Vatican II

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Wednesday, 11 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded of God’s great love and mercy to all of us, His beloved people, as He has always reached out to us, patiently leading and guiding all of us towards Himself, and He has never given up on us, no matter how much we have rebelled against Him and disobeyed Him, as He constantly still tried to reach out to us, loving us, caring for us and giving us help along the way so that hopefully we may be able to find our way towards Him. As our loving Father and Creator, God wants us to experience His love and kindness, just as He is also stern and serious whenever He disciplines us as we erred and made mistakes along our journey in life. In the end, those who have constantly rejected the Lord and refused His mercy and love, had condemned themselves by their stubbornness and actions.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the story from the Book of Jonah in which the prophet Jonah was unhappy because everything that he had worked in going forth all the way to Nineveh, the capital and great city of the Assyrian Empire, and proclaiming its destruction and downfall, did not happen because the Lord took pity on the people of Nineveh on the account of their repentance and regret over their many sins and wickedness, and their very much public show of regret and remorse over their many sins. For the mighty and proud Assyrian Empire, which had boasted over its many achievements and power, in conquering and ruling over many cities and nations, this was indeed extraordinary and unheard of, that a whole city and its people humbled themselves before God.

The Lord wanted Jonah to understand that He never actually intended or desired the destruction of any one of us. This is because each and every one of us mankind are dear to Him, and He does not want any one of us to be lost to Him forever, unless if it is by their own choice and conscious decision that they constantly and repeatedly rejected His ever persistent and enduring offer of love, kindness, compassion and mercy. Yet, Jonah was being selfish at that time, because he was complaining to the Lord about the great heat when a castor oil plant that shaded him died, and yet, he wanted the destruction of the whole entire city of Nineveh, and its a hundred and twenty thousand people according to the Scriptures, just because it was kind of a vindication of his efforts and works in answering God’s call.

Initially, Jonah refused to do what the Lord had called and entrusted to him to do, trying to flee from the Lord, and then later on, when the Lord brought a great storm that threatened to sink his ship, he eventually continued to carry out his mission as intended. He might have felt that he was entitled to see the destruction of Nineveh as after all, that was the message that God had intended and assigned him to deliver to that city and its people. However, he was essentially making a presumption that God desired the destruction of the people of Nineveh, and assumed that he knew of what God truly wanted, when that was not the case. But what God truly wanted from all of us, even the worst among sinners, is for us to be fully reconciled and reunited with Him, by embracing the rich forgiveness that He has offered us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel of St. Luke regarding the time when the disciples of the Lord asked Him about how they ought to pray to the Lord, and then the Lord taught them all how to pray with the prayer which we all certainly know really well, that is the Pater Noster, also known as the ‘Our Father’ and as the Lord’s Prayer. Through that prayer, the Lord highlighted to us what it truly means for us to pray to God, to seek the Lord, our loving Father, and to commit ourselves to Him in prayer, and in communicating with Him, speaking and spending time with Him, asking Him for His blessing, guidance and help in all of our lives. The Lord’s Prayer is truly an example and inspiration through which all of us should follow, in committing ourselves to a life of prayer and devotion to God.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters? That is because the Lord’s Prayer is the example and the perfect prayer that we all should emulate in how we ourselves pray to the Lord. In our prayers, we should not be full of self-praise and full of litany of requests, or even demands, in asking the Lord to do things for us. Prayer is not meant for us to demand that the Lord does things for our sake, or that we ask Him to intervene for us, when we are in need and then ignore Him at other times and moments. Prayer is in fact the means through which we come to communicate with God and as we ought to do so with reverence and sincerity, and with genuine love and desire to seek the Lord. Like we heard in the Lord’s Prayer, prayer is not about us, but in fact, is about us seeking to glorify God and to thank Him for everything that He has done for us, and is a reminder for us to always listen to God and obey Him at all times.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. John XXIII, one of the more recent Popes who have lived and reigned as the Pope, Supreme Pontiff and Vicar of Christ in the middle of the twentieth century, leading the Church through rapidly changing and turbulent times, and was especially well-known for his contributions in convoking the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as the Vatican II Council. Through his examples, Pope St. John XXIII should indeed be a great role model and inspiration for all of us in how we all should live our lives as true and genuine Christians, in all the things that we say and do in life. He was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in a poor family of Bergamo in northern part of Italy today. Despite having been born into a poor family, the young Angelo Roncalli was brought up well in the faith by his devout parents.

