Wednesday

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Wednesday, 7 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 44 : 11-12, 14-15, 16-17

Listen, o daughter, pay attention; forget your father’s house and your nation, and your beauty will charm the King, for He is your Lord.

All glorious as she enters is the princess in her gold-woven robes. She is led in royal attire to the King, following behind is her train of virgins.

Amid cheers and general rejoicing, they enter the palace of the King. Forget your fathers and think of your sons, you will make them princes throughout the land.

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Wednesday, 7 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Corinthians 7 : 25-31

With regards to those who remain virgins, I have no special commandment from the Lord, but I give some advice, hoping that I am worthy of trust by the mercy of the Lord.

I think this is good in these hard times in which we live. It is good for someone to remain as he is. If you are married, do not try to divorce your wife; if you are not married, do not marry. He who marries does not sin, nor does the young girl sin who marries. Yet they will face disturbing experiences, and I would like to spare you.

I say this, brothers and sisters : time is running out, and those who are married must live as if not married; those who weep as if not weeping; those who are happy as if they were not happy; those buying something as if they had not bought it, and those enjoying the present life as if they were not enjoying it. For the order of this world is vanishing.

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Wednesday, 31 August 2016 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard in the first reading, the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, how they were divided against each other there, with factions arising among the members of the Church, some professing to believe in what St. Paul taught them, and some others professing to believe in what another famous preacher, St. Apollos, preached to them.

These factionalism hurt the Church and the faithful as a whole, because the bitterness and ill-feeling that arose between them caused difficulties not just in the works of evangelisation, but also in the efforts to keep the faithful united against matters which they should be standing up against instead of falling against each other’s throats just because they disagreed on certain matters.

That was likely because they were really not feuding about the Lord, but instead, they feud because of their own human needs, of their own human rivalries and emotions, desires and greed. Ultimately, as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle, all of them were serving the same Lord their God, and regardless of the methods each of them employed, each and every one of them were serving the greater glory of God.

In the Gospel today, Jesus worked hard among the people, healing them from sickness and casting out demons from them, and even the evil spirits themselves recognised Jesus as Who He is, that is the Messiah and the Son of God. They feared Him for rightly, even though they have rebelled against Him together with Satan, their master, but they, together with Satan, are still bound to Him nonetheless.

Yet, it was often that the people themselves, even those among whom Jesus had performed His miracles, that refused to believe in Jesus, in His teachings and His words. They rejected Him, cast Him aside and even handed Him to His tortures and enemies, calling for Him to be crucified. And all these, which we have also heard in yesterday’s Scripture passages, reflect the nature of mankind.

Yes, we are often too busy with ourselves, settling our businesses and activities that we tend to forget entirely about God, about our faith and about why we live this life in this world. And that is where we begin to lose our focus and our way, and we end up like those who bicker among themselves even for simple matters, rather than serving the Lord and His Church.

Let us all ask ourselves, and let us all reflect on ourselves, our actions, as well as look through the Church and all of its long history. Then we should realise how often indeed it was that many bitterness and divisions were caused by similar selfish desires of men, which contradicted what the Lord had commanded them to do. They were unable to hold their ego and desire in check, and as a result, division that harm the Church and the salvation of souls were created.

Shall we then prevent the same thing from happening again? Let us not be so taken in by our differences and by our worldly concerns and desires so as to divide us and the Church into many factions that hamper and hinder the works of God among His people. Rather, let us all help one another, working together as one people, realising that the mission which He had granted us is greater than each and every one of us, as we are all called together as His Church that through us the grace and work of salvation may be made a reality.

May God help us in our works and endeavours. May He bless us and our efforts to guide lost souls to Him, that all may find their way to the eternal life and salvation God has promised to all those who keep their faith in Him. May God be with us all and be with His Church, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 31 August 2016 : 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, 31 August 2016 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green


Psalm 32 : 12-13, 14-15, 20-21

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance. The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole race of mortals.

From where He sits He watches all those who dwell on the earth – He Who fashions every heart observes all their deeds.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His holy Name.

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Wednesday, 31 August 2016 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green


1 Corinthians 3 : 1-9

I could not, friends, speak to you as spiritual persons but as fleshly people, for you are still infants in Christ. I gave you milk and not solid food, for you were not ready for it and up to now you cannot receive it for you are still of the flesh. As long as there is jealousy and strife, what can I say but that you are at the level of the flesh and behave like ordinary people.

