Weekday Homily

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Wednesday, 6 June 2018 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Norbert, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishop)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture, telling us about the need for us to stand up for our faith in God, against any opposition that may come our way. In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy, we heard how St. Paul reminded St. Timothy of the need for the faithful to testify for their faith before others, even though it may lead them to persecution and troubles.

St. Paul made this comment based on his own real experience, as he encountered many oppositions throughout his journey, and having both Jewish leaders and the Gentile pagans struggling against him and his works, all the time. St. Paul had to endure incarcerations in prison many times, and he had to endure humiliation and persecution in public, suffering even physical injuries and pains for his dedication to God.

Yet, St. Paul did not give up the struggle, and on the contrary, he gave everything for the sake of the Lord, and dedicated himself completely, knowing that all the sufferings he experienced, all the struggles and oppositions he encountered, it was because of his faith in God, and not only that, but he was experiencing what the Lord Himself has experienced. St. Paul knew that for all the pains he had suffered and endured, all of them were nothing compared to the suffering that the Lord Jesus had endured.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard how the Lord encountered opposition from the group called the Sadducees, a very influential and powerful group in the society, who opposed the Lord because of His teachings and the truth He brought, which were against their ideas. The Sadducees were those intellectuals and academics who were pragmatists and progressives in the society.

Just in yesterday’s Gospel passage, we heard how the Lord Jesus encountered difficulties with the Pharisees, another powerful group of priests and intellectuals whose ideas were almost diametrically opposite to that of the Sadducees, with whom they often bickered with. However, both the Sadducees and the Pharisees were united in their opposition against the Lord Jesus and His disciples, because they were great threats against their influence and power.

As mentioned, the Sadducees opposed the Lord because they refused to follow the more mystical and supernatural aspects of the faith, just as they refused to believe in the presence of Angels and spirits, and the concept of resurrection and life after death. They lived for the world and in the world, and they saw the Lord’s promise of a life of eternity after death, as a threat to their authority and beliefs.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, throughout the entire Gospels, and the New Testament, we can see just how there were plenty of opposition against the Lord and His disciples, because of mankind’s refusal to believe in the truth and their refusal to accept what He had taught them. As a result, there were so much difficulty and suffering facing all those who are faithful to God.

Today, we celebrate the feast of one of those faithful servants of God, St. Norbert of Xanten, a renowned German bishop, who was remembered for his great intellect and devotion to the Lord. He devoted himself so thoroughly to the Lord, as an ascetic and holy man, by whose work, many of the people turned towards the Lord.of course, he did not have it easy, and he had to encounter difficulties and troubles, especially from the powerful and influential.

Nonetheless, his dedication, which is similar to the dedication shown by the other Apostles and saints, St. Paul and all those who did the good works of God, is an example for all of us. Now, are we able to dedicate ourselves in the same manner? Are we able to devote our time and attention to God as best as it is within our capabilities? Let us all learn to be ever more faithful, and seek to be ever closer to God, with each and every passing day.

May God be with us, as we walk along this journey of faith, and devote ourselves wholeheartedly, seeking to love Him and our fellow brothers and sisters, following the examples of our holy predecessors. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 June 2018 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the need for us to be good disciples of the Lord, while at the same time, we must also be obedient to the current rules and laws of the land, in the world that we live in today, as the Lord showed us through the parable of the silver coin, which He told His disciples and the Pharisees, on who to obey in the matter of paying taxes and faith.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law attempted to bring Jesus into their trap, by asking Him a very controversial question and issue during that time. At that time, the matter of paying taxes was a very important one, as the Jewish people lived under the sovereignty and might of the Roman Empire, which had slowly increased their power and sovereignty over the Jews.

The Jews, who had just within a century or two, won their hard-fought independence from the tyranny of the Seleucids, as recorded in the Book of the Maccabees, found themselves to be under another overlord, the Romans, who imposed on them taxes to be paid to the Roman state, that is to the Emperor, as well as certain requirements that were loathed by the Jews.

That is why, the tax collectors were highly reviled and hated at the time of Jesus, and they were treated as equally badly as the prostitutes, as sinners and traitors to the people. Yet, those people did not benefit from what they have done, as they merely had to do what was necessary, to collect money and taxes on behalf of the Roman rulers, a task that was increasingly difficult at that time.

Thus, the Pharisees prepared a well-laid trap for Jesus, as if the Lord answered that the people should not pay taxes to Caesar or the Emperor, then the Pharisees and the elders could have quickly reported Him to the Roman authorities, using His argument and words against Him. How is that so? That is because they would have presented the argument that the Lord Jesus was leading a rebellion against Rome, and His great popularity and large following would have validated that argument in the eyes of the Romans.

