Weekday Homily

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Thursday, 2 April 2026 : Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on this evening all of us are gathered together as the whole Church to commemorate the beginning of Easter or Paschal Triduum with this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, marking the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ had the last meal with His disciples just before the beginning of His Passion, which refers to His suffering and death. This night as we gather together as the Church, all of us remember that night when the Lord gathered His disciples to eat the Passover meal with them, and in that occasion, He also gave them the new mandate and commandment, which is why today is also known as Maundy Thursday, for this new ‘Mandatum’ that He told all of His disciples to do, to be servants and ministers of the people of God, and also to obey God’s will. In that same occasion therefore, the Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist and also the institution of priesthood.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the account of the Exodus of the Israelites from the land of Egypt was read, and how the Lord instructed His people to have their very first Passover in the land of Egypt, marking the moment when the Lord brought His tenth and final plague against the Egyptians and their Pharaoh for their stubbornness and refusal to let the people of Israel go free. The Lord therefore sent His greatest plague upon the Egyptians, that He would kill all of their firstborn, from the Pharaoh’s firstborn right down to that of the lowest among the Egyptians. But the same plague of death did not affect the Israelites for God has ‘passed over’ them and their houses, because they followed the Lord’s instruction, for them to prepare an unblemished lamb, and then mark their houses with the blood from that slaughtered lamb, and which meat was eaten by the families on that Passover night.

We may wonder why this particular reading from the first Passover in Egypt was read as our first reading today, but this in fact highlighted the clear link and parallel between the original Passover that were celebrated each year afterwards as the Jewish Passover or the Seder, and the new Passover, our Christian Passover that superseded the old Passover, revealing the true intention of the Lord for us all. That is because just as the Lord has rescued His people Israel from their enslavement in the land of Egypt, from the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh in the original Passover, and thus, the new, Christian Passover is the representation of God’s desire to rescue all of His people, and not just the Israelites, from the tyranny of sin, and from their enslavement to sin and death. The first Passover was the precursor and prefigurement of the Lord’s grand plan of salvation for all of us mankind.

If we look at the Passover of the Israelites, the Lord instructed them all to choose an unblemished young lamb to be slaughtered and then its blood to be painted upon the doors of their houses, to mark those houses so that the Angels of the Lord would ‘pass over’ them as they scourged the whole land of Egypt and destroyed all the firstborn of the Egyptians. In the same way therefore, the Lord has sent us all His own Son, to be the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, the most worthy of all offerings and sacrifices, far surpassing the offering of worldly lambs and animals, and One Who is truly spotless and blameless, all perfection and good within Him. Then, just as the Passover lamb was kept and prepared and eventually slaughtered on the day of the Passover, the same thing happened to the Lord, the Paschal Lamb, Who embarked on His own Passover journey, becoming the One to be slaughtered and at the same time also as the One Who offered on behalf of everyone, the perfect and worthy offering to God.

In the Last Supper, as we heard from our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, we listened to how the Lord conducted the Passover meal in a most curious and distinct way. That Last Supper was indeed a Passover meal structured around the Jewish Passover, as it was mentioned that the Lord wanted to have a Passover meal with His disciples, but what is interesting is that, if we notice, unlike the central presence of the Passover lamb in the usual Jewish Passover, as we heard from our reading from the Book of Exodus, at the Last Supper, the Passover lamb was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the Lord Himself took the centre stage, and as He prayed and broke the bread over His disciples, He passed the bread to them while telling them that the bread is His Body, broken and shared for them to partake and eat. He did the same with the wine, which He passed to them as the chalice of His Blood, shared and outpoured for them to drink and partake as well.

Obviously, as we can see, the Lord Himself is the Paschal Lamb, Who was to be offered and slaughtered at the Altar of His Cross. However, at the time of the Last Supper, no one present except the Lord Himself could have understood what was happening. It was likely only afterwards that the Lord’s disciples realised everything that had happened, and how all that He had done at the Last Supper was a revelation of what He Himself would have to suffer on the next day after on Good Friday. Then, if we look upon the events of the Easter Triduum, what many of us might not have realised is that, everything that happened is one great liturgy and celebration, of the great Sacrifice that Our Lord offered on our behalf, as the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, offered and slaughtered on the moment of His Passion at Calvary. His broken and shared Body and Blood, have been broken and outpoured for our salvation. That is why, the Church does not celebrate any Mass on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, with tonight’s Mass being the same sacrifice that encompass the whole of Easter Triduum.

Historically, the Last Supper was also known as an incomplete Passover, as according to the Jewish customs, there are four cups of wine that ought to be drunk at the occasion of the Passover. However, according to the Apostolic tradition, Scriptural and historical evidence, the Lord and some of His disciples, St. Peter, St. James and St. John left for the Gardens of Gethsemane, where the Lord Jesus prayed in agony in tears and sweat of Blood as He agonised over all the sufferings and hardships that He would have to endure very soon. But the Passover meal was not yet complete, and this is another hint that, what the Lord would have to go through in His Passion, is part of the whole entire Passover, the moment when He offered Himself, His Most Precious Body and His Most Precious Blood, for the salvation of all mankind, for the atonement and the reconciliation of all of us with God, His Heavenly Father, Who is our Lord, Master and Creator.

That is why, tonight, as all of us gather together to commemorate that night when the Lord embarked on His Passion, beginning with the final and most important phase in His mission to save all of us from eternal damnation and destruction, we are all reminded of God’s most amazing and enduring love for each and every one of us, which He has shown to us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We remember that moment when the Lord instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, offering Himself, His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood freely and willingly for our sake. By His sharing of His Body and Blood, and by our partaking in the Eucharist, the Lord has united us all to Himself, and by embracing us fully and wholeheartedly, taking up upon Himself all of our sins and faults, He has opened for us the gates of eternal life, freedom and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. That is because if the blood of the Passover lamb had marked the Israelites as a people free from the enslavement and domination of the Egyptians, thus, all of us, who have been marked by the Blood of the Lamb of God, through the Eucharist, have received the mark from the Lord, the mark of salvation and freedom from sin.

Now, what all of us need to ask ourselves is that, do we heed what the Lord Himself has told His disciples, as we heard in our Gospel passage today. As we heard how the Lord humbled Himself and went to wash the feet of His disciples, the job usually done by slaves and servants, He has shown us all what each and every one of us as Christians should be doing in our lives. As those whom God had called and chosen from the darkness of this world, and freed from the tyranny of sin, all of us are called to a new existence, one that is blessed and graced by God. Tonight’s celebration is a reminder that as we enter into this most solemn and holy period in which we recall everything that God Himself had done for us, from His ever enduring and great love, all of us should dedicate ourselves to the Lord anew, to follow Him and obey Him, His Law and commandments just as He had told His disciples to do.

As He ‘mandated’ for them to do, all of us are called to live our lives worthily and virtuously as all Christians should, and each one of us are reminded that we should not seek personal glory and gratification, but instead be focused on the Lord and be like Him in how He loved His Father and each one of us, in His humility and commitment to us, so that all of us may also be like Him, and be good role models and examples of faith to one another. All of us have been given the great gift and grace from God Himself, Who has willingly offered and sacrificed Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, so that we may be fully and completely reconciled with God, and find the sure path to eternal life and true joy with Him. Let us all therefore discern these carefully, particularly as we enter into this Easter Triduum and deepen our focus on the Lord Jesus, His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, all for our sake.

