way of the Lord

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Saturday, 9 January 2016 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 149 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise in the assembly of His saints. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let the people of Zion glory in their King!

Let them dance in praise of His Name and make music for Him with harp and timbrel. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the lowly with victory.

The saints will exult in triumph; even at night on their couches. Let the praise of God be on their lips. This is the glory of all His saints. Alleluia!

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Friday, 8 January 2016 : Friday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Who came into this world, proclaiming and bringing God’s salvation, mercy and healing upon all of us mankind, all of whom were sickened in our hearts, filled and tainted with the darkness of our own faults and disobediences, with our own sins and unworthiness before the Lord.

In the Gospel we heard how the Lord Jesus helped a leper who was suffering from his leprosy, the pain, the suffering, the shame and the stigma that came with it, and how Jesus brought him to fullness of healing and redemption, and his leprosy was healed when the Lord touched him, purging from him the imperfection and the filth of the physical leprosy of the flesh.

But Jesus did not desire for the man to trumpet out loud what He had done for him. In our human nature, it would be natural for us all to show off what we have been successful in, and boast of our achievements, but this was not what the Lord Jesus had done. This is because whatever He had done for mankind’s sake, His people and beloved children, He had done them for their sake entirely, and never for His own glory.

And yet, whatever He had done, out of His infinite and everlasting love for us all, He had been glorified through His actions, as we heard in the first reading today, by the testimony of the water, the blood and the Spirit, all of which acted in unison in proclaiming the love, the everlasting and great love that God had shown us all and manifested itself through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When Jesus was baptised at the Jordan, as He was immersed in the water by John the Baptist, the heaven was opened, and there came a great voice from Heaven, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, and a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, came to dwell on Jesus, the testimony of the truth which both the water and the Spirit agreed on, that Christ our Lord is the One Who had come into the world in order to save us.

And what is the testimony of Blood? It is the testimony of the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ Who had shed His blood and pour it all upon us as He lay dying and suffering on the cross. Had it been any other blood, animal’s blood or human blood besides that of Christ’s, it would have been useless and meaningless. But because our Lord Himself had shed His own Precious Blood, the blood which is worthy and capable of absolving all of us from our sins, then that was why, we have a new hope of salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all realise what great friend and help we have had in Jesus our Lord. It was because of Him that the love of God had reached out to all of us, and through Him we have this hope and promise of eternal life and salvation from all of our predicaments. We have once been condemned to a fate of eternal death and suffering because of our sins and disobedience, but the Lord Who loves us all, wanted another fate for us.

Have we therefore given Him thanks and gratitude for all that He has done for us? We have passed through Christmas and all of its joyful celebrations, where we revel and be happy knowing that our Lord Who had come into the world, had also blessed us with His presence and dwelling here among us, so that through Him, we may all be saved. And we see how the Lord had sacrificed Himself for our sake, which we will celebrate in the upcoming weeks as we proceed into the season of Lent and then into the Holy Week and Easter.

Let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us all strengthen our faith in Him, so that in all things that we say and do, we may always bring glory to Him and also that we may remain always in His grace and love, that we will never be separated again from His love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 January 2016 : Thursday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard of the proclamation of Jesus as the Holy One of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah or Saviour which the prophets of the old days had spoken about, revealing to all mankind of the plan of salvation through which our loving and devoted God had planned for us all, to bring us all out of our misery into the everlasting happiness to be found in Him.

Through Jesus, a people who have long awaited for their salvation and for the coming of their Saviour had seen and witnessed how their God Himself came among them and touched the least and the forgotten ones among them, healing them from their afflictions and carrying them back from the precipice of darkness and back into the light and grace of God.

God has not abandoned us all even though we have often abandoned Him and rejected Him for the preference of the world and all of its good offers, and thus, while we have sinned and deserved eternal damnation and death, but God Who created us and loved us all dearly since the beginning wanted to give all of us a chance.