On the other hand, should the Lord have said that the people must pay taxes to Caesar, then He would also be in a difficult situation, as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have quickly capitalised on His words and condemned Him just as they condemned the tax collectors. He would have been labelled as a traitor, having betrayed the people by His own support for the Roman taxes.

Therefore, as we can see, by right, the Lord was in a very difficult situation, as it does not matter what He said, He would encounter difficulty and problem either way. But the Lord knew what was in the minds of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He knew that they were plotting against Him, and He refused to be led into their trap. Instead, He presented to them the power of His divine wisdom, and revealed to them the undebatable truth.

Through the Lord’s own words, He told them all to give what is due to God, and give what is due to Caesar. He based this upon the fact that the silver coins used for the paying of the taxes ultimately were minted and issued by the Roman state. Therefore, what the people had done by paying taxes, were merely returning what the state had loaned out to them. It was not theirs in the first place.

Meanwhile, the Lord reminded them all, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, that we have even more important things that we owe the Lord, much more than all the worldly goods and possessions of this world. And that is, our love and commitment to Him. God does not need anything, as He is all perfect and good, and there is nothing that we have, that did not come from God.

However, God loves each and every one of us dearly, and while in theory He has no need for our love, but as in any loving relationships, love exists between two parties. Thus, if God has loved us all so much, then it is only right that we should love Him in the same manner, and this is what the Lord Jesus said, as ‘give the Lord God, what is due for Him as Our God.’

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not love God. Rather, they loved themselves, and tried their best to accumulate for themselves, all power, glory, honour, fame and greatness. That is what God was angry with them for, and He reminded us not to follow in their footsteps. Instead, He has shown us all the example, how to be truly faithful and obedient to Him.

And today, we commemorate the feast of St. Boniface, holy bishop and martyr of the faith. St. Boniface was a great missionary in the region now known as northern Germany, where pagans still lived in large numbers during the time of St. Boniface. He preached to many of the pagans, calling them to repent from their sins, and explained about the faith to many who asked about the Lord.

He encountered difficulties and many challenges during his mission, but many people converted to the faith because of his courageous work and devotion to God. St. Boniface would then encounter his martyrdom when he and his company was attacked by bandits, who sought to plunder the belongings of the group. They thought that those belongings would contain precious treasure, while in fact they were books on Christian teachings.

St. Boniface told his followers not to fight back against the enemies, and they would rather hold back their arms, as according to their faith, the way of violence is not the way to be taken. Rather than treasuring his life over that of his possessions, it was told that St. Boniface defended his faith and the Gospels to the very end. We can see from this, just how devout and committed this holy man of God had been.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all seek to love the Lord with all of our hearts, by giving Him our very best. As St. Boniface had shown us, let us put the Lord as the focus and the centre of our lives, and then, let us also be obedient and good members of the community we are living in, obeying the laws of the land, as long as they are aligned with what God had taught us in our Christian faith. Let us all give to God what God deserves, and give to the worldly authorities what we owe to them. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 4 June 2018 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the Lord through His words in the Scriptures reminded us that each and every one of us as Christians must be good and faithful servants of God, and not to fall into the temptations of worldly power, glory and all the things that can lead us into sin and thus turning us away from God, as what He taught His disciples through the parable of the vineyard tenant.

In that parable we heard about a vineyard owner who lent out his vineyard to tenants, to whom the owner entrusted the guardianship of his vineyard, giving them a source of living and place to stay and live in, with the only expectation that they honour their part of the agreement, by paying the rent fee regularly and punctually. This is the agreement that they had agreed between them.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This represents the Covenant which existed between God and His people, that is all of us. Each and every one of us mankind are the stewards of God, entrusted with the guardianship of this world, just as at the time when He created us, as written in the Book of Genesis, we heard of how God entrusted this world and all of creation to the hands of man.

God has given us His blessings and graces, and everything that we need. However, He also requires one thing from us, that just as He has loved us and given us His love and full attention, then each and every one of us must also love Him, and show Him our love, commitment and devotion. This is represented in the parable, by the rent payment that the tenants ought to give to the vineyard owner. The owner represents God, while we are represented by the tenants.

Now, the Lord Jesus used the parable to rebuke the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom have been thorns in His side, and who always challenged His authority and made His efforts and works very difficult. They were the evil and wicked tenants in the parable, who refused to pay the rent payment as agreed, and one after another, harassed and even killed those servants sent by the vineyard owner to remind them of their obligations.

Thus was how they and many of the leaders of the people refused to believe in the Lord and killed the messengers of God, the prophets, preferring to live according to their own way. In the time of the old kingdom of Israel and Judah, the kings and the leaders of the people worshipped the pagan gods and idols, and refused to listen to the words of the prophets such as Elijah, Elisha and many others.

