Wednesday

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Wednesday, 11 September 2019 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures reminding us of the need for us to overcome our attachments to the world and to put our complete trust in God for He Who is ever faithful and good, loving and forgiving towards us will always have our best interest in His heart, and He will always be faithful to the Covenant which He has established with each and every one of us.

All of us need to have that faith and trust in God, and we need to put our complete faith in Him and in His providence. God will always be by our side no matter what, even in our most difficult moments and in the midst of great challenges. And we talk about this because it is exactly what we are likely to be experiencing in our own respective lives as Christians. To be Christians, as Christ’s followers mean that we will have to endure rejection and oppression, ridicule and suffering as Our Lord Himself had suffered.

But this is where we truly need to make our stand and decide, to be with Christ or to be away from Him. To follow His path will mean that we need to make sacrifices and to let go of certain things, worldly possessions and attachments, our desires and our natural greed and pride, our ego and our ambitions, as mentioned in our first reading passage today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, in seeking for the things that are above earthly things.

We naturally seek things of this world to bring about fulfilment and satisfaction in our life. We seek for satisfaction and the fulfilment of our bodily desires and these things are the temptations that often distract us from the path towards God. We tend to be so busy and preoccupied in trying to seek all those worldliness that we forgot about God and walked away from the path He has shown us.

But today, in the Gospel passage which we have just heard, we heard a part of the Beatitudes in which the Lord reminded and reaffirmed His disciples and all those who have the desire to follow Him. He reminded them all that despite all the challenges that they might have to face as His disciples and followers, but all those would not be in vain, for in the end God will be with them and will reward them wonderfully for their faith.

The Lord wants us to seek the true happiness and joy, satisfaction and eternal glory that can be found in Him and through Him alone. He wants us to avoid being distracted and tempted by the many temporary satisfactions and false pleasures of this world. And we must be aware that Satan and his allies are always ever busy trying to ruin us all by tempting us and turning us all against God by manipulating our desires and emotions.

This is where we need to be strong in our faith and to deepen our love and relationship with God. Otherwise, it will be easy for the devil to strike at us and snatch us away from God and His path towards salvation. God wants us all to trust in Him and to follow His path even when we are faced with difficulties and challenges in life. God will never abandon us in our moments of greatest need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore grow ever stronger in our faith towards God, and let us all turn towards Him with ever greater love, and seek to love Him with more zeal and faith, each and every passing days. May the Lord continue to be by our side and may He help us to be strong in our faith and in our dedication from now on. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 September 2019 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 20-26

At that time, looking at His disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh.”

“Fortunate are you, when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.”

“But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.”

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Wednesday, 11 September 2019 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 144 : 2-3, 10-11, 12-13ab

I will praise You, day after day; and exalt Your Name forever. Great is YHVH, most worthy of praise; and His deeds are beyond measure.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o YHVH, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom; and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign, and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures, from generation to generation.

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Wednesday, 11 September 2019 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 3 : 1-11

So then, if you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on earthly things. For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, reveals Himself, you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Therefore, put to death what is earthly in your life, that is immorality, impurity, inordinate passions, wicked desires and greed, which is a way of worshipping idols. These are the things that arouse the wrath of God. For a time, you followed this way and lived in such disorders. Well then, reject all that : anger, evil intentions, malice; and let no abusive words be heard from your lips.

Do not lie to one another. You have been stripped of the old self and its way of thinking; to put on the new, which is being renewed, and is to reach perfect knowledge, and the likeness of its Creator. There is no room for distinction between Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, foreigner, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all.

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Wednesday, 4 September 2019 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded yet again of God’s ever-present and wonderful love for each and every one of us, by what He has done for our sake, in giving us the means for our salvation through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. In our Gospel passage today we continue to hear the works of the Lord and His disciples as He healed many people with various sicknesses and cast out demons from those who were possessed.

Through what we have heard and learnt in our Scripture readings today, we have heard the love which the Lord has brought into this world, by what He has done and by what He has revealed and taught to us through His disciples and through the Church. It is truly a fulfilment of God’s many promises and the wonders He has given us all as our promised inheritance, all of us who are faithful to Him.

