understanding the faith

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Friday, 1 December 2017 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we approach the coming of the end of this liturgical year, we heard first of all the vision of Daniel the prophet in Babylon, who saw the vision of the future ages to come, at the time of the end, when the devil and all the enemies of the Lord and His people would rise up one last time to destroy the faithful and the people of God, at the end of time. This is the same vision which St. John the Evangelist also witnessed at the island of Patmos in Greece, which he wrote for us in the Book of the Revelations.

The four great and wicked beasts which Daniel saw in the vision were similar to what St. John also saw in his Book of Revelation vision, representing Satan, the chief enemy of all the faithful, the great devil, as well as his allies, his forces and all those whom he had assembled in order to wage war against the faithful and the Church. These are the premonitions of what is to come for all the faithful, and indeed, the devil is never stop at work, trying to undermine the good works of God among His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, throughout the history of the Church, we have seen there were so many difficulties and challenges that the faithful had to face and encounter, from the time of the earliest days of the Church, when the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord were hunted down and arrested because of their faith, when many went to their martyrdom in the arena, thrown into the beasts and beheaded, as well as many other sufferings that they had to endure for the sake of the Lord.

Yet, those faithful servants of God did not give up and remained strong in their faith despite the opposition against them and the challenges they had to face. They persevered through the difficult times even though some did fall to temptation and chose to abandon their faith in exchange for safety and reconciliation with the worldly ways of the devil.

How does this then relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? We live at a time when the Church and many of its teachings have been ignored and abandoned not just by those outside the Church, but even those who are within the Church. There are many lukewarm Christians who no longer truly believe in their faith, and they do not even practice their faith regularly in their own lives.

There are many of those who would rather conform with the world and its ways rather than to walk faithfully in the Lord’s way. It is increasingly becoming more and more difficult to be Christians these days, because more and more people judge all those who still adhere to the Lord and His ways, and label all of us just because we believe in Him. There are sadly many of us who have fallen to the same temptations and allures which the devil is using to trap us and bring us to our downfall.

If we think that the Church today is no longer persecuted, then we should look at the various parts of the world, where being Christians equal being mocked, being persecuted, being ostracised, being laughed at, being rejected by the community, and where even the faithful have to practice their faith in secret, as being Christians may equal death sentence and suffering for them.

Therefore, today, as we reflect on all these, let us all think about what we can do to help all those who are suffering, by praying for them and asking the Lord to show His mercy to our brethren. And at the same time, we should also live our lives faithfully and resist the temptations to sin and abandon our faith in God. That is because as we see from the passages today, the Lord will ultimately triumph, and Satan as well as his beasts and allies will be defeated in the end.

Should we abandon our faith in God in exchange for a brief respite and temporary joy in this world, indeed our lives in this world will be pleasant and good, but if we are then numbered together with the devil and his allies, and judged to be thrown into the eternal suffering and fire, is that what we want with ourselves?

Therefore, let us be examples and role models in faith to one another, encouraging everyone to be faithful to God at all times. Let us all seek to be ever more devoted through our actions, loving God above all other things and showing the same love for our brethren as well. May the Lord be with us always and bless us forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 November 2017 : Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of one of the great Apostles, among the Twelve chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ, and this Apostle was also known to be the first among all of them to be called, as the first disciple of Jesus, right after He was baptised at the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist. St. Andrew the Apostle and the First Called was once a disciple of St. John the Baptist, but having heard from St. John himself that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Messiah Who comes, he went on to become the disciple of Jesus.

And St. Andrew was the younger brother of St. Peter the Apostle, another very prominent Apostle, who is the first Vicar of Christ, the predecessor of our current Pope and Bishop of Rome. The Lord Jesus has established His Church in this world, founded upon the strong foundation of faith of the Apostles, and indeed the Apostles are the pillars of the Church, its support and strength. If not for all the good works and commitment of the Apostles, the Church as we know it today would not have existed.

The first Apostles were called by Jesus as He walked along the lake, and those were fishermen, as St. Peter and St. Andrew were, as well as St. James and St. John the Evangelist. They were plying their trade at the lakeside, catching fishes to be sold to the market as their livelihood, but the Lord called them to a greater purpose in life, that is to follow Him, to become His disciple, and therefore to commit and dedicate their whole lives to Him, to be His messengers of the Good News.

He called them to become the fishers of men, meaning that they would be the instruments through which God would call His people to Himself, to gather them in and to embrace them with reconciliation, love and compassion. They were the ones who would go on to preach the Good News of the Gospel in various areas and places, empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, that they bore courageous witness to the Lord’s life, death and resurrection.

