Wednesday

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Wednesday, 29 March 2023 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to remember our calling as Christians to be truly faithful to God and not to be only superficially faithful to Him. This means that in our way of life and dedication to Him, in our every actions and deeds, we have to be truly committed and be truly full of faith in all things, and not doing things merely to fulfil our obligations and faith to the Lord without true and genuine love for Him, and without true desire to seek Him and serve Him. If we do not truly love God then we are no better than hypocrites and all those who have no place in God’s grace and salvation, which He offers freely to those who have true and genuine faith in Him. Our Scripture passages today remind us that being faithful to the Lord entails more than just having a superficial faith.

In fact, just as we heard from our first reading today, taken from the Book of Daniel, we are brought right into the great challenges and trials that our predecessors had faced in the past just for being faithful to God and for standing up for their faith. We heard the confrontation between the three friends of Daniel and the great King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. As we all may be familiar with, back then, the people of God, the descendants of the Israelites had been scattered and cast out from their homeland by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, who crushed the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah respectively, carrying many of the people into exile in faraway lands. That was how Daniel and his friends, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah ended up in the land of Babylon. They were bereft of homeland, honour and any semblance of worldly anchor, being homeless and without bearing in that ever changing world they lived in.

Then, in that particular occasion, as they were assembled by the King of Babylon, who had just built a great golden statue in his own image, they faced the great quandary and trial of having to obey the king’s order to everyone, for them to worship that golden statue, in the likeness of the king, who was known for his great megalomania and prideful personality, likening himself to a divinity, making himself essentially like a god. All of the people save for the three friends of Daniel bent their knees and bowed down, worshipping the golden statue under the pain of certain suffering and death if they did not obey the orders of the king. But those friends of Daniel refused to obey the king’s order and remained standing, refusing to betray the Lord their God and worship that false golden idol even if that meant endangering their own lives. They did not want to save their lives by turning their backs on the Lord.

They could have chosen to worship superficially and pretended to obey the king’s order, but in doing so, even if they did not intend to worship the idol, but their action could bring scandal to the Lord and to their faith in Him. Others who saw their actions would then see the fickle nature of their faith to God, and how easy it was for them to give up their faith in Him, at least from what was discernible through their actions. That is why, all of us should note how Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah all chose to suffer and die rather than betraying the Lord through their actions, and they chose to remain truly faithful and not just being superficial in their faith and way of life. This is why they remained unshaken in their commitment to God and did not obey the king’s commands, even under the pain of certain suffering and death. The king was angered even more by their answer to his question and demand on them to obey his will, as he threw them into the great furnace made even hotter than before.

Yet God did not abandon them, and kept them from harm, as He sent His Angel to guard them and to protect them from the flames. Thus, the friends of Daniel were spared from the dangers of death and suffering, and that so amazed the proud and haughty King of Babylon, that he tore down the great golden statue that he himself had built. The Lord showed His love for His faithful ones, and protected them, and showed that He is truly the One and only True God worthy of worship. And the faith and commitment which the friends of Daniel, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah should be sources of inspiration and strength for each one of us to follow, so that we may also walk in the path that they had trodden, and that we may also have the courage that they had, in remaining truly faithful to God and in being truthful in how they lived their lives, in obedience to God, in all things.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord being confronted by the Jewish people, many of them adhering to the ways of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who spent a lot of time and effort enforcing a particularly strict version of the Law of God, and yet, in their excessive pursuit of religious purity and in being extra rigid in their way of observing the Law, they ended up forgetting most of the time why they practiced their faith in the manner that they had lived them. They became proud and haughty like that of the King of Babylon, and took great pride in their way of observing the Law, and condemning all those who disagreed with them, or those who did not practice the Law in the way that they had done it. This was them building up their own ‘idols’ in their hearts and lives, namely the ‘idol of pride’, the ‘idol of fame and worldly glory’, among the other ‘idols’ that they had made.

