way of the world

by

Sunday, 5 October 2014 : 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 21 : 33-43

At that time, Jesus said, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country.”

“When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.'”

“So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.”

And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.’ Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will yield a harvest.”

by

Saturday, 4 October 2014 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate together the feast of the famous and renowned saint of our Church, that is St. Francis of Assisi, the epitome and model of our faith, and the faithful servant of God, through whose works and legacies, he had brought countless souls into salvation in God, and through whose dedications and works he had become an example for countless more who followed and walked in his path.

He was the founder of the Franciscan order, or the Order of the Friars Minor, renowned for their brown coloured habit and dedication to simple life and poverty, entrusting everything to the Lord, giving it all to the Lord and abandoning all worldly possessions. He was also contributed to the founding of several other religious orders, and his works and dedications had truly profound effect on the Church and the faith as a whole, even until today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Francis of Assisi was himself once like us all, an ordinary man, the son of a wealthy and influential merchant, named Pietro di Bernardone at his birth, as the heir of his father’s fortune and business. He was educated and prepared for a life of glory and happiness, being well versed in the ways of the world and in all matters of finances.

However, St. Francis of Assisi, then known as Pietro, always had that emptiness in his heart, which he could not satisfy with what he had gained in the happy life he had, and in the privileged life he had been given by his father. And therefore, there began the new life journey of who would eventually become the holy man of Assisi, one of the greatest saints of the Universal Church.

He was praying in a rather dilapidated church building, when he heard a voice, from the Lord, saying to him to repair and rebuild His Church. The young Pietro Bernardone mistook this for the order to rebuild the dilapidated church building where he was praying in, and where he had heard the voice of God. As his father was a wealthy merchant dealing in precious goods such as silk trading, he took some of his father’s stock of silk, sold it and used the proceeds to pay for the repair work of the church.

The word of this action came to the knowledge of Pietro’s father, the rich merchant, who then confronted him on his actions. At this time, Pietro, having heard the call of the Lord had decided that the path of his life was not through what he had always been prepared to be, and he sought refuge at the local bishop’s residence at his cathedral.

The father of Pietro, the future St. Francis of Assisi, confronted the bishop and his son, contending and made noises over the amount of money and preparation he had given to his son and heir, and the supposedly humiliating action of his son, stealing and selling his goods and donating them to the Church. In response, St. Francis of Assisi took off all his clothes and possessions, and stood naked in front of the bishop, who then immediately covered him and protected him with his voluminous cope.

In that way therefore, Pietro Bernardone rejected the temptations of wealth and the world, giving up everything to follow the Lord, and began his journey of faith and suffering, to be who we know now as the holy St. Francis of Assisi, the great servant of God, and went to truly rebuild and strengthen the Church of God as God had once called him. He went from place to place, preaching about the Lord and growing ever stronger in faith, and in various occasions, he experienced various experiences of faith that further strengthened his devotion to the Lord.

St. Francis of Assisi also championed the faithful living of abandoning all forms of worldly attachments, and living in joyful poverty, in a life where everything he has belongs to the Lord, and where there is no need for worry, as everything will be taken care of by the Lord. St. Francis of Assisi thus established a new religious orders, now known famously as the Franciscans, after their founder, as a body to accommodate those who also desired to follow the Lord after the example of St. Francis of Assisi.

Like St. Pius of Pietrelcina, another famous Franciscan monk and priest, who had received the five wounds of Jesus, called the stigmata, St. Francis also received the holy wounds of Christ through the moment of euphoria and holy vision, where he received the honour to bear the five wounds that were also once on the feet and hands of the crucified Lord Jesus Christ. These wounds would bring him great suffering but also great joy until the end of his life just a few years later.

St. Francis of Assisi was known to be a holy and pious servant of God, and he was also exemplary in his life, loving all the people of God and he held great sincerity seeking to find a way to help bring the salvation of souls to as many souls as possible. St. Francis of Assisi was renowned for his prayer for peace, also known as the Peace Prayer of St. Francis, where he extolled the values blessed by the Lord in the Beatitudes, on those who championed peace and who are devoted to the Lord with all of their hearts.

And therefore, St. Francis of Assisi is truly a great role model which we can follow in this life, that in all of his actions and deeds, we hope that we may also follow in his footsteps and therefore, we may also share in the justification which he had attained. And we should also follow in the loving ways of St. Francis, whose love for all the creations of God, mankind and animals alike, that we truly can become epitome of love as he had indeed become.

And referring to the readings of the Holy Scriptures and the Gospels today, it is quite clear that God will reward all those who had believed in Him and remained true to Him in faith. To Job who remained faithful in his humility and obedience, He granted him great graces and blessings which He had bestowed once before, and then gave him even greater things, to the point that what Job had after his suffering was far greater than what he once had.

