Wednesday

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Wednesday, 13 April 2022 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 26 : 14-25

Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “How much will you give me if I hand Him over to you?” They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver, and from then on, he kept looking for the best way to hand Jesus over to them.

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?” Jesus answered, “Go into the city, to the house of a certain man, and tell him, ‘The Master says : My hour is near, and I will celebrate the Passover with My disciples in your house.'”

The disciples did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, Jesus sat at table with the Twelve. While they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you : one of you will betray Me.” They were deeply distressed, and they asked Him, one after the other, “You do not mean me, do You, Lord?”

He answered, “The one who dips his bread with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man is going as the Scripture says He will. But alas for that one who betrays the Son of Man : better for him not to have been born.” Judas, who was betraying Him, also asked, “You do not mean me, Master, do You?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

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Wednesday, 13 April 2022 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 68 : 8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34

Since I am held in contempt for Your sake, and shame has covered My face. I have become a stranger to My kindred, an alien to My mother’s sons. Zeal for Your house consumes Me as fire and those who insult You insult Me as well.

I looked for sympathy and there was none, for comforters and there was no one. They gave me poison for food and vinegar to drink.

I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving. Let the lowly witness this and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity.

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Wednesday, 13 April 2022 : Wednesday of Holy Week (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 50 : 4-9a

The Lord YHVH has taught Me so I speak as His disciple and I know how to sustain the weary. Morning after morning He wakes Me up to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord YHVH has opened My ear. I have not rebelled, nor have I withdrawn.

I offered My back to those who strike Me, My cheeks to those who pulled My beard; neither did I shield My face from blows, spittle and disgrace. I have not despaired, for the Lord YHVH comes to My help. So, like a flint I set My face, knowing that I will not be disgraced.

He Who avenges Me is near. Who then will accuse Me? Let us confront each other. Who is now My accuser? Let him approach. If the Lord YHVH is my Help, who will condemn Me?

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 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 follow the Lord and to remember His providence and love, the compassion which He has shown to each and every one of us that we will be willing to open ourselves to Him, opening our hearts and minds so that we may listen to the words that our Lord and Father speak to us in the depth of our hearts and minds. Too often we have been stubborn and refused to listen to Him, and instead preferring to walk down our own path, which more often than not led us to ruin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Daniel regarding the time when king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon built for himself a great golden statue in his own image, and ordered all of his subjects and peoples to bow down and prostrate themselves in worship of the golden statue. It was common at that time and throughout history for rulers to aggrandise themselves and even wanting to be worshipped as gods and treated as divinity. They built for themselves numerous palaces, temples and other edifices to highlight and emphasise their glory and power.

To this end, thus king Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered the Assyrians and took over control of many realms and countries including that of Judah, glorified himself and forced his people to obey his commands. But among all the people assembled there, as we heard in that passage, only three dared to refuse to obey the king’s order. The king had ordered everyone to do as he commanded on the pain of death for those who refused to obey, and yet, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah, known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the king, kept strong to their faith in God and chose rather to suffer and die rather than to abandon or betray their Lord and Master.

We heard the aftermath of what happened after the king of Babylon threw the three of them into a blazing furnace that was purposefully made far hotter because the defence that the three men placed before him angered him greatly. And yet, the three men were completely unharmed by the fire, and the king and everyone present witnessed the great miracle, and saw the Angel of God that God sent to safeguard them as the mysterious fourth man present in the fire with them. The Lord protected the three of them for their faith in Him and to show Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon the futility of his hubris, pride and ego.

In the end, God rescued His faithful ones and those who pride themselves in their own power and glory were ashamed and put down. In our Gospel passage today, we have then seen yet again how the Lord once more reached out to His people and gave them His deliverance and help, in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of the world and His beloved Son. By His coming into this world, He reached out to us who have been scattered and separated from Him due to sin. He showed us the path towards Him and how we can be reconciled with Him, forgiven from our sins that had separated us from Him.

However, as we heard, many among the people refused to listen to the Lord and even took offence at the words He said when He spoke of God as His Father. They also spoke of themselves as the children of Abraham and were displeased when the Lord said that they were still not free because of their attitude and refusal to listen to His words and truth. Essentially those same people proved the Lord’s words by their own actions, their lack of faith and continued stubborn resistance in not following the Law and commandments as the Lord told them to.