Essentially, their faith had become mostly superficial in nature, and there was barely any space or focus on the Lord in their hearts and minds. They were all too busy with observing the multitudes of precepts and details of the Law, the many fine details and rites, that they forgot about loving God and putting Him as the focus of their lives in the first place. They became proud and arrogant, and self-righteous in nature, condemning instead of helping all those whom God had actually entrusted to them as leaders and guides. They kept these away from the Lord’s grace and love, and from His salvation, instead of bringing them closer to the Lord as God Himself has intended. That was why the Lord chided and rebuked them for their lack of true and genuine faith in God, and He told them that their way of living their faith was truly wrong.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on our way of life and ask ourselves if we have been faithful to the Lord as we should have. Let us all discern carefully our path forward in life, making good use of the opportunities and the time provided for us in this season of Lent, that we may lead a life that is more attuned to the Lord, and be ever closer to Him, in each and every moments of our lives. May God continue to guide us and inspire us all to live ever more worthily of Him, by doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives and actions. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 March 2023 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

At that time, Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying : You will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One Who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself Who sent Me.”

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Wednesday, 29 March 2023 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever. Blessed is Your holy and glorious Name, celebrated and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Wednesday, 29 March 2023 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 14-20, 24-25, 28

King Nebuchadnezzar questioned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? If you hear now the sound of horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and other instruments, will you fall down and worship the statue I made? If you will not, you know the punishment : you will immediately be thrown into a burning furnace. And then what god can deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we need not defend ourselves before you on this matter. If you order us to be thrown into the furnace, the God we serve will rescue us. But even if He will not, we would like you to know, o king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s face reddened with fury as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace.

They walked in the midst of the flames, singing to God and praising the Lord. Azariah stood up in the midst of the fire and prayed aloud : “You have indeed given a just sentence in bringing evil upon us and upon Jerusalem, the Holy City of our fathers. You have acted in accordance with truth and justice, as punishment for our sins.”

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Wednesday, 22 March 2023 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, all of us are called to remember God’s ever generous love, compassion, kindness and mercy towards all of us, that He is willing to forgive us our many sins and wickedness, if we are to seek Him and confide in His love and mercy. God is our loving Father Who truly cares for each and every one of us, and He does not want us to be lost from Him. He chastised and punished us with the intention to help us to be more disciplined in our way of life, distancing ourselves from the path of sin and evil. He called on us all to turn away from the temptations of worldly glory, pleasures, and all sorts of attachments that we may often have, which are indeed great obstacles and barriers in our path towards Him. He provided us help along our journey so that hopefully we may end up in the path of righteousness.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah the words of comfort and assurances from God to His people in the kingdom of Judah, as He told them that He will always remember them and that He will always provide for them, and be reconciled with them, despite their past wickedness and sins. Back then, during the time of the prophet Isaiah’s life and ministry, the people of God, the Israelites had been wrecked by a lot of hardships and tragedies, especially when the northern half of the land of Israel and most of the ten tribes of the twelve of the Israelites were crushed and conquered by the Assyrians. Those in the northern kingdom of Israel had long defied the Lord and refused to obey Him, and most of their kings were wicked and sinful, leading the people further and deeper into the path of sin. Thus, the terrible end eventually came upon them, as the Assyrians destroyed and laid waste their cities, and brought many of them into exile in far-off lands away from their homeland.

Those living in the southern kingdom of Judah, where Isaiah ministered in, did not fare much better either, as they had also often been rebellious against God. They had also faced a lot of hardships and struggles, and by the time of Isaiah’s ministry, according to the events of that time, the forces of the Assyrians even came to conquer Judah and Jerusalem as well. If not for God’s timely intervention, as He smote the whole Assyrian army in rebuke of their proud and haughty king Sennacherib, the same fate that faced the northern Israelites would have faced those who lived in Judah as well. They would have endured the same fate that befell their northern brethren sooner, although they would later indeed face that fate with the Babylonians, due to their lack of repentance and continued sinful way of life. Yet, despite all of these, as God Himself has proclaimed, He still remembered His people and would not abandon them.

That was what God had patiently done for His people in a very long time, that despite their lack of faith in Him and despite their stubbornness in not listening to Him and in hardening their hearts and minds, but God still cared for them anyway like that of a loving father who still loves his children who may be naughty and difficult at times. He chastised and disciplined them, with the intention so that they may all turn up to be well. Thus, that is what He also does with us all as well, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all His beloved ones, those whom He favours and cares for. However, this is also a reminder that unless we behave ourselves and change our sinful ways, we may end up facing the same fate as those who have continued to rebel and disobey God’s commandments to the very end. We are reminded of this during this time of Lent so that hopefully we may change our ways and turn once again towards the Lord and His mercy.

