Wednesday

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Wednesday, 8 June 2016 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 5 : 17-19

At that time, Jesus spoke to the people and to His disciples, “Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to annul them but to fulfil them. I tell you this : as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change until all is fulfilled.”

“So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Wednesday, 8 June 2016 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 15 : 1-2a, 4, 5 and 8, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.”

Those who run after foreign gods only have their sorrows multiplied. Let me not shed blood for them, nor their names be heard on my lips.

O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy. At Your right hand happiness forever.

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Wednesday, 8 June 2016 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 18 : 20-39

So Ahab sent for all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah addressed the people and asked, “How long will you follow two ways at the same time? If YHVH is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God then follow him.” The people remained silent.

So Elijah continued, “I am the only prophet of YHVH left here to face Baal’s four hundred and fifty prophets. Get us two bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood and I will do the same with the other bull. But we will not set it on fire. Then you shall call on the name of your gods while I shall call on the Name of YHVH. The God Who answers with fire is the true one.” Then the people answered, “That is right.”

Then Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many. Then call on the name of your god lest you are left without fire!” So they took the bull and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no one answered them while they went on dancing on one foot around the altar they had built.

By noontime, Elijah began to mock them, “Shout out louder. Baal is a busy god; or he may have gone out or perhaps he has gone on a trip, or he is sleeping and must be wakened.” So they shouted louder gashing their skin with knives, as they are used to doing, until they bled. It was already past noon and they were still raving on until the time of the evening offering. But still there was no voice; no one answered or gave a sign of life.

Then Elijah said to the people, “Draw closer to me,” and the people drew closer to him. He then repaired the Altar of YHVH which had been thrown down. He took twelve stones corresponding to the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob whom YHVH had addressed saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

With these stones, he built an Altar to the Name of YHVH and dug a trench around it that would contain about thirty litres. He then arranged the firewood, cut the bull in pieces and laid them on the wood. Then, he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the firewood.” He said, “Do it again”; and they did it again; “one more time,” and they did it a third time. The water ran around the Altar and filled the trench.

When the time of the evening offering came, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O YHVH, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, doing all these things at Your command. Answer me, o YHVH, answer me so that is people may know that You, o YHVH, are God and that You are turning back their hearts to You.”

Then the fire of YHVH fell and consumed the burnt offering, together with the wood, the stones also, and the dust; the water also dried up in the trench. All the people witnessed this. Then they fell on their faces and said, “YHVH is God! YHVH is God!”

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the exchanges between Jesus and the Sadducees, an influential and powerful group in the Jewish society at the time, namely those who practiced and believed in pragmatism and rejecting spirituality and matters beyond what can be deduced with human reasoning, one of the greatest of which is the matter of the resurrection from the dead.

The Sadducees did not believe in spirits, in Angels, in all things that are beyond this world. That is why they were particularly unhappy and angry at what Jesus had been telling the people about the matters of the life after death, the afterlife, and the promise of the eternal life after the death of the physical body. That is why they confronted Him and tried to discredit Him and brought Him into trouble by asking Him a difficult question to trap Him in His own words.

But Jesus gave them a perfect answer and rebuke, when they asked about whose wife would the woman attached to seven brothers be in heaven. Jesus rebuked them for their naivety and failure to look beyond matters of this world. These thought of things that are not important, thinking of woman as mere property and marriage as a mere formality.

They could not comprehend all these because they were thinking in worldly terms. They thought of living at the moment, living for the world that is now, and they even tend to fear of what is to come when people die. That is because firstly they did not believe in life after death, and death is feared as the end of everything. But they were very wrong indeed.

Indeed, all of us Christians have that core faith and belief in God, that we believe in the life of the world to come. That is placed prominently at the very end of our Creed, the Nicene and the Apostles’ Creed, which we recite with faith at every celebrations of the Holy Mass on Sundays. And we also believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered, died on the cross and rose again gloriously at the Resurrection.

The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the hope for all of us Christians, and indeed, for all mankind, for through His own resurrection, all of us have been given an undeniable and solid proof of life beyond death, of our eventual triumph over death, and that death does not have the final say over us. We feared death because we saw it as an end, but in fact, death is not the end, rather the beginning of something new.

