Weekday Homily

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Wednesday, 20 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures speaking to us about the importance for us to look beyond our human aspirations, desires, pride, ego and ambition in life, so that we may be able to discover our true vocation in life, that is to do our best to serve the Lord and to love Him, by caring and loving one another in the best way we can.

In today’s first reading we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah on how the prophet faced a lot of opposition and challenges from the many enemies that he had among the king’s court and followers. As the prophet Jeremiah spoke many of the prophecies of the upcoming doom and destruction of both Judah and Jerusalem, he was often resented and attacked for his works, and treated as a doomsayer and even traitor for his many ominous warnings to the king and people of Judah.

And then we heard about how Jeremiah pleaded the Lord to help him, after all the wicked things that those enemies and accusers had done towards him, all the sufferings that he had to endure all those while. He had to endure all those sufferings and pains patiently, often being humiliated and disgraced as he continued to carry out God’s mission among the people of Judah. In the end, all the pride and the wickedness of the enemies of Jeremiah were crushed, when what the Lord had revealed through His prophet was fulfilled. Jerusalem and Judah were destroyed, its king, nobles and people were sent into exile.

In another occasion, in the Gospel passage today, we heard how the disciples were bickering with each other because of their struggle for power, influence and glory, when two of them, St. James and St. John, the sons of Zebedee, came with their mother to ask a special favour from the Lord, asking for positions of importance and favour at the side the Lord. Naturally, the other disciples who witnessed and came to know all of these were not happy.

And the Lord rebuked all of them for that, as they have not truly understood what it meant for them to follow Him wholeheartedly. They did not realise that following the Lord did not mean that they would enjoy power, happiness and pleasure, as how it would have been for any other worldly leaders and kings. They thought that the Lord Jesus would be just like any other kings and rulers of the world, the One Who would reestablish the kingdom of Israel, and those who won favour with Him, would gain riches and glory.

This was the same issue that those who opposed the prophet Jeremiah had faced. They all were filled with worldly thoughts, desires, the greed for power and the lust for worldly pleasures. They only thought about their own wants and desires, hoping to gain for themselves as much benefits and advantages as possible, even at the disadvantage and suffering of others. That was why they persecuted the prophet Jeremiah, when the prophet spoke of the wickedness of their sins, and how all the glory and power those people wanted to amass, would be swept away and destroyed.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, all these are reminders to all of us as Christians, that we must understand how we ought to live our lives as true Christians, as those who are truly committed and faithful in God. If we want to be true Christians, then we must ready to leave behind our ego and pride, our human desires and attachments to worldly concerns. Otherwise, all of these things will become serious obstacles for us, in our journey of faith.

Following the Lord means that we must model ourselves after the Lord Himself, Who humbled Himself so much that He had emptied Himself from all glory and honour, in serving even all of His disciples and taking up the work of a slave, to serve those who have been entrusted to Him. And He humbled Himself, even to take up the suffering and pain of the cross, because He revealed to us that all of worldly glory and fame are in truth meaningless and impermanent.

What did those nobles and all those false prophets gain from opposing the works of the prophet Jeremiah? Nothing! And what did the Pharisees and the chief priests gained by opposing the Lord Jesus and His followers? Nothing! What they gained were the destruction and ruination of their ambition when everything they valued were crushed by worldly forces, showing them the harsh reality of how meaningless their pursuit for power and stubbornness has been.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, during this time of Lent, let us all turn away from all these pride and wicked desires in our hearts and minds, and reorientate ourselves to live in accordance with God’s ways instead. Let us all change ourselves that while once we may have been disobedient and proud, now, we may grow in humility and obedience to the Lord. Let us all go through this season of Lent, being awakened and strengthened in faith, that we may grow ever closer to God and His love. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the great Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster-father of Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. St. Joseph was a humble and simple carpenter of the village of Nazareth, probably uneducated and poor, unremarkable and unknown, and yet, God chose him to be the one who would protect and be part of the Holy Family into which He was to send His Saviour.

St. Joseph was the heir of David, as he was descended from David’s son, king Solomon, as well as the rightful kings of Judah of the house of David, and then to their heirs in exile in Babylon and after the return to the Promised Land. St. Joseph was the forgotten heir to the kingdom of Israel, who was so unknown that even in his own village, he was not highly regarded and later on, the Lord Jesus would be ridiculed for being supposedly the mere Son of the village carpenter when He came to proclaim His truth in Nazareth.

God chose St. Joseph because of the great virtues exhibited by his life and actions, which exemplified righteousness. St. Joseph was highlighted in the Scripture as an upright and just man, who always acted in obedience to the laws and the commandments of God, and yet at the same time, also constantly cared for his fellow men, keeping others around him in his thought. This is made evident by the accounts of the Scripture although St. Joseph did not appear many times in the Bible.

