Weekday Homily

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Thursday, 9 September 2021 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are all reminded to be genuine Christians in all things, in our every actions and dealings, in even the smallest things we say and do, so that we will always be the Lord’s faithful witnesses and that by our every words, actions and deeds we may glorify His Name and inspire many others to follow the path that we ourselves are walking down towards the salvation in God.

As Christians, we are all called to be filled with God’s love and to be loving as the Lord Himself has loved us, just as the Apostle St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Colossae, in our first reading today. In that passage, we heard St. Paul encouraging the faithful to ‘clothe themselves’ in the raiments of God’s truth and virtues, to follow the Lord wholeheartedly in all things, to be filled with compassion and love for all, and to be righteous and just in all of their way of life.

Essentially, to be Christians, we have to adopt a total conversion of our hearts and minds, of our whole being and our entire way of life, embracing God and His love, and to immerse ourselves in that love, taking that up to be our own love, and our own compassionate care and concern for others whom we encounter in life and throughout our ministry and calling in this world. St. Paul asked the faithful to do everything for the glory of God, and to allow the Lord to lead them to the right path, that they may be the inspiring examples for one another, in how they remain faithful to God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding how each and every one of them ought to learn how to love one another as Christians, in the most Christ-like way, and in reaching out in love even to all those who have not loved us, and be kind and compassionate even to those who have rejected us and made us to suffer. He has revealed to us that as Christians we ought to love unconditionally, and to show that same genuine love for all of those who need them.

He told the people that loving only those who love us back, is something that even the wicked could easily do, as this kind of love is often found in a transactional and even selfish kind of love, as we desire to be loved back in the same or even greater way than how we have loved others. In that way, our love is not yet one of genuine Christian love, for we love only because we expect something in return, and not truly because we are really moved to love those who have nothing to give back to us, and has nothing to benefit us with.

That is why, as the Lord had Himself said, that true and genuine Christian love, is about a selfless and unconditional love that is rooted in giving and not in expecting returns, in the sharing of oneself and one’s joy and love, to everyone regardless of their background and origins, regardless of their status and preferences. And the best example of this kind of love is none other than the Lord’s own loving example, as He laid down His own life on the Cross for each and every one of us.

When He told the people about giving one’s cheek and offering it to be struck when one has been struck in the face, and praying for and blessing those who have cursed and made us hurt, forgiving those who have brought pain upon us, it is a reminder of how the Lord Himself was bruised and broken during the time of His Passion, as He was whipped and tortured, humiliated and spat against, ridiculed and rejected by the people and their leaders, condemned to death like a criminal and put to bear the burden of the Cross, which He willingly took up for our sake.

The Lord took it all with love, with compassion and mercy, for all those who have wronged Him, abandoned Him and rejected Him. Yes, and that was why He even prayed for all those chief priests and those who have persecuted Him and condemned Him to His death. He prayed for their sake and asked the Father not to hold their sins against them, essentially seeking all of them to be forgiven, and to be reconciled with God, that they might be willing to listen to the truth, despite all that they had done.

The Lord’s self-giving and most selfless love is a great example and He Himself is the great and perfect role model for all of us, in doing what we should do as dedicated Christians, filled with God’s love and compassionate care for others. We are all in fact challenged to love in the same manner as the Lord, and we are all called to be sincere in loving others, and be less self-centred and selfish in our attitudes. Instead, we are all called to do our best to love God first and foremost, and then to love one another just at least as much as we love ourselves.

Certainly, this is something that is much more easily said than done. That is why, we should encourage each other to pick up these crosses of our callings, to be true and faithful disciples of Our Lord, in all things especially in loving one another. And today, we should also be inspired by the examples of our holy predecessor, namely St. Peter Claver, whose feast day we are celebrating on this very day. St. Peter Claver was a truly dedicated servant of God and a great missionary and priest, who spent much of his life in seeking for the betterment of the poor and the marginalised, and whose works and efforts saw the conversion of not just few, but hundreds of thousands of unbelievers into the true Faith.

St. Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary who decided to dedicate himself to the mission of the Church and the works of evangelisation, setting for the New World, the American continent, where he dwelled ever since, where he spent many decades working among the poor and the slaves who were aplenty at that time, as they were treated badly and sold to the highest bidder from time to time, treated often less than human beings and having no rights on their own. St. Peter Claver championed their cause and ministered to many of them, an effort which eventually led to more than three hundred thousand people baptised personally by St. Peter Claver throughout his ministry.

St. Peter Claver always treated the slaves with dignity and saw in them as fellow Christians, loving them and caring for them when no one else would love them or even treated them inhumanely. St. Peter Claver dedicated his time and efforts, and through all of those, showed us all truly what true and genuine Christian love is all about, which we ourselves should be inspired to follow and emulate in our own lives. Are we willing and able to do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to love one another unconditionally and be as selfless as St. Peter Claver had been?

