Weekday Homily

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Sunday, 2 July 2023 : Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded that each one of us as Christians are God’s beloved people, those whom He has called and chosen to be His own, and how we are also called to love Him just as He has loved us so dearly. All of us are reminded that whatever we have done for the love of God will never be forgotten, and will be known and remembered by God. For God knows everything and sees everything, and if we are ever always faithful to Him, and be committed in our part of the Covenant with Him, then we shall be blessed and guarded by God in all of our things in life. All those who have given themselves to the service of God will be in God’s grace and love, and they shall never be disappointed.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second Book of Kings of the story of the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi, with a wealthy woman who hosted and provided for them, and who convinced her husband to take good care of the servant of God, establishing a room and provisions for him, and all these showed not just her faith in God, but also her kind and compassionate nature, and the Lord remembered everything that the woman had done. The prophet Elisha therefore as we heard from the passage, proclaimed God’s blessings and guidance upon the wealthy woman and her husband. Both of them had no child at all although they were both already old, and God blessed them for their loving and compassionate ways, with the promise of a child.

Then, in our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, in which the Apostle spoke of how all of us mankind, all beloved and cared for by God, have received the greatest gift of love from God Himself, by His gift upon us of His own most beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Whom God had sent into this world, to dwell in our midst in the flesh, so that by His coming and by His actions, everything that He had done for us, in His suffering and all the pain and trials He had to endure, the Lord has shown us the path of freedom and the way to deliverance and eternal life, by reconciling us to Himself, opening the gates of Heaven itself to all of us.

And the Lord did all these things by coming into our midst, and bearing the heavy burdens of our sins and wickedness, our punishments and all the consequences due to our every faults. He has willingly walked the path of His Passion, His suffering, embracing all of us with His ever gracious and enduring love. He has been persecuted, wounded and hurt for us and our well-being, and He has died on His Cross to show us the path out of the darkness of sin, that by dying to our own sins, through His grace and love, His most loving sacrifice, suffering and death, all of us may be united to Him in love, and by the baptism which we have received, all of us will leave behind our mortal and wicked past lives, and enter into new lives blessed by God.

The Lord has done so much for each one of us, as we have heard from those Scripture passages, and the Gospel today reminded us all that we should continue to commit ourselves to God and to His path. The Lord Himself reminded His disciples and thus all of us that whatever each and every one of us have done for His sake, will always be remembered and known by God, and we shall be blessed and rewarded for everything that we have done, even in the smallest things. The Lord will always be by our side, providing for us, caring for us and giving us the guidance that we need, no matter what. And for our faith in the Lord, we shall always be blessed and protected, and we will not have to worry about anything.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why this Sunday, as we reflect upon these words from the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that the Lord has always been with us, guiding us and protecting us. Each one of us have been called by the Lord to be His disciples and missionaries, and to us, each one of us, have been entrusted with the many gifts and blessings of God, the various talents and abilities, the opportunities and the avenues for us to do our part and to follow the way that the Lord has revealed and taught to us. Each one of us have been called and entrusted with the missions, the actions and the works that the Lord has entrusted to His Church, from the very beginning. What He has told and sent out His disciples to do, we have to continue to do and carry out in our world today.

Now we should discern and ask ourselves, if we have lived our lives in the manner that the Lord has told us to do. Have we obeyed the Law and the commandments of God, in the rules and guidance that the Church has taught and shown us? All of us should always be active and committed in the living of our faith, dedicating our every moments, our time, efforts and our every actions and deeds, to the service of God and to do His will. We should be great examples and inspiration for one another, in our faith and way of life, in our commitment and dedication to God, and in everything we say and do, our every interactions and our way of life. All of us should be filled with the love of God, the light of His truth and love. Through this, all of us will become the examples for each other and the beacons of light guiding many others towards God and His salvation.

Let us all therefore do our part, in doing God’s will and in fulfilling our part of the Covenant which God has made with us. All of us should dedicate our every time and abilities, our every actions and works, to glorify the Lord at all times and to support one another in our works and actions. All of us should be full of faith and zeal, in living our daily actions, so that many will be inspired to live a truly worthy life for the Lord. May the Lord, our most loving, compassionate, and all-knowing God, He Who knows all of our thoughts, hearts and deeds, continue to bless us all and empower each one of us to be great and committed servants of His cause, now and always. May He lead us all to the right path and help us to do His will, in our every efforts and endeavours, so that we will always be His worthy and true disciples, and be worthy of His everlasting glory and joy. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 July 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded yet again that all of us should have faith in the Lord and we should truly have faith in Him, and believe in His words. We should not doubt Him and we should always uphold a strong faith and have trust in Him, because He has always been true to His words. He has fulfilled the promises He had made to His people, as the Scriptures and traditions have shown us, in how God had always been there for us, for all of our fellow brothers and sisters who have suffered and were in need. The Lord’s help came at the time of His choosing, and while it might not be what the people had wanted, or at the time they desired it to be, God’s help and will came true just as He has desired it to be.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of Abraham and his wife, Sarah, and their encounter with God was highlighted to us. At that occasion, God, Who had made a Covenant with Abraham, promising that the latter would soon have a son through Sarah, came to visit Abraham and Sarah at their place in Hebron, and Abraham immediately recognised the Lord Who came disguised in the figure of three men visiting his abode. Abraham welcomed the Lord and listened to all that the Lord revealed to him through His appearance. God once again reiterated that all that He had promised would come true, and everything would indeed happen as He had promised it to Abraham and Sarah.

And as we heard, Sarah was laughing quietly to herself when she heard the words of the Lord. The Lord knew what Sarah had done, and told her that everything would indeed come true as He had said it, and reminding her that everything is possible for God, and nothing is truly impossible for the all-powerful, Almighty God. It is definitely within God’s power to grant a son to an elderly couple, and to a woman who was already way beyond her childbearing years. The Lord did not joke about when He promised all that to Abraham, and indeed, everything came true as He had said and revealed it to Abraham. Abraham was indeed a bit impatient, and if we read on more about what happened then, we could see ourselves how he also wavered sometimes in faith.

For Abraham, according to the Book of Genesis, took his wife’s slave, Hagar, and had a son with her, out of the custom that this was the common practice during that time, that the son of a woman’s slave would be considered as her own son, and therefore could legally become the heir and inheritor of the family’s fortunes and more. However, that was not what God had in plan for Abraham and his family. When He promised Abraham that he would have a son, He was clear in stating that the son would be born to Abraham and Sarah, and indeed, it was fulfilled when Isaac, the promised child, was born to Sarah. The name Isaac itself means ‘laughter’ which does not just represent the joy that Abraham and Sarah of finally having their own son, but also a reminder of Sarah’s folly of laughing at the Lord’s promise, and for her momentary doubt and lack of faith.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus and His interaction with an army captain or centurion, a rather high-ranking military man who had a sick servant. We all remember the phrase that the army centurion had mentioned, because at every celebration of the Holy Mass, all of us always mention the words that the army centurioned uttered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed’, which was almost exactly similar as what the captain had mentioned to the Lord. In that occasion, the captain exhibited publicly deep faith that he had in the Lord, in that he did not even need to see the Lord physically doing the miracle and healing to believe that He could heal his ailing servant, and he trusted in the Lord so much that he knew that by His words alone, his servant would be made well again.