While one says : “I follow Paul,” and the other, “I follow Apollos,” what are you but people still at a human level? For what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are ministers and through them you believed, as it was given by the Lord to each of them. I planted, Apollos watered the plant, but God made it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God Who makes the plant grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters work to the same end, and the Lord will pay each according to their work. We are fellow-workers with God, but you are God’s field and building.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2016 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the great feast day of one of our Lord’s holy Twelve Apostles, namely St. Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the brave and courageous chief disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, who fearlessly went forth to many places far and wide in order to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the people who were still unaware of the Lord and His salvation.

He was also known as Nathanael, which story we heard in the Gospel today taken from the Gospel according to St. John. Nathanael, St. Bartholomew was known to be an educated Jew, who could also speak Greek and was very wise by that day’s standard. Indeed, he was probably the most intelligent and the best educated among all of Christ’s Apostles.

Yet in that intelligent mind and body, existed a heart that yearned for the Lord, which desired to seek the Lord and find His love. He sought the One Who would lead the people of God back to their glory, and He Who would liberate His people from their torment and suffering. And he did find the One Whom he sought in Jesus, Who came to call him and praise him for his wisdom, uprightness and faith.

That same Apostle, St. Bartholomew would go on to serve the Lord throughout His earthly ministry, caring for the poor, serving the people to whom God had revealed Himself to, frequently even having to suffer persecution and challenges from the Jewish authorities and from all those who were opposed to the works of Christ. Yet, he persevered and endured through all of them and remained committed to his calling.

It was told that St. Bartholomew continued his mission after Christ had risen from the dead and departed from this world in His Ascension. He went on to evangelise in many regions, such as India and Armenia, where records attested to his many works on the people who lived in those places. He preached to them and led them to the revelation of truth in God.

St. Bartholomew eventually met his death in martyrdom in Armenia, where it was told that he managed to convert the king of the Armenians, whose brother then took over power and in revenge for such an act, tortured St. Bartholomew and his fellow Apostle, St. Jude Thaddeus, was martyred defending their faith in God, and they were raised to the glory of heaven promised to them, after having done so much for the Lord, for His Church and for the salvation of His people.

In the first reading, we read about the vision of St. John the Apostle in his book of Apocalypse or the Book of Revelations, showing to us at the end of the series of his visions, after seeing the vision of tribulations and challenges that would come to face the Church and the faithful, he saw the glorious Holy City of Jerusalem. It is the representation of the eternal life and the glory that God had promised to all those who have kept their faith in Him to the end.

God rewards all those who have walked in His ways and those who have given themselves to Him, leaving behind their sinfulness and old ways of the world. He does not abandon His beloved ones to the darkness, but shows them instead the way to reach out towards the light. However, the examples of St. Bartholomew the Apostle and that of the other holy Apostles, disciples, saints and martyrs serve to remind us that the way forward for us will not be an easy one.

Trials and tribulations, challenges and difficulties, and all other obstacles are always part of this journey of faith, as those who do not desire our salvation and liberation from the tyranny and oppression by sin are at work to undermine our salvation, and to keep us in the darkness. But never fear, brethren, for God is always ever faithful to His beloved ones, and we are assured and guaranteed the eternal rest and glory that can be found in Him alone, as St. John the Apostle had seen in his wonderful vision.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all devote ourselves to the Lord anew in the footsteps of the holy Apostles, walking in the path that St. Bartholomew had initiated before us. Let us all follow his example, his upright and just actions, learn from his wisdom and from his desire to seek and love the Lord, and more importantly, the desire to spread the Good News of salvation to many more people that they too may be saved together with us.

Let us all be modern day Apostles and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, not be fearful but instead be filled with joy and courage, knowing that God is on our side, guiding us and helping us on the way, that we may merit to receive the glory of His kingdom, and together as one people, may we be able to help each other to reach out to the promise of the heavenly kingdom and eternal life God will give to those who keep their faith in Him. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2016 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 1 : 45-51

At that time, Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well : He is Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, He said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.”

Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the tree, and I saw you.” Nathanael answered, “Master, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.”

“Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Wednesday, 24 August 2016 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell 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.

Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2016 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Revelations 21 : 9b-14

One of those seven Angels with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me up in a spiritual vision to a very high mountain and He showed me the Holy City Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel with the colour of crystal-clear jasper.

Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve Angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west.

The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.