Wednesday

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Cardinals Update: Passing of Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit (United States of America), at the age of 86

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Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio has passed away on last Wednesday, 20 August 2014 at the age of 86. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Detroit, one of the largest and most important Archdioceses in the United States of America, from 1981 to 1990. He was then appointed as the President of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, and the President of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, a post which he held between 1997 to 2006, essentially the top prelate in charge of the day-to-day governance of the smallest country in the world, the Vatican City, where the heart of the Church is.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-4.htm#169

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Cardinal Szoka was created Cardinal in 1988 by Pope St. John Paul II in his fourth Cardinal creation consistory on 28 June 1988. His motto was “To live in faith”. This means an emphasis on truly living the faith in the life he led, and truly, he had been faithful and had already shown that faith through the actions he had done in his long and wonderful life filled with total dedication to the tasks given to him and to the people entrusted to his care.

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We pray for Cardinal Szoka, that he will rest in peace, and God will reward him for all his hard and great work as the long time servant of God as the shepherd of the faithful in Detroit, as well as for all the ministries and good works he had done for the sake of God and His people in the entire Universal Church in his dedication and work in the Roman Curia. May the Lord welcome him into His embrace in heaven and give him eternal rest and happiness that he deserved.

With the passing of Cardinal Szoka, and the recent aging out of Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, the College of Cardinals now stands at 210 members, with 116 Cardinal-electors and 94 Cardinal non-electors. The number of Cardinal-electors now is 4 below the specified maximum limit of 120.

There are now 4 Cardinal-elector vacancy in the College of Cardinals, 0 vacant Cardinal Suburbicarian Sees (for Cardinal Bishops), 5 vacant Cardinal Titles (for Cardinal Priests) and 9 vacant Cardinal Deaconries (for Cardinal Deacons).

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Wednesday, 27 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 23 : 27-32

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 begin!

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Wednesday, 27 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 4-5

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

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Wednesday, 27 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Thessalonians 3 : 6-10, 16-18

We command you, beloved, to stay away from believers who are living in idleness contrary to the traditions we passed on to you. You know how you ought to follow our example : we worked while we were with you. Day and night we laboured and toiled so as not to be a burden to any of you.

We had the right to act otherwise, but we wanted to give you an example. Besides, while we were with you, we said clearly : If anyone is not willing to work, neither should that one eat.

May the Lord of peace give you His peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is my signature in all my letters. This is how I write. May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with you.

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the very fact of how much the Lord loves us and how He had given us so many opportunities in this life to change our ways and repent, so that we may not be lost but we may gain eternal life and redemption through His most merciful and loving heart. This is what the essence of the parable of the workers in the vineyard is about.

God cares for all of us with all of His heart. And it is truly painful for Him to see all of us scattered and trampled to the dust in the darkness of the world. This is why He was very angry in the first reading we heard today, how the very shepherds whom He had entrusted His peoples to, had abused their power and authority, and ended up causing untold suffering for the people of God, who were manipulated, treated badly and led to the wrong paths by their leaders’ inaptitude and unfaithful nature.

What was said in this Book of the prophet Ezekiel, which happened during the time of the Babylonian exile of Israel, about over five hundred years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, was truly fulfilled during the lifetime of Jesus, as the supposed shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees and elders, the scribes and the Sadducees, all the leaders of Israel had misused their authority and power, in order to satisfy their own desires and ambitions.

These shepherds misled the people by not doing what they had preached to the people. In essence, they became hypocrites who did differently as the words that they had spoken to the people. They cared only for themselves and not for the sake of God’s people whom they ignored and led instead to the darkness. They were expected to be role models of the faithful people of God, and yet they miserably failed God’s expectations of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Pharisees and the elders of Israel at Jesus’ time were obsessed with one thing, that is the security and prosperity of their own livelihoods. They did not care about any other things so long as their lives were secure and good. And they were very jealous of their power and influence, unwilling to let go their hold over the people, even if prophets would come to rebuke them. In fact, they resented even what Jesus the Saviour had done, and refused to see the truth in Christ.