St. Joseph was a God-fearing and righteous man, because he knew and understood the precepts of the Law. When he heard that Mary was with Child even though she has not even married and consummated the marriage with him yet, St. Joseph obeyed the Law and wanted to break the engagement with her. Yet, at the same time, he was also considerate and compassionate, as he wanted to do so in secret, knowing that had he divorced Mary in public, she would have been stoned to death.

He was a righteous man who was responsible as well as loving, as shown in how he willingly took up Mary to be his wife and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as his own Son, despite him not being biologically related to Him. He willingly took care of the Lord Jesus as a legal father and He as his Foster-Son, as if He is of his own flesh and blood. He followed wherever the Lord led his path, when the census called him and the rest of the Holy Family to travel the long journey to Bethlehem, taking care of the heavily pregnant Mary along the way.

St. Joseph also protected Mary and the Baby Jesus, when king Herod wanted to slaughter all the babies and children below the age of two in his attempt to eliminate the threat to his kingdom. When the Angel of God came to him and told him to bring his family into Egypt to keep them safe there, St. Joseph willingly obliged and guided Mary and the Child Jesus to the land of Egypt for a period of time until it was safe for them to return back to Nazareth.

In all of these, we have seen how St. Joseph was truly a great father figure to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Although He is the Divine Word Incarnate, God in the flesh, Son of God, but He is also the Son of Man, born of man and having the frailness of the human body, save that of sin. When He was a mere Baby and a young Child, St. Joseph as a father to Him must have taken good care of Him, and prepared Him for the life and works that had been entrusted to Him.

As all fathers at that time did, St. Joseph must have also taught the Lord Jesus how He ought to live in this world, teaching Him important skills in life, and helping Him to grow in wisdom and faith. This is why the role that St. Joseph plays in our faith and in the Church is not one that is insignificant. In fact, that is why Blessed Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph as the Patron and Protector of the Universal Church in the year of Our Lord 1870.

There are many things that we can learn from the examples shown by St. Joseph. And we are called to follow these good examples in our own lives, in how we act in righteous ways, obeying the Lord and also loving Him. Thus, today, we look up to St. Joseph, holy father and protector of the Church, asking him to intercede for our sake, the faithful and the Church of God, so that God may grant us all the strength to persevere through the challenges and difficulties, trials and oppositions we may encounter.

And let us all keep on remembering the righteousness and courage that St. Joseph has shown, in all of his actions, in being a good role model for his Foster-Son, Our Lord Jesus. Let us all also learn from him, and try our best to live our lives better and more attuned to the ways of God, that we may grow ever closer to Him, particularly during this blessed season of Lent. Let us all rediscover that love which we ought to have for God, and do our best to be righteous at all times. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 18 March 2019 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded of God’s mercy and love for each one of us, and we are reminded also of the need for us to be merciful and loving in the same way towards each other, towards our fellow brethren and all those whom we encounter in life. This is what each and every one of us need to realise, as we live our lives in this world, as fellow sinners in the presence of God.

It does not matter how great or how small our sins are, but the fact remains that we have been tainted by sin, and we have therefore become unworthy of God and His love due to the sins we committed, out of disobedience and refusal to listen to Him and the stubbornness in tracing our own path in life in defiance of His will. It does not matter how small our disobedience is, how insignificant our sins have been, as sin is still sin.

And yet, despite all of our stubbornness, wicked attitudes and refusal to listen to the Lord, the Lord remained full of patience and mercy, and willing to forgive us our sins and be reconciled with us, should we make the effort to turn away from those sinful ways and embrace the mercy and forgiveness that He has provided us all so generously. Why not? He even gave us His own beloved Son, to be our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer, by His suffering and death on the cross.

Now, if God, our Lord and loving Father has been merciful towards us, patient and loving despite all of our childish and stubborn attitudes all these while, then why should it not be that we, as God’s children, follow His examples and learn to love and to be merciful as He had done to us. But unfortunately, the reality is such that many of us mankind are still so stubborn in our hatred and jealousy for one another, that we prefer to cause pain and suffering, to be angry and unhappy instead of to forgive and to love.

That is why, God reminds us all again and again, with the love and mercy He Himself has shown us, so that all of us may also learn to be loving and to be merciful ourselves. It is through true and genuine love that we will be able to break free from the bondage to sin. If we continue to act with heart filled with hatred, jealousy, ego, pride and greed, we will continue to expose ourselves to the temptations to sin, and we will end up falling ever deeper into the chasm of sin.

