understanding the faith

by

Sunday, 28 October 2018 : Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scripture passages, beginning with the promise of salvation which God would show His people, Israel, as He prophesied through His servant Jeremiah in the Old Testament, and then, what we heard from St. Paul in his Epistle to the Jewish Christians, about the coming of Christ, Who is the High Priest of all the faithful, in Whom is found the salvation of the world.

In the Scripture readings today therefore, we heard about the the love and mercy which God has shown to us all, to His beloved people, a reminder of the constant gift which the Lord has given us despite all of our disobedience, rebelliousness and the refusals we have made against Him. The prophecy made through the prophet Jeremiah had to be understood in the context of what happened at the time, when the people at the kingdom of Judah was suffering and was in the brink of annihilation, having been subjugated by their enemies, principally the Babylonians.

It was a time when everything seemed to be hopeless, and the enemies of Israel were mounting and plotting against them. Yet, the people of God still rebelled against Him and did what was wicked in the sight of men and God alike. They worshipped pagan idols, committing adulterous and wicked actions in life, and refused to listen to the words of the prophets sent to them to remind them of God’s love and mercy, including that of prophet Jeremiah.

The prophet had to suffer persecution from all those who resisted God’s will and those who turned a deaf ear to the word of God. The king and his nobles, the people and many of the members of the community continued to sin against God, and even considered Jeremiah as the bearer of bad and wicked news, when he continued to prophecy about the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as its Temple because of the sins of Israel. But Jeremiah through today’s passage, showed us that God, despite of His anger against the sins committed by His people, He still loved them and wanted them to be reconciled with Him.

The second reading today, as mentioned, is taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews. Again in that occasion, the Lord spoke to His people through St. Paul, His Apostle, reminding them of the great love and mercy which He showed them, by the perfect gift of Jesus Christ, His Son, Who was appointed the One and True High Priest of all, above all other High Priests of the people of God since the time of Aaron. Christ is the ultimate sign and symbol of God’s love.

How is that so? First of all, as mentioned by St. Paul, the High Priest appointed by God ever since the day of Moses and Aaron is supposed to be the one through whom God exercised His mercy and forgiveness of the sins of the people, by the means of offerings of sin offering and love offering on the Altar of God. The animal offering was meant to be atonement for the sins of the people, and since the High Priest himself was also a sinner, then he was also offering the sin offering for himself.

But the Lord Jesus, the One True High Priest is blameless and without sin, as He is both the Son of God and the Son of Man, having in Himself the perfection of divinity and the perfection of humanity, having two natures of divine and human united in His person. He also offered not the imperfect offering of lambs and goats, their blood and fats, which although according to the Law, only physically blameless and good quality animals should be chosen, but they paled in comparison to the offering that the Lord Jesus made.

For in the Lord Jesus, the Lord our God showed the perfection and the perfect manifestation of His love and compassion for us, His beloved people, whom He loved despite our sins and rebelliousness, as the example from the Old Testament had shown us earlier. God was patient and filled with love for us, His people, that despite the sins which Israel had done in the past, He forgave them and still brought them to the Land which He promised them and their ancestors.

And He forgave them many times, when He brought them back from exile in Babylon, and continued to take care of them, sending them prophets and messengers, one after another, to remind them of the promise of the salvation He has given to them, and calling on them to remain faithful and true to the Law and the teachings which He has revealed to them. And in Jesus, the Lord’s faithfulness and promises were fulfilled completely.

How is that so? The Lord Jesus came and showed the Lord’s mercy, when He healed the sick and the people who were dying, those who were ostracised and shunned by the society, and calling them back to the right path towards God, healing them both from their physical afflictions and spiritual sickness, caused by sin and disobedience. One example was what we have just heard in the Gospel today, as the Lord healed the blind man who called on Him for help and for healing.

But even more so, the Lord Jesus did not come just to heal and to perform all those miracles as He had done before the people, but He showed His love for us, so great and so amazing, in a way that He Himself had said to His disciples, that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down his life for his friend. He laid down His own life, by suffering on the Cross, that through that act, offering His own Flesh and Blood, to be the perfect offering for our sins.

Through that act of ultimate sacrifice and selfless love on the Cross, the Lord showed us all, that He is truly a loving and merciful God, Who was willing to endure such pain, such suffering, such tribulation and difficulty, just so that, by His death, we may be spared our fate of eternal death, because of our sins. Instead, by sharing in His death and united through His resurrection from the dead, we are freed from that terrible fate, and receive a new hope of a new life in God.

Today, all of us ought to spend some time to reflect on this reality, the love of God which He has shown so generously towards each and every one of us, that He willingly took up upon Himself our sins, and to bear them patiently, that as our True and Eternal High Priest, His prayers for our supplication and for the atonement of our sins are heard by God, His heavenly Father. Through the obedience of Christ, our High Priest and the New Adam, all of us who believe in Him are saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we also celebrate the feast of two of Christ’s Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude, both of whom dedicated their lives after they accepted the calling to be an Apostle of the Lord, and they worked hard in evangelising and preaching in faraway lands, speaking the truth about God and His love, His sacrificial gift to all mankind, and the call to repentance, that all the children of God may be reconciled to their loving and merciful God.

St. Simon and St. Jude went to various places, spreading the word of God, suffering persecutions and troubles from those who refused to believe in the truth they brought with them. But they placed their trust in the Lord, and they were encouraged and empowered by the knowledge of the love which God had generously given to them and to all mankind. Truly, if God Himself had suffered for the sake of all men, then what was their suffering compared to God’s suffering?