Let us also remember that it is our Christian calling to love God and love one another, especially those who are dearest and most beloved to us, so that in everything that we do, we will always remember first and foremost how truly beloved each and every one of us are by the Lord, and therefore love Him wholeheartedly in the same way. But this love is incomplete without us showing that same love, compassion and kindness to each other, just as the Lord Himself showed His disciples through Him washing their feet. This is a reminder to all of us to be humble and to show genuine care and concern to one another, swallowing our pride and ego, in serving each other, especially those dearly beloved to us, in giving ourselves, our time and attention just as we do the same to the Lord. It is by loving one another that we can truly love God ever more perfectly and experience His love more perfectly too.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour continue to be with us, guiding us and strengthening us in our journey of faith, so that our every experiences and moments, especially during this Holy Week and Easter Triduum, be most enriching and inspirational, in allowing us to come ever closer to Him and to His salvation. May God be with us always and may He bless our days, our Easter Triduum, the upcoming Easter season and our lives beyond. May He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and bless our loved ones all around us. Wishing all of us a most blessed Easter Triduum, brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 April 2026 : Holy Thursday, Chrism Mass (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this occasion today, which is typically celebrated in the morning of Holy Thursday just before the beginning of the most solemn Easter Triduum, the Church all around the world usually celebrates the Chrism Mass, in which the holy oils to be used in the various purposes in the life of the Church are blessed and sanctified, and the bishop of the diocese together with all the priests of the diocese together commit themselves anew to the Lord, in their priestly ministry, in ministering to the people of God, the flock of the Lord. In this morning’s Mass, the whole Church gathers together in prayer, united with the whole presbyterate and the bishop, in recalling the ministry of priesthood that Christ our Lord Himself has instituted on this day at the Last Supper that He had with His disciples.

In our first reading and Gospel passage today, we heard the passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord proclaimed His salvation and the coming of His grace and love into our midst, as He reassured all of His beloved people that He always remembers them, and He will never abandon any of them, as well as any of us, at any time, since He truly loves us all, and He wants us to be saved and be reconciled with Him. That was why, He revealed through the prophet Isaiah and His many other prophets and messengers, that He will send unto us His Holy One, His Messiah and Saviour, the One Who in our Gospel passage today, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man proclaimed before all the assembled people, that everything which God had promised them and their ancestors, all had become true and been fulfilled with His coming, Him being the Messiah long awaited.

Then, in the same readings we have also heard how this Holy One of God came unto us to bring us healing from God, healing for those who were sick and afflicted by various maladies and hardships, consolation and strength for those who were grieving and without hope, as well as the comfort of His truth and love, opening the eyes of the blind, both of our physical eyes and also for all those who are physically fit, the ‘eyes’ of our hearts and minds, that we all may see and recognise the truth of God. That was what the Lord Jesus has been tasked to do by His Heavenly Father, to be the One to bring the love, grace and salvation from God to His people, to be the Bridge that connects us all back to our loving God and Creator. And it is this same mission which the Lord then transmitted to His Apostles, Whom He appointed as the first priests of the Church, to be the servants of God forever.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is what the calling of a priest of the Lord is like, and as today all the priests of the dioceses in the world come together with their respective bishops, to renew their commitment and dedication to the service of God, all of them are reminded to follow the Lord more wholeheartedly and to remember that each and every one of them are truly the representatives of Our Lord Jesus Christ, first of all as the shepherds of the people of God, and during the celebration of the Holy Mass, as the representatives ‘in persona Christi’, acting in the person of the Lord Himself, in consecrating the bread and wine, offering them to the Lord and uniting them to the same Sacrifice made by the Lord on His Cross at Calvary, becoming the Lord’s own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, broken and outpoured unto us all, all of us who partake in His Covenant and His Most Holy Eucharist, the greatest gift that the Lord has given us.

All the priests of the Lord have given themselves and committed themselves to a life of sanctity and celibacy, dedicated completely to the Lord and to the service of His people, and they are all facing a lot of challenges and hardships, which only become more and more in these days, as many trials and attacks face our priests. Yet, despite all of these, they still have to continue to minister to the people of God, caring for them and giving them the guidance that they all needed, so that they may find their way to the Lord, their Chief Shepherd and Saviour. And all these are related to the holy oils that are being blessed in this Chrism Mass happening now as well. Those holy oils are used in many important and integral aspects of our Christian faith, and the priests are charged with the dutiful application of these oils in the many different stages of the lives of those of the faithful people of God, from their birth, right down to the end of their earthly lives.

There are three holy oils in total, namely the Oil of the Catechumens also known as Oleum Catechumenorum, the Sacred Chrism also known as Sanctum Chrisma, and the Oil of the Sick also known as Oleum Infirmorum. Each of these holy oils are important in the life journey of Christians, as the Oil of the Catechumens are used to anoint Catechumens who are preparing themselves to become Christians, in an occasion prior to their baptism. Oil of the Sick by its name, is used to anoint those who are gravely ill and sick, and are usually in the danger of death, as part of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, one of the Church’s seven Sacraments. Meanwhile, Sacred Chrism is used most extensively, in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, as well as in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, in the dedication of churches and Altars, among many other uses. All of these are blessed today by the diocesan bishop, to be used for the good of the Church and the flock of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather together as the whole Universal Church today, united with the bishops and their priests all around the world, let us all unite our prayers and renew our support for all those who have dedicated themselves to God. Our priests have dedicated their whole lives to the Lord and committed themselves, and they face many struggles and hardships, and are in need of the support of the whole Universal Church. We must remember that every members of the Church and the faithful have to be active partakers of the works and the actions of the Church. The bishops, priests and deacons, the ordained members of the Church cannot be the only ones who carry out the works of the Lord and obey God’s will, as each and every one of us are part of the same Church, the same Body of Christ, and hence, have a part to play in the works of the Church, in whatever missions that God has entrusted to each and every one of us.

