Weekday Homily

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Friday, 24 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, marking the great and boundless love that the Lord has for each and every one of us, freely being poured out from His most loving Sacred Heart, as we recall all that He had done for our sake. On this day, as we commemorate this great celebration, we remember the Lord Whose Sacred Heart had been pierced and torn for us, and Who despite of our many wickedness and iniquities, still continued to patiently reach out to us, because His love for us, coming from His ever loving and generous Heart, is never-ending.

In the Church, the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is among the most popular devotions, and while the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was only relatively recently spread to the whole Church and the world about a hundred and seventy years ago by Blessed Pope Pius IX, but the history of the devotion and the celebration of the most generous love and compassionate care of God in His Sacred Heart had extended much earlier than that, as early as seven centuries ago with the institution of the Mass honouring the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pope Innocent VI during the late Middle Ages.

This devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is and has always been very popular and sought after by the faithful, precisely because it reminds us of the ever loving and compassionate nature of God, our Lord and Saviour. Although we are sinners, but the Lord still loves us all regardless, and His love and mercy are even greater than the combined weight and burden of our sins. We must take note though that sin is still hated and despised by the Lord, and we have to answer for our sins, but we are reminded that God willingly offered us His forgiveness and grace, as long as we are willing to embrace them.

The Lord loves each and every one of us much as how a shepherd loves his sheep and flock, an allusion that is permeating all over our Scripture readings today. From the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today, the Lord spoke of Himself as the Shepherd of all the faithful, Who would guide all of His flock to Himself, caring for them and providing for all their needs, among other things. And then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord Himself referring to the action of the shepherd who went out to look for the lost sheep, in the parable He used to teach them, and finally how St. Paul in our second reading today, highlighting the action that Christ our Lord had done for our sake, out of His love for us.

In our first reading, the prophet Ezekiel delivered the words of God to His people, who at that time had been exiled and brought far away from their homeland, in the final days of the kingdom of Judah, when their country were battered and eventually destroyed by the forces of the Babylonians, their cities torched and destroyed, the city of Jerusalem and its Temple torn down and crushed, and eventually most of the people of God carried off into exile in Babylon and other regions, and the people were scattered all over the world, lost and no longer had their homeland with them. But God showed pity and mercy on them, and He called them to come back to Him.

God reminded them through Ezekiel, that He did not abandon them or forget about them, even though they had rejected Him, abandoned Him, betrayed Him and left Him behind for the company of pagan gods and idols. He still stood by the Covenant He had made with them and their ancestors, still providing for them and caring for them regardless, and sent many messengers and prophets, guides and helpers to remind them along the way, all the time. Yet, the people often hardened their hearts and and became stubborn, in refusing God’s generous offer of love and mercy.

He sent His salvation henceforth into this world, just as He had promised, in none other than Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, the Divine Word of God incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, His mother, as the manifestation of God’s love made flesh, becoming apparent and tangible for us. Not only that, but His actions, and all that He did for our sake, in the end, all of those brought the love of God into our midst, and we are all sharing in the generous love that God has poured out upon us, which became the source of our light, hope and salvation amidst the darkness of the world. The Lord had shown us His love, just as St. Paul presented it to us in our second reading today.

St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church in Rome spoke of the manifestation of God’s love for us sinners, through none other than the Passion, the suffering and death of Our Lord Himself on the Cross. St. Paul spoke of how difficult it was for someone to offer to suffer and die for the sake of another, although for a truly righteous and good person, one could probably do so. However, the Lord suffered and died for us when we were still sinners and are still resisting and rejecting Him, and He laid Himself bare before us, showing us and exposing to us just how much He loved us that even though we are still sinners, but He willingly reached out to us in love, for our sake, even suffering the burdens of our sins, for our salvation.

That was what He had done as our most loving Good Shepherd, fulfilling what He Himself said in our Gospel passage today in the parable of the lost sheep. He is the Good Shepherd Who knows every single one of His sheep by name, knowing them all perfectly, each and every one of us. He embodies what He Himself said with the words, ‘The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep’ and ‘There is no greater love than this, for one to lay down his life for his friend’. We are all precious to the Lord, His beloved ones, His precious children, His friends and brothers and sisters. We are all His flock, His sheep, whom He knew and love tenderly.

There is truly nothing that can separate us from the love of God, save that of our own stubbornness and refusal to embrace His love. And if we still doubt that love which God has for us, then let us look upon His Most Sacred Heart, brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can see just how wounded and painful His Heart has been, by the many transgressions and sins we have committed, and yet, by that same Heart, by that same love He has always had for us, He constantly gives us the chances and opportunities to embrace His love and mercy, and to return once again to His Presence.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing how much God loves us and how generous He has always been in reaching out to us and in trying to be reconciled with us, let us all therefore turn towards Him, and let us seek once again His loving Heart, ever filled with love for us. Let us all not be stubborn any longer, but allow Him to touch our hearts and minds, and respond positively and courageously to His call, in asking us to embrace and enter into His loving care and compassionate mercy. Let us all turn towards Our Lord and His Most Sacred Heart with renewed love, faith and conviction to live our lives from now on with true commitment to Him.

May the Lord continue to love us as always, and may His Most Sacred Heart continue to shower us with that love and kindness, and that each and every one of us may come ever closer to His Presence. O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You! O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, be with us always, we who are sinners and are always in need of Your love and mercy. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, which commemorates the moment when St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Lord and Saviour of the world, was born into this world, into the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth, his parents. Today we mark the moment when the Lord brought forth into this world the news and revelation of His salvation, of the long awaited salvation and Saviour that He has always promised and spoken about to His people. The Lord has reassured all of us that His love for us has always endured, and He will deliver unto us His providence and strength.