That is why we need to make the conscious and sustained effort to resist those temptations, by restraining ourselves in the flesh, and being conscious of how sinful we have been, regardless of how serious our sins may have seemed as compared to the sins that others have committed. As mentioned earlier, sin is still sin, regardless of how small or how insignificant it may seem to be. Sin is a corruption and taint on our souls and our beings, and unless we are free from those sins, small or big, then we have no place in God’s kingdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make use of the opportunities given to us during this season of Lent to turn our back on sin, on all the stubborn oppositions we have committed against God in our past actions and deeds, in our words and utterings. Let us all sharpen instead the edge of our humility and let go of the pride and greed in our hearts and minds, that we may come to be righteous in our actions, words and deeds, leaving behind all those attitudes that cause us to be full of pride and disobedience.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a holy man and servant of God, one of the early Church fathers who was remembered for his loving and forgiving nature, which he presented in his writings, in which he wrote extensively about God’s love and mercy to His people. St. Cyril himself had endured many challenges and oppositions throughout his life and he was falsely accused many times by his rivals. Yet, he remained composed, and continued to serve the Lord and the people regardless of those challenges.

Therefore, are we able to follow in the footsteps of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, by growing more generous in love and forgiveness, keeping in mind that our most loving and patient God has loved us all so dearly, each and every moments that we live in this world. Are we able to change ourselves through embracing the way of mercy and the way of love? Then we must be loving and merciful at every living moments of our life. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless us all in everything we do. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 March 2019 : Second Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we celebrate the second Sunday in the season of Lent, we listened to the words of God speaking to all of us and reminding us of the nature of this season of Lent as a time of change and transformation, that we may transform ourselves, our lives, our actions, our habits and our every aspects, from one that is wicked and unworthy of God, into one that is good, righteous and worthy before God. This is the Covenant that God made with us mankind.

The Scripture readings today began with the narration from the Book of Genesis, recounting to us the moment when God made His Covenant with Abram, the man whom He called from the lands of Ur, to become the ancestor of many nations. God knew Abram’s heart and mind, and He saw the faith and love that Abram had for Him, and that was why, He chose Abram from among all the other men and women of his time.

God made a Covenant with Abram, promising him that He will always be faithful to the Covenant and the promise that He made to Abram and his descendants, that he would become the father of many nations. This was amazing considering that Abram at that time was already quite old, with a wife, Sarai, who was also equally quite old and likely way beyond childbearing age. Without a son to carry on his legacy, Abram was the unlikeliest person to be the father of many nations.

And yet, Abram chose to believe in God, and placed his trust in Him. He sealed the Covenant with God with the offering of sacrifices, which marked the beginning of God’s Covenant with Abram, His servant, who therefore was known as Abraham. Abraham received the blessings of God’s grace, and from then on, became the father of many nations through his son, who also was a father of many nations.

The change of name from Abram to Abraham is a significant marker in the Scriptures as the moment whenever a great change of life and a new commitment has been made. For example, Sarai also received a new name, Sarah because she was to become the mother of many nations just as Abraham became the father of many nations. Initially she did not believe that God was serious in the promises He had made, but eventually believed when a son was born to both her and Abraham, Isaac.

There are many other examples throughout the Scriptures where name changes occurred, most prominently being Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, who became known as Israel after the Covenant that God had made with his grandfather was renewed and reinforced, as Israel became the progenitor of the race of the first chosen people of God. And we have more examples in the time of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

Some of the Apostles also had their names changed indicating a great change that happened in their lives. Simon received a new name from the Lord, being called Cephas or Peter, which means ‘Rock’, as he left behind his previous identity as a fisherman of Galilee and accepting the role for which he was soon to be known, as the Rock of foundation of God’s Church. Levi similarly was called Matthew, after he left behind his tax collector job to follow the Lord.

And we know of the Apostle, St. Paul, who was once known as Saul. Saul was a great enemy of the Church, persecutor of the faithful, destroyer of the communities of the Christian faithful in his many purges during the earliest days of the Church. However, when he encountered the Lord on his way to Damascus, he went through a great conversion experience, and had his life completely overturned and changed, as he embraced a new identity as God’s champion, and the defender of the faith as Paul.

We have seen from these few examples, as well as many others which have not been mentioned today, how God changed the lives of many of His people throughout history. And as Christians, we too have been changed by God, through our baptism. Do we realise that at baptism we choose our baptismal names? For those of us who were born as Christians, the names have been chosen for us, while those who became Christians as adults, chose our baptismal names for ourselves.

These baptismal names are taken from the names of the saints of God, God’s holy men and women, those whom the Church had deemed and declared to be good, righteous and virtuous enough, to be deserving of the glory and honour of being with God in heaven. And they are our role models in life, in how they have exemplarily lived their lives, obeying God’s commandments and living righteously in all the things they have done.

We adopt the baptismal name with the names of those saints because we hope to emulate the good examples of those saints in our own lives, in turning towards the Lord with all of our hearts and with all of our minds. And through baptism, we go through a complete conversion experience, where we have been freed from our past, sinful life and enter into a new life in the grace of God. That is why through the Sacrament of Baptism, each one of us had gone through a change so significant that it heralded a new era of hope in our lives.

In the second reading passage today, we listened to the words of St. Paul in the Epistle he wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Philippi, where he mentioned that our citizenship is in heaven, and how the Lord will transform us, in body, mind, heart and soul, in our whole being, as how His own Transfiguration, as recounted to us in our Gospel passage today, has prefigured and told us. And this is because Christ has made with each and every one of us, the New and Eternal Covenant, the Covenant of the Cross.