Let us hence pray for our priests, for the bishops and all those who have been ordained for a specific ministry in the Church, so that the Lord may continue to guide and strengthen them, to resist the many temptations, pressures, coercions, and to endure trials and hardships all around them. Let us all pray for the sanctification of our ordained ministers, that they all may continue to serve the Lord and His people with all of their hearts and minds, and with particular attention to sanctity and purity in their lives and actions. May the Lord continue to bless His Church and all of us, His beloved people, and especially our priests, whom we remember today. May God bless us always, in our every good efforts and deeds, and may He particularly bless our upcoming Easter Triduum observances and commemorations. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 April 2026 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all about to enter into the time of Holy Week, we are reminded that  today as we come ever closer to the beginning of the Easter Triduum and commemorating the most important events in the whole entire liturgical year, all of us are reminded yet again of everything that the Lord had done for each and every one of us, in all the things He had endured for our sake, the sufferings, trials and hardships that He had to face, all so that we can be saved and liberated from the tyranny and dominion of sin. He has reached out to us and touched us, offering His most generous love and mercy so that by His compassion, all of us may find the sure path and the guarantee of eternal glory with Him. God loves each one of us and He does not want to be lost from Him. This is why we commemorate this most holy and blessed of all weeks, remembering what God had done for us out of His enduring and most supreme love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the continuation of the discourse on the suffering of the Holy Servant of God Whom He had sent into our midst, to bear the brunt of the punishments and the rejection that this One would have to face as He carried out dutifully in obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father. God has sent unto us His Son, incarnate in the flesh and born as the Son of Man, so that by His sufferings, His pains and hardships, and by the wounds and hurts, all of us have received healing and forgiveness, mercy and reconciliation with God, our loving Father and Creator. He has willingly done this because He truly loves each one of us so greatly, as our loving Shepherd, reaching out to us, His lost sheep, so that by laying down His life for us, He may raise us up to eternal life.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, which had been building up as we heard the past two days of Gospel passages from Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday. That is why this day is also known as Spy Wednesday, denoting and remembering the moment when Judas Iscariot, the traitor, went behind the back of the Lord and His disciples, to betray Him to the hands of the chief priests and all the other enemies of the Lord. He sold his own Lord and Master for a mere sum of thirty pieces of silver, which symbolically was also back then the typical price of a slave in the market. Blinded by his own greed and human desires and arrogance, Judas allowed Satan to enter into our hearts and to do what was truly abhorrent, betraying the very One Who has called Him to be His disciple and abandoning Him for the pursuit of worldly glory and temptations.

If we remember the background and the story of Judas Iscariot, such an action was truly not entirely unexpected at all, since we all have heard that Judas Iscariot had often been dishonest and whose way of thinking and beliefs were often at odds with the Lord. According to the Apostolic traditions and history, Judas Iscariot had often stolen and appropriated the common funds the Lord’s group for his own selfish use, enriching himself with the money and things that were not his own. He must indeed have been a smart and intelligent man, for having been entrusted with the group’s finances. Unfortunately, he allowed his desires for power, glory, material wealth and more to cloud his judgment and to tempt him, leading to him being misguided by Satan into committing a most great and heinous act of rebellion and sin against God, in abandoning and betraying Him for monetary gains.

Yet, as I have mentioned yesterday earlier on, it may indeed be very easy for us to point fingers at Judas Iscariot and heap all the blame and condemnation on him, for his heinous and wicked actions especially in betraying the Lord. However, the actions of Judas Iscariot should in fact be a reminder for us of our own lack of faith, vulnerabilities to sin, inability to resist the many temptations of the world, the challenges and hardships we often face in encountering various forms of temptations and persuasions, coercions and pressures from many quarters, trying to lead us down the path of disobedience and rebellion against the Lord, much as Judas Iscariot himself had done. Before we conveniently just blame Judas Iscariot for everything that happened back then, we have to realise that in our own daily living, we have often also done what Judas himself had done.

Every time we commit sins against the Lord, be it small or significant, trivial or substantial, we have in fact betrayed the Lord and abandoned Him for the sins and whatever it is that we prioritised instead of fully obeying God’s Law and commandments. That is why, the example of Judas Iscariot and everything that he had committed should be something for us to carefully reflect on as we live our lives in this world, so that we do not end up falling into the same temptations that had brought him down, and led him to commit such a terrible act. Not only that, but as we all know how Judas Iscariot then responded to his action, by killing himself in regret, instead of entrusting himself to God’s forgiveness and mercy, all of us are called to remember that each and every one of us have the capacity for repentance and reconciliation with God just as much as we have the capacity to sin against God.

In the same way, we are also reminded in how we live our daily lives as Christians in this world, in how we love and treat one another around us. For we are all called to love God and love others equally, generously and sincerely at all times. If we love God, and yet, in our actions, we have caused hurt to others by betraying them, gossiping about them, backstabbing them for our own benefits, and by neglecting to show care and love towards them, especially more so to those whom we love the most and vice versa, then are we not just like Judas himself, who had betrayed one of those closest to Him? Judas had a choice, and yet, he chose money and worldly comfort over loyalty and love to those who are dear to him. Let that not be our choice of action as well, brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are about to enter very soon into the time of Easter Triduum, beginning tomorrow on Holy Thursday, let us all do whatever we can to reflect upon the things that the Lord has done to us, all the love, mercy and compassion that He has shown to all of us, so that although we are all sinners, wicked and evil in our words, actions and deeds, but through what He Himself had done for our sake, God had given us a certain path towards reconciliation with Him. That is why we should reflect on our often sinful and rebellious way of life so that we do not end up losing our way and committing the same things that Judas Iscariot had done. We are all called and reminded to focus our attention once again to the Lord, and remember everything that He had gone through for us, in His most loving embrace, and in reaching out to us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

May the Lord, our most loving, compassionate and merciful God continue to help and strengthen us all amidst all the challenges, darkness and difficulties surrounding us. Throughout this time of the Holy Week, may He continue to guide us through the various events and moments we commemorate surrounding the Passion of the Lord, Our Saviour, in everything that He had to undergo, all the sufferings, humiliations and hardships He had to face for us out of His ever enduring Love towards us. Let us all remember that our own sufferings are always united to His, and He will always be with us, journeying by our side, even through the greatest darkness. Let us always have hope in Him and trust in Him at all times. Amen.

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Tuesday, 31 March 2026 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded today as we continue to approach the time of the Easter or Paschal Triduum ever closer now, of the coming events that we are going to commemorate during that most solemn period, remembering how God manifested His love most perfectly to us through His most Beloved and only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, through Whom we have seen the love of God, our heavenly Father, Who has always patiently reached out to us in love, generously providing us all the sure pathway to salvation and eternal life, by nothing less than the breaking of the Body and the outpouring of the Blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Himself, Whose sufferings and death on the Cross is at the centre and focus of our entire Paschal Triduum.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the continuation of the Lord’s prophecy and words to His people through the prophet Isaiah, in which He proclaimed His salvation to His people and to all the nations, through the Saviour Whom He would one day send into this world to bring about deliverance for all of us away from our sins and the darkness surrounding us. And this Saviour is none other than the Lord Himself, the Divine Word of God, the Logos, incarnate in the flesh, making tangible and real, approachable and direct, His Love being manifested perfectly towards us. Through Him, we have received the promise and the fulfilment of everything which the Lord had reassured us all throughout time.

We heard how the Lord promised His people that they would no longer be scattered all around the world and be separated from the love and grace of God. They would once again be reunited as one people, blessed by God and brought under His light once more. They and their ancestors might have erred and committed sins against God, but God’s mercy and love are greater than His anger towards them and their waywardness. And He is always ever ready to welcome them all back to His loving Presence, to heal them all and to make them whole once again, that everyone will truly know that they belong to God. And this is the same promise that God has also shown towards us as well, and we are therefore reminded of this today that we may continue to have hope in the Lord, in His constant love and providence.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the upcoming betrayal of Judas Iscariot just as it was narrated to us, from the perspective of the Lord and His Twelve disciples at the time of the Last Supper just right before He began His Passion in Jerusalem. We heard how the Lord knew that one of His closest disciples would betray Him, and He knew exactly who that person was, and told everyone about everything that would happen, just as He had foretold to them before. It was at this moment that, as we heard, Judas Iscariot, did exactly as the Lord had told the traitor would do, and yet, everyone were still unaware of the fact. The Lord, knowing exactly what would happen and what would happen to Him, told Judas to do what he must do.