And thus St. Andrew also went on to preach the Gospel in various areas after the Lord ascended to heaven and the Apostles received the Holy Spirit. It was told that St. Andrew went through the area of what is now the Black Sea coasts, from the present day Turkey to Russia and the northern regions, and also to what was then Roman Greece, preaching the Gospel of Christ, and many were converted through his works.

In the end, the Roman authorities persecuted Christians throughout its realm, and St. Andrew was among those who were arrested and persecuted, and was put to death by crucifixion. Just like his brother, St. Peter the Apostle in Rome, who refused to die in the same way as the Lord had died on the cross, and thus was crucified upside down instead, St. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which is now famously known as the cross of St. Andrew.

The life and work of St. Andrew the Apostle should become an inspiration to all of us as Christians, because we cannot think that the works of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord are done or completed. There are still many things to be done, and the works of the Church are always ever present in our world, past, present and future to come. There are still many people out there who have not heard the Good News of the Lord, and even more importantly, there are many within the Church itself who have lapsed away from our faith.

All of us are the continuation of the Apostles, who have been called to the same mission that the Lord gave the Apostles and the other disciples just before He was about to be lifted up from us, ascending in His glory to heaven. He commanded all of the Church to go forth, and spread the Good News of God’s salvation to all parts of the world, that every people from every nations may come to God and receive holy baptism, and marked therefore as the Lord’s own people.

There are still many things which each and every one of us as Christians can do, to be part of the Church’s effort of evangelisation and missionary works. We do not have to follow the way of the Apostles strictly in a sense that we should go forth to many places and preach in the streets, or even encounter persecution and martyrdom. There are indeed those among us whom God has called for such a purpose, and then for others, we should begin with ourselves, in our own families and communities, and among those whom we know.

What does this mean? That means each and every one of us as Christians must preach the Gospel of Christ, not by mere words alone, but also through real and concrete actions based on our faith, listening to what the Lord had commanded us all to do, to love one another tenderly just as He has loved us, by showing love, mercy, care and compassion for the poor and for those who are less fortunate. Let us all do all these, that through us, many more will come to believe in the Lord and be saved.

May the Lord help us all Christians, that we too may also become the fishers of men as the Apostles had been, by living the faith we have with genuine commitment and sincerity, so that all those who see our faith will come to believe in God as well, and therefore together as one people we may receive eternal glory from Our Lord and rejoice with the Apostles forevermore. St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 November 2017 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the readings today we continue the discourse from the Book of the prophet Daniel as our first reading, where we heard how the successor of Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon, Belshazzar, sinned greatly against God because he disrespected the sanctity of God’s Temple and its various precious vessels, reserved solely for the use of worship, and used them in his parties and merrymaking.

The king then saw hands writing on the wall of his palace, and was terrified. When he asked Daniel, he received a premonition of destruction and wrath of God, as the Lord was angry at him for desecrating and disrespecting His Temple and its vessels. Yet, the king refused to listen to Daniel, and bestowed on him much honour and prestige. That very night, the armies of Cyrus, king of Persia came quietly and defeated Belshazzar and seized his kingdom from him.

This was just the beginning of the salvation for the people of God, the exiles from Israel and Judah, who had languished in exile for seventy years or so by that time. The people of Israel would be freed by king Cyrus of Persia and was free to return to their own land. He even mandated the rebuilding of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians.

In the Gospel passage today, we see how the same theme applies, as the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples that the reality of their discipleship is one of persecution and difficulty, as there would surely be challenges and opposition which they will face. He was preparing them for the difficult time ahead, when they would be persecuted and arrested because of their faith in Him and because they preached in His Name.

But the Lord reassured them that He would be with them, and that they did not need to worry, because even though their closest relatives and friends might betray them, the Lord will always be faithful and He will not abandon them. Even though they suffer and feel anguish in pain, but the Lord will ultimately remember all their deeds and faith without exception, and He will bring them out of their predicament.

How do all these relate to us, then, brothers and sisters in Christ? We are all God’s people, and we have walked in His path, and sometimes we do stumble on the way. Nevertheless, as long as we are faithful to the Lord, and continue to walk in His path, there will surely be moments when we will even want to give up walking with God because of all the temptations, difficulties and obstacles we will face on our way.

Are we able to resist the temptations and pressures for us to give up our faith, the temptation to give in just because we think that the world has more to offer us, in both joy and pleasure, in satisfaction and happiness as compared to God? Then, let us all always remember of what we have heard in the Scripture passages today, that not even the mightiest of kings and rulers would be exempt from their fate, that is death. Not even their glory and worldly power will be able to save them from the final judgment, in which the Lord, the Author of all power and authority will judge them depending on their deeds in life.

