way of the Lord

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Sunday, 25 October 2015 : Thirtieth (30th) Sunday of the Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When the Lord brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o Lord, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Saturday, 24 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord speaking about the parable of the fig tree, which told us about a fig tree that was found to be barren and without fruits, and when the owner of the fig tree wanted to cut it down and dispose of it, the gardener asked for the fig tree to be given a second chance, where he would give it more fertilisers and help, hoping that it will bear fruit this time round, or else it will be destroyed.

This is coupled with what Jesus our Lord spoke about the sinfulness of the people of God, how the Jews liked to look down on the Galileans and the other Gentiles for their supposed inferiority in the sight of God, as they considered themselves as justified and saved, while the others were destined for condemnation. For God, there is nothing such as that, as all are equal in the presence of God, regardless of their race, their background and their origins.

God does not discriminate against any of us, just as all of us are equally sinners before Him, for we have all committed sin in one form or another in our lives on earth, and through our sins, we have been made truly barren and fruitless, that is no good fruits of faith and fruits of the Spirit can be found in us. What are these fruits? Hope, love, charity, chastity, and many others, all the good things that are expected to be in us, and yet we have fallen short of having these in our lives.

And when none of these can be found in our lives, how can we then be good and useful to the Lord our God? Our Lord indeed loves all of us, but He also equally hates and despises all of our sins and wickedness without exception. Just like the master or owner of the plantation, who wants the barren fig tree to be chopped off and destroyed. After all, if a tree has no fruit, what can the tree be useful for? Rather than keeping the tree to take up space on a fertile land, another tree should be planted in its place.

That barren and fruitless tree is just like us. If we are filled with sin and wickedness, then definitely we cannot find a place for us in the presence of God. The Lord will not receive us or bless us, for our sins and wickedness are abhorring to Him. Instead, we shall be rejected and cast out into the outer darkness. Only goodness and worthy things can come into the presence of our Lord. And these are the fruits of our labours in faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to heed what St. Paul also mentioned in the first reading today, that is his letter to the Church and the faithful in the city of Rome, that we should not succumb ourselves to the way of the flesh, but instead walk faithfully in the path that our Lord had shown us through Jesus. We are creatures of the Light, belonging to God, and yet our attachment to the desires of the flesh and of this world held us back from attaining salvation in the Lord.

It is by resisting and learning to reject these temptations that we will be able to gain fruitfulness in life. If we want to bear fruits of the Spirit, and the fruits of our faith, then it is necessary for us to labour and do hard work, so that in all the things that we do, we uphold as best as possible, and as far as possible, the way of the Lord, and obey the Law of God in all of its entirety.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret, known also as the founder of the congregation of religious bearing his name, that is the Claretians. He was a great missionary who spent many years in preaching and ministering to the people on the truth and the teachings of the Lord as espoused by the Church. He revealed to many of the people who have yet to hear the word of God, or have gone wayward in their lives, and helped to bring them to return to the Church.

St. Anthony Mary Claret went on to establish the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the Claretians after their founder, which he established to continue the missionary and evangelising work that he had done. And he continued on to preach and work hard for the sake of the salvation of many peoples, even when his life was at time threatened and in danger.

The examples shown by St. Anthony Mary Claret are clear indications of what all of us can also do for the benefit of all those who have been trapped in the shackles of sin. It is our duty to help each other, that we help those who have not borne good fruits of faith and were barren, that by the grace and love of God, we may regrow healthily in faith, and in our actions and deeds, may they be filled with many rich fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is love, hope, chastity, honesty and many others.

Let us all commit ourselves to accept God’s generous offer of mercy, His willingness like the master of the plantation to give a chance to the barren fig tree, representing our sinfulness and wickedness, so that by realigning ourselves and by obediently walking in His way, we may be found bountiful and filled with rich fruits that will justify us and bring us to salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Psalm)

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

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from the Lord, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Friday, 23 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John of Capestrano, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about God who chastises us and challenges us to live according to the way of the Spirit and not according to the way of the flesh. This may be easy to be said, but much harder to be done in reality. This is because we mankind are always vulnerable to the assaults of the devil through the flesh, through his many lies and temptations designed to turn our hearts and ways against God.