We have to contrast this to the attitude of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who have seen and witnessed many of the Lord’s signs and miracles, actions and works, and yet still refused to believe in Him, and even asked and demanded Him to show them more signs and wonders, before they would believe in Him. The army captain, a person of high rank, that could even be one of the Romans, given the gravity of his position, could have been proud and haughty as well, and demanding the Lord to come and attend to his servant. Instead, he was full of humility and consideration, likely knowing that in the Jewish customs and practices, it was taboo for a Jew like the Lord Jesus to come and enter into the household of a pagan like the captain himself, for that would have made them unclean. Thus, the army captain publicly professed his faith and trust in the Lord by doing what he had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can clearly see how all of us are called and reminded to have faith in the Lord, to trust in Him, in His words, providence and in all the things that He had done for us. The Lord has never abandoned us or refused us, and He has always patiently reached out to us, and waiting for us all to return to Him, for all of us are truly and dearly beloved by Him. Each and every one of us who have received this most wonderful love and grace, and received the revelation of His truth through the Church, all of us as Christians should therefore embody our faith in God through our lives, our every actions and deeds, in our every interactions, even to the smallest and seemingly least significant of the things we say and do in our daily moments. We should be inspired by the examples of Abraham, our father in faith and also the faith of the army captain in today’s Gospel.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reach out to the Lord with renewed faith and commitment, doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives, by our every actions, words and deeds. Let us all be the shining beacons of God’s truth and love, and may our lives ever be inspiration for many others, in how we embody our faith in the Lord and in our unfailing dedication to Him, at all times. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 30 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each one of us are reminded that God is always ever faithful to the Covenant which He has made with all of us, in His love for us and in His desire to be reconciled and reunited with us. He knows the heart and He sees the inside of our beings, the truth about ourselves, our every actions, words and deeds. Through His love and kindness, He reaches out to us, finding us the path to Him, and allowing us to walk once again in His grace and love. Once we have been separated and sundered from His love and compassion, but God’s love proved even greater, and His insistence in reaching out to us have reopened the path for us to eternal life and true joy.

In our first reading today, we heard the story of Abraham, our father in faith, as he was chosen by God to make a Covenant with Him. The Book of Genesis relates to us the time and moment when God renewed His promises to Abraham, and made a Covenant with him, as Abraham had been following Him for years, obediently and faithfully. Abraham still followed the Lord even when he was still childless and despite the Lord having promised him a son to continue his line and to inherit everything he had. Abraham even went to try to find his own way by having a son with his wife’s slave Hagar, who gave him Ishmael, but the Lord again reiterated that as He had said, He would give him a son, the promised son that would be born from his wife, Sarah. Sarah was already very old then and was way beyond childbearing.

Yet, the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son through Sarah, his wife, and at the same time, He also reassured him that He would still bless and take care of Ishmael, for he is after all still Abraham’s son. Abraham believed in the Lord and that was why God made His Covenant with him and his descendants, for all the faithfulness which Abraham had shown, in his commitment and dedication to Him, despite the uncertainties and the wait that he had to endure in expecting his heir, and in the other hardships and challenges that he had to go through. Abraham faithfully endured everything and still gave his best to the Lord regardless, and this is what all of us as Christians should do in obeying the Lord and His Law and commandments.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus healed a leper who had come to Him for healing, and that leper had faith in the Lord that He could make him whole again. Thus, that was what the Lord Jesus had done, in healing the leper, caring for him and made him once again to belong to the community of the faithful, no longer an outcast and an exile. We must understand that back then, one who suffered from leprosy was often ostracised and cast out from the community, as the Law of God then stated that those who contracted leprosy had to be separated from the rest of the community, cast out in the wilderness until the moment when they have been healed from their leprosy. They had to prove that they had been healed before they could be readmitted to the community.

This leprosy was in fact not quite the leprosy as we know it today, but might have been skin condition and diseases that were easily transmissible, and hence, in a practical term, especially in the crowded condition during the Exodus and the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, it was expedient and practical to avoid the whole population from contracting the same diseases, but it became misunderstood and caused misery for those who had contracted the leprosy and other diseases, being cast out and mistreated for their condition. Hence, the Lord showed His mercy and love by healing the leper from his condition, allowing him to once again rejoin the community of the faithful people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today therefore we are reminded of the love that God has always had for us, and how He has reached out to us with this enduring love and compassion. And therefore, we are also reminded of what each one of us need to do in order to fulfil our part of the Covenant, which we have been so blessed and fortunate to be part of, a Covenant that God has so kindly established with us, and we have been made His beloved people, as part of His own Body, His Church. Thus, all of us should live our lives worthily of the Lord and His path, and we should do well to look upon the examples set by our faithful and holy predecessors, all those who have followed the Lord faithfully, and even suffered and gave their lives for the Lord.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church, commemorating all those who have perished in the great persecutions of the Christians in Rome, at the heart of the Roman Empire, also the heart of Christendom, during the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. At that time the early Christians began to grow in number across the Roman Empire, even at the very heart of the Empire in Rome. During the reign of the Emperor Nero, it happened that a great fire broke out throughout the city of Rome, what would be known as the Great Fire of Rome, in which the Emperor laid the blame on the Christians in the city, which were therefore persecuted and arrested, and many were martyred during this intense persecution.

Yet, despite the challenges and trials, the sufferings and hardships which they had to face, those faithful Christians in Rome endured and remained firm in their faith, and most did not give up their faith, although many were thrown to the lions and to be tortured. They were blamed for crimes and faults that they themselves did not commit, and most people in fact assigned the blame to the Emperor Nero himself, who obviously sought a scapegoat for his actions. Those faithful Holy Martyrs in Rome remained firm in their conviction and dedication to God, and they became the inspiration and strength for many others who were also facing hardships and trials in life throughout the succeeding years and generations. All of us should also therefore be inspired and strengthened in the same way as well.