The Lord is the only one Who we can completely trust our whole life to, and not to any man or beings in this world, and He is always faithful even though we have often been unfaithful. Now, what matters is for us to recommit ourselves and reorientate our lives, that we will no longer fall into the temptations to disobey God and sin, but instead, persevere to live faithfully in accordance with God’s will, and loving Him to the best of our abilities. May God be with us always and bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 November 2017 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the book of the prophet Daniel, firstly about the vision which the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had received in his dreams. The king was disturbed by what he had dreamt, and no one could interpret his dream other than the prophet Daniel. Daniel explained the meaning of the dream to the king.

And that dream revealed the future to the king of Babylon, who was known to be a great and mighty king. The king was proud and arrogant because of his conquests and triumphs, his riches and his might, to the point that if we read the entirety of the Book of Daniel, we would know how he built a huge golden statue of his own image, and forced many people to worship the statue as a god.

That great statue and all the other proud acts and hubris of Nebuchadnezzar is also represented in the dream which the king received, where he saw another huge statue made of an amalgamation of various materials and metals, which represent the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, and then the subsequent Persian Empire which conquered the Babylonians afterwards, and also the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great, and possibly the Roman Empire.

Then in the dream, the king saw a huge boulder which smashed against the statue and crushed it completely, so much so that it was no longer recognisable as a statue, where it once stood. And this is related to what we have heard in the Gospel passage today, as we heard how the Lord Jesus speaking to the people who admired the grandeur and beauty of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was a great edifice rebuilt and expanded by king Herod the Great.

The Lord spoke of how that great Temple and indeed the city of Jerusalem itself would be destroyed, as a premonition and revelation of what was to come. This would come true just a few decades afterwards, when the Romans and their armies destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem and the city, after the failed Jewish rebellion against the Roman rule. Nothing was left of the Temple and the city afterwards save for a small portion of the wall which remained until today.

The Lord reminded His people, just as He had shown the king of Babylon through his dreams, that ultimately, it does not matter how rich we are, how powerful we are, or how mighty are our worldly achievements and glory, all of these will eventually perish and disappear, should we put our trust in them, and not in God. The king of Babylon was proud with his greatness, and yet, his kingdom did not last and was destroyed, as with the other great kingdoms and empires throughout time.

That rock which destroyed the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream represents God Himself, His power and majesty, which surpasses all forms of earthly power, glory and majesty. And as He has promised, He shall come again at the end of time, at the time of His own choosing, to gather together all of those who have been faithful to Him, and bring all of them into the joy of His eternal glory.

That was what the Lord Jesus also mentioned in the Gospel passage today, that we must be be prepared for the coming of the end, but at the same time, we must not be distracted by those who seek to profit from it, by being false prophets of doom, and worse still, by claiming to be the Lord Who comes again. Instead, we should learn from now on, to trust in God and live faithfully according to His ways, no longer giving ourselves to sin.

May the Lord Our God be our guide in this life, and may we all draw ever closer to Him, day after day, as we continue to draw our strength from Him, and place our trust in Him. Let us pray that He will continue to take care of us and bless us, as He has blessed Daniel and his friends, as well as the old widow for their faith and devotion. Amen.

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Monday, 27 November 2017 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scripture passages which told us about Daniel the prophet and servant of God, in how in his youth he was captured by the Babylonians when they sacked Jerusalem and Judah, and brought to Babylon, where he spent his life in exile with many other Israelites. He and some of his fellow countrymen were chosen to be those who would serve the king Nebuchadnezzar.

But Daniel and his compatriots refused to partake in the food and wine which were provided for them by the king’s steward. Why is that so? That is because the food and the wine had likely been used for the offering to the pagan gods, and it was forbidden for them to eat and drink the food and items which had been offered to the pagan gods. Hence, they requested that they be given vegetables instead to eat.

And despite the concerns by the steward, by the grace of God, even though they seemingly have not eaten as much and as lavishly as the other servants, who were fed with the finest worldly food and drink available, Daniel and his friends grew to be healthier and better than those other servants. God was with them, and they were rescued from their predicament.

In the Gospel today, then we heard about the well known story of how Jesus praised the poor old widow for her donation of two small bronze coins to the Temple treasury. He praised her because what she had put inside the treasury is basically she had to survive for herself. Meanwhile, many other rich people came and gave large amount of donations to the Temple treasury, who gave out of their plenty.

