when the people were ignorant of the sufferings and difficulties faced by their peers around them. For example, in our world today, many people who are in need, poor and suffering, and at the same time, there are all those who are very rich and having abundant blessings and yet, did nothing to help those who were less fortunate. That is why there are so much injustice in this world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today each and every one of us are called to make use of the various gifts and blessings that we have been given, and share them with one another. That is what the Lord truly meant as He told His disciples the parable of the light, put on a lampstand to provide light to dispel the darkness that is present around us. We are called to do this, as part of what God had commanded us all to do.

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. John Bosco, the saint well known for his dedication and hard work for the benefit of the poor and the less fortunate, in particular his work among the young boys and delinquents, who were gathered by the saint into a house where they could gain education and proper guidance with love and compassion. St. John Bosco showed love, care and compassion for those who need them the most and touched their lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to follow the examples of St. John Bosco in his dedication in serving the people of God, his love for the poor, the needy and all those who need care and attention. Let us all share the love and the blessings that God has given us so generously, so that none of us will be left unloved and uncared for anymore. Let us turn our hearts and minds wholeheartedly to the Lord from now on.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to lead and guide us down the right path, that in everything we say, do and act, we will always bring glory to God, and will love Him ever more, with each and every passing days. May God bless us all in everything, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 January 2019 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we continue the discourse regarding the High Priesthood of Christ from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are reminded yet again of the wonders of God’s love that He has willingly sacrificed Himself, offering His own Most Precious Body and Blood as the High Priest of us all, that through this sacred and worthy offering, all of us are freed from the slavery of sin, and receive the renewed grace of God’s love.

He has made a new Covenant with each and every one of us by the outpouring of His Blood and the shedding of His Body on the altar of the cross, sanctified and sealed by that sacrifice, making a Covenant that is everlasting and unbreakable, the Covenant of love between God and His beloved people. And because of His love for us, He willingly embraced that painful and yet loving sacrifice, enduring all the sufferings for our sake, that we may live.

Yet, for all that the Lord has done for our sake, many of us are still incapable of recognising the wonderful gift of this love. And the Lord reminds us about this through the Gospel passage today, in which He told His disciples the famous parable of the sower. In that parable, the Lord told the people of a sower who sowed his seeds which fell on different types of soil and conditions, in each of which, the seeds failed to grow except for the ones that fell on the rich and fertile soil.

Those seeds that the sower spread on the soil, is the Word of God, the faith and the truth that God has brought upon us through His Church and all those who worked hard to spread the Good News and the message of the Gospels of Christ. The sower himself is the Lord, Who sowed good things in us and spread His Good News and truth in our midst, that each and every one of us may grow in our faith and become closer to Him.

Unfortunately, based on what the Lord had gone through with us through the parable, we heard how many of those seeds fell on various types of soil medium, which were not conducive for proper and healthy growth and development of the plants. First of all, the seeds that fell on the roadside were eaten up by birds and therefore did not grow, representing all those who were distracted by the many temptations of life, and chose to follow Satan and his lies instead of following the way that God has shown us.

And then those seeds that fell among thorns and thistles and were strangled by those plants, as well as those that fell on rocky ground and failed to grow deep roots and dried up, were those who had the faith in them and yet, they were unable to grow in faith as the burdens of worldly temptations and the allures of pleasure and human greed caused them to falter and fall, to be made to bow to the pressures of the expectations of our world and our community.

It is only those seeds that fell on the rich and fertile soil that managed to grow into healthy and fruitful plants that bore rich produce and returns, many multiples of what had been planted in the first place. This rich and fertile soil is in fact referring to all those who have allowed God’s words and truth to come into their midst, and not only that, but they also internalised and understood those words and their meaning, and making them integral part of their lives.

That is how the Lord’s grace, love and blessings can bear fruit within us, and make us to be bountiful and great, when we allow God to enter into our hearts and minds, and transform us completely from the inside out. And thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are called to love God in the same manner as He has loved us all so deeply and wonderfully, that He has laid down His own life for our sake, offering for our salvation, the perfect offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood as our Eternal High Priest.

Let us all turn towards the Lord from now on, loving Him and devoting ourselves to Him, each and every days of our life. Let us all open our hearts and minds, to allow God to enter into our lives, changing us and transforming us to become His worthy and beloved servants, and His wonderful people from now on. May God bless us all and our every endeavours, and may He be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 January 2019 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of today’s Scripture passages is very clear, that is a reminder for each one of us of what we need to do as Christians in our own lives, to be committed and dedicated to God in all things, to listen to Him and to know His will, and then to do His will each and every single moment of our existence in this world. We are reminded of this important obligation, so that we may grow ever deeper in faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our first reading today taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews mentioned the reality of what the practices and customs of the Jewish people had become, in the observation of the Law of God as revealed through Moses and the prophets. The people and especially their priests, all those who preserved the traditions and the laws followed what their ancestors had practiced, in offering animal sacrifices, of fats and blood, on the altar of the Temple of God.

