Weekday Homily

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Wednesday, 15 February 2023 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the Lord through the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded again that God has always shown His love, kindness and compassion towards us, and He has kindly reached out to us, and blessed us all, especially those who are faithful to Him. God has always cared for us and He has never abandoned or forsaken us, despite our own frequent disobedience against Him and despite our stubbornness in doing what is against His will and His path, in indulging in worldly pleasures and temptations, leading to us constantly sinning against Him. God has always wanted to reach out to us and heal us from our afflictions, especially that of sin.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the aftermath of the Great Flood which happened to the whole entire world in the days of Noah, one of the early man, who was spared with his family through the Ark that God had told him to construct to safeguard and protect himself and his family. Contextually, we must understand that Noah and his family alone were still considered righteous and worthy among all the multitudes of people that existed back then. The rest of mankind were so wicked and corrupt, afflicted by the original sin of our disobedience and also of the sin of Cain, who murdered his own brother Abel, that God decided to cleanse the whole world with the Great Flood. Noah was instructed to build the Ark, which safeguarded him and his family, and many living things that God sent two by two into the Ark.

The people of God, instead of repenting from their sins, mocked and laughed at Noah, and refusing to believe in God. Hence, they were doomed by their own stubbornness and refusal to obey the Lord, His Law and commandments. Noah and his family faithfully obeyed the Lord, and followed Him in whatever He told them to do, and hence, they were saved from the destruction and gained safety in the Ark during the period of great calamity and destruction of the Flood. They were brought to the new world, cleansed by the Flood, in which they were the only survivors among all the children of mankind. Noah offered sacrifices to God, while God reassured him and all of us that He shall always remember His love for us, and not destroy us anymore by the Flood. The rainbow that appears after the rain is a reminder to God and to all of us of this promise.

This does not mean that God no longer pay attention or heed the wickedness of our sins. Instead, He showed us that despite our disobedience against Him and our persistent attachment to sin, He still loved us nonetheless and wanted to be reconciled with us. That was why He kept on sending us assistance, help and encouragement throughout all the way, and He did not abandon us all in the midst of the darkness all around us. He still kindly reached out to us and called upon us to follow Him, and to repent from our sins. He called on us to turn away from all the temptations and the sins that could have brought us deeper and deeper into the path towards damnation, and He wants us all to embrace His love, mercy and compassion, by which He has sent unto us His own beloved Son to be our Saviour.

That is what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, as we heard of the account of how the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, our Saviour, healed a blind man from his blindness, opened his eyes and made him to be able to see once again. Through that action, the Lord had restored the man who had been afflicted and suffered, and helped him to regain once again his joy and vision, and this is actually really fitting with what we have just discussed earlier on. That is because due to sin, each and every one of us have also become blinded, distracted and kept away from being able to see the truth of God and His love. Just like the blind man who was afflicted with his physical blindness, sin which is an affliction that affects our souls, our hearts, minds and our whole beings, has corrupted us and kept us away from being able to see the righteousness and love of God.

That is why God wants to embrace us and heal us just as He has once healed the blind man and many others, to bring us out from the darkness of sin, to lead us out from the corruption and the dangers of sin. The Lord has shown us His love and kindness, and touched our lives with His most compassionate mercy, so that all of us may have hope once again, and be filled again with joy, the joy and light of the Lord’s glory and resurrection, and of knowing that through Him, all of us have the assurance of eternal life and true joy. All of us are reminded that the path of sin leads to damnation and destruction, while the path of righteousness in God leads to the true happiness that one can gain in the Lord and through Him alone.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best to commit ourselves anew to the Lord, at every opportunities provided to us and in every possible areas where God has called us to do His will. Let us all draw ever closer to God and be committed to walk down the path of His righteousness and light, like Noah and his family had done, and like how God’s faithful servants, the innumerable saints, martyrs and all the other holy men and women of God had done all throughout the whole history. We are all called to be true to our faith in the Lord, to be filled with zeal and fervour in how we live our lives, that we may indeed be true Christians in all things and be good and inspirational role models to each other, and help inspire more and more people to be good disciples and followers of the Lord as well.

May God continue to strengthen and guide us in our journey so that each and every one of us may always be courageous and strong, in persevering in faith despite all of the challenges facing us, and despite all the trials and hardships that we have to endure throughout our journey of faith in life. May God bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, now and always, all for His greater glory, and for the salvation of the world. Amen.

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Tuesday, 14 February 2023 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we are all reminded both of the dangers and the threats of sin and evil present all around us, and at the same time we are also reassured through what we have heard in the Scripture passages today, of the guidance, help and providence which God has given us, just as the examples highlighted of the past, our predecessors should inspire and strengthen our faith and resolve to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and faithfully, entrusting ourselves completely and wholeheartedly to the cause of the Lord, and to be ever righteous, good and worthy of Him in all of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard of the well-known story of the time when God sent a Great Flood to wipe out almost the entire race of mankind and other living things, due to the great wickedness of many of them who refused to believe in Him, and their continued disobedience and rebellion against the Lord and His Law. All of these great wickedness had come into the world due to the disobedience of man against God’s will and commandments, and then as we have just heard earlier in yesterday’s readings, on the murder of Abel by Cain, his own brother, the temptations of pride, ego, worldly sins and wickedness, all of these had led mankind further and further down the path towards evil and damnation.

As we heard in that passage from the Book of Genesis today, God was determined to save the only ones among the people who were still righteous and obedient to the will of the Lord, namely Noah and his family. That was how Noah was instructed by God to construct the immense Ark by which he would save not only his own family but also the living things all over the world, which God had chosen to spare amidst the destruction that He would bring to cleanse the world from all the wickedness, sins and evils. God showed how He treasured those whom He loves and cares for, those who are faithful to Him, while those who refused to obey Him and continued to live in sin, will suffer the just consequences for their wickedness.

We heard how the Ark saved Noah and his family amidst all the destruction of the Great Flood. The other people laughed at Noah when he built the Ark and refused to listen to his warnings and heedings, and hence, no one else save from Noah and his family were saved from the Flood. The whole world was covered with the wrath of God’s Flood, and was cleansed from all the wickedness that had afflicted it throughout. Noah was saved in the Ark, and when the Flood receded, we heard how God promised Noah and his descendants, that is all of us, that He would never again destroy the world and us with the water, with the rainbow as the sign of this promise. That is the story how rainbow appears after the rain, as reminders to both God and us of what had happened once.