St. John the Baptist was born as a servant of God, called and chosen from even before he was conceived and born. His parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth were already relatively old and Elizabeth herself was likely already well-past childbearing age. It was at that time which God came to intervene and sent His Angel to announce to Zechariah first that he and his wife would have a son, the one whom God had called and chosen to be His servant, to be the one to fulfil the prophecy of the prophets, as we heard in our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. St. John the Baptist was the fulfilment of that prophecy, mentioning the coming of a servant who would speak of the coming of the one true Lord and Saviour of the world.

Through St. John the Baptist, who was miraculously conceived and born of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Lord brought forth His Good News into this world, as He told them all through St. John that He would come soon, and because the salvation of this world was about to come, the people were also called through St. John the Baptist to return to the Lord, repenting from their sinful ways and wickedness. St. John the Baptist dedicated his whole life to God, and he spent his years preparing himself in the desert, and committing himself henceforth to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God.

He laboured for many years, preaching about the coming of the Messiah, calling of the people to turn back towards God, and going up even against the Pharisees and the religious authorities who questioned him and doubted his efforts, and he courageously carried out his ministry in serving God and His people, with all of his strength. Through him, many thousands and more became believers, and turned back towards God, seeking to be baptised by St. John the Baptist as a mark of their willingness to convert and to turn away from their sinful ways. St. John the Baptist revealed the Lord’s truth and works to them, and many more would come to believe in God, preparing the path for the eventual coming of the Lord Himself.

Not only that, but just as I am sure we are quite aware of through the life of St. John the Baptist, this great and courageous saint and servant of God also endured prison, suffering and even martyrdom in the midst of his mission, as he courageously spoke up against the adulterous behaviour and relationship that king Herod of Galilee had with his own brother’s wife, Herodias. Herodias in particular held grudge against St. John the Baptist, and she manipulated the king to order the execution of St. John the Baptist, who had by then been imprisoned. Hence, that was how St. John the Baptist came to the end of his mission in this world, after many years of faithful service.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice today in this celebration of the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, rejoicing in the memory of the birth of this great saint and servant of God, let us also therefore remember everything that he had done for the sake of God’s people, the dedication and zeal with which he had carried out his mission, in embracing the call and the mission that God had entrusted to him, and which he carried out fervently and humbly, as when he was asked if he was the Messiah, he immediately told them that he was not the Messiah, but rather merely the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Saviour.

Let us all discern our own path in life, and see how each one of us can be inspired to follow in the footsteps of St. John the Baptist, in all that he had done as a faithful disciple of the Lord. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to various missions and ministries, given the opportunities and the talents, the gifts of abilities and other means to reach out to one another, and to proclaim God’s truth, love and hope to our world today. Every one of us should be inspired by the examples that St. John the Baptist has shown us, and we should walk in his footsteps as faithful disciples of the Lord.

May the Lord continue to guide each and every one of us to be ever more faithful and committed to Him, and may He continue to bless us and strengthen us with faith, such that we may continue to serve Him in our own various capacities and opportunities with zeal and dedication, inspired by what his saints, especially that of St. John the Baptist, had shown us. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 June 2022 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, and St. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr, and St. Thomas More, Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops) or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are reminded to seek the Lord and renew our faith, and to avoid being hypocrites and wicked in our deeds. Each and every one of us are called to holiness in God, and we are all called to be full of the fruits of faith, to bear witness to the truth of God in our respective communities and societies today. All of us are called to be holy and to be good examples to each other in how we live our faith in life. Otherwise, we are no better than hypocrites and even false prophets, who misled many from the path of the Lord.

In our first reading today, taken from the Second Book of Kings, we heard about the rediscovery of the Book of the Law of God during the reign of king Josiah of Judah, one of the last kings of the southern kingdom. In that occasion, the Torah and its accounts of the laws and commandments of God, which had likely by then been lost or hidden, not known by the people in the kingdom of Judah. When the king asked the contents of the Law to be read to him, what he heard shocked him very much, as we must understand that by then, the people and the kingdom had been diverging from the path as set by the Law for a long time.

Many among the people had been worshipping pagan idols of their neighbours and did not obey the laws and commandments of God, with the Temple of God and its celebrations neglected for a very long time. It was presumed that ever since the days of Solomon, proper celebrations of the Passover and other festivals as prescribed by the Law had not been carried out, and this, compounded with many other wicked deeds that the people had done, caused the king to be greatly alarmed, as Josiah must have thought that God would soon enact His punishment and retribution on His people because of their many sins.

That was why he ordered a thorough campaign of purification and cleansing throughout the land and the kingdom of Judah, eliminating the vestiges of pagan idols and worship, the pagan priests and practices, and also reinstated the celebrations and the practices as ordered by the Law. He was the first king to preside over the celebration of the Passover after a very long time and also restored the Covenant between God and His people, which had repeatedly been broken and neglected by the past generations of the people of Israel and Judah. That had led to the downfall of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Josiah must have wanted to avoid the same fate for Judah.

This is echoed by what we had heard in our Gospel passage today, in which we heard how the Lord told His disciples and followers to be wary and careful of those who were false prophets and agents of evil, who would try to mislead the people with false promises and other falsehoods, in opposition to the truth of God. Then, as the Lord went on in saying with a parable of how a good tree would produce good fruits and how a bad tree would produce bad fruits, these were all allusions and reminders from the Lord that if their hearts and minds are not set on the Lord and His truth, then it is likely that they will end up doing things that are wicked, sinful and against the Lord and His path.