Let us all discern these things carefully and ponder on the calling that the Lord has given us all, to be loving Christians and to be dedicated to our fellow brothers and sisters, especially to those who are in need of our love, care and compassion. Let us all grow ever more generous in loving and in forgiving one another our faults, and let us be ever more sincere in how we live our lives with true Christian spirit and love. May God bless us always in our every good endeavours and works, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 8 September 2021 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorating the birthday of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, marking that day when the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour was born into this world, to the loving family of St. Joachim and St. Anne, her parents. As we celebrate this Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary today, all of us are called to look upon Mary, on her faith and dedication to God, on her virtuous and upright life.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, Mary is our best role model among all the children of God, as one who has been chosen and given the special grace to be free from the taints of original sin, immaculate and pure, and at the same time, full of love and commitment to the Lord. Mary is the Woman that the Lord had promised to all of us, His beloved people, through whom the salvation of this world would come from, by her role as the Mother of that Saviour of all, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Mary, God has fulfilled His long awaited promises to all of His people, revealing to them His salvation through a simple and humble woman, the virgin lady of Nazareth, a small and insignificant small town in Galilee, at the periphery of the Jewish world and settlements at that time. Mary was specially prepared by the Lord, by a singular grace, hallowed and made to be immaculate and pure, completely free from the taints of original sin, so that this vessel crafted by the Lord’s hands, may be worthy to bear Himself and His divine existence into this world.

Yes, just as the old Ark of the Covenant was made by the hands of men and crafted with the finest goods of the Earth, and hallowed by God, hence, the New Ark, of the New Covenant of God, Mary, the beloved daughter of God and full of grace, made not by human hands but designed and prepared by God, made to be pure and immaculate, which is possible by God’s will and power, to be hallowed and ready for the coming of His salvation, the Divine Word of God incarnate in the flesh, becoming the Son of Man dwelling in Mary’s womb.

Mary’s Nativity marked the moment when the salvation of God began to come forth into the world, as God slowly revealed to us all the truth about Himself and His plans for us. Yet, this is an even more amazing story as God chose not the rich and powerful, the influential and the great to conduct His work of salvation, but instead, He chose a mere ordinary woman, from likely a poor family in Nazareth, on the peripheries to be the one whom He chose to be the Mother of the Saviour.

And why is this significant for us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It shows us that God chose us all sinners, unworthy as we may be, and called us to be His disciples and followers, and just as He has chosen Mary, to be the one bearing the Messiah, and made her to be full of grace, we too are called to embrace God and His love, and to be filled with His grace. We have all been called from our most ordinary backgrounds, from our various occupations and lives, to be the genuine and loving disciples of the Lord.

That is what all of us must recognise as God calls all of us to be His faithful labourers and workers, in the world, in our communities and among our own circles of friends and relatives, and among those whom we encounter daily in life, to our acquaintances and neighbours, and even to strangers whom we met along the way. We have to be role models of faith, to be the bearers of God’s hope and truth to all, just as Mary has been a great role model to us. We are all reminded today, just as we celebrate her birthday, that we can also be like her, in her commitment to the Lord and in her virtuous and graceful life.

The question is, are we all willing to embrace the Lord wholeheartedly the way that Mary has done with her life? Are we willing to live our lives with sincere devotion to God and to practice our faith with genuine actions and not just mere words and formality only? Mary dedicated her life to the mission entrusted to her, and saw through many challenges throughout, having taken care of her Son, Our Lord and Saviour, protected and nurtured Him, and followed Him throughout His ministry right up to the foot of the Cross. We cannot even begin to imagine the sufferings and the sorrows she had throughout her life, and yet, Mary joyfully dedicated it all out of her love for her Son.

As we celebrate the Feast of Mary’s Nativity, her birth and appearance into this world, all of us are reminded of the hope that she had brought into this world and the faith with which she has lived her life. We are called to follow her examples and commit ourselves to the Lord as best as we can, to be the bearers of hope and light amidst this darkened world, so that our actions, words and deeds may bring life to all whose lives we have touched. This is our calling as Christians, as those who have shared in Christ the gift of His light and hope, and the assurance of salvation and eternal life.

In our daily lives, can we spend more time and effort to be faithful to the Lord, and to be exemplary and inspirational to one another so that we may help each other to be ever closer to God, and to be more attuned to His truth and ways? Are we also willing to reach out to the less fortunate and those who are suffering around us, sharing with them the love of God, and the hope of salvation. Let us discern these things carefully and remind ourselves of the many things that we can do as God’s faithful people, in keeping our faith alive and in following the good examples and inspiration from our beloved mother, Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour.

