Wednesday

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Wednesday, 13 February 2013 : Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Mark 6 : 1-6, 16-18

Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.

If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward you.

When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see that they are fasting. I tell you this : they have been paid in full already. When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

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Wednesday, 13 February 2013 : Ash Wednesday (Second Reading)

2 Corinthians 5 : 20 – 2 Corinthians 6 : 2

So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God Himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made Him bear our sin, so that in Him we might share the holiness of God.

Being God’s helpers we beg you : let it not be in vain that you received this grace of God. Scripture says : “At the favourable time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you. This is the favourable time, this is the day of salvation.”

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Wednesday, 13 February 2013 : Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 12-13, 14 and 17

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned; what is evil in Your sight I have done.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Wednesday, 13 February 2013 : Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Joel 2 : 12-18

YHVH says, “Yet even now, return to Me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your heart, not your garment. Return to YHVH, your God – gracious and compassionate.”

YHVH is slow to anger, full of kindness, and He repents of having punished. Who knows? Probably He will relent once more and spare some part of the harvest from which we may bring sacred offerings to YHVH, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a sacred fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the community, bring together the elders, even the children and infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bed, and the bride her room.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, YHVH’s ministers, weep and say : “Spare your people, YHVH. Do not humble them or make them an object of scorn among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples : Where is their God?”

YHVH has become jealous for His land; He has had pity on His people.

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Ash Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI : Maybe to be his last public Mass as our Pope

http://www.vatican.va/video/

Tune in to Vatican Player at the site above for the Ash Wednesday celebration with the Pope from St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It is scheduled to be on Wednesday, 13 February 2013, at 5.00 pm CET (Central European Time) or UTC+1

The timings in other regions :

UTC : Wednesday, 13 February 2013 at 4.00 pm

EST/UTC-5 : Wednesday, 13 February 2013 at 11.00 am

PST/UTC-8 : Wednesday, 13 February 2013 at 8.00 am

UTC+7 (West Indonesia and Thailand) : Wednesday, 13 February 2013 at 11.00 pm

UTC+8 (Singapore, Malaysia, HK, China) : Thursday, 14 February 2013 at 00.00 am

As this may well be the last large public Mass Pope Benedict XVI will be presiding in, let’s give him our support and pray with him, and participate together from all over the world in the Mass celebrated by our beloved Pope Benedict XVI!

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Wednesday, 6 February 2013 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflection)

Today we learn that the Lord loves and cares for us, just like a father to all of us. He can be strong and demanding, especially when we go astray from the right path, just like a father disciplining his children. However, God can indeed also be kind and loving as a father is, for God’s love is true and pure, and unfathomable in its extent.

We do not have to literally shed blood in the struggle against sin, as the question in the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews mentioned. But we have to always remember that, Christ Himself had shed His Precious Blood in the ultimate struggle against evil and sin. It is through this Blood in the Sacrifice, that all of us are set free from the chains of sin and slavery of evil.

Through Christ as well, all of us become God’s children, since by becoming human Himself like all of us, Christ the Lord became the most beloved of God’s creation. Since Christ is a brother to all of us, through Him, God is no longer distant, but God is just like our Father. This is why Jesus taught us the perfect prayer, the Pater Noster, which refers to God as our Father.

God is evidently fatherlike in His dealings with His chosen people, the people of Israel. Whenever they disobeyed Him and even abandoned Him for the other gods, you may think that the Bible seemed to show that the Lord has also abandoned Israel. But no, in fact, God remains faithful as He is always, even when His beloved children were always unfaithful. In the end, God loves all His children so much, that He gave Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is one with Him in the Trinity to redeem us from our rebellious ways and our sinful nature, in order to be reunited with all of us again at the end of time, for all time.

To all who have families, and who are parents, you should aim to follow the example of the Lord in being the parent of your children, through masterful balance between discipline and love. Even all acts of discipline and tough measures ultimately must be based in love, for all these that we do, are all because we love the children, not because we despise or hate the children.

Parents, love your children; and children, love your parents. Let us all imitate the love that the Lord has for all of us, and the love that Jesus has for God, His Father in Heaven. It is through Christ’s full obedience to the Father that all of us are saved. Therefore, let us also be obedient to our own parents and to our Father in heaven, God who loves all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miki

Today we commemorate the feast of Saints Paul Miki and his companions who were Japanese Christians martyred for their faith, and until the end, they stay strong in their faith, and was crucified in Nagasaki in 1597, during the time when persecution of Christians began in Japan. Christians were forced to abandon their faith or be killed by crucifixion, in the parody of the Christian faith.

Those who abandoned the faith and chose life were made to trample on the crosses and the images of the faith, and in that way, they saved their lives, but lost their soul. St. Paul Miki and his companions in Christ did not falter, and when forced to march hundreds of kilometres from the capital Kyoto to Nagasaki, they sing the Te Deum, a hymn which glorifies the Lord and praises Him for His kindness. And most importantly, St. Paul Miki forgave all his executioners and those who tortured him and his companions, just as Christ did on the cross.