The Pharisees and the elders of Israel enforced among the people of God, an extremely literal and rigid interpretation of the laws of the Lord revealed through Moses, the Mosaic laws. They were very zealous in pursuing the details of the rigid enforcement of the rules and regulations built up after centuries of interpretations of the Mosaic laws. And Jesus rightly criticised them for these, as these led the people away from the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bernard the Abbot, also known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a truly renowned saint who was a very devout religious who lived during the Medieval era France, and he was particularly known for his efforts to combat heresy among the faithful and bring unity to the Church of God.

St. Bernard exhibited a very exemplary life and devotion to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. And he was truly very influential among the numerous people whom he had touched with his teachings and love. St. Bernard brought many souls back on the path towards salvation and into salvation itself, not by imposing rules and laws on the people, or by acting all high and mighty, but through love and dedicated service.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux led the people of God through example, by practicing what the Lord had taught us, and he also wrote extensively and taught indiscriminately, to bring the various segments of the lost ones in the Church and beyond back to the Lord through repentance, as well as to reunite the divisions that existed in the Church of God.

St. Bernard gave us all the examples on how to live our faith in our lives meaningfully, away from all the worldly temptations and worries, which were the things that made the Pharisees and the elders of Israel such bad and wicked shepherds, to whom the Lord would no longer entrust His sheep to. The contrast between the works and life of St. Bernard and the leaders of Israel of Jesus’ time serve as a reminder for us, that in living our faith, we cannot be divided between God and this world as the Pharisees had done.

Instead, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and many other holy men and women of the Lord, who had dedicated themselves in service to God’s beloved children, all of us. Let us all help one another on our way towards the Lord that in the end, all of us may reach the Lord and be reunited to Him and His love. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

This story throws a light on the Kingdom of Heaven : A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard.

He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the town square, he said to them, “You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.” So they went.

The owner went out at midday, and again at three in the afternoon, and he did the same. Finally he went out at the last working hour – the eleventh hour – and he saw others standing there. So he said to them, “Why do you stay idle the whole day?”

They answered, “Because no one has hired us.” The master said, “Go and work in my vineyard.”

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.” Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up, and were each given a silver coin.

When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, each received a silver coin. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner. They said, “These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.”

The owner said to one of them, “Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on one silver coin per day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you envious when I am kind?”

So will it be : the last will be first, the first will be last.

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me. Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil, my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezekiel 34 : 1-11

The word of YHVH came to me in these terms, “Son of man, speak on My behalf against the shepherds of Israel! Say to the shepherds on My behalf : Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should the shepherds not feed the flock? But you feed on milk and are clothed in wool, and you slaughter the fattest sheep.”

“You have not taken care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak, cared for the sick or bandaged the injured. You have not gone after the sheep that strayed or searched for the one that was lost. Instead you ruled them harshly and were their oppressors.”

“They have scattered for want of a shepherd and became prey of wild animals. My sheep wander over the mountains and high hills; and when they are scattered throughout the land, no one bothered about them or looks for them.”

“Hear then shepherds, what YHVH says : As I live – word of YHVH – because My sheep have been the prey of wild animals and become their food for want of shepherds, because the shepherds have not cared for My sheep, because you shepherds have not bothered about them but fed yourselves and not the flocks, because of that, hear the word of YHVH.”

“This is what YHVH says : I will ask an account of the shepherds and reclaim My sheep from them. No longer shall they tend My flock; nor shall there be shepherds who feed themselves. I shall save the flock from their mouths and no longer shall it be food for them.”

Indeed YHVH says this : I Myself will care for My sheep and watch over them.

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Wednesday, 13 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear of the saving power of God, and what He intended to do with mankind, with those who follow Him and walk in His way, as well as with those who rejected Him and sought the comforts and lies of Satan rather than the truth and love of God. He wants mankind to be saved and to be reunited to Himself, and that was why He sent us Jesus to be the One who is our hope and our salvation.

But Jesus also wants to let us know that there are always the proper way of doing things, that we have to adhere closely to the teachings of the Church and avoid any forms of heresy and behaviours that are against the way of the Lord. And in this He made evident the authority of the Church, as the Body of the assembly of the faithful in keeping the faith and obedience to the true faith in God.