In the Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words that the Lord spoke to the assembled people, many of whom were angry with Him because He performed His miracles and works on the Sabbath day which was a day considered sacred, and which to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law was a day free from any kind of action and work, and in which it was a taboo for anyone to do anything. And as mentioned, the Lord also referred to God as His Father, which was indeed the truth, but the people were angry as they thought of Him of blaspheming against God by claiming Him to be His Father. Hence, this led to the people rising up against the Lord. They hardened their hearts and minds against Him, and the Lord responded with the discourse in which He highlighted to them the relationship that He has with the Father, and what He has been sent into this world for.

As highlighted by the Lord Himself, He elaborated on how He has been sent into this world to be its Saviour, because God our Father has deemed it right for Him to send us the ultimate gift of His love by sending His own beloved Son into our midst. He has given us Jesus to be our Lord and Redeemer, and by Whose hands, had brought us closer to His Father, and through His adoption of our human nature and existence, has indeed united all of us to Himself and His Father so that we are also the adopted children of God, by sharing in the humanity of Christ. Hence, we are reminded yet again of the need for us to humble ourselves before the Lord and embrace His mercy and love, and not to be like those people who continued to resist Him and His truth simply because they were too proud and stubborn to admit that they could have been wrong or mistaken in their ways. The Lord came to them bearing His truth and love, only for many of them to reject Him.

In this season and time of Lent, let us all therefore remind ourselves of God’s ever present and ever patient love for each and every one of us, keeping in mind how He has generously offered us all His mercy and compassion all these while. Let us all no longer be stubborn or difficult in our attitudes, allowing ourselves to be immersed in God’s love and grace. We should spend more time in this season and time of Lent to become ever closer to the Lord, our most loving Father, and heed His call and reminders for us to repent and change our wicked and sinful ways. Let us all no longer be hesitant to follow the Lord wholeheartedly or be easily swayed by the many temptations and pressures all around us, to conform to worldly ways and abandon God’s path of truth and righteousness. This is what all of us should be doing during this time of Lent, a time of reconciliation with God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to love us and provide us each day, and may He empower us all with the strength and the desire to reach out to Him and His most generous love and mercy. May He instil in each one of us the strong desire to commit ourselves to Him and His path, and inspire us that we may be good role models and source of inspiration to all those whom we encounter in our lives, so that more people may come to believe in God through us. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 March 2023 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 5 : 17-30

At that time, Jesus replied to the Jews, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made Himself equal with God, calling God His own Father.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. And whatever He does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does; and He will show Him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.”

“As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom He wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for He has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and He wants all to honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father Who sent Him.”

“Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears My word and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in Himself, and He has given to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has empowered Him as well to carry out Judgment, for He is Son of Man.”

“Do not be surprised at this : the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear My voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. I can do nothing of Myself, and I need to hear Another One to judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me.”

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Wednesday, 22 March 2023 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 144 : 8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18

Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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, 22 March 2023 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 49 : 8-15

This is what YHVH says : “At a favourable time I have answered you, on the day of salvation I have been your help; I have formed you and made you to be My covenant with the people. You will restore the land, and allot its abandoned farms. You will say to the captives : Come out; and to those in darkness : Show yourselves.”

“They will feed along the road; they will find pasture on barren hills. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching wind or the sun beat upon them; for He Who has mercy on them will guide them and lead them to springs of water. I will turn all My mountains into roads and raise up My highways. See, they come from afar, some from the north and west, others from the land of Sinim.”

Sing, o heavens and rejoice, o earth; break forth into song, o mountains : for YHVH has comforted His people and taken pity on those who are afflicted. But Zion said : “YHVH has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb? Yet though she forget, I will never forget you.