And Jesus also gave thanks to the Lord His Father for the faith and the good works which His disciples had on Him and which they had done in His Name. And He revealed the truth about Himself, and how blessed they were indeed, for the righteous and the faithful had indeed seen the Lord Himself in action. And thus, all of us here who are also faithful and true to our faith will be blessed with greatness and riches beyond all things.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, following the example of St. Francis of Assisi and the other holy saints of God, let us all from now on excise from ourselves, from our hearts, our minds and our souls, the darkness and evils of this world, committing ourselves in the same manner as St. Francis of Assisi had done. It is not necessary that we ought to all abandon everything of possession and goodness as he had done, but what is important is that we try to imitate him in his actions and deeds, which reflected his standing as a pious servant of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our faith in the Lord, not just through empty words or superficial application of faith, but through a dedicated and real devotion reflected in our actions and deeds, so that we may indeed be generous with our love, be caring for one another, especially those who are poor, sick and weak. Let us be peacemakers in this world, abandoning the ways of violence and hatred, and instead follow the path of love and justice.

May Almighty God help and guide us in this endeavour, that in all the things we do we may become ever more and more faithful and devoted to the ways of the Lord in the same way as St. Francis of Assisi had done. May He guide us all, that we may become justified through our loving actions, filled with faith, hope and love. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Sunday, 21 September 2014 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, Catechetical Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 55 : 6-9

Seek YHVH while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, let him forsake his thoughts, let him turn to YHVH for He will have mercy, for our God is generous in forgiving.

‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways,’ says YHVH. ‘For as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.’

by

Thursday, 17 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about the infinite goodness of the Lord, and His infinite love and grace which He had shown us since ages past. Mankind sadly however do not recognise this great love which had been shown them, and we often tend to disregard and disrespect the care and the blessings which God had showered us with.

Jesus offered us a lighter burden to bear, not in a sense that the burden that we have to bear if we follow Him will be lighter, but we have to understand it from the perspective and the whole picture of the Lord’s intentions for us. While the Lord is loving and forgiving, the world and Satan is definitely not so. If we choose to follow the path of the world, the path may seem to be easier and the burden may seem to be lighter than if we follow the Lord, but at the end of the road, there is nothing but despair, hopelessness and darkness.

And if we have chosen our lot in the world, that means we have put our trust and our bet on Satan and his followers. Then that means we will have no part in the Lord and His salvation, and we will be excluded from all the blessings and graces He had intended for us since the beginning of time. The truth about the heavy and excruciating burden that we are to bear will not be evident until it has come too late for us.

The burden that is given by our Lord to us may seem to be heavy, but at the end of all that, is the relief beyond all relief, and liberation from all forms of bonds and chains that burdened us, when we come to meet our Lord once again at the end of our lives. It is this liberation that we seek for, and which we ought to aim for in our lives, and not to seek the easy way out through the falsehoods and lies of Satan.

God has promised us that He will bring us to a new and eternal life in His Kingdom, and we know that God always speaks the truth, and He never lies to us. It is we who have often lied to the Lord, speaking on one side that we love our God and worship Him, but in our hearts and actions, we do not reflect the same kind of attitude expected from us. Instead we act and profess our faith in the ways of the evil one, Satan.

It is truly amazing how great is the love that God has for all of us, that even after centuries, millenia and countless ages of rebelliousness and our constant lack of faith, we have been constantly forgiven and accepted back all the time to the loving embrace of our God. He certainly did not hesitate at all to forgive us, if our repentance is genuine and true. However, many of us continue to persist in our sinful ways, preferring the burden of Satan rather than the burden of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time for us to awaken from our slumber. Let us all cast away all the lies and the falsehoods of Satan, which he had cleverly and cunningly done in order to conceal the truths about his path to destruction. Many of us are currently walking in the same path as Satan, that is towards eternal damnation and destruction. Satan makes it seem easier for us to follow suit with the world’s ways and customs, and purposely makes it difficult for us if we are to follow the way of the Lord.

But this is exactly why we have to awaken to our faith and be removed from our passive and inaction in our lives. We have to make the great choice between following our God or following the evil one. We have been too long lulled by the easy weight of the burden of this world, and we always like to shun the burden God gives us just because it seems to be difficult and heavy.

Let us no longer be complacent in our lives, throwing away all the laziness and inaction, and from now on, let us all truly be faithful and loving children of our God, and in our actions and deeds, let us all be truly worthy of being called and counted among His children and servants. Let us all say confidently to the Lord, come Lord, come and save Your servants, and give us the promised everlasting life You have promised us, no matter what difficulties and challenges the world may present to us.

May Almighty God continue to bless us, guide us and empower us, so that we may all remain faithful to Him and continue our good works for the good of all of our fellow brethren, helping each other to reach out to the Lord and towards the promise of eternal life in God. Amen.

by

Monday, 14 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy to misunderstand what Jesus meant when He said that, He did not come to bring peace into the world, but conflict and discord. It is easy to misinterpret what Jesus meant and find contradiction with it, if we do not understand what He truly meant in His words. In fact, Jesus mentioned the apparent contradiction that exists always between Him and His ways, with the ways of this world.

