Weekday Homily

by

Sunday, 30 January 2022 : Fourth 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 Sacred Scriptures we are called to reflect on our calling as Christians, to be the followers and disciples of Our Lord, to do what God has taught us to do in following His commandments and His own examples. As Christians, all of us share in the same mission that God has entrusted to us, to His Church from its very foundation and beginning. This is what we have been called to do, to show our genuine love both for God and for our fellow men, our brothers and sisters.

In our first reading today, taken from the beginning of the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard of the Lord and His calling to the prophet Jeremiah, as He called him to become His servant and mouthpiece, to become the one chosen by God before he even knew it, to speak of God’s will and truth before the people of God. At that time, the prophet Jeremiah lived during the last years of the southern kingdom of Judah, at the time when the remaining people of God were beset by troubles and the threat of the destruction of their kingdom were looming large at them.

All of that were caused by their own disobedience against God, their refusal to listen to Him and in hardening their hearts and closing them from His love and mercy. They would rather remain in the state of sin and living in darkness than to follow the Lord, their God. Yet, God still patiently reached out to them and sent them His prophets, including that of Jeremiah to His people reminding them of His love and urging them to repent and turn away from their sins. He never gave up on them and still cared for them, because we are truly precious and beloved to Him.

That is the exact same sentiment shown in our Gospel passage today when we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was in Nazareth, in His own hometown and how He was rejected by the people whom He had known from earlier in His life, from His childhood. At that time, the Lord returned to Nazareth after beginning His ministry and gathering some of His disciples, and He proclaimed the Word of God in the local synagogue, only for the people to doubt Him and slander Him just because they knew St. Joseph, His foster father and thought that it was impossible for a Man of such stature to gain such wisdom and power.

The Lord told all of them that it was because of this that in the past God had sent His servants like the prophet Elijah to minister to the people neighbouring the Israelites, who had more faith in the Lord than the people of Israel themselves. He used the example of the widow of Zarephath who welcomed Elijah during the years of the great famine and how she took care of him even though she herself and her son were themselves in great distress. God showed His providence and cared for them, and they showed us what it truly means to be those who believe in God. The same goes with the example of Naaman the Syrian as well, who humbled himself before the Lord and was healed by his faith, even though he initially had his reservations and doubts.

Through what we have heard from these examples we can clearly see that there are many opportunities for us to respond to God’s love, to all that God had given to us, His attention and care, His compassion and kindness, all that He had done to us even though we have often disobeyed Him, disregarded and even betrayed Him. So pure is God’s love for each one of us that even though He despises our sins, He did not despise us sinners, but wants us to be freed from the bonds of those sins and then be reconciled with Him.

That is why He has sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, the One rejected by His own townspeople and neighbours, to be our Saviour, to be the source of our renewed Hope and as the Light to lead us out from the darkness of sin. In Christ, we have seen the perfect manifestation of God’s ultimate and enduring love in the flesh, Love that never ends and Love that persists to the end of time. From the very beginning when He created us all out love, His love has endured, and through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, we have seen how God wants to share this love with us.

St. Paul reminds us in our second reading today, taken from the Epistle that he wrote to the Church and the faithful in Corinth of what love and true Christian love means. Love is patient, kind and without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. St. Paul revealed to us that this is what true Christian love is all about, love that first and foremost God Himself has shown us unconditionally, as He patiently loved us from the beginning even though He had to constantly endure our betrayals and ignorance, and the pain of seeing so many of the sons and daughters of mankind falling into eternal damnation, eternally separated from Him.

St. Paul also mentioned that no matter whatever power, gifts, talents, abilities, blessings and all that we have received and are endowed with, but if we have no love in us, then all these are meaningless and useless. Without love, then whatever we do are only for ourselves and have no merit whatsoever. As Christians, this is not what we have been taught to do. Instead, as Christians, love must be our second nature, and not only just loving ourselves, but more importantly, to love God and our fellow brothers and sisters just as much if not more than we have loved ourselves.

That is essentially we have been called to do, to remember how fortunate we are to have been beloved by God despite our past mistakes and transgressions. God has patiently guided us through our journey of life all these while, and He has always reached out to us whenever we are in need. He has never abandoned us even though we have often abandoned and ignored Him. For all that love, often we respond to His love with disobedience and sins, with immorality and lack of faith.

That is why this Sunday, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded of the obligation for us all to love, as something that as Christians we have to do in our lives. Just as God Himself has shown us His pure and perfect love, thus we should also love Him in the same way, giving an unconditional love and one that is genuine from our hearts. Many of us loved God conditionally, loving Him and seeking Him only when we need Him, but the moment we have no need for Him, we easily and quickly forgot about Him.

Then, in the same way, we must also love our fellow brothers and sisters, by caring for everyone we encounter in life regardless who they are. Yes, certainly we will love some people more than others, especially those who are precious and known to us, those in our families and among our close circle of friends. However, we must still also love even those who are strangers to us, those whom we encounter daily, and this includes even those who hate us and persecute us.

Remember what the Lord told His disciples in another occasion in the Gospels? He said that we must love our enemies and forgive them, and we have to pray for them, just as He Himself has prayed for them. Not least, Our Lord has forgiven and prayed for those who persecuted Him and condemned Him to death right from the Cross upon which He was hung during the time of His Passion and death. That is the proof of God’s ever present love for us, and just how unconditional and beautiful His love for us is. And if God has loved us in such a manner, should we not then love Him in the same way too?

