Wednesday

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Wednesday, 25 July 2018 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

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

When YHVH 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, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, 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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Wednesday, 25 July 2018 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.

At any moment, we carry, in our person, the death of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death, for the sake of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.

We have received the same Spirit of faith referred to in Scripture, that says : I believed and so I spoke. We also believed, and so we speak. We know that He, Who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us, with Jesus, and bring us, with you, into His presence. Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you, and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.

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Wednesday, 18 July 2018 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, listening to the word of God in the Scriptures, we listened to the wisdom of God being revealed to us, as He revealed His truth and His boundless intellect to us. Through the Holy Spirit, He inspired those who wrote the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments, to reveal unto us, the greatness of His divine wisdom, far beyond any human understanding and wisdom.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord was chastising and rebuking the great king of Assyria, who at that time ruled over the most powerful nation in the region, and probably also in the world. The Assyrian Empire was vast and powerful, and ruled over many people and many territories it has conquered with its mighty army and forces.

It was therefore the reason for the hubris and pride of the king of Assyria, who has conquered and destroyed everything that he wished to conquer and destroy. But the Lord chastised him, reminding the people to whom the prophet Isaiah wrote his book, that is the Israelites and all of us, that God alone has all might, power and He alone is in control, and not us man.

This would later come to reality and fruition, when the king of Assyria, Sennacherib came up to Jerusalem and Judea, besieging the city of God. King Sennacherib of Assyria boasted proudly before the Lord and before His people, that his mighty army had conquered nations and peoples of all kinds, and none of their gods and idols could have stopped him, and thus, he made fun and disrespected the Lord by saying that not even God could have stopped him.

But the king was humbled greatly by God, when He sent His Angels to eradicate a total of not less than a hundred and eighty-five thousand from among the king’s army. The king had to return to his palace in shame, retreating in great defeat, and later on, his own two sons would betray him and murder him in the temple of his pagan god in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Through these things we have just discussed, we can clearly see that there are many things that even those in power and those who are mighty could not have done with all the great power and might they had, if they did not cling on to the power and wisdom of God. Man can presume to know everything and to have might, power and greatness, but in the end, all must bend to the will and the power of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God’s will is absolute, and His power is also infinite and absolute, but at the same time, He gave us all the free will to choose what path we want to take in our lives, whether, we want to follow Him and put our trust in Him, or instead, place our trust in our own power, ability and might. From what we have seen in the evidence throughout the Scriptures, putting our trust in the power of man is not the best way to go.

Those who are strong and powerful, intelligent and ambitious, were in fact among those who would encounter the failure the fastest, as history had proven that many of them were unable to restrain themselves, their pride and greed, and ended up falling into sin and their endeavours fell apart, when they faced infighting and conflict over their unrestrained pride and unbridled greed.

Man has betrayed each other, even their closest friends and family members, husband has betrayed wife and vice versa, children has betrayed their parents and vice versa, just because they trusted in worldly provisions and in their own might and power. They failed to realise that whatever it is that they are fighting for, all of them are insignificant and foolish in the eyes of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, all of us as Christians must realise that we must put God first and foremost in our lives, and place Him at the very centre of our lives. May the Lord be our Guide at all times, and may He continue to strengthen our faith, and give us the courage to live with dedication to this faith which we have in Him. May God bless us all and our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 18 July 2018 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 11 : 25-27

At that time, Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise You; because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this was Your gracious will.”

“Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

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Wednesday, 18 July 2018 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 93 : 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15

They crush Your people, o YHVH, they oppress Your inheritance. They murder the widow and the lonely; they massacre the helpless.

“YHVH does not see,” they say, “The God of Jacob does not care.” Remember this, you stupid people; when will you understand, you fools!

He Who made the ear, will He not hear? He Who formed the eye, will He not see? He Who rebukes nations, will He not punish them?

YHVH will not reject His people, nor will He forsake His heritage. Justice will return to the just; and the upright will follow, in its wake.

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Wednesday, 18 July 2018 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 10 : 5-7, 13-16

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger, the staff of My fury! Against a godless nation I send him, against a people who provoke My wrath I dispatch him, to plunder and pillage, to tread them down like mud in the streets. But the mind of his king is far from this, his heart harbours other thoughts; what he wants is to destroy, to make an end of all nations.

For the King says : “By my own strength I have done this and by my own wisdom, for I am clever. I have moved the frontiers of people, I have plundered treasures, I have brought inhabitants down to the dust, I have toppled kings from their thrones. As one reaches into a nest, so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth. As one gathers deserted eggs, so have I gathered the riches of the earth. No one flapped a wing or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.”

Does the ax claim more credit than the man who wields it? Does the saw magnify itself more than the one who uses it? This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up; will those not made of wood, be controlled by the cudgel? This is why YHVH Sabaoth, is ready to send a wasting sickness upon the king’s sturdy warriors. Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn like a consuming fire.