Although St. Simon and St. Jude, Holy Apostles of Our Lord died in martyrdom against those who refused to believe in the Lord, but this inspired only even more people who wanted to follow the Lord through their courageous examples. Now, we are therefore also called to emulate their examples, and to live faithfully in accordance with the will of God. Are we able to devote ourselves in the same way as they have done?

Let us remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that as Christians, we know how much God loves each and every one of us, and as a result, we should also love Him in the same manner. We can do so, by living a virtuous and courageous Christian life and distancing ourselves from sin. Let us all turn to God with a renewed faith and with a new love that comes from within us. May God be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in this journey of life. St. Simon and St. Jude, Holy Apostles of Our Lord, pray for us. Amen.

by

Saturday, 27 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from the Scriptures we heard about the gifts that God has given to us all Christians, the gift that He has blessed us with, and which all of us have, in our own distinct gifts and talents, some of which we may have discovered and nurtured, and there are still probably more that we have not yet realised yet. These gifts are God’s gifts for us, which is meant for one purpose, that is for us to bring glory to God.

And how do we do so? How do we bring glory to God? It is by doing what the Lord wants us to do, that is by obedience to His will. Those gifts that God has given us, are meant for us to be used for the greater glory of God through our own actions, as we are ultimately, God’s creations. And when God’s creations are glorified, God too, is glorified. And when we use these gifts for the benefit of one another, fellow brethren in Christ, then we also bring glory to God.

However, unfortunately, many of us have not been able to make use of these gifts for the right purposes and for the right intentions, as we have been influenced and corrupted by sin. All of us are sinners, and that is the reality that affects every single one of us, without exception. Our disobedience against God has caused us to sin, and because of that, we have also allowed our gifts to be ignored, misused or abandoned.

We have made use of our gifts, our abilities, our power and talents for the wrong purpose in many occasions, causing suffering, pain and injustice for others, for our fellow brothers and sisters, all for the sake of satisfying our own personal ambitions, glory and human achievements. That is why, through sin, we are making use of what God has given us, in the wrong manner and in the wrong occasion and for the wrong purpose.

In the Gospel today, we heard of the Lord Jesus Who spoke to the people about what happened at that time, when conflict arose between the Romans and the Galileans, as the latter were killed in the Temple of God, and their blood spilt in that holy place. And it was also mentioned about the accident that happened in the fall of the tower of Siloah. The Lord mentioned how those people who died in such a tragic manner, they did not die because of their greater guilt as compared to those others who did not meet their end in such a way.

Rather, death is a natural end point and consequence for our earthly lives and existences. And death exists because of our disobedience against God and refusal to do His will, which led us to sin. Death is the sting of sin against us, and death is the ending of life as we know it, as it is the gift of life which God has given us, and unless we make good use of this precious gift of life, then the Lord had already forewarned us, that our lot will be that of eternal death, that is hell.

God gives us many gifts and blessings, which we are expected to use in our lives, for the benefit of our fellow brothers and sisters. And this is mentioned in the Gospel passage today by the Lord’s use of the parable of the fig tree and its fruits. The fig tree is in fact a representation of each and every one of us, mankind, who have been given the ability to bear fruits, that is the fruits of the blossoming of the gifts that God has given each one of us.

But if that fig tree was barren and without fruit, then there is no reason for the tree to remain in existence or to be placed on the fertile ground, since that fig tree is essentially useless, not being capable of producing good fruits even though it has been given much in the way of nutrients, provisions and good care. The master of the garden wanted the fig tree to be uprooted and cast out, but the gardener asked for one last chance to be given to the fig tree.

If that fig tree bears fruit, then it will be spared. Otherwise, it will be uprooted and destroyed should it remain barren. This is a reminder for us that we should also bear fruit in our own respective lives, the good fruits of the Lord’s will, through our love for Him and for our fellow men, through our compassion and charity, through our wise ways and understanding of our faith. If our fruits are wicked and bad, because of our sins and continued disobedience against God, then we too shall perish.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us have been given the opportunities in our respective lives, by the Lord, Who wants us to grow well in faith and to bear good fruits of the Holy Spirit, and not the wicked fruits of sin and evil. That is why, all of us must realise this fact and take action, or otherwise, we will end up caught unawares and unprepared, when the Lord suddenly calls us back to His presence, at the time of His own determination.

Let us not waste any more time, brothers and sisters in Christ, or assume that we have plenty of time. At any time, we may be called by God to give an account of our own lives, and should we fail to be true and worthy to Him, then we will suffer nothing less than an eternity of suffering in hell, prepared for those who have not produced the good fruits of love, compassion, hope, justice and integrity, but the wicked fruits of pride, sloth, greed, hatred, jealousy and evil, such as Satan and his fellow fallen angels.

May the Lord be our Help and Guide, and may He continue to lead us to Himself, that each and every one of us may find our way to Him, and not be lost amidst the sway of temptations and allures of the devil and the challenges we face in this life in this world. May we come to bear good fruits of our faith, and be worthy of God’s grace and everlasting life in Him. Amen.

by

Friday, 26 October 2018 : 29th 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 telling us first of all from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, of what is expected from all of us as Christians, in how we live our lives and in our communities. The Christians of that time were urged by St. Paul to look beyond their differences, and work together to find unity in action and in spirit.