Let us all hence commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the service of God from now on, and let us all be reminded of God’s ever gracious love and compassion, and do our part to love the Lord as well, as part of the Covenant which He has established with us. Like Abraham, our father in faith, and like the holy martyrs whose memories we venerate today, and our many other holy predecessors, let us always be filled with faith, love and commitment to God, and let us trust the Lord fully and wholeheartedly, in His providence and love. May the Lord be with us all and may He empower each one of us with His blessings, in all of our actions and deeds, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 29 June 2023 : Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the most wonderful occasion and the great Solemnity of the two Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, whom we celebrate together first of all because they are the two Apostles who laid the foundation of the Church in Rome, at the then capital of the Roman Empire, which then becomes the heart of Christendom for the next two millennia up to this very day. Both St. Peter and St. Paul were crucial in their roles in establishing the Church not just in Rome but elsewhere throughout Christendom, but today in particular we remember their roles in building up the Church in Rome, of which our Pope, the Vicar of Christ, is St. Peter’s direct successor as the Vicar of Christ and leader of the whole Universal Church. St. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, who was truly instrumental in his role in expanding the reach of the Church and the Good News to the non-Jewish people, the Gentiles.

St. Peter and St. Paul were two very distinct men that God had called to become His disciples, and eventually as His Apostles, with Apostle coming from the Greek word ‘Apostolos’ meaning ‘person that is sent’, with significance that they had been personally sent and entrusted by the Lord to be the chief bearers of His truth and Good News, and as the ones who are the pillars of the Church that God Himself has established in this world. Both of them were instrumental in their immense contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful, and also in the establishment of the Roman Church, which we all belong to, the Roman Catholic Church, with its centre in Rome, and hence, is why we are celebrating this day with a particularly great Solemnity, in the memory of these two holy Apostles, most faithful servants of God.

As mentioned just earlier, St. Peter and St. Paul were both distinct in their origin and characters, and therefore, it is indeed unimaginable and must have been strange in the eyes of many who know them and their history, of how they both can come together and become part of the Lord’s ministry and works. For example, St. Peter was an illiterate fisherman from the shores of the Lake of Galilee, taken from his humble origins and his uneducated and brash background, while St. Paul could not have been more different from St. Peter, as St. Paul was a member of the Pharisees, one of the two most influential groups in the Jewish community back then, and not only that, but he was also a Roman citizen, a truly remarkable feat and status for a Jew at that time, because Roman citizenship at that time was only reserved for the most powerful and influential among the non-Roman and non-Italian people at that time.

Not only that, but St. Peter himself, as Scriptural accounts have told us, was also complicit in abandoning the Lord in the moment of His Passion and suffering, when He was put on trial after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and His arrest. St. Peter, who had earlier on bravely proclaiming that he would even die for the Lord, denied knowing the Lord not just once, but three times. At that moment, his faith was wavering, and faced with the opposition of the whole Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, and the people around, St. Peter did what he would immediately regret later on, that is to give in to his fears. Meanwhile, St. Paul was known as Saul, the Pharisee and an overzealous young man who sought to destroy the Church and all Christian believers, and went so far as to arrest and persecute every Christians he encountered throughout Judea and even almost went on as far as Damascus in doing so, before he encountered the Lord, was called and converted.

Nonetheless, God called each one of them and the other Apostles, all from their diverse origin and background, and made them to be His most faithful and dedicated workers of His vineyard, that is this world. He sent them all as the Apostles, true to their office, to evangelise and proclaim His truth and Good News to the nations, and to make more disciples of the many nations. St. Peter presided over the Church, and also as highlighted in the Acts of the Apostles, the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem to resolve issues and divisions within the Church, and he also went on to establish many churches and communities, becoming the first Bishop of Antioch, the place where the first tangible Christian community was known as Christians, and then becoming the first Bishop of Rome, where he established the office of the Bishop of Rome, and as the Pope and Vicar of Christ, becoming the centre of Christendom and as the pinnacle of the Church hierarchy, as the very Vicar of the Lord Himself in this world. To St. Peter, God has entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and built the foundation of His Church, on the firm faith that he has in Him, as we heard in our Gospel passage today.

On the other hand, St. Paul as we are familiar from the Acts of the Apostles and from his many Epistles that form the bulk of the New Testament as we know it, was very much involved in many missionary works and journeys, embarking on four major evangelisation and missionary journeys throughout the regions, visiting towns and villages, moving from place to place, sometimes by himself and other times with companions, in proclaiming the truth and Good News of God to more and more people throughout the known world. In his many Epistles, the letters and other works meant to be communicated to the faithful, St. Paul made clear his commitment to his mission as well as his wishes and desires for the faithful people of God to follow their Lord and Master with greater faith and dedication, staying true to the teachings of the Lord which had been passed down to them through His Apostles.

Both of them eventually made their way to Rome, and were martyred there, at the time when Christians were greatly persecuted during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the Church, according to Apostolic traditions, went through the great persecutions, and in one occasion, went away from Rome in order to hide from the enemies of the Church and the Lord. In that moment, he saw the vision of the Lord carrying His cross towards Rome, in one of the ways towards the city. St. Peter in one of his famous sayings mentioned, ‘Quo vadis?’ which means, ‘Where are You heading to, Lord?’, to which the Lord replied with ‘Eo Romam iterum crucifigi’, that means ‘I am going to Rome, to be crucified (again).’

This apparition of the Lord strengthened St. Peter and affirmed him that the Shepherd is always with His flock, and St. Peter as the shepherd of the Lord’s flock, should remain and suffer with the flock of God, much as Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd, has suffered and laid down His life for His sheep. St. Peter hence went back to Rome, and faced martyrdom with great faith, and just as what our Gospel passage today had highlighted, that according to the Lord Himself, that when he grew old, St. Peter’s enemies and persecutors would bind him and lead him to where he would not want to go. Regardless, St. Peter faced martyrdom and was crucified at where now stands the great Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, certainly the most famous church of all of Christendom, where his tomb now still stands. He felt unworthy to be crucified and to die in the manner that his Lord had died, and thus, he asked to be crucified upside down. Thus was how this great man of God passed into the life everlasting with God.

St. Paul was also brought to Rome and had to await the decision of the Emperor when he appealed to the Emperor against the many accusations that the Jewish leaders had brought up against him. When the Great Fire of Rome happened under the reign of the same Emperor Nero, Christians were persecuted and made as scapegoats for the fire, which many actually attributed to the deliberate actions of the Emperor himself. St. Paul was one of the Christians being persecuted and martyred, being put to death as a Roman citizen, through beheading, during the height of that persecution. But till the very end, St. Paul still continued to do what he had always done, in proclaiming the truth and Good News of God, right up to his martyrdom, like what St. Peter and the other Apostles had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are truly very fortunate and blessed in being able to commemorate the memories of these two great Man of God, two of the Lord’s Holy and Glorious Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, the Prince of the Apostles and the Apostle to the Gentiles respectively. Each one of them has shown us great examples and inspirations through their lives and tireless efforts in ministering to the Church and to countless people whom they have encountered throughout their work and ministry. Now, are we all able to follow them in their footsteps and carry out God’s will, obey His commands and continue His missions and works in the same way as well? All of us who have received the same faith and gift of the Holy Spirit from the Lord, sharing in the joy of the Apostles, have the same calling and mission to spread the Word of God and truth to more and more people throughout the world.