Thus, linking this Covenant, that is True and Eternal with the original Covenant between God and Abraham, we see finally the full truth of God’s love and compassion, His care and mercy for each and every one of us His beloved and faithful ones. By His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, He wanted us to know, through what His disciples witnessed, the ultimate fate and promise which He has given to us, to all those who have been faithful to Him. We shall be transfigured to be like Him, at the time that God appointed.

Therefore, each and every one of us are called to be transfigured or changed, completely in body, mind, heart and soul, just as much as Abraham committed himself to a total change in life and attitude, and just as much as the Apostles, St. Peter and St. Matthew embraced a new life of service and faith in God, and in how St. Paul turned his life almost completely upside down by embracing the faith and the same Covenant that God had forged with us all.

Yet, we must also not forget that a Covenant involves commitment and promise made between two parties, in which each one promises to be faithful and true to one another. God is ever so faithful and true to the Covenant that He has made and renewed again and again with each and every one of us, that in the Gospel today, He left behind His glorious Transfiguration, and descended down the Mount of Tabor, to go down the road to Jerusalem, where He would eventually face His suffering and death on the cross.

The Lord showed us all that if we want to follow Him faithfully, then we must be prepared to, in His own words, carry our crosses and follow Him, to share in the cross that He has borne, and to suffer just as He has suffered for our sake. It is not easy to become a Christian, as we will often need to cast away our past way of life, rejecting the pleasures and excesses of the world, resisting the temptations of the flesh, and to be righteous in our words, actions and deeds, even when the world and the society around us are against us.

The Lord humbled Himself and emptied Himself of all glory, so that by His humble obedience, He had saved us all through the love that He has for each and every one of us, so great that He was willing to go through such suffering, such pain and such humiliation just so that we may be saved from our fated destruction because of our sins. Are we able to do the same as He has done? He has been faithful to the Covenant that He has made with us, so are we able to be faithful to that Covenant?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why during this season of Lent, we are all called to retrospect on our lives and reflect on how we have acted towards one another, how we have spent our time and effort in fulfilling the commitment of our Covenant with God. Have we embraced that profound change that the Covenant of God has brought into our lives? Have we rejected the path of sin and disobedience, and resisted the many temptations found in this world?

This Lent, let us all grow more generous in the giving and sharing our blessings with one another, in our almsgiving and care for the needs of those who are not as fortunate as we are, in our love and attention for those who are lonely, unloved, ostracised and rejected by the society. Let us all also resist the temptations of the flesh and of our body, by the genuine and pious act of fasting and abstinence throughout this season of Lent.

Let us all grow ever closer to God, and become truly worthy to be partakers of the Covenant of God, the New and Eternal Covenant which He has made with us all, by the outpouring of His Most Precious Body and Blood on the altar of the cross, the Most Worthy Lamb of God slain for us for our salvation and redemption from sin. He has given everything for us, as the proof of His faithfulness to the Covenant He made with us. Again, are we able to do the same for Him? Are we able to give everything in our lives for Him?

May this Lenten season be a turning point in our lives, the moment when we embrace the Covenant that God has made with us, and allow God to enter into our lives and transform us, completely in body, mind, heart and soul, that we become God’s holy people. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God through the Scriptures, reminding us all to love one another, just as the Lord our God has loved each and every one of us without any exception. God has generously loved all of us, despite of how we have rejected His love and how we have refused to obey Him all these while. And we are reminded that we too should love in the same way that God has shown His love for us.

In today’s Gospel passage, we are reminded that we should love everyone regardless of whether we are going to benefit from those whom we intend to love. We should show love and compassion even to those who cannot return our love, or worse still, refuse to return us our love, or those who repay our love with contempt and hatred, with anger and enmity. This is just what the Lord our God had done, in His generous love towards us even when we have not loved Him as we should have.

And in all of these, we are reminded of the core principle and reality of what love is truly for each and every one of us. Love in its true form is something that embodies the selfless offering and giving of oneself, and not selfish in nature. For true love embodies the relationship between two parties in which each of the party is willing to commit to the relationship and to give part of himself or herself, to the new union formed between the two of them.

Unfortunately, many of us did not know what true love is all about, and many of us ended up loving one another in the wrong way. To many of us, the form of love that are often familiar and which we frequently used is the kind of love that has been tainted with greed, pride and human desires. We expect those who want the love from us to give us something back in return, and while those who did not give us what we want, receive no love from us.

In the end, love became transactional, empty and meaningless, overshadowed by greed and human desire. We love because we desire a return for the effort of the love we have shown, and when we do not get fairly of what we have given, then we end up becoming dissatisfied and angry. We then end up hating the person or refusing to love the person back just because we did not receive the love from that person yet.