This does not mean however that sin has no more consequences afterwards. Sin is still afflicting us, and through disobedience and sin, many more people since the days of Noah would fall into sin, right up to the present day. The Lord however did not give up on us and continued to love us and care for us, as He sent us His promised salvation in Jesus Christ, His own beloved and begotten Son, Who gave Himself to us, walking in our midst and reaching out to us, encouraging and strengthening us with the concrete show of God’s love and compassionate mercy. Through Him, we have seen yet again the proof of God’s ever enduring and persistent love for all of us. He has shown us His love as mentioned the Gospel passage today, by His feeding of the multitudes and many thousands of people.

At the same time, He also warned His disciples of the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ and the ‘yeast of Herod’, which were actually reminders to them and also all of us to be ever vigilant against the temptations and allures of sin which are always present all around us. If we are not careful, we may end up falling into the same pride, ego and ambitions which became the downfall of many of the Pharisees, who refused to believe in the Lord because they hardened their hearts and minds, and remained in their stubborn refusal to believe. Meanwhile, the ‘yeast of Herod’ is a reminder for all of us not to allow the vices of worldly pleasures, the corruption of the sins of the flesh to mislead and corrupt us down the wrong path in life. We have to resist those temptations to sin and remain virtuous, good and worthy of God all the time, remembering all the good things and the love that God has lavished on us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, hence today let us all discern our path in life very carefully, minding the examples shown to us from the time of Noah and the Great Flood, to the sins of the Pharisees and Herod which the Lord warned His disciples against, and all the loving actions that God had done for us. Let us all also heed upon the good examples set by our holy predecessors, namely the great saints and brothers, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, the Patron Saints of Europe and great missionaries of the Christian faith, renowned for their great commitment to the spreading and proclamation of the Good News of God amidst the Slavic peoples, who were still mostly pagan back then, and by whose works, many of them eventually turned to the Christian faith and embracing the Lord as their Saviour and God.

They spent a lot of time and effort to evangelise in various places, and at the same time also developing the alphabets for the Slavic peoples that will eventually be known as the Glagolitic and the Cyrillic alphabets, and they also spent a lot of energy in reaching out to many people, both the rulers and the commoners alike, in introducing God and His truth to all of them. God has truly done His many great and wonderful works amongst His people through St. Cyril and St. Methodius. He has led them all to do His great deeds, and He has strengthened us all through their great inspiration and actions as our great role models. Can we all follow the Lord faithfully in the same way that St. Cyril and St. Methodius had done, brothers and sisters?

Let us all hence draw ever closer to the Lord, and let us continue to dedicate our time, our lives, actions and efforts to glorify the Lord by our lives, by our every words, actions and works in every time and in every opportunities provided to us. Let us all continue to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, distancing ourselves from sin and from the temptations to sin and to disobey the Lord, reminding ourselves and one another each time, to continue to walk the path of God’s righteousness and love, at all times. May God be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good works and endeavours. Amen.

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Monday, 13 February 2023 : 6th 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, all of us are reminded be vigilant against the temptations and allures of sin, all of which can lead us down the path towards ruin and damnation, and if we are not careful it is easy for us to end up on this path, slipping away from the path that God has set before us. If we continue to indulge on the temptations of worldly desire, on our greed and pride, then sooner or later we will end up falling further and further from God’s path towards His salvation and grace. We have to heed the examples used in the Scripture passages today to remind us of what may happen should we open ourselves to sin, allowing sin to corrupt and mislead us down the wrong path in life.

As we heard in our first reading today from the Book of Genesis, the account of what happened following the time of Creation Nd the downfall of man into sin, we heard of the famous story of Cain and Abel, the two sons of Adam and Eve, the first man and first woman created by God. Cain was jealous of Abel because what he has offered the Lord was considered inferior, as compared to the offering of Abel. As a context, Cain offered the produce of his agricultural works, while Abel offered the best of his livestock as offering to God. Back then, the Lord has cursed the earth and the ground itself just as we may have heard earlier on from the Book of Genesis, as one of the consequences of man’s fall into sin. God said that man had to labour hard and the they had to endure pain and suffering, and the earth and soil themselves may resist them and their efforts to toil on them.

As such, contextually, why Cain’s offering was rejected, some may think that it is because the earth itself had been cursed by God, therefore it ended up being the lesser and inferior offering as compared to Abel’s offering. If we just merely looking at the situation on the surface, that will likely be our conclusion. The truth is that, as later on the author of the Epistle of the Hebrews also discussed this matter in his Epistle, the offering of Cain was rejected more because he did not offer it sincerely with faith, and did not entrust himself wholeheartedly to the Lord. This can already be implied indirectly from the Book of Genesis itself, as the Book of Genesis showed how Abel made his offering with great enthusiasm and joy, offering the best of his possessions, the finest one amongst all of his flock, as a sign of his great faith in God.

On the other hand, Cain was rather half-hearted and insincere in making his offering. Yes, his offering had been rejected by God, but his response to God and how his offering was rejected showed the intention behind his offering and what was in his heart and mind. If Cain truly had faith in God and offered his sacrifice to God sincerely and generously, he would not have minded the Lord’s rejection, and would have offered it anyway. The fact that he immediately became angry and jealous of his brother showed us that he made his offering not really because he truly loved and dedicated himself to the Lord, but rather saw it as some form of competition, greed and even a matter of pride and ego, comparing himself with his sibling, something that we may indeed be familiar with, as these things do happen in our world, and even in fact, perhaps quite frequently too.