Can we also have the courage and spirit to forgive those who has inflicted pain and suffering on us, instead of hating and creating even more violence? Let us therefore follow the example of St. Paul Miki and his martyred companions, and also follow the example of the Lord as a good shepherd and a good Father to all of us, that we can make our families, holy families in Christ, a loving and caring family, which will ultimately will lead to a loving and wonderful society, and a loving world. Pray for us St. Paul Miki and Companions! Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 February 2013 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Mark 6 : 1-6

Leaving that place, Jesus returned to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and most of those who heard Him were astonished. But they said, “How did this come to Him? What kind of wisdom has been given to Him, that He also performs such miracles? Who is He but the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here among us?” So they took offense at Him.

And Jesus said to them, “Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives, and in their own family.” And He could work no miracles there, but only healed a few sick people, by laying His hands on them. Jesus Himself was astounded at their unbelief. Jesus then went around the villages, teaching.

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Wednesday, 6 February 2013 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Psalm 102 : 1-2,13-14,17-18a

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

But the Lord’s kindness is forever with those who fear Him; so is His justice, for their children’s children, for those who keep His covenant.

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Wednesday, 6 February 2013 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Hebrews 12 : 4-7,11-15

Have you already shed your blood in the struggle against sin? Do not forget the comforting words that Wisdom addresses to you as children : “My son, pay attention when the Lord corrects you and do not be discouraged when He punishes you. For the Lord corrects those He loves and chastises everyone He accepts as a son.”

What you endure is in order to correct you, God treats you like sons and what son is not corrected by his father?

All correction is painful at the moment, rather than pleasant; later it brings the fruit of peace, that is, holiness to those who have been trained by it. Lift up then, your drooping hands, and strengthen your trembling knees; make level the ways for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled but healed.

Strive for peace with all and strive to be holy, for without holiness no one will see the Lord. See that no one falls from the grace of God, lest a bitter plant spring up and its poison corrupt many among you.

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Wednesday, 30 January 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

In today’s Gospel, Christ taught the people of Israel who followed Him, the parable of the sower, which is truly a well-known parable to us. This parable tells us about how the faith that we have, is not to be taken for granted. Indeed, we should not just let the faith that we have to go stagnant and remain just within us. If we cultivate the faith that is in us, through our good works in the name of the Lord, we can put our faith into practice, and truly, just as Christ said, we will bear fruits of our faith, thirty, sixty, and hundredfold.

Why does then Jesus teach in parables? It is because, for those who truly have the faith, and have the faith rooted in them through their actions and love, these parables will truly be meaningful to them, and by listening to these parables, their faith is strengthened. Then, to those who does not even have the faith, even if Christ is to explain the parables clearly to them, they still would not believe.

To all of us, therefore, who has been baptised in Christ, we are privileged to have been part of God’s redemption, and we also receive the mystery of the kingdom of God as given to the Apostles, and we have the Scripture, through which, we can understand more on the mystery of God and the salvific mission of Christ. We also have our priests and fellow brothers and sisters in the Faith, who can further teach us and make us understand even more. Nevertheless, through the parable, Christ also warned us of what can happen if our faith remain stagnant and does not take root in our hands, we too can fall in our path towards Christ.

Those seeds that were eaten by the birds, are like those of us who are tempted by Satan and sin, who in his various attractive ways, he could steer even the holy ones into sin and therefore death. Satan has many ways to detract ourselves from the path to God, especially by offering worldly things and goods, that if we are not strong in our faith, we can be easily led astray, similar to those seeds who are choked by the thorns. These distractions and temptations are the ‘thorns’ that choke the faith that is present in us. Therefore, we have to ensure that our faith is deeply rooted in Christ. How to do so? Simply by striving to read the Scripture every day, reading the Word of God, which fulfill our spiritual hunger, and strengthen the anchor of faith we have in Christ. We should also spend some time in prayer every day, and indeed in all things that we do, we should pray before and after, before to ask the Lord for strength, courage, and guidance; and after to give thanks to the Lord for His blessing and company.

Let the faith takes deep root in us, or else we would become like those seeds that withered because they have no roots. In happiness or sadness, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, we should hold on fast to our faith in God. Do not just seek God when we are sorrowful, but share our joy too with the Lord, and never forget the Lord when we are in trouble. Just because we are in trouble it does not mean that the Lord is not with us. He is with us, and He carried us through the tribulations and troubles, and with His aid, we shall prevail. No matter what evil throws at us, if we remain strongly anchored in Christ, and do God’s will through our dedication to our brothers and sisters in need, we will not be harmed by the evil one.

Then, let us also strive to participate fully in the celebration of the Mass, through which the Lord comes down to us in the form of His Precious Body and Blood. This is no separate sacrifice, unlike those sacrifices of animals and grains as prescribed in the Book of Leviticus for the people of Israel in the Old Testament, where those sacrifices must be repeated continuously for the sake of the sins of the people.

The Sacrifice of the Mass, is the same Sacrifice Jesus Christ, our Lord made on Calvary, on the cross, through which He gave up Himself that all of us are saved. In the Mass, the priest, in persona Christi, or representing Christ, offer Himself to the Lord, through the bread and wine, which is converted into the very Precious Body and Blood of our Lord, the only worthy sacrifice, worthy of all our sins, that through them, our sins are forgiven.

Therefore, receive the Lord often, and prepare for Him a worthy and holy Temple in your heart, worthy of Him, and this will deepen our faith in God, such that indeed, the seed of faith planted in us, will not just stay dormant, but will bear fruit, thirty, sixty, hundred, and even thousandfold and more. Amen.