Let us all realise that we have been given many opportunities to express our love for God and for one another, and we have to practice that love in our lives, as genuine Christians that are filled with God’s love and grace. Let us all love the Lord with all of our hearts and show the same love to our brethren especially those who are most in need of them, during these difficult and challenging times when what some people need are just more care and attention, and some consolation for their sufferings and troubles. Let us all share God’s love with one another, following in the examples that Our Lord Himself has shown us. Amen.

by

Saturday, 29 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are called to reflect on what the Lord wanted us to remember from today’s readings that is for us to put our trust in Him, believing in Him and putting our faith in Him. We ought to entrust ourselves to Him and not to depend on our own power and might alone. If we do that certainly we will be better able to face the challenges of the world, together with God rather than facing them alone on our own.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the account of King David and prophet Nathan as recorded in the second Book of the prophet Samuel. King David and prophet Nathan was talking about what happened between him and Bathsheba, although initially David did not realise it. God knew what David had done in having a part in the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, when David coveted Bathsheba and inadvertently having a child with her. He attempted to cover things up and that led to the demise of Uriah, as David was worried that his affair would be exposed otherwise.

But David resorted to settle things with his own decision and considerations, and did not trust in the Lord. He should have owned up his mistakes, as after all, he was a human just like all of us, and just as all of us, he could make errors and mistakes too. As we know, even great saints were once sinners themselves, just like us. David erred and did not initially own up to his mistakes, trying to cover up and hide all that he had done. As a result, that was why he fell deeper and deeper into sin.

The prophet Nathan directly told David of the Lord’s displeasure at his actions especially at his hypocrisy when David was told the story of a poor man who had his property and items seized and taken away by a richer man. That was exactly what David did, when he took Bathsheba away from Uriah and made her to be his own. Through that rebuke from the prophet Nathan, the Lord reminded David that what he has done was truly a great sin before God, and was unbecoming of him as the one chosen and made to be King of Israel.

What David did right after that then was how he immediately humbled himself before the Lord, and wrecked with guilt and the desire to repent from those sins he committed. He humbled himself before everyone and showed great remorse over his sins. God forgave David his mistakes and the faults that he had committed. But he still had to endure the consequences for his infidelity and immoral action, as the son born from David and Bathsheba had to die. Nonetheless, God forgave David and showed the immense and wonderful nature of His mercy.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of how the Lord Jesus travelled with His disciples on boat in middle of a storm and calmed the storm and the waves that battered their boat. The disciples were very afraid and terrified, and they thought that they were going to die. But the Lord reassured them and told them that they had absolutely nothing to fear at all. They needed to trust Him and have faith in Him. He calmed the waves and the storm and the disciples were all astonished, witnessing all that just happened before their very own eyes.

That boat and the disciples inside them in fact represent us all Christians, all united in the Church of God. All of us are travelling through that stormy seas, representing the turbulent world that we are living in today. But God is with us, journeying with us and leads us to the right path. We have nothing to fear if only we can trust in Him wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, more often that not, we did not trust in Him enough, and we put our trust more in our own power, abilities, strength and manner of dealing with things.

That is when we allow all the temptations, fears and coercions all around us to affect us, that we will end up abandoning the Church and the Lord, like a person jumping off the ship in the middle of the storm. Those people who do so will likely perish. That is thus what happened to King David as mentioned earlier too. His action in trying to justify himself and to cover up his sins led to even more mistakes and faults further on, until he humbled and stripped himself of all of his glory and pride, and admitted his mistakes before God and all the people.

Are we also able to do the same too, brothers and sisters in Christ? Can we reject the temptations of this world, the pressure and coercions to disobey God and sin, and instead seek the Lord with a renewed conviction and dedication? Are we willing to commit ourselves thoroughly to the Lord from now on? These are some of the questions that we will have to ask ourselves as we progress on in life. Let us all discern our path carefully as we decide how we are to carry on our lives as faithful disciples and followers of the Lord. May God be with us always and may He bless our every actions and deeds. Amen.

by

Friday, 28 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures all of us are called to remember the words that we have heard, so that we may remember to sow the seeds of faith in our hearts and provide them the best condition possible for our faith to grow and blossom. Then, at the same time we also ought to be guarding ourselves against the snares of sin and evil, so we will not end up falling further and deeper into the trap of sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second Book of the prophet Samuel of the continuation of the account of the reign and deeds of King David of Israel that we have been hearing for the past two weeks or so. We heard of the time when King David had been secure in his kingdom and had been blessed by God with much prosperity and happiness. However, David was swayed by the beauty of one named Bathsheba, the wife of one of his army captains named Uriah, known as the Hittite. David began to desire for Bathsheba and was infatuated with her when he saw her bathing in one occasion.

That led to an affair between David and Bathsheba, which resulted in her having a child that was David’s. Afraid that his affair would be found out by Uriah and others, David was desperate in trying to trick him into sleeping with his wife so as to hide the fact of the sin that he has committed before God and others. Uriah however was a righteous man and he did not do as David intended, and as such, David with the help of the cunning advisors he had, sent Uriah to the thickest midst of the battle against the Ammonites and ended up leading to Uriah’s death.