Eventually the young future Pope St. John XXIII entered the seminary and after a period in formation, was ordained as a priest, in which he then experienced firsthand the challenges of the people and the workers then, under the tutelage of his mentor, Bishop Giocomo Radini-Tedeschi, the then Bishop of Bergamo, who was a champion of the rights of the workers at the time, and impacted the young Angelo Roncalli greatly, as he was Bishop Radini-Tedeschi’s secretary then, until the latter passed away. Then, the young priest experienced the ministry among the trenches and warfare during the First World War before being appointed as the Apostolic Delegate and representative of the Pope to Bulgaria, and ordained as a bishop in the years following the war.

The experiences of the earlier days Pope St. John XXIII in his years as Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria, and then Greece and Turkey, and finally Apostolic Nuncio to France greatly expanded his horizons and views of the world, its divergent and great variety of peoples and groups, and in his ability to negotiate and work with various parties and collaborators of the works of faith. In Bulgaria, he was instrumental in making bridges and connections with the separated brethren from the Orthodox Church, while during his tenure in France, he helped to repair the often tense relationship between the Church and the state. As Patriarch of Venice for several years, he would continue to do what he has always passionately and courageously done since his youth and earlier days as a priest, that is dedicating himself to his flock and all those who had been entrusted to him.

As Pope, Pope St. John XXIII devoted himself to many great works and efforts, in leading a reform to the Church, by convoking and announcing the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican as mentioned, helping to bring the Church, its practices and beliefs more up-to-date in responding to the challenges and the difficulties faced by the faithful due to the rapidly changing world and conditions. He was also instrumental in his efforts to bring about peace between the feuding superpowers in the Cold War, namely the United States of America and the Soviet Union, particularly during the intense crisis in Cuba that almost led the world to nuclear war and total destruction, publishing his Papal Encyclical, Pacem in Terris or ‘Peace on Earth’, calling upon peace between peoples and nations. To the very end of his life, Pope St. John XXIII continued to labour greatly for the Lord’s sake.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have all been reminded by the inspiring examples set by Pope St. John XXIII, in his life and ministry, let us all therefore strive to do our best in our own lives, in our every words, actions and deeds so that we may indeed be great role models of our Christian faith and virtues, and be the shining beacons of God’s light, truth and love. Let us all obey the Lord ever more faithfully in all of our lives and actions, entrusting ourselves to His will. May all of us continue to bear the Good News and love of God ever more faithfully in our lives, and strive to be ever more faithful in all the things we do in life, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 11 : 1-4

At that time, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.”

And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this : Father, may Your Name be held holy, may Your kingdom come; give us, each day, the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”

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Wednesday, 11 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Psalm 85 : 3-4, 5-6, 9-10

Have mercy on me, o YHVH, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant; for You, o YHVH, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o YHVH, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o YHVH, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

All the nations You have made will come; they will worship before You, o YHVH, and bring glory to Your Name. For You are great, and wonderful are Your deeds; You alone, are God.

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Wednesday, 11 October 2023 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Jonah 4 : 1-11

But Jonah was greatly displeased at this, and he was indignant. He prayed to YHVH and said, “O YHVH, is this not what I said when I was yet in my own country? This is why I fled to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and full of love, and You relent from imposing terrible punishment. I beseech You now, YHVH, to take my life, for now it is better for me to die than to live.”

But YHVH replied, “What right have you to be angry?” Jonah then left the city. He went to a place east of it, built himself a shelter and sat under its shade to wait and see what would happen to Nineveh. Then YHVH God provided a castor-oil plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade over his head and to ease his discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant.