Let us all therefore be encouraged and strengthened, that in our every good works and endeavours, we will always glorify the Lord by our lives, and proclaim His truth and Good News by every actions, words and deeds in our every moments. Let us be empowered by the Lord through the gifts of His Holy Spirit, and by the burning love that we have in our hearts, just like those of the Apostles, especially St. Peter and St. Paul, in doing God’s will. Remember that while the Apostles, like St. Peter and St. Paul, were all called from humble, imperfect, and even questionable origins, being sinners just like us, but God made them all into His most worthy and amazing servants, in doing many of His good works, and the same can happen to us all as well. This is the time for us to decide if we want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly like how St. Peter and St. Paul had followed Him.

May the Lord, who is glorified through His Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, continue to bless us all and guide us, His Church, His faithful ones, so that in our every good works and endeavours, we will bring ever greater glory to Him, and bring many more people ever closer to salvation and grace in Him. May our lives and actions always be exemplary and worthy of the Lord, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 June 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this evening we celebrate the Vigil Mass of the great Solemnity of the two Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, whom we celebrate together first of all because they are the two Apostles who laid the foundation of the Church in Rome, at the then capital of the Roman Empire, which then becomes the heart of Christendom for the next two millennia up to this very day. Both St. Peter and St. Paul were crucial in their roles in establishing the Church not just in Rome but elsewhere throughout Christendom, but today in particular we remember their roles in building up the Church in Rome, of which our Pope, the Vicar of Christ, is St. Peter’s direct successor as the Vicar of Christ and leader of the whole Universal Church.

St. Peter and St. Paul were two very distinct men that God had called to become His disciples, and eventually as His Apostles, with Apostle coming from the Greek word ‘Apostolos’ meaning ‘person that is sent’, with significance that they had been personally sent and entrusted by the Lord to be the chief bearers of His truth and Good News, and as the ones who are the pillars of the Church that God Himself has established in this world. Both of them were instrumental in their immense contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful, and also in the establishment of the Roman Church, which we all belong to, the Roman Catholic Church, with its centre in Rome, and hence, is why we are celebrating this day with a particularly great Solemnity, in the memory of these two holy Apostles, most faithful servants of God.

As mentioned just earlier, St. Peter and St. Paul were both distinct in their origin and characters, and therefore, it is indeed unimaginable and must have been strange in the eyes of many who know them and their history, of how they both can come together and become part of the Lord’s ministry and works. For example, St. Peter was an illiterate fisherman from the shores of the Lake of Galilee, taken from his humble origins and his uneducated and brash background, while St. Paul could not have been more different from St. Peter, as St. Paul was a member of the Pharisees, one of the two most influential groups in the Jewish community back then, and not only that, but he was also a Roman citizen, a truly remarkable feat and status for a Jew at that time, because Roman citizenship at that time was only reserved for the most powerful and influential among the non-Roman and non-Italian people at that time.

Not only that, but St. Peter himself, as Scriptural accounts have told us, was also complicit in abandoning the Lord in the moment of His Passion and suffering, when He was put on trial after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and His arrest. St. Peter, who had earlier on bravely proclaiming that he would even die for the Lord, denied knowing the Lord not just once, but three times. At that moment, his faith was wavering, and faced with the opposition of the whole Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, and the people around, St. Peter did what he would immediately regret later on, that is to give in to his fears. Meanwhile, St. Paul was known as Saul, the Pharisee and an overzealous young man who sought to destroy the Church and all Christian believers, and went so far as to arrest and persecute every Christians he encountered throughout Judea and even almost went on as far as Damascus in doing so, before he encountered the Lord, was called and converted.

Nonetheless, God called each one of them and the other Apostles, all from their diverse origin and background, and made them to be His most faithful and dedicated workers of His vineyard, that is this world. He sent them all as the Apostles, true to their office, to evangelise and proclaim His truth and Good News to the nations, and to make more disciples of the many nations. St. Peter presided over the Church, and also as highlighted in the Acts of the Apostles, the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem to resolve issues and divisions within the Church, and he also went on to establish many churches and communities, becoming the first Bishop of Antioch, the place where the first tangible Christian community was known as Christians, and then becoming the first Bishop of Rome, where he established the office of the Bishop of Rome, and as the Pope and Vicar of Christ, becoming the centre of Christendom and as the pinnacle of the Church hierarchy, as the very Vicar of the Lord Himself in this world.

On the other hand, St. Paul as we are familiar from the Acts of the Apostles and from his many Epistles that form the bulk of the New Testament as we know it, was very much involved in many missionary works and journeys, embarking on four major evangelisation and missionary journeys throughout the regions, visiting towns and villages, moving from place to place, sometimes by himself and other times with companions, in proclaiming the truth and Good News of God to more and more people throughout the known world. In his many Epistles, the letters and other works meant to be communicated to the faithful, St. Paul made clear his commitment to his mission as well as his wishes and desires for the faithful people of God to follow their Lord and Master with greater faith and dedication, staying true to the teachings of the Lord which had been passed down to them through His Apostles.

Both of them eventually made their way to Rome, and were martyred there, at the time when Christians were greatly persecuted during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the Church, according to Apostolic traditions, went through the great persecutions, and in one occasion, went away from Rome in order to hide from the enemies of the Church and the Lord. In that moment, he saw the vision of the Lord carrying His cross towards Rome, in one of the ways towards the city. St. Peter in one of his famous sayings mentioned, ‘Quo vadis?’ which means, ‘Where are You heading to, Lord?’, to which the Lord replied with ‘Eo Romam iterum crucifigi’, that means ‘I am going to Rome, to be crucified (again).’

This apparition of the Lord strengthened St. Peter and affirmed him that the Shepherd is always with His flock, and St. Peter as the shepherd of the Lord’s flock, should remain and suffer with the flock of God, much as Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd, has suffered and laid down His life for His sheep. St. Peter hence went back to Rome, and faced martyrdom with great faith, and just as what our Gospel passage today had highlighted, that according to the Lord Himself, that when he grew old, St. Peter’s enemies and persecutors would bind him and lead him to where he would not want to go. Regardless, St. Peter faced martyrdom and was crucified at where now stands the great Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, certainly the most famous church of all of Christendom, where his tomb now still stands. He felt unworthy to be crucified and to die in the manner that his Lord had died, and thus, he asked to be crucified upside down. Thus was how this great man of God passed into the life everlasting with God.