And if we are not careful, we may be drawn deeper and deeper into the trap that is our sins, and we will be trapped further and further into the trap of sin. And the more we succumb into it, the more and greater we shall fall. This is just as what St. Paul had mentioned in his letter to the Church and the faithful in Rome, our first reading today, that the evils in our heart assert themselves first.

In today’s reading, it was made clear of the conflict and clash between the way of this mortal world and the mortal life we have on this earth, our mortal flesh, with the way of the Lord, the way of the Spirit of God as revealed through Jesus and through His Law. The Law of God is something that easily attunes itself to us as all of us were indeed created good, righteous and just, but sin marred all of these.

This is why we have the tendency to seek things of the flesh, to fulfil our own desires first, as our desires and the temptations of our flesh prevented us from seeing the truth and the wonders of the Lord found only in righteousness and obedience to His Law. Instead, we find joy and pleasure in entertaining our own human emotions and needs, and we cajole ourselves in the pursuit of earthly glories and greatness.

And we tend to place great pride and confidence in our own human abilities and intellect, so much so that this resulting in the inability for us to recognise God’s truth when it comes upon us, because we take great pride in maintaining our own ways and customs, and we refuse and we are unwilling to change our ways for the better. And this also led to the conflict between peoples, between mankind, for the needs and wants of one person will inevitably clash and overlap with that of the needs of others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us need to understand that in order to truly become followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, in order to be able to attain salvation through Him, we have to discard our earthly ways and resist the temptations of our flesh. Otherwise, as we have just discussed, that the flesh will assert itself first, therefore, our sins and wickedness will assert themselves and block out all the good things that we are actually capable of doing.

Let us instead, look up to the example of the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely that of St. John of Capestrano, or also known as San Giovanni di Capestrano, an Italian saint and Franciscan priest who lived about more than five hundred years ago, who was a famous preacher and a dedicated servant of God, who committed himself to the conversion of heretics and pagans, and to the purification of the ways of the faithful from all the taints and impurities of sin.

St. John of Capestrano laboured hard in all situations and conditions, as well as in many places and among many peoples, against all sorts of heresies and perversions of the faith among the faithful. And he did not fear even the strong, mighty and powerful in his missions, for to him, his mission was to bring as many souls as possible, out of the misery and the quagmire of their sins.

He even joined a great Crusade against the godless and the heretics, and fought as a brave and courageous defender and champion of the faith, showing his dedication to the very end, dying of a disease contracted during the Crusade, that he adhered strongly and faithfully to the ways of the Lord and to His Law, and rejected the ways of the flesh, of this world and Satan completely.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we not also follow in his footsteps, and learn how to reject Satan’s temptations through our mortal flesh and bodies? Shall we strengthen our spiritual defences by strengthening our prayer life, devoting ourselves ever more to the Lord and spending more time with Him in prayer, and also by committing ourselves to works of love and charity, especially to our brethren around us?

May Almighty God be with us always, and may He ever guide our path in the way of His love, and may He ever strengthen us that we can resolutely reject all the lies and falsehoods of the evil one. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 23 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John of Capestrano, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Luke 12 : 54-59

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It will be hot’; and so it is. You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present times.”

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit? When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jailer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

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Thursday, 22 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate for the second time, the feast of a great Pope of recent memory, whose long reign and many contributions to the Church had helped it to stay strong and united amidst the challenges and difficulties that came to assault and bombard the Church and the faithful. He is Pope St. John Paul II, also known as Pope St. John Paul II the Great, the first ever Polish Pope, and the victor against the threat and tyranny of Communism.

And today we heard about how mankind had been afflicted by sin, and how sin has adversely affected us, in a way that we all have walked in the path of wickedness and vileness, by our actions and deeds because we were unable to detach ourselves from our sins. We were enslaved to our sins, to our greed and desire, to all the things that separated us from the love of God.