In this story, in fact, Jesus did not rebuke or look down on the rich people who have donated to the Temple treasury. What He wanted to point out is the fact that the old widow placed herself so completely in the hands of God that she gave from even her poverty, from what she had enough only to survive for herself. She gave it all to the Lord, without hesitation.

And it was this great faith which the Lord Jesus praised the woman for. It is the same faith which Daniel and his friends had in the Lord, putting their full trust in God. This is also the faith which each one of us as Christians should have and what we are expected to do in our lives as well. We should indeed ask ourselves this question : ‘Have we had the same faith which those people I mentioned, had?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our own lives and our every actions. Let us all think of what we have done thus far in our lives, and let us think if we have placed our trust and faith in God, or whether we have rather placed our trust in our own human power, ability, intellect or skills. Let us all come to the realisation that while all those things can be reliable, but there is nothing that is more reliable or certain as compared to God’s love and grace.

If we place our trust in God, we are essentially building up for ourselves a lasting inheritance that will never run out or perish, unlike if we depend on this world’s goods and our own human abilities, power and intellect. This is what each one of us as Christians must aspire to do, to be truly faithful to God in all the things we do. Let us start from ourselves, by doing what we can to do God’s will, by loving one another, by acting justly and helping those who are in need.

May the Lord be with us always, and bless all of us, just as He has blessed His servants Daniel and his friends, those who have been faithful to Him and remain true to Him despite the challenges and difficulties they faced in their lives. May we all draw ever closer to God, so that in all that we act and do, we will always do them for the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 November 2017 : Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Thirty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the last Sunday in our current liturgical year, and therefore, we celebrate with joy the great Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. We remember today, Our Lord Who is Our God and Saviour, and also Our King, Who will come at the end of time, at the time of His own choosing, to judge all of the people, from past, our current present time and the future to come.

In the Scripture readings today, we heard how Our Lord is King, Who is to be glorified and adored, obeyed and listened to, but He is also our Shepherd, Who is responsible for us, Who cares for us and loves each and every one of us without exception, from the smallest and least among us to the greatest. He is our Good Shepherd, the One Who leads all the faithful people towards Himself, that all may find rest in Him. He shows us all the face of true kingship, one that leads by example.

He is the One True King, from Whom all authority came from, and from Whom all power rests. All our earthly rulers, leaders, kings, presidents and all those who wield power are merely entrusted with the authority, and entrusted with the care over the people, over whom they ruled. Yet, as we have seen throughout the history of mankind, many leaders and rulers have abused the power and authority granted to them, and became intoxicated with them, losing sight of what they ought to be doing as kings and rulers.

Many worldly kings and rulers ended up becoming corrupted by power, and also tempted by wealth, fame, glory and many other forms of worldly possessions. That was how tyrants and dictators were born and created. Indeed, the saying was true, that ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. It was because of our inability to resist the temptations of worldly things, that led us to corrupt the purpose of power and authority which have been entrusted to us by our True King, Jesus Christ.

Had they taken the examples from the True King, they would not have fallen into such a state. Jesus is the King Who leads by example, Who loves and cares for His people, and is committed to bring improvement and happiness to those Who have been placed under His care, that is by God His Father, Who in the Scriptures have given all power and dominion to Him, that He may rule over all creatures and beings, indeed, over the entire universe.

And while many kings and rulers of this world seek to be served and to be pleased by those who are around him, and become angry and displeased when their will is not fulfilled, or when they did not get what they wanted in terms of service by their servants, the Lord Jesus took off His outer garment, wore a garment in the manner of servants at the time of the Last Supper, and one by one, washing His disciples’ feet without hesitation, as a sign of true Kingship, the Kingship of service and love.

He showed the face of true Christian kingship, where the king does not come to be served but to serve, which in essence is also true leadership. A true leader must show by example and action, and not to be idle, not to be complacent, and not to be haughty or proud. And Jesus showed it all again during the time of His Passion, when He was arrested by the chief priests and the elders, when He did not resist, and even said to His disciples, that if He wanted to, He could have asked God His Father for man legions of Angels to deliver Him, and He did not do so.

He was also tempted by the devil in the desert as He fasted for forty days to prepare for His ministry, and yet He remained true to His mission. He was tempted by hunger, as the devil asked Him to turn the stones into bread to satisfy His hunger, and then, He was tempted with pride and ego, when the devil brought Him up to the top of the Temple and asked Him to jump, that all might see Him and believe in Him.

And lastly, He was tempted with worldly power and riches, which Satan would give Him if only He was to worship him as god and master. Jesus rebuked Satan for all these, and reminded him that God alone is worthy of glory, honour, praise and worship. In all of these examples, we can see how Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us the qualities of a True King, the One and only One King which we should follow.