St. Paul was also brought to Rome and had to await the decision of the Emperor when he appealed to the Emperor against the many accusations that the Jewish leaders had brought up against him. When the Great Fire of Rome happened under the reign of the same Emperor Nero, Christians were persecuted and made as scapegoats for the fire, which many actually attributed to the deliberate actions of the Emperor himself. St. Paul was one of the Christians being persecuted and martyred, being put to death as a Roman citizen, through beheading, during the height of that persecution. But till the very end, St. Paul still continued to do what he had always done, in proclaiming the truth and Good News of God, right up to his martyrdom, like what St. Peter and the other Apostles had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are truly very fortunate and blessed in being able to commemorate the memories of these two great Man of God, two of the Lord’s Holy and Glorious Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, the Prince of the Apostles and the Apostle to the Gentiles respectively. Each one of them has shown us great examples and inspirations through their lives and tireless efforts in ministering to the Church and to countless people whom they have encountered throughout their work and ministry. Now, are we all able to follow them in their footsteps and carry out God’s will, obey His commands and continue His missions and works in the same way as well? All of us who have received the same faith and gift of the Holy Spirit from the Lord, sharing in the joy of the Apostles, have the same calling and mission to spread the Word of God and truth to more and more people throughout the world.

Let us all therefore be encouraged and strengthened, that in our every good works and endeavours, we will always glorify the Lord by our lives, and proclaim His truth and Good News by every actions, words and deeds in our every moments. Let us be empowered by the Lord through the gifts of His Holy Spirit, and by the burning love that we have in our hearts, just like those of the Apostles, especially St. Peter and St. Paul, in doing God’s will. Remember that while the Apostles, like St. Peter and St. Paul, were all called from humble, imperfect, and even questionable origins, being sinners just like us, but God made them all into His most worthy and amazing servants, in doing many of His good works, and the same can happen to us all as well. This is the time for us to decide if we want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly like how St. Peter and St. Paul had followed Him.

May the Lord, who is glorified through His Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, continue to bless us all and guide us, His Church, His faithful ones, so that in our every good works and endeavours, we will bring ever greater glory to Him, and bring many more people ever closer to salvation and grace in Him. May our lives and actions always be exemplary and worthy of the Lord, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop, Martyr and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the Sacred Scriptures that we are all ought to follow the Lord and His truth, His righteousness and virtuous path. The Lord has shown us the path of righteousness and virtue, and taught us His Law, commandments and precepts, and we should do well to resist the temptations to disobey and to abandon Him, for the many wickedness and the evils of this world, which will likely lead us down the path to ruin and destruction. And we should not allow ourselves to be so easily misled and misguided by those who sought to corrupt us and to turn us away from the path of God’s truth and grace. We must also always be vigilant and careful lest we are easily persuaded by the false prophets and teachers who will lead us to our downfall if we are to follow them.

In our first reading today, we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Scriptures, taken from the Book of Genesis, in which we heard of the moment when God made His Covenant with Abraham, our father in faith, whom He had called from the distant lands of Ur of the Chaldeans, following Him in His commands, all the way to the land of Canaan, which He promised to give to Abraham and to his descendants, even when Abraham himself had not had any son or child to continue his line and inheritance. Abraham was already old and his wife, Sarah was already way beyond the age of childbearing. Yet, Abraham entrusted himself wholly to God and obeyed the Lord wholeheartedly, knowing that God will truly provide for him and his descendants, even when he had not seen all that God had promised yet.

That was why God chose to make His Covenant with Abraham, because of the latter’s tremendous faith and commitment for Him, in his total obedience and commitment to His precepts and path. The Lord knows the heart and the mind, and He knows that the faith in Abraham’s heart is truly true and tested, even amidst the many challenges and trials, and hence, God made His Covenant with him, to be the example to all of mankind, to all of His people, of the love and commitment that He Himself would show them, in caring for them most compassionately, and with the greatest of dedication. The Lord has not abandoned His people and wanted all of them to receive the fullness of His love, and that is why, He called Abraham and all of us to follow Him.

He taught us all that His way is the path of righteousness and justice, which all of us should very well embody in our own lives. Each and every one of us should follow the examples of Abraham, in his unwavering faith and commitment to God, in his conviction to live righteously and worthily in God’s Presence. All of us should follow in the examples of our good, holy and worthy predecessors, while keeping in mind what the Lord Jesus Himself warned His disciples in our Gospel passage today, regarding the matter of false prophets and how those false prophets can mislead and bring about our downfall should we listen to them and follow in the path that they have shown and preached to us. We must not waver in our faith, but remain strong in our dedication and commitment, to serve the Lord ever more worthily in each and every moments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians, all of us are God’s people, and therefore, all of us are reminded to be truly His, and His alone, as the Lord went on to use the example of good tree and good fruits that tree will bear, as opposed to the rotten and bad fruits that bad trees will likely bear. Since God is all good and perfect, hence all of us should also show this goodness and perfection in us, within our every words, actions and deeds, and in our every interactions with each other, and in our commitment to follow the Lord in all of our lives, in doing His will and in obeying His Law and commandments, just as how Abraham, our father in faith, and many other holy saints and martyrs, holy men and women of God, our holy predecessors had done.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the great St. Irenaeus, a renowned Church father, holy bishop and martyr of the Faith, who was recently recognised by Pope Francis as one of the venerable Doctors of the Church, with the title of Doctor of Unity, in recognition for his efforts in defending the faith against the heresy of gnosticism and other false teachings, and in his commitment to the Lord, his many works and writings, which inspired many long after his passing, to follow the Lord and to dedicate themselves to Him ever more wholeheartedly. St. Irenaeus had learnt and heard from the other Church fathers, the faith and inspiration of the Apostles, which he carried on to his own mission in becoming the bishop and shepherd of the flock of the Lord in Lyon, in the southern part of what is now known as France.

St. Irenaeus dedicated himself to proclaim the faith in God as a missionary and also as a loving bishop and shepherd, in caring for the needs of those who have been entrusted under his care. He spent a lot of effort in combatting the aforementioned gnostic heresy, dedicating himself to many writings that affirmed the teachings of the Church and God’s truth, and spending a lot of time among his flock to care for them and to lead them from the threats of the false prophets and false teachers who might attempt to twist the truth and misguide those who were not strong enough in their faith and those who were not vigilant against the temptations of the evil one. According to tradition, he was martyred for his faith like many other early Christians and Church fathers, wholly committed to the Lord to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be inspired by the great examples shown by St. Irenaeus, in his faithful dedication to God and in his courage to stand up for the truth of God, and in his perseverance in his ministry, in how he has faithfully dedicated himself to God and to all those who have been entrusted under his care. Let us hence be inspired by his examples and also by the many others of our holy predecessors, father Abraham, and many of our fellow brothers and sisters, who have lived worthy and holy lives. May God be with us always, and may He empower each and every one of us so that in our every actions, we may always glorify Him by our lives, at all times. Amen.

