Wednesday

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Wednesday, 13 July 2022 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Psalm 93 : 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15

They crush Your people, o YHVH, they oppress Your inheritance. They murder the widow and the lonely; they massacre the helpless.

“YHVH does not see,” they say, “The God of Jacob does not care.” Remember this, you stupid people; when will you understand, you fools!

He Who made the ear, will He not hear? He Who formed the eye, will He not see? He Who rebukes nations, will He not punish them?

YHVH will not reject His people, nor will He forsake His heritage. Justice will return to the just; and the upright will follow, in its wake.

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Wednesday, 13 July 2022 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Isaiah 10 : 5-7, 13-16

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger, the staff of My fury! Against a godless nation I send him, against a people who provoke My wrath I dispatch him, to plunder and pillage, to tread them down like mud in the streets. But the mind of his king is far from this, his heart harbours other thoughts; what he wants is to destroy, to make an end of all nations.

For the King says : “By my own strength I have done this and by my own wisdom, for I am clever. I have moved the frontiers of people, I have plundered treasures, I have brought inhabitants down to the dust, I have toppled kings from their thrones. As one reaches into a nest, so my hands have reached into nations’ wealth. As one gathers deserted eggs, so have I gathered the riches of the earth. No one flapped a wing or opened its mouth to chirp a protest.”

Does the ax claim more credit than the man who wields it? Does the saw magnify itself more than the one who uses it? This would be like a rod wielding the man who lifts it up; will those not made of wood, be controlled by the cudgel? This is why YHVH Sabaoth, is ready to send a wasting sickness upon the king’s sturdy warriors. Beneath his plenty, a flame will burn like a consuming fire.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2022 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all presented with the words of the Lord reminding us to distance ourselves from sin and evil, and to embrace His path, and to do what He has called us to do. Each and every one of us are called to be missionaries of our faith and witnesses of God’s truth and love to our fellow men. What we have heard in our Scripture readings today remind us that we are all called to holiness and to be committed to our Christian living and faith, in each and every opportunities and moments provided to us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Hosea, who ministered to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel during the last years of its existence. The prophet Hosea came to bring forth the word of God to those people who had rejected Him for so many years, refusing to listen to the advice and words of the prophets who had been sent to them to remind them and help them on their way, in rejecting the kindness and compassion that the Lord had extended to them for a long time, all the patience that He had shown them. Hence, through Hosea and other prophets, the Lord made it known that the kingdom of Israel would be crushed and destroyed.

The pride and haughtiness of the kings of Israel in Samaria and the unfaithfulness of the people would become their undoing, and their wickedness and disobedience would lead to them being uprooted from their lands, crushed and conquered by other nations, scattered and exiled to far-off lands. But at the same time, as we heard from the same passage, God still did not give up on them, and still yet called on them to return to Him, to abandon their stubborn attitudes and wicked actions, and called on them all to follow Him once again and heed His ways. He wanted them all to be saved, and to be reconciled to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard the Lord Jesus and His calling of the Twelve Apostles, as He called on each one of them to be the chief ones among His disciples and followers. Each one of them were called from different places and they had different backgrounds and origins, but all of them were called with a mission, to be the ones through Whom God would perform and continue His many good works among the people, and to establish and allow His Church in this worlds to grow and flourish. They were all imperfect men and people with issues and troubles, whom God called to a new existence and holy life, and gave them the strength and guidance to do so.

Through the calling of the Apostles and the other disciples, whom the Lord commanded with the mission to reach out to all the peoples and to preach to them the Good News of salvation and eternal life, the Lord wanted each and every one of us to be active in contributing to the missions and works of the Church. We are all called to be exemplary in our way of life so that by our actions and deeds, we may inspire others all around us to follow our examples and to believe in God as well. Unless we devote ourselves to God wholeheartedly, and live to the best of our abilities to be virtuous in all things, we cannot then truly call ourselves as Christians.

Today all of us should heed the good examples set by St. Maria Goretti, the renowned saint and martyr, who died in her youth in the defence of her purity and faith. St. Maria Goretti was a martyr of purity and she dedicated her life to the Lord through prayer and devotions from a very young age. It was then that one of the tenants who stayed with St. Maria Goretti, whose young teenage son named Alessandro was enamoured with her and in one occasion when he was alone with her, the teenage Alessandro made advances on St. Maria Goretti and tried to rape her. St. Maria Goretti refused persistently and that made the young man angry, and he stabbed her several times before fleeing.