Therefore, it was likely Cain’s wrong predisposition and his wrong focus and intentions, his lack of faith and trust in God, all of which led to his offering being rejected by God. It was not because his offering was of lesser quality, or even the excuse that some gave in defending Cain that he was disadvantaged against Abel. As I mentioned earlier, had Cain truly had the right intentions and purpose in his mind and heart, he would not have become angry and he would not have even gone to the extent of murdering his own brother, of his own flesh and blood, without mercy and compassion. Cain was blinded by arrogance and pride, by his greed and jealousy, and he opened the doors of his heart wide to these temptations to sin, and naturally, it led to what he had done in committing a truly grave sin against God and against his own brother.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the actions of the Pharisees who openly questioned the Lord and doubted His authority by asking Him for a sign before everyone. And we have to understand that the Lord Himself has actually performed many miracles and wonders before all the people and especially the Pharisees should have known better as they often followed the Lord and His disciples all around the various places that He has ministered in, even to the wilderness and places away from towns. They had seen so many examples and proofs of the Lord’s power and works, and yet, they still refused to believe in Him and His truth. They stood fast their mistaken beliefs and convictions, and that led to further conflicts and disagreements between them and the Lord. All of these were indeed just like how Cain had opened himself to the temptations and allures of sin, as those Pharisees allowed themselves to be deluded by their pride and wicked desires too.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we can see very clearly from our Scripture passages today, the allures and temptations of sin are indeed dangerous, and they can easily lead us down the path to our downfall if we are not careful. We are reminded that if we do not remain vigilant and keep ourselves free from the snares of our own pride, ego and all sorts of worldly desires and ambitions, we are likely going to end up falling further and deeper into the temptations of sin, and we will end up being like Cain, consumed by our own anger, desire, jealousy, pride and greed, committing heinous and wicked sins that will lead us to our downfall and destruction. That is why all of us are reminded to remain focused on the Lord and His truth, and resist the many temptations and pressures around us to disobey the Lord and His commandments. We are reminded to keep ourselves firmly grounded in our faith, and to strengthen ever more our relationship with the Lord, our most loving God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence strive to live our lives from now on ever more worthily of the Lord and dedicate ourselves, in each and every moment, to walk in His path and to love Him more and more, with each and every moment and opportunities that He has granted us. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us all so that we may have the resolve and perseverance to live our lives as good and faithful Christians at all times. May God bless our works and endeavours, and be with us always, through our lives, at all times, helping us to resist the many temptations of sin and worldly glory. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 February 2023 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we all gather together in the Holy Presence of God in His House, each and every one of us are reminded to keep faithfully the Law and the commandments that He has bestowed upon us, all that He has given us in order to help us find our way to Him, to His salvation and grace. All of us as Christians are called to be good and faithful disciples of our Lord, to be good and exemplary role models in our way of life, in everything we say and do, so that everyone who hears us, sees and witnesses our actions and works, may all come to know the Lord and His truth more through us, and hopefully we may inspire more people to come to believe in the Lord as well. Whether we are to do good or to do evil is completely within our choice, and God has given us the freedom to choose our course of action in life.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard the words of the prophet Sirach speaking to the people of God and reminding them all, including all of us that God has given us His Law and commandments, and it is really up to us to make the choice whether to do what is right and just in accordance to God’s Law and commandments, or whether we want to disobey Him and walk down the path of sin instead. The Lord has given us all the free will and the freedom to choose our paths, and He has also taught us and revealed to us what we all need to do if we want to be faithful and committed to Him. Unfortunately, more often than not we chose to walk down the path of rebellion and evil than to obey the Lord and His commandments, especially because we were unable to resist the temptations all around us, and because we see the path of disobedience and sin as the ‘easier’ path.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Apostle St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city of Corinth in which he spoke of the teaching and revelation of Divine wisdom, the Wisdom of God, the truth that the Lord Himself has revealed to His disciples and Church, and which He reaffirmed to us through His Holy Spirit. St. Paul compared this Wisdom and truth to the wisdom and ways of the world, which is finite and which leads us down the wrong path in life, while the Wisdom of God and all that He has revealed and taught to us will lead us down the path of righteousness and grace, and through that path, we shall enter into a new life blessed and truly worthy of God, a path that he has exhorted, encouraged and reminded all the faithful people of God to follow.

It is in our Gospel passage today then that we heard parts of what each and every one of us as Christians are expected to follow and obey, in being good and dedicated followers and disciples of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In that Gospel passage, we heard from the Lord Himself, speaking before all the people gathered to listen to Him, how He told them that He came into this world to fulfil the Law and the commandments of God, not to cancel or eradicate them. He came into this world to reveal the true meaning, purpose and intention of the Law, to purify the commandments and laws of the Lord from all the accumulated misinterpretations, misunderstandings and abuse from the people entrusted with their enforcement and preservation, those who had even appropriated the Law for their own selfish desires and benefits.

What the Lord presented before the people as we heard in our Gospel passage today, was the call to everyone to be truly faithful to God and to be devoted to Him out of genuine love and devotion, and not because one is just merely fulfilling the obligations or doing things out of fear or in desiring to maintain good and favourable appearances, or merely as a formality to be fulfilled and completed. In essence, the Lord told all of the people and hence all of us that being Christians means that we all have to be sincere in doing God’s will and in obeying His Law and commandments, and most importantly, we must always be centred and focused on God as the focus, emphasis and the main reason of our lives and existence in this world. Each and every one of us are called to be truly righteous, good and just in the manner that our Lord Himself is all good and righteous.

The Lord made His comments and spoke before the people with the context that the people had been making excuses and trying to find and exploit loopholes in the Law, and not truly believing in the Lord or not truly having faith in Him, and not loving Him as they should have. They were focused more on themselves and their selfish desires and wants, their ambitions, pride, ego and worldly achievements, and as such, while they may outwardly appear to be faithful, but inside, their faith are truly found wanting and lacking. Unless they are more faithful than just being superficial and outwardly faithful, and truly develop a strong and dynamic faith in God, then it may be hard for one to come closer to the Lord and to be worthy to receive His grace and salvation. This is why the Lord reminded all of us this Sunday through these readings, so that all of us may develop the right attitude in life, and nurture in our lives the love that we ought to have for the Lord, as well as for our fellow brothers and sisters, just as the Lord has taught us.

Essentially, as Christians we cannot be idle in our lives, and we must make good use of whatever we have been blessed and given, so that our lives may be fruitful and filled with love for both God and for our fellow men, and that we resist the temptations to sin and to disobey the Lord. When the Lord mentioned in our Gospel passage today, the rather intriguing advice to the people to cut off their hands and to pluck out their eyes if those things led them all to sin, what He actually meant was that, first of all, sin is harmful and dangerous, and if we are not careful and if we do not take the necessary steps to resist the temptations to sin, those sins may end up leading us down the path towards damnation, out of which there is no hope and escape for us, if we realise it too late that we have allowed sin to jeopardise and destroy us.