But the next day, at dawn, God sent a worm which attacked the plant and made it wither. When the sun rose, God sent a scorching east wind; the sun blazed down upon Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. His death wish returned and he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Then God asked Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?” Jonah answered, “I am right to be angry enough to wish to die.” YHVH said, “You are concerned about a plant which cost you no labour to make it grow. Overnight it sprang up, and overnight it perished. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish right from left and they have many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned for such a great city?”

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, in the first reading, as was for the past two days, we heard the story from the Book of the prophet Jonah, as he was sent to the city and people of Nineveh, capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire. He relayed the Lord’s message to them, that the city and all its inhabitants will be destroyed because of their sins and wickedness.

But the entirety of the city, from the Assyrian king right down to the lowest slaves showed remorse and sincere repentance from their sins, because they feared the wrath of God, and they understood that if they were to turn away from their sins and repent, God might spare them from their fated destruction. They listened to the Lord and had a change of heart, and for that they were vindicated.

Yet, Jonah was angry at God for having forgiven the Assyrians and spared their city from destruction. He could not understand why God would be doing that, while he had gone into all the trouble to come to Nineveh to proclaim God’s wrath on the city. In his anger against God, he shut himself from God, and when a tree that had given him solace and protection died, he was again angry against God.

And this was where God pointed out to Jonah, that if he was so concerned for the life and fate of a single tree, then He as God, the God and Creator of all mankind, could not be not concerned of the fate of so many people under His care. The life of all mankind, all of His creations are important to Him, from the holiest ones to the ones with the greatest sins.

That is why the people of Nineveh were spared from destruction when they showed genuine remorse and repentance from their sins. Ultimately, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have to realise and understand that God does not hate the sinner, but instead He hates the sins that we, who are sinners, have committed. Ultimately, the anger of God is directed at us because of our sins, and not because He has issues with us as a person.

Therefore, all of us should remember that we are all called to a life of holiness, and if we have sinned, we must not be afraid to seek for God’s forgiveness. God is always ready to forgive us our sins and to be reconciled with us. He wants us to return to Him, but the question is, are we willing to be forgiven and do we want to reconcile with Him? It is often that we reject God’s offer of forgiveness and mercy, and decided to continue down our own path.

That is because God often has no place inside our hearts, filled with ego and selfishness, with pride and arrogance, with stubbornness and vanity. We often refuse to admit that we have been wrong, that by sin, we have been made to be imperfect and corrupted. And in our persistence, we continued and doubled down on the path of sin, and many of us therefore became separated from God.

What should we do, then, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is why we need to deepen our relationship with God, through a good and healthy, vibrant and active prayer life. We have to be in constant communication with God, that we may know what it is that He wants us to do, and we may be able to steer through the challenges of this life, even with difficulties and challenges that await us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we should follow the examples of the holy saint, whose feast we celebrate today. Today, we celebrate the feast of the holy Pope, Pope St. John XXIII, whose memory may still be fresh in the mind of some people, as he passed away just over five decades ago, remembered by his epithet, ‘The Good Pope’ and as the one who called, organised and opened the Second Vatican Council in the year 1962.

Pope St. John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in northern Italy, born of a poor farmer’s family. Although he was born poor, but he had a passion for learning, as well as great love for God. Naturally, his family being a poor, farmer family, would want him to continue the family legacy and become a farmer. But God had a different plan for young Angelo, and in his deep spiritual life and relationship with God, he heard God’s call, and eventually with the help and support of many, he became a priest.

And as he continued to rise in the Church hierarchy, becoming the Apostolic Delegate to Bulgaria, and then the Apostolic Delegate to Greece and Turkey, he remained humble and dedicated to the Lord, placing the Lord and His people ahead of everything else. He cared for the weak and for the poor, and worked hard to guide the people of God through difficult times, especially during the Second World War.

As Pope, Pope St. John XXIII remained dedicated as ever to the Lord, and he worked tirelessly to ensure that the faithful benefitted the most from the works of the Church, through evangelisation and reform in the Church. Pope St. John XXIII showed us all, that through a close and healthy relationship with God, all of us can gain plenty, and we can find our true purpose and vocation in life.