As she was dying, St. Maria Goretti told her mother and others than she forgave her assailant and prayed for him. Alessandro was arrested and imprisoned, and it was told that St. Maria Goretti appeared to him in prison in one occasion, and all that helped the young man to turn over a new leaf. Ever since henceforth, Alessandro, the one who had given in to his desires and killed St. Maria Goretti, resolved to live his life righteously and spent his life in constant penance and in striving for a more holy life and existence, seeking for forgiveness from the martyr’s mother and doing good works for the Church and the community. He eventually lived long enough to see St. Maria Goretti raised to the glory of the Altar in her canonisation as a saint.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today having heard from the Scriptures and from the lives of St. Maria Goretti and Alessandro, her murderer, and how he turned over a new leaf in life, all of us are called to be good Christians, in abandoning and rejecting our sinful way of life, our past wickedness and disobedience, and embrace God, His love, compassion and mercy from now on. Let us all also not be stubborn anymore but instead do our best to proclaim the Good News of God through our lives and examples. May the Lord be with us all and may He give us the strength and the courage to follow Him from day to day, and to give our best in our mission as part of His Church, always and evermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2022 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 10 : 1-7

At that time, Jesus called His Twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the Twelve Apostles : first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Him.

Jesus sent these Twelve on mission, with the instruction : “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go, instead, to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go, and proclaim this message : The kingdom of Heaven is near.”

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Wednesday, 6 July 2022 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

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Wednesday, 6 July 2022 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hosea 10 : 1-3, 7-8, 12

Israel was a spreading vine, rich in fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the more his land prospered, the more he adorned his sacred stones. Their heart is divided! They shall pay for it. Their altars will be thrown down and their sacred stones broken to pieces. Now they say, “We have no king (because we have no fear of God) and what good would a king do us?”

As for the king of Samaria, he has been carried off like foam on water. The idolatrous high places – the sin of Israel – will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will creep over the altars. Then they will say to the mountains : “Cover us,” and to the hills : “Fall on us.”

Plow new ground, sow for yourselves justice and reap the harvest of kindness. It is the time to go seeking YHVH, until He comes to rain salvation on you.

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Wednesday, 29 June 2022 : Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, two of the great Apostles of the Lord, courageous and most faithful servant of God, who have dedicated their whole lives to the glory of God, fulfilling the calling and mission which the Lord had entrusted to both of them, as most important pillar, support and foundation of the whole Church in this world. St. Peter and St. Paul are honoured together as the Apostles of Rome, the heart and centre of all Christendom, the seat of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter as the leader of the entire Universal Church and all the faithful.

St. Peter was the leader of all the Apostles as the Prince of the Apostles; and leader over all the faithful, appointed by God Himself to be the Rock and foundation of the Church and as His Vicar on earth. In that capacity, St. Peter is the one representing the one true Head of the Church, the Chief Shepherd of all, none other than Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour. St. Peter became the Vicar of Christ, the one entrusted with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and with the leadership over all the whole entire Universal Church. He has been entrusted with the leadership and maintenance of the Church, and his role as Vicar is truly a very important one.

Through him and his leadership, and by the succession of all those who was chosen to be his successor, St. Peter became the visible symbol of unity and the one upon whom all the faithful throughout Christendom orientate themselves towards, in following his examples and that of his successors, that through them they may come towards God and find their way towards Him through the Church. As the first Pope and Bishop of Rome, St. Peter in his many other works and capacities helped to maintain the unity of the Church and to resolve the issues arising among the faithful communities at that time, as shown in his leadership during the First Council of Jerusalem as listed in the Acts of the Apostles, resolving with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the other Apostles, the matter of whether the Gentiles ought to be bound by the Jewish laws and customs or not.

Meanwhile, St. Paul the Apostle was the great evangeliser and labourer of faith, known as the Apostle to the Gentiles, establishing the roots and the foundation of the Church in numerous places throughout the known world at that time, in conjunction with the efforts of many other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, working together with many missionaries and people of God, in courageously proclaiming His truth and love to the whole world, letting everyone know of the salvation in Jesus Christ and all that had been revealed through His Church and His Apostles. He travelled on many missionary journeys to various parts of the Mediterranean world with various companions, intent on bringing God closer to the people who had not yet known Him.

St. Paul also wrote extensively in many Epistles or letters to the various congregations and communities of the faithful, many of which were included in the New Testament as part of the Sacred Scriptures, in which the Apostle inspired many of the faithful and exhorted them to avoid the path of sin, entrusting themselves to God and to turn towards God with faith. He helped to resolve issues and divisions among the faithful communities, and endured many trials and challenges in the midst of his efforts, some of which we can read in the Acts of the Apostles.