We should not be complacent and remain vigilant against the temptations all around us, and against the vile efforts and works of Satan and all of his wicked allies, the fallen angels, demons and evil spirits, all of whom are always hard and busy at work in trying to destroy us and to mislead us all down the path towards damnation and destruction. We must also remember again, just as I had mentioned in the beginning of this Sunday’s discourse, that God has given us the free will and the freedom to choose our path in life. At the same time, we have also been given the means and the opportunities to do either what is good and just in the sight of God and man alike, or instead to do what is wicked and evil. The choice is ours, and God has given us that choice to make. And now, can we discern well our path so that we will make the right choice?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence listen to the Lord calling on us to follow Him, and let us all commit ourselves to live our lives henceforth in a most Christian manner, doing wholeheartedly all that the Lord has shown and taught us to do, in loving Him and in loving our fellow brothers and sisters, generously offering ourselves and our love for the glory of God and for the wellbeing of our fellow brethren all around us. May God continue to guide us all in our every actions and efforts in life, and may He bless us all in out every endeavours and good works, now and always, evermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 11 February 2023 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Our Lady of Lourdes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, marking that well-known Apparition of the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary at the site of Lourdes in rural southern part of France. This Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes happened over a century and a half ago, in the mid 19th century, as Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes appeared before a young peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous, now better known as St. Bernadette, revealing her true nature and intentions to her. Despite the many challenges and doubts that St. Bernadette faced back then, eventually the Church acknowledged the vision and Apparition to be authentic, and celebrated universally as the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, with the site of Lourdes itself becoming one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the world.

Our Lady often appeared throughout history during times of great trials and hardships for the faithful people of God and for the world in general. She appeared in Hispania in the years of the persecutions against Christians during the earliest days of the Church to St. James the Apostle, now known as the Apparition of Our Lady of the Pillar, when Mary, who was probably even still living in the world back then, appeared to the Apostle to reassure him and to strengthen his resolve in proclaiming the truth of God to the people that he was ministering to. Mary also appeared in Guadalupe in Mexico, during the years immediately following the post-Columbian European expansion into the American continent, the New World when wars, conflicts, pandemics and other factors led to the sufferings and deaths of untold millions. Back then it was also right in the midst of the Protestant reformation when the Church became divided and splintered due to heretical teachings of those so-called reformers.

In all those occasions and others, the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God appeared to various people including that at Lourdes because she wanted to show us all the love of God and remind us of everything that her Son had done for our sake, in His sacrifice on His Cross out of ever pure and enduring love for each and every one of us. Despite our many transgressions and stubborn attitude in rejecting His kindness and love, God has always loved us regardless, and desired that each and every one of us may find our way back to Him, to be reconciled to Him, and at the same time He has also entrusted all of us to the loving care of His mother Mary, just as He had done so from His Cross. This way, each and every one of us are beloved and dear to her, and receive from her the most tender love that she has shown her Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In Lourdes, Our Lady appeared to the young, fourteen year old Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Massabielle where the Shrine to our Lady of Lourdes now stands. St. Bernadette initially did not know who it was that called her and appeared to her, but as she continued to meet Our Lady of Lourdes on more and more occasions, listening to her speaking and revealing more about herself, St. Bernadette kept on coming back to meet the Apparition of Our Lady. On this date, the eleventh day of February, was the date of the first apparition, and in total eighteen apparitions of Our Lady happened, and as people began to hear about the apparition of the Lady dressed in white with blue sash as encountered by the young St. Bernadette, they started to come to the site of the Apparition.

In one of the apparitions, Our Lady told St. Bernadette to dig the ground at that area and drink from the spring that would come forth from the ground. St. Bernadette did so faithfully and although it made her to appear dishevelled with mud, and dismayed some of her supporters, but the spring that came forth at the grotto site of the Apparition quickly gained a great reputation for healing, as the waters that came forth from the spring brought about quite a number of miraculous healings that scientists and doctors later on could not explain by whatever means, and the Church later certified as being authentic and miraculous in nature. That was the beginning of the famous healing miracles at Lourdes, and the beginning of the popular pilgrimage to the site of Our Lady’s Apparition, which drew millions of pilgrims and more every year.

When met by skepticism and doubt by the Church authorities, on the date of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, Our Lady told St. Bernadette Soubirous that she is the Immaculate Conception, which stunned the authorities, the local bishop and priest who therefore became convinced of the authenticity of the Apparition, as the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was just proclaimed by the Blessed Pope Pius IX four years prior to the Apparition, and at the age and time back then, with much more difficult communication and transport, there could have been no way for an illiterate young peasant girl like St. Bernadette to know this truth about the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate Conception, unless the Apparition was indeed truly of the Mother of God herself.

From then on, for the next a century and half and more until today, Lourdes had become a place visited by innumerable pilgrims and Christian faithful, with various reasons, and many among them sought healing from their physical troubles and maladies. Many were cured miraculously by their faith in God, and with the help and intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, His mother, who is also our loving mother. That is why today, on this World Day of the Sick, on the Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, each and every one of us are reminded of God’s love for each one of us, which He has reassured us in many times, and which He lavished on us through the help of none other than His own mother Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, we are all seeking for healing for our various maladies and sickness, our various illnesses and troubles in life.

And even, just as we seek for God’s healing for us, among those of us who are perfectly fit physically and mentally, there is still the sickness of our souls, the corruption of sin that has always been ever present all around us. All of us mankind are sinners be it great or small sins that we have committed, or whether few or plenty in terms of the amount of sins we committed. Not only that, but it is the Lord alone Who is able to heal us from our sins, as while doctors and other means may heal us from our worldly sickness and troubles, no one can forgive sin save that of God Himself. Hence, each one of us on this day are reminded that we who are in need of God’s healing and mercy, all of us should come to seek Him wholeheartedly, and to humbly entrust ourselves to Him with the help from His most loving Mother Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes.

Let us ask then, for our blessed and loving Mother to pray and intercede for us, who are sinners and afflicted with many sickness and troubles, foremost of which is our corruption by sin. May Our Lady of Lourdes continue to pray and intercede for us sinners, and for those afflicted by various maladies, illnesses and sickness, all throughout the world. May the Lord have mercy on us and heal us from our troubles, and help us to come back to Him, and to be reunited with Him, in perfect bliss and happiness one day, free from the troubles of our flesh and our souls, pure and perfect once again. Amen.