Let us all therefore pray, asking for the intercession of holy Pope St. John XXIII and the other holy men and women of God, that we may be strengthened in our faith by the Lord, and by deepening our relationship with Him, we may turn away from our sinful ways, and repenting sincerely from those wickedness we have committed, we may be forgiven from our sins, just as God had spared the people of Nineveh from destruction, and in the end, we may merit the glory of eternal life with God.

May God bless us all, and may He continue to guide us, and to remain with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 11 : 1-4

At that time, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.”

And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this : Father, may Your Name be held holy, may Your kingdom come; give us, each day, the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Psalm 85 : 3-4, 5-6, 9-10

Have mercy on me, o YHVH, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant; for You, o YHVH, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o YHVH, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o YHVH, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

All the nations You have made will come; they will worship before You, o YHVH, and bring glory to Your Name. For You are great, and wonderful are Your deeds; You alone, are God.

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Jonah 4 : 1-11

But Jonah was greatly displeased at this, and he was indignant. He prayed to YHVH and said, “O YHVH, is this not what I said when I was yet in my own country? This is why I fled to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and full of love, and You relent from imposing terrible punishment. I beseech You now, YHVH, to take my life, for now it is better for me to die than to live.”

But YHVH replied, “What right have you to be angry?” Jonah then left the city. He went to a place east of it, built himself a shelter and sat under its shade to wait and see what would happen to Nineveh. Then YHVH God provided a castor-oil plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade over his head and to ease his discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant.

But the next day, at dawn, God sent a worm which attacked the plant and made it wither. When the sun rose, God sent a scorching east wind; the sun blazed down upon Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. His death wish returned and he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Then God asked Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?” Jonah answered, “I am right to be angry enough to wish to die.” YHVH said, “You are concerned about a plant which cost you no labour to make it grow. Overnight it sprang up, and overnight it perished. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish right from left and they have many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned for such a great city?”

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Saturday, 22 October 2016 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard a key message from the Scripture passages and the Gospel we heard today, namely that each and every one of us Christians have been given gifts from the Lord, and we have the responsibility to cultivate those gifts that we may bear rich fruits of the gifts God had given us, and thus become the source of grace for all who have come into touch with us.

It is a reminder for us all, that we as Christians cannot be passive, and neither can we be ignorant of what we need to do, our roles in this world. For indeed, as we all should be aware of, we are saved not just by saying to the Lord, “Lord, Lord, I believe in You.” But also through an active and genuine faith, meaning that we practice and do things as how our faith in God had taught us and shown us.

A faith that is not practiced nor lived to its fullness is a meaningless and empty faith. Faith must be vibrant and genuine, and not merely an empty proclamation or declaration. It was what the Lord wanted to tell is in the Gospel today. He mentioned about people who died in a terrible accident, and how these compared to the others who died in normal circumstances.

It was not due to their fault that they have suffered the kind of terrible death they endured, but even though it was not so, but everyone ultimately will face death at the end of their lives. It is God alone Who knows how and when we will meet the end of our earthly existence, but then what truly matters will be the deeds and actions we have done in this life we have, be it short or long, and regardless of how we meet our end, which God alone knows.

There is nothing that we have done, or which we have not done, that the Lord will not know and find out through His most omniscient understanding and knowledge, He Who knows everything, even the very deepest secrets that we mankind have hidden from Him, and from one another. But this is where what we do with our lives make a difference with us.

It is here that Jesus used the example of the fig tree in His parable, in order to show the fate of those who were faithful versus those who have not been faithful to God in their ways. The fig tree represent each and every one of us, while the owner and master of the field is the Lord our God. And as fig tree bears fruits that are sweet and nice to be eaten, when the owner planted the fig trees he must have been looking forward to collect those sweet fruits, and either eat them or sell them for profit.