As we rejoice together celebrating her birthday, let us all continue to entrust ourselves to the Lord through His blessed mother, who is also our mother. Let us all turn towards the Lord and allow ourselves to be guided to Him by our ever patient and loving mother, who is always ever praying and interceding for our sake from Heaven, at the side of her Son’s glorious Throne. May the Lord heed her prayers for our sake, and may He have mercy on us sinners, and bring us all to Him, into His fullness of grace and eternal life of true joy. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 September 2021 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, to be truly sincere in our faith and dedicate ourselves to glorify the Lord by our own actions and deeds, be it great or small. We have to be sincere in following the Lord, in the manner of His Apostles and the many other disciples, the countless saints and martyrs who had devoted themselves and given their lives in the service of the Lord.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Colossae, the Apostle spoke about the attitude that Christians, as God’s people, as His chosen ones and those who have answered His call. And because of that, it is something that we have to embrace wholeheartedly, in welcoming God into our hearts and walking down the path that He has prepared for us and shown us. As God’s beloved people, we should dedicate ourselves thoroughly, and through baptism, as St. Paul mentioned, we have been made partakers of this New Covenant that God has made with all of us.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been made parts of the Lord’s promise, to follow Him and to be transformed through Him, that by embracing Him, we may be purified from our sinful ways, from the corruption of our wickedness and evils, to be, as St. Paul said, ‘circumcised’ which means that we have received that spiritual transformation, remade and reforged in the faith, and transformed from a people of darkness into the people of the true light, the Light of Christ.

The Lord has called us all to follow Him, as we heard in our Gospel passage today on how He has called those whom He had chosen to be His disciples, and twelve among whom He has chosen to be the members of His inner circle, of which eleven of them would become the members of the Twelve Apostles. The Lord called on all those Apostles to be His chief and principal disciples, to be the ones sent into the world in order to deliver the truth and the Good News of the Lord to everyone.

They would go on to embark on many journeys all around the world, proclaiming the truth of God and standing up courageously for their faith in God. They gave their all to the Lord and committed themselves wholeheartedly to the missions entrusted to them. Many people and communities came to believe in God through them, and many souls were saved by their labours and hard works, their dedication and love for God and for their fellow men.

And all of us, as Christians, we are all called to follow in the examples of the Holy Apostles and the disciples of the Lord. We may think that we are unworthy and incapable of doing so, but in truth, those same Apostles were themselves called from humble and insignificant, ordinary origins, and what matters is that they allowed the Lord to lead them, to strengthen them and to guide them in their path and faith. And whenever they stumbled, they prayed to the Lord for guidance and help.

Brothers and sisters, as we inherit the many great works that the Apostles and the many other disciples of the Lord had initiated and done, the Lord has called on all of us to put our trust in Him and to allow Him to change and transform us all through His love and truth. But are we all willing to welcome Him? Are we all willing to accept the crosses that we are going to bear, the sufferings and trials that we may have to bear in our respective journey of faith?

Let us discern this carefully, and consider what each and every one of us can do to be part of the Church, as active and contributing members, to commit and dedicate ourselves just in the same way that the Apostles and disciples of the Lord had committed their lives and efforts for the greater glory of God. Let us grow to be ever more faithful in all things, and let us inspire one another to do the same, in being active and evangelising Christians. Amen.

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Monday, 6 September 2021 : 23rd 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 all reminded to follow the Lord and be faithful to Him, and to play our part as members of God’s Church. God has told us to follow Him sincerely and wants us to understand His path and His commandments well. The Lord has shown us what we have to do, and what we should be doing is to trust in Him and to commit ourselves to this path that the Lord has revealed to us.

However, this is easier said than done, as many of us often preferred to trust in our own judgments and strength, and in our own way of thinking and ideas, not willing to listen to the Lord and trust ourselves in His infinite wisdom. As we heard in our Gospel passage today, the Lord Himself was confronted by the Pharisees who wanted to test Him and see if He would violate the law of the Sabbath that they held to be sacrosanct. They were often opposed to Him and His teachings, and particularly found offence in the Lord’s activities on the Sabbath.

This was where the Lord strongly rebuked those self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the Law, by revealing how it is ridiculous for the Law of God to be used to prevent someone from performing something that is good, right and just, and He told them that the Law was not meant to arbitrarily restrict the faithful from doing anything on the holy day of the Lord. Instead, the true purpose and intention of the Law of the Sabbath was to remind the people of God to spend more time in their relationship with God.

And that was why, they were told not to do work or conduct their usual daily business, not because they could not do so or prohibited like as if those things were grave sins. Rather, out of the seven days of the week, if everyone were to do their work on every single day, then there would be no space for God in their hearts and minds. Hence, the Lord instituted the Sabbath and its laws to help the faithful to redirect their attentions and their focus on the Lord, away from the usual busy schedules and activities of their worldly lives.

Yet, this does not mean that the Lord wanted to exclude all of them from doing what they should and could be doing on that day, in doing good things and in showing their faith in the Lord. On the contrary, if one were to purposely ignore the plight of others and the needy during the day of the Sabbath, then they would have committed the sin of omission, in failing to do what they could do, when they were in the right place and opportunity to do so, to show God’s love and compassion to our fellow men.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, this was what the Lord highlighted in His rebuke of the attitude of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He wanted them to know that obeying the Law is and should not just be a mere formality and a ritual to be done with and to be followed blindly without understanding. Otherwise, it might end up like the Pharisees themselves, who practiced their version and interpretation of the Law, including the rules regarding the Sabbath, and yet, did so with little understanding of its true intentions.