We also then heard in that same passage how the Lord also predicted that the Twelve would be scattered when the enemy were to strike at Him, their Master. Despite the protests from the disciples and especially from St. Peter, who boldly and loudly proclaimed his faith and steadfastness before everyone and the Lord Himself, the Lord told Peter of what would happen to him that very night, how he would deny the very same Lord whom he proclaimed that he would give up his life and die for. The Lord told all these to Peter and the other disciples, reminding them all of the dangers of fear and hopelessness amidst darkness and despair, and how they all should still hold on to faith and hope in Him, regardless of whatever that happened. For hope in God is more powerful than even the greatest darkness.

It is indeed easy for all of us Christians living in this world today, in our various capacities and areas of responsibilities to be facing lots of difficulties and challenges, daily and at every moments. And not only that, but we may realise that often, what makes things even more difficult for us is the fact that those who made these things challenging and difficult for us may even be fellow Christians and those who are close to us, like our friends and members of our own families. Like Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his own Master, the One whom he had been working with closely for few years, we too can face betrayal, hardships and trials even from those closest to us, and this can, and have been proven many times, cause scandal, hurt and evil things to surround us. This is where it is important for us to continue to hold on to hope in the Lord, knowing that in His Love and Providence, God will always be with us, and He always provides.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to these words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that despite all the uncertainties, fears, hardships, struggles and challenges that we may be facing in our respective journeys and paths, we must not lose hope in the Lord, and we must continue to put our trust and hope in Him, keep moving forward with faith and courage no matter what. We must listen to the Lord and know what is His will for us, trusting in Him that He will make a way even when things are really difficult and challenging for us, and even when things seem to be impossible. For with the Lord, nothing is truly impossible, and even in the greatest moment of our sufferings, God can transform that to the greatest triumph in a single moment. Never lose hope in the Lord, never.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us in our resolve to walk ever more courageously and faithfully at all times, doing our best to glorify Him by our every actions, attitudes and conduct, so that through every moments, everything that we do, we will draw ever closer to Him and be ever greater and better examples for everyone around us. May God be glorified through us and may He continue to strengthen our faith, each and every moments of our lives. May our Holy Week observances be truly good and fruitful too. Amen.

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Monday, 30 March 2026 : Monday of Holy Week (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all progress through this sacred time of this Holy Week, approaching the pinnacle of our whole entire liturgical year, we are all invited to focus our attention ever more and ever deeper in appreciating all that the Lord Himself has done for us in loving us all, the ultimate proof and evidence of which is what He had done for our salvation, in taking up willingly upon Himself and bearing on His own shoulders the combined weight of all of our sins, our faults and mistakes, everything that we should have suffered and endured by our disobedience and sins. And yet, through His infinite love and mercy, God has shown us all His redemption and ever enduring Love manifested to us in Christ His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke about the coming of the One that He had prepared for the salvation of the world and of His beloved people. This prophecy can and has indeed been interpreted and linked to the coming of the Messiah Himself, or that of His messenger and herald, none other than St. John the Baptist. In both cases, they have been prepared since before they were even conceived, with St. John the Baptist miraculously being conceived in the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had been barren for a long time, while the Lord Jesus Himself was conceived without man’s interference, by the will of God the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit in His mother, Mary.

However, reading closely through the passage of this prophecy, we can see that this is specifically referring to what the Lord would do through His Passion, referring to His suffering, all the persecutions, humiliations that He would endure for our salvation, the mockery, opposition, hatred and all that He would receive amidst His Passion, all of which had been foretold by the prophets especially that of Isaiah just as we heard in our first reading today. This description of the Suffering Servant or the Suffering Messiah actually clashed and contradicted what was common in the understanding among the people of God, in their expectations on what the Messiah would be like. They thought that the Messiah would be the One to restore the Kingdom of Israel and liberate them from their enemies and oppressors.

That was why the Lord Jesus and His mission, and what would eventually happen to Him became an enigma to many among the Jewish people, especially to their leaders, the Pharisees and the chief priests, the members of the Sanhedrin and others who were more concerned about their worldly status and prestige, worrying about would happen should the Lord’s growing popularity led to the end of their privileged status among the community of God’s people and the status quo that they had been enjoying under the rule of the Romans and the kings they placed to rule them, the family members of Herod. It was from this opposition and refusals to follow what the Lord had intended, that led to them persecuting the Lord and fulfilling what the Lord Himself had promised through Isaiah.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we are all reminded by the Lord Himself that we should not be hypocrites in our faith and way of life, and we should not forget to show love towards the Lord and towards one another, and not merely putting our focus and attention on one or the other. As true and genuine Christians, each and every one of us are called to heed the words of the Lord as we heard in that Gospel passage today, reminding us all to be humble and generous in loving God and others, as He Himself has taught us to, and not to be like traitor Judas Iscariot, who was a hypocrite, prideful and haughty, in looking down on the actions of others done in love.

As we heard, Mary, also known as Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, took a jar of pure nard, an expensive perfume and anointed the Lord’s feet with it, and then with her tears and hair, she dried the Lord’s feet, something that immediately brought criticism and condemnation from Judas Iscariot, one of the Lord’s inner circle and member of the Twelve. And we heard how this same Judas, the one who would come to betray the Lord just a few days later after this occasion, was in fact a thief, a liar and a hypocrite, as he often helped himself to the common fund that he managed for the Lord and His disciples. Therefore, whatever he said to Mary regarding wastefulness and how the perfume could have been sold to give the proceeds to the poor was no less than pure hypocrisy, and can even be surmised as having risen from greed.

That is because he could have then taken even more from the proceeds and the common fund, and for a greedy man like him, Judas could not understand and appreciate the actions of Mary. But Mary showed us all the great example of obedience and humility, humbling herself and even using her own hair, which has always been considered as a woman’s crown of beauty and glory, to wipe the Lord’s feet, the part of the human body which is often considered as the dirtiest and most disgusting, and hence, it was a tremendous act of humility and love for Mary to do such a thing before everyone to see, in showing her love and gratitude towards the Lord for His kindness, compassion and mercy. Let us also not forget that this is the same Mary whose brother Lazarus had died and then the Lord resurrected him from the dead.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together to reflect upon the message of this Word of God contained within the Scriptures, let us all therefore reflect carefully on what we have just received, remembering the great love which God had given us through His most Beloved and only Begotten Son, so that by examining and reflecting every events that we are going to celebrate in this upcoming period of Holy Week and then Easter, we can truly carry on living our lives with genuine faith and not merely paying lip service to the Lord, or merely going through the motion in how we observe the Law and commandments of God. We should be truly sincere in living our faith and become good role models and examples to everyone around us. Let us all be humble and remember that each and every one of us are equally sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness, instead of looking down on others.