In today’s Gospel we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to us about the superficiality and hypocrisy of the people of God, who knew of the signs of nature and the times, and yet, they did not or fail to know the signs of God. This has to be understood in the context of the history and the dynamics of the community at that time, in which people were often divided, as the people of Ephesus were, along the lines of race, religious and cultural divide, and the differences in outlook and background.

Therefore, at that time, the society was actually very divided against each other and even often, within one’s own racial, religious and cultural groups, where there were also often disagreements, disunity and conflict. All of these were ultimately caused by our own human desires and selfishness, the allures of power, of glory, and of worldly satisfactions and pursuits of vanity, which clashed along each other’s, and therefore, resulting in the disagreements and disunity.

This comment by both St. Paul and the Lord Jesus came at a time when the people often acted very selfishly towards each other, be judgmental on each other, and without hesitation, attacking and striking at their fellow men without any consideration, and less so love or understanding of each other’s actions. This is what, to St. Paul, and to the Lord Jesus, actions that were based on worldly expectations and standards, and which are contrary to our Christian way of life.

This is why through what the Lord Jesus and St. Paul shared with us in today’s Scripture passages, on the need for all of us to embrace true Christian way of life and enact this in our own living. In how we live our lives, in how we act and interact with each other, and in all of our work in the community, we must embody and show true spirit of Christianity, and this means that we need to be filled with love, compassion, concern and care for our fellow men.

We should not act on one another with prejudice, or with hatred or jealousy, or with the intention to hurt or harm the other person. As Christians, we must act with love, to show concern on those who are troubled and injured, sick or in pain, and to learn to forgive, despite the faults that we have done upon the other. It is in the world’s way and in our human nature for us to hate, and to keep grudges against those who have hurt us. But as Christians, we are challenged to overcome this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we reflect on this, and think of ways that we can do, so that gradually, we may come to attune ourselves more closely to the way of the Lord. Let us all turn ourselves, our heart, our mind, our body and our whole being, towards the Lord, and seek to devote ourselves, day after day, for the greater glory of God, from now on. May God bless us in this endeavour, and May He continue to be with us and be our Guide. Amen.

by

Thursday, 25 October 2018 : 29th 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 speaking to us first about the presence of God in our lives, as according to the words of St. Paul the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus. In that Epistle, we heard of the Lord, Who is the source of all power, love, wisdom, glory, that surpasses any human intellect, wisdom, or power. And it is from Him alone that all these things will come towards us, His beloved people.

This is linked to what we heard in our Gospel passage today, even though it may not be immediately evident right at the beginning. In that Gospel passage, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples, using words that would have certainly made them unsettled, as the Lord used words that were seemingly atypical of what He has often taught and preached before the people of God.

Usually the Lord would speak of peace, love, harmony, and the forgiveness of sins and faults, and through all the teachings and the deeds He had performed, it seems quite clear that the Lord Jesus was One Who would bring about a time of peace, love and harmony, the idealistic utopia, which corresponds to what the Jewish people at the time thought, that the Messiah would bring about such an utopian reality.

However, through what He spoke of to the people in today’s passage, the Lord Jesus revealed the truth and the reality of what being His disciples and followers would mean, that tough and difficult times would be theirs to bear, and that His coming into the world, far from bringing about an utopian society and state, would actually bring about plenty of divisions, sufferings, and even persecutions and deaths.

And it is important for us all to realise that none of these were actually because of the Lord’s doing. The divisions, pains, troubles, sufferings and all the other unpleasantness and difficulties came about because of man’s opposition to God’s will, their refusal to allow God to enter into their hearts and their lives, and also, their selfishness and desire to gain more things for themselves, for their benefit. And this is directly contrary to what the Lord had taught us, the essence of what Christianity is all about.

It is these clashes in mindset and the failure of men in resisting the allure of worldly pleasures and greed that caused the divisions and troubles for all those who believe in God. The clashes and persecutions that occurred throughout the history of the Church, particularly those during its earliest days were examples of these, which the Lord foretold to His disciples. Following the Lord would often put one at odds against the societal norms and customs at that time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how then, the early Christians persisted against such terrible persecutions, troubles and challenges? It was exactly as what St. Paul wrote as part of our first reading passage today, that they placed their trust in God, from Whom they received strength, power, wisdom and courage. They trusted that God would protect them, and even though they might suffer, but they knew that their ultimate reward, for their faith, is the eternal glory with God in heaven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us? Even in our world today there are plenty of opposition that are rising up against us and the Church. There are increasingly more and more threats and problems that are facing us. And unless we put our trust in God, it is very easy for us to lose our way and fall into the temptations and fall therefore into the trap of sin. And surely, if we look carefully at the situation of the world around us, in the present day, we can recognise ever more increasing sources of these distractions, temptations and pressures against us.

Are we then able to put our trust in God just as our predecessors had done before? We are called to do so, and spend our effort in getting closer to Him. There will be occasions when we would be tempted to give up, because of all the pressures and temptations piled up against us. But we should not let that be obstacles in our way towards the Lord. Instead, we should continue to strive and to try to be better in how we live our faith, in wanting to be closer to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore pray, that each and every one of us will be able to give our very best in living our lives in faith. Let us all also strive, day after day, to seek the Lord in all things, and to be ever better Christians from now on, sharing the love of God with one another, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 24 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened yet again to the continuation of the discourse of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, of which part is our first reading today. In that passage, we heard of how God has revealed His truth to the people, whom He called from among the many nations, to be considered and marked as His own people.