In the end, we are not loving with sincerity, and the love that we have in us is superficial in nature. Love that is not based on the genuine desire to be sharing and giving of ourselves is not true love, but is instead lust and corruption of the flesh and the mind. In this kind of love, we love for the sake of benefits, for the sake of advantage for ourselves, the convenience of the body and the pleasures of the flesh.

That is why we see increasingly more and more divorces happening in our marriages today, as more and more people are losing sight and focus on the true meaning of their married life. They see marriage as a burden instead of a blessing, because they have not understood what the meaning of true love is. To more and more couples, love has become a growing desire and temptation of the flesh, that it becomes a mere playground of lust and greed, of human selfishness and pleasure.

When each of the married couples or those in relationships see those relationships as something that bring benefit upon themselves, then the relationships will hardly last long, especially when difficulties and challenges come upon those relationships. That is why if we build our relationships based on impure and selfish love, that is based on our selfish desires to benefit ourselves, we will end up ruining those relationships due to our selfish actions to benefit only ourselves.

The Lord showed us all how to love, by His own actions and examples. When the world was up against Him and hated Him, He still loved all those who have challenged Him and persecuted Him, so much so that even as He was suffering so much and dying on the cross, He forgave His accusers and enemies, and prayed to His Father that He would not condemn those people to damnation because of the sins they have committed.

And He loved each and every one of us so much, despite of our own lack of love against Him and our refusal to acknowledge His love as evidenced by our sins. He bore His cross to Calvary, to suffer and to die for us, that even though we have been selfish in our greed and pride in refusing His love, He loved us all nonetheless, a perfect selfless giving of Himself, the example of a perfect love shown to us by the cross.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to love each other in a Christian way, that is following how the Lord Himself has loved us. Are we able to love genuinely and selflessly as He has shown us? It is of course not easy for us to love as He has loved, as we are bound to be tempted by our desires and by the weakness of our human flesh and existence. Yet, the Lord shows us that it is indeed possible to be selfless and to show true love in our actions. What we need is just our dedication and willingness to commit to this path, to face the challenges that may come our way.

Therefore, in this season of Lent, all of us are called to become less selfish, less prideful, less greedy in our relationships with one another. Instead of being so calculative and being so filled up with pride and desire in our lives, in our expectations for others, let us instead be more generous in giving and in sharing the blessings we have received. Let us all learn the value and importance of sacrifice, following the inspiration of the loving sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

May we grow stronger in love, not love that is selfish and greedy, or love that is seeking for self-benefits and pleasure, but instead love that is selfless, genuine, and nurturing, where we can share our blessings and happiness with one another, and cause us to grow together in faith, hope and love in God. May the Lord be with us all and may He continue to guide us through life. Amen.

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Friday, 15 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded to be righteous and good in all of our words, deeds and actions, for if we wander away from this path of righteousness, we will end up venturing into disobedience and eventually sin against God. All of us mankind are ultimately vulnerable to sin, and it is our sins that will be judged by God at the time of reckoning. Our righteousness and our wickedness will be judged by God at the time of His judgment.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard about the discourse that no sinner is too far away or too unworthy of God’s forgiveness, for if the sinner is to repent sincerely from his or her sins and turn wholeheartedly back towards the Lord with love and commitment to live a righteous life from then on, then God will forgive that sinner and judge the sinner based on the desire to love Him and to turn away from the sinful past.

Then, we also heard how those who were righteous and yet committed sins will also be judged by those same sins they committed. God will not let those who were righteous and yet willingly fell into sin and do not repent from those sins to be judged as worthy of His glory and inheritance. It is by their disobedience and refusal to obey the Lord that they will be judged despite of their past righteousness.

This is a constant reminder to each one of us that we are always in danger of falling into sin through temptations and through the seductions that Satan and all of his wicked forces are placing before us all the time. Satan is always out and about trying to strike us down by various means, to prevent us from attaining salvation in God, and to drag us down to be condemned with him and all the other fallen angels in hellfire.

And the Lord Jesus in our Gospel passage today added on this by telling His disciples and therefore all of us, that we must be truly genuine in doing our good deeds, so that in everything we say and do, we will truly say them and do them with the intention to be righteous and truly good before God, to glorify God and not to satisfy our own selfish desires and intentions. This is what the Lord said when He pointed out to them the wickedness of the Pharisees, in their piousness and yet, an empty piousness and faith.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because although their external actions and works seemed to be pious and good, but many of them did not do these because of the love they had for God, but rather because of the selfish desire for glory, for self-praise and self-glorification, out of hunger and greed for worldly fame and human appraisal, for the satisfaction of the body and the mind. Therefore, although they may seem to be righteous, but through these perversion of faith and righteousness, they have in fact sinned against God.