God chose to heal the man without hesitation, and healed the paralytic man, restoring him to full health, to the anger of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who became even more determined to oppose Him and to arrest Him. Yet, through these actions, the Lord wants each and every one of us to know that His love is always all-encompassing, and He is always ready to reach out to us, and loving us once again, in His willingness to love us and in the great patience which He has shown us.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? As we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we have all been invited to reflect on our way of life, on whether we have truly been faithful to the Lord in all of our lives and whether we have truly understood His Law and commandments, or whether we have been spending all these time merely paying Him lip service and treating our Christian life as a mere formality? Have we been living our lives as Christians in the wrong way all these while?

Let us all therefore spend some time to discern carefully what we are going to do from now on, in walking down the path that the Lord has shown us. Let us commit ourselves to Him anew and be ever more genuine and sincere in loving Him, and in loving one another according to His teachings. May God be with us all, and may He continue to guide us all through life, to be ever more faithful Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 September 2021 : Twenty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the all encompassing love of God, as He reassured all those who have placed their trust in Him that He would not abandon them and that He would love them all equally without bias or prejudice, and all are equally precious before Him, as He extends to us His love, His grace and blessings.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard from the prophecy of Isaiah the Lord’s promises to His people that He would one day come and liberate them, opening the eyes of their blind, unbinding and opening the ears of the deaf and the tongues of the mute, making the paralysed and the disabled to walk and move again, and other miraculous deeds and works that the Lord would do amongst His people.

At the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people of Israel had been going through tough times, a time of many challenges and trials, as the once united and great kingdom of Israel under King David and King Solomon were already long passed and gone. The divided northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah had become diminished and were subjected to humiliations from their neighbours and other powers. And just around the time of Isaiah and his ministry as God’s prophet, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and destroyed by the Assyrians, who brought off most of the inhabitants of the land to exile in far-off Mesopotamia.

At the same time, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah where Isaiah performed his ministry did not fare much better, as they too came under attack from king Sennacherib of Assyria, who brought up a vast army against Judah and Jerusalem, and almost conquered it if not for the timely intervention from God. The people of God had been brought low and suffered, and all these were because of their own disobedience and refusal to believe in God or follow His path, despite the numerous reminders from the many prophets sent to them.

In our Gospel passage today, from the Gospel of St. Mark, we then heard of the account of the miraculous healing that the Lord had done on a deaf and mute man, as He had pity on the man, and by His power, loosened the man’s tongue and opened his ears, allowing him to hear and speak properly once again. He has liberated the man from his troubles and showed God’s enduring love and compassion for each and every one of us. He fulfilled the promises that He Himself had made through His prophet Isaiah, the promises that we have just discussed earlier on.

And this is also a show that God loves everyone without exception, that even those who are often marginalised and prejudiced against, the weak and those afflicted with physical and spiritual ailments, God has reached out to them and healed them, freeing them from their troubles. This particular case mentioned in our Gospel today is significant because the word that the Lord spoke, ‘Ephphata’ meaning ‘Be opened!’ at the time when He loosened the tongue and opened the ears of the man, is also for a long time used in the rites of baptism of the Church, and is still used today in the baptism using the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Through this symbolic act, the priests placed their hands on the ears and the mouth of the person or infant to be baptised, signifying that they performed the rites of the Sacrament of Baptism in persona Christi, or in the person of Christ, opening the ears and the mouth of the one to be baptised that just as the man was healed as mentioned in our Gospel passage, then the person that was to be baptised would also be healed from his or her spiritual bondage to sin and death.

And the opening of the ears and the mouth are also significant because they represent symbolically our willingness by accepting baptism, to open our ears to listen to the truth and the Word of God, and to speak only the words of God’s truth, and not to proclaim things that are contrary to our faith. The Lord had freed us from our bondage and enslavement to sin and evil, and He has healed us from the most terrible disease of all, that is sin and death.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, although we may be physically well and even in best of health, all of us are in fact suffering from the affliction of sin, which corrupts us from within and making us defiled and unworthy of God. God alone can save and heal us from this affliction, and He has shown His willingness to free us and to be reconciled fully with us. All of us, whether we are great or small, rich or poor, influential, famous or unknown, all of us are equally sinners before God, and God loves all of us equally, which is what the Lord wanted to show us through the Word of God we have heard today.

And, in our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. James the Apostle, we heard the same message as the Apostle reminded the faithful that the Lord does not discriminate between persons, and he went on to give examples of how the faithful could unknowingly act in ways that promote prejudice and discrimination by treating their fellow brothers and sisters in different ways. It is inevitable that we will have differences in how we interact with different groups of people, and we will certainly be more willing to treat well those whom we love and care about, while ignoring or even treating badly those whom we dislike.