We heard how St. Paul told the people of the great privilege that all of them have received, the revelations of God’s truth which many in the past and previous generations have not had the chance or even had a glimpse of the truth. The people of Ephesus, made of many different peoples from different backgrounds, origins, racial and culture groups, have received the same truth that has been given to the other Christians in many other places, and there was no prejudice in the truth of God.

This has to be understood in the context of the dynamics of the people and the populations of the area, which as mentioned, were made of Jewish and non-Jewish people alike. The Gentiles, the name of group which consisted of first of all the Greeks who predominated in that region, and also the Romans, who were relative newcomer to the region, having received newly gained privilege from their position as the master and lord of most of them

And all of them, including that of the Jews, each and every one of us mankind are often tempted in our hearts and minds. We are tempted to be self-righteous, and by extension of that, selfish and proud, looking down on others, and thinking that we are better and more righteous and just in our ways. This caused rifts, conflicts, disagreements, infighting and jealousies, distrust and unhappiness among the people, among the members of the Church.

In the Gospel today, all of us listened to the word of God in the Scriptures in which He related to us the parable of the stewards and the master who returned suddenly to his household from a journey. In that parable, we heard about the stewards who were entrusted with the caretaker role of what their master possessed, and if the steward slacked in doing his obligations, and instead, became swayed and influenced by the worldly temptations, satisfying his own human desires, then he would be caught unaware when the master came back suddenly.

And these distractions include what St. Paul had written in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth. We are often too preoccupied by our own prejudices and worldly desires, that we forget about God and about what being a Christian is truly about. We forget that being Christians, is first and foremost about love, understanding, being compassionate and filled with concern for others, and not being self-righteous and proud in our behaviour and attitudes towards others.

Unfortunately, that is how we exactly behave towards each other, as we often have that pride in us and the desires, for worldly power, for money, for influence, that more often than not, influence the way we live our lives and how we act towards one another, even within the Church communities and within our own Christian way of life. We end up creating divisions, conflicts and struggle for power and influence, which in the end, bring about pain and suffering, and even causing people to abandon their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, probably we should reflect upon the life and examples set by St. Anthony Mary Claret, the saint whose feast day we celebrate today. St. Anthony Mary Claret was the founder of the Claretians, a religious order which has many members in various parts of the world today. He was a Spanish priest, and later on bishop, remembered for his many good works for the sake of the faithful.

Despite his many good works, he faced oppositions and persecutions, from all those who refused to listen to his preaching and teachings. He had to flee into exile from all the machinations of his enemies, and faced all those oppositions many times throughout his life. And yet, St. Anthony Mary Claret remained strong in his faith, and devoted his life to the greater glory of God, reforming the Church and the community of the faithful through his works.

For example, St. Anthony Mary Claret helped to reform the Church in the area of Cuba, then under the rule of Spain, and within just a short period of time, he managed to reorganise and reform the Church and the community in such a way that many people repented from their sinful ways, and many become reconciled to God. Many more people came closer to the Sacraments and became more genuine followers of Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we should gain inspiration from the good works and the commitment shown by St. Anthony Mary Claret, that instead of acting in ways that bring about division, pain, suffering to our fellow brethren, we should instead turn towards God and persevere in faith, in ways that St. Anthony Mary Claret had done throughout his life.

Let us have a renewed zeal in God and devote ourselves even more closely to God, and listen to His will, that we may draw ever closer to Him and be able to find our way to His saving grace and the eternal life and glory promised to us. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 23 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John of Capestrano, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, speaking about the Lord Who has brought about the end of the divisions and categorisations between the communities of God’s faithful, as the Lord united them all, regardless whether they were Jewish people or whether they were Gentiles or non-Jews, regardless whether they were Greeks or Romans, regardless whether they were freedmen or slaves.

The essence of what St. Paul spoke to the faithful of Ephesus must be understood in the context of the dynamics of the community of the people at the time, in a world dominated by the Romans, a multicultural, multilingual and multiracial world, where there was a relative freedom of movement between the different parts of the Roman Empire. And this is a continuation of the history of about three centuries of intermingling between the Greeks and the local population of the Eastern Mediterranean throughout the preceding Hellenistic era.

The Romans, as the new elite and people in power and influence became a new addition to the mix of peoples, and also coupled with movement of populations from the other parts of the Empire. And at that time, there were also plenty of slaves being sold all around the Empire, as a result of warfare and conflict, when people could easily lose even their basic rights and freedom just by being at the wrong side of the war or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Therefore, the population in many parts of the Empire, especially in places like Ephesus, a thriving metropolis and centre of trade at that time, were highly heterogenous and divided along cultural, linguistic, racial and many other classifications and divisions. There were frequent prejudices, disagreements, conflicts and problems that arose because of all these differences and divisions that existed.

Therefore, St. Paul exhorted to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, as he also did in various other places, that all of the people who believe in God must look beyond and indeed overcome their differences, all sorts of categorisations, groupings and kinds of divisions that had divided the community all these while. Since they have all been saved by the Lord Jesus, through the same sacrifice He had made on the cross, then we must also love everyone equally without bias or prejudice.

After all, the Lord Himself loves everyone, every single one of us, without so much as dividing His attention unequally or favouring any one of us based on any of our worldly backgrounds and things. Therefore, now it is important for us to reflect on what we have heard and allow God to influence us and to change our lives. We must allow God to enter into our hearts, minds and our whole being.