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Friday, 10 February 2023 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Scholastica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded through the Scriptures to put our faith and trust in God and His truth, and not in the falsehoods and wickedness of Satan. God loves each and every one of us, and He has created us out of His pure and most enduring love for us. Meanwhile, Satan, as well as all of his wicked allies and forces, all were aiming only at our eventual downfall and destruction, snatching us away from God Who truly loves each and every one of us. They have always been busy at work in trying to subvert the messages of God’s truth and to tempt us so that we fall into the slippery path towards damnation and evil. We heard how Satan tricked our ancestors and made his false promises and spoke lies to tempt us to sin by disobeying God and His commandments.

In our first reading today, we heard of the continuation of the past few days’ account from the moment of the Creation of the world and the Universe, and specifically today we focused on the very moment that Satan came before Adam and Eve, tempting both of them with the very tempting allure of worldly power and glory, of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, to become even like God by knowing all things good and evil. Satan was in fact playing on our desires and wants, and in our moment of weakness, he struck where it caused us to lose our focus and faith in the Lord and His providence, that we chose to trust in the words of the great deceiver and enemy rather than to keep our faith and trust in the Lord. We chose to embrace the path of the world, the path of pride, ego and greed, and as a result, we fell into sin, just as Satan himself has fallen.

As a great and mighty, brilliant and amazing Angel and spirit that God had created, Lucifer, the original name and identity of Satan, was truly an amazing and great being, that showcased the marvels of God’s creations and wonders. However, this Angel was taken over by his vanity and pride, and began plotting rebellion and desires to take over the control over Heaven and all of God’s kingdom, to sit on God’s Throne and to rule over all. Hence, by his pride and ego, Satan had fallen, defeated and cast out of Heaven, and in his defeat, he sought to bring us down together with him and all of his fallen and defeated allies. Hence, he struck at us using the same things that had led to his downfall in the first place, the vices and wickedness of the world, the temptations to sin against God.

It is here also that we should notice the contrast and comparison we can make between our first and Gospel reading passages today. In the beginning, man and woman were made all good and perfect, and they had nothing lacking in them. They were naked and without anything to wear just like the other animals and plants of the field, and yet they were not embarrassed or ashamed. Yet, the moment they ate of the fruits of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, they became aware of their nakedness and became embarrassed and panicked, seeking to hide themselves and their naked beings, and also hiding away from God. In the Gospel on the other hand, we heard of the Lord Jesus healing and opening the ears and loosening the tongue of a person who had been suffering from being deaf and mute.

Through this comparison, actually, we can see that because of sin, we have become ‘blinded’ and made to be unaware of God’s love and truth, as we allowed the veil and corruptions of sin to cover us and to prevent us from seeing the truth about God’s love and compassionate kindness towards each one of us. We became lacking in faith and trust in Him, and chose therefore to embrace the wickedness of our worldly desires and the many temptations all around us. Our ancestors, Adam and Eve became embarrassed and afraid of their nakedness and actions, because they were swallowed by their vanity and pride, and while they were once focused only on God, His love and kindness, they have become focused on their own selves and desires, turning inwards and away from God’s path.

Hence, the irony was that, while their eyes were indeed ‘opened’ by their newly gained knowledge about themselves, but sin had blinded them and made them to be unaware of the wickedness that they had done in disobeying God and in rebelling against Him. Yet, the Lord did not give up on us and continued to love us all most generously after all, and He gave us His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to deliver us from the hands of the devil, and from the tyranny of sin, evil and death. Through Him and His works, just as we heard in our Gospel passage today, He embodied and showed us all the perfect manifestation of God’s ever patient and enduring love for each and every one of us. He still loved us despite all of our stubborn attitudes and behaviours, because all of us are truly precious to Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from these readings from the Sacred Scriptures and reminded of how we mankind had often disobeyed the Lord, rejected His generous mercy and love, and continued to sin against Him, can we all spend some time to discern well our path forward in life? Can we all do whatever we can to resist those many temptations all around us, the temptations to sin and to do what is abhorrent and wicked in the sight of God? God is indeed ever patient and loving, but we should never take His love for granted, ever again. If we continue to walk down this path of sin and disobedience, eventually the time will come when we have no more way out of the predicament and our fate that is destruction and eternal damnation, and at that time, no amount of regret will ever console us or give us any hope, anymore. Let us all not wait until we regret for eternity in hellfire with Satan and his fellow fallen allies, and regret our rebelliousness.

Today we also celebrate the Feast of St. Scholastica, a renowned and great woman of God, a saint of the Church, who was the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia, another holy man of God. Her examples in commitment and love for God should indeed become source of hope and inspiration to each one of us in how we ourselves should live our lives with great faith. She was remembered for her great piety and personal holiness, as well as for her dedication to prayerful life and for her discipline in obeying the Law and commandments of God, through her obedience to the Rule of St. Benedict that her brother had established as the rule and norms for his community of the faithful. Through her examples and dedications, many others had become called and responded to God’s call, encouraging many more people to commit themselves ever more to the Lord, in their lives and in leading righteous lives, just as we all should as well.

May the Lord continue to watch over us and help us to journey ever closer to Him, and by heeding the good examples set by St. Scholastica and the innumerable other saints, holy men and women of God, that we may find our way to Him and His salvation. May God continue to bless us in everything that we say and do, and may He empower all of us to live ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, and be good role models and inspirations to many others all around us. Amen.

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Thursday, 9 February 2023 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scripture passages, we are reminded always again and again of God’s love and kindness, which He has lavished on each and every one of us since the very beginning of time. God has created us all out of His love for us, and He has provided us with everything we need, ever caring, kind and compassionate towards us, and He has always reached out to us, even after we have fallen away from His path of righteousness and grace. God has never abandoned or forgotten about us, and He has always loved us all the same. Yet, we mankind were still often stubborn and refused to follow God’s path, or accept His love, compassion and mercy, as we allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of how God created our first ancestors, blessed them and provided for them in the Gardens of Eden, was told to us. Back then, man was supposed to live in perfect bliss, happiness and harmony, to be with God in the state of fullness of grace, and having no need to worry or any suffering at all. God made everything to be good and perfect, all wonderful and amazing, all creation to be entrusted to us as their caretakers and guardians, as stewards and as the Lord’s servants, His representatives and workers, in caring for everything that God Himself had made. The Lord entrusted all of those to us, expecting us to be good and faithful stewards to His creation, to be filled with righteousness and obedience to His will.