And this is in parallel of what had happened during the lifetime of Pope St. John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla in Krakow, part of Poland. In his lifetime, he experienced and saw how his country experienced hardships and challenges, and were brought under one conqueror to another, and from one tyranny to another. He saw how his country was brought under the rule of NAZI Germany and then a long period of persecution under the Communists led by the Soviet Union.

And the country of faithful and devoted servants of God, was enslaved by the ungodly forces of fascism and later communism. The faithful people of God were persecuted and tortured, and even they had to lose their lives solely because of the fact that they believed in God and walked in His ways. The enemies of the faithful tried to snuff out the light of God’s Church and envelop everything in darkness.

But the Psalm today gave all a new hope and encouragement, as God spoke of the blessings that all the righteous shall receive, and the curse and destruction that await all those who have not walked in the path of the Lord. God shall look kindly upon all those who stood up faithfully for their faith, and who did not give in to the temptations and the pressures of the world.

Those who have followed what is wicked before the Lord shall be destroyed and rejected from all the glory and the favour of God. And they shall have no part in the Lord and His wonderful inheritance. God shall cast them out of His presence, just as He had cast out Satan and his fellow fallen angels out of heaven and down into hell. This is the hope that God has given us, and which many of the faithful people of God hoped in, even in the midst and height of persecution and challenges.

And our Lord Jesus Himself reminded us in the Gospel today, that His coming would not herald peace and prosperity as some people falsely believed. Some people thought that the coming of the Messiah would usher in the rule of eternal peace, glory and prosperity, and the Messiah would become someone like a model King who would rule all the people in justice and honour, and all sadness shall go away.

But we have to remember that this world is still filled with much darkness and wickedness, and there is no way that Satan who ruled this world with an iron fist shall just let it go without a fight or confrontation. When the Lord came to save His people, that was why Satan and his fellow fallen angels did all that they could do, in order to disturb and derail God’s works of salvation and mercy, by putting his lies and discord in those who opposed Jesus and His works.

It was not because God is a hate-bringing God or a warlike God that He would purposely stir up conflict and disharmony among His people, but rather, it was the opposition of Satan and his forces, the unwillingness of those who have followed the rebellion of the devil to renounce their ways which led to the conflict between the righteous and the just on one side, and the unrepentant and the wicked on the other side.

Thus, it was this same conflict that Pope St. John Paul II and many other brave and courageous defenders of the faith had encountered as they stood up for the Lord and for their fellow brethren in faith, against all those who seek the downfall, corruption and destruction of men, the beloved people of God. Many priests, bishops and laity alike suffered persecution and even martyrdom, just as one priest, now Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, a close friend of Pope St. John Paul II would encounter.

Priests and laity staying true to the faith were arrested and tortured, and not few had to give their lives in the defence of their faith. But they continued to resist, and led by the future Pope St. John Paul II, they were vocal in withstanding the attacks directed against them by the communist and atheistic government, and while resisting without violence, they prayed to God together for a deliverance.

And God did deliver them from harm, by giving them a great gift in the unexpected election of the very first Polish Pope, and one who would lead the people of God in the resistance against those who were wicked and who have oppressed the people of God. And indeed, by his hard and courageous works, Pope St. John Paul II helped to topple communism and returned liberty and freedom to all those suffering from it.

Let us all today reflect, on what all of us can do as well, following the examples of Pope St. John Paul II, standing up for the Lord and for our faith, and proudly and courageously defending what we believe in the Lord and in all that He had taught us. Let us all not give in to the temptation of worldliness and all the lies of Satan, but instead cling tightly and strongly to the truth which God alone can give.

May Almighty God our Father guide us always in our path, so that as we walk in this journey of life, we may be ever more faithful and devoted to Him, and in the words of Pope St. John Paul II, let us never be afraid to open wide the doors of our heart, to welcome Him into ourselves, that by our actions, we may also open wide the doors to salvation to many who still dwell in darkness. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 12 : 49-53

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “I have come to bring fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what anguish I feel until it is over!”

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house five will be divided : three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

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Thursday, 22 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Romans 6 : 19-23

You see that I speak in a very human way, taking into account that you are not fully mature. There was a time when you let your members be slaves of impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; convert them now into servants of righteousness, to the point of becoming holy.