Rather than focusing on what divides us or on what differentiates us, we should instead be the sources of unity, and this unity comes about because of Christ, in our shared and common belief in the Lord Jesus as the One Master, God and Saviour of all of us. The unity of the faithful is important, as when the people were divided, one against another, as what truly happened during the time of St. Paul, the Church was not only just unable to accomplish its mission, but even worse, they scandalised the faith and made others to be unwilling to follow their way.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus spoke of a parable regarding servants whose master had gone on a journey, and how the master could return just at any time. And as the servants were expected to continue in what they have been assigned to do during the time when the master was away, should some of them slacked or failed to work properly when the master suddenly came back from his journey, would be caught in a bad condition.

Through this parable, the Lord Jesus wanted His disciples to be ever ready and to be ever prepared for the Lord. And more importantly, He wanted everyone to be awakened from their slumber or from their distractions, and do what He has commanded and willed for them to do. And as St. Paul mentioned to the people in Ephesus, many of the people were burdened and distracted by all the divisions that existed among them.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, within our Church today, there are often divisions, disagreements and conflicts, even among ourselves, who are supposed to be brothers and sisters, children of the same loving God. Instead of working together for the good of the Church and for the salvation of more souls, we have instead brought about even more divisions and conflict among each other.

Today, perhaps we should reflect on the life of St. John of Capestrano, a famous Franciscan friar and priest, who was remembered for his great commitment to the Lord, and in his hard work among the faithful, committing himself, his time and much effort trying to bring the word of God, and the truth of God to the people, and calling them to leave behind their ways of sin and disobedience.

St. John of Capestrano devoted himself to the Lord, spending time again and again to convert the people to the truth, and to bring them closer to the salvation in God. Instead of being distracted by the many worldly concerns and desires, by the many temptations and allures of worldly things, perhaps we should be more like St. John of Capestrano and the many other holy men and women who have gone before us, in their exemplary holiness and way of life.

Let us all renew our desire to love God, without the divisiveness and the conflicts that we have endured thus far, even within our Church communities and groups. Let us all turn our hearts, minds, and our whole being towards God, and draw ever closer to His love and mercy, which He willingly gives us, if only we ask Him and are willing to come to Him, as one people, belonging to Him, our One and only God. Amen.

by

Monday, 22 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Word of God in the Scriptures reminding each and every one of us to be centred on God and to be faithful to Him, and not be distracted by the many temptations and allures of worldly pleasures, wealth, money, happiness, all sorts of conveniences, possessions, fame, influence, and all sorts of other things that are indeed, obstacles in the way of our faith.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable told by the Lord Jesus, referring to a rich man who had plenty of possessions and goods, who was not satisfied with what he had received and wanted to gain even more. He had big plans for himself and his riches, wanting to tear down the barns that he had, so that he could build even bigger barns to store even more of the possessions he had.

This means that the man had the desire in his heart for even more, and not being satisfied by what he already possessed. And this is natural to us man, to have this greed inside our hearts and minds, and if we indulge in allowing our greed to overtake us, then eventually we will end up like that rich man, who thought of nothing else either than to gain more for his own desires and wants, for earthly riches and pleasures.

And in doing so, like the rich man, we will end up forgetting that all of these worldly things, items, objects and possessions are merely temporary, illusory and fleeing in nature. None of these, our money, our wealth, our material possessions, branded goods, cars, vehicles, and all things will be retained with us when we are called to give the account of our life before Our Lord and Master.

In what St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, God has given us a far greater and more tremendous gift, that is the gift of His eternal and infinite love. His mercy and love has been given to us freely, and made it evident and tangible to us through Christ, His Son, Our Saviour. There is no greater gift than this, and there is no greater love than what Our Lord and Saviour has shown us, not by mere action, but through what He had borne upon Himself, the suffering of the Cross.

We must realise that our greed and our inability to resist the temptations of the devil have become the source of our failures and our downfall, from the very moment that he caused our ancestors to sin by disobeying God. The devil knows exactly where to strike, and how to strike at us, especially by taking advantage of our predisposition and vulnerability to pride and greed. And by these, he had lured many souls who did not know that they had fallen into the trap of the evil one.

But the Lord did not remain silent and neither did He show any apathy to our fallen state. And that was exactly how He gave us the source of our new life and deliverance through the giving of His Son, by Whose death on the Cross, the Precious Blood that flows down from that Cross, then our faults and sins are washed away and we are cleansed and made anew. This is in truth, the selfless and perfect love that God desired to shoe us.

The Lord Himself was also tempted by the devil as shown in the three temptations Satan made to the Lord in the desert right after He was baptised by St. John the Baptist. We can see here just how persistent the devil is, in trying to prevent us mankind from being saved, and the method by which he did all these, was mentioned clearly in the Gospels, that he played along with our human desires, for power, for glory, for wealth, for satisfaction of the body and the flesh, which includes that of gluttony and many more.

But the Lord Jesus showed us how we should live our lives as Christians, that is the total surrender and giving of oneself to the will of God, Our Lord and loving Father. The Lord Jesus did not allow Himself to be tempted or swayed from His mission, and remained true to the calling which the Lord, His heavenly Father has given Him. He resisted the devil’s efforts to undermine His works and mission.

Indeed, He was tempted, to the very end, and in His humanity, He agonised over the upcoming suffering and pain, at the time when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He persisted on, and by His love and generous will to forgive us our sins, He willingly took up our sins and faults, and bore it upon Himself, as He went on to His crucifixion, suffering and death.