But all of that are just temporary measures, as no blood or fats of animals will be able to wipe out all the sins and disobedience of men, in all of its vast multitudes and variety, throughout all time. Nothing in this world is worthy enough to do so, and that is why the priests had to continuously offer the sacrifices daily from time to time, for the sake of all those who have fallen into sin again and again. And the priests themselves also need to offer those sacrifices for themselves, as they were sinners too.

Yet, God revealed that this would not last forever, as He would send the One through Whom all of us would be brought to our eternal joy and redeemed from the snares of sin. The Divine Word Incarnate, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, also the Lamb of God and Eternal High Priest of all creation, has come into this world, to take up the role as our High Priest, as the One Who offered the sacrificial offering, and not many times, but once and for all, for the forgiveness of mankind’s sins, past, present and future till the end of time.

By linking what the Lord Jesus would do with the actions of the priests in accordance with the old laws of Moses, the Lord highlighted the redemptive nature of His mission, that is to bring all of mankind back to His loving embrace, to forgive them from their sins, that they may not perish because of those sins, but instead, become worthy to be present in His kingdom, and to receive the fullness of the graces and blessings that He has promised to them.

But Christ did all of these through painful suffering, by bearing the heavy cross that is burdened not so by the physical weight of the wood, but by the vast mountain of our sins, accumulated from every single human beings that has ever lived, living and will live, to the end of time. All the wounds that were inflicted on Him, were actually our sins and our disobedience, which Christ, as our High Priest, bore upon Himself, even as He offered the most worthy and precious offering of all, the slain Lamb of God on the altar, His Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood.

God has loved us so much, that He was willing to go through and endure all the sufferings, no matter how painful it was, in order to save us from the destructions due because of our sins. And most importantly, He showed us all the perfect obedience, the Lord Jesus obeying the will of His heavenly Father. At the Gardens of Gethsemane, Jesus agonised over this great burden He was to bear, all the painful wounds and sufferings He had to go through, but He submitted so completely that His prayers were heard and sacrifices were accepted, and our salvation came forth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to look once again deep into our own lives, asking ourselves if we have loved the Lord our God just as He has loved us so much and so dearly that He was willing to endure so much pain and suffering for our sake. Have we spent the time to be with Him and to listen to Him speaking in the depth of our hearts and minds? If we have not done all these, then I am afraid that our faith is no better than those Pharisees and teachers of the Law whom the Lord criticised for their hypocrisy and superficial faith, as they demanded very strict obedience to the Law and yet failed to understand it and had no place for God in their hearts and minds.

We are called today to turn once again towards the Lord in faith, committing ourselves anew and renewing the zeal that each and every one of us should have, in loving God and in walking in the path that He has shown to all of us. Are we ready to commit ourselves to the Lord in this manner? Or are we too distracted by the many temptations in life to be able to take note of the Lord’s presence and love in our midst?

Let us all be strengthened in faith and grow deep in our love for the Lord, from this day onwards. May God be with us always, and may His presence continue to inspire us each and every days of our life to love and serve Him with zeal, at all times. Amen.

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Monday, 28 January 2019 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scripture passages reminding us about the wonderful things that the Lord has done for our sake, in how He has brought us out from the predicament and our fated destruction because of our sins. He has come into this world to be the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and mankind as mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He is the High Priest Who is also the Mediator of the New Covenant.

In order to understand this better, we must understand the context and historical importance of the role of the priest, and especially the High Priest in the community of Israel, the people of God. The priest is the one who has been chosen by God from among the tribe of Levi, to be the servant at His Temple, and earlier on also at the Tent of Meeting built by Moses, whose role is to offer sacrifices presented by the people to God.

Therefore, the priest had a very important role as the mediator of the Covenant between God and man, for the relationship between God and man had been damaged and man has been sundered away from God’s grace because of their sins. Sin is born out of disobedience, our refusal to follow and obey the way of the Lord, all of the wicked words we have uttered and the wicked deeds and actions we have taken in life. All these have separated us from God.

But God still loves each and every one of us despite of our rebelliousness and waywardness. He created us because of His love for us, and He will not abandon that love just because of our sins and our disobedience. That is why God established His Covenant with us, and renewed it again and again, as we mankind continuously failed to uphold our end of the Covenant, breaking them through our sinful disobedience. God still tried to save us, and through His priests, He brought a temporary solution, by their sacrificial offerings.