But this does not mean that we as Christians must disobey civil and worldly authorities, rulers, kings and all. In fact, as I have mentioned earlier, these leaders have been entrusted with power and authority by the Lord, that they should execute them with justice and righteousness, following after the example of the True King, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Thus, we should be obedient citizens and lawful people, who obeyed the laws of this world, but at the same time, even more so, obey God’s will and commandments.

That is why for each and every one of us as Christians, all of us must pray for our leaders and rulers, that they may follow the example of Christ in all things, and put the people that they have been entrusted with, first in their minds and attention, and not their own selfish desires and wishes. We pray that power and authority will not corrupt them as they had for the many previous rulers and kings, and that they will become responsible stewards of God’s justice and love.

That said, all of these problems I have mentioned, which corrupted our leaders and rulers, also affect all of us as well. Many of us are often affected by greed and desire, and we seek to have more power, more wealth, more renown, more fame, more recognition and worldly glory, and thus, we spent a lot of time trying to gather for ourselves more and more of those things, and often, we cause hurt and suffering to others while we try to satisfy our own selfishness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, why is this so? That is because we mankind have not truly made Christ the King of our hearts, minds, our bodies and our whole being. We have not allowed Him the honour, glory and praise that He deserves. Instead, the devil is the king of our hearts and minds. We let him to enter our beings, allowing him to tempt us and to turn us away from the path of the Lord.

Therefore, today, as we rejoice and celebrate together in this great Solemnity of Christ the King, let us renew our commitment to Our Lord, King and Master of all of our lives, and reject the devil and all of his temptations. Let us all devote ourselves, our time and attention, to truly show that we are the servants of Our Lord and King. Let us make Christ the King of our lives and our hearts. Let us enthrone Him in the deepest, most intimate and honourable part of our beings.

May the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Sovereign King, always be the King of our entire lives, so that as His servants, we will always follow His examples in our lives, and be thoroughly devoted to Him, loving Him and serving one another, just as He has shown us. Let us all become true disciples of Our Lord and King, and be ever faithful in our hearts. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to two stories, one from the Book of the Maccabees, where we listened to the continuation of the tale of the struggle of the Jewish people who were faithful to the Law of God against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and then in the Gospel we heard of the argument that arose between the Sadducees and Our Lord Jesus regarding the belief in the resurrection from the dead and the afterlife.

In the first reading, we heard about what happened to king Antiochus IV Epiphanes during the time of the Maccabees rebellion. According to history, the Seleucid king was a man who sought to reclaim the lost glory of his ancestors, and that was why, if we read the Book of the Maccabees, he attacked Egypt, a rival kingdom at the beginning of the first book of the Maccabees. His initiatives to unite his kingdom under one worship of the Greek pagan gods were likely also part of this effort.

Yet, in the end, we heard of how the faithful Jews under the leadership of the Maccabees family managed to overturn the king’s orders and undid all the abominable and wicked deeds he had committed. And then, he also failed in his effort to gain for himself more power, through worldly efforts, and he then laid dying. And in the first reading today, we heard of the regret which the king had as he laid dying, failing in many of the things he had wanted to do.

This will be relevant to what we heard in the Gospel passage today, but let me briefly go through the historical perspective linking the Scripture readings today. Ever since the time of the Seleucid persecution of the Jews, the Jewish society has been polarised into two groups, one of which proposed close collaboration with the king, abandoning the laws and customs of their ancestors, namely the Hellenic party. Meanwhile, the others, represented by the Maccabees, opposed the king and wanted to remain true to the laws and customs of Moses.

Eventually, even after the defeat of the Seleucids, this division would continue on to the time of Jesus, and this we see throughout the Gospels, two prominent major groups, one of which is the Pharisees, who are the ones inheriting the thoughts and ways of the Maccabees, holding tightly to the customs and laws of Moses. This is also why the Lord Jesus encountered so much trouble from the Pharisees, because the Pharisees misunderstood and misjudged the Lord’s intent, and saw Him as a rival and dangerous influence on the people.

Then, how about the Sadducees? The Sadducees had similar mindset as the Hellenised Jews, who was the rather worldly and practical group of people, who did not believe in many aspects of the faith of the Jews at the time. They rejected concepts such as the afterlife, spirits, Angels, heaven, and all other spiritual things that their worldly senses could not perceive. They were people who were rich and influential in the society, and enjoyed plenty of benefits and goodness from the world.