That is why, through the actions of king Josiah of Judah and what the Lord Himself had told His disciples, each and every one of us are reminded to turn away from the path of sin, from the temptations of disobedience against God. The Lord has called on us all to return to Him and to embrace once again His path, and He has placed many help along the way as He guides us on the path back to Him. The question is now, do we want to embrace God’s ever generous love and mercy towards us? Or do we still continue to stubbornly resist Him and refusing to listen to His call for us to turn back to Him?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we should heed the examples of our predecessors, in how they have lived their lives with faith, rejecting the path of sin, the temptations and wickedness of this world, and in dying to defend their faith in God. St. Paulinus of Nola was a renowned bishop of Nola who was remembered for his dedication to the Lord, in his work for the poor and those who were lost from God, in caring for their physical and spiritual well-being. St. Paulinus of Nola showed us all how we can be dedicated as Christians in following God’s will, proclaiming His truth and love in our world today.

Meanwhile, both St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher were the saints and martyrs of the English reformation, as they both were persecuted and martyred for their courageous defence of the one true faith and one true Church in God, against the wicked and vile actions of king Henry VIII of England, who for his unquenchable and persistent desire to have a male heir, leading him to break with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and establishing his own national Church, predecessor of today’s Anglican church. St. Thomas More was the king’s trusted chancellor while St. John Fisher was the influential bishop of Rochester, later made as a Cardinal by the Pope for his faith and efforts.

Both St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher refused to obey the commands of the king who demanded all of the clergy and the officials of his realm to swear allegiance to his new church. They chose to endure persecution and suffering rather than to betray their conscience and faith in God, not fearing the threats made against them. St. Thomas More also chose rather to surrender his chancellorship and his privileges, suffering and enduring the martyrdom rather than surrendering his Christian identity and faith. St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher hence showed us all the true faith and dedication that we all as Christians should have in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, following the examples set by our courageous and holy predecessors, and remembering God’s call for us to return to Him and to enter into the path towards holiness, let us all therefore seek Him from now on with renewed faith and zeal. May the Lord continue to guide us in our path, and may He empower each and every one of us to be ever more committed and faithful disciples of His, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 June 2022 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (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 to entrust ourselves to the Lord and not to be easily swayed by sin, which would lead us down the path towards annihilation and destruction, and we must not let pride and hubris from affecting and influencing us or our actions in life. Instead, we should try our best to humble ourselves before God and heed His calls, listening to His words and reminders for us to turn away from our sins. We are all called to be holy and righteous in all of our words, actions and deeds, and everything ought to begin from our daily living.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Kings of Israel and Judah the account of the attack on Judah and the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, which happened during the reign of the righteous king Hezekiah of Judah. King Sennacherib of Assyria brought his whole vast army to conquer Judah and Jerusalem, and the people of God and their king were thoroughly outnumbered and no one would have expected them to survive the attack by the Assyrians, least of all from Sennacherib himself, who proudly believed and announced that no god or deity had ever protected any other nations he had destroyed and conquered, and that the same fate would happen to Judah as well.

But Judah and Jerusalem had the Lord, the one and only True God, Who was by the side of His people, Who listened to every single blasphemous words uttered by king Sennacherib in his vain pride and arrogance. The Lord listened to Sennacherib’s prideful words as well as Hezekiah and the people of Judah’s prayers for deliverance, made through the prophet Isaiah, all of whom trusted in the Lord and His providence and help. The Lord therefore delivered His beloved people from harm, and as we heard in our first reading today, sent His Angels to crush the forces of the Assyrians, and caused massive deaths among them, which led to Sennacherib having to retreat back to his land in shame.

The Lord showed that all those who pride in themselves and refused to believe in Him, or persecute those who have faith in Him, will face defeat and destruction in the end. He has always been with those who entrusted themselves to Him, just as He proved to the people of Judah and their king, Hezekiah. Pride is indeed a very grievous and terrible sin, and is something that can easily distract and pull us away from the path towards salvation. We must not be prideful and haughty, arrogant and thinking that we are great and powerful, for as we have heard, the Lord brought low those who were proud and mighty, when they boasted of their power and glory before others.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers, calling on all of them to holiness, stating to them how the path to salvation and eternal life is truly one that is narrow and difficult, and unless one makes the effort to enter the narrow gate, then many may end up not being able to enter into that desired path. And why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is exactly because of pride, hubris and arrogance I mentioned earlier, the downfall of many of our predecessors, as well as many other things such as greed, jealousy, hatred, lust among other things.

That is why as Christians each and every one of us are called and challenged to remove from ourselves, our hearts and minds, all these obstacles of pride, greed, jealousy, hatred, gluttony, wrath, envy, sloth and all other things that often prevented us from finding our way towards God. We cannot allow those things to distract or tempt us to fall into the path of sin, again and again, as many of us had experienced throughout life. We are all called to be better Christians in actions, words and deeds, and we cannot be hypocrites who act in the way contrary to what our faith had shown and revealed to us.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, one of the renowned young saint of the Church, who despite his young age at death and relatively short life, managed to inspire many people who were touched by his dedication to God, his faith and contributions, in his commitment and personal holiness. St. Aloysius Gonzaga can become our inspiration in how we can be better disciples and followers of Christ, as even though he was born into an aristocratic noble family, and as firstborn son was in fact also the heir of his family titles and fortunes, he chose to leave it all behind to become a religious and priest.