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Wednesday, 11 July 2018 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the first reading taken from the book of the prophet Hosea first of all about the sins which Israel and their kings have committed with their wickedness and pagan worship, the abandonment of the laws and commandments which have been given to them through the prophets of God.

And we also heard how the Israelites and their country were humbled and thrown to the worst of situations, as their cities were razed and destroyed, and their populace carried off into slavery and became a stigma and outcast among the nations. That was what happened to them, when the Assyrians destroyed Israel and carried off most of the population to exile in faraway lands.

And after such a terrible state, the Lord was calling on His people to return to Him, and to worship Him once again, as in the end, He did not despise them for who they were, but rather, for the sins and wickedness that they had committed. God did not create us mankind in order to see us destroyed and humiliated, but instead, our own failures to resist the worldly temptations of pride, greed and desire have led us to utter humiliation of our noble soul and existence.

But God never gave up on us, and He gave us chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity to repair our relationship with Him. He sent prophets after prophets, messengers one after another to Israel, His beloved and chosen people. And even though they rejected and persecuted many of His faithful servants, but God continued to open the doors of His mercy and love, in case His people came to Him repenting from their sins.

And He sent us His own Son, to be the messenger of the Good News of His salvation. He freely offered pardon and forgiveness to all those who have sinned against Him and disobeyed Him. All that He asked them, is for a change of heart, and for an openness of the mind and our being, so that He may be able to enter our existence and being, and inside us, transform us from people of darkness into children of the Light.

Then, in today’s Gospel passage, we heard how the Lord Jesus selected twelve among His followers and disciples, whom He made to be His Twelve Apostles, those to whom He entrusted the growth of the mission and the good works that He had begun in this world, in the saving of souls and calling of sinners to repentance. He sent them all out to go before Him, and proclaim the message of the coming of the kingdom of God.

It was through the courage of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, and the hardships they encountered which had brought so many souls away from the brink of destruction and eternal damnation, because they preached the Good News of God and called many to turn away from their sins before it was too late for them. And although many refused to listen to them and rejected them, but there were also quite a few who were stirred in their hearts and accepted the Lord.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord. There are still much work to be done, and there are in fact still many souls out there, who are in great danger of eternal damnation, as they continue to live in sin, either through ignorance of the truth or through deliberate intention to disobey God.

I am sure that many of us would feel unworthy of such a monumental task. After all, we are talking about the state of someone’s soul here. Yet, should we fail to do anything or to continue the good works that the Apostles have started, then many more souls will fall into hell forever. Now we should perhaps reflect on the life and the work of the famous St. Benedict the Abbot, whose feast day we celebrate today.

St. Benedict the Abbot, also known as St. Benedict of Nursia, was the inspiration for the foundation of the Benedictines, one of the largest religious and monastic order present today. St. Benedict was remembered for his great dedication to God, his exemplary faith and his reform of the livelihood and way of life of many Christians, by turning away from the sins of the world, and rejecting the temptations of worldly pleasures and the wickedness of human greed.

He lived at a time where decadence was rampant among the middle and rich classes of the people, into which St. Benedict was born. He was born a noble and was destined into a life of greatness, going through extensive education and preparation for life. Yet, he was dissuaded from all the wickedness he experienced and encountered in life, and instead, sought to deepen his relationship with God by becoming a hermit.

The rules for ascetic and hermitic Christian life written by St. Benedict, later known as the Rule of St. Benedict, would eventually be followed by many later monastic orders and congregations, with thousands and many more following the examples of St. Benedict, deepening their spiritual relationship with God, and resisting the worldly temptations that had led so many people to sin.

The examples shown by St. Benedict and the inspiration he had given to so many others, who in turn, inspire even more people and might have turned countless souls from the edge of damnation, show us that for us to do what the Apostles had done, does not require incredible feats of faith. Indeed, we must in fact remember that the Lord had called the Apostles from humble and the most unlikely of origins.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what matters is our willingness to listen to God’s calling, for us to be His disciples, and to act and work like one of those whom He had called. And this requires us to practice our faith through real action, by showing love in all of our actions and deeds, and by deepening our relationship with God, just as St. Benedict has shown us.

It is often times that we do not need to utter grandiose words in order to convince others to be faithful, but rather through our concrete actions and sincerity of heart. That is how true holiness came about, and how we can convince many others to follow us, just as we followed the Apostles, on our way together to the Lord, to be worthy of the salvation and eternal life He has promised all those who are faithful to Him.

May the Lord be with us always, and may through the intercession of St. Benedict of Nursia, many more will be able to discover the Lord and His love through us. May each and every one of us be holy instruments of God, in all the things and actions we do in our daily lives. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 July 2018 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 10 : 1-7

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

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

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

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Wednesday, 11 July 2018 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

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

Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

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Wednesday, 11 July 2018 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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

Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the more his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones. Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces. Now they say, “We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?”

As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water. The idolatrous high places – the sin of Israel – will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains : “Cover us,” and to the hills : “Fall on us.”

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