Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7
Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds.
Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always.
You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.
Liturgical Colour : White
Genesis 49 : 29-32 and Genesis 50 : 15-26a
Jacob then gave his children these instructions : “I am soon to be gathered to my people; bury me near my fathers, in the cave in the field of Ephron, the Hittite; in the cave in the field of Machpelah, to the east of Mamre in Canaan, the field that Abraham brought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. It was there that Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There they buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
When Joseph’s brothers realised that their father was dead they said, “What if Joseph turned against us in hate because of the evil we did him?” So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Before he died your father told us to say this to you : Please forgive the crime and the sin of your brothers in doing evil to you. Forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.”
When he was given the message, Joseph wept. His brothers went and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph reassured them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? You intended to do me harm, but God intended to turn it to good in order to bring about what is happening today – the survival of many people. So have no fear! I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he touched their hearts and consoled them.
Joseph remained in Egypt together with all his father’s family. He lived for a hundred and ten years, long enough to see Ephraim’s great-grandchildren, and also to have the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, placed on his knees, after their birth.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am going to die, but God will surely remember you and take you from this country to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Joseph then made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God comes to bring you out from here, carry my bones with you.”
Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the theme of the readings from the Scripture, is reassurance which God shows all those who believe in Him and who put their trust in Him. In the first reading from the Book of Genesis, we heard how God reassured Jacob, who was hesitant and unsure about moving to Egypt with all of his family and possessions.
In that occasion, Jacob, who had long grieved and were distraught over the loss of one of his favourite sons, Joseph, heard again the hope of seeing his son alive, when his other sons came back to him bearing the good tidings from Egypt. But in his heart, doubt and fear still existed, asking if this is not something that is not real, or that he in his old age should have remained in Canaan and not going forth on this journey to Egypt.
But God reassured him that this journey is part of His plan for him and for his descendants, and He will bring him back, and much later on, all of his descendants, back to the Land which He had promised to them since the days of Abraham their forefathers. God reassured Jacob that He will lead them and guide them, and great will be the rewards for His beloved people.
This is closely linked with the Gospel today, which if we look closely, it is about the Lord sending His disciples to the people whom they would be ministering on. He reminded them that they would be sent like sheep among wolves, to be the ones who would be sent in the midst of danger, oppression, harshness and plenty of difficulties as what would befall all those who follow the Lord and His way.
But He also reassured them at the same time, that He will be with them, and He will not leave them alone on their own, for His Spirit will be with them and will be upon them, just as He promised the sending of the Advocate, the Helper, the Holy Spirit which He had sent to all of His faithful. He will not leave us empty and alone in this journey of the faith.
God is our Hope, He is our Reassurance, our Strength and Power, and the One in whom we can totally trust everything we have to. He is patient as He is loving and forgiving, and despite all of the difficulties and challenges which we have presented Him with, through our actions and deeds, He has endured all of them, and opened for us the doorway to His mercy, providing that we make the effort to seek it.
Can we learn to put our trust in Him? For too long we have placed our trust in the power of men, and we can see where that leads us to. The power of men is feeble compared to the power of the Lord, and to trust in the power of men is indeed like what Jesus mentioned in one of His parables, those who built their houses on the foundation of sand.
That is why we fear and we do not have faith, because if we rely on our own strength, then truly we have no strong support and anchor to keep ourselves steady in this ever-challenging world. Then, all of us should indeed go forth and change our ways, that we can learn to put our complete trust in the Lord. He will bring us who are faithful to Him much goodness, and He will reunite us together, all to be in His presence forever, in eternal bliss and joy, just as on the day when Jacob saw Joseph, his beloved son, once again.
May Almighty God bless us all, and guide us in this journey, which we take as we live in this world. May He lead us to the path that leads us to Him, and help us so that in Him we may find our reassurance and our comfort. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 10 : 16-23
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of Me, so you may witness to them and the pagans.”
“But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father in you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death.”
“Everyone will hate you because of Me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I assure you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 36 : 3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.
The Lord watches over the lives of the upright; forever will their inheritance abide. They are not crushed in times of calamity; when famine strikes, they still are satisfied.
Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. For the Lord loves justice and right, and never forsakes His faithful ones. The wicked instead will perish and their breed will be cut off.
The Lord is the salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Genesis 46 : 1-7, 28-30
Israel left with all he owned and reached Beersheba where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions that he had during the night, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he said. “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again and Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Jacob left Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father with their little children and their wives in the wagons that Joseph had sent to fetch him. They also took their flocks and all that they had acquired in Canaan. And so it was that Jacob came to Egypt and with him all his family, his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, in short all his children he took with him to Egypt.
Jacob sent Judah ahead to let Joseph know he was coming and that he would soon arrive in the land of Goshen. Joseph got his chariot ready in order to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself, threw his arms around his father and wept on his shoulder for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, for I have seen your face and know you are alive.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we heard how Judah argued with Joseph to show mercy to Benjamin, who was accused of stealing the silver cup of the Regent of Egypt. The brothers of Joseph did not recognise who Joseph was, but their pleas and commitment to repentance of their past sins moved Joseph so much, that eventually he revealed who he was to all of them.