Unfortunately, we have instead lapsed into sin, and allowed the devil to have his way with us, as we embraced his lies and sweet words over that of obeying God and His commandments. We chose to entertain Satan who tempted us all with the temptations of worldly glory and desires, of greed and ambition, to seek to know more and to become even like God, just as Satan said to Adam and Eve, our ancestors. They allowed themselves to be swayed and convinced by the falsehoods of Satan, and chose to disobey God, and hence, became corrupted by sin. Thus that was how original sin came to afflict each and every one of us. Sin corrupted us and tore us away from the Lord, sundering us from His love and grace, and it all came from our inability to resist the temptations to sin.

Yet, God never gave up on us, and while we have to suffer the consequences of our sins, forced to wander off in this world and away from the perfect bliss of Eden that was intended for us, the Lord continued to watch over us and provide for us the means by which we may find our way back to Him. He has always patiently cared for us and provided for all of our needs, even when we still refused to budge and were stubborn in our rebellion against Him. Not only that, He even promised that He will liberate us all from the tyranny of sin, evil and death, and will gather us back to Himself, which He has done through the sending of His own Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, into our midst, to be the source of our Hope and to lead us all as our Good Shepherd into the right path, that all of us may be reconciled to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the account of the encounter and exchanges between the Lord Jesus Himself and a Syro-Phoenician woman. Back then, the Jewish people were often prejudiced against the non-Jewish people, and the Syro-Phoenician woman was one of the people inhabiting regions neighbouring the Jewish areas in Judea and Galilee, and the Jews, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law among them, often considered their neighbours to be inferior and unfit for God’s grace and love, because they deemed themselves as God’s chosen people, and hence the only ones who were deserving of God’s love and salvation. Not only that, but they took great pride in that, and they scorned those who did not share their thoughts and ideas, and all the pagan peoples.

At the first glance, it might seem that the Lord Jesus was being very rude and dismissive towards the Syro-Phoenician woman. However, the Lord did not do that with the intention to ridicule or being truly prejudiced against the woman. Instead, the Lord actually wanted to make a point before all the people assembled and all of the disciples, that it is indeed folly and unbecoming of God’s people to have such an elitist and biased attitude which they had been keeping up to that point. The Lord used that example by showing to everyone just how persistent and committed the woman was, and what a strong belief and faith that she had in the Lord, that despite everything that the Lord had said to her, she still insisted to seek the Lord and to ask and beg Him to heal her daughter who was very sick. She continued to trust and to be faithful to the Lord, and this faith is a great example to all of the disciples, as well as to all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best to resist the evils and the temptations of sin all around us. Let us all recall that every one of us have been created all good and perfect by the Lord, and are expected to lead a life that is truly attuned to God’s will, believing in Him and having faith and trust in Him much as how the Syro-Phoenician woman had lived hers, and in her persistence to follow the Lord despite all that she had to face and endure. Each and every one of us are reminded that if we do not do our part, and do not resist the temptations of sin, all around us, it will be harder and harder for us to resist the pull of sin and we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong paths, as we can easily lose focus on our true focus and attention, that is the Lord, our God and Saviour.

May all of us continue to grow ever more in faith, and may we all grow ever stronger in our devotion and love for God, and may all of us do all that we can in order to glorify Him by our lives, our actions, words and every deeds. Let us all turn towards the Lord with renewed faith and zeal, and let us all be good examples and inspirations to one another, so that we may encourage each other to keep our faith and to turn away the falsehoods and lies of Satan. May God be with us always, and may He guide us to Himself, and help us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 8 February 2023 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, and St. Josephine Bakhita, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us have been made good and perfect by God, and all of His Creation have also been good and wonderful, full of His grace and love, as all of His created things and beings are filled with goodness and His love for each one of us. However, it was because of our refusal to obey Him or listen to Him and His words that we have fallen into the path of sin. Due to our inability to resist the temptations of evil and worldly desires, and inability to restrain our pride and ego, we have ended up falling into the ever deeper trap of sinfulness and wickedness, and we end up slipping ever further down the slippery path towards damnation. Unless we then make a conscious effort to resist those temptations, how can we be ever more committed as Christ’s followers and disciples?

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis the story of the moment when God created our ancestors, the first Man, Adam, from dust of the Earth, in the Gardens of Eden, and later on shortly, the first Woman, Eve, from Adam’s own flesh and bone. Mankind were created in the very image of God Himself, and was the pinnacle of all of His Creation, made in His own likeness and filled with all graces and blessings. We heard how God was happy with everything He had created and how everything were good and perfect, filled with the great bliss of heavenly joy, and that is what we have always been intended to enjoy, from the very beginning, to be with God and to live forevermore in His loving presence, in the wonderful Eden, paradise that He has prepared for us, and that was what God has always intended for us all.

Yet, our ancestors chose to disobey Him, and to listen to the lies and falsehoods of Satan who disguised himself as a snake, tempting Adam and Eve with the false promises that if they were to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, then they would become like God, in knowing everything and in understanding everything. Thus, that was how we ended up falling into sin, as sin came forth from disobedience, from our refusal to listen to God, and from the malice that sprang forth from within us, from the pride and ego, the greed and the desires that we indulged in, and allowed to control us, and all those things led to us walking down the path of evil, of sin against God, of wickedness and evil. If only that we put more effort to restrain those desires, temptations and resist the pressures exerted on us to live in the state of sin, we could have still existed in the state of grace in Eden, and not to suffer all the pain and sufferings of this world.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and all the people assembled of the nature of how we all can be corrupted by sin and the wickedness that come forth from within us, from our hearts and minds, and not from what we take in from the outside, not from any food or any worldly things that we encounter and have in this world. This must be understood in the context of how back then, the Law of God as revealed through Moses and passed down through the generations to the people of God contained restrictions and prohibitions of the consumptions of certain food and items, which were considered as unclean and inappropriate to be eaten by the people. The Law itself prescribed that should anyone eat of those unclean food, then they themselves would be considered as unclean as well, and thus, had to purify themseelves and face the consequences.