When you were slaves of sin, you did not feel under obligation to righteousness, but what were the fruits of those actions of which you are now ashamed? Such things bring death. Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit and growing in holiness, and the result will be life everlasting.

So on one side is Sin : its reward, death; on the other side is God : He gives us, by grace, life everlasting in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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Wednesday, 21 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings from the Holy Scriptures remind us that we all should refrain and abstain from sinning once again, and we should keep ourselves from doing all the things that will place us all under the dominion of sin once again. For we all have been liberated from sin and from the punishments for our sins, because our Lord Himself have come to save us and by His saving works we have been brought into a new life.

To be under the dominion of sin was like how it was once when we were subjected to the consequences of our sins, the effects of which we still feel even unto this very day. For the consequence of sin is primarily death, the separation we experience from the Lord of all life, that is none other than the Lord our God. By our disobedience and rebellion against His will and His ways, we fell into disgrace and into the abyss of sin.

And while we mankind we created perfect, good and without blemish, and while we would have enjoyed an eternity of grace, blessings, joy and happiness living together with our God in the bliss of Eden, but because of sin, we tasted the first taste of suffering, and of death. Death becomes an integral part of our life, and death claims the life of all the mortal beings like us.

And once, we see no hope beyond death, for death is intended as the punishment for our sinfulness, the consequences we are to suffer, and just as we came from dust, our physical bodies shall not last and return to the dust, and death and hell would claim our souls for eternity. There was once no hope out of this despair, against the darkness that awaits us after the end of our earthly existence.

Yet, God who loves us has given us the new, lasting and eternal hope in Jesus Christ, His Son. Through Him we have the path out of our predicament, the sufferings we are to bear for our sins have been paid in full by the sacrifice of His Blood on the cross, and by sharing and partaking of His Body and Blood, we receive the salvation and life which He had promised us.

This means that we have been freed from the bonds and the tyranny which sin and the devil have imposed on us. We are truly free if we hold tight in the Lord and His promises, and as long as we keep our faith in Him and trust in Him fully. But we can easily fall back into the dominion of sin, if we lapse and fail to hold back our desires and fail to resist the temptations of the evil one, who is constantly trying to pull us back into damnation through sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, through the Gospel passage we heard together, our Lord Jesus Christ wants to remind us that each one of us whom He had brought out of the darkness have become God’s children by adoption through Christ, who is the Son of God and by assuming the form of Man, we too have become the children of God.

And because all of us are God’s children, He who is the Lord and Master over all of creation would entrust us with the care over creation, all the things in this world, and also with the care for one another, from one to his fellow men around him or her. It is by this that we have been appointed as stewards by our Lord, and it is truly up to us, and the choice is fully ours, whether we are to be good and responsible stewards, or whether our choice is to be terrible and wicked stewards.

It is in our human tendency for us to be lazy, slothful and selfish, thinking only about ourselves before anything else. This is why we often end up as the bad and wicked steward, who think that he could have it easy and laid back and rest, while the master is away from the house. In the same way therefore, because we think that God has given us so many opportunities and chances, then we can take it easy and slack, or sin and the Lord will tolerate those sins.

But all of us should know that the coming of the Lord will be truly sudden and unexpected, and if we are caught unprepared, the consequences will be truly fatal. Just as the wicked and lazy servant, our inaction will be our undoing. Shall we take heed of this so that we will not fall into eternal damnation just because we have failed to do something in order to help those who have been entrusted to us.

Let us all make the effort to love each other, guide one another and bring all of us closer to the Lord, by our efforts and actions, by caring for those who have fallen into sin and encourage them to return to the light, and also all those suffering from hunger and poverty, let us all help them in whatever way we can. May Almighty God bless us on our endeavours and keep us His stewards faithful to Him at all times. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 October 2015 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 123 : 1-3, 4-6, 7-8

Had not the Lord been on our side – let Israel say – had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.

A bit more and the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Blessed be the Lord, Who did not let us be devoured.

Like a bird our soul escaped from the snare of the fowler; the snare was broken and we were freed. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.