Despite his father and family’s resistance and efforts to dissuade him from doing so, St. Aloysius Gonzaga would not be deterred, and after a lot of effort and persistence, he was finally allowed to join the religious life, and he chose to surrender all rights to inheritance, power and glory. He became a member of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, and began his instructional period and training. He devoted himself thoroughly to his calling, even serving and caring for the poor and the sick around his community, and which caused him to be falling ill with the disease. Nonetheless that did not stop St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who continued with his labours until he passed away in his good works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we can see from the example of the faith of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, his commitment and virtuous way of life, his humility and willingness to abandon the pursuit of worldly power and glory, each and every one of us are also called and challenged to be better Christians following his examples, to rid ourselves of unhealthy attachments and obsessions for worldly things and matters, and instead refocusing our attention on the Lord. Let us all seek the Lord from now on with renewed faith and zeal, at all times. May God bless each one of us, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 20 June 2022 : 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 Lord, we are reminded of our obligation and calling as Christians to be righteous and to obey the Lord, following His Law, commandments and ways. Otherwise, we shall face the retribution and the consequence justly meted for our sins. In the end, we must realise that while God is loving and merciful, as long as we distance ourselves from Him and refused to be reconciled to Him, even though He offered us generously His kindness and compassionate mercy, we shall still be suffering the consequences of our sins, that is the possibility of eternal damnation in hell, should we continue to be stubborn and refusing God’s love and mercy.

As mentioned in our first reading passage today from the Book of Kings, we heard of the account of the downfall and destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, as the Assyrians and their king brought their full force and bringing destruction upon Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. That destruction was presented as the culmination of the many years, decades and centuries of the stubbornness of the Israelites in refusing the love and mercy of God, and in them rejecting the prophets and all those who had been sent their way, like the prophets Elijah, Elisha and many others, to call them to be reconciled with God, returning to the true faith.

Their wickedness and evil led then to the punishment justly deserved by those who actively and consistently refused to listen to the Lord and His mercy. For their constant transgressions and refusals to believe in God, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel faced the just retribution and consequence, of being scattered all around the world, cast aside and humiliated for having lost their homeland and forced to wander off in the foreign and distant lands. They had refused God’s ever generous mercy and kindness, handed to them and given to them freely, through the ministry of the prophets and messengers that God had sent to them, again and again over the centuries, only for the people to reject them and persecute.

But the Lord still loved His people nonetheless and continued to send His servants to call on them and to remind them to return to Him. He did so even though the people kept on stubbornly refusing His outreach and compassionate love. He kept on giving them chances, one after another, until the time of reckoning and judgment, when the sins of the people finally caught up with them. The fate of the Israelites, their capital in Samaria and what happened to the northern kingdom ought to be a lesson and reminder for us to heed the calling of the Lord, as He calls on us to be His followers and disciples.

In our Gospel passage today, all of us are presented with the Lord speaking to His disciples with regards to the matter of judgment and of what His followers ought to do with regards to reminding one another about our respective obligations and way of life. He told us all not to be judgmental towards others and to be righteous in our deeds. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations to be self-righteous and self-aggrandising in our attitudes, and that was what we heard in our Gospel passage today, as the Lord told the disciples not to be hypocrites in their faith, and to be genuine Christians in all opportunities.

The Lord told His disciples not to judge others not because He does not want us to judge or criticise others at all. On the contrary, what He actually meant was that each and every one of us must not judge with the wrong intention and spirit, and we must not judge others thinking that we are in any way better or superior compared to others around us. The problem is that, just as what many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, they often considered themselves as superior to others, especially to those whom they disagreed with and were biased against, such as those they deemed as sinners and unrepentant. They deemed themselves as the moral compass of the people and refused to listen to reason, thinking that they could have done no wrong, and that those who disagreed with them were walking in the wrong path.

That kind of attitude was what prevented them from listening to God and His reminders, much as their ancestors and predecessors had done. Just as the Israelites of old had continuously disobeyed the Lord and refused to listen to His prophets, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also continued to show disobedience and lack of willingness to listen to God and His truth, as He had delivered into our midst through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. And what the Lord wanted to highlight to us is the fact that, all the things that led those people into sin, was all their pride and arrogance. Such was indeed the dangers of pride, one of the greatest of the sins that afflicted us mankind. It was pride that brought down Satan in the past, and it was pride that brought down innumerable other children of God throughout history.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all henceforth be willing to listen to the Lord and open our hearts and minds to reason, be willing to humble ourselves before the Lord and our fellow men, and realising that each one of us are sinners in need of God’s healing and mercy. WIthout the Lord and His mercy, we will not be able to get out of our predicament, the tyranny of sin and darkness surrounding us in the world today. That is why, each and every one of us are reminded today to stop hardening our hearts and minds, and turn once again towards the Lord with renewed faith and zeal, so that by all that we may be inspiration to one another in leading a new life of virtue, as well as a life that is filled with care and concern for our fellow brethren in faith.

Let us all help one another on our way towards the Lord, and may the Lord continue to help us in our journey as well, in our perseverance to resist the temptations of sin, especially that of pride, and help remind one another to seek the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, turning away from the path of sin and evil, darkness and destruction, remembering the lessons of the Israelites and that of the prideful Pharisees and teachers of the Law, so that we will not end up walking down the same path that they had walked. May God be with us always, and may He bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, also known as Corpus Christi, marking the commemoration of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Today we commemorate the Lord truly present in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which we partake and consume during every celebration of the Holy Mass. As Christians, we all firmly believe that the Eucharist we partake and receive in the Holy Mass is none other than the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Himself.

Although the appearance of the bread and wine remains, but the mystery of our faith in what is known as Transubstantiation means that the bread and wine had actually, by the power of God, through the priests, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the authority given to them by the Lord through His Church, become the very essence, reality and matter of the Lord’s own Body and Blood. We have faith that this is the truth, and what we truly eat and drink is the Lord Himself, Whose Body has been broken for us, and Whose Blood has been shed and poured down to us, to wash us clean and to bring us to salvation and eternal life.