He ministered to the people and cared for them, in their physical and spiritual well-being, healing those who were sick and casting out evil spirits from those who were possessed. And in another occasion of His ministry not covered in today’s Gospel passage, He fed five thousand men and countless other women and children, and four thousand in yet another occasion when all those people who followed Him were hungry.

We have seen therefore how God loved us all so much, that His love became evident and real in our midst, because He Himself has entered into our world and become the very personification of perfect Love. God loves each and every one of us so much that He gave us nothing less than His own Beloved Son, Whom He had made to be our Saviour. By His ultimate sacrifice of love, made out of perfect obedience to the will of His Father, Christ saved us.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what then is the significance of what we have heard in our Scripture passages today? It is the fact that each and every one of us have been called to be the disciples and followers of Our Lord by our faith in Him. And if we truly have genuine faith in Him and profess our love for Him, then we ought to walk in the path which He has set before us, in following Him and His examples.

What it means is that, in our world today, there are so many opportunities for us to reach out to many more people who have not yet heard about Christ and His salvation, and those who are still living in the darkness of sin and ignorance, and also all those who hunger for the truth of God, and also many of those who are suffering and less privileged, those who are oppressed, ostracised and rejected by the society.

When we look at the examples of what the Lord has done throughout His ministry, His ever loving presence and actions, His constant effort to love us all, by serving His beloved ones, caring for them and providing for their needs, therefore, we are all as part of the one and same Church of God have to support the many works and missions of the Church, which are truly expansive and ever growing.

Are we able to dedicate and commit our time, effort and good works for the glory of God through His Church? Are we able to work together to be witnesses of our faith through our every words, actions and efforts, done out of love for God and for our fellow men? Are we able to give our best in serving the Lord through our service to those who are suffering, those who hunger for God’s truth and those who have no one to love them?

Let us all discern our paths in life carefully, and let us turn to Him, putting our complete trust in Him and following Him in loving our brothers and sisters and in being part of the missionary and evangelical ministry of the Church from now on. May the Lord be our strength and may He also bless us all in our every endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 September 2019 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 4 : 38-44

At that time, leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked Him to do something for her. Bending over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.

At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew He was the Messiah.

Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of Him, and finding Him, they tried to dissuade Him from leaving. But He said, “I have to go to other towns, to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

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Wednesday, 4 September 2019 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 51 : 10, 11

But I am as a green olive tree that thrives in the house of God : I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.

I will praise You forever, for all You have done; and proclaim Your good Name before the faithful ones.

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Wednesday, 4 September 2019 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 1 : 1-8

Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers and sisters in Christ : Receive grace and peace from God, our Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord. Thanks be to God, the Father of Christ Jesus, our Lord!

We constantly pray for you, for we have known of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints. Indeed, you await in hope the inheritance reserved for you in heaven, of which, you have heard through the word of truth. This Gospel, already present among you, is bearing fruit, and growing throughout the world, as it did among you, from the day you accepted it, and understood the gift of God, in all its truth.

He who taught you, Epaphras, our dear companion in the service of Christ, faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, has reminded me of the love you have for me, in the Spirit.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we continue on from yesterday’s discourse regarding the improper actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law which were the theme of the passages in the past three days from the Scripture. On this day we heard again of the Lord rebuking the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of their hypocrisy, mincing not His words as He struck at them for their empty and meaningless faith.

And He also made mention of how they acted just in the same manner as their ancestors, those people of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah of old who have persecuted the prophets and refused to listen to the words of truth and wisdom which they had brought with them. Those people had hardened their hearts and closed their minds off from the Lord and His words, and that was why they had little faith in Him.

In the first reading today, then, we heard St. Paul exhorting the Church and the faithful in the city of Thessalonica to embrace a good and faithful life, one that is dedicated to the greater glory of God, in serving Him and in proclaiming His truth in everything they do, by their every actions and deeds, by their every words and interactions, through which they become the witnesses of their faith in God.

Essentially, from what we have heard in today’s Scripture readings, we are all reminded of the way we live our lives and how as Christians, all of us must remember that should we act in ways that are not in accordance with what we believe, it will truly scandalise our faith, and how can we expect others to believe if we ourselves acted and lived as if we did not believe in God? In fact, we may even mislead others by our hypocrisy just like what many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done.