The contradiction and all the opposition is the cause behind the discord and disunity that will exist between those who follow Christ and those who follow the ways of the world, which is really the ways of Satan, rebelliousness and disobedient behaviour against the Lord and His gracious order and kindness. This contradiction arises because the Lord cannot possibly tolerate the ways of those who are openly in rebellion against His will.

This is the meaning of why the Lord came not to establish an everlasting peace, but to unearth the discord and opposition of the world against Himself. It is not to be until the end of days, when the Lord will judge all creations and cast away all things wicked and evil away from His presence for eternity, then there will be a true, genuine and everlasting peace.

Therefore, we have to be vigilant and be careful in our life, for we need to know that this world did not welcome Jesus with peace and honour, and thus they will neither treat us in a different way. Discord and hatred will enter into the hearts of men when they are confronted with the truth of Christ among them, and families therefore can even be split, when there are some in the family who decide to abandon the wicked ways of the world and follow the Lord.

These had happened in the past with many families of martyrs in the early days of the Church. Many saints, especially holy women, who lived in a family who still worshipped the pagan gods in the Roman Empire, were asked to choose between God and their life, and they chose to die rather than abandoning their faith in God. They suffered grievous torture and persecution, and yet they did not give up.

Many in this world, especially as we know in our world today, do not welcome Christ and His teachings. More and more people move further away from the teachings of the Lord and fall deeper into the traps of Satan. It may not be obvious at first, but this world today is increasingly hostile to us, where the teachings of the Church and the central moral tenets of our faith are constantly under attack.

It is sad that many of the faithful are either unaware of this truth, and how many of them do not stand with God and His Church on various issues, and rather stand by the world and its ways, for various reasons. Some did so out of ignorance, while others purposefully did so in order to be accepted into the world, so that they will not be ostracised or rejected.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we make a difference? Shall we be the new light in this darkened world? Let us no longer fear but be strong and be courageous to defend our faith. It may not have to end like what happened to the martyrs of the early Church, but it is doubtless that our lives will not be easy if we choose to walk in the way of the Lord. Yet, it is the path to righteousness and is rich in rewards.

Today we also celebrate the feast of St. Camillus de Lellis, an Italian priest of the late Renaissance period, who was an army member and fought in the wars that engulfed Italy at the time. Having seen great human sufferings and sickness throughout conflicts and many other unfortunate occurrences, he was truly touched by God, and repented from his ways of war and violence, and from then on sought to help mankind as best as he could.

Although it was not easy, but St. Camillus de Lellis tried his best to help those who suffer both physically from sickness, as well as spiritually and mentally from sin and other impurities of the world. He did not live long and always suffered from various afflictions, and yet he was truly a champion of peace, of love, and ultimately of the faith in the Lord. He truly practiced his faith with zeal and dedication.

Therefore, let us stand with our God, and let us stand with one another welcoming our Lord through our welcome for Jesus. Let us follow Him and vow to no longer following the path of evil. Following St. Camillus de Lellis, may we also become true bearers of peace and champion love for one another.

May God Almighty help us to keep us away from the evil one, and so that we may be ever faithful. May He make us wonderful testimony bearers of the faith, that more and more people will come to believe in the Lord, and bring true peace into this world. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 1 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear how God indeed is the source of all things, and the focal point of all creations. For it is God who should be the font of all knowledge and all things, to be the One whom we anchor ourselves to. The well-known story of the disciples who feared the great storm and then the Lord Jesus who calmed the storm with His authority, tells us clearly that in the Lord there is nothing to be feared, for God has control over everything.

Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith, chiding them with the words, ‘You of little faith!’ because they did not put their faith in the power of God, but instead in the power of men, which is fallible and weak compared to the power and majesty of the Lord. They feared the storm because they did not completely put their trust in Jesus, whom, if they had trusted Him and known Him completely, they would not have feared.

In the first reading today, taken from the book of the prophet Amos, God once again wants to remind us that He is in control of everything, for He is the Lord of all. Everything and every single phenomenon in creation, He knows all of them. And He would reveal His plans and what He desires from His people through the means of the prophets, and ultimately, through His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Those who listened and understood the words of God revealed through the prophets would know that God takes care of our lives, and therefore, there is no need to worry or fear. All we need is faith, and true faith in God. And through Jesus Christ, God revealed all that He had planned for the world and mankind, in all its completeness and fullness. And therefore those who listened and understood what Christ meant in His words, would have no need for fear, because they have everything they would ever need, in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we ourselves should not see this as a problem that existed only in the past, as in fact, the same problems can be applied to our own selves. We cannot be complacent, as the storms of this life are plentiful, and we can be easily overwhelmed by the torrents, the winds and the waves if we do not have a solid anchor and foundation. What is this foundation? None other than Jesus, our Lord and God.