But God knew all that each one of us had done including that which David had done, no matter how hard he might have tried to hide it. Even the righteous and faithful David could fall into the traps of sin, and the snares of evil and wickedness indeed reached far and wide as those past examples have shown us thus far. Unless we are vigilant in our defence and preparedness against the forces of sin and evil, we may end up finding ourselves in the wrong side during the Day of Judgment because our sins and wickedness become stumbling block on our path towards salvation in God.

Today, in our Gospel passage, all of us heard the Lord speaking to His disciples using a parable, namely the parable of the sower and the mustard seed. Through those parables, the Lord wanted to explain clearly in the context of what the people understood, how building the kingdom of God requires effort and hard work, and our faith is not one that can just be easily lived in idleness and passive attitude. Instead, all of us as Christians are called to live our lives with vigour and great zeal, spending the time and effort to follow the Lord in all of our actions and deeds, in our words and interactions.

That means each and every one of us have to be active in nurturing our faith, doing whatever we can in every small and little things in life, in following the teachings of the Lord, obeying His will and Law, living in the way that His commandments had shown us, and doing whatever we can to be exemplary in our contributions as Christians, in being role models for one another. It is important that we do so, just as the mustard seeds require the right condition and nurturing to be able to grow to the great size it will attain when mature, and how the sower will earn a lot of returns if he took great care of the fields.

Today we all celebrate the feast of a truly great saint, whose renown throughout all Christendom remained even to this very day. St. Thomas Aquinas was one of the greatest minds of the Church, a most faithful and ardent servant of the Lord dedicated to the glory of God. St. Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and priest who was remembered for his amazing treatises and works in theology and philosophy, Church law and other things, especially in his works in the Summa Theologiae, his most famous work of all.

St. Thomas Aquinas spent a lot of years in immersing himself in his works, gaining much insight over various areas of Christian philosophy and theology, while learning the great experiences from the past philosophers in improving his own understanding of the Divine. He was known later as the Angelic Doctor or Doctor Angelicum and is recognised as a great Doctor of the Church, a very important persona in the history of Christendom in the West, who still inspired many even to this day.

Through the great faith and dedication showed by St. Thomas Aquinas, we are called to remember our own need and obligation to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, and to do whatever we can in order to serve the Lord by our actions and deeds, even in the smallest things. We are all called to remain true to our faith and resist the many temptations to sin present in our world today. We have to remind ourselves how sin can even twist the most righteous of peoples like David, and therefore strive to remain committed to Him at all times.

May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each and every one of us to resist the temptations of sin and to be righteous and just in all our lives. May God bless our every endeavours and good works, and may He bless us always with His truth and love, that we may always walk faithfully in the path of His servants, especially that of St. Thomas Aquinas whose memory we remember today, now and always. Amen.

by

Thursday, 27 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the obligation each and every one of us have in living our lives with faith, in proclaiming the truth of God and becoming the beacons of His light in our world today. These are the responsibilities that we have been entrusted with, to be the examples of faith and inspiration for many others whom we encounter in our own lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second Book of the prophet Samuel regarding the prayer that King David of Israel made to the Lord after the Lord had made him secure in his rule and place as the leader over all the people of Israel. David thanked God for all that He had done for His people Israel and also what He had done to David himself and to his family, in honouring him and all his relatives for having chosen him as the King of Israel and through all the promises that God had made in assuring him of the kingship which will remain in his house forever.

David humbled himself and asked the Lord to bless him and his family, and hoping that his family and descendants will remain faithful to the Lord forever. He prayed to the Lord asking for His strength and guidance, and went on to become a great King over all Israel, whose reign was always remembered by the later generations as the golden age and time, and as a paragon and ideal for all the future rulers and kings. He ruled justly and devoted himself to the Lord wholeheartedly, and except for a few occasions when he faltered and made mistakes, he kept true to the faith.

In our Gospel reading today, we heard the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples using the parable of the lamp and the lampstand in order to deliver His intentions clearly, to remind all of those who listened to His words including all of us that all of us who have been called to follow Him, have to be those beacons of God’s light that our lives brilliantly reflect the light of God. Through all of us, God’s truth and love may be revealed to all men, and all shall come to know God because they have seen us and witnessed all that we have done.

Unfortunately, many of us have not done what we ought to be doing as faithful Christians, called and chosen from the world to be the witnesses of His truth and salvation. We have preferred to remain hidden in the darkness, to hide behind the veil of sin and evil. We have preferred to lay idle and not do what we have been called to do as Christ’s disciples. We have received the light of truth, and yet the light of Christ does not shine brightly in us, hidden by our ignorance, lukewarmness in faith and refusal to commit ourselves wholeheartedly.

Today, as we listened to the words of the Lord, each and every one of us are reminded of this duty and calling for us to be the bearers of Christ’s light, His truth and love in our respective communities and at every possible opportunities given to us. Through the examples set by King David of Israel and the many other virtuous paragons of faith, our holy predecessors, we have been called to be holy ourselves, to be worthy of God and His love. We are all called to be true and genuine disciples not just in name, but also in all actions, words and deeds.

We can follow the good examples of St. Angela Merici, one of the great saints of God, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Angela Merici was the famous founder of the religious order of the Ursulines, also known as the Company of St. Ursula that led to the later foundation of the Order of the Ursulines. St. Angela Merici was inspired since her early youth to commit herself with some others to work for the cause of the training and education of young Christian girls, which is still the inspiration for the educational institutes established by the Ursulines.

