way of the Lord

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Saturday, 9 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, Martyr Saints of China, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 10 : 24-33

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.”

“There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of Him Who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

“For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. Do not be afraid : You are no less worthy than many sparrows!”

“Whoever acknowledges Me before others I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. Whoever rejects Me before others I will reject before My Father in heaven.”

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Saturday, 9 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, Martyr Saints of China, Martyrs (Psalm)

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

Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5

The Lord reigns, robed in majesty; the Lord is girded with strength.

The world now is firm, it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o Lord, from all eternity You are.

Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your house day after day without end, o Lord.

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Friday, 8 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of comfort from our Lord, He Who is always rich in mercy and love, ready to forgive us our sins and wrongdoings, as long as we are genuine and real in our repentance and in our desire to be forgiven. God showed His mercy to all those who are willing to listen to Him and be thoroughly converted to His cause, abandoning all of their past wicked ways and sins, and commit themselves to righteousness from then on.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Hosea, God revealed His mercy to His people, willing to forgive them for the sins that they have committed. He would heal them from their afflictions and brought them from their suffering into the joy of everlasting life He promised to those who would devote themselves to Him. He shall be their foundation and they would be strong amidst the challenges they would face in the world.

But all these require penance and genuine turn towards the Lord, one that requires effort and hard work. One cannot be complacent and think that without effort they would be able to receive all the goodness of God. In the psalm today, which was taken from Psalm 50, was a psalm by the king David of Israel, renowned as it was inspired directly from a moment in David’s life, when he committed sin before God by committing adultery with the wife of his bannerman.

King David committed that sin, and the anger of God should have fallen upon him with all the curses and the condemnation. And yet, after David showed great remorse and humbly submitted himself before God, God had mercy on him, forgave him, and restored the graces and blessings which He had promised to him and to his descendants.

David was humble, and he was willing to commit himself fully to God. And that was one trait and quality which many of us unfortunately often lack. Those who would put their trust in God shall not be abandoned, for God is forever faithful. He gave them hope, as Jesus spoke to His disciples in the Gospel we heard today, how being His disciples would mean that they would encounter challenges and difficulties, but God through His Spirit would be with them through all those troubles.

All these therefore pointed out to us that we have to learn to let go of those things that keep us in the state of sin and which prevented us from finding our way to the Lord. All of us should learn to look beyond all our worldly attachments so that we may be better able to appreciate the kindness of our Lord, He Who is loving and merciful towards us.

Nothing in this world will be able to sustain us, not even our own power and might. If we trust in them, no sooner will it be that they fail us. Even David at the height of his power as the king over all Israel, all his enemies defeated and humbled around him, and even if everyone thought that he would be able to get whatever it was that he wanted, but he was humbled because of that ego and desire that was in him.

And even the richest and the mightiest among us, even the wealthiest person and the most powerful of kings and rulers will have to face the judgment of God at the end of their lives. Not even their vast wealth, influence or power will do them any good. These will not save them, but their deeds and faith in God will. The same applies to all of us as well. Shall we not now think about our actions and carefully decide of what we are going to do from now on?

Shall we obey God and follow His ways from now on? It is important that we truly go and devote ourselves to Him, for the sake of our souls. Let us all not wait until it is too late for us, but from now on, do our best so that we may gain favour with our God and be forgiven for all of our sins just as David had been forgiven in his humble submission. May God bless us and strengthen us all in our faith and devotion to Him. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the love which God has shown to His people, and the anger that was aroused in His heart when those same people refused to acknowledge and to appreciate that great love which He had shown them. They have been rescued from their suffering and enslavement at the hand of the Egyptians and the Pharaohs, and God Himself carried them out of the land of Egypt by His mighty power.

God has provided them with many things, and even cleared their way ahead of them, destroying their enemies and all those who plotted evil against them. And yet, they were almost always unfaithful and disobedient, refusing to listen to the precepts of the Lord their God, disobeying their commands and preferring to follow their own selfish desires.

In their disobedience, they have brought upon themselves the anger and the punishment of God. But God still loved them, and He wanted to help them and rescue them from the destruction that awaited them. And hence to that extent, God sent them His promised salvation that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who came into the world to deliver to all mankind the word of God.

Despite all the things which they have seen and witnessed, even the healing of the sick, the opening of the eyes of the blind, the curing of the tied tongues of the mute and the opening of the ears of the deaf, the people still refused to believe. They doubted Jesus and His teachings, as shown by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who even went so far as to make it very difficult for Jesus and His disciples to do their works and ministry to the people.

And there were many others who followed Jesus just because He amazed them with the wonders of His miracles and works. These were satisfied by the food they ate when Jesus fed the multitudes of men and women, and they were astonished at what they saw when Jesus did all those miracles, even to the point of raising and returning someone from death back to life.

But they did not have strong and genuine faith in them. The moment their Lord was seized from them, and once Jesus was arrested, they abandoned Him quickly, everyone tending their own businesses and matters. It is the same with their ancestors who disobeyed the Lord and followed their own rebellious path, more often so because they were preoccupied with themselves and their desires so much that they were not able to let these go when the time comes for them to choose between God and the world.