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are called and reminded to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and not to allow ourselves to be tempted by worldly vices, desires and ambitions. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved people, and naturally all of us should also reflect His love and truth in our lives. That is why all of us have been reminded today of our obligations and callings as Christians, to walk ever more faithfully in God’s presence and to follow Him at all times, so that by our every actions and deeds, we may truly be the great role models and inspirations as Christians to everyone, at all times and occurrences, in every opportunities and places. All of us are the bearers of God’s light and truth, and we should do well to do as God has told and taught us to do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the story of Abraham and Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who came along with Abraham and his family from their ancestral lands in distant Ur of the Chaldeans to the Promised Land of Canaan. As mentioned, both Abraham and Lot were very wealthy and had a lot of possessions, including large number of flocks. Hence, there were disputes between the servants of Abraham and the servants of Lot, which then led to Abraham and Lot to agree to part ways and to separate themselves, staying at different parts of the land of Canaan so that they and their workers would not continue to bicker over the land and their territories. Abraham entrusted himself in the Lord and did as the Lord has told and commanded him to do.

That was why the Lord repeated again His promises to Abraham, that He would establish His Covenant with him, and all of his descendants after him. Abraham followed the Lord and committed himself thoroughly to His cause, following His path and abandoning even the gods and idols of his ancestors and family, leaving everything to seek the Lord, Whom he has embraced as his own Lord and Master. God made His Covenant with the one whom He was pleased with, and the one whose heart and mind had been set and focused in God. Abraham had a lot of money, material wealth and possessions, but he did not let all those things to distract him from following the Lord, and committing himself to His cause completely, and truly, he is our exemplary and great role model.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Lord Himself telling His disciples that they should not give what is holy to the dogs and the treasures to the pigs, lest they be trampled and crushed, which symbolised the comparison between choosing the treasures and the riches of the world, against choosing to follow the Lord and His truth. This was then added on with the Lord saying that the path towards salvation is through a narrow gate, reminding His disciples and all of us that following Him is not something that is very easily done, requiring commitment and effort, and often along the way many might end up faltering and failing, not being able to reach the Lord and His salvation, because they are not able to resist the pull of worldly temptations and vices, all the things that had often kept us separated from God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today through these readings from the Scriptures therefore, we are all reminded that each and every one of us have to our part as Christians, in obeying the Law and commandments of God, and in doing God’s will. The Lord has taught us and shown us what it means for us to live our lives in accordance to His ways, and it is now up to us to do what He has revealed to us. We also have the examples of our holy predecessors like that of Abraham, our father in faith, as well as many others who had lived their lives most nobly and excellently in accordance to God’s ways. They are all the great role models, inspirations and wonderful examples that we should follow in our own lives, so that we may walk the right path and not end up falling into the path of evil and darkness, the path of disobedience and sin against God.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, a great and holy bishop, and a renowned Church father, honoured as one of the venerable Doctors of the Church for his great contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful. St. Cyril of Alexandria has dedicated himself to the service of the Church and his flock, and was remembered for his staunch defence of the faith and truth of God, amidst the many challenges he had to face, and the great heresy propagated by the heretic Nestorius and his followers. St. Cyril did not let the power and influence of the heretical party to dissuade him from his works and efforts, and he did not allow himself to be swayed by the persuasions and the struggles which he had to endure. Instead, he committed himself all the more to do God’s will and to help his flock to remain firmly faithful to God.

St. Cyril as the Patriarch of Alexandria was one of the most influential leaders of the Church of his time, and he was committed in caring for the need of his flock, their spiritual well-being and also in continuing to expand the Church’s influence and teachings among the people. He was particularly influential in convoking the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in which the teachings of the heretic Nestorius and his supporters were deemed as heretical and unlawful, and where the Church fathers affirmed their support to the unity of the dual nature of Our Lord and Saviour, Who is both Man and Divine in nature, when the supporters of Nestorius argued that the Lord Jesus was separate in His Human and Divine nature, which the Council of Ephesus repudiated and opposed with the declaration of the Motherhood of God, Mary as the Theotokos, confirming that the One born of Mary was truly both Man and Divine, inseparable though distinct in His two natures. St. Cyril had to endure arrest and persecution for this, but he continued to labour in faith to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the faith and the commitment showed by St. Cyril of Alexandria, our holy predecessor, just as we are inspired by Abraham, and our many other holy men and women, all our fellow brothers and sisters who had lived their lives with so great a faith, that they become for us a source of inspiration, hope and encouragement. Let us all therefore also live our lives most faithfully and commit ourselves anew to the Lord, from now on, in all of our actions and works, and may all of us continue to live our lives worthily, in the way that the Lord had taught and shown us. May God be with us always, and may He strengthen us and empower us, to live our lives as great and most dedicated Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 26 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us should be truly faithful and committed to the Lord in all things, and we should not be like the hypocrites who did not truly believe in God, and who only paid lip service and did not have true love and commitment to the Lord. We are reminded through the examples highlighted in our Scripture passages today, of what each and every one of us as Christians need to do in our lives so that we may truly be committed as how genuine followers and disciples of the Lord should have done, in answering God’s call and in entrusting ourselves to Him, in our obedience to His will, His Law and commandments.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, all of us heard of the story of the calling of Abram, who would later on be known as Abraham, our father in faith and the ancestor of the Israelites and many other nations, whom God had called from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, in what is now Mesopotamia and part of Iraq, into the region of Canaan in Israel today. God called Abraham, who answered God’s call and embraced His path, leaving his ancestral homeland behind and embarking on the long journey towards the Land that God had promised him and his descendants. Back then, Abram himself, though married, had not yet had any child to succeed him, and both him and his wife were already very old, and Sarai, later Sarah, his wife, was already beyond child-bearing age. And yet, Abraham chose to trust in the Lord and followed Him.

Abraham left everything that he was familiar with, his relatives and family, his ancestral place and more, and embarked on the lifelong journey of following God and committing himself and his family to His cause. Despite not knowing and not aware of what the Lord had in mind or planned for him, Abraham chose to trust the Lord anyway, knowing that God would always provide and He would always be faithful to what He had said and promised to him. That was how Abraham continued to walk in the presence of God, and entrusted himself wholly to the Lord, even when God tested his faith later on by asking him to sacrifice the son whom God eventually gave to him, Isaac, at Mount Moriah. Abraham entrusted himself and his son to the Lord, and chose to obey even when that decision must have been very difficult for him to make, and his continued faith was truly rewarded by God in the end.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard that the Lord spoke to His disciples that they must truly be faithful to the Lord and not be like the hypocrites who like to judge others and compare themselves to those whom they deem to be less worthy or inferior than they are. The Lord criticised all those who have been so petty in picking out the faults and mistakes, the flaws in others, when they themselves were filled with wickedness and flaws, in a criticism that was also obviously directed against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. At that time, many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often prided themselves on their achievements and supposed superiority and looked down on others around them who did not follow the Law and the commandments of God in the way and manner that they had done. Yet, they had forgotten that their faith and way of living their obligation to God were actually rather empty and meaningless.