However, the Lord called on all of us to overcome this tendency, and reminded us that if He loves each and every one of us equally, then we as His people should also do the same, and love one another in the same manner. We have to do our best and strive to show care and compassion, forgiveness and the willingness to embrace even those who have persecuted and hurt us, as the Lord Jesus Himself taught us to forgive those who have hated us and pray for those who have persecuted us. He asked us to forgive one another’s sins, just as the Lord, His heavenly Father has forgiven us our sins, one of the key elements of the Lord’s Prayer, the Pater Noster we all know so well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our world today where inequality, prejudice, racial and religious tensions, divisions among people and all the other divisions and disagreements that exist between our communities and peoples, we are all called as Christians to be revolutionary and different. In a world where we are all encouraged to love ourselves and hate those whom we dislike, we are called to love without boundaries and without prejudice, to reach out even to those who hate us and dislike us, to forgive them and to pray for them.

And in a world that is obsessed with appearances, with prestige, power and glory, we are all called to get rid from ourselves these temptations of the flesh, to be filled with God’s love instead, and to be able to listen to His truth and to proclaim His words rather than to listen to the temptations of the devil, the allures of worldly desires and rather than to advance our own goals and ambitions in life. Again, as Christians, we are all called to be loving just as the Lord has been so loving towards us.

Is this easily done for us? Certainly not, brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is truly often much easier said than done. We may think that it is easy for us to love one another, but those of us who have been hurt by others may find it very hard to forgive, and to let go of our anger and insecurities, of our desire for retribution and vengeance. And those of us who have not truly known love will find it difficult to love others, as the many trials and challenges many of us face in this world show us that to be Christians, is by no means a simple and easy feat.

That is why today, on this Sunday, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord called us all and reminded all of us of what being true Christians is all about. It is to love God with all of our hearts and with all of our strength, and then to love ourselves and one another, just as much as we value and love ourselves. This is the true commandment of God, in the Lord Jesus’ own words, that we have to ‘love one another just as I have loved you’, a reminder that even though the challenges may be great, but we have to persevere nonetheless.

And none of us should endure it alone. Instead, we should help and support one another, by doing our best even in the smallest things and showing love for each other, to those dear to us, and even to strangers and those who hate and dislike us, and whom we dislike as well. Let us all slowly allow the Lord to teach us how to love genuinely and truly, in each and every moments of our lives. From now on, let all of our words, actions and deeds be ones that glorify the Lord, that through us, the Lord, His truth and love may come to be known by more and more people.

May God bless each and every one of us, all equally precious and beloved by God, that we may be always strong in dedicating ourselves to serve Him and to follow Him for all of our days, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 September 2021 : 22nd 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 all reminded of the need for us to be truly faithful to the truth of the Lord and we have to follow Him, obey Him and truly love Him in all that we do in our lives, by the true obedience and commitment to His path. All of us have been called by the Lord to be His disciples, and we are all reminded not to be idle or to pay merely lip service to Him.

In our first reading today, we heard about the reminders from the Apostle St. Paul to the faithful and the people of the Church in Colossae, the Colossians, that they all have been rescued by God from their sinful existence, and God had redeemed all of them. Therefore, as is right and just, they should all commit themselves to the Lord and His path, to be righteous and worthy of God in all things, so that in the way that they lived their lives, they may be truly exemplary.

St. Paul exhorted the Colossians to stand firm in their faith and in the hope that they all have in the Lord. He called on all of them to keep the Gospel and the truth which they had received from the Lord. He called on all of them to live in the manner that they had been expected to live, to be good role models in faith and to be inspiration for many others to follow. He encouraged them all not to be swayed by worldly temptations or by any fears that could prevent them from finding their true path in the Lord.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to Pharisees who asked Him regarding the behaviour of His disciples who picked up and crushed grains of wheat for them to eat during the day of the Sabbath. The Pharisees asked this because the Sabbath day was a day of great importance, and which according to the Law of God and particularly in its interpretation by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, in which there should not be any activities or work by the people.

However, as mentioned by the Lord, the true intention of the Lord in giving this Law to the people was not to prevent them from doing all work, but rather to do our best not to allow the distractions of worldly temptations and desires to lead us down the path of hypocrisy and selfishness. The Lord wants each and every one of us to be truly faithful, and appreciate the full meaning and intention of the Law, in it is spirit and not just in the letter of the Law.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for example, observed the Sabbath strictly as were most others at Jesus’ time, and yet, many of them ignored the plight of the sick and the needy, and by using the Sabbath as an excuse, they even criticised the Lord in other occasions for performing His healing miracles, that instead of rejoicing at the wonderful deeds of the Lord, they took pride instead at their way of observing and obeying the Law which they likely valued more than their love for the Lord.