As Christians therefore, we are called to follow the Lord’s example, in how He gave everything for the sake of His love for us, even to the point of laying down His own life for us. His surrender to the will of the Father was so complete and total, that indeed, all of us ought to learn from Him, in how we should also surrender ourselves to the will of God, Our Lord and loving Father.

Today, we all celebrate the feast of a great saint and servant of God, Pope St. John Paul II, whom many of us must have been quite familiar with. He was a very renowned figure in the Church, having reigned as the Supreme Pontiff and Successor of St. Peter the Apostle for twenty-seven years, achieving many significant milestones and important breakthroughs in the history of the Church and the salvation of God’s people.

And Pope St. John Paul II devoted himself totally to the work and the mission which the Lord had called him to, as shown in his motto, “Totus Tuus”, which means, “All is Yours”. This motto embodies exactly what Pope St. John Paul II believed in his life, in how he carried on performing his mission as a devout servant of God. He who has experienced bitter losses of family, friends and others he knew early on in his life due to sickness and war, gave everything he had to God, and entrusted himself completely to the Lord and to the guidance of His Blessed Mother Mary.

Many of us are aware of the many achievements and good works that Pope St. John Paul II had done throughout his life and throughout his reign as the Pope, as leader of the Universal Church. But this is an important lesson and reminder for all of us that each and every one of us can also do the same, if only that we learn to remove from ourselves all the attachments to worldly desires and pleasures, which have become obstacles and chains that kept us away from being able to give our very best effort.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all renew our effort to love the Lord and to commit ourselves wholeheartedly again towards the Lord. Let us all give ourselves and love the Lord with a renewed spirit and zeal, from now on, that we may truly be able to receive the fullness of God’s mercy and love, and be worthy of the eternal life and glory He has promised to all those who are faithful to Him. May the Lord bless us all and our works, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Sunday, 21 October 2018 : Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we listened to the words of the Scripture with regards to our calling as Christians, through our belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to follow the examples shown by the Lord, and to listen to Him, in what He has revealed and taught to us. And the essence of Christian discipleship is that of humility and the total giving of oneself to the will of God, and not to give in to our selfish, human desires.

Today, in the first reading we heard from the passage taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, which spoke of the prophecy of the suffering Messiah, foretelling what would happen to the faithful and true servant of God, the Messiah, Whom the Lord has promised to send to His people as the source of their deliverance. But through that suffering and selfless offering of Himself, God has willed to save all of His people, that by His sacrifice, He justified many through His death.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into the world, sent by the Father, to be the Saviour of the world. He is the Messiah long awaited by the people of Israel, and the One Whom all mankind had been waiting for, since the time of their downfall into the tyranny of sin. However, He was deeply misunderstood by His own people, many of them who refused to believe that He is the Messiah of God.

To the Jews, who were looking forward to salvation through the Messiah, many of them were expecting a mighty and powerful King to come and lead them against their oppressors and the Romans, who were the masters of most of the known world at the time. The Jewish people did not expect at all that their Messiah would be One Who was totally without worldly ambitions, or the One Who would bear suffering and humiliation to such an extent that He became even the lowliest and the most humiliated of all beings.

This is a reality which many of the Jews during the time of Jesus’ ministry failed to understand, as they had different expectation of what the Messiah would be like and what He would do for their sake. They were expecting an immediate liberation from all worldly woes, the restoration of the glorious and earthly kingdom of Israel as how it was during the time of King David and Solomon. But that was not how God had desired it, for His kingdom was truly one that surpasses this world.

The second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, is the revelation of the truth of God to the Jewish people, especially to those Jews who have willingly accepted the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. St. Paul reiterated in his Epistle that the Lord Jesus is the One and True Eternal High Priest of all mankind, by the virtue of His sacrificial and perfect selfless love offering on the Altar of the Cross.

St. Paul reiterated the truth about what the Messiah of God came into this world to do, dispelling the misconceptions that He would be a powerful and conquering King, and instead, He came as a King in all humility, to serve His people, and to show the Lord’s mercy to His people. And He did all of these through His perfect obedience to the will of His Father in heaven, offering Himself as the perfect and only offering that is worthy of the salvation of all mankind, and Him as the High Priest, offering His own Body and Blood as the means of the absolution of our sins.

In doing this, He fulfilled the prophecy which Isaiah spoke about, and which was our first reading today. The prophet Isaiah spoke of an obedient and suffering servant, and by Christ’s perfect obedience and love for His Father, He willingly gathered to Himself all of our sins and the bonds and chains of our disobedience, and suffering the effects of our punishment. He patiently bore His cross on the way to Calvary, and offered Himself thoroughly as the means by which we may be freed from our sins.

Today, we also listened to the reading from the Holy Gospel written by St. Mark, in which we heard of the moment when the two disciples, St. James and St. John, brothers and sons of Zebedee, came up to the Lord Jesus and made a special request before Him. In another Gospel account, their mother also went with them before the Lord, and made the same request, that each one of them would be able to sit on the left and on the right hand of the Lord when He enters to His kingdom.

The significance of this is that, it precisely highlighted the attitude of the Jewish people in how they viewed the Messiah. The disciples wanted to gain favour with the Lord, and to gain even advantage over one another, a position more favourable, more prestigious and better in the sight of others. That is unfortunately, the reality of how things worked initially among the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord. That was why the Lord in other occasions as written in the Gospels, had to rebuke them for their grumbling and disagreements over who was the most esteemed and best among them.

