Wednesday

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Wednesday, 31 August 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, we are reminded to distance ourselves from worldly attachments and erroneous ways. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly pressures and temptations, particularly the temptation of pride and ego, of desire and greed, of worldly attachments and pleasures. That is because all of those things can easily and quickly lead us down the slippery path towards sin and evil, wickedness and damnation. If we are not ever vigilant and careful, we can easily be tempted and turned into this path.

In our first reading today, as we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, evidently there was quite a bitter dispute among the people of God regarding the support that they had for the different leaders of the faithful, from those who were siding with St. Paul himself, while there were those who sided with another popular preacher, namely Apollos. According to the Scriptures and Apostolic traditions, Apollos was a popular Jewish Christian preacher who gained a great following because of his great charisma and teachings, and is considered a saint of the Church just like St. Paul.

However, as we heard, unfortunately, although Apollos himself was faithful and devoted to God, and gave himself well to the service and the glory of God, but it was the people who were divided because of their competing allegiances and preferences, as some preferred to follow St. Paul and his way of teaching, while others preferred to follow Apollos and his ways. It is natural for people to have differences in their opinions and ideas, but when things become heated and very divided along various lines and opinions, or groups and viewpoints, that could quickly become very troublesome and hard for the Church and the faithful, who could become violently opposed to each other in bitter factional politics.

This was exactly what St. Paul warned the people against, and what he reminded them to avoid, as he told them that they should not be divided one against another, or be opposed to each other just because they were supporting different schools of thought, or ideologies, or preferences in the Church. He told the faithful in Corinth that whatever the missionaries and the different teachers of the faith like himself and Apollos had done, all of them were working for the greater glory of God and for the sake of His people, and all of them were all the servants of the same God, and hence, every one, every members of the Church and the faithful should be united in truth, love and purpose, and not be easily divided against each other.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard then the account of the Lord healing the mother-in-law of St. Peter, one of His Twelve Apostles. At that time, St. Peter, then known as Simon, asked the Lord to to help his mother-in-law, and immediately, the Lord healed her by His power, and made her completely healthy again. That news spread and soon there were many people who came to the Lord bringing all of their sick ones and those who were troubled in many ways. The Lord ministered to them and cared for them, healed their sick and shown His great power and might, and many believed in Him, that He is truly the Messiah or Saviour Whom God had promised to His people.

But the Lord left that place quietly in the morning of the day after, and His disciples were all wondering why He was doing that. The Lord told all of them that there were still many people who were in need of His work and mercy, and if He were to stay there in that place, then He would not have been able to do so. There would be a lot of temptations as well, in trying to lure the people into forcing Him to be their King, and that would have led to disastrous and unwanted consequences to the detriment of the Lord’s work and ministry. At the same time, the Lord also wanted to highlight and point out that whatever He and His disciples ought to be doing and were doing, those were all done for the greater glory of God, and not for their own glory.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must not allow those worldly temptations of power, glory, ambition, fame and all sorts of pride, ego, hubris and greed from misleading us down the wrong path. The Lord has reminded us that each and every one of us must always be centred and focused on God, that we will not end up losing sight on the true goal of our lives, that is to be united with God, to be reconciled with Him and to walk in His path towards the salvation and eternal glory, true happiness and joy that we can only find in Him alone. To that end, we should to our best to resist the many temptations found all around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to do our best to resist those temptations and pressures to conform to worldly ways and manners, and instead, be exemplary and committed to a life filled with virtue and grace from now on. Let us all draw ever closer to God and let us all seek the Lord with all our hearts from now on, dedicating our whole selves and our entire effort to glorify the Lord by our lives. May God be with us always and may He bless us in our every works and deeds, in all the things we say and do. May He empower each and every one of us to be ever faithful in our path towards Him, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 31 August 2022 : 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 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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

Blessed is the nation whose God is YHVH – the people He has chosen for His inheritance. YHVH 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 YHVH, 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 2022 : 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 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles, and who was also identified as Nathanael, his alternate name as highlighted in our Gospel passage today. St. Bartholomew as known by Nathanael was an intellectual and educated person, who accepted the Lord’s calling and devoted himself henceforth in the service of the Lord. He would go on to proclaim the Lord’s truth and Good News among the people in various distant lands and committed himself to a ministry of service, right up to his martyrdom, which inspired yet many more to follow the Lord.