St. Angela Merici dedicated herself and inspired many others together in the ministry that she had committed herself as part of the Company of St. Ursula, establishing schools and orphanages, caring especially for the needs of young Christians, especially that of young, underprivileged Christian girls, who were often exploited and in disadvantageous positions. St. Angela Merici dedicated her life to this ministry, and many more people would come to follow her examples in working for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all discern our path in life through what we have heard from the lives of our holy and dedicated predecessors, King David, St. Angela Merici and many others. They have lived their lives with virtue, becoming truly shining beacons of truth and love, of God’s light and compassion, and from them, many came to believe in God and be saved as well. Are we able to do the same as well in our lives? Are we able to inspire others to follow the Lord, or have we instead kept the people away from God by our lack of genuine faith?

Let us all therefore seek the Lord our God with a renewed spirit and conviction, and let us commit ourselves to follow the Lord ever more faithfully and do whatever we can with our actions, words and deeds, even the smallest and seemingly least significant of them all, that we may indeed glorify the Lord through our lives and may become His ever worthy disciples, now and always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 26 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Timothy and St. Titus, Bishops (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all celebrate the feast of St. Timothy and St. Titus, the two followers and friends of St. Paul the Apostle, who were among the first bishops of the Church, as the successors of the Apostles. It was fitting that we celebrate them today as yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, as a reminder for us just how significant the contributions that St. Paul, formerly Saul, a great enemy of the Christian faithful turned a most ardent defender of the faith, had in the early history of the Church.

St. Timothy and St. Titus were close friends and collaborators of St. Paul, and St. Paul wrote his letters and Epistles to them just as he had written to the many other Christian communities out there. St. Paul encouraged and reminded them throughout his Epistles, the beginning of which is our first reading today, to ever be faithful to God and to spread the truth that they themselves have received, and the Spirit of God that they have been given through the laying of the hands by the Apostles.

Just as God has called St. Paul to be His follower and to spread the truth to all the people, therefore God has also called St. Timothy and St. Titus to be His followers as well, to dedicate themselves to His cause and to propagate His truth ever further to many more people throughout the whole world. They had been called to be the ones to continue the good works that the Apostles and the earliest disciples of the Lord had started. They were the ones to continue the building the Church after the firm foundation had been laid by the Apostles through their efforts.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the words of the Lord speaking to the disciples regarding what He was about to do, sending them out in pairs, to be the ones to do His work and precede Him wherever He was about to carry out His ministry. They were to be His assistants and the ones to allow His works and reach to find more people out there, that they might prepare more and more people to find the Lord and that they might come to believe in the Lord as well, as the reason why the Lord entrusted to them this ministry.

However, as the Lord Himself mentioned, they would be like lambs sent to be among wolves, and this means that their ministry and works would not be an easy and smooth-sailing one. On the contrary, it was likely that they would face a lot of opposition and even persecutions. They would face opposition and rejection from the Jewish authorities who have always rejected and refused to believe in the Lord, as well as from the other skeptics in the community, all those who have not come to believe in the Lord and refused to open their hearts and minds to welcome Him.

The Lord has made it clear at the same time, that He would be with them and will guide them and strengthen them along the way. He would not abandon them despite all the challenges that they might have to face for His sake. St. Timothy and St. Titus themselves were martyred for their faith, after many years in dedication to the people of God and to the flock which they were entrusted with. They devoted themselves wholeheartedly much like St. Paul, their inspiration and patron. All of them are themselves great inspiration of faith for all of us.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to reflect on our own lives and our own attitudes. Have we followed the Lord and acted as His good disciples all these while? To all of us who have received the gift of baptism and have become a part of the Church, we have all been given the same mission that God has entrusted to His Apostles and disciples, that as mentioned earlier, to continue the works of those who have preceded us in laying the establishment of the Church and its ministry, building upon all that the Apostles, the saints and martyrs like St. Timothy and St. Titus and others had done.

Let us all discern carefully our choice of actions in life and think of what we can do from now on, if we have not yet done so, to be the true disciples of the Lord, not just in name only but also in actions and true deeds. Let us all be inspirations for one another in how we live our lives and in how we devote our time, energy and efforts to glorify the Lord at our every living moments. May God bless us all, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 25 January 2022 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, marking that significant moment in the history of the Church when Saul, one of the greatest bane and enemy of the faithful, its arch-persecutor turned to become one of the Church’s greatest champion and the Lord’s greatest and most passionate defender, from a man who could not stop in his zeal to destroy the Christian faith and persecute all Christians who followed the Lord to a man who courageously stood up against the world in the defence of his true faith in God.

In our first reading we heard the account of what happened when St. Paul was converted, the moment when the young and overzealous Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, came to be a follower of Christ. Saul of Tarsus was a member of the elite among the Jewish community as he was not only just a member of the Pharisees, one of the two most powerful influential groups at the time, but he was also a Roman citizen and not only that, he was a Roman citizen by birth, signifying that he was truly an individual of an astounding background, a great rising star among the Jewish people.

He was misguided by his intense zeal in following the ideas of the Pharisees, in their misunderstanding and stubborn refusal to believe in the Lord and His truth despite all the signs and the proofs that He had revealed to them in many occasions. The Pharisees and many among the elders and the teachers of the Law viewed the Lord Jesus as a false Messiah and even a blasphemer and traitor to their nation, as a threat to their power and influence. And the young Saul therefore followed in this mindset and took action to strike at those who believed in the Lord.