In our first reading today, we heard the account of the encounter between Abraham, the father of the faithful and Melchizedek, the High Priest of Salem and the High Priest of God Most High. In that occasion, Abraham gave offering to God through Melchizedek, who then offered Abraham’s offering to God, as His High Priest. Melchizedek according to Church tradition had always been a rather mysterious figure, but one who was highly respected and regarded, and there were many theories and explanations that some tried to provide with regards to Melchizedek. Some said that Melchizedek prefigured Christ Himself, in His role as the High Priest, just as Melchizedek being a High Priest of God as well.

Regardless what it was, the link between Melchizedek and Christ established Christ as the High Priest of all mankind, Who offered the sacrifice and offering on our behalf, for the absolution of our many sins. And this is where He uniquely offered on our behalf, the perfect and worthy offering, of none other than His own Precious Body and Blood, the only offering that is worthy enough for the atonement and forgiveness of our sins. Hence, Our Lord offered His sacrificial offering both as the High Priest as well as the Paschal Lamb being sacrificed.

In our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we heard the Apostle recounting to the faithful what happened at the night of the Last Supper, when the Lord Instituted the Holy Eucharist, by offering the bread and wine that He had blessed, and gave them to His disciples, saying clearly that the bread was truly His Body, broken and given to them, while the wine was truly His Blood, shed and poured on all the people, to all sinners, for the salvation of souls and for the forgiveness of sins. He instituted the Holy Eucharist to give us all the means by which we can be saved from the darkness of our sins.

At the Last Supper, the Lord began His offering as the New Passover and the New Covenant that He established with all of mankind. He offered His own Precious and Holy Body and Blood because in the past, the offering and sacrifice of even unblemished lamb was not sufficient for the absolution of the whole multitude of mankind’s many sins. At the original Passover in Egypt, which the Israelites henceforth commemorated every year, the Passover lamb was slain and then its blood used to mark the houses of the Israelites, that they might be rescued and freed from the slavery and suffering they endured in Egypt. Thus, in the New Passover that the Lord had brought with Him, He Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, and the High Priest, offer on our behalf, the sacrificial offering to redeem us and free us from the suffering and slavery to our sins.

But that sacrifice and offerings did not end at the Last Supper. On the contrary, everything that happened during the Passion of the Lord, His suffering and journey, the suffering and rejection He endured, and His Way of the Cross, culminating with His death and suffering on the Cross. It was at Good Friday that His sacrifice and offering was completed and made perfect, as He offered His own Body and Blood, the Divine Word Incarnate, as the perfect and unblemished offering that cleansed all the faithful from the taints of sin. Through the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord has given us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life.

That is what the Lord also meant to do as highlighted in our Gospel passage today, as we heard from that the account of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men with unknown thousands more of women and children with merely five bread and two fishes. He fed them all, and nourished them, giving them the strength to go on, as they were all hungry after following Him and listening to Him for His words and teachings. He then later on would tell them that He is the Bread of Life, the One Who had come into this world to bring life and nourish all of us, with the food that is His Body, and the drink that is His Blood, and as He said it Himself, all of us who share and partake in His Body and Blood shall never die and will have eternal life.

That is because when we eat His Body and drink His Blood, the Lord Himself has come to dwell within us, and He has made us into the Temple of His Holy Presence. As long as He remains in us and we remain in Him, we shall not be lost from Him, and we shall forever enjoy the glorious inheritance and true joy that can come from the Lord alone. The Lord has given His Body and Blood to us freely, and through this act of ultimate love and sacrifice, He has opened for us the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. This is what He has promised us and provided for us, and yet, many of us still do not have the firm faith in His providence and love.

Many of us still do not show that we truly believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. We may profess our faith in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, but from the way we behave and respond to the Eucharist more often than not showed just how little we appreciate the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, and how little the faith and love that we have in Him. We treated the Lord with indifference and even contempt, in the manner how we receive the Holy Eucharist, in our lack of respect for the Holy Mass and the important tenets of our Christian faith, and in not living our lives in accordance to what we have been expected as Christians.

Today, each and every one of us are reminded that we have been so fortunate that the Lord, our most loving Father, Creator and Master, have been so kind, patient and compassionate towards us that He has given us all His Son, to be Our Lord and Saviour, and by Whose sacrifice, both as our High Priest and Paschal Lamb, He has brought unto us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life, by giving us His own Body and His own Blood, for us to partake, that He may dwell in us, and that we may always be together with Him.

Let us remind ourselves that we are in the Holy Presence of God, that the Lord Himself has dwelled amongst us, and within us. Let us remind ourselves that we have to be worthy of Him, and strive to be better Christians for now on, in honouring and loving the most loving and perfect sacrifice that He has shown us, in bringing about our salvation. Let us all deepen our faith from now on, in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, that what we receive in the Holy Eucharist, is truly real Body and the real Blood of Our Lord, and not just merely bread and wine, or just merely a symbol.

And we have to begin that from ourselves. We have to give due reverence and honour to the Holy Eucharist, in the manner we receive it, such that we ensure that we are in a proper disposition and state of grace, just as St. Paul said that it would be harmful for Christians who are not in the state of grace to partake of the Holy Eucharist. We have to keep in mind that our every actions and deeds reflect our faith and what we believe in, and how can we expect others to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Transubstantiation and that the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, at every celebration of the Holy Mass, if we ourselves have not wholeheartedly believed in it and showed that we truly believe?