St. Bartholomew according to Apostolic and Church traditions went on missionary journeys to various regions including but perhaps not limited to Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia, Lycaonia in Asia Minor, Armenia and even India. He spent many years and a lot of efforts in proclaiming the Gospel of truth among the people there, some of whom received the Lord and the Good News with enthusiasm, while others rejected the Lord and refused to believe in Him, and refusing also to believe in St. Bartholomew and the other missionaries sent to their midst. Through those works, St. Bartholomew sowed the seeds of faith and built the foundation of the Church in many places, but he had to face a lot of hardships too.

St. Bartholomew was credited with an early mission to India and the regions far east from the land of Judea. He visited several regions in ancient India, establishing probably the first Christian communities there together with the other famous Apostle, St. Thomas the Apostle, who established the foundation of the Christian communities in India, that survived until the present day and could trace their faith lineage all the way since the days of the Apostles, both St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew. Then, St. Bartholomew was also involved in an important mission to Armenia where most stories agreed that he faced persecution and martyrdom there.

In Armenia, St. Bartholomew likely proclaimed the Lord together with another Apostle, namely St. Jude Thaddeus, and it was there that the first seeds of the Christian faith was sown. While Armenia would eventually become the first Christian nation in the world about two and a half centuries later after the time of the Apostles, but back then, it was still a land of pagans, although St. Bartholomew managed to convince some of them to listen to the Good News of God, and some were convinced to become Christians. Not only that, but one of the rulers, traditionally according to historical stories, named Polymius was convinced by St. Bartholomew to become a Christian, and that led to a vicious reaction against the Apostles.

Depending on the version of tradition, St. Bartholomew was either crucified upside down in the similar manner as St. Peter the Apostle in Rome, or the more popular and common one being that he was flayed or skinned alive before he was martyred in Armenia. Regardless of the way and the circumstances of his martyrdom, what each one of us can really be sure of is that St. Bartholomew had dedicated his life to the service of God and he had suffered greatly for that, and yet, he embraced his martyrdom happily and with great faith, knowing that he had suffered for the sake of the Lord and His Church, for the salvation of many more souls.

The courage and faith showed by St. Bartholomew and the other Apostles, saints and martyrs still inspire us even right to this day. St. Bartholomew showed us all what it means to be genuine and true Christians, to become true followers and disciples of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us had been called and chosen, to become the Lord’s disciples and followers, and we have been given the mission to go forth and proclaim the same truth and Good News just as St. Bartholomew and the other Apostles had done in the past. As members of God’s same Church, we are all called to be evangelising disciples and missionaries through our lives.

This does not mean that we have to do what St. Bartholomew and the Apostles had done. Each one of us have been given different talents, abilities, gifts and opportunities by the Lord. What the Lord wants us all to do is that, we should make good use of all those in whatever opportunities and goods we have, whatever blessings and talents we have gained, so that we may glorify the Lord and His Name, and proclaim His truth by our worthy lives, our worthy actions, words and deeds. This is what we should be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ, namely to live our lives worthily for the Lord and to do our best to obey His Law, His commandments and His will.

Let us all strive to be missionary and evangelising disciples and followers of the Lord, in everything we say and do, in our every vocations in life, be it as married couples, as family members, youth or elderly, be it as laypeople or members of the presbyterate, or be it as members of religious orders and other institutions. Each and every one of us have our own unique roles to play as part of the Lord’s Church to fulfil what He has called us to do, to obey Him wholeheartedly and to be exemplary and sources of inspiration for one another, for our fellow brothers and sisters at all times. May God be with us always, and bless our every good works and endeavours, and may St. Bartholomew continue to intercede for us sinners. Amen.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2022 : 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 Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets : 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 fig 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 2022 : 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 of 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 YHVH 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 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Revelations 21 : 9b-14

And one of the seven Angels who were with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues 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.