Hence, Saul was responsible for the many often violent mob actions against the early Christians, including that of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, whose martyrdom was the first mention of his name and presence. It was mentioned how he approved of the stoning and killing of St. Stephen, and then later on, went on to carry out many more acts of violence against Christians, trying to eradicate the Christian faith and the Lord’s followers which then rapidly spread throughout Judea, Galilee and beyond.

That was why it was truly amazing when God chose and called Saul to be His follower and servant, as He came to Saul who was on his way to Damascus to eradicate the Christians there. The Lord came to Saul and revealed Himself and told him all the truth, and Saul, blinded by that vision, was eventually restored in his eyesight and together with it came a new resolution in life as he asked to be baptised in the Name of the Lord, by Ananias, one of the disciples of the Lord whom the Lord called to heal Saul and to open his mind to the truth of God.

St. Paul therefore came to become a most faithful and dedicated servant of the Lord. He changed his name from Saul to Paul to indicate this change in his way of life, as at that time, customarily the change in name indicate a major change or shift in life, just as when Simon was given the name Cephas or Kephas, meaning Rock, which we know as Peter. There were others who had also received or adopted a new name to signify the change in their path in life among other things.

Thus, as we have heard in our Gospel passage today, how the Lord commissioned His disciples to go forth to the world and proclaim the Good News, He has called on many to follow Him and to be His witnesses, so that many more people may come to believe in Him as well. He calls on all of us to embrace His truth and to show that same truth to others by our own life and dedication. St. Paul had committed himself and his life to follow the Lord in this way, in giving his life to serve the Lord and abandoning all the prospects and good life he once had earlier on.

Through what St. Paul had gone through, his conversion experience and his later complete dedication to the Lord, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us have been given many opportunities by the Lord to embrace Him and to find our path to Him, and at the same time, also given the chances to contribute to the works and missions that He has entrusted to each and every one of us as His disciples.

And if any of us are hesitant or think that we are unworthy of doing so, then we should consider how Saul, the great enemy and bane of Christians, a great sinner and a most unlikely candidate had been chosen by God to be His own greatest champion. Throughout the history of Christianity and the Church, there had been many other great saints who were once great sinners. What matters is that, each and every one of them atoned from their sins and turned away from their evil ways, embracing the Lord wholeheartedly and served Him, becoming great beacons and witnesses of His light and truth.

Now, today as we recall the dedication that St. Paul had given throughout his life and as we look upon the good examples set by our many predecessors in faith, let us all therefore see in what way we can commit ourselves better to serve the Lord. We are called to follow Him and to be genuine in how we love Him and embrace His truth in our every moment. Are we willing and able to give our best to live our lives as Christians, in the best way possible? Are we capable of following God not just for appearances and as formality, but truly dedicated to Him in our hearts?

Let us therefore renew our commitment to the Lord and do our best to live our lives as those who call themselves as Christians, and strive to be faithful witnesses of Our Lord in the world today, in our respective communities. Let our actions, words and deeds inspire one another that we may indeed proclaim the glory of God and reveal His truth and love to more and more people. May God be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more virtuously and be ever more courageous to live our lives in faith, always. Amen.

by

Monday, 24 January 2022 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are called to remember the love that God has shown upon us, His beloved people that He raised for us His Saviour, born of the House of David, the great King of Israel just as He has promised and revealed through the various prophecies, in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Heir of David. We are reminded from the Scripture readings today what it means for us to follow the Lord and to be faithful to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the the second book of the prophet Samuel regarding the time when David was elected and affirmed as the King over all of the Israelites. For the context, David had earlier on been chosen by God as the new King over all Israel to replace Saul, the first and previous King of Israel. But Saul and David ended up in conflict and rivalry, in which Saul attempted in several occasions to kill David and remove him as a threat to his rule.

When later on King Saul was killed at Mount Gilboa during a battle with the Philistines, the people were divided between those who supported David to be King of Israel and those who supported Ishbaal, Saul’s son. The conflict lasted for a while in a brief civil war before finally the whole nation was united under the leadership of David. The elders and the whole people asked David to be their king, and he finally led the Israelites to many years of glory.

He built his kingdom and the great city of Jerusalem, to be the place where God would dwell, as he himself planned for the House of God, that would eventually be built by his son, Solomon. The Lord provided for His people and guided them, and gave them great prosperity and happiness so long as they obeyed him and listened to Him and His words, as they did during the reigns of David and Solomon, and other good kings. But the people fell again and again into sin and disobedience against God.

Yet, the Lord still patiently loved His people, all of us His beloved children and creation. He Who created us all out of love would not want to see us destroyed and crushed under the sins and evils we have committed, and therefore just as He has chosen David to be the leader, shepherd and King over His people, thus, He sent His own Son, the Divine Word, to be born and incarnate in the flesh, born into the House of David to fulfil the promises He had made to His people and to David long ago.

Through Christ, God had endeavoured to lead us all out of the misery of evil and darkness, and provided us all with a sure and certain path into the light of His presence. He revealed His truth and love to us, and yet, as we have heard in the Gospel passage today, there were still people who hardened their hearts against Him, despite everything that He had done for them all. We heard how the teachers of the Law were accusing the Lord of colluding with Beelzebul, the prince of demons in order to perform His miracles.