As we can see from the great many list of things that these two Apostles had done, we certainly must have thought that these two men were extraordinary people that were truly special and mighty, unlike that of us. But this is where we cannot be more wrong, brothers and sisters in Christ. The two Apostles, like many other Apostles, saints and other great and holy men and women of God, all of them were just like us, they were ordinary people and sinners, just like us. They were no more special and worthy before God just like us all. However, they all entrusted themselves to the Lord and allowed Him to guide them and help them to walk down the path of grace.

St. Peter was a mere poor and illiterate fisherman of the lake of Galilee, who was uneducated, brash and can be violent at times. He did not have the eloquence, skill or intelligence to become the so-called ideal leader of all the faithful. He gave in to the temptation of Satan and tried to persuade the Lord to stay away from His mission only for the Lord to rebuke him and Satan who was misleading him then. He denied knowing the Lord publicly not just once but three times, just not long after proclaiming that he would give his own life in exchange for the Lord, and he fled in shame and wept bitterly for that weakness.

Meanwhile, St. Paul was once known as Saul, a young and overzealous Pharisee born in Tarsus, who became a very ardent and violent opponent of the Lord and His followers from early on, as he embarked on a campaign of extermination of Christians and all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, or believing in His teachings or propagating them, as a great enemy of all the faithful. This was a person who was although intelligent and capable, but in his actions and identity was the most unlikely person to be chosen as one of the followers of Christ, less still to become one of the Apostles and considered as one of the Lord’s greatest champions.

All these showed us today that God did not choose the perfect to be His disciples or to do His will. We are all flawed after all, sinners and unworthy of God’s great goodness and perfection. Yet, God called and empowered those whom He had called and chosen to be His followers and disciples. He gave them Wisdom, guidance and strength, through the Holy Spirit Whom He had bestowed upon them. He led them down the path that He has pointed out to them, and provided them help and assistance along the way. In that way, St. Peter and St. Paul had did many wonderful deeds for the greater glory of God, in caring for the needs of the flock, in their establishment of a stable and growing, vibrant Church which they patiently guided and nurtured.

And they followed the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly, devoting their time and effort to serve the Lord and His people, and even having to endure many persecutions and trials, for the sake of doing their best to bring God’s salvation to more and more people around the world. Through their perseverance and efforts, God’s words and truth are brought to the knowledge and attention of many people, and many more souls have been brought from the precipice of destruction into salvation in God and eternal life. All of that were thanks to the efforts of the Apostles like St. Peter and St. Paul, who gave their all to the Lord, even their lives.

St. Peter was persecuted and was eventually martyred during the great Roman persecution, in which Christians especially all around Rome were persecuted for their faith, beginning with the persecution by the Emperor Nero. St. Peter was crucified, and while he was to be crucified, as the sign of his great humility, he asked not to be crucified in the same way as his Lord and Saviour. St. Peter asked to be crucified upside-down and it was in that way that he glorified God by his martyrdom in faith. St. Paul was also persecuted in similar persecution, and according to tradition, he was martyred by beheading during the height of the Neronian persecution.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the great examples and faith of these two great Apostles, the Patron Saint of Rome and the whole Universal Church, let us then ask ourselves, have we responded to God’s call and commit ourselves to the missions which He has entrusted to each and every one of us? Or are we still ignorant and reluctant to follow the Lord or to entrust ourselves to Him? The choice is ours, brothers and sisters in Christ, and unless we commit ourselves more fully to the Lord, then we are not yet doing what we should as Christians in our daily living. What are we then going to do about that?

Let us all hence seek the Lord with renewed faith and commit ourselves in the spirit of St. Peter and St. Paul, inspired by the examples and the lives that they had led. May God be with us always and empower us all to follow in the footsteps of the faithful Apostles, at all times and in all opportunities we have in life. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 June 2022 : Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 16 : 13-19

At that time, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them, You are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.”

“And now I say to you : You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

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Wednesday, 29 June 2022 : Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 4 : 6-8, 17-18

As for me, I am already poured out as a libation, and the moment of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the just Judge, will reward me, on that day, and not only me, but all those who have longed for His glorious coming.

But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the Word fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will save me from all evil, bringing me to His heavenly kingdom. Glory to Him forever and ever. Amen!

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Wednesday, 29 June 2022 : Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

I will praise YHVH all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in YHVH; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Oh, let us magnify YHVH; together, let us glorify His Name! I sought YHVH, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, YHVH hears and saves them from distress.

YHVH’s Angel encamps and patrols, to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of YHVH! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!