God promised that the time would come for His Saviour to come into the world and resolve this matter once and for all, a promise that is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, Who came into this world, performed His works obeying the will of His Father, and by becoming Man and assuming our human existence like us, became for us our Eternal and True High Priest, offering for us, just for one time, once and for all, the perfect offering through which all of us have been saved.

Christ has become the source of our salvation because He obediently and willingly followed the will of God His Father, in laying down His life on the cross, which became His Altar, the Altar on which He laid down the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the Lamb of God, the Divine Lamb of sacrifice that far and infinitely surpassed the offering of lambs and other animals as prescribed by the Law.

Unfortunately as shown in the Gospel passage today, there were still those who refused to believe in the Lord and in fact, even made nasty and wicked accusations against Him. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law accused the Lord of using the power of the prince of demons, Beelzebul to cast out other demons when they saw Him exorcising evil spirits from people, and they thought that as He often did it on the Sabbath day in violation of the strict Sabbath law, then He could not have done it with God’s grace.

But this is where the pride and the stubbornness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law worked against them, as these prevented them to see reason, which the Lord wisely and justly presented before them, showing them the foolishness of their argument. Had the evil spirits and demons were divided against each other as they stipulated, there would have been endless conflicts between the fallen angels, and Satan would have been too busy to be able to strike at us mankind.

Instead, they did not realise that Satan himself was planting these seeds of discord and stubbornness in their hearts and minds to prevent them from being able to understand and appreciate the works of God unfolding and happening before their own eyes. Satan did not want the success of the works of God, and that was why, all the more his entire forces were united in the effort to divide the people of God, and to block them from attaining salvation through the Lord Jesus’ efforts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now let us all reflect on our own lives. Have we allowed ourselves to be seduced by the temptations of Satan, that we hardened our hearts and minds against the love of God? We have to realise just how great God’s love for us is, to the point that He was willing to endure all the sufferings and pains in order for us to be saved. He willingly took up the cross and bore it up to Calvary for us.

If God has not loved us, we would have perished long ago, and our existence would have been meaningless. But God did not let all these happen, and He brought us out of the depth of our sins and from the darkness into the light, through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our God and Our Saviour. And for the love that He has shown us all, it is only then right that we also love Him in the same manner, as what is only right and just after all that He has done for us.

If we are not sure how we ought to do so, then perhaps it is good for us to take note of the examples shown by St. Thomas Aquinas, the saint whose feast we celebrate on this day. St. Thomas Aquinas is a truly famous saint and also Doctor of the Church, renowned for his extensive theological and philosophical writings, his brilliant mind and wisdom, and his love and commitment for God. St. Thomas Aquinas inspired many generations of people who also dedicated their lives to God.

But St. Thomas Aquinas did not have it easy, as oppositions and challenges were aplenty, even from his youth. His family opposed his desire to join religious life and priesthood, using whatever means to try to dissuade him from his conviction, but St. Thomas Aquinas persevered through prayer and steadfast dedication, and he managed to overcome those challenges eventually. He became a devout and committed Dominican, and went about many places teaching and completing his now famous writings and works including the Summa Theologiae, Summa Contra Gentiles among many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Thomas Aquinas has shown us that it is possible for us to love God and to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, directing ourselves to Him so completely that we become attuned to Him much as St. Thomas Aquinas had been, growing deeper in faith and in our dedication to Him each and every single days of our life. Let us all dedicate ourselves anew and renew the faith we have in our God from now on, turning ourselves to Him and loving Him with all of our hearts and strength. Amen.

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Sunday, 27 January 2019 : Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we are called to reflect on the important role that each and every one of us have to play as part of God’s Church, and how we can contribute, in our own unique ways, to the fulfilment of the many wonderful works of the Lord through His Church. These have been made clear to us through the readings of the Scripture that we heard today. We are all part of Christ’s one and only Church, and we all have important roles to play.

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians, part of which is our second reading passage for this Sunday spoke about the nature of the Church, as the very one and only Body of Christ, consisting of all of us, the faithful people of God, as its organs and parts, all of which are inseparable from each other, united in purpose and function, and missing even one part can cause the whole part and the whole body to falter and suffer.

In the same Epistle, St. Paul also wrote about how each different parts of the Body of Christ, the Church, were made to be different, some with greater honour and some with less, some with more prominence while others with less, not because they were to be prejudiced against one another, but rather, because the Lord intended for each part to work together, and to learn to take care of one another, as ultimately, as just mentioned earlier, everyone is part of the same Church, and missing even one part can have grave consequences.