In the Gospel today, we heard about Jesus who sent forth His disciples to proclaim the Good News to the people of God, preaching the words and promises of God’s salvation. He sent them to reveal the truth of the Lord to mankind who have lived for so long in the darkness, so that by the light which He is bringing into the world, He may help us to realise that we ought to walk and live in the light and abandon the darkness which had enveloped us for so long.
There is a link between the two readings which if we realise it then all the things will make sense to us. In the first reading, the brothers of Joseph made pleas after pleas to Joseph, begging him to let Benjamin go, and instead take one of them as a hostage in the place of Benjamin. And eventually Joseph gave in and showed mercy to them, revealing to them who was his real identity, as his brother.
In the similar manner therefore, if we look at it, the brothers of Joseph actually resembles all of us who seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, while Joseph represents the Lord who is loving and merciful. Despite all of the bitterness, the betrayal and the sorrow that his brothers had wrought him, Joseph continued to love his brothers and forgave them their faults to him that many years ago. Joseph represents that love which our Lord continues to show us even though we have betrayed Him, rejected Him and brought Him so much sorrow by our rebelliousness.
God is just like Joseph, and if we seek Him with all of our might and with all of our hearts’ attention, then He will listen to us and our pleas. He has great love and mercy for us, seeing us suffering from the results of our sins. We have been sundered from His grace and love, and we suffer just like the sons of Israel suffering not just from hunger because of the great famine, but even more so because of the guilt, of having betrayed their own blood, their own brother and selling him to the slave masters.
We too have betrayed the covenant which our Lord had made with us, and we spurned His love and His care for us. We rejected His rich offer of forgiveness, which He had extended to all of us who have sinned against Him. Do we not appreciate this mercy which our Lord had shown us at all times? Do we not know how the angels and the saints are praying daily and at all times for our sake?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on the lives of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his many companions who had given up their lives for the sake of their faith in God. Despite the challenges they faced, they did not give up their faith, and chose to die rather than to commit sin by disobeying the Lord and falling once again into a life of sin.
Together, they, who are called the Martyr Saints of China have endured rejection, persecution, torture and suffering from those who refused to believe in God. They have been tempted with the offers from those worldly peoples, offering them positions, fame, wealth and safety in exchange for them to recant their faith and to reject the Lord their God.
They refused to do so, and remained firm, even when threatened with torture and suffering unto death. They have sought the Lord with all of their hearts, and indeed their prayers were heard, and in the faith and righteous way of life, even until the end, they justified themselves in faith and they were all received into the glory of heaven in the presence of God.
We can do the same too with our lives, brethren, in a way that we all should stand up for the Lord, and for the faith we ought to have in Him. Do we still succumb to the temptations of this world, the temptations of pleasures especially that of the flesh? We have to remember that it is meaningless for us to be safe in the world, and yet lose everything in the world that is to come.
And we have to take note that we all are still empty in us, and we hunger for the spiritual nourishment and fulfilment which only God can give. What can we do then? Draw closer to God and walk in His ways, listen to Him and do what He had commanded us to do, and carry out the mission which He had commissioned His Apostles to do, that is by our actions, spread the Good News of His salvation to all the peoples. May God bless us all in this endeavour. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Matthew 10 : 7-15
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Go and proclaim this message : The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift. Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your purses. Do not take a traveller’s bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a staff : workers deserve their living.”
“When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people in the house deserve it, your peace will be on them; if they do not deserve it, your blessing will come back to you.”
“And if you are not welcomed, and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town, and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than it will for the people of that town.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 104 : 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
Then God sent a famine and ruined the crop that sustained the land; He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
His feet in shackles, his neck in irons till what he foretold came to pass, and the Lord’s word proved him true.
The king sent for him, set him free, the ruler of the peoples released him. He put him in charge of his household and made him ruler of all his possessions.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Genesis 44 : 18-21, 23b-29 and Genesis 45 : 1-5
Judah then went forward and said, “My lord, allow your servant to speak. Do not be angry with your servant, although you are equal to Pharaoh himself. The last time you questioned your servants saying : ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ We said to my lord : ‘We have an aged father who had a child in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only one left of his mother’s children. And his father loves him.'”
“Then you said to us : ‘Bring him down so that I can see him for myself.’ You then told us that if our youngest brother did not come with us, we would not be admitted to your presence. All this we said to our father on returning there. So when he told us to come back and buy a little food, we said : ‘We cannot go down again unless our youngest brother is with us. We shall not be admitted to the lord’s presence unless our brother is with us.'”
“Then my father said : ‘You know that my wife had two children. One went away from me and has surely been torn to pieces since I have not seen him anymore. If you take this one from me and something happens to him you will bring my gray hair in sorrow to the grave.'”
Now Joseph could no longer control his feelings in the presence of all those standing by and he called out, “Leave my presence, everyone!” And only his brothers were with him when Joseph made himself known to them. He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard and the news spread through Pharaoh’s house.
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” And his brothers could not answer because they were terrified at seeing him. Joseph said, “Come closer,” and they drew nearer. “I am Joseph your brother, yes, it is me, the one you sold to the Egyptians. Now do not grieve and reproach yourselves for selling me, because God has sent me before you to save your lives.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 