For Christ is the solid Rock from which the whole creation and the entire community of believers and the faithful in the Church hung upon, as He is the One who became our pivot in the storms of this world, to be a light in the great darkness of this world, and to be the One who joins us back to the Father our Lord who loves us all.

There are many storms in this world, the storm of jealousy and desire, the storm of pride and arrogance, and the storm of money and materialism, which if we are not careful, may engulf us and sink us into the deep, if we do not have a stable and strong anchor in the Lord. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy for us to fall into the deep currents of this world, which threaten to pull us away from the Lord and His salvation, and into damnation, if our faith is weak and stumbling.

What do we need to do then? We have to put our complete faith in the Lord and keep our lives in tune with Him, through prayer and through charity and love. In doing all these, we live our lives in accordance to the will of God, and we are ourselves transformed into loving children of our God. May God be with us, and continue to love and care for us, keeping us strong amidst all the storms of life. Amen.

by

Sunday, 30 March 2014 : 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)

Ephesians 5 : 8-14

You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth in every form.

You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead. Indeed it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light.

Therefore it is said : “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you.”

by

Friday, 7 February 2014 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are represented with two contrasting model of kingship in Herod and David, both technically kings of Israel. The readings today showed how the faith and diligence of David in the first reading taken from the book of the prophet Sirach can be contrasted with the wickedness and evil nature of Herod and his reign.

Sirach showed how David as the chosen king of the Lord over His people Israel, dutifully carried his works as the king, without ever in a major way, deviating from the way of the Lord. He led the people of God towards Him and in his actions he brought the Lord to everyone’s heart, that modelling upon his actions, the people may also follow suit and be obedient to God.

David was the model king, who followed the way of virtue, and remained firm in the Lord’s path and favour till the end of his life and reign. He led by example in praising the Lord and showing the people how to follow the Lord. That is why the reign of David was remembered fondly by the people as the Golden Age of Israel, because God blessed Israel and its people tremendously due to David.

In contrast, Herod and his reign was often looked down by the people and remembered as a time of mismanagement, gluttony and greed. Herod did not reign like David, because instead of following the Lord as David had done, Herod, who was the son of Herod the Great, followed his father in style of governance and in his lifestyle.

If you all remember, Herod the Great was the one who ordered the massacre of infants under the age of two in Bethlehem, because he could not stand having a rival king beside himself, when he was told of the coming of the Messiah, the King of Israel and the King of all kings in Jesus. He acted with impunity and depended solely on his human judgments and emotions in dealing with things.

His son, the one mentioned as king Herod in today’s Gospel, was not far from the ways of his predecessor. King Herod here lived a life of luxury and debauchery, engaging in practices deemed wicked in the eyes of the Lord, one of which was mentioned in the Gospel today, that is taking his own brother’s wife as his own.

The people of Israel were allowed to marry the wife of their deceased brother providing that the brother had died without leaving a child to continue his legacy. But Jesus came to reveal the truth about the Lord’s will for mankind, as written in the Book of Genesis, that man is united to woman in a holy bond of matrimony, where no man can separate that bond.

Thus, even the old law about divorce and remarriage had been rewritten by the Lord Himself, as He formed a new covenant with His people. But what Herod had done was in violation of even the old laws revealed to Moses. Herod married his own deceased brother’s wife despite of them having a daughter, the same daughter mentioned in the Gospel today, and there might even be other children born of that union. Hence, Herod had committed adultery with his brother’s wife.

And his other doings, which include that day when he was allured by his own stepdaughter’s beauty and performance during the feast he held. He was so allured by worldly desire and pleasure that he made an oath that he would certainly regret later on, and which caused him to be guilty of murdering God’s holy messenger, John the Baptist, the herald of the Messiah.

Such indeed was the sin of the king of Jesus’ time, as compared to the rightful David. From the two, we can see the comparison, and realise that first, power is not everything, and human power in particular. Power and worldly pleasures and all its temptations can corrupt us and turn us away from God and His ways. For the price of temporary pleasure and false happiness in this world, if we immerse ourselves in corrupt power, we will end up in eternal suffering and rejected by God.

Instead, brothers and sisters in Christ, we all should follow the example of David the faithful king, in how he followed the Lord faithfully to the end of his life. If we put our trust in God, even with all the challenges in life and all the oppositions we may have, we do not have to worry, because God stands with us, and in the end, if we remain faithful, we will be rewarded with eternal glory in heaven.

May God bless us with strong faith, and one which is rooted deeply in Him, just as His servant David had done. May the Lord our God continue to protect us and guide us towards Him, that we shall always be in His grace. Amen.