Many of the people who followed the Lord Jesus also followed Him because of what they have seen, in His miraculous deeds and healings, in His wonderful teachings and popularity, and they hoped to gain from all of these, to gain benefit for themselves and perhaps to satisfy their own desires for worldly power, for honour, for worldly glory and honour, and for position in God’s promised kingdom to come.

But they failed to understand that the Lord’s ways are not like man’s ways. They thought that by following the Lord, they would gain favour and advantage for themselves, but unfortunately, the truth and reality is that, as the Lord Himself revealed to His people, that following Him would mean that they must suffer just as He has suffered, and they will experience rejection, pain and discomfort, just as He Himself had endured all of those.

The Lord foretold to them in the same Gospel passage that He would suffer, by referring to the cup that He was to drink. This is the same cup that the Lord Jesus mentioned to His Father, at the time of His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking Him if it is possible, to let this cup of suffering pass Him by. In that we can see just how painful, heavy and terrible the burdens which Our Lord had willingly taken up on Himself, that He agonised it so in His humanity.

But the Lord obeyed His Father’s will, and surrendered Himself so completely to His Father that He willingly bore down the weight and burden of the cross, despite its pains and sufferings. He completed the task which the Father entrusted Him, and because of that, all of us have a new hope, through the loving and selfless sacrifice that Our Lord made on the cross, as the High Priest Who offered Himself for our salvation.

And He mentioned how the world will also hate His disciples just as they had hated Him. This is because of their inability to comprehend this mission which the Lord revealed unto His people. In addition, the ways of the world are also corresponding to the ways of sin and disobedience against God, and therefore, the Lord and His truth bring about opposition, challenges and difficulties to those who believe in them, because the devil is indeed actively at work trying to subvert God’s effort to save us mankind.

The reality of such suffering and trials have been evident throughout the history of the Church, during the many persecutions and troubles that Christians have suffered from all these centuries. But we should also then look at the examples of those many good and devout Christians, our predecessors in faith, who have withstood all these challenges and defended their faith even amidst the most vicious and harshest persecutions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, for all of us, what we need to take note of from today’s Scripture passages is that first of all, we must not let our desire and greed, our selfishness and the weaknesses of our body to be stumbling blocks in the way of our faith. In our various groups and ministries serving the Church and the faithful, we often have bickering and disagreements, and sometimes even infighting and anger, which resulted from our own clashing desires and our inability to resist the many temptations of life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we are challenged by the Lord Who calls each and every one of us to be His followers. And in order for us to be able to follow Him, then we must have love for God, and must centre ourselves upon Him and the truth which He has revealed and taught us. Only then that we will be able to become Christ’s true disciples. We must overcome our desires in life, and all sorts of obstacles that prevented us from carrying out what we are supposed to do as Christians.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important for us to follow Christ’s examples, His obedience to the will of His Father, and His love for each and every one of us, which allowed Him to bear His Cross of suffering for our sake. Had Christ not suffered or died for us, then there would have been no salvation, and all of us would still have existed under the tyranny and bondage of our sins.

Let us all be converted, and turn ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, by showing more love in our every moment’s actions and deeds, wherever we are, that we can be as selfless and as loving as Christ had been, in forgiving one another our sins and faults to each other, just as Christ has forgiven us from our sins, despite having to bear those sins and all of their punishments and consequences. Let us remember the great love which He has shown us from the cross, and show that same love in our every action from now on.

As Christians, let us be humble and not proud, be loving and not be filled with hatred, be gentle and not be easily provoked with anger, be filled with hope and not be despairing, be ready to serve others and to love them rather than to expect to be loved and served by others. Let us all be filled with Christ’s love in all things, so that in everything we say, act and do, we will always be loving just as our Lord is loving, and forgive just as we have been forgiven. This is our calling as Christians.

May the Lord be our guide, and may He continue to love us as He has always done, that each and every one of us may imitate the same love that He has shown us. Let us all live our lives from now on with a renewed faith and zeal, and do our best in order to love and serve the Lord, and love our fellow brothers and sisters, despite the persecutions, challenges and obstacles we may encounter on our journey. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Saturday, 20 October 2018 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Lord Jesus reassured His disciples that He would be with them whenever they stood by Him and defended their faith. He would not abandon them, and would send His Holy Spirit to guide them and to inspire them in their words and their actions. Essentially, God was saying that, as long as His people remain faithful and true to Him, He would always be by their side.

This is important because there may just be moments when there would be times when the faithful had to endure rejection, persecution and oppression from worldly powers, governments, earthly forces, states, groups and others who disagreed and refused to believe in the Lord and in the Christian faith. And in such cases, there would indeed be so much persecution, pain and suffering, that the people of God might be tempted and pressured to give up their faith.

The devil is at work, through the power and dominion he had over the world, through sin, in order to bring mankind to ruin and into damnation. He is always ever busy trying to drag mankind’s souls into hell with him, by tempting us with the many offer of respite, pleasure, happiness, and freedom from pain and suffering, by showing us the alternative path he offered to us, which seems to be easier, less painful and less challenging.

But we all must realise that the path that the devil is leading us into, is one that leads into an eternity of suffering, pain and despair. If we follow in his path of rebellion and disobedience against God, then we may end up in hell, in the place prepared for the devil and for his fellow rebel angels, the evil spirits. The devil has done everything within his ability and power to bring about this fate to us, and he would even show us all sorts of lies and tempting offers just in order to achieve this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are called to reflect on our lives thus far, and see how we have reacted thus far in the face of difficulties, challenges and all the troubled that we have faced. Have we easily given up faith and our beliefs in the face of trouble? Or have we instead allowed ourselves to be easily swayed by the demands of the world when we encounter those troubles in life?