That was something that happened due to the pride, ego and arrogance of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, who thought that they knew it better, and they could not accept the fact that someone not from within their ranks could have gotten such great popularity, spoke with such great wisdom, truth and authority, that they felt threatened and they gave in to their desires and temptations which resulted in them foolishly opposing the good works of the Lord.

Many of us are often like that too, brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of us often hardened our hearts against the Lord and ignored Him and His love, and many of us had done things to spite the Lord, rejecting His compassion and kindness for worldly things and ambitions, for other things that distracted us from the truth about just how much God has loved us and how precious all of us are to Him.

Today, all of us should be inspired by the faith and the good examples set by St. Francis de Sales, a great saint, bishop and Doctor of the Church, whose life and dedication to the Lord can inspire us to be better Christians and better followers and witnesses of His truth and love. St. Francis de Sales was the Bishop of Geneva during the height of the Counter Reformation efforts in countering the divisions in the Church and among the Christian faithful due to the reformation earlier on.

He was born a noble, but encounters with the Lord and some questions about the faith eventually led him to seek the Lord more closely and he then chose to become a priest. Against initial family opposition, St. Francis de Sales finally gave up his rights and inheritance and became a priest. He dedicated himself a lot for the people he was working with, and in everything he had been entrusted to do. And later on as the Bishop of Geneva, he tirelessly involved himself in reaching out to many Christians and including those who have separated themselves from the Church.

St. Francis de Sales also wrote extensively about the faith which influenced and impacted many even long after his passing. His enormous contributions eventually led him to be declared a saint and a Doctor of the Church. Through his dedication and lifetime of service to God, all of us ought to be inspired to follow his great examples in walking the path of God faithfully ourselves.

Let us all therefore renew our commitments to be faithful to the Lord. Let us be committed and full of love for Him, and do whatever we can to glorify the Lord and His Name through our every acts, words and deeds, in every opportunities in our lives. Let us glorify our Lord and King, He Who has chosen and raised David to be King over His people, and Who has come down upon us Himself, to be our King forever. Amen.

by

Sunday, 23 January 2022 : Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday of the Word of God, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we mark the special occasion of the Sunday of the Word of God, on which we recall the importance of the Word of God in our lives, the central role of the Sacred Scriptures in our life as Christians, which cannot be separated from our daily life. The Word of God is central as part of our Christian way of life and we have to put it as the centre and focus of our whole existence. That is the great importance and significance of the Word for us.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis instituted this Sunday of the Word of God just recently a few years ago to remind us of this importance, so that as Christians we do not end up sidelining the centrality of the Scriptures. We cannot be true Christians unless we have appreciated and understood the Scriptures, spent the time to read them and to put them into our hearts and minds. Each and every Christian families, all of us must put our effort to read and study the Scriptures together. We must always strive to help one another to understand the Scripture better.

However, too many of us sidelined the Scriptures, not spending the time to even read the Bible at all. Many of us always find excuses trying to justify why we couldn’t do so. We were either too busy with our work and career, or with whatever it was that fancied our thoughts and minds, not being able to focus ourselves on the Lord and His words. And we also find excuses saying that reading the Bible is boring and not interesting at all, because we prefer to read other things that excite us more.

That is what happened when we do not have the genuine faith and desire to love God. We put other things instead of God as the focus of our lives then easily we will end up forgetting about Him and His truth, and His words have no place inside of us. It is time for us to reflect on this before it is too late for us and since each and every one of us are called today this Sunday to reflect on the importance of this Word of God, we should make the effort to read the Scriptures more, spending the time to deepen our understanding of God’s words and truth, and also how He has done so much throughout our history of salvation.

Let us now also look through our Scripture readings today, as we first recall the words of the prophet Ezra to the people of Israel in the Book of Nehemiah. At that time, the people of Israel had just returned from their exile in the land of the Babylonians, as they were allowed to return to their homeland by King Cyrus the Great of the Persians. The Lord had touched the king’s heart to allow His people to return to their homeland. Therefore, they took the journey to return to their homeland, and they went back to the ruins of Jerusalem and their cities to begin rebuilding their homeland in earnest.

The priest and prophet Ezra led the people in the reading of the Law of God, the Law, commandments and the rules which God had laid down to His people through Moses. Those Law and commandments had long been neglected, and through the years of the kingdom of Israel and Judah they had often been ignored and disregarded. The Lord’s people had abandoned Him and persecuted His prophets and messengers, and as a result, they had to suffer the consequences of their infidelity, to be humiliated among the nations.

But God still had mercy and compassion and them, and He still loved them no matter what. That was why He sent Ezra to the people, and assisted by Nehemiah, the servant and scribe of the Persian King, to remind the people to know the Law and the commandments. For all those time when their ancestors had neglected the Law, it was even possible that they did not bother to get to know the Law and the truth of God more. They did not make the effort to know the Lord more even though the Law and the words of the Lord had always been available to them. To all of us, we have also received these same Law and commandments in the Scriptures. The same Law that Ezra spoke of that day, is the same one that is contained in our Sacred Scriptures.

Today, all of us also heard in our Gospel passage today, the words of the Lord Jesus as He proclaimed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue of His own hometown. The people there were astonished when they heard how He spoke with such great Wisdom and authority, as He revealed the truth of God to all, how everything that the prophets had spoken would be fulfilled through Him. He was the One Whom the prophets had revealed, and all these were written in the Scriptures. But, the people often refused to believe in Him as they could not accept how He could be the Messiah of God.