In the first reading today, we heard of the prophet and priest Ezra proclaiming the Law of God before the whole community of the Israelites who had just returned from the exile in Babylon. It was at the time when the community of Israel had just enjoyed a newfound freedom and a new hope for a new life back in their homeland. The Law of God being proclaimed by Ezra was a reminder for all of them that God was always in their midst, and at the centre of their lives and existence.

This means that the Church is an agglomeration of peoples of various backgrounds and talents, of diverse abilities and natures, like a beutiful And through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour and God, we heard the fulfilment of the promises of salvation which He had made for His people, the fulfilment and the revelation of the true meaning and significance of the Law He has given His people, as we heard in our Gospel passage today. The Lord proclaimed in His own hometown of Nazareth in Galilee, the fulfilment of God’s prophecies and promises, in the coming of the Messiah Who would save all of the people. And He was referring to Himself.

This is the mission that the Lord has entrusted to His Church, the Body of Christ, that is to proclaim the Good News of salvation, as Ezra the priest had proclaimed it before the people, and as the Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed before His own hometown assembly in Nazareth. The primary mission of the Church is indeed the salvation of all mankind, by its faithful witness of the Lord’s truth and the proclamation of the Good News.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us are called to do the same with our own lives. By virtue of our common baptism, each and every one of us have received and shared in the priestly, kingly and prophetic ministry of Our Lord. And by the same baptism, we have also been made parts of the one Body of Christ, God’s Church. As such, our lives are meant for the glorification of God and for the proclamation of His truth, to bring the love of God into the midst of this world, into our respective communities.

But as St. Paul compared the works and the functioning of the Church with a human body, each one of us as members of the Church cannot function and work independently of one another just as much as the organs of the body cannot work independently of one another. For example, heart is the most important part of the body as it pumps the blood to the various organs and parts of the body. If the heart stops working, then the person will also stop living, and yet, the heart cannot work on its own. Its activity is controlled by the brain, and without the lungs to support its function by absorbing oxygen from the air, the heart is useless.

Therefore, each one of us as members of the Church do not exist on our own, and neither do we act only selfishly for the sake of our own salvation. It is in fact selfishness that is the root of our own downfall, as when selfishness, greed and pride, ego and stubbornness come into our midst, to the centre of our Church, that we end up causing the downfall of each and every one of us. And this has indeed happened many times throughout the history of the Church and the world.

How is it so? It is exactly because of our selfishness and pride, that we see members of the Church causing scandal and showing unbecoming attitudes as Christians by their behaviours such as gossiping against other members of the Church, by slandering against those whom we do not like, by even direct insult and power-plays that caused much grief and hurt in the community of the faithful, and more often than not, causing the tearing apart of the fabrics of the Church’s unity and existence.

We often see how the laity are divided against themselves, and also priests being divided against their brother priests, scandals and conflicts within the religious orders and communities, as well as the divisions, anger and lots of misunderstandings between the priests and the laity, between the bishops and their flocks, among many others. All of these are in fact, if we realise, the tools of the devil in trying to undermine and destroy the unity of the Church, in order to snatch as many souls as possible into damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to put an end to all of these. We are called to be more resilient in resisting the many temptations of life, the temptations of power, influence, money and many other worldly temptations present out there. These are the things which often come in the way of us realising our role and part to play as members of the Church, and the greatest obstacles that cause divisions and sufferings within the Church.

And some of us may feel uncertain, lost, unworthy or reluctant to do what we are supposed to do as members of the Church. But again, as mentioned, God made us all to be parts of this Church with all of our imperfections and weaknesses, and also our strengths. God did not make any one to be perfect, and no one can claim to be able to do everything for the Church, no matter how good or talented we are, as we are not perfect and have our own limitations.

After all, God Himself chose imperfect men to be His Apostles, and many sinners, including tax collectors, rebels, prostitutes, and others to be His disciples and followers. Many among them were uneducated and foolish, but God gave them the strength and the gift of faith to be able to perform all the things that He had entrusted to them. And we saw how all these came to be, all the wonderful deeds that the Apostles and the countless other holy men and women of God had done throughout history.

That is why it is important that we learn how to work with one another, making use of our respective strengths and abilities, to serve the Lord and perform the works which He has entrusted to us all in His Church. God has called us all to help one another and to make best use of the abilities and talents that we have been given for the greater glory of His Name and for the good of each and every one of us, and all of mankind.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today therefore, let us all renew our commitment to live our lives filled with faith, in all of our actions, words and deeds, so that in each and every single things that we do, we will work together as the members of God’s one universal Church, caring for the needs of one another, and loving our fellow brethren as much as we are able to do so. May the Lord be with us all, and may He bless all of our works, always. Amen.