And many among the Pharisees often looked down on those whom they deemed to be unworthy of God’s love and mercy, such as the tax collectors and the prostitutes, whom they condemned as those who were wicked and hopeless, out of God’s saving grace, when in fact, those were the ones who sought the Lord willingly and with sincere devotion and commitment. The tax collectors and the prostitutes turned towards the Lord, and they were forgiven. Some among them, including Levi, became one of the Twelve Apostles, now a glorious saint of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded through these that none of us are beyond God’s mercy and love. He has always been ever generous with His mercy and compassion, and not even the greatest among us sinners are beyond His mercy. Some of the greatest saints of this world came from the rank of the greatest of sinners. Some of them were murderers, while others lived a debauched and wicked life. But they all turned away from their past sinful life, and dedicated themselves to a new life in God.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to follow the footsteps of the Apostles and the saints, many of whom were once great sinners as well, just like us. But are we able and are we willing to commit ourselves as they themselves had done? Are we able to resist the temptations to sin, and commit ourselves to follow a righteous path in life instead of following the path of vice and evil? Let us all turn towards the Lord with faith anew and dedicate ourselves to live according to His way from now on.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us, and may He empower us all to live well in accordance to His will, and persevere through the temptations and challenges that may come our way. Let us all pray for courage and strength, especially during this blessed season of Lent, that we will be able to turn our lives into a new one, with God’s grace and strength. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of the vastness and the wonders of God’s love for each and every one of us, especially when we ask for His favours and for His care. He is not One Who does not care about us, His loved ones, but instead He shows concern for us at all times, as a loving Father to all of us. But often we do not realise just how great is the love that He has for each one of us.

Today we heard the first reading passage taken from the Book of Esther, in which the Queen Esther of Persia, who came from among the people of Israel, prayed to the Lord just before she was about to go before the King, with the intention of pleading for the sake of her own people who at that time was faced with certain annihilation at the hands of those who plotted against them. The order of the king to destroy the Israelites have been written into law, and the destruction of Israel seemed to be certain.

But against all odds, Esther was persuaded by Mordechai, her uncle, who knew of the plot against the Israelites, to make use of her position as queen to persuade the king to change his mind. Mordechai himself even said that perhaps God has placed Esther to be in that exact position for this very reason, that at the moment of doom and hopelessness, God would work His wonders through Esther, the one whom God had chosen to be the path of salvation for His people.

But for Esther, she faced a great and troubling prospect, for it was forbidden that the queen should come before the king without being summoned. She could have suffered imprisonment and even death for doing such an action. That was why, Esther prayed to the Lord, in the words she spoke in our first reading passage today, placing her complete trust in God, her Lord and Master, that He would guide her and protect her in all that she was going to do.

She beseeched the Lord to show mercy and love for the sake of her people, the beloved children of God, who were about to be massacred and destroyed without the means to protect themselves. God listened to her pleas and call for mercy, and He put forth into motion His plan of salvation for His people. He softened the heart of the king of Persia when Esther came before him, and he listened to the council of the Lord spoken through Esther.

In the end, the people of Israel were saved and they were allowed to defend themselves against their enemies. The Israelites were saved by the love of God, and because they prayed and asked the Lord for His mercy and compassion, through His servants Mordechai and Esther. He truly is a loving Father and Master to His beloved children and people, and He listened to them and knew what they needed.

This is exactly what the Lord Jesus told His disciples in our Gospel passage today, that if only we ask, it shall be given to us, knock, and the door will be opened to us. God will not abandon us in our time of need, and He is always by our side, caring for us and protecting us, each and every days of our life. When we do not realise this, and think that God is not there with us, that is because we are often too preoccupied and distracted by our worldly concerns and desires.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is ever so loving and merciful towards us, and He is always willing to forgive us and to help us. Now, we were all again at the brink of destruction, because of sin. Sin is caused by our disobedience against God, and we should have been annihilated just as the Israelites were to be destroyed by their enemies in the days of Esther. But God intervened, because Jesus, His Son, has been sent into this world to be our Saviour.

Jesus became our High Priest, Who offered His prayers and petitions for our sake, just as Esther prayed for God to be merciful to His people. And just as Esther came before the king of Persia, risking her own life, thus Christ came between us and our eternal death, baring His own life on the cross, to become our Hope and our Salvation. And God showed His mercy to us through the triumph of the cross, for His Son has triumphed against sin, just as Esther triumphed against the enemy of Israel.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, we are all called to rediscover once again the love of God, the merciful gaze of His eyes which is always upon us. We have often ignored His love and refused to listen to His call in our hearts, calling us to be forgiven from our sins. Let us now no longer do what we have always done, and stop being so stubborn, and allow God to enter into our lives and be forgiven, by our sincere repentance.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to love each and every one of us, and may His mercy come down upon us when we ask Him for that mercy, that He will extend His grace and love once again upon us. May God bless us all and all of our actions, from now on, that we may glorify God in everything we say and do. Amen.

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Wednesday, 13 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent, Sixth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis, Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff and Bishop of Rome (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures reminding us about the need for us to listen to the words of the Lord and repent from our sinful ways. He has called us through His many messengers and prophets, and finally, through His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, He has revealed to us what it means for us to be Christians, to abandon our past way of sin and embracing the new wisdom and truth in God.