Now let us ask ourselves, are we like them? Are our actions and all our directions in life mimic what those people had done? Have we been truly faithful to the Lord our God? Or have we rather been wayward and disobedient? The answer lies within ourselves. Let us all reflect on what we have done in life, and whether we have that courage and drive to follow on through with our faith, devoting our whole life to the Lord.

Do we let the temptations of this world to be obstacles on our path to God? Yes, they will become obstacles for us, but are we embracing them instead of pushing them aside or resisting them? Do we make the conscious effort to be faithful in all things? It will indeed not be easy for us, as challenges and difficulties are waiting for us, but the reward for remaining faithful to God to the end, is great.

Let us all no longer hesitate but be filled with faith and conviction, giving it all to be faithful and devoted to God in all things. Let us do our best in order to be devoted and committed servants of our God, and thus be worthy of His eternal glory and the life everlasting He had promised to all of His faithful ones. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 10 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus spoke to His twelve 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.”

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Thursday, 7 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 79 : 2ac and 3bc, 15-16

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You Who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

Turn again, o Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking about the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, to whom the prophet Hosea had been sent to. The people of Israel had been blessed with much blessings, as their ancestors had been faithful to God and to His covenant with them. And at that time, as a background, the prophet Hosea was sent to the northern kingdom of Israel at the time of relative prosperity.

And all that prosperity as well as their own stubbornness and lack of faith had made the people of God to lose track and deviate from the true faith in God. They refused to listen to the prophets which had been sent to them to remind them of what they ought to do to repent and to turn back to the Lord. They disobeyed God and instead, they lived in debauchery and wasted themselves on the prosperity and the wealth which they had gained.

And instead of following their one and true King, they followed the king whom they have set over themselves. Those kings had misled them into evil ways and thus into sin. But despite of this, they continued on with their wrong path, and they therefore sank deeper into the darkness. And yet, God continued to send His help again and again, one after another with the hope that some of them would realise their errors and return to Him.

That was why Jesus our Lord, Who came into the world in order to save it, also sent His twelve Apostles and the many other disciples He had to preach His Good News to the people, spreading the truth about God’s love and mercy to them, and calling them to repentance and to turn themselves to God’s ever great and generous mercy.

But the resistance by all those people to whom the Apostles and the disciples had been sent to, was great. They did not like it when they had to change their ways to suit that of the ways of the Lord. For them, it was much more preferable for them to continue with their then way of life rather than to abandon them for the sake of the Lord. Many of them were too attached to worldliness and thus their hearts were set against God and His message.

Then, this is where we should take note of what happened to the saint whose feast day we celebrate today. She is the famous saint whose story must be quite familiar with many of us. St. Maria Goretti was a young woman who was devoted to the Lord, and has promised herself before God to remain holy and pure in all things. She lived with another family as her own father had passed away when she was still very young.

The son of the family where St. Maria Goretti lived in took an interest in her, and he on one occasion, threatened St. Maria Goretti and wanted to rape her when she was alone, but St. Maria Goretti, even when threatened with a sharp knife, refused his advances, and courageously reminded him that such an act is a great and mortal sin that would condemn both of them to the eternal fires of hell.

Faced with such a setback and opposition, the boy panicked and as he gave in to his fears and anger, he struck at St. Maria Goretti many times with the knife. As she laid dying from her wounds in the hospital, she forgave her murderer with love, and wished that he would be with her in Heaven.

And indeed, while the murderer refused to repent and did not show regret over his actions in the first few years of his imprisonment, but after a bishop visited him in prison and told him how St. Maria Goretti had forgiven him and even prayed for him, and as on one night she even appeared before him and spoke to him, the murderer, Alessandro Serenelli, repented sincerely and changed his ways, eventually even becoming a member of a religious order, dedicating himself to a life of piety and devotion to God.

This wonderful story of the life and death of St. Maria Goretti, and how her murderer had been converted into the way to salvation should be inspiration for us all as well. Let us not be like the people of Israel in ancient times, who placed their worldly desires and greed above their faith in God. The same problem had caused that Alessandro to murder St. Maria Goretti, and also many other sinful things which we mankind commit in this world today.

Let us all no longer give in to our human desires and the greed that is in our hearts. Let us instead devote ourselves ever more faithfully to our God, and give ourselves to Him in all the things that we say and do, so that we may draw ever closer to the throne of His love and mercy. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 10 : 1-7

At that time, Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits, to drive them and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the Twelve Apostles : first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Him.

Jesus sent these twelve on mission with these instructions : “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go and proclaim this message : The kingdom of heaven is near.”

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

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. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

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.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2016 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hosea 10 : 1-3, 7-8, 12

Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built, the his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones. Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces.

Now they say, “We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?” As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water. The idolatrous high places – the sin of Israel – will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking YHVH until He comes to rain salvation on you.