May the Lord our most loving God, our most compassionate and merciful Saviour continue to help us persevere and remain strong throughout this journey of faith and life, as we continue to progress through this time of Holy Week, the upcoming joyful and glorious season of Easter and beyond, so that in our every efforts, endeavours and all the things we do in love, in showing genuine care and concern for everyone around us, in manifesting God’s love ever more perfectly in this world we may truly be genuine, faithful and good Christians, exemplary in our every deeds, following the examples of Mary who anointed the feet of the Lord, in showing love both for God and for others around us, especially to those dearly beloved to us and to others who need our love too. May God bless all of us and remain with us always. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 March 2026 : Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord marks the beginning of the Holy Week and the entry into this most solemn and important period of time when we commemorate the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, the moment when He suffered for us all, bearing all the burdens of our sins and mistakes, our faults and iniquities, all the wickedness and evils we have committed, so that by His most generous and selfless love, shown to us in His loving sacrifice on the Cross, all of us may be saved and be brought into the assurance of eternal life and glory with Him. The Lord has willingly done all of these, in obedience to the will of His heavenly Father so that by His sacrifice offered most worthily on our behalf, each and every one of us may find the path to eternal life by the full reconciliation and the New and Eternal Covenant that He made, as our Eternal High Priest, all of which we commemorate during this most Holy Week.

In our Gospel reading today, which was read at the beginning of the Holy Mass, we heard the passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew detailing the time when the Lord was about to enter into the city of Jerusalem for His upcoming Passion as we all certainly well know of, that moment when the Lord rode on a donkey and welcomed into the city of Jerusalem with the people waving palm branches and putting their clothes for Him to pass through, as if He is the King that came in glory to enter into His City. This is why we call this Sunday’s celebration as Palm Sunday in the first place. It marks first of all the commemoration of the glorious entry of the King of Kings and the rightful King of Israel, the Son and Heir of David, entering into the City of His glorious inheritance and dominion, as the Lord has revealed in advance through His prophets and messengers, like that of the prophet Zechariah, who prophesied that the King and Messiah would come to His City riding on a humble donkey.

All of that had been fulfilled in the actions of the Lord Jesus that day, Who chose a donkey with its colt, or its young one, which had not borne any burden before. The donkey that had been tied on the pole itself is rich in symbolism, as it represents the first-called among God’s people, the Israelites, that had been burdened by many of the sins of their ancestors and by their enslavement in the hands of many rulers and oppressors, and the Lord freeing the donkey from its bondage has the symbolic meaning of His coming that is meant to bring true freedom to the people of God, beginning with the descendants of Israel, and then the colt, which represents the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people, who followed along as the Lord rode on the donkey, representing His dominion and rule over not only the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites, but also over the Gentiles and hence over the whole world. His Kingship is Universal and inclusive, and all encompassing instead of just ruling over the Jewish people only.

Then, there is the symbolism of the donkey itself, as a humble beast of burden typically used as the means to carry the weight of cargo and objects that were not usually meant for carrying a human being, less so for One Who is a King, and less still supposedly for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the King of all the whole Universe, coming upon His City and people. Yet, the fact that the Lord rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey and not on a mighty warhorse or other extravagant rides that other worldly rulers often rode on, highlighted the true nature of His Kingship and His mission in this world. He did not come to this world to conquer and to destroy, unlike what earthly and worldly kings usually do, and He did not come to lead His people in a war of liberation and resistance against the Romans or any others, unlike what many of the Jewish people in the past often mistakenly believed.

Instead, He came into this world and into our midst to bring His Peace upon us, to show us the love that He has always had for us from the very beginning, real and tangible in the flesh. He came into this world to serve and not to be served, to reach out to the least amongst us, and to every single one of us without exception. He does not discriminate against us, and He wants each and every one of us to be reconciled with Him, and that is why He came into our midst, to dwell and walk amongst us, and to show us His most generous love, so much so that He was willing to pay the ultimate price in order to do so. And that leads us to the second part of our celebration today, that as we proceed triumphantly with Christ to the Altar, entering with Him to the Holy City of Jerusalem, we then enter into a new phase of this Sunday’s events, as we remember what would take place within merely days after that glorious event.

That is when we remember how it was likely that many of the same people who have cried out with great joy and enthusiasm, ‘Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord’, were the same ones who later on cried out on Good Friday, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ and ‘We have no King but Caesar!’. Through that we can see just how the mood and the attitude of the people so quickly changed within just a matter of a few days, from one of jubilation and adoration to one of disgust and rejection. No doubt that there must have been some coercion, persuasion and jockeying going around back then, as the members of the Jewish High Council or the Sanhedrin, which were mostly against the Lord and some were even openly hostile, must have encouraged, coerced and persuaded many of the people that the Lord Jesus was the False Messiah and a traitor to the Jewish nation and people, for His supposedly blasphemous teaching and actions against God.

All of these had been predicted beforehand by God Himself as He revealed it through His prophets, in what we heard from our first reading today, as we progress from the glorious procession of palms into Jerusalem towards the true nature of our Lord’s ministry and what He would do for each and every one of us. The prophet Isaiah spoke curiously on the Suffering Servant, the One Whom God would send to be with His people, and how this Servant of God would suffer and endure grievous beating and hardships, torture and trials, as He obeyed perfectly the will of the One Who had sent Him to us. He would be humiliated and made to suffer for the sins of the people of God, a reading that we shall further explore on Good Friday, in which that passage refer to the same Servant, Who would be lifted up high and exalted, that by His wounds and stripes, all of us would be healed, a clear reference to what the Lord Jesus Himself would do for our sake.

We heard how the Lord humbled Himself and emptied Himself of all glory, as we heard from our second reading passage from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi. The Apostle St. Paul spoke of how the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, obeyed His Father’s will so perfectly, and humbled Himself such that He was willing to endure a most humiliating and painful death on the Cross, so that by His most selfless offering of Himself, and by His obedience, He became the Source of Hope and Salvation for all of us mankind, for the whole entire world. Through Christ, all of us have become sharers and partakers in the New and Eternal Covenant that He has established with all of us, as He is the Mediator of this Covenant, through which He has brought us into full reconciliation between us and the Lord God, our loving Father and Creator.

This is what we have essentially heard through the long Passion narrative this Sunday, reminding us all of everything that Our Lord had done for our sake, in Him enduring the worst of punishments for us. He has not ignored or abandoned our plight and suffering, and by His ever enduring love and compassion towards us, He willingly took upon His shoulders and embraced us fully, and in His sharing of our human nature and existence, He took it upon Himself to offer on our behalf a most worthy offering, the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, as the Paschal Lamb of God, crushed and sacrificed for us, that He offered Himself on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary, He brought upon us the certainty of salvation and eternal life. All of us who believe in Him and in the truth that He has revealed to us, will receive from Him the gift of everlasting grace and life.