Today’s readings are centred on repentance of sins and the forgiveness that God will give to all those who have willingly abandoned their past waywardness and sincerely desiring to be forgiven. God did not desire our destruction but our salvation, not our suffering and pain, but rather our reconciliation with Him. That is why, in our first reading today we heard of the story of the redemption of Nineveh.

At that time, the prophet Jonah was sent to the city of Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. The prophet Jonah initially refused to obey the Lord’s commands and tried to flee away from Him. But the Lord made it such that Jonah encountered a great storm on his way in a boat, and he had to ask to be thrown into the sea, and swallowed by a large whale. The whale brought him safely back to land, and the prophet obeyed the Lord’s commands to bring His message to the people of Nineveh.

Nineveh was a great city, as the capital city of the great Empire of the Assyrians, which covered most of the known world at that time. It is also the embodiment of what is evil and wicked, as the Assyrians were known to be a warlike nation, and how the Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and brought its people into exile. One of its kings, Sennacherib even attempted to conquer and destroy Jerusalem, and boasted that he has destroyed many idols of the people conquered by Assyria’s armies, and how God’s people would be no different.

Therefore, Assyria and especially Nineveh, where its kings and nobles lived, was the embodiment of evil and wickedness, in the sight and thoughts of the people of God. That was what the prophet Jonah must also have had in mind, when he came to Nineveh bearing God’s warning of destruction and annihilation. Then, unexpectedly, the king, the nobles and the entire people of Nineveh repented from their sins and humbled themselves before God.

They mourned before the Lord, humbled themselves, wearing sackcloth and showing sincere regret for the wicked deeds that they have committed. And God saw their sincere desire to be forgiven, and they were forgiven from their sins. God held back the destruction that He had planned to bring upon them, as ultimately, God loves every single one of His children, without exception, even the greatest of sinners.

The prophet Jonah became angry, and was fuming over the Lord’s decision to spare the people of Nineveh. But God explained to Jonah, how His mercy and love is extended freely to all, even to the worst among sinners, as long as they desire to be forgiven and has the sincere desire to turn away from their sins. God despises not the sinners, but the sins they have committed, and their stubbornness in pursuing that path of sin.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded of this generous mercy and love that God has given to each and every one of us. In this season of Lent in particular, we are called to reflect on our own sinfulness, our own wickedness, all the things we have done in disobedience against God. God wants us to turn away from those sins, and to be reconciled to Himself. And we should not be wasting this opportunity that God has provided to us.

Are we willing to make that commitment to embrace a new life, not of sin but of righteousness and justice? Are we willing to put the effort to renew our lives, that while once we may have acted out of selfishness and wicked desires in our hearts and minds, now we are able to turn away from those sins and enter into a new existence of faith with God? This requires a lot of effort and commitment from us, but if we are able to put our effort into it, and with God’s guidance nothing is impossible.

Today, we also commemorate the sixth anniversary of the election of our Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis as the leader of the entire Universal Church. Let us all spend some time to pray for our Pope, that God will always guide and protect His Vicar, in all the work and the leadership he has shown in the management of the entire universal Church of God. Let us all pray together, and work together, with the intention of our Holy Father the Pope, for the salvation of all of God’s people. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded of the importance of prayer in our life, because as Christians, it is essential that we have a good prayer life. Unfortunately, the reality is that even many among us may not have known how we should pray, and quite a few of us prayed in the wrong way, with some of us praying in a way that we are just going through the motion of prayer without knowing why we pray.

What is prayer, brothers and sisters in Christ? Prayer is a form of communication between us and God, and it can either be a personal prayer or a communal prayer. During the celebration of the Holy Mass, the priest celebrating the Mass acting in the person of Christ as the High Priest, as how it was in the ancient days in Israel, gathers the prayers of the whole congregation of the faithful and lift the prayer up to God as offering.

This is the form of communal prayer, but prayer can also be done in smaller groups, between our families and God for example, and between each and every one of us and God, an individual prayer. Ultimately, all of our prayers are ways for each one of us to speak to God, be it personally, or between our families and Him, or between our larger communities and Him, and even between the whole Universal Church and Him.

Prayer is a communication between us and God, and it is important that we take note of what prayer is about, because many of us think that prayers are like magic in that we think if we have problem then when we pray to God asking Him to remove from us that problem, then everything will immediately be settled. But this is where we are wrong, because we do not and cannot impose our will on God.

If our prayers are like list of requests, or at times even demands, then are we not imposing our will on God and demanding Him to do things to be according to our way? And when things do not go in accordance with what we want, that is why we become angry with God, thinking that He does not listen to us or that He ignored us. But in reality, everything will go according to how God desires it to be, His will be done and not ours.