For the Church as we know it today is the exact same one as the one which Jesus had mentioned in the Gospel today. The Church refers not just to any buildings or hierarchy, but in fact the Church refers to all of us, who together we make the assembly of the faithful, as one united Body in Christ, that is the Church, and there will always be the Church.

It cannot be ignored, the fact that the Church had been the faithful custodians of the faith, keeping the flames of faith alive despite the various challenges and even persecutions that faced both the Church and the faithful. The Church kept the faith pure and true through various attempts by men to corrupt the purity of the faith, which resulted in many heresies and evils.

One thing we need to always remember is that, God knows those who are His own, and this is highlighted in the first reading today, when God mentioned to the prophet Ezekiel, how He instructed His angels to go through the Holy City and mark those faithful ones with the sign of the cross, that is the sign of our salvation and the sign of the promise of eternal and everlasting glory.

Our Church has had an effective way to deal with those who are not in line with the teachings of the faith. This is through constant and repeated help and assistance offered through the priests and the other servants of the Church, and if this is not successful, then the last resort was to cast the person out of the Church, on what is called excommunication, where the person was in a state of what is called anathema and in a state of sin.

This had been practiced by the Church since the beginning of times, and this was directly linked to what Jesus had said in today’s Gospel, that those who blatantly and constantly refused to listen to the Lord and to the words of His servants. Excommunication is truly a last resort measure, and truly it was not aimed to punish, but in fact more such that the one who erred may see the errors of his or her ways, and be repentant.

Today we celebrate the feast of two saints, namely that of Pope St. Pontian, successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome and head of the Church, and St. Hippolytus, a priest who once came into conflict with the leadership of the Church and was once elected to head a rival faction in the Church, as the first known antipope of the Church. One of the Popes whom St. Hippolytus had stood against was none other than Pope St. Pontian.

The rivalry between the Papal claimants and the attacks between both sides hurt the Church and the faithful much, dividing the faithful among the two camps. On top of all that, the persecutions against the faithful by the pagan Roman Empire and the Emperors continued unabated. Many died in martyrdom in the defense of their faith.

Both Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus were faithful servants of the Lord, and before their conflict and squabble, they had worked hard for the good of the people of God, leading them in their struggle for the faith and against the persecution of the world. Their hard work earned much good for the Church, but their squabbles and infightings also led to much pain for the Church.

They excommunicated each other and attacked each other, but yet, the Lord worked in His mysterious ways. In the intensifying persecution against the faithful by the Emperor Alexander Severus of Rome, both of these future saints were arrested and eventually was exiled together to the area of Pontus in what is today northern Turkey or southern Ukraine.

Both of them were reconciled to each other before their death, and the division of the Church over, they together became the symbols of the faith, through their martyrdom, and hence through their deaths in the defense of their faith. Hence, the Lord achieved His aim of bringing the people together, through tireless and ceaseless works of the servants of God and through the prayers of the saints, bringing back wayward children of Go back into the fold of the Church.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we all ought to do our best, to lead one another to the Lord, bringing the love and warmth of the Lord to our brethren, especially those who are in darkness, and those who rejected the Lord and rejected His Church, or even caused divisions among the faithful and brought more people into darkness like themselves.

We have to do our part to help these brethren of ours, that they may be together with us be brought together into the loving embrace of our Lord, as one body in the Lord in His Church. May Almighty God be with us all and guide us fogether on our way. Amen.

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Wednesday, 13 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 18 : 15-20

If your brother has sinned against you, go and point out the fault, when the two of you are in private, and if he listens to you, you have won your brother. If he does not listen to you, take with you one or two others, so that the case may be decided by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembled Church. But if he does not listen to the Church, then regard such a one as a pagan, or a publican.

I say to you : whatever you bind on earth, heaven will keep bound; and whatever you unbind on earth, heaven will keep unbound. In like manner, I say to you : if, on earth, two of you are united in asking for anything, it will be granted to you by My heavenly Father; for where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there among them.