They were against the Lord and His teachings, especially because He kept on mentioning about the resurrection of the dead, which the Sadducees firmly refused to believe in, as with any other spiritual matters. The Sadducees were very practical and worldly in their views, and as a result, today in the Gospel we heard how they argued heatedly with Jesus about the resurrection, using the example of a woman who had seven husbands who died, and asked Him who was the man that the woman would be wife to.

They thought in worldly terms and treasured the worldly things they possess over anything else. That is why they did not believe in anything beyond death, because to them, death is a truly horrible thing that all people had to endure, and it separated them from what they loved, all wealth, prestige, fame and worldly glory they had attained. And the Lord Jesus spoke of exactly what they despised, as He taught the people that they must not seek for themselves treasures in this world, but instead build for themselves treasures in heaven.

The Lord rebuked the Sadducees and showed them that the way of this world is different from the ways of the Lord, and what seems to be common and acceptable to the world may not be what is acceptable for the Lord. They put their trust in man’s power and abilities, and yet, none of these will be available to them, at the time when they are to meet with their Lord and give an account of their lives, unless they have been faithful and done what the Lord has commanded them to do.

Linking this to what we have heard in the first reading today, we remembered how all the plans of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to ruin and bore nothing, despite all of his power and riches, all of his fame and glory, and despite all the means by which he had assembled for himself a great majesty and greatness among the other kings. In the end, he had to remember his own mortality, that he is just a mere man, a creation of God, who would have to render an account of his life to God.

Today, we celebrate also the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a holy woman and virgin, who dedicated her life to the Lord. She lived during difficult time in the history of the Church, when the Roman Emperor Diocletian persecuted the faithful and the Church greatly, and many suffered and died. St. Catherine of Alexandria was known for her intellect and great beauty, so much so, that it was told that her beauty captivated the Roman Emperor’s attention.

Her wisdom inspired by God was such that no matter what the Emperor tried to do, he could not overcome her great intellect, and was soundly defeated in the debates regarding the faith. And no amount of persuasion or worldly riches, as it was told in some accounts that the Emperor wished to marry her, was able to turn St. Catherine from her faith in God. She remained steadfast in faith to the very end, towards her martyrdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us today spend some time to reflect on our own lives. Have we thus far been spending too much time trying to gain for ourselves a great standing, fame, recognition, wealth and satisfaction from the world? Or have we instead been active in building up for ourselves the true treasures in God? What does this mean? That means, have we been spending some time amidst our busy daily schedules, in order to show love and care for our fellow brethren, instead of just being so focused and distracted with our own needs and wants?

Let us ponder on this matter even as we move forward in life. Let us waste no more time in trying to reach out to the Lord and His salvation. May the Lord be our Guide on our way towards His everlasting glory, that each and every one of us as Christians may be able to do our best in our lives, what the Lord wants each one of us to do, by being truly faithful to Him, loving Him and placing Him at the centre of our lives, and then, by loving one another as well. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 24 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings, we see a common theme between what we have heard from the Book of the Maccabees and from the Gospel passage according to St. Luke. In the first reading from the Maccabees, we heard an account of how the forces of the Israelites triumphed against their enemies, the Seleucids, and seized a very important place in Jerusalem, none other than the Temple of God in Jerusalem.

On that day, the victorious Jewish forces under the leadership of Judas Maccabees overthrew all that the Greek invaders had imposed on the Temple, the defilement and all the wickedness, all the pagan idols, altars and corruption which have been placed there by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had wanted to eradicate the faith of the Jewish people by imposing on them the worship of the Greek pagan gods.

The old altar that had been defiled were corrupted, and it had to be removed and destroyed, to be replaced with a new altar, free from defilement of the pagan idols. That was what the victorious Jews did, and after the necessary preparations, they rededicated the Temple of God through great festivities and celebrations, which were highly symbolic as the sign of the overthrowing of the great oppression and persecution imposed on them by the Seleucid king.

Then, in the Gospel passage today, we listened to the well known passage, of how Jesus became angry at the state in which the Temple of God, the House of God His Father, has become, because it was filled with many merchants and money changers, with people plying their trade and worse still, cheating their customers by overcharging them and tricking them as they changed their money and purchased the sacrificial animals.

Thus, Jesus chased all of them out of the Temple courtyard with a whip, in His righteous wrath, and rebuked all those who had defiled His Father’s house, which ought to be a house of prayer and instead had been made into a den of robbers and wicked people. This act surely surprised even His followers, as if we see throughout the Scriptures, Jesus mostly used non-violence and peaceful means to spread His teachings.

But the Lord was rightful and just to be angry, as those people had desecrated the sanctity of His holy place by their actions, just as the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes had done with the pagan idols and wickedness placed on the altars of the Temple during the time of the Maccabees. It was in fact merely only less than two centuries before the time of Jesus, and the Jewish people had forgotten how they fought hard to reclaim their Temple and House of God, and toiled to rededicate it to God.