The Lord highlighted that such a belief was erroneous, and the truth was that, the things which made us to become corrupted and wicked, all came from within us, as He pointed out that God did not create evil, and everything that God had created were good, perfect and wonderful. Even Satan himself when he was created by God was a great, brilliant and mighty Angel known as Lucifer, the brightest and most brilliant of the Angels. Unfortunately, his vanity and pride led him to disobey God and fall into wickedness and evil, as he aspired to rule over all the Universe and to sit on the Throne of God, in trying to supplant and overthrow his own Master and Creator. Thus, in the same way that Satan had fallen, our ancestors and all of us mankind had also fallen in the same manner as well. Our downfall into sin was caused by our vulnerabilities and succumbing into our internal misalignments from the path of the Lord, and from the wickedness within us.

That is why today, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, each one of us are reminded to be vigilant over ourselves and our actions in life. We must be careful lest the temptations of pride, greed, desires and all other obstacles in our path and journey towards the Lord might end up leading us down the path of damnation and destruction. We are reminded that our ancestors had fallen into the trap of sin that Satan and all of his forces had laid before them, and the same traps and threats are facing us all as well. Unless we remain vigilant and strong in our faith, we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong path, and may end up getting further and more distant from the Lord and His righteousness and grace. We are all called to reflect on our way of life so that hopefully we may realise just how much we need to repent from our many sins and evils.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us should be inspired by the examples shown unto us by two great saints of God, whose lives and dedication to God can inspire us to live our lives ever more worthily of Him. The Lord has presented to us on their feast days, the great saints, St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita. St. Jerome Emiliani was a great humanitarian and generous man, the founder of the Somaschi fathers, a group of priests and brothers committed to a holy life dedicated to God and to the people of God. He was remembered for his great piety and even more so for his great generosity and charity, particularly towards the sick, the hungry and the orphans. He spent a lot of effort in caring for those who were less fortunate and had none to care for them, establishing orphanages and hospitals, and many other institutions designed to help them find their way in life.

Meanwhile, St. Josephine Bakhita was a devoted holy virgin, who was once a slave hailing from the area now known as Sudan. She was abducted from her family in a very young age and was forced to be a slave, and was sold from master to master for many years, being tortured and abused by many of her masters, before finally ending up in the hands of the Italian Vice-Consul who was much kinder to her, and who eventually returned to Italy with St. Josephine Bakhita in tow. Eventually, after some more ordeal and hardships, St. Josephine Bakhita was declared a freedwoman and became a part of the Canossian sisters, as a convert and as a novice, eventually taking perpetual vow and dedicating her whole life to serve the Lord through the Canossian Sisters community that she was living in. She was remembered for her great love for God and others, and for her great and tender care and love for the members of her community.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the good examples showed by St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita, our holy predecessors, and do whatever we can to glorify the Lord by our lives. Let us all purify ourselves from the wickedness of sin, by seeking God and His forgiveness, and by turning our back against our sinful past, embracing wholeheartedly the righteousness and grace of God from now on. May God bless us always, and may He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 February 2023 : 5th 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 of the need for all of us to listen to the Lord and to follow what He has told us to do, and to embrace His calling for us all to be His beloved children, to be the people of His flock. Each and every one of us have been given this great grace and gift from God, Who has willingly embraced all of us, though sinners, to be His children, His beloved ones, as He continued to patiently reach out to us and show us His mercy, compassion and love. God has always ever been patient in loving us and in taking care of us, from the very beginning of Creation and throughout all of time. He has created us all in His own image, out of love for us, so that by our existence in this world, we may enjoy forever the fullness of His grace, blessings and love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard the continuation of the story of Creation as mentioned and detailed by the author of that Book, speaking of everything that God had done in creating the whole Universe, of this world and everything that we have ever known of, of everything that are living as well as all the non-living matter. God has made everything to be into existence by the power of His will alone. God has already loved us all from the very beginning, the pinnacle of His creation, the masterpiece of His work, made in His very own image. Among all of Creation, each one of us, the sons and daughters of man, are the pinnacle of God’s work, the best amongst all of His possessions. We have been created as the last of His works, as in us alone, the image of His face has been reflected.

And just as we have heard in that same passage as well, the Lord has entrusted this world and the guardianship over its vast and glorious extent to all of us mankind, as He told us to grow and multiply, and to spread throughout the whole world, to do the will of God and to be good and faithful stewards and caretakers of all of God’s creations, of everything that He has made and created. Yet, not long after we have been created, everything that had been meant to be perfect and all good were sullied and spoiled by our ancestors’ own inability to resist the temptations and the lies of the devil, Satan, the great snake and liar, who has tempted them with the temptation of knowledge, power and glory, by tempting them to be like God, and by disobeying directly what the Lord has told them, in not eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the conflict, disagreement and tensions between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, many of whom were criticising Him and His disciples for not following the full expression and implementation of the Jewish customs and laws, the observances and rituals that were kept especially by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, back then and even unto this day, in doing various activities, including what happened back then, when the Lord and His disciples, together with the Pharisees, were having a meal. What we all need to take note here is that, first of all, the Lord was in fact not against obedience to the Law of God. Indeed, the Lord has always spoken about true obedience of the Law, which requires us all to understand the purpose, the context and the intention of the Law that God has revealed to us all, and not to be misled, distracted and misguided by the mistaken and faulty perceptions of the true meaning and intention of the Law.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law took great pride in their very strict adherence to the Law, which they obeyed literally to the letter, and not only that, but they also added many layers of details and intricacies, which they ended up becoming very dedicated in keeping and observing, and were very particular in enforcing and ensuring that the people of God observed the Law in the way that they approved. Not only that, but they often paraded their piety and way of observing the Law before everyone, in the public places and others, so that they could bask in the praise and adoration from the people, to indulge in their own pride, ego and greed. This is what had led to the Lord often criticising and rebuking them rightly for having indulged in such negative attitudes, and also in their stubbornness in refusing to believe in His truth and Good News.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our first reading and Gospel passages today, all of us are reminded to grow ever stronger in our desire to love the Lord, to know Him more and to follow Him faithfully in the right way. We must not allow our pride, ego and greed, our many temptations all around us to distract us from our true way of obeying the Lord, in doing what He Himself has revealed to us, all though His Church, His servants and through the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has called us all to follow Him wholeheartedly, and not being just superficially faithful as how many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, in their outward expression of their faith, and yet, within their hearts, their pride and ego, their desires and greed, their stubbornness and jealousy of the Lord had prevented them from finding their path towards God.