Their emphasis and preoccupation with how they were to live their lives in accordance to their overly strict interpretation of the Law of God, and their rather fanatical and rigid upholding of their tenets and beliefs led to them forgetting in the first place why they even followed the Law and the commandments of God. They placed their rites, actions and their customs ahead of the true faith and obligation to follow the Lord, forgetting that the Law of God is truly all about leading and guiding all of God’s people to Him, by teaching and showing them all His love and kindness. The Law of God is not about how one ought to live their lives filled with endless rituals, prohibitions and other forms of practices advocated by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. And certainly, it does not include the way how they treated their fellow men, with disdain and contempt.

That is why, all of us as we listened to these readings from the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded to be truly and genuinely faithful to God, as our father in faith, Abraham had been, and not like those hypocrites who outwardly showed great expressions and actions of faith and piety, and yet, inside them, the Lord had barely a space for Himself because those people chose to place their own ego, desire and ambitions, their pride and greed as the centre and focus of their lives. They liked to be praised and enjoyed the fame and position, the privileges and the great things that they had enjoyed with their status, while Abraham, our father in faith, was willing to leave everything behind in following the Lord, entrusting himself wholeheartedly to God, obeying Him and placing Him at the centre of his very existence, as the centre and focus of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore return towards the Lord, reemphasising our lives with renewed dedication and commitment to Him. Let us all face the Lord once again and make Him as the focus and heart of our whole lives, in the manner of how our father in faith, Abraham, and many of our holy predecessors, holy men and women of God had done in their lives. Let our lives, our every actions and interactions, in all things continue to be ever more faithful and committed to the Lord. Let us all be a most faithful and committed beacons of our Christian faith and truth, and be the dedicated missionaries of the Good News of God, in all the things we say and do, and in how we interact with our fellow brothers and sisters around us, both within and outside of the Church. This is what we have been called to do, and just as our father Abraham, let us all answer the Lord with great faith and commitment.

May the Lord continue to guide us all and bless us, and may He empower each and every one of us, that we may always ever be courageous and dedicated in our faith, in all things. May He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 June 2023 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we gathered together and listened to the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that we have to remain firmly rooted in our faith in God, so that each one of us will not easily fall to the temptations present all around us, which can lead us astray in our path, and bring us down the path of ruin and sin. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved sons and daughters, His own beloved ones, whom He truly cares about, and we should have no need to be afraid or to fear that we will have nothing as the Lord will always guide us and He will always be by our side, helping us and empowering us. The Lord wants us all to always be faithful to Him, and be vigilant lest we may be tempted and swayed to the path of sin and evil.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in which the prophet Jeremiah spoke of the predicaments and struggles that he was facing in the midst of his ministry, in all the opposition and the hardships that he had to endure. Jeremiah had been sent to the people of God, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, at a time of great turmoil and misfortune, during the last days of Judah, when they were facing a lot of struggles and attacks from their enemies. All these came about ultimately because of their own sins and wickedness, in how they had refused to obey the Lord and His Law, in their waywardness and unfaithful way of life. They had spurnt the Lord and His commandments, persecuted and even killed His prophets and messengers.

The prophet Jeremiah endured many of the same hardships, persecuted and oppressed for speaking the truth, as he revealed the Lord’s intentions to His people, telling them all of the upcoming disasters and destruction that would happen because of their continued and stubborn refusal to believe in God and in obeying His ways. He was persecuted by the powerful members of the aristocracy and the influential ones, who colluded with the false prophets that spoke lies and falsehoods, in saying that God would bless and reward the king and the people of Judah, not speaking what the Lord truly has delivered to them through Jeremiah. Jeremiah dared to go against the majority and all those false prophets and all the powerful nobles, and almost lost his life in the process. Yet, he remained firm in his faith and commitment, and did not let all those things to dissuade him from his mission.

Jeremiah said that it was because God was with him, a mighty Warrior, standing by his side. It means that no matter what hardships that he would have to go through and endure, the Lord would always support him and be with him, even in the darkest and most difficult moments. Jeremiah reminded us all therefore that we are never alone in our sufferings, and we will always have God by our side, journeying with us and fighting with us, and He will lead us all to the ultimate triumph with Him while those who rejected Him and refused to obey Him, will eventually meet their defeat and downfall. Those who hold strongly to their faith in God will be raised and glorified, like Jeremiah and many other prophets who had suffered and been persecuted for their faith, and now glorified as great servants of God.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, we heard St. Paul the Apostle speaking to the Church and the faithful in Rome regarding the matter how the Lord has brought mankind, all of His beloved people out of the darkness of sin and death, by the sending of His own most beloved Son, by His grace, made through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, through Whom, the salvation of God has entered into this world. Through Christ, all of us have been shown the path out of the darkness and into the light of God. All of us have been led out of the darkness due to our own disobedience and wickedness, in our refusal to obey God’s will, His Law and commandments, by the perfect obedience shown by Jesus Christ Himself, which just like Jeremiah and the other prophets and servants of God of old, dedicated Himself thoroughly to the mission that God, His heavenly Father had entrusted to Him.

And this mission is for Him to bear all the burdens and sufferings, all the punishments and the hardships due to us because of our sins and wickedness. He bore His Cross, full of the punishments and consequences due for our sins because He truly loves each and every one of us, and He made Himself into the most worthy offering, because He truly cared for us, and wanted us all to be reconciled with Him, forgiven and cleansed from our many sins, so that through Him, all of us will not perish and be damned into the eternity in hell, but instead, be affirmed and assured of the path of salvation and eternal life. Christ has done all of these because He did not want to be separated from us, and each one of us are truly precious and important to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, that is what the Lord Jesus Himself reiterated to His disciples and therefore to all of us, stating clearly that each one of us are truly precious and beloved by God, and God knows everything in our hearts, our minds and our whole lives. If we worry about following God and do things that are against His path simply because we want to preserve ourselves and avoid hardships and difficulties in life, then we have to know that the consequences for us will not be a nice one. Many of our predecessors themselves were faced with these difficult choices, on whether they ought to remain faithful to God, or to continue to practice their faith with sincerity and commitment, or whether they ought to give in to the many pressures, temptations, coercions and other things that forced, encouraged and coerced them to abandon their faith in God in exchange for worldly satisfaction and acceptance.

What about us then, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we going to surrender our faith in God simply because we do not want to be inconvenienced and to suffer hardships because of our faith in Him? Are we going to abandon the Lord simply because what we believe in supposedly are no longer in tandem with what the world today prefers to believe, or because our faith in the Lord is no longer fashionable and cool for us to keep faithfully in our lives? Are we also going to continue to be lukewarm in our faith and to be ignorant of our calling in life to be faithful and committed Christians, to be filled with true and genuine faith at all times, and not merely just paying lip service or fulfil external obligations of our faith, but inside we do not have true love for the Lord and faith in Him?