This is why through Jesus, God wanted to show us His mercy and forgiveness, the care and concern which He showed to all of those who have been lost in their way in the world, just as He made it clear that He came to seek those who had been lost and those who have erred, those who were tainted and darkened by their sins and wickedness.

God healed them and made them whole again, filling up their beings not just with the physical food that satisfies the stomach, but also with the spiritual blessings and nourishment that fills up and satisfies the heart and the soul. And even though once we were delinquents and rebels who refused to comply and obey the laws and the commandments of our God, but God is willing to give us a chance.

Nevertheless, it does not mean that we should take His kindness, love and mercy for granted. We must take whatever opportunity He has given us, and do not wait until it is too late for us, or try to test God’s patience in His generous grant of mercy to all of us. In this we should heed what our Lord Jesus told His disciples in another occasion on the parable of the five wise women and the five foolish women.

The wise women were ready for the coming of the bridegroom and they had prepared amply for the provision of their lamps so that when the bridegroom came at the unexpected hour, they were ready and were therefore able to join him in the banquet prepared for them. Meanwhile, the foolish women did not prepare themselves beforehand, and they were caught unprepared when the bridegroom came, and they were left out.

Similarly therefore, it is important for us all to be ready and to welcome God’s mercy fully into ourselves. Let us commit ourselves and devote ourselves to receive worthily God’s mercy and love. And in this let us all follow the example shown by St. Raymond of Penyafort, a holy servant of God whose feast we are celebrating on this day.

St. Raymond of Penyafort was Dominican priest and a famous preacher who was renowned in his many works on the faith, and in how he zealously lived his life in ever preparedness and readiness for the Lord. He also refused the temptations of worldliness and human power, and instead, despite his fame and position, once appointed to lead his congregation, he remained very humble.

His examples in how he lived his life and how he committed himself to his faith can be examples for us all in how we should live out our own faith. If we can dedicate ourselves and commit ourselves to the Lord in the same way as this holy man of God had done, trusting in God’s love and mercy, then surely we shall be blessed and the inheritance of eternal joy and grace of God will be ours.

May God be with us all and may He continue to strengthen us in our faith, so that in all the things that we say and do, we may always align ourselves to the Lord and be always found in His grace. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 January 2016 : Thursday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 14 and 15bc, 17

O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

He rescues them from oppression and strife, for their life is precious to Him. May gold from Sheba be given Him. May people always pray for Him, and blessings be invoked for Him all day.

May His Name endure forever; may His Name be as lasting as the sun. All the races will boast about Him, and He will be blessed by all nations.

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Wednesday, 6 January 2016 : Wednesday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard yet again of the love of God, which had come into the world through our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect manifestation of God’s eternal and boundless love for each and every one of us, and then we are all urged to realise that His love is present among us just as our Lord Jesus lives on in each one of us, in His presence through the Eucharist that we received and share together as one people of God, one Church.

Today we heard in the Gospel passage, the well-known story about the Lord Jesus Who came to the disciples who struggled in the midst of a great storm walking on the water, much to their amazement and surprise. We heard how Jesus went into the boat, chided the disciples for their lack of faith, and then went on to calm the storm and everything was then fine once again.

There are many symbolisms behind what we have heard in the Gospel, just as much as it had really happened that time. The storm in the lake, which threatened to sink the ship the disciples were boarding on, was indeed just as what we encounter in our own lives, the storms of life’s troubles and difficulties, the challenges and the uncertainties that we are facing each and every day.

And if we do not hold on together as one people, then we shall fall and be crushed under the weight of that predicament. The boat represented the Church of God, holding all the faithful ones together, and inside the Church indeed, we have people with various backgrounds and faith profiles, and truly, not everyone had a strong faith in God.

We are indeed struggling, trembling with fear and uncertainty, and our faith can be shaken at times, especially when life’s troubles catch up with us. And that is when the storm frightens us, and we fear of losing our grip and falling into the darkened water. But if only that we can put our trust in the Lord, then truly we should not need to fear anything at all.