Thus, this Sunday as we mark the beginning of this most Holy Week, the Week celebrating and commemorating the most important events in the history of our salvation, let us all therefore immerse ourselves more deeply into the Lord’s Passion and all that He had done for us, as we remember how He began the final week of His most important mission, that is to offer and sacrifice Himself for our sake. Let us all remember the actions of our great and most loving King, Who has come into our midst to be with us, and to redeem all of us. Let us remember how He came humbly riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, hailed and adored by the people only to be cast out and rejected just barely a few days later, betrayed by His own disciple and condemned to death for sins and faults that He Himself did not commit. Yet, He had borne all of that upon Himself because He loves each and every one of us, and He wanted that by His selfless offering and sacrifice, and by His suffering and death, all of us may be saved, and has sure path to eternal life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we enter into this most solemn and important week, the holiest of all the weeks of the whole entire year, let us all spend some time to reflect on our Lenten journey thus far and how we have lived our lives in this world. Lent is a time for us to rediscover our true path in life towards God and to recalibrate and reconnect ourselves with God and His path especially if we have erred and wandered down the wrong path. And as we enter into this Holy Week of Our Lord’s Passion, each one of us are called to remind ourselves why our Lord has done all these for us, and that again, first of all, is because of His love for us. We have sinned against the Lord, and we should have deserved damnation and destruction for our faults and sins, and yet, God willingly came to us, and through His Passion, He showed us the path to a new life with Him, and by His sufferings, He shouldered the punishments of our own sins meant for us.

Let us all remember how God has been so patient with us and how much He has loved us, that He came into our midst to live amongst us and to suffer with us and for us. Let us all no longer harden our hearts and minds, and be no longer stubborn as many of our predecessors who have frequently and constantly rejected the Lord and His generous offer of love and mercy. Let us all look upon the Crucified Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and see His loving gaze, ever always directed at us, so that we may indeed be ashamed by our many sins and wrongdoings, all of which had inflicted the many injuries and wounds that He had to painfully bear for our sake, and yet which He bore willingly and lovingly nonetheless because He truly and really loves us very much. Therefore, let us all deepen our appreciation of everything that Our Lord and Saviour had done for us, and deepen our relationship with Him.

May the Lord, our King and Saviour, our High Priest and our Paschal Lamb, He Who has done so much for us for our salvation, continue to be with us and guide us patiently as He has always done, so that we may grow ever more in faith in Him, and learn to love Him more and more, especially as we enter into this time of most solemn commemoration of His Passion, His suffering and death during this Holy Week and the upcoming Easter Triduum. Today, let us not just acclaim Him with our words and mouth only, but let us all acclaim Him from deep within our hearts. May He help us all to remain focused on Him and may He empower each every one of us so that we may persevere ever more against the many challenges, trials and temptations in life. May God bless us all in our every good works, efforts and endeavours, so that in everything we do, we may truly be ever more faithful to Him and be exemplary role models and good examples for others to follow, that through us and our actions, many more may come to believe in God and be saved. Wishing all of us a most blessed, holy and fruitful Holy Week. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 March 2026 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures and as we approach the beginning of Holy Week which will begin tomorrow with the Palm Sunday, we are reminded what it is again that we are truly commemorating and marking during this upcoming Holy Week, which is focusing our attention on everything that the Lord had done for our salvation, His faithfulness to the Covenant which He had made with us, His beloved people, the promises that He has constantly repeated and reassured to us and our predecessors. And He bas fulfilled everything perfectly, even to the point of sending His own Beloved Son to us, to fully accomplish all that He had planned for the beginning of time.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the words of the Lord Himself to His people in exile in Babylon through the prophet Ezekiel who was called to minister to them there. And the Lord reassured and promised to His people that He would not leave them to suffer alone in those places of exile, and that He would gather them all back to their ancestral lands, restoring them to grace and favour once again. While those people ended up there in those places of exile because of their disobedience and therefore sins against God, but the Lord did not seek or plan to have them eradicated and destroyed on purpose, as He still loved them all, and their exile was in fact a way that the Lord had done in showing His love by chastising them from their mistakes.

Through what the Lord presented to the people by the words of the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel, God was essentially going to restore them once again to grace and greatness, which had once been lost from them due to sin. They had been divided into two kingdoms and groups opposed to each other by their and their king’s refusal to obey the Law and commandments of God, preferring and choosing to follow their own ways and worshipping the pagan idols and false gods of their neighbours instead of trusting in their Lord and God, the One Who had constantly and repeatedly shown His love and kindness, ever greater patience and compassion towards each and every one of them. He would also gather them all back from their lands of exile

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, in which we heard of the discussion and debate among the leaders of the influential Pharisees and other elders of the community, the chief priests and others who made up the members of the Sanhedrin, also known as the Jewish High Council. Those people debated about what they ought to do because the Lord Jesus kept on making miraculous signs and works among the people, and increasingly more and more people came to believe in Him, and as this happened, the members of the Jewish High Council were gradually losing their influence and prestige within the community of the people of God as the Lord often clashed with them and they themselves also stubbornly refused to listen to Him.

They thought that being those who had been charged and entrusted with the guardianship and leadership over the people of God, then they were better, superior and more worthy of God than the others, and that they could not have been wrong in how they practiced their faith and believed, in their understanding and application of the Law of God that has been revealed through Moses and passed down through the generations. This prideful attitude, haughtiness and sense of self-importance were what ultimately became the great stumbling blocks in their path to accept what the Lord had taught and shown them all through His many actions, miracles and wonders, which many of them had witnessed with their own eyes.

That was why the Lord revealed to them their insecurities and their lack of true and genuine faith, as a warning to all of us that we should also not end up walking down this same path. And yet, the Lord was still very patient in dealing with them, and He still reached out to them and forgave them their sins nonetheless, just as He had been patient with their ancestors, the people of Israel and Judah in the past. Nonetheless, as we heard, the great opposition, plots and all the things which the Lord had to endure as His ministry was coming to its climax at that time as He approached the moment of His Passion, His suffering and death, preparing all of us with these things we heard, for the coming commemorations of next week’s Holy Week.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to these words from the Sacred Scriptures and as we reflect upon their meaning and importance to us, let us all therefore ponder on our own attitudes in life, in how we have lived our lives daily, on whether we have indeed been faithful to the Lord our God, on whether we are merely paying lip service to Him, outwardly faithful but on the inside, we are truly no better than those Pharisees and the chief priests, who served primarily themselves and their agenda, their ambitions and worldly desires, instead of listening to the Lord and obeying Him and His commandments. We are reminded not to harden our hearts and be humble and open-minded instead, and put our trust and faith in the Lord more.

May the Lord, our most loving God continue to help and strengthen us all through this journey of faith and life especially during this time of Lent and as we are about to enter into the solemn time of the Holy Week starting from tomorrow. May He continue to provide us all with the courage and strength to keep on going in living our lives with faith, doing our very best so that by our examples, actions and everything that we do, we will always inspire everyone around us, in continuing to move forward in life with great faith and courage, in doing our best to glorify God by our lives, in trusting in Him and believing in His promises, providence and love at all times. Let us all enter into the time and season of Holy Week with great enthusiasm and faith, and make best use of this time provided to us. Amen.