It does not mean that they did not love the Lord or did everything in the wrong way. Instead, what the Lord meant is that, their fixation and overemphasis on the procedures and practices rather than understanding the whole meaning and significance of the Sabbath prevented them from truly observing the Law in the right way. They did what was asked of them superficially, but spiritually, within their hearts, they were lacking true and genuine faith that they ought to have for the Lord.

Now, the question is, are we all doing the same with our own lives as well, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we doing things the wrong way in how we live up to our faith? Are we all following God wholeheartedly or are we merely fulfilling the commandments and rules because of obligation and wanting to do what we have to do? Or are we truly and sincerely being faithful to the Lord? Are we able to commit ourselves with true love and commitment, and are we capable to dedicating ourselves each and every moment with zeal for God?

Let us all devote our time and effort from now on, and let us commit ourselves to walk in the path of the Lord, and be genuine in our deeds and actions, and be inspirational and exemplary so that through us, more and more may be convinced to believe in the Lord, and through us, they may be saved together with us. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us in our every deeds and in our every endeavours and good works. Amen.

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Friday, 3 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the Word of God from the Scriptures, we are all called to remember that we are part of God’s One Church, the One Body of Christ, which is made from the unity of all those who are faithful to God and believe in Him, and with whom God Himself has established a New Covenant through Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, His Son. He has united us to Himself through Christ, Who became the Mediator of the New Covenant and the Head of the living Church.

In our first reading today, that was what St. Paul highlighted in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Colossae on Christ being the Head of the Church and the One through Whom the Lord had endeavoured to save His people, by His suffering and death on the Cross, His Passion and then His Resurrection, risen from the dead, so that all of us who share in His humanity, and who believe in Him wholeheartedly shall receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and true joy and glory.

However, in order for us to be His true disciples, and to be able to wholeheartedly believe in Him, all of us need to heed what He Himself had mentioned to His disciples as we heard in the Gospel passage today, when He taught them using the parable of the wine and the wineskins, and the cloth and the patches. Through that parable, the Lord wanted to make it clear that following Him would require a fundamental change of heart and attitude, and we have to embrace His truth and teachings with true sincerity and devotion.

Just as the people at that time knew that old wineskin cannot be used to store new wine, and neither can new wineskin be used to store old wine, as they are incompatible, and just as old torn cloth cannot be repaired by new patch of fabric and vice versa, therefore, the Lord’s path and His truth is something that is not compatible with our sinful and wicked ways, the path that the world has shown us. As long as we continue to act in ways that are aligned with the excesses and wickedness of our old, sinful ways, then we cannot be truly worthy of the Lord.

And how is this then related to what we have heard in our first reading today? As the Lord is the Head of the Church and we, as Christians, we are all members of the same Body of Christ, this very Church, then it is imperative that we have to align and harmonise ourselves with the Lord. Otherwise, if we profess to believe in the Lord and yet act in a totally contradictory manner, then are we not causing a scandal for the Church, and not only that, but we are even besmirching the good Name of the Lord? That is why each and every one of us must do our best, as we are reminded today, to be faithful in all things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we all willing to embrace the Lord and His path wholeheartedly? Are we willing to commit ourselves to Him and be united with Him not just in mere words or formality, but truly sincerely from the deepest parts of our hearts. Are we willing and able to commit our effort, our time and attention to Him and do whatever we can, even in the smallest of things, to be good and faithful disciples, embracing God’s truth and love in all things, that we may be ever exemplary in our Christian living.

Today, all of us can get the inspiration from a great servant of God whose feast we are celebrating today. Pope St. Gregory the Great was a very well-known Pope, a great Leader of the Universal Church, and a great Reformer of the Church and the faith. The Lord has shown us in this faithful servant of His, what it truly means for us to follow the Lord with all of our hearts, and through his life, Pope St. Gregory the Great also showed us what it means for us to walk faithfully in God’s presence, to be obedient to Him and to be exemplary in our own way of living.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was remembered for his many and immense efforts in advancing the cause of the Church, in reaching out to the pagans and the many peoples who have not yet heard of God, in his many works, writings and letters to various members of the Church and the faithful. He sent many missionaries to places like England and Germany, which helped to establish a firm foundation of the Church and the faith in those places. He was also remembered for his leadership and guidance of the local Roman Church just as he was well-respected for his leadership of the Universal Church.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was also remembered for his role in reforming the Church, its administration as well as its way of worshipping God, by regulating the liturgical practices of the Church, and he was often credited as the one who laid the foundation of the Church music especially in the Western Christendom, of what would be known later on and today as the Gregorian Chant. He helped to reform many other aspects of the Church and helped many parts of the Church to develop and grow spiritually, and through his many efforts and contributions, the Lord’s Church grew greatly and prospered.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Pope St. Gregory the Great has shown us all what it means to be a faithful and dedicated Christian, to be committed to the path of the Lord and to adapt a way of life that is compatible to the Lord. Are we willing and able to follow him and his examples? Let us all ourselves this question as we discern how we are going to live our lives from now on. And may the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us, that we may always strive to do our very best, in whatever we do, to be God’s holy and worthy people. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scripture, all of us are called to live our lives in an exemplary Christian way, and to be worthy of God by following the path that He Himself has shown us. And we are also called to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, and be part of the Church’s evangelising mission, in calling more and more people to believe in the Lord and His truth, of which the best way is by our living our lives worthily, as true and genuine Christians.