Today therefore, as in our first reading, as what St. Paul had written to St. Timothy, all of us are urged to stand up for our faith and live with devotion to our God. We must not fear and be afraid just because our faith and beliefs are against that of the world, or if the world persecutes us because we believe in God and His ways. This is how it is supposed to be, and what we must do as those who follow the Lord and His ways.

Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Justin the Martyr, a renowned servant of God whose life can indeed be inspiration for all of us. St. Justin was known especially for his many writings and works, particularly regarding the nature of God, on the nature of the Incarnation of the Logos, the Divine Word of God, Who became Man for our sake, Jesus Christ.

St. Justin explained many of the tenets and aspects of the faith through his many works, and thanks to him, many people grew firmer in their faith and many others were converted from their pagan ways. St. Justin did not fear the opposition of the world and openly preached his faith among the many communities of the faithful at that time. But the world did not remain quiet, and in the end, they persecuted the faithful, including St. Justin, who endured martyrdom for his faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Justin was courageous in his faith and devoted his whole life to serve the Lord, even amidst persecution and challenges laid in his path by the world and the Roman authorities. But, because of his hard works and his devotion to the faith, he has led many others into salvation, by his inspiring examples, which helped to call many more people to remain faithful to God and His ways.

Shall we all therefore also follow his examples and live our faith and our lives with zeal and devotion? We should not be afraid of the world’s rejection, but rather, we should grow ever bolder and stronger in standing up for our faith and our beliefs, against the ways of this world that are against the Lord’s ways.

Let us all hold firm in our beliefs, in what Jesus had taught us all through His Church, that we may not be swayed by the falsehoods of the world. In the Risen Lord, His resurrection has given us the sure hope and the certainty of the future for us if we believe in Him and keep our faith in Him alive. May God help us to remain firmly faithful to Him at all times. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 18-27

At that time, the Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : if anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like Angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 122 : 1-2a, 2bcd

To You I lift up my eyes, to You Whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their master.

As the eyes of maids look to the hand of their mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He shows us His mercy.

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 1 : 1-3, 6-12

From Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of His promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, to my dear son Timothy. May grace, mercy and peace be with you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I give thanks to God Whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly, day and night, in my prayers. For this reason I invite you to fan into a flame the gift of God you received through the laying on of my hands. For God did not confer on us a Spirit of bashfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment.

Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel with the strength of God. He saved us and called us – a calling which proceeds from His holiness. This did not depend on our merits, but on His generosity and His own initiative.

This calling given to us from all time in Christ Jesus has just been manifested with the glorious appearance of Christ Jesus, our Lord, Who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light in His Gospel. Of this message I was made herald, Apostle and teacher.

For its sake I now suffer this trial, but I am not ashamed, for I know in Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to Him until that day.

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Wednesday, 25 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to be humble and to be committed to God, in the same way that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had been humble, loving and obedient to His Father even until the very end. The examples which Christ showed us is certainly what we too can follow in our own lives, especially considering the ways that this world have shown us.

Jesus spoke to His disciples regarding how in this world, it is common to see people oppressing each other, especially those in the positions of power and influence, using their power and authority to oppress those who are weaker than them, and those who are less powerful or influential than they are. This is the norms and the customs of this world, a world where the strongest lived on, survived and the weak perished.

And that was what James and John had done, in following the norms of the world. It was just like in our societies, where servants asked for favours from their masters, subordinates asking for more glory, wealth and power from their superiors. That is the way that men thought, and that is how we often lived our lives. It is all about getting more things for ourselves, garnering more praise and attention for our deeds.

But the Lord taught us all that His way is not the way acceptable to the world, for it is indeed different. Where the world championed and glorified those who glorify themselves and seek more power for their own, the way of our Lord is simplicity, humility and selflessness. In order to follow the Lord our God and love Him with all our heart, we must learn to let go of those corrupting desires that kept us away from being able to achieve salvation in God.