May the Lord, Who has given us His own Precious Body and Blood, for our salvation, continue to love us and may He strengthen each and every one of us by His grace and love. May all of us draw ever closer to the Lord and His saving grace, with each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and be with all of our works, efforts and good endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 June 2022 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to seek the Lord, in Whom alone lies our salvation and hope. Through the Lord alone we will gain an eternity of happiness and true joy, and the true satisfaction for our lives. The Lord has come into our midst to bring us His help and reassurance, delivering all of us from our troubles and trials. This is the message that the Scripture passages today has presented to us, reminding us to keep our faith in the Lord and to bear our crosses in life together with God, with faith and joy.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the prophet Zechariah, who began his ministry in the years following the return of the exiled Israelites from the lands of Babylon and other distant lands back to their lands, during the early years of the Persian Empire. The prophet Zechariah prophesied and spoke of the coming of the salvation of God, that will come through the One Whom He would send into this world, the Saviour and Deliverer Who would restore the people and reconcile them fully to God, after they had been separated from Him, punished and humiliated because of all their disobedience and sins.

The prophet Zechariah spoke prophetically about the One Whom the people would pierce, and how the sorrowful mourning for Him would truly be great, and how on that very day, the Lord would spring forth His salvation and grace to all of His people. And all of that were clear references and prophetic revelation about what the God Himself would do through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely we are all familiar with how the Lord Jesus suffered, rejected by the people, betrayed and abandoned by His disciples, and then put to bear the burden of the Cross, which He then carried obediently to Calvary, where He died for each and every one of us, pierced in His hands, feet and side, by our sins and our transgressions.

The prophet Zechariah was obviously not speaking about the liberation that had by that time come upon the people of God, who had been rescued by the decree and action of the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, years prior to Zechariah’s own ministry. Instead, Zechariah was speaking about the coming of the Lord, the Messiah or Saviour Whom God has promised to His people. It was by the actions carried out by the Lord Jesus that the salvation, light and hope from God has come into our midst, revealing to us that sin and death do not have the final say over us. Through Him, we have seen the path to our salvation and eternal life.

If only that more of us can believe in the Lord wholeheartedly and trust in His providence and love, then many more people would have come to believe in God and be well on their way to His salvation and grace. Unfortunately, many among us are still unable to entrust ourselves to Him, because of various reasons, but most commonly is because we do not yet know Him well enough. The Lord has revealed Himself to His disciples and in our Gospel today, He asked them who they thought He was. And the disciples frankly told Him that others said that He was one of the Prophets or Elijah himself returning from Heaven, but St. Peter told the Lord right away that he believed in Him as the Holy One of God, the Messiah.

It is that kind of faith that we ought to have, brothers and sisters in Christ, considering just how much God had gone through in His efforts to reach out to us and to love us, despite us all being sinners and having disobeyed Him time and time again. Despite our mistakes and transgressions, the Lord kept on patiently reaching out to us and loving us, because each and every one of us are truly precious to Him, and as St. Paul mentioned in our second reading today, in his Epistle to the Galatians, there are no distinctions between Jews or Greeks, or anyone based on their birth or by any other categories or divisions. Each and every children of God are equally beloved and cared for by Him.

And so great is that love, that as mentioned, He willingly took up His Cross and endured the whole burden of its weight, for our sake. The whole weight of the Cross is not just the physical weight of the wood of the Cross, but even heavier is the combined weight and burden of our innumerable sins, of all mankind past, present and future. Every single man that had existed, exists now which includes all of us, and will exist in the future, all of their sins and the consequences and punishments had been borne by Christ, Who offered Himself on the Cross for our sake, that all of us may be saved through Him, through our faith and trust in Him.

The Lord has generously reached out to us out of His enduring and everlasting love. But do we also reciprocate His love as well? Do we show Him the same love and devotion, the same commitment and love that we should have shown Him? We have been reminded of how great the love that God has shown us, and now, we are all challenged and called to love God and trust Him more, to be His faithful witnesses and courageous disciples, in proclaiming His truth and hope to all the whole world, to our respective communities today. That is our Christian calling and mission, and we must not forget about that, and we have to embrace that wholeheartedly as well.

May the Lord, our loving God, Father and Creator be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen us in our faith, so that in everything we say and do, in our every actions in life, we may always glorify the Lord and be exemplary in all things, inspiring many more people to come to believe in God as well. Let us all renew our faith and commitment to the Lord, and let us do our best to live our lives as missionary disciples of Christ, at every opportunities available to us. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, also known as Corpus Christi, marking the commemoration of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Today we commemorate the Lord truly present in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which we partake and consume during every celebration of the Holy Mass. As Christians, we all firmly believe that the Eucharist we partake and receive in the Holy Mass is none other than the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Himself.

Although the appearance of the bread and wine remains, but the mystery of our faith in what is known as Transubstantiation means that the bread and wine had actually, by the power of God, through the priests, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the authority given to them by the Lord through His Church, become the very essence, reality and matter of the Lord’s own Body and Blood. We have faith that this is the truth, and what we truly eat and drink is the Lord Himself, Whose Body has been broken for us, and Whose Blood has been shed and poured down to us, to wash us clean and to bring us to salvation and eternal life.

In our first reading today, we heard the account of the encounter between Abraham, the father of the faithful and Melchizedek, the High Priest of Salem and the High Priest of God Most High. In that occasion, Abraham gave offering to God through Melchizedek, who then offered Abraham’s offering to God, as His High Priest. Melchizedek according to Church tradition had always been a rather mysterious figure, but one who was highly respected and regarded, and there were many theories and explanations that some tried to provide with regards to Melchizedek. Some said that Melchizedek prefigured Christ Himself, in His role as the High Priest, just as Melchizedek being a High Priest of God as well.

Regardless what it was, the link between Melchizedek and Christ established Christ as the High Priest of all mankind, Who offered the sacrifice and offering on our behalf, for the absolution of our many sins. And this is where He uniquely offered on our behalf, the perfect and worthy offering, of none other than His own Precious Body and Blood, the only offering that is worthy enough for the atonement and forgiveness of our sins. Hence, Our Lord offered His sacrificial offering both as the High Priest as well as the Paschal Lamb being sacrificed.