What is the significance of all these to us, brothers and sisters? Each and every one of us are God’s Temple, where God resides in this world. He Himself has given us all His own Precious Body to eat and Precious Blood to drink. As a result, God Himself in His real and holy Presence is present fully in each and every one of us, and we are in charge of each of these Temples, that is our Body and our whole Being.

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth spoke of our bodies, our hearts and minds, and our whole being as the Temples of the Holy Spirit, and therefore, we ought to maintain their sanctity and holiness. We must not do things that compromise the sanctity of these Houses of God, ourselves or else, what the Lord’s anger had done to those wicked merchants and also the wicked forces of the Seleucids will befall us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not easy for us all to maintain this sanctity, as there are many temptations and challenges in life, which we will surely encounter on our way, and many of these will weaken our resolve to live a faithful life, that many of us failing to reach God’s salvation. But we should then heed the examples of our holy and dedicated predecessors in faith, especially those who we commemorate today, St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his many companions in faith, martyrs of the Lord and His Church in Vietnam.

During those years, around two to three centuries ago, there were great works of evangelisation among the peoples in areas such as Vietnam and Korea. However, the government and the authorities were suspicious against the missionaries who were sent to preach the Gospel to the people, and eventually, persecution against Christians began, both towards the missionaries and to the people they converted.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac was among the first priests to be ordained from the local community, and he and his many companions had to endure great difficulties as they had to practice their faith in secret to avoid the authorities, and at the same time, they still had to minister to the faithful in many places. They persevered through, and when they were arrested and tortured, demanded to abandon their faith or die, they refused to do so.

To the very end, these saints and martyrs are our examples of how we should live our lives in accordance with our faith. We should not be lukewarm with our faith, but instead should try our best to be faithful, keeping ourselves obedient to the Law and commandments of God. There will indeed be trials and tribulations, but we should not give up to the demands of those who want us to abandon our faith and corrupt ourselves with sin.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord and draw ourselves ever closer to Him. Let us put our trust in Him, for it is He alone Who is worthy of all trust, and through our steadfast faith in Him, God will reward each and every one of us bountifully at the end. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continued with the discourse of the Maccabees rebellion in our first reading today, this time, we heard of how the representatives of the Greek Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to Modein, where the Maccabees family resided, and we heard how the family patriarch, Mattathias, firmly stood his ground and refused to obey the commands of the king, for them to abandon their faith in God and give sacrifices to the Greek gods.

As I mentioned in the previous days, the Jewish people were persecuted and were in a great danger because of their faith, which the Greek king wanted to eradicate, and it resulted in many sorrowful cases of those who were martyred, including yesterday’s story of a mother and her seven sons who refused to listen to the king’s commands and persuasions, and they were martyred one by one.

They would rather suffer for a while and then be worthy of God’s everlasting glory, rather than submitting to the king and enjoying a merely temporary respite of false happiness. That was why they resisted the pressure and the temptations to abandon their faith. All of those things however were not easily done. There were many during the time of the Maccabees who apostasised and abandoned their faith, in exchange of worldly safety and pleasures.

In the Gospel today, we heard about the lamentation that the Lord Jesus made about the city of Jerusalem, because He predicted what would happen to that city under the Roman rule just a few decades after Our Lord’s crucifixion. The city of Jerusalem would be destroyed in the year 70 A.D., by the Roman legions who were sent there to put down rebellion by Jewish zealots and hardliners who rose up against the Romans. The Temple of Jerusalem and the entire city were ransacked and toppled.

All of these, ultimately came about because those people believed not in the power of God, but in their own power, and trusted in worldly matters more than their faith in God. If many of the Jews at the time of the Maccabees surrendered to temptation and abandoned their faith in God, then during the time of Jesus, as Our Lord Himself mentioned, the people refused to believe in Him or listen to Him, and they rejected Him.

What is the lesson that all of us should take note of today? It is that we should expect if we remain faithful to the Lord and are active in living our faith as we should be, we may encounter difficulties and challenges from those who do not agree with our faith, just as what happened in the Scripture passages that we heard today.

Now we have to ask ourselves the question, are we willing to suffer and be persecuted for the sake of Our Lord, that for temporary suffering and pain, and yet, because of our faith, we merit the eternal glory and happiness with God? Or do we rather seek temporary respite and happiness, because we are accepted by the world through our rejection and abandonment of our faith?