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Wednesday, 15 March 2023 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the obedience that all of us should have towards the Law and commandments of God, the precepts and ways that the Lord Himself has revealed and taught to us. As members of God’s Church, that is as Christians, each and every one of us are called to be truly obedient and committed to God’s path, to listen to Him and to do whatever He has asked us to do. That is what He Himself has tasked and entrusted to us to do. After all, how can we convince others to believe in God and to do our works of evangelisation if we ourselves had not really believed in God and His truth? We are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers if our way of life and actions do not reflect this faith we have in God, or worse still, contradict with that faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard of the words of the Lord that He spoke to His people through Moses, who reminded all of them of just how blessed and fortunate they are to have been beloved in such a way by the Lord, their Lord and God. Moses told the people to listen to their God and to follow Him wholeheartedly, and not harden their hearts and minds against Him any longer. He reminded them all that the Law of God, the commandments and the path the Lord has shown them have been presented to them and therefore they should walk in the path of God and to pass down the knowledge of the Law and the truth of God through the generations to come. Moses hence exhorted and called on all the people of God to be truly holy just as the Lord Himself is holy, and to be good just as their Lord and Master is good.

Contextually, we must understand that Moses’ comments and exhortation was made with the understanding of just how stubborn the people of Israel could be, in disobeying God and in refusing to believe in Him. They had often rebelled against the Lord, complained against Him and chose to live a sinful and wicked life rather than obeying God and His Law. That is why the Lord sent them reminders through Moses to adhere to His path of righteousness and grace. God still loved His people all very much despite all those wickedness that they had committed. He even gave His people the reassurances that He would not abandon them and He will guide them all to the path towards salvation and eternal life. In the end, He fulfilled His promises and gave us the most perfect gift of all, that is none other than Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord Jesus told the people and His disciples, telling all of them that He came into this world not to annul or remove the old Law, that refers to the Law of God revealed through Moses, but rather, He came into this world in order to make us whole once again, by gathering all of us from whenever we have been scattered throughout this world. He came to clarify the meaning, intention and purpose of the Law of God, which was always meant to help the people of God to redirect their focus and attention towards the Lord. Unfortunately, throughout the preceding centuries, the Law had been often misunderstood and misinterpreted by the people who misused and exploited the Law for their own selfish interests and desires. This led to the Law of God no longer being practiced in the way that they were supposed to be observed.

Hence, the Lord came into the world to reveal the truth to us, about His love for us and about everything that He had done for our sake, that by His revelation and teachings, He might bring us closer to Himself. He tells us that the Law was not meant to oppress us or to make us to feel superior or the right to discriminate one another. The Law has often been misused back then as means for some to gain more renown, praise and fame for themselves, just as what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, in seeking attention and praise for their piety and actions, in their way of observing the Law and the prayers and practices they did, in the public places and more. Not only that, but they also allowed the temptations of vanity, pride and worldly greed to affect and influence them, and as such, they ended up becoming more distant and sundered from God, just like how their ancestors and predecessors had disobeyed God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are all reminded to turn towards the Lord once again with faith, and commit ourselves anew with the desire to love Him and to follow His path, resisting the many worldly temptations being present all around us. All of us are called especially during the time of this season of Lent to be more attuned to the Lord, and to rediscover the faith and love that we all ought to have for Him. Each one of us have been given the opportunity and the time for us to return with faith back towards our Lord and Master, Who has always looked kindly upon us, always ever reaching out to us, finding us and trying to bring us back to His loving embrace once again. Now it is really up to us if we want to embrace God’s love and compassionate mercy, and it is up to us to choose if we want to walk in the path of His righteousness and grace.

God has presented His Law before us and He has also given us the Wisdom and the opportunities to discern what we are going to do with our lives. He has given us His patient guidance and help so that hopefully we may realise the folly of our evil and sinful ways, and that hopefully we may find our way back once again to His loving embrace, by His grace and mercy. This season of Lent is particularly good time for us to realise this and to reflect on our way of life and on our actions so that hopefully we will not continue to walk down the wrong path. Let us all turn towards the Lord and reflect upon the good examples that His holy saints and martyrs, all the holy men and women of God, our holy predecessors, and see what we can learn in our journey of life throughout this Lent and beyond. Let us all draw closer to God and deepen our relationship with Him, resisting the temptations and the allures of worldly desires and attachments, among other things.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us in our path this Lent, so that we may have a most fruitful season and time to reconnect with God, to obey His Law and commandments with vigour and zeal. May God bless us all and may He guide us all with the strength and grace to follow Him wholeheartedly and to free ourselves from sin. May God empower us with the courage and strength to dedicate ourselves anew each day. Wishing all of us a most blessed and good season of Lent. Amen.

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Wednesday, 15 March 2023 : 3rd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 17-19

At that time, Jesus said 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.”