But he was not happy when the fig tree was found to be barren despite what must have been the best of conditions it had been planted in, the best soil, sufficient water, sunlight and all that the plant needs in order to grow well and bear many fruits, sweet and good. But instead, there were none at all. Imagine then, how is this a parallel to us. We have been given many gifts by the Lord, but are we utilising them and cultivating them in our own lives?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Paul in his letter to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus reminded them and from them to each and every one of us, that from God, the Holy Spirit has been given to us all who believe in Him, and from the Spirit we have received a rich multitudes of gifts, which were given to us. And he mentioned that to different people, different gifts have been given.

It is a reminder to each and every one of us, members of the Church, that we have our respective roles to play, to contribute and do what we can in order to fulfil our parts as God’s people and servants. Fulfilling God’s will is what made us all to grow in strength and faith, and therefore to bear the rich fruits of the Holy Spirit, love, faith, hope, joy and many others.

And perhaps, we should follow the examples of the great saint whose feast we are celebrating on this day, one whom many of us are familiar with, our own Holy Father for many years, the leader of the Universal Church, Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter the Apostle, the Vicar of Christ, Pope St. John Paul II, the first Polish Pope, and one of the great figures of the last century.

He was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Krakow in the year 1920 of our Lord, and he had a loving family who cared for him, but he had a rough early years of his life, when one by one his family members were taken away from him. His elder brother passed away due to sickness, his mother also passed away, and eventually during the great conflict of the Second World War, he also lost his father.

But despite the personal tragedies, the difficulties he encountered, and the very fact that his own nation was obliterated and millions of others suffered because of the great war that had happened at that time. He himself brushed against death in many occasions, and had to endure great hardships at that moment of suffering. But that did not stop him from pursuing the path to which God had called him, that is the path of service, the path of priesthood.

Karol Wojtyla was eventually ordained a priest after the war, but just as one problem ended for his country and fellow countrymen, another even bigger problem came to the fore, when Communism came to power in Poland, causing great difficulties for the Church and the faithful in Poland and in other parts of Eastern Europe under the atheist Communist rule.

Nevertheless, he persevered through, and having been made first as the Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow and then succeeding as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope St. John Paul II, led the people of God in persistence and perseverance against the many forms of discriminations and persecutions that they faced.

When the Communist authorities banned and prevented the construction of a new church building in the suburb of Nowa Huta of Krakow, which the authorities intended to be the first town without a church, in opposition to the Church and a new way to oppress it and the faithful people of God. Archbishop Wojtyla refused to budge and led a silent but real opposition against it, and championed the establishment of a church despite the persecution and challenges.

And he continued to devote himself to serve the Lord’s Church and His people even as he was made a Cardinal and thus a Prince of the Church, and then later on was elected as Pope and successor to St. Peter the Apostle and thus leader of the entire Church in 1978. His many works as Pope, his dedications in bringing down the tyranny of Communism throughout Eastern Europe and the world, and his contributions towards peace are truly remarkable.

We all knew of his deeds and contributions both to the Church and to the world. And we have to take note that he is just a man like us, and as I have mentioned earlier on, he did not exactly had an easy life, and he lost most of his family early on in his life. And yet, all of those did not stop him from doing so many good works that throughout his life, and impacted the life of so many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if Pope St. John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla had shown to us how to be a fruitful son of God, bearing rich fruits of the Holy Spirit, making use of the many gifts God had given him, then we too can also do the same as well. And each of us can contribute in our own ways. Many of us will continue to do as what we have done in this world, the laity, who help the Church in numerous groundwork, while some of us may be called by the Lord to serve Him and His people as priests and religious.

May the Lord help us to realise our vocation in this life, that we may give our best and devote our whole life in full hearted commitment to the Lord and to His ways, and may He bless us and keep us forever in His grace, deliver unto us the fullness of His blessings. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 October 2016 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 13 : 1-9

At that time, one day some people told Jesus what had occurred in the Temple : Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

Jesus asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did. And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you : no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.”

And Jesus continued with this story, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it use up the ground?'”

“The gardener replied, ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertiliser; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it does not, you can cut it down.'”