Jesus Himself showed by example, as even though He is Almighty, King of all the universe and Lord and Master of all creation, but He came into our world not as a King to be served and to be feared, and instead as a servant and a humble Man, through whose humility and work, the salvation would be brought into the world. And as He has shown us the way, we too should follow Him in His actions.

And today, we celebrate not just one but three holy saints of God, whose own lives have been exemplary, and can indeed be inspirations for us to follow their lifestyle, so that we ourselves may draw ever closer to God. St. Bede the Venerable was a holy servant of God, who was renowned for his many works with regards to the Scriptures and to the teachings of the early disciples and Church fathers.

St. Bede the Venerable was an English monk renowned for his devotion to his work, in bringing the truth of God to greater discovery and understanding by those who have read and viewed his works. He translated many Latin and Greek manuscripts of the faith into English language, and through his many dedications and works, people had therefore discovered the teachings of the Church passed down to them.

Meanwhile, Pope St. Gregory VII was a great leader of the Church, a courageous and committed defender of the Church and the faith against the forces of the world trying to undermine its authority. Pope St. Gregory VII led the Church through a turbulent time in the history of the Church, where conflict peaked between the Church and the secular authority in the person of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry.

The conflict was precisely because of the conflicting interest between the Emperor and the Church of God, led by Pope St. Gregory VII. The Emperor claimed the power and authority over the Church, and at least in the territories he controlled, the Emperor claimed the authority to appoint bishops and the other leaders of the Church.

But the Church and its leader, Pope St. Gregory VII refused to bow down to the demands of the Emperor. The faithful resisted the influences and the coercion by the Emperor and his party of supporters. As a result, the clashes and the conflicts between the Church and the Emperor became ever more violent and resulted in great difficulties and challenges for the faithful servants of God.

Even Pope St. Gregory VII himself was suffering from the tribulations and challenges, and he suffered even from exile and incarceration. He died a lonely and broken man in body, but his spirit was never daunted by the challenges and the difficulties which he had encountered. And in the end, the Church triumphed and the world did not have its way.

And last of all, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was a holy and devoted woman who lived in the region now known as Tuscany in Italy a few hundred years ago. She was a mystic and a Carmelite nun, who has devoted almost her entire life to the Lord. Ever since a very young age, she has practiced meditation as shown by a tutor she engaged, and she received many visions from the Lord, telling her about many things on the matter of faith and about God’s will for the world.

And by her many accounts and works, she helped to rejuvenate the faith in the hearts of many people, and many believed because of her accounts of the Lord, all of her visions and her own piety. And even though she died early in her life, but her inspirational life continues to influence many even unto this very day. Many miracles also accompanied her tomb and her relics, showing the glory which God gives to all of His faithful ones.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after we have witnessed and heard the examples of these holy saints, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord our God following the footsteps of the holy saints. Let us all not be discouraged and be afraid to lead a faithful life filled with true commitment and love for God and His ways. Let us all be the beacons of light for this world, so that through humility and service, we may be like Jesus our Lord, in bringing righteousness upon one another and the whole world.

May God bless us all and keep us, and may He strengthen us our faith, that we may continue to persevere despite the challenges in this life. May He guard us and protect us from harm, and may He keep us in His love forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Mark 10 : 32-45

At that time, Jesus and His disciples were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and He was walking ahead. The Twelve were anxious, and those who followed were afraid. Once more Jesus took the Twelve aside to tell them what was to happen to Him.

“You see we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn Him to death, and hand Him over to the foreigners, who will make fun of Him, spit on Him, scourge Him, and finally kill Him; but three days later He will rise.”

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to Him, “Master, we want You to grant us what we are going to ask of You.” And He said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, when You come in Your glory.”

But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptised in the way I am baptised?” They answered, “We can.” And Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptised in the way that I am baptised; but to sit at My right hand or at My left is not Mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”

On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John. Jesus then called them to Him and said, “As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and their great ones oppress them. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all.”

“Think of the Son of Man, Who has not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Wednesday, 25 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Virgins)

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt the Lord, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He Who tells Jacob His words, His laws and decrees to Israel. This He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!