And ironically it was the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were often up against Him and His works, doubting Him and trying hard to undermine His credibility at every possible opportunities. Those were the ones who supposedly should have known the best about the Scriptures and the Law, and they should have been the first to recognise the Saviour of God when He came into this world. Yet, they were the ones who rejected Him and made His works difficult as they refused to believe that He was truly the One promised by God.

That was despite the fact that they had seen all that the Lord had performed before them, in healing the sick people and opening the eyes of the blind, releasing the tongues of the mute and opening the ears of the deaf, and in casting out demons among many other miracles He had performed, all of which were the words of the Scriptures, the prophets and messengers of God all coming to perfect fulfilment in Him. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because they were too proud to admit that there could be One Who could be superior to them.

They might have known the letter of the Law and the contents of the Word of God, but they did not truly appreciate and understand its meaning and significance, and as a result that was why they ended up doing all sorts of things that were unbecoming of them as the guardians of the faith of the people. This is in fact a reminder for us that we ourselves can also fall to the same pitfall unless we are careful not to lose our vigilance and guard against our pride and ego, and all the worldly temptations and desires.

Then lastly in our second reading today, we heard how St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle and letter to the Church and the faithful in Corinth that the Church of God is truly the one united and indivisible Body of Christ formed from the unity of all the faithful people of God. That Church was founded by the Lord Himself, established in this world with Himself as its Foundation and Focus. The Church of God was founded upon this very Word of God made Flesh, the Divine Word Incarnate. The Church is founded on the base of the Sacred Scriptures, the Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Therefore, as we also celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this week, we have to spend some time to reflect on what we can do to foster unity within the Church. But we cannot do this if we ourselves are weak and ignorant of the truth of God as contained within His Word in the Sacred Scriptures. We have to deepen our relationship with God first and our understanding of His words and His truth as contained within the Scriptures, if we are to seek true unity in the Church among all Christians everywhere. We are all called and challenged to seek the Word of God in every available opportunity and share it with others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore make good use of this opportunity on the Sunday of the Word of God to renew our commitment to place the Word at the centre of our Christian lives and amidst our respective families. We are all called to be the bearers of the Word of God and be His witnesses in our respective communities and in the various places we are living in. Are we able to live virtuously and in obedience of the Lord’s commandments and Law as He has entrusted them to us?

These are the things that we have to consider as we reflect and discern on our path forward in life. Are we going to continue down the same path towards ruin as what those Israelites and the ones who had ignored the Word of God and His truth had done? Or shall we instead do our very best to live our lives in accordance with the Word of truth, and strive to be exemplary each day and every moments in life to be most committed in all things? Let us all strive towards true Christian Unity by solidifying our foundation of faith through the frequent study and appreciation of the Scriptures, the Word of God.

Let us all make good use of these opportunities that God has given to us, to be His most dedicated followers and disciples, now and always, that more and more may come to believe in God and His salvation. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Saturday, 22 January 2022 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for all of us to love the Lord and entrust ourselves to Him, and often times we will find that giving ourselves to the service of God would require making a sacrifice on our side, and believe in His loving kindness despite the trials, challenges and obstacles we may face in our respective journey through life.

In our first reading today, as we listened to the words of the Lord, we heard the tragic story of the defeat of King Saul and the forces of Israel at the battle of Mount Gilboa against the Philistines. The Philistines were a powerful neighbouring people of the Israelites who at that time were on the rise and were making attacks and raids deep into the lands of the Israelites causing untold sufferings and harm to the people of God.

The forces of the Israelites was defeated, King Saul and his sons, including Jonathan, David’s close friend, were killed. The sins committed by Saul and his disobedience against God eventually contributed to this loss, as his lack of faith in God meant that they lost the guidance and providence from God. The news of that bitter defeat was relayed to David, who as the one chosen by God and anointed as the new King of Israel, had been waiting anxiously for the news of what happened.

Certainly, David was devastated at the news of the loss of not just the king and the forces of Israel, but also his close friend, Jonathan, Saul’s son. He sang a song of lamentation for them, even for Saul, who had previously tried to harm him and plotted against his life because of his place as the chosen one to replace the former as King. David entrusted his fate to the Lord, and if we recall yesterday’s reading, of David sparing Saul and his men, and did not kill them despite having the perfect chance to do so, showed us just how much David trusted in the Lord, unlike Saul who disobeyed Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the curious passage from the Gospel, in which we heard about the Lord and His disciples performing their work, and they were so busy in doing their work that they had no time to rest at all and even eat, and they all became hungry. We heard how the relatives of the Lord took charge of Him and told the people, that He was out of His mind. That was because He spent so much time at work and His ministry, that He did not spend much time with His family.

The Lord and His disciples, whom He had called from diverse origins, all committed themselves to the calling and ministry that God had entrusted to them. In the Lord’s own words, we heard in another occasion in the Gospels how He had no place to lay His head, and He and His disciples often had to spend time in the wilderness, travelling from places to places in ministering to the people of God, and at times also evading the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who often shadowed and followed them.

This is a reminder for us that following the Lord isn’t always an easy and comfortable journey, and more often than not, we may be required to make plenty of sacrifices along the way. Those sacrifices were not without merit though, as everyone who had given themselves to the Lord and committed themselves to Him shall receive from Him the affirmation and assurance of eternal life and glory. They shall never be disappointed and they shall attain the grace of heavenly glory reserved for those who have kept their faith in God.