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Wednesday, 17 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us regarding the matter of our responsibility as Christians, to do the will of God and to follow Him, and to respond to the call which He had made to each one of us, in our various vocations and calling in life. To all of us God has given the gifts and opportunities, the responsibilities and the abilities to do His will, whenever and wherever He requires of us. However, just as we heard in our readings today, we have not always been obedient or committed to our calling.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard the Lord rebuking the leaders and elders of His people, the so-called shepherds of Israel, who have not followed their duties and obligations as they should have. The Lord rebuked those people because they had neglected their duties, as they sought to gain advantage for themselves, fattening and enriching themselves from their manipulation of others, from their extortions, the abuse and misuse of their authority and power. As such the Lord harshly rebuked those people who had not obeyed His will and misled the people down the wrong path.

Thus were the actions of the leaders, the kings and the nobles and all those false prophets and priests of Baal, the priests serving the pagan idols, all those who brought the people down the wrong path, as they sought worldly power and glory, and they gained what they wanted at the expense of their souls. They faced their consequences and judgment, and as the Lord said, they were removed from their positions and they would not corrupt the people of God again. The old kingdoms of Israel and Judah were no more and the Lord had wrested back control over His people from those irresponsible leaders.

He called on all the people to follow Him once again, and embrace His love and mercy. God has always looked kindly upon them and wanted to forgive them and bring them back into His presence. However, time and again, it was often the people themselves who were stubborn and resistant to the Lord’s efforts in reaching out to them. They hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord and as a result, they kept on distancing themselves away from God and they kept on delaying and dragging their feet in the journey towards the Lord. As long as their hearts and minds were not set on the Lord, they would remain far away from Him and they would likely remain lost from Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the parable of the workers, in which a vineyard owner went out to seek for workers, calling and gathering all whom he could find along the way, and making them to work in his vineyard. Some responded to his calls early while others only responded right up to the last hour. In the end, all of them received the same pay and remuneration, as part of what they had agreed with the vineyard owner as part of their work. It was then that those who were called early then were unhappy because they had responded early to the call and therefore expected better pay than those who joined the work last.

This parable in fact highlighted the nature of the Lord’s calling upon each one of us. As God has patiently reached out to us and calling us throughout, we have been given many opportunities to return to Him. However, unfortunately, many of us delayed in answering Him and waited and waited before finally responding to Him. Nonetheless, as we heard the vineyard master doing, the Lord has always been patient in reaching out to us and seeking us to return to Him, and once we have embraced Him, His salvation and accepted Him wholeheartedly as our Lord and Saviour, the reward mentioned in the parable refers to the gift of eternal life and true joy with God.

Then, we also must heed the way that those who had started work earlier and endeavour not to behave the way they did. This refers to some of our attitudes as Christians in being elitist and self-righteous, thinking that we are better and more deserving of God’s grace than others simply because we have answered His call earlier, or that we have mostly kept His Law and commandments throughout our lives, and therefore we tend to look down on those whom we deem to be less worthy than we are, or think that they are more sinful, wicked and less deserving of God’s grace and love than us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the same prideful and arrogant attitudes which those shepherds rebuked by the Lord, the leaders and elders of the Israelites who had misled the people of God, had in the past. It was their pride, ego and arrogance that had led them to be selfish and wicked, often perhaps without them even realising that. Unfortunately, that led to people being misguided or being turned away further from the Lord. Now, each one of us as Christians have the same calling and obligation to be shepherds and guides for one another, to be inspiration and role model in faith and life for our fellow brothers and sisters.

That means, each and every one of us should be warm and welcoming in our attitudes, in our interactions and approach to one another. All of us should nurture a loving and vibrant Christian community in our homes, in our society and elsewhere, and do our very best to live our lives in accordance to the path that the Lord had shown us. Otherwise, if our lives do not reflect our faith and our actions scandalises that faith and the Lord’s Holy Name, then in the end, the same rebuke and judgment of the Lord, the same consequences that the false shepherds of Israel had suffered, will be directed to us as well.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us all, and may He empower us to live ever more worthily in His presence, so that we may be good role models and examples for one another, at all times. Amen.

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Wednesday, 17 August 2022 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws 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 made the same offer.”

“Again he went out, at the last working hour – the eleventh – and he saw others standing around. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stand 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 gone to work at the eleventh hour came 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, received one silver coin. 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.”