That is why, instead of being so busy trying to demand our way out to God through prayer, which is a wrong way to do our prayer, just as it is wrong for us to speak all the time when we communicate with someone, then it is perhaps time for us to know how to pray in the right way. A prayer is a two-way communication between us and God, and just as we speak to Him, He is also speaking to us directly into our hearts.

But why is it that we are often unable to hear Him? Why is it that we are not able to recognise Him trying to communicate with us? That is because we are often too preoccupied in our minds and in our hearts, with our various concerns and thoughts, our desires and wishes. For example, when someone is trying to talk to us, and yet, we quickly interject with our own words, that are said more loudly, surely we cannot hear what the other person is trying to tell us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why, when we pray, instead of rushing with our wishes and desires, or our complaints and things to say to God, we should quieten ourselves and clear our minds, allowing God first to speak to us within our hearts, that we may know truly what His will is for each and every one of us. We must not think that if we do not say what we want then God will not know what we want. He is God! And God knows everything in our hearts, even our most, deepest secrets.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we progress through this season of Lent, we should improve our prayer life, and we can do so by following the example of Christ, in the prayer He said to His heavenly Father, the Lord’s Prayer or Pater Noster. Instead of demanding God to do what we want, first we glorify God and thank Him for all the goodness He has bestowed us, and humbly accepting that His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

We should be humble in everything, and as the Lord said, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, He is showing us that assurance that God has given us, that He will provide us what we need, and He will take care of us. If we put our trust in God, we will not be disappointed. And through a stronger prayer life, we will have better connection and will be better attuned to the will of God, that in our lives, we will draw closer to Him and do what His will is for us, following the example of Christ, Who obeyed the Father’s will completely for our sake.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all have a profound transformation of our prayer life, so that each and every one of us will grow ever closer to God, each and every days of our life. May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen our faith in us, that we may be truly worthy to celebrate together with Him, our loving Father when we are fully reunited with Him in heavenly glory. Amen.

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Monday, 11 March 2019 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this penitential period of Lent, we are reminded through the Scripture passages of the need for each one of us to be righteous in all of our actions and deeds, as we are all to be judged by our own actions and all of our deeds or misdeeds at the end of time. This was the core message of the Scriptures, a clear reminder to us to turn away from sin and be righteous.

In today’s Gospel passage we heard of the Last Judgment as detailed by the Lord Himself to His disciples, in which at the appointed time, God will gather all of His creatures, all mankind from the first man to the last, and assemble them all before Him, dividing them between the righteous and the wicked based on their actions and all the things that they have committed in life, as well as whatever they have not done in the opportunities which have been given to them.

Those who have not listened to the word of God, or acted in ways that He has shown us, as He made it clear before His people in our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, these will be placed among those who will be condemned because of their own sins. It is ultimately not God Who wants to condemn those who have been sinful and wicked, but rather, they themselves who voluntarily rejected God’s love.

In the passage from the Book of Deuteronomy, God spoke clearly before His people of what He expected from each and every one of them in their actions and deeds in life. They were expected to act justly towards one another, not to oppress others or cause sufferings to those who they encounter in life, not to slander others or gossip, or to cause pain and difficulties just for the sake of our own selfish desires.

Failing to do this means that the people have not been obedient to the ways of the Lord, and they sinned because they disobeyed God, His will and what He had taught them to do, as instead of putting their trust in God, they rather placed their trust in their own flawed, biased and unfair judgments. That is why we see so much suffering in our world today, because many of us have acted in ways that are selfish and desiring our own advantage, pleasure and joy, at the expense of others.

But, brothers and sisters in Christ, besides this, we must also keep in mind what we have heard in today’s Gospel passage, about the matter of sin caused by conscious omission of action, when we see something or an opportunity for us to act in a righteous and good way, and yet, refusing to act or to do something that is right and just. This is called the sin of omission, which all of us need to take note of.

That is what we need to be aware and be mindful of, as sin of omission is something that we ourselves may not realise, as we carry on our actions in life. We surely do not want to end up as those whom the Lord cast out from His sight just because they refused to do what is right and just, and chose willingly to ignore the plight of the suffering and the poor, the abandoned and the ostracised in their midst.

In this season of Lent, we are called to be righteous and to abandon our old ways of sin, and not to forget that we should also avoid the sin of omission. We may think that it is enough just for us to settle our own affairs and not needing to worry about others, or that as long as we are pious in life, then everything will be good and well for us. No, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, we are reminded yet again, that we need to extend and share our blessings with others, and care for the needs of others, especially when we are in the position of being able to do so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all grow more in our love for God and be more generous with our love and sharing towards our brethren, especially for those who are in need, so that our Lenten experience may be more wholesome, and our spiritual growth will be complete. Let us no longer be ignorant of the needs of others, but be sensitive to the sufferings of the world around us, and do what we can to love each other, just as God has shown us by His love for us. May God bless us all and our endeavours, and may He judge us to be worthy in the end, to receive the eternal glory with Him. Amen.