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Friday, 27 March 2026 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, we are reminded that God is always by our side, and no matter how difficult our situation may seem to be, we should not be easy to give up the struggle and the efforts to continue walking faithfully in the path that the Lord Himself has set before us. We must continue to hold on to hope in the Lord, believing and trusting that God will always provide for us, and we ought to continue moving forward with faith, as the Lord will support us and empower us, all throughout the hardships and trials we face. We should keep this in mind and be good examples of perseverance, faith and endurance to everyone around us, by putting our faith and trust in God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard of the words of Jeremiah to the Lord, as he praised Him even amidst all the challenges and trials that he was facing from all those people who opposed him and made his life and ministry very difficult because they were strongly opposed to what he had been doing, despite Jeremiah being sent by God to warn and remind the people of the kingdom of Judah against their sinfulness and wickedness. The people of God hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to listen to the words of the Lord that He had sent to them through His prophets, persecuting them and even killing them, and a similar fate was faced by Jeremiah, who had to endure prison and even almost lost his life.

And yet, Jeremiah, like the many prophets and servants of God that had been sent before Him, he trusted in the Lord and His providence, in all that God would do for the sake of those who are faithful to Him. He did not give in to fear and uncertainties, despite facing trials, challenges and hardships all around him. He allowed the Lord to perform His wonderful works through him even through those most difficult moments, and he still believed nonetheless in what God would do for His people, living through the darkest moments of his ministry and life. Through the encouragement and guidance from God, Jeremiah managed to pull through and escape the worst of fates, and he still continued to carry out his mission as best as he could, proclaiming the word of God to His wayward people.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the continuation of the debate and disagreements between the Jewish people and the Lord Jesus, with the former likely referring to the members of the people of God who follow the way of the Pharisees in their strict and rigid interpretation and application of the Law of Moses. They took offense at what the Lord had done and taught to the people, and in the words He had said to them, claiming to be the Son of God and having the power to forgive sins. Those like the Pharisees considered this to be an act of blasphemy against God and hence, considered the Lord Jesus as a sinner and their enemy to be overcome and destroyed.

Not only that, but they also feared that the Lord’s popularity and His ability to draw a large crowd to turn the people’s heart and mind away from them and making them to lose their prestige and privileged position within the community of God’s people. They also refused to believe in the Lord’s revelation of His relationship with God, Whom Jesus called as Father or Heavenly Father, and by extension, God is also therefore the Father of all mankind. Why is that so? That is because they believed that the Lord is transcendent, so Almighty and great beyond compare, that mankind are mere creatures to Him, and that they were akin to servants and slaves more than the relationship between a father and his children. However, this notion was challenged fervently and firmly by the Lord Who spoke the truth about God Who is truly our loving Father.

Through the incarnation of the Son of God, the Divine Word of God made flesh, God Himself has become tangible, approachable and real before us all, and by sharing in our human nature, becoming fully and truly Man just as He is fully and truly God, having two natures, Divine and Human while distinct but united perfectly and indivisibly in the one Person of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Hence, through His humanity we all share through Christ the relationship we have with God our Father, the One Who has always loved us so wonderfully and patiently all these while. That is why all of us can call God as our Father, and we should also appreciate this loving relationship which all of us have with Him. And as His children, we should also reflect the love of God our Father in all aspects of our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore keep in mind just how fortunate all of us are that God Himself calls us all His beloved children and that He is our Father, Who is always loving, patient, kind and generous towards each and every one of us. This is why we are reminded that no matter how tough our lives’ situation may be, we will always be supported by the Lord and He will always provide for us all what we need. God will never abandon us especially in our darkest and most difficult moments, but we need to learn to trust in Him and put our faith in Him especially when we may find it hard to keep on going and trusting Him when things are so hard and difficult for us, with all the challenges and trials surrounding us and barraging us from all sides.

May the Lord our most loving God and Father, our most compassionate and merciful Creator and Master continue to bless us all and guide us in our journey of faith and life especially during this time of Lent so that we may indeed remember His love and generosity towards us, knowing that He will never abandon us or leave us to be alone in our struggles and difficulties. May God continue to provide for us all and strengthen us in our respective journeys, now and always, and bless us in our every good efforts and works. Amen.

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Thursday, 26 March 2026 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are all reminded that each and every one of us as Christians, we are called to remember the Covenant which the Lord our God has established with our predecessors, such as what He has established with Abraham, our father in faith, whom He has called from the land of Ur to follow Him and to trust and have faith in whatever that He would be guiding him towards. Through the Covenant which He has established with Abraham, all of us have become partakers of this Covenant, that the Lord is our God and we are all His beloved people, all called to live in His grace and love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, as mentioned we heard about the moment when God, having called Abram from the land of Ur towards the land of Canaan which He promised to him and his descendants, made a Covenant with him and those descendants, promising him that he would become the father of many nations, that he would be blessed beyond compare, and this is all the more amazing considering the fact that at that time, Abram was already rather advanced in age while not having any child of his own yet. Therefore, not having any child on his own and yet God promised him to be the father of many nations was a proof of just how strong the faith that Abram had in God.

And God knew what was in Abram’s heart, and what his faith and trust in Him was like. That was why He chose him among all the other people, making him to be the recipient of His promises, all the promises that He has provided and reassured him and in the future, his descendants, reminding them all of just how faithful and committed God had been to them all and it is also therefore a reminder to all of us that we are all also assured of whatever it is that He has promised to us, that we will never be alone amidst the challenges and trials in this world. God will always be by our side, blessing all those who have blessed us, and protecting and providing us in every steps and at every moments of our journey.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel passage according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which we heard of the confrontation and debate between the Lord and the Jewish people who opposed Him because they did not agree with what He has been doing and teaching. For the context, this reference to the Jewish people was likely not referring to the Jewish people as a whole, all those living in Judea and Galilee, but rather specifically referring to those who firmly followed the prescriptions of the Jewish Law and customs, essentially the Pharisees and their supporters. And as the Pharisees practiced a rather strict, rigid and incorrect version of the Law according to their own flawed understanding and appreciation of the Law, thus, this led to the disagreement between them and the Lord.

Then, in that occasion, the Jews were particularly unhappy that the Lord was referring to Abraham, the father of their nation, whom they greatly revered, and how He claimed that Abraham would have been glad to see and witness His coming, and would have welcomed Him as opposed to how those Jews refused to listen to Him and refusing to accept and embrace His teachings and truths. They were even more angered when they doubted Him further and accused Him of putting Himself of the same level of Abraham, their ancestor, and when He said that before Abraham was, He was already there. But the Lord was merely speaking the truth, revealing more about Himself as the One Whom God had sent into this world, God’s own Begotten Son, the Eternal Word of God incarnate in the flesh.

But despite all the signs, miracles and wonders that He had performed many times before their very own eyes, and despite the great Wisdom which He Himself has shown them through His teachings and words to them, those people still hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to trust in the Lord and preferring rather to remain in their prejudice, their sense of superiority, their pride and ego, maintaining that they could not have been wrong in their idea and way of living up to the Law of God, against this supposed upstart Who had come upon them with many signs and wonders. Their pride and ego therefore became their undoing, preventing them from truly seeing and believing, blinding them to the truth of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today therefore as we have heard from our Scripture passages earlier on, we are reminded that we should not harden our hearts, and we should instead be humble just as Abraham had been. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by our pride, ego and ambitions, by our worldly desires which can lead us easily astray as how these had done the same to the Jewish people and their elders. This Lent, all of us are called to be more humble and to recognise our frailty, imperfections and sins more, realising that in God we can find true peace, reconciliation and mercy. And through our reconciliation with Him, we can finally experience the fullness of God’s grace and love in the Covenant He has established with us all.