And then, during the time of Jesus, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law professed to have deep faith in God, and were in fact very proud of their piety and dedication, but in truth, as the Lord showed the people, that they did not have true faith after all. And why is that so? That is because whatever faith it was they seemed to have, it was merely external piety rather than true faith, as they did many of their pious acts, in order to be praised by others and to gain honour and influence among the people.

They did not place God at the centre and the most honoured part of their lives, but rather themselves and their ego. They were swayed by greed and worldly desires, and this is what the evil and wicked tenants in the parable had also done. They refused to pay their due and even plotted against the servants sent to them, because they became greedy and filled with desire for what they had obtained and gained.

In the end, the parable showed how the evil and wicked tenants even struck and killed the son of the owner of the vineyard, in order to gain ownership of the vineyard. This is the Lord’s way of telling the people a premonition of what was to happen, how He would be betrayed and condemned to death by those same people who had refused to believe in Him and rejected His teachings.

But the Lord would destroy all those who have not obeyed His will, just as the owner destroyed all the wicked tenants and gave the vineyard to the other, more worthy and obedient tenants. And to whom God has entrusted anew this inheritance, taken away from His enemies and all those who have disobeyed Him? To all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, Christians who believe in Him and walk in His ways.

Now, brothers and sisters, all of us need to realise that in our lives, God has entrusted us with many responsibilities. We cannot be idle or passive in living our lives, but instead, we must do what we are supposed to do, as the ones to whom God had entrusted this rich inheritance. This means that, each and every one of us should do our best to live our lives as good Christians, loving and caring for one another, just as we love God with all of our hearts and strength.

May the Lord be with each and every one of us, and may He strengthen and empower us, to live faithfully and worthily in His presence, devoting our effort, time and attention to serve Him, as His faithful and obedient stewards. May God see our faith and dedication, and bless us with ever more abundant blessings, and bring all of us to enjoy in the end, the glory and eternal life He has promised us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 June 2018 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. On this day, we celebrate the very important aspect of our Christian faith, and especially the faith as preserved in our One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, as we believe that the Lord Jesus, Our God and Saviour, has given us His own Body and His own Blood, for the sake of our salvation.

The roots of this exist in the Old Testament, from the time of the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt, when the Lord had mercy on His people, stranded and suffering in Egypt under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians who enslaved them and attempted to exterminate them at occasions. At that time, God sent them Moses, to be their deliverer, through whom He performed ten great plagues that struck at the Egyptians.

The last of the ten plagues was the greatest of all of them. The Lord decreed that all firstborn child of the Egyptians shall be destroyed, because of their Pharaoh’s stubbornness and his refusal to let the people of Israel go free. The Lord sent His Angels of death to scour the whole land of Egypt, and many of the children of the Egyptians, right down to their animals perished on that night.

However, the children of the Israelites were saved and spared from death, as the Lord instructed Moses to tell them to prepare an unblemished lamb for each household, and slaughter it, to prepare and celebrate a Passover worthy of Him, the very first Passover celebrated by the people of God. The lamb’s blood was applied on the doorposts and the lintels of the doors, marking the household as those belonging to God’s people.

Seeing the blood of the lamb splashed across the doorposts, the Angels of death bypassed over their houses, and spared them from death. Ever since, the offering and sacrifice of blood of animals became associated with the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God. In fact, since the very beginning, from the time of Cain and Abel, and from the time of Abraham, the people of God have offered animal sacrifices to God. But it was then in the Book of Leviticus that God prescribed the rules regarding sacrifices, that the priests belonging to the tribe of Levi would offer regular sacrifices for the people of God.

Moses slaughtered and offered the blood of animals when he sealed the Covenant which God made with His people, and the blood was sprinkled onto the Israelites, as a sign of the Covenant sealed by the blood of the lamb and the animals. But that Covenant was broken many times by the people, who were unfaithful, and did not remain true to the Covenant which God had made with them. Instead, they worshipped pagan gods and idols, such as the golden calf, and committed what were wicked in God’s eyes.

Thus, they should have deserved death and destruction, as the punishment for sin is death. Ever since the beginning, when mankind first sinned against God, we should have deserved to be annihilated, for Adam and Eve, our ancestors, have disobeyed God and refused to listen to Him. Instead, they chose to follow and listen to the words of Satan, tempting them to sin. However, the truth is that God loves each and every one of us so much that He was willing to give us a second chance.

That is why, He had mercy on the Israelites when they sinned and disobeyed Him. If we read through the Book of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, as well as the subsequent history of the Israelites in the Book of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and the Prophets, we can see just how frequent that the people of God disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him. Yet, God Who punished them also showed them mercy and forgiveness.