Let us ask ourselves these questions and discern carefully if we have truly devoted ourselves to the Lord in the manner that we should do as Christians, or whether we have chosen to conform to the ways of the world. Let us discern our path forward in life and ask ourselves if we have placed the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our lives and existences. If we have lacked faith and trust in the Lord, then this is the time for us to remember the guidance, help and strength that God had lent and given to all of His servants and faithful ones, and in everything He had done for us, in not sparing for us even His own most beloved Son, not just to dwell among us, but even to suffer for us on our behalf, bearing the burdens and punishments due for our sins and wickedness, and offering Himself as the perfect and most worthy sacrifice, so that through Him all of us may be saved and have eternal life.

Let us then turn over a new leaf in our lives, and abandon our past lives of sin and evil, and return to the Lord with contrite and broken hearts, asking Him to heal us from our many sins, from our brokenness, our disobedience and rebellions. Let us all be exemplary in our lives from now on, no longer being bound by sin and evil in our path, and walking once again in the path that God has shown and taught us to go through, so that we will get ever closer to Him and find our way to His salvation and eternal life. May the Lord continue to guide each one of us and empower us in our lives so that we may be ever more worthy of Him, in all the things we say and do, in our every interactions and actions throughout our lives, becoming great role models and inspirations for one another, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Saturday all of us come together to celebrate the occasion of the great Solemnity in honour of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord had sent to be His own Herald, in proclaiming His coming into this world, and to prepare the path and everything for His entry and appearance in our midst. On this day, we truly give thanks to God for His gift of St. John the Baptist, the holy servant whom He had sent to be in our midst, to call us from our slumber in the darkness so that by his efforts and works, many would be stirred and come to seek the Lord and His forgiveness, that more and more might be saved, and be prepared to welcome the Lord Himself, coming into our midst.

St. John the Baptist was born not long before the Lord Himself, as there was a short period of time when both him and our Lord and Saviour were both in their mothers’ wombs. At the time when Mary, the Mother of God visited Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, not long before the latter’s birth, both of them were still in the womb, and it was then that St. John the Baptist recognised the coming of his Lord and Master, Who was in the womb of Mary, Elizabeth’s own relative and cousin. And like that of our Lord Himself, the pregnancy that gave rise to the birth and coming of St. John the Baptist was also miraculous, in that his mother Elizabeth was already very old and way past child-bearing age.

Yet, the Lord chose Elizabeth to bear the child who would become the Herald of the Messiah, revealing the news to Zechariah, his father, at the Temple through His Archangel, which according to the Church and Apostolic traditions, was the Archangel Gabriel, the same one who would then go on to visit Mary to tell her of the even greater Good News of the coming of the Saviour of the world. Through these two good news delivered by the Archangel to both Elizabeth and Mary therefore, the world has finally come to see the Light of God’s salvation, which He has long promised to us all, to His beloved ones, who have long been suffering under the dominion and the tyranny of sin.

St. John the Baptist was born into his family and into this world as an occasion of great joy, both for his family who had not been able to have any children at all, and then for the world because through St. John the Baptist, the Lord would finally reveal the last parts of His long prepared plan of salvation for each and every one of us. St. John the Baptist, as we all should know, would go on to do great deeds among God’s people, becoming known as the Baptist or the Baptiser because he called a great throng of countless thousands or more, to come to the Lord and to commit themselves once again to His cause, with the baptism at the River Jordan as the symbolic and tangible commitment of the people’s desire to return to God with repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the significance of this Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is to us? This Solemnity is a reminder for all of us of everything that God had done for us, and in how He has always fulfilled everything that he has promised us, in showing us His ever tender mercy, love and compassion. That He sent us all His servants, repeatedly from time to time, and gave us guidance through His messengers and through His Church, and by giving us all His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Divine Word Incarnate and Son of God, to be our Saviour, by suffering and dying for our sake, God wants us all to know that He truly loves us all, and He wants us to embrace the salvation that He has so freely offered to us.

In our first reading this day, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God revealed to His people, to all of us through Isaiah, of everything that He had done for us, in sending us His servants, whom He had called and chosen, like Isaiah himself, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, and earlier on still, Moses, and other leaders and elders of the people, and like St. John the Baptist himself, all of whom had been entrusted with the particular missions and vocations, with purpose and commitments for them to help lead the people of God, us mankind, back to the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour. The Lord had prepared St. John the Baptist to be His servant, from before he was even born, telling that to his parents, revealing to them just how important his role would be. That is what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, as God foretold the great deeds that St. John the Baptist would do.

As Christians, all of us should be inspired by the great examples set by St. John the Baptist, whose contributions are not limited only just by what he had done in baptising the countless thousands and more at the River Jordan. It was his faithfulness and his dedication to the Lord which should inspire us all to follow his good examples and faith as well. Not only that, but St. John the Baptist also showed us great courage and steadfastness in faith, in courageously opposing even the powerful ones at his time, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests, whom he scolded and criticised as the band of vipers for their lack of faith, hypocrisy and mismanagement of the people, and also King Herod, whom St. John the Baptist criticised for his immoral and adulterous behaviour with his brother’s wife, Herodias.

St. John the Baptist, who did not fear persecution and oppression, and who gave his whole life and efforts to the service of God, is a paragon of virtue and Christian discipleship, and all of us as Christians should be inspired to walk in the same path that St. John the Baptist had traversed, and be inspired by his great courage and commitment to God. He is a great role model for us all, in how each and every one of us should be living our lives as well, with great virtue and commitment to God, and in doing whatever it is that we have been entrusted by God to do with our lives, in our respective areas of responsibilities, and in our various vocations in the Church and in this world, in doing our best to glorify God by our lives.

In addition, there is also one more great virtue that St. John the Baptist had, which all of us should very well emulate as well in our own lives, and that is one of obedience and humility. In his commitment to God, St. John the Baptist was thoroughly committed to his mission and he did not do anything for himself or for his own selfish purposes and desires. Like what St. Paul said in the second reading today in his Epistle, in which the Apostle directly quoted St. John the Baptist himself saying that he himself was not the Messiah, and he was not even worthy to untie the straps of His sandals. This was the response that St. John the Baptist gave to all those who asked him and wondered if he was the Messiah long awaited by the people of God. Given how popular St. John the Baptist had been, he could have claimed that he was the Messiah that the people awaited for, but he did not do that, and he was even also glad when he heard that the Lord was gaining more and more followers, saying that it was just right that while He increased, that he decreased. Such was the virtue and the humility that St. John the Baptist has shown, and which we all should emulate in our own lives.

May St. John the Baptist, Holy Herald of the Lord and His faithful servant, continue to pray and intercede for us all, that God may continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us in our lives and in our works, so that we may truly be worthy of Him, and be committed in living our lives most worthily and faithfully in all things, in our every words, actions and deeds, at all times. May God bless us all, in our every efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.