Looking at the examples of those people, they all fell into the temptations of their pride, their ambition and worldly desires. They all wanted to be affirmed, to be praised, to be honoured and glorified by their peers, by the people around them. And as they received all those good things, they became even more filled with desires, wanting to gain more of what they thought they deserved.

That was why they acted to preserve their own ego, to satisfy their desire for power, for fame and affluence, for admiration and fame as they showed their public forms of piety and devotions, their observances of the laws and customs of the Mosaic law. Yet, in their hearts, so filled up with ego and pride, with desire and greed, the Lord truly did not have any place to dwell in. They have sidelined the Lord for their own selfish desires and purposes.

And that is a very important lesson for us to take note in how we should live our Christian lives meaningfully. We must not let the desires of our flesh and the many temptations of this world to pull us away from the path of righteousness and salvation in God. If we allow ourselves to be tempted and to be swayed by those temptations and seductions of worldliness made by the devil and all of his wicked allies, we will end up being hypocrites in faith like those whom the Lord had rebuked.

Today, as the whole Universal Church we celebrate together the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the original Four Doctors of the Church and a very important Church father and leader of the Christian faith and Western Christianity in general. St. Augustine of Hippo is celebrated often together with his mother, St. Monica, whose feast we celebrated just yesterday, as their lives were truly intertwined, the love between a mother and her child.

St. Augustine however was not always holy and devout throughout his life as we may have thought otherwise. Born to a pagan father and a Christian mother, St. Augustine was not always righteous, but in fact was wicked early on in his life, living a debauched and wicked lifestyle, adopting the heretical and syncretic Manichaean religion and sought all sorts of worldly pleasures, and he even committed adultery with a married woman.

But St. Augustine was touched by the great efforts that his mother, St. Monica had, in trying to pull her son away from his wicked path and sins. St. Monica ceaselessly prayed for the sake of her son and wished for the conversion of his heart. And her effort eventually caused not just St. Augustine to turn away from his sinful life, but even managed to bring her own husband, St. Augustine’s father into the Christian faith prior to his death.

St. Augustine turned towards God through the means of St. Monica’s prayers, and his own desire for knowledge and satisfaction, which was the reason why he went around seeking all sorts of worldly desires and pleasures, in the pursuit of philosophy and intellectual discourses, in the pursuit of the pleasures of the flesh and glory, all without avail. Eventually, his encounter with the Christian faith made him to discover God, the One Who gave him the answers and the true joy that he had been seeking all those while.

That was how St. Augustine was turned to the Lord and repented from his old, sinful way of life. St. Augustine thereafter dedicated his life to the Lord and devoted himself wholly to His cause. His many writings and inspirational testimonies of his faith became a benchmark for many Christian authors and teachers for many generations after his passing. His treatises and books, including the famous ‘City of God’ brought a great development of Christian theology and faith.

And one of the famous stories linked to St. Augustine of Hippo was one of the moment when St. Augustine was walking by the seashore while reflecting and trying to comprehend the mystery of God’s Holy Trinity and saw a child who tried to pour the entire ocean using a seashell into a small hole in the sand that the child had made. When St. Augustine remarked of the futility of such an effort to the child, then the Child, who was in fact God in disguise told St. Augustine that it is therefore also futile for man to try to comprehend the vastness of God’s truth and mysteries.

In the same manner therefore, it is also futile for us mankind to try to seek for the glory of this world, for the satisfaction of the flesh and for worldly fame, influence, power and all sorts of things that we are often preoccupied about in our lives. We are called therefore to put more trust in God and to put Him at the very centre of our lives, and as the focus of all of our attention and efforts from now on.

Let us all be truly faithful to God and be exemplary in how we live our lives from now on, in our every words, deeds and actions so that by them all we may become witnesses to our faith and will be examples for others to follow in their own lives, that many more will come to believe in God through us. May God bless us all and may He empower us all to live faithfully in His presence always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 23 : 27-32

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful in appearance; but, inside, there are only dead bones and uncleanness. In the same way, you appear religious to others, but you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness within.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and decorate the monuments of the righteous. You say : Had we lived in the time of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So, you, yourselves, confess to be the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.”

“And now, finish off what your ancestors began!”