The priests of the Lord offered daily and regular sacrifices for the sake of the people, with the animal sacrifices and the blood as prescribed in the Book of the Leviticus, and the same laws and regulations, the practices and the sacrifices were passed down for many years and centuries throughout the history of Israel, right down to the time of the New Testament, that is the time when the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, finally came into the world.

And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, our second reading today, mentioned how the Lord Jesus is the new and the true High Priest, Who came into the world as the perfect fulfilment of God’s long promised salvation, as the Messiah of the whole race of man. And why did St. Paul refer to the Lord Jesus as the one and true High Priest? That is because the Lord did just exactly as what the priests of old had done, offering sacrifices to God for our sake.

But the Lord Jesus did not just act like any other priests, offering the blood of lambs and other animals. Instead, He offered Himself, as the perfect sacrifice, as the One, the only One through Whom the whole race of man could be saved. He alone is worthy, and His Blood alone is good enough to redeem all of us mankind, something that no blood of animals or lambs could have done.

Unfortunately, there are many of those among us who have doubted the Lord, and they doubted that the Lord gave us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink. There are those among us, who think and argue that the Lord was merely giving us a representation or a symbol of His Body and Blood, instead of the Real and true Body and the true Blood. But Jesus Himself had made it clear in the Gospel of St. John, that unless someone eats of the Body and drinks the Blood of the Son of Man, that is Jesus, they would not have eternal life.

And again, He added that, His Body is real food, and His Blood is real drink. This means that, in the Eucharist, the central focus of our faith, is found the Real Presence of Our Lord Himself, in the bread and wine, transformed in essence and reality into the essence and reality of the Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, respectively. They are not just mere symbols or representations. This is the Lamb of God Himself, the One through Whom God had saved the world.

Through the giving of Himself, Christ has given us all a new hope, one that nothing else in this world can give to us. By dying on the cross and by the outpouring of His Blood, spilled at His crucifixion, He has marked for Himself a people, those who have been called and set aside for God’s purpose, all those who believe in Him and are therefore called as Christians. We believe in Christ Who died on the cross for us, offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to God, on the Altar of Calvary.

Then, if we look deeper into it, this is why all of us believe that when the priests celebrate the Holy Mass, they are in fact reenacting the same sacrifice performed by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The same sacrifice happens on the Altar, that is exactly the very same sacrifice on the cross of Christ at Calvary. It is not a repeat, or a mere memorial, or merely a celebration, but in fact, by the authority and power that Christ gave to His priests, through their consecrated hands, He has made them ‘Alter Christus’, that is representation of Christ Himself.

At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass therefore, the same singular event of the crucifixion, when the Lamb of God was slaughtered and offered for the sake of our salvation, happened, at every single celebrations of the Mass, and through that, the Body and Blood of the Lord are given to us, a new Covenant which He made with us and sealed with His Blood, and a new Hope that He has granted to us.

Thus, what we see at the Holy Mass, is that the bread and the wine which are brought up and offered by the priests, are transformed, just as the Lord at the Last Supper spoke to His disciples as He passed the bread and wine to them, “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood”. The Body and the Blood of Christ has come unto us, and we receive Christ into ourselves, by the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist, that is Christ’s Body and Blood.

However, let us all now ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us ask ourselves, just how much we truly believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. How many of us lack the proper respect and honour due to the Eucharist, knowing that God Himself is truly present? How many of us receive the Eucharist unworthily while in the state of sin, or receiving Him in the way that we are merely going through the motion?

There are accounts of how people who did not believe in the Real Presence, said that they refused or failed to believe simply because, they saw many of us Christians, who did not believe in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Our words may show that we believe, but our actions show otherwise. How can we then expect others to believe when we ourselves do not truly believe and genuinely believe in the Lord’s Real Presence, in His Most Holy Body and Blood?

What do I mean by all these? Many of us casually went up to receive the Eucharist, without proper honour for the Lord, Who has made Himself so small so as to be present in the bread transformed into His Body. By that action, God wanted us to be saved, through the worthy reception of the Eucharist. However, many of us receive the Lord in a state of sin and as unrepentant sinners.

And thus, there are also many of us who blatantly do not believe that God can be present in the bread and wine transformed into His Body and Blood. Our ignorance and apathy is no different from those who did not believe in the Real Presence. Liturgical abuses and the many abuses of the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist happened, and it scandalised our faith and our belief.

Many of those whose account I mentioned earlier refused to believe in the Real Presence, because they said that if that is truly the Lord present in the bread and wine, they would have prostrated themselves and trembled in fear before the Lord’s presence. That is why our apathy and lack of faith caused many others to lose faith too. And what then, can be done in order to resolve this matter?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, let us all make a new resolution and commit ourselves to a much greater reverence to the Lord truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