In our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we heard the Apostle recounting to the faithful what happened at the night of the Last Supper, when the Lord Instituted the Holy Eucharist, by offering the bread and wine that He had blessed, and gave them to His disciples, saying clearly that the bread was truly His Body, broken and given to them, while the wine was truly His Blood, shed and poured on all the people, to all sinners, for the salvation of souls and for the forgiveness of sins. He instituted the Holy Eucharist to give us all the means by which we can be saved from the darkness of our sins.

At the Last Supper, the Lord began His offering as the New Passover and the New Covenant that He established with all of mankind. He offered His own Precious and Holy Body and Blood because in the past, the offering and sacrifice of even unblemished lamb was not sufficient for the absolution of the whole multitude of mankind’s many sins. At the original Passover in Egypt, which the Israelites henceforth commemorated every year, the Passover lamb was slain and then its blood used to mark the houses of the Israelites, that they might be rescued and freed from the slavery and suffering they endured in Egypt. Thus, in the New Passover that the Lord had brought with Him, He Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, and the High Priest, offer on our behalf, the sacrificial offering to redeem us and free us from the suffering and slavery to our sins.

But that sacrifice and offerings did not end at the Last Supper. On the contrary, everything that happened during the Passion of the Lord, His suffering and journey, the suffering and rejection He endured, and His Way of the Cross, culminating with His death and suffering on the Cross. It was at Good Friday that His sacrifice and offering was completed and made perfect, as He offered His own Body and Blood, the Divine Word Incarnate, as the perfect and unblemished offering that cleansed all the faithful from the taints of sin. Through the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord has given us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life.

That is what the Lord also meant to do as highlighted in our Gospel passage today, as we heard from that the account of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men with unknown thousands more of women and children with merely five bread and two fishes. He fed them all, and nourished them, giving them the strength to go on, as they were all hungry after following Him and listening to Him for His words and teachings. He then later on would tell them that He is the Bread of Life, the One Who had come into this world to bring life and nourish all of us, with the food that is His Body, and the drink that is His Blood, and as He said it Himself, all of us who share and partake in His Body and Blood shall never die and will have eternal life.

That is because when we eat His Body and drink His Blood, the Lord Himself has come to dwell within us, and He has made us into the Temple of His Holy Presence. As long as He remains in us and we remain in Him, we shall not be lost from Him, and we shall forever enjoy the glorious inheritance and true joy that can come from the Lord alone. The Lord has given His Body and Blood to us freely, and through this act of ultimate love and sacrifice, He has opened for us the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. This is what He has promised us and provided for us, and yet, many of us still do not have the firm faith in His providence and love.

Many of us still do not show that we truly believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. We may profess our faith in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, but from the way we behave and respond to the Eucharist more often than not showed just how little we appreciate the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, and how little the faith and love that we have in Him. We treated the Lord with indifference and even contempt, in the manner how we receive the Holy Eucharist, in our lack of respect for the Holy Mass and the important tenets of our Christian faith, and in not living our lives in accordance to what we have been expected as Christians.

Today, each and every one of us are reminded that we have been so fortunate that the Lord, our most loving Father, Creator and Master, have been so kind, patient and compassionate towards us that He has given us all His Son, to be Our Lord and Saviour, and by Whose sacrifice, both as our High Priest and Paschal Lamb, He has brought unto us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life, by giving us His own Body and His own Blood, for us to partake, that He may dwell in us, and that we may always be together with Him.

Let us remind ourselves that we are in the Holy Presence of God, that the Lord Himself has dwelled amongst us, and within us. Let us remind ourselves that we have to be worthy of Him, and strive to be better Christians for now on, in honouring and loving the most loving and perfect sacrifice that He has shown us, in bringing about our salvation. Let us all deepen our faith from now on, in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, that what we receive in the Holy Eucharist, is truly real Body and the real Blood of Our Lord, and not just merely bread and wine, or just merely a symbol.

And we have to begin that from ourselves. We have to give due reverence and honour to the Holy Eucharist, in the manner we receive it, such that we ensure that we are in a proper disposition and state of grace, just as St. Paul said that it would be harmful for Christians who are not in the state of grace to partake of the Holy Eucharist. We have to keep in mind that our every actions and deeds reflect our faith and what we believe in, and how can we expect others to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Transubstantiation and that the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, at every celebration of the Holy Mass, if we ourselves have not wholeheartedly believed in it and showed that we truly believe?

May the Lord, Who has given us His own Precious Body and Blood, for our salvation, continue to love us and may He strengthen each and every one of us by His grace and love. May all of us draw ever closer to the Lord and His saving grace, with each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and be with all of our works, efforts and good endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 16 June 2022 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the passages of the Scriptures both the works and deeds of the prophet Elijah, who was taken up from Heaven in a flaming chariot, and also the prayer that the Lord Jesus offered to His heavenly Father, the prayer that we now know and call as the Lord’s Prayer, the Pater Noster. Through these readings from the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that as Christians we have to follow the examples shown to us, in remaining connected to God, in being righteous in all of our actions, words and deeds, and to be faithful to God at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard of the praise that the prophet Sirach spoke with regards to Elijah, one of the most renowned prophets of Israel, who had laboured and worked hard for many years, in serving the Lord and calling on the people of God to turn away from their wicked deeds and ways. Elijah had to go up against the king and those who opposed him and stubbornly refused to listen to him. Yet, he persevered and continued to work hard for the glory of God.