All these were because they were too proud to admit that they could have been wrong, and when the Lord came before them telling the truth and calling them to change their ways, they refused to do so, thinking that they knew better how to handle things and that they could not be wrong in their way of life. Unfortunately, this attitude in fact led them even further away from the Lord, preventing them from finding their way towards Him because their hearts and minds had been closed to Him. They trusted more in their own power and strength, rather than in the Lord, in stark contrast to the three friends of Daniel, whose story we heard in our first reading today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord with renewed faith and desire to love Him from now on. Let us humble ourselves before Him and not be like those who kept their prideful ways, like the king of Babylon or the people at the time of the Lord Jesus, who refused to believe in God and His truth, and even persecuted the faithful. Instead, we should be inspired by the faith of Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah, and remain firmly strong in our faith and dedication in God from now and always. May God bless us all and be with us all, through our journey of faith in life. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 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, 6 April 2022 : 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, 6 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 14-20, 91-92, 95

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.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up in great amazement and asked his counsellors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the fire?” They answered, “Certainly.” The king said, “But I can see four men walking about freely through the fire, without suffering any harm; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Who sent His Angel to free His servants, who, trusting in Him, disobeyed the king’s order; and preferred to give their bodies to the fire rather than serve and worship any other god but their God.”

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Wednesday, 30 March 2022 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded yet again through the Sacred Scriptures of the great love of God, the many wonderful things that God had done for our sake. He has showed His love to us repeatedly, again and again, even when we have often betrayed and ignored Him, abandoned and left Him for other idols and distractions in life. He patiently extended to all of us the offer of His love and compassionate mercy, wanting to be reconciled with us sinners, and calling on all of us to return to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke to His people of His promised salvation to all of them. He would rescue them from their troubles and deliver them from the hands of the evil one, and all of the plots against them. This is significant given the context of what happened at that time, as the people of Israel, the descendant of the people of God had been going through a lot of challenges and trials, having been torn apart and lost their unity, and not only that, the northern half of the Israelites, the northern kingdom had been crushed by the Assyrians.

Hence, at that time, the people of God clearly knew what happened to those who have not obeyed the Law and the commandments of God, as the northern kingdom had almost always done, and as a result, many of the people were brought off from their ancestral lands, and sent into exile in far-off lands, while foreigners were brought to settle in the lands once settled by the people of God. The same fate would eventually befall the southern kingdom of Judah as well, because the people also continued to sin and disobey against God. But God did not abandon His people, and instead He reassured them through His prophets that He would be with them.

He sent His prophets like Isaiah and many others to remind the people of His constant love and the Covenant that He had made with them. He has shown them the path to salvation and righteousness as He had always done again and again, which culminated with the sending of Christ, His only begotten Son, into this world. By this action, He has given us the means to enter into the joy and glory of eternal life together with Him, that is through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

What we have heard today in our Gospel passage today is the affirmation of this truth, as spoken by the Lord Himself, as He revealed what He would do for our sake. Through Him, the Son of God and the Divine Word Incarnate, the Lord willed and wanted to be reconciled with us, and He came bearing the salvation of God and also the reminder that unless we are reconciled with Him, or if we reject His generous offer of mercy and love, then we will be judged and condemned by our own sins and wickedness.

Those who side with the Lord and accept His love and mercy shall have eternal life. But those who walked away from the Lord and refused to be reconciled with Him will have nothing but eternity of suffering and damnation in hell. We have always been given many opportunities to return to the Lord and to be reconciled with Him, but more often than not we have squandered off these opportunities because we still remained firmly attached to the path of sin. We were often unable to resist the many temptations of sin and therefore we still continue to walk down this ruinous path.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, having been constantly reminded of our predicament and what awaits us in the end should we choose to remain in this path. Do we want this to happen to us? Surely not right? That is why this Lenten season we are given yet more opportunities and reminders to return to the Lord with contrite heart desiring His forgiveness and to turn our way of life and outlook that we no longer walk in the path of evil and instead do whatever God has called and commanded us to do, to be righteous and just as His disciples and followers, to be exemplary in our way of life, in all things we say and do.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our respective journey of faith, and may He empower us all to live ever more worthily of His presence from now on, if we have not yet done so. Let us consciously reject the temptations to sin, and strive to live a good and worthy life at all times. May God bless us all and our every actions, so that we may always strive to glorify Him by those same actions and deeds. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 March 2022 : 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, 30 March 2022 : 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.