The Gospel and the Scripture passages today are indicative of this, as they pointed out to us how God Who loves us all and cares for all of us had provided for us through what He has given us in Jesus Christ, His love made flesh, and through Him therefore, we may have hope amidst the dark and dangerous storms of this world. He is our anchor, our hope and our salvation, a paragon of certainty amidst our fears, insecurities and uncertainties.

Therefore, today, as we live in today’s ever more uncertain world filled with all sorts of wickedness and evil, with all sorts of darkness and challenges, let us all remember that in all things, even in the moments of the greatest danger, nothing can harm us if we put our trust in our Lord Jesus, in Whom we can confide ourselves perfectly and in Whom lies our salvation and our path to eternal joy.

Just as He calmed the storm, ordered the wind to cease and the waves to stop beating and rocking on the boat, Jesus too will be our certainty amidst a time of fear and uncertainty, that through Him, our unshaken faith will prevail against all that this world and the devil may throw against us, and no matter how dark the moment is, there is always hope in our Lord.

Let us no longer fear the things that the world can do on us, and let us not be afraid to face the evils and the challenges that it had fielded against us. But let us all devote ourselves all the more to our Lord Jesus, and in all the things we say and do, let us all profess our eternal commitment and faith to Him, He Who had willingly come down upon us and dwell among us, so that by Him and His actions, He might save us from certain death. May God be with us all, now and forever.

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Wednesday, 6 January 2016 : Wednesday after the Epiphany (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 10-11, 12-13

O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

The kings of Tarshish and the islands render Him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts, all kings bow down to Him, and all nations serve Him.

He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor, He saves the life of the poor.

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Tuesday, 5 January 2016 : Tuesday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings taken from the Holy Scriptures talking to us about the love of God, how the love of God had shown itself and manifested itself to us, in none other than Jesus Christ our Lord, the One Whom we celebrate in this Christmas season, for His coming into the world had brought God’s love itself upon us.

And we see one example of how God loved us all mankind in the Gospel reading today, where we heard the well-known story of how Jesus fed the multitudes of five thousand men, not including women and children, which would certainly add even much more to the number of those whom the Lord had fed with just five loaves and two fish.

The Lord Jesus saw the people who followed Him and listened to Him teaching for many days, and they were hungry, for although they heard the word of God and were satisfied in spirit, but they are still creatures of the flesh, and their flesh were weak, and they were hungry, just as we are all going to be hungry if we do not eat any food or little amount of food for quite a period of time.

And God was loving and merciful towards His children and His people, and that was why Jesus showed compassion and mercy on all those poor souls who hunger for food. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, blessed them and broke them into many pieces by His power and gave all the people to eat until they were all satisfied and full in their stomach, with even many pieces of bread and fish to spare.

This is how loving God is, but that is not just what God has loved us with, for the gift of the physical food that Jesus had done on that day with the five thousand men and countless other women and children were insignificant compared to what other things God had done for His people, that is for all of us. This is because, He has indeed spared nothing but He gave Himself completely, in His own Body and Blood for us all to eat and partake, that all of us may have life in us.

Yes, this is the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, which our priests during each Holy Mass offered in union with that ultimate sacrifice on the cross, when our Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself all of our sins and all the punishments due to our sins, and being lifted up high on the cross, He gave up His own life for our sake, that through His death, and by the shedding and thus the sharing of His Body and Blood, all may have a share in the life of His resurrection.

All of us who believed in God and who faithfully obeyed His laws and teachings through the Church, and who have shared in the Most Holy Eucharist with proper decorum and being worthy of it, have been blessed with this life which our Lord promised to all those who have faith in Him. He dwells in us just as we all dwell in Him, and united to Him Who is the Lord of all life, we have the promise of everlasting life through Him.

Today, as we heard the words of the Holy Scriptures, let us all reflect on what we have heard, and think of how we have all lived our lives, in our actions, words and deeds. Have we been faithful to God in all things? Or have we allowed our worldly concerns and desires to cloud our judgments and be unfaithful in what we do or say? As we continue on the season of Christmas and rejoice in the coming of the Lord Jesus, these are important questions that we really should ask ourselves.