The prophet Elijah continued to labour for the people of God, and eventually, the Lord called him to Heaven, after He had appointed Elisha to be the successor of Elijah for the ministry to the people of Israel. Elijah was taken up in a flaming chariot into Heaven, and while he has been taken up into Heaven, his story, his courage and hardworking efforts remained and had become great sources of inspiration for many people throughout history. There were many other prophets whose lives and dedication to God can also be our inspirations as well.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the story of the Lord Jesus showing His disciples how they ought to pray to God, His heavenly Father. He told them all that they should not pray in the manner that the pagans liked to pray, who often used many words and invocations, and instead, they should pray in the manner that He Himself showed them, praying to the Lord in a truly Christian manner, as we all have been shown and taught how to do through the Church.

In prayer, many of us often made a mistake of not meaning and appreciating what we were saying. Many of us prayed with the prayers common to the Church and yet, not meaning what we said, because we were merely reciting the prayers instead of actually meaning every single words that we utter from our mouths. We were praying more with our mouths and not internalising those words we said, and not linking our mouths with our hearts and minds. This is one of the mistakes that we often made with prayers.

And then, we also often think of prayers as a way for us to get what we wanted and desired. We often think of prayers as means for us to miraculously gain what we hope the Lord would give us, and as such, many of us made such demands with the expectation that God will do something for us. Then, when we do not get what we wanted or if things do not go according to what we wanted it, we ended up getting angry at God, becoming unhappy at Him and even leaving Him behind. If we do get what we wanted, we often forgot about Him afterwards.

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, these are not how we should be praying to God. The true essence of prayer is communication, and it is the way through which we should communicate with the Lord, our God and Father, and how do we do it? A proper communication should involve listening and understanding, and it is very important that we open our hearts and minds to engage in a proper and meaningful conversation with God. We should dedicate time and effort to prayer, whenever we can, and in not demanding God, but rather, to communicate with God and to know His will for us all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to these words from the Scriptures, and based on what we had just discussed earlier on, we are all called and reminded to turn back towards the Lord and to be reconciled with Him. We are all called to follow the good examples of the prophet Elijah, the many other prophets and servants of God, the innumerable saints and martyrs who had spent their lives to glorify God by their actions and deeds. And we also have to deepen our spiritual and prayer life, so that we may come to know the Lord and that we may become ever closer to Him.

Let us all hence seek the Lord with renewed hearts and desires, to love Him and to serve Him at all times. May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey, and may He empower us and encourage us to walk ever more faithfully like that of the prophets and the saints. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 15 June 2022 : 11th 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 Scripture, we are reminded of our actions as Christians in responding to God’s call for us to follow Him and dedicating ourselves to Him. Each and every one of us as Christians must be truly faithful and genuine in our way of life so that we are truly deserving of being called as God’s followers and His people. God has always been kind in reaching out to us, and He has shown us the path forward in life. It is then up to us whether we want to follow Him or instead following our own path in life.

In our first reading today, we heard of the transition between the prophets Elijah and Elisha, as Elisha had been appointed to be the successor of the prophet Elisha in the ministry to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah had come to the end of his ministry while the Lord had called and appointed Elisha to be the successor to Elijah. Hence, today as we heard in our first reading, Elisha followed Elijah to the place where Elijah was suddenly taken up to Heaven in a flaming chariot, and Elisha was left to continue the good works that Elijah had begun.

Elisha was called by God and he responded to this calling with faith. Elisha dedicated himself henceforth to the works that he had been entrusted with, in labouring among the people of Israel. He continued to work for the greater glory of God, despite the stubbornness of the people and their kings all of whom refused to listen to the Lord and continued to rebel against Him, in their worship of pagan idols and gods, and in their continued disobedience and in all the wicked deeds that they had committed. Elisha had to work hard and labour against the challenges he had to face, but he followed the Lord faithfully and gave his all to his ministry.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord telling His disciples on how each of them ought to behave and act as His followers. The Lord Jesus called on them to be generous in giving and charity, and to do so not because they want to be lauded by others. The Lord told them that as Christians, they ought to do so because they genuinely want to give, and have care and concern to the other person they are giving to. They also ought to do other things and practices like their fasting and observance of other rules, with the right reasons and intentions. Otherwise if they did things with the wrong intentions, then they are no better than hypocrites.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called through the words of the Scriptures to embrace the call which the Lord had made to us, in calling us to be genuine in our Christian living. We should not be like hypocrites who profess to believe in the Lord and yet did not do things or act in the manner of how they believed in. We have to spend the time and effort to follow the Lord and to commit ourselves to His cause, and we must not allow ourselves to be distracted and swayed by the lies and the falsehoods of the devil, or any other worldly temptations to make us fall deeper and deeper into the wrong path in life.

We are all sharers in the works and efforts of the Church, called to minister to our fellow men and women, to those around us who are perhaps not yet attuned and still ignorant of the way and the truth of Christ. It is through us and our actions that we can bring forth the Lord’s truth and His love to our brethren. Otherwise, if we ourselves did not act and do things in the manner that we have believed, who will then believe in the Lord? In fact, if our actions are contrary to what we believe in, then that will push other people further and further away from the Lord, and we will be fully responsible for having led and pushed them away from the path to salvation.

That is why, we are all reminded of this obligation that we have, that as Christians we cannot be idle anymore in living our faith. We have to be active in living our lives and practicing all that God had revealed and told us to do through His Church. And we should not wait for others to begin doing so, as that may end up causing none of us doing anything in the end. Instead, we have to initiate it from ourselves and from every little things that we do in life. That is how we live our lives as faithful Christians and how we can be good inspiration for each other and help one another in our path and journey towards the Lord and His salvation.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our respective journeys, that we may faithfully commit ourselves to glorify the Lord by every actions, words and deeds we make. May He empower us and give us the courage to stand up for our faith, and to be His exemplary disciples and followers at all times. May God bless us and all of our good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.