In our first reading today, we heard the words of St. Paul the Apostle as he exhorted the faithful to to lead a lifestyle and to act in accordance with the way of the Lord, that they do not fall into temptations and remain faithful in all things, and to persevere through the difficulties and the challenges that we may face through life. We must be careful and wary lest those difficulties and challenges deter us from doing what we can and should do as Christians, in showing our faith and love for God and our fellow men alike.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the Lord called some of His Twelve Apostles, as He was at the Lake Gennesaret or the Lake of Galilee, in which the four fishermen had been spending long hours the previous night in order to catch fish without any success. As the Lord saw those fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, and the brothers James and John, He told them to try and reach out for fishes again, despite their fruitless search over the past night.

He told them all to ‘put out into the deep waters’ and lower their nets there. Although they were skeptical at first and told the Lord that they had not found anything despite all night efforts, they obeyed in the end, and immediately, there were so many fishes trapped in the nets that it almost made the fishing boats to sink under their weight. Those four fishermen, amazed by what they had witnessed, believed in the Lord, chose to abandon their fishing trade and followed Him, becoming the first of the Lord’s disciples.

What we have just heard in our Scripture passage today is actually a symbolic representation of what each and every one of us are called to do as Christians, that is to listen to the Lord and to obey His will, by allowing Him to lead us and to help guide us in what we should do, just as He has told the fishermen, the future four disciples and Apostles to reach out and put their nets our into the deep waters. We have to do what the Lord has asked us to do, and trust in Him in the path that He is leading us through.

It is often that we are not able to gain true success in what we are doing, simply because we trust more in our own strength and powers rather than to listen to the Lord. We do things in our own way, and some of us are stubborn even after the Lord has shown us advice and guidance. Instead, we should be like the Apostles who listened to the Lord even though they had reservations and doubts earlier on. They chose to follow the Lord, and they saw the benefit in doing so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, at the same time we are all also reminded that we should not be afraid to reach out beyond our comfort zone, which is when the Lord mentioned ‘to go and put out in the deep waters’. Too often many of us are hesitant to follow the Lord because we are afraid of the risks and we are more concerned about our safety and needs. And this is also because we did not have enough trust and faith in the Lord. If only we can trust in the Lord more, then surely we can even do many things we might have think to be impossible.

The question is, are we all willing to commit ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly? Are we willing to entrust ourselves to His care and providence, and are we capable of walking down this path that the Lord has shown us with faith? Each and every one of us have been entrusted by the Lord with specific mission and responsibility in life, and as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle in our first reading today, all of us are called to lead a life that is worthy of God, to be faithful and committed to Him, and to be exemplary in all things.

May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in all things, and may He strengthen each and every one of us so that we may always persevere in faith, and will not easily give in to worldly temptations. May He remain with us all and may He bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, at all times, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to follow the examples set by the Lord in His ministry, in answering to the Lord’s call for us to follow Him, to respond to the vocation and mission that He has entrusted to each and every one of us. As Christians we cannot be idle in our lives, and instead, we have to be active in doing God’s will.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the story of the Lord’s ministry from the Gospel of St. Luke, in which He went to heal the mother-in-law of St. Peter who was very sick, and having gotten her healed, He ministered to all the people who came to hear of the miraculous healing and then brought many sick ones and those who troubles to the Lord that He might heal all of them. The Lord healed their sick and revealed God’s love and ceaseless dedication to His Covenant through all of that.

Then, we heard how the Lord then told His disciples to move on from that place, even though there were still many who wanted Him to stay on and heal their sick there. When the disciples questioned Him, the Lord very clearly said that He was still needed in many other parts of the country, and that He had been sent to the entire people of Israel, the people of God, and not just a small segment of people. He could not stay on there and be comfortable of being the centre of attention, and ministering only to them.

Any other people would have been greatly tempted by the temptations of power and glory, of fame and influence, as the Lord Himself must have also been tempted. But He has resisted the advances of the devil, whom we know had tested Him not just once but thrice with great temptations. The Lord showed all of us that first of all, we have to do the will of God, to be exemplary in our faith and to do whatever we can to be faithful witnesses of His truth and to show care and concern for our fellow brethren.

And then at the same time, we must not forget that everything we do, we do it for the love of God and for the genuine love and concern for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must be vigilant lest we may be tempted to do things for our own personal desires and satisfaction, for our own achievements and sense of pride. If we fall into these temptations, then we must know that even those with noble intentions in the beginning may end up falling into path filled with sin, when one began indulging in their desires and the temptation to be selfish.