Today, we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Clement I, one of the first Popes of the Church, as the successor of St. Peter the Apostle as the Bishop of Rome and therefore, as the most preeminent bishop and leader of the entire Church. Pope St. Clement I lived and reigned as Pope just a few decades after the crucifixion and resurrection of Our Lord. He was known to be the first of the Apostolic Fathers, whose writings were highly significant for our faith even though they were not included in the Bible.

Pope St. Clement I wrote extensively and several of his letters and works survived until this very day. He was a very important leader of the early Church, guiding it through the difficult years that alternate between toleration of the Christian faith by the Roman authorities and persecution by the same authorities. He helped to guide the Church through those difficult times, and remained firmly anchored in his faith.

To this very end, he persevered in faith, and remained resolute in standing up to the truth, even amidst difficult times. He of course had the choice to abandon his hard work and enjoy respite from the world, all the persecutions he had to face. Yet, he chose to be with God. This is an example which all of us as Christians should also follow as well. Let us all renew our faith and our commitment to God, in all the things we do.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He bless all of our endeavours. And may all of us draw ever closer to Him, that we will always endure whatever persecution and difficulty that we may encounter on our way to Him. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 November 2017 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard the continuation of the story of the Maccabees rebellion against the Seleucid Empire as part of our first reading, and we also heard another story, from our Gospel passage, when Jesus told His disciples and the people about the parable of the silver pounds or silver talents according to the other Gospels.

In the first reading, we heard a particularly sad and tragic story of a family, specifically a mother with her seven sons who were arrested because they refused to abandon their faith and Jewish traditions, and were brought to the king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who ordered that all the Jewish people in his kingdom must abandon their faith and belief in God, and instead, obey the king and follow his religious customs.

The mother and her seven sons persisted in their adherence to the faith, and steadfastly refused to follow and obey the king’s commands for them to do what were against the commandments of God. Even though the king offered the brothers many generous gifts and the lucrative promises of position, prestige and honour as friends of the king, they still refused to listen to him.

As a result, they were martyred one by one, and to the very end, to the last of the seven brothers, and then to the mother herself, they remained true to their faith in God, and they did not abandon Him by sinning and submitting to the temptations of worldly power and pleasures. They had become examples for all the other Jewish people of their time, of how they should live faithfully even in the midst of great persecutions and tribulations, and remain true to their faith.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord spoke about the parable of the talents in which three servants were given different amounts of silver talents depending on their respective abilities as judged by their master. The master left for a long journey, and found that upon his return, two of the three servants had been investing the silver talents, and thanks to their hard work and acumen, they managed to double the silver talents attained in return.

On the other hand, the lazy servant who refused to do anything with the silver talent hid it, and returned it to the master exactly as how it was given to him. As a result, he was severely punished by his master for his laziness and lack of action, while the two servants who had worked hard with the silver given to them were rewarded and entrusted with the master’s great favour and inheritance.

Then, what is the lesson which we can learn from the Scripture passages that we have heard today? First of all, the silver talents that the master granted his servants, are representative of the faith which God, Our Lord and Master has granted to us, His people. And it is our responsibility and duty, that we use that faith, and live according to that faith, or else, like the lazy servant, that faith will do nothing good for us at all.

The mother and her seven sons in the first reading today showed their way of being faithful to God, remaining true to their faith amidst persecution and challenges, refusing to sin rather than earning the wrath of God. They showed all of us the inspiration of how to be true disciples of the Lord, that is by no longer being ambivalent or ignorant about our faith, and doing what the Lord had commanded us to do in our lives, that our faith is really alive and not merely a formality.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Cecilia, a faithful woman and a holy servant of God, who chose to die for her faith rather than to abandon her faith in Him, and she exemplified the true nature of God’s faithful disciples, that is complete and total surrender of oneself to the will of God. She gave herself and dedicated herself to God, and maintained a state of holy virginity despite being forced to marry a pagan nobleman, who she managed to convert to the faith through her zeal and piety.

She was martyred for her faith during one of the great persecutions of the faithful, choosing to remain faithful to God rather than to surrender to the temptation to sin, much like the mother and her seven sons from the time of the Maccabees. All of these have shown us, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we must be truly faithful to God, and this does not mean that we must lay down our lives like theirs, but we must give our all to God.

Let us therefore draw closer to God, and seek to be ever more faithful and dedicated from now on. Let us grow stronger in our faith, and learn from the examples of our holy predecessors, the holy saints and martyrs, St. Cecilia and many more, how to be ever true to our faith in God, and how to bear rich fruits of God’s grace, and be rewarded as the master rewarded his two diligent and hardworking servants in the Gospel passage today. May God bless us always, now and forever. Amen.