This is because He Who have once come in a manger through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who have suffered and died for us all, and Who rose from the dead in glory and ascended into Heaven in might, will come again for certain just as He had promised. If He comes again, at a time which we do not know or expect, and He finds us empty of faith and action based on that faith which we should have for Him, then what can we expect of what He will do with us?

If we want a part in God’s kingdom and be sharers of His love and blessings, then all of us should from now on reorientate our lives and refocus them in order to attune ourselves to the way of the Lord, and that in all the things we say and do, we may glorify God and proclaim His truth to the nations. May God awaken in all of us the love and the devotion which all of us ought to have for Him. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 January 2016 : Tuesday after the Epiphany (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 4 : 7-10

My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.

How did the love of God appear among us? God sent His only Son into this world that we might have life through Him. This is love : not that we loved God but that He first loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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Monday, 4 January 2016 : Monday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we continue on from the Solemnity of the Epiphany which we have just celebrated yesterday, we revel in the knowledge of God Who had revealed Himself to all of us, the truth about His love and the truth about the salvation which He had readily made available to all of us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The nature of the Epiphany and its celebration is about revelation, from which it got its name. The Lord Who was once not visible and intangible to us, had made Himself tangible and visible, by His incarnation in Jesus Christ, Who was God, is God, and will always be God, and yet by His assumption of the flesh of men, and by His birth through His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, He became Man and walked on this earth just as we do.

The Lord showed His love to us through Jesus, Who went about healing the sick, not just from the sickness of the flesh, but also from the sickness of the soul, that is our sins. He fed His people and led them to the right paths by His words of truth that did not mince any of its words and their meanings. He is the Good Shepherd Who leads all of God’s beloved flock to return to the embrace of God our loving Father and Creator.

And we rejoice because of this, our Christmas joy that continues to be strong and vibrant. The Lord Jesus and His salvation is our true Christmas joy, and not all the things we in the world often associate with Christmas and how it is usually celebrated. It is not a celebration of fun and merrymaking, partying or revelry, or holidays or anything related to the way Christmas is often portrayed, but it is indeed a celebration of God’s love.

The readings from the Holy Scriptures today place a great importance in this fact, with the prophet Isaiah who wrote about a great Light that was to come to a people living in darkness, and how that light would enlighten the paths of those who dwell in the darkness, and how the darkness would give way to the true Light through which men would find their way to the Lord.

Jesus is that Light, the Saviour Who had come to rescue all those who are still lost in the darkness and in the uncertainties of the world. Through Him, God reached out to His beloved people, who although they have erred in their ways and lost their path, but they are truly still deserving of His mercy and love, as long as they are willing to listen to the Lord’s calls for their repentance and thus accordingly repent from their sins.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the Scripture readings today, let us all ask ourselves, in our own words, actions and deeds, whether we have done what we can do, in order to help the Lord’s efforts in reaching out to the last, the lost and the least of His beloved people. Have we been welcoming to our brethren who seek to be reunited with God, or do we instead reject them?

Have we been forthcoming in our actions to seek out those who have yet to know of the Lord and His salvation? Have we endeavoured to make these all available for them? It is our duty and responsibility as those whom God had called and chosen out of this world as His disciples, to bring even more souls into the salvation that can only be found in the Lord, our God.

May Almighty God bless us in our works and efforts, and let us commit ourselves anew to bring the Good News to all those who have yet to hear of it, and then also practice our faith in our own lives, in all that we say and do, so that through us, God may show His salvation and His truth to His people, and more and more souls will be saved from the threat of eternal damnation and hellfire. God be with us all. Amen.

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Monday, 4 January 2016 : Monday after the Epiphany (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 2 : 7-8, 10-11

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me : “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession.”

Now therefore, learn wisdom, o kings; be warned, o rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and fall at His feet; lest He be angry and you perish when His anger suddenly flares. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him!