If we allow Satan to tempt us and to mislead us as he has done to Adam and Eve, our ancestors in the past, then we open the doors of our hearts and minds to him to continue to speak his lies and sweet words, which were aimed at leading down the path towards damnation and destruction. Satan and all of his forces will not remain idle before they ensured that as many of us as possible follow them down the path of damnation and destruction, to end up in hellfire and eternal darkness, and sundered from God’s grace and love. That is why we should always be vigilant and remember to keep our hearts and minds free from the temptations of sin, and from the allures of pride, ego, greed, worldly desires and ambitions. We have to remember that God alone is the centre and focus of our lives, and all that we do, all the Law and commandments that we observe, all we do not for our own glory, but for the glory of God and because we love Him just in the same way that He has loved us.

May the Lord continue to guide us in our way and path in life, and may all of us continue to love Him, our Lord, Master and Creator, just as much as He has loved us all from the very beginning of time until now. May He continue to strengthen us all with the courage and the desire to walk ever more faithfully in His presence, and becoming great role models and examples to one another in faith. May each and every one of us grow ever stronger in our Christian faith and dedication, and may all of us be ever shining and glorious beacons of God’s light and truth, proclaiming the truth and love that our Lord Jesus Himself has brought into our midst. May God bless us all in our every good efforts, deeds and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 6 February 2023 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the works of God in creating the whole entire world, the entire Universe and existence that we are living in today, and we are reminded of the love with which God has created each and every one of us. He loves us all, and He creates everything because He wants us to share in the love that He has, overflowing and ever present from His Being, permeating all creation and all of existence. We are all reminded of just how wonderful all of His creations are and most importantly, of Who it is that we serve and believe in, that is none other than the Lord Himself, the Almighty Master and Lord of all Creation, and we have to carry on this belief in our daily lives, just as the saints have reminded us through theirs.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis the account of the creation of the world from the very beginning of time. He created everything from nothingness as He alone above all else and beyond all else was, is and will always exist, from before the beginning of time, as we believe in God Who is Almighty and Eternal, and each members of the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. At the moment of creation, as we heard in our first reading passage today, we are reminded that God was present in all things and is the One carrying out the works of creation. The Father’s will embodied the Creation, while the Son, the Word of God, is the One that made everything into being, just as the Lord spoke ‘Let there be light’, and light came to being. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is everywhere as mentioned, present at all places and in the nothingness before Creation.

God showed His might to us, by creating all things all around us, everything that we have ever known, all of the living and non-living things in this world and beyond. He made all things because He wants us all to share in His creation, and He made us all especially in His own image, to be the most beloved among all of His created beings, and we have also been given dominion over all things, as stewards and caretakers of all creation, to be the ones who are responsible over the governance over our world, to make good use of what we have been blessed with and to be kind and good to our nature and world as well. We are all reminded today of the immense nature of God’s ever present love and kindness, His compassion and good will towards us all in how He has provided for us everything we have in this world, is a constant reminder and urging for us all to stay true to our faith in Him.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the short account from the Gospels, regarding the work and ministry of the Lord among His people, as the Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God, the same Word of God, Co-Eternal with the Father, present before the beginning of time, and the One through Whom God created the whole world, has come into our very midst, taking up our human existence and nature and being born into this world, to walk in our midst in the flesh, approachable and tangible to us. Thus, through Jesus Christ our Lord, we have come to behold the whole great love of God manifested before us and present among us, and we are reminded yet again just how fortunate for us to have been created amidst the vastness of this Universe, and at the same time just how beloved we are by our Lord and Creator.

Now, through these interesting set of readings today, all of us are called to remember our responsibilities as Christians to be faithful to God and to focus ourselves and our lives on Him, as we continue to lead a more worthy Christian life in our world today. Each and every one of us are God’s beloved people, and He has revealed Himself wholly and thoroughly through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as well as through His Church and disciples, and also through the Holy Spirit Who has come down upon us and has been given to us all through the Holy Sacraments. The Lord has revealed Himself, His truth and love to us, so that we may come to love Him even more and come closer to Him, as He desires that we may all be reconciled and fully reunited to Himself, and no longer be separated from Him due to our sins and disobedience.

And as Christians, all of us are called to shine with the light of God’s truth and love, and our lives should be sources of inspiration and hope for many others, in how we live our lives centred on Him and His Law and commandments, and how our actions, words and deeds truly proclaim the glory and greatness of God, and full of the same love which God has lavished on us and which we now are expected to embody and show in our own daily living as well. We have the saints and the martyrs throughout the history of the Church to look upon for examples, and today in particular, I want all of us to look upon the great examples shown by St. Paul Miki and his Companions, the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan, who were martyred a few centuries ago in terrible persecution, and whose faith and courage inspired many ever since.

St. Paul Miki and his Companions in martyrdom lived through during difficult time to be Christians in Japan. After having enjoyed a great period of flourishing and rapid expansion, which saw hundreds of thousands being converted and brought up in the Christian faith in Japan, during the last years of the Warring Periods, the authorities then under the leadership of Toyotomi Hideyoshi began to become suspicious and hostile against Christians, and began a period of increasingly intense persecution against the followers of the Lord. Due to the misunderstandings and political rivalries at that time, and fear of the foreign influences, Christian missionaries and laymen alike were persecuted, and twenty-six of them, including St. Paul Miki, a Jesuit seminarian studying to become a priest, were arrested and condemned to death.

They were ordered to march from the Imperial Capital of Kyoto towards the city of Nagasaki in western part of Japan, where the biggest Christian population and community was, a distance of almost a thousand kilometres on foot, while being tortured and humiliated along the way. Yet, St. Paul Miki and his Companions remained firm in their faith and stayed courageous and true to their commitment to God, and it was told that they sang the ‘Te Deum’ hymn all throughout the entire journey to their martyrdom. In Nagasaki, atop the hill where a shrine now stands in their honour, the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs were crucified and impaled with lances, and were martyred for their continued dedication to God, glorifying God by their faith and life. They inspired many other Christians who remained firm in their Christian calling and devotion.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the great faith and conviction of the Holy Martyrs of Japan, St. Paul Miki and his Companions, let us all therefore dedicate ourselves to the Lord in the same way as well. Let us all commit ourselves to live our lives most worthily so that we may indeed glorify the Lord by our lives, and that we may carry out whatever vocations and calling that the Lord has called us all to do, and blessed us with the gifts and talents for. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey of faith through life. St. Paul Miki and Companions, Holy Martyrs of Japan, pray for us! Amen.