That was exactly why many of us Christians fell into the dangerous trap of relativism in how we lived our lives. What does this mean? It means that we allow ourselves to be swayed by the forces of those temptations and pressures in living our lives, and we have no standing in our faith, no anchor in which we may remain firm despite the attacks and the challenges being made against us each day after another.

We are often worried because there would be times when we despair, and think that siding with the Lord gains us nothing or that we will lose many of the things that we are concerned about. But this is when we really need to have faith in God, and believe that He is there, watching over us and guiding us, and that He will eventually triumph, against all those who are trying to bring about our ruination and destruction. We must have this hope in God, Our Lord and Our King.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all trust in the Lord, and deepen our relationship with Him, that we may come to know more of what it is that He wills of us, in His plans for us, going forth in our lives, and that we may become more reassured and firm in our faith, knowing that God has triumphed against Satan and all the forces of evil, who have been condemned for eternity in hell, and there is nothing that they can do to us, as long as we remain firmly rooted in God and in His truth.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to empower us and give us the courage to live our lives with faith, from now on, that we will be able to stand up for our faith and be beacons of truth to all those who see us and our actions, so that they too may come to believe in God by what we have done in our lives, in obedience to God’s will. May the Lord bless us all and protect us from all harm. Amen.

by

Friday, 19 October 2018 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Brebeuf and St. Isaac Jogues, Priests and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Paul of the Cross, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to God’s reassurance and promise to His people, through His Apostle St. Paul, who in our first reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, mentioned how those who have accepted the truth of Christ, have been chosen from among the nations and all the people, to be God’s own people.

And because they have been chosen, God would be with them, despite the challenges and difficulties they might face in their lives, and despite the pains and sufferings that they had to endure. This was reiterated by the Lord when He told them what is on our Gospel passage today. He told them that they should not fear or worry about the one who could only harm them in the body but has no power over the soul.

What the Lord meant was that, even though the difficulties and challenges might be great and seemingly insurmountable, but in the end, despite the challenges and pain, the hardships that the world was piling up upon them, but they must not stumble on the way or fall into the trap of temptation of the devil. The evil one does not desire the salvation of us mankind, and therefore, he is always trying his best to lure us away from God’s path by all means.

Many of the disciples and followers of Christ during the years of the early Church, during the time of the persecution by the Jewish and Roman authorities chose to give up their faith in place of safety and good treatment by the world. They chose to leave behind the sufferings that they endured when they adhered to the Christian faith, because of various reasons, either because they could not leave their family behind, or because of the same family that pressured them to abandon their faith, or the community which ostracised and persecuted all those who believed in God.

It was truly not an easy time to be a Christian, unlike many of us in the present day who are taking our faith for granted, living in the comfort and security of our own, often flourishing Christian communities. Thus, we have to understand the circumstances in which those Christians in the early Church, and in fact, even in our present day, where there are still our fellow brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution and difficulties just because they believe in the Lord.

But we must not give up our faith, for to give up in order to gain the temporary respite of the world, the pleasures of life and the comfort of the lack of persecution, oppression and rejection, and worldly acceptance, is for us to abandon for eternity the salvation and eternal life that God offers only to those who remain true to Him and keep their faith in Him alive even in the midst of the darkest times and moments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us all look upon the examples of some of our holy predecessors, first of all, the Holy Canadian Martyrs, the Jesuit priests and missionaries who strove through the harsh conditions of the then wild lands of Canada, where winters were very cold, the wildlife vicious and living conditions harsh, on top of the opposition from the pagan tribesmen especially those who refused to accept the truth of the Scriptures.

There were those of the natives who were willing to listen to the Lord’s words and truth. They converted to the faith and became among the first Christians in that wild and harsh land. They established parishes and mission stations among the native peoples, and more and more came to believe in God despite the challenging times and circumstances. But they were attacked by those natives who opposed the missionaries’ efforts to evangelise to them.

That was where the Holy Canadian Martyrs, St. John Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues and their companions suffered martyrdom for their faith. They suffered greatly before they died, and they defended their faith to the end, even protecting those natives who have believed in the Lord and became the followers of Christ. They refused to abandon those sheep whom the Lord had entrusted to be their flock, to be under their care.

Meanwhile, today we also mark the feast of St. Paul of the Cross, who was a holy priest of God, who was the founder of the Passionists, a religious order of those who would want to dedicate themselves in a life of prayer and love towards God, by means of prayer and by charitable works among the community. St. Paul of the Cross emulated the good example for his brethren, in his generous works of mercy, his tireless efforts at evangelisation and in delivering the truth to the people.

St. Paul of the Cross showed us all how we ought to live our lives, filled with love for God and His people, just as the Holy Canadian Martyrs had also done, in their selfless and courage love for their flock, for those whom the Lord had called through them. These holy men of God have shown us what it truly means for us to be Christians, to be men for God and men for others. And we should put our trust in God in all things, that as long as we are faithful, God will always bless us and protect us in our journey of faith.

Let us ask the Lord for His guidance, and for strength and courage, that we may continue to live in faith, devoting ourselves from now on for the sake of God’s greater glory. Let us draw ever closer to the Lord and seek to love Him with ever greater devotion, day after day from now on. And may God continue to bless us all in our deeds and in all that we do. Amen.