As St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Colossians in our first reading passage today, the Lord has given us all the gifts of faith, and has shown us the path that we all ought to follow, and what we all now need to do is to bear fruit and to make good use of those gifts that the Lord has given to us, and which He has planted in us. We have to allow the Lord to show us the way, to lead us down the right path, and guide us the right path, as He certainly will do for us. The question is, are we willing to do so, brothers and sisters in Christ?

It is often a lot of easier to profess our faith by our mouth and by words alone, and yet we do nothing in order to prove that our faith is more than just merely words or formality. We often spend too much time worrying about our worldly concerns and matters, and we are often afraid to venture forth out from our comfort zone, and as a result, many among us did nothing to grow spiritually or to bear rich fruits of our faith, even though the Lord has clearly given us so many gifts and blessings all these while, and all the opportunities He has given to us.

Today, we all also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which was instituted by our current Pope and Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis, as a reminder for all of us that as we live in this world, we all have the responsibility to take good care of this world as its stewards. Through this commemoration, let us all therefore discern carefully the actions that we can take in order to be faithful Christians, to be men and women for others, to be caring for those who are suffering, for the poor and the sick, and for those who are unloved, and at the same time, also acting and living responsibly in this world. When the world suffers from exploitation and human greed, ultimately it will lead to many more suffering among us mankind, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable among us.

Let us all do whatever we can, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us, the entire members of the Lord’s Church, that all of us, even in the smallest things, may contribute to the great efforts of the Church, in spreading the truth of God and His Good News, and as faithful and good stewards of all creation, for the benefit of all alike. For without care for the creation and the world, then many more of us will come to suffer in the years to come, and this is not what we should be expecting to see.

Let us all do whatever we can to prevent more harm from coming to this beautiful world that God has created for us. May God bless us all, and remain with us always, now and forevermore.

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Tuesday, 31 August 2021 : 22nd 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, all of us are called to trust in the Lord, to follow Him wholeheartedly and listen to Him, as we should. As Christians, all of us believe in the Lord and His truth, and we should trust that He will take good care of us and provide for our needs. He shall not abandon us to the wicked, and He shall deliver us from our troubles in the end, and we shall find eternal rest and true joy in Him.

In our first reading today, St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica mentioned about the Lord’s providence for His people, how He would care for them as His beloved ones, and they would receive from Him great grace and blessings, as they are the people of the Light, God’s own children. Yet, they also have to be vigilant and alert, lest they may be tempted by the various temptations of the world. They have to place their trust in the Lord and be faithful to His Law and commandments.

In that, through what St. Paul said in the latter part of today’s first reading and our Gospel passage today, we heard how God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be Our Lord and Saviour. He is the One promised by the Lord, through His many prophets and messengers, and He has proved it all by His coming into the world. God has not held back even giving us His Son, to be born into our midst and to grace us with His presence, suffering and dying for us, for the salvation of our souls.

And in the Gospel passage today we heard of the miraculous deeds that the Lord had performed before all the people in Capernaum, just as He had impressed them with the wisdom of His words and the authority by which He had delivered His truth before everyone. He taught in the synagogue and then confronted the evil spirits that possessed a man. The evil spirits told the Lord that he knew Who He really was, and told everyone that the One before them was truly the Holy One of God, the One promised by the Lord through His prophets.

And if we recall the Gospel passage from yesterday, which told us about how the Lord was rejected and cast out by His own townspeople in Nazareth, and their lack of faith and refusal to trust Him, we can see the irony in that it was the evil spirits which were rebels against God that acknowledged Him and spoke the truth about Who He truly was. And this is because although they might have rebelled against God and were still defying Him, but they too were the subjects of the Lord and could not deny the truth before Him, of what they had already known.

Those evil spirits also likely hoped to undermine the Lord’s works of saving His people, by speaking the truth about Jesus’ true identity, which as we had seen from the reactions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law could have caused further frictions and obstacles. But the Lord decisively acted and commanded those evil spirits to leave the man, and those spirits obeyed and had to leave the man, who was then thereafter healed from all of his afflictions and was fully restored.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to reflect on what we have just heard in today’s Scripture readings. God has shown His love so evidently and so frequently for us, and yet many of us are still in denial of His love, and refused to believe in Him despite everything that we had seen Him doing, all the things that He had proven to us, and for all the blessings and wonders that He had provided for us. Many of us still lived in the state of sin, which is truly unbecoming of our identity as Christians.

Let us all therefore discern our path, that our lives may be more faithful and our actions, words and deeds be more aligned with God and His will. Let us all trust in the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly, and believe in Him and His loving providence all the time. Let us no longer doubt Him or ignore His love, and embrace Him and His love with all of our hearts, with all of our strength. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us all in our every endeavours and good works. Amen.