Today we celebrate the feast of a great saint whose faith and dedication to the Lord can inspire us to follow Him more wholeheartedly, namely that of St. Vincent the Deacon, a holy martyr of the faith. St. Vincent, also known as St. Vincent of Zaragoza, was a deacon in the Roman town of Caesar Augusta, the precursor of modern Zaragoza. He was serving the Bishop of Zaragoza and the flock of the faithful there during the difficult years of intense persecutions of the faithful under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

St. Vincent and the bishop among many other Christians were arrested as part of that great persecution, and he refused to burn the Sacred Scriptures as ordered by the Roman governor, and chose to stay faithful despite the certainty of death in doing so. He also rebuked the actions of the governor and affirmed that no amount of coercions or threats could change their minds, as they would rather choose to suffer and die rather than to disobey and abandon God. That was how St. Vincent was martyred, according to tradition, by burning on a hot gridiron.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all follow the inspiring examples set by St. Vincent the Deacon and many other of our holy and dedicated predecessors, and let us no longer be lukewarm in our faith but instead doing all that we can to follow the Lord wholeheartedly from now on, without fear and having full trust of the Lord, Who is always with us and journeying with us, even in the darkest moments of our lives. May God be with us all and may He bless all of our good endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Friday, 21 January 2022 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to reflect on what the Lord had told us through the accounts of David and how he spared Saul, the King of Israel, and not killing or harming him despite having the perfect opportunity to do so. Then we also heard the calling of the Twelve Apostles as those whom the Lord had chosen as the ones to be His chief helpers in spreading the Good News and in reaching out to as many people as possible.

First of all, as we heard from the first reading from the Book of Samuel, we heard how David who was pursued by King Saul had to go into hiding from place to place, and had to go into the cave in which they were cornered. But Saul and his men were not aware that David was just within their reach. At that moment, when Saul was sleeping, it was the perfect opportunity for David to strike at Saul and claim the Kingship of Israel for himself. After all, he had been made the rightful king and the chosen, anointed one of God through the prophet Samuel.

Yet, David did not do so, and only cut a part of the king’s robe, and even that was regretted by him. He knew that Saul himself was anointed by God like himself. Although God had indeed chosen him as the new King over all Israel to replace Saul, but David still acted with honour and recognised him still as king, and he did not want harm to come either to Saul or any of his men. If David had wanted it, he could have grabbed the opportunity and ended his own suffering and trials, seizing the power that was rightfully his. But he did not do so.

That is where we see what kind of man David was. He was truly filled with love for God, a true and genuine love for his Lord and Master. He did everything to serve the Lord and to glorify His Name, and because of that, he put himself in the righteous way of the Lord. For although he has been chosen as the new King of Israel, but that should not have given him the justification to murder a person in the time of his weakness, and less still to do so for the pursuit of power and personal glory. He chose to entrust himself and his fate to the Lord, and made his peace with Saul. It was at that very same occasion in which Saul recognised David as the next, rightful King or Israel.

In the Gospel passage today, we then heard from the story of the calling of the Twelve Apostles, whom God chose from among all of His disciples. The Lord called His Apostles to be the ones to do His works and to bring forth the Good News of salvation to more people, as they did in those years after He has ascended into Heaven. The Apostles went to many places, doing the Lord’s works and establishing the foundations of the Church and building the Christian communities in those places.

They led the faithful through their righteous and just leadership, and through all that they had done in putting God’s works before everything else. They sacrificed a lot in their efforts, suffering persecutions and even having to shed blood and die for the glory of God. They had to endure exile and other forms of difficulties, and yet, they remained virtuous and patient, full of faith in the Lord and they did not allow the temptations and pressures from the world around them to sway them otherwise.

Today, all of us are also presented with the good faith and examples as set by St. Agnes, a renowned Roman martyr from the time of intense persecutions of Christians and the Church. St. Agnes was born into a noble family in Rome, and she was also born as a Christian. At that time, the Roman state and the Emperor were very much against the Christian faith and the Church, and in one last brutal attempt to eradicate them and destroy the threat that Christianity posed to the traditional Roman beliefs and religion.

St. Agnes as a young Roman noblewoman had many suitors and those who were interested in her. Many of those suitors were rejected by St. Agnes as she had dedicated herself to the purity of her dedication to God. She consecrated herself and her virginity, not allowing any of those men to desecrate her virginity and sanctity. This led to some among her suitors to be angry at her, and reported her to the authorities as a suspected Christian, which was a crime then punishable by death.

The Roman prefect, named Sempronius condemned her to death and attempted to kill her by various methods. However, the attempts by several men to defile her virginity failed because they were immediately struck blind before the deed. The attempts to hurt her by other means such as burning on a stake also failed when the flames refused to burn the wood. Eventually, it was by beheading or being stabbed in the throat that St. Agnes met her end through martyrdom, and yet her reward in God is glorious.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have just discussed and through the life of St. Agnes of Rome, we can see how God was always with us and He has always guided us and protected us just as how He prevented those men from defiling the sacred virginity of St. Agnes. The Lord has always been with us and He will guard us against those that intend to harm us. We must have faith in Him and believe in His providence.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore put ourselves in the hands of the Lord and commit ourselves to His embrace, knowing that in Him alone lies our hope and our salvation. May the Lord be with us all and may He give us the strength to follow Him wholeheartedly rom now on, and always, without fear or worry. Amen.