May the Lord our God, our most loving, compassionate and patient Lord and Master continue to guide and strengthen us all in our respective journeys throughout this time and season of Lent, so that we may continue to follow Him wholeheartedly and be reminded of the Covenant which He has established, renewed and strengthened with us, and that God will always be by our side no matter what, helping and providing for us in whatever we need. Let us all continue to journey together through this time and season of Lent so that we may be good role models, inspirations and examples for others around us, journeying ever closer towards the Lord and His salvation, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 25 March 2026 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the whole Universal Church celebrates the occasion of the great Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, marking the moment when the Archangel Gabriel came to Nazareth, to the then periphery of the Jewish world and community, to a young woman named Mary, whom God had chosen to be the one to bear the Saviour of the whole world, His promised Messiah or Christ, the One Whom we would come to know as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, Saviour and Master. On this day of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary to proclaim the long-awaited Good News of salvation which the Lord had promised His people, all of us, from the very beginning of time. It was truly the end of the long wait for the coming of the fulfilment of God’s many wonderful promises and assurances that He has made through His many prophets and messengers.

This Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord must be understood as the moment when the Lord became Incarnate in this world, just as the Archangel Gabriel himself mentioned that the Lord would send the Holy Spirit to overshadow Mary, and through that, the Son of God would be conceived in her womb, taking up the nature, appearance and existence of our humanity, becoming the Son of Man, the Divine Word Incarnate. That is why this Solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated this day, exactly nine months to the date of Christmas, signifying the nine months of the period of pregnancy that happened to Mary, as she bore the Son of God within her, as the bearer of the Messiah and the Mother of God. It is on this day that the hope and light of this world came into the world, Incarnate in the flesh, amidst still veiled within the holy womb of Mary, His mother.

It was also then Mary’s ‘yes’ to the Lord as she uttered it to the Archangel Gabriel that made it all possible and tangible, as God gave her the freedom to choose whether to obey His will and His calling or not. Mary, being full of grace and full of faith in the Lord, responded with great love, humility and grace, in accepting the very important role that she was to play in the history of the salvation of the whole world. As we heard from the exchanges between her and the Archangel, we can tell that Mary was indeed uncertain and unsure about the path that she was to embark on, but unlike those others who refused to obey the Lord or those who fled in fear away from Him and His calling, Mary chose to obey perfectly, and committed herself to the calling that she has been entrusted with, the calling to be the Mother of God’s own Son, with the simple and humble words, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me as you have said’.

Let us all contrast what Mary had said and how she responded to what we heard in our first reading today, in how King Ahaz of Judah responded to the prophet Isaiah who just like the Archangel Gabriel, came to him bearing the Good News of God. King Ahaz rejected the offer that the prophet Isaiah made to him, as the latter told him to ask of the Lord of a sign and favour, and the King of Judah told him that he would not put God to the test. Now, outwardly this might seem as if King Ahaz was being humble before God, but what he exhibited was actually false humility and more of lack of faith and hypocrisy if anything. Why is that so? That is because this King of Judah was just like many of his predecessors who had disobeyed the Lord and His Law and commandments. He was being insincere and rather hypocritical when he told Isaiah that he would not put God to the test.

That is because his actions, as well as his continued sinful acts and constant lack of faith in God, all of those had put God to the test many times, scandalised His Holy Name and spurned His kindness and love. Thus he was truly insincere and being a hypocrite when he told Isaiah that he would not put God to the test. His wickedness and lack of faith and trust in God had brought many of the people of God into sin, and he would not humble himself before God, unwilling to believe in the words of the Lord which had been delivered to him through Isaiah and God’s many other messengers. And that was King Ahaz’s sin and failure, which can be contrasted with the way that Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour, had responded to God full of faith and trust in Him. Mary entrusted herself in the Lord and committed herself to the calling which He has given to her, even when she was still unsure of what to make of the surprising news from the Archangel Gabriel.

This is what the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the second reading today also highlighted, that what the Lord truly wants from each one of us is obedience and faith, and not merely just outward expression of faith. He does not want merely just lip service and faith that is superficial, as He wants from us true obedience and commitment, faith and dedication, like just what Mary has shown us, and which the Lord Jesus Himself, in His perfect love and obedience to His Father’s will has shown us. God values our love and obedience much more than our sacrifices and offerings, just as it is possible for one to offer rich sacrifices and offerings to God and yet had little or no love for Him. In fact, that was what many of the people in the past had done, from the time of King Ahaz and before him, and up to the time of the Lord Jesus, with many among the people just doing what they thought were obeying the Law and commandments of God, and yet, without genuine faith in God or love for Him.

Instead, they loved themselves more than they loved the Lord or each other. They placed themselves more importantly than anything else, and allowed themselves to be swayed by the many temptations of worldly comfort, pleasures and ambitions, allowing their greed and desire to distract them from the path towards the Lord and righteousness. They let themselves to be swayed and misled by their own worldly ambitions and pride, and hence, faltered in their path and journey in life. The Lord has called on them to follow Him, and yet, they closed their hearts and minds from Him, and were too busy with their many pursuits and ambitions in life that they forgot about Him and His ways. That is also why at this juncture in the season of Lent, each and every one of us are reminded not to be like those people, but be inspired by the examples and the faith showed by especially our Mother Mary, the faithful one who had dedicated herself wholly to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as today we commemorate this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, let us all remind ourselves of the love of God and His faithfulness, His commitment to the Covenant which He had made with us all. He has come down into this world, willingly becoming Incarnate in the flesh through His Son, Jesus Christ, so that by His coming into our midst, He may be present amongst us and touch us all, and reach out even to the least and the most wicked among us. Why He had done all these? That is because His love for us is truly very pure and great, and His desire to be reconciled with all of us, His beloved ones, is always great. He has no desire to see us destroyed and crushed by our sins, and He wants us to be freed from the bondage and domination by all those evils and sins we have committed. Hence, He gave us all the most perfect gift in His Son.

Today, let us all reflect carefully on our lives and ask ourselves whether we have listened to the Lord and His words, and whether we have paid attention to His truth and His ways. If we have been stubborn and difficult in constantly refusing to listen to Him and in being disobedient, as many of our predecessors had done, then it is perhaps time for us to reorientate our lives and see the examples that Mary has shown us, in surrendering herself completely to the Lord, entrusting her life and path to the Lord, Who has called her to follow Him and to do His will. Let us all be inspired to follow the Lord in the same way, committing ourselves, our time and effort to walk in His path. Let us all be the good role models and examples ourselves for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. This is our calling as Christians, what we are expected and called to do.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our faith and life, and may His blessed Mother Mary, our role model and our loving mother, continue to inspire us and intercede for us on our behalf, so that the Lord may be moved to help and guide us in our various challenges and the many trials that we may have to face and overcome amidst this journey of life we have in this world. May she continue to watch over us as she has always done, and help us to come ever closer to her Son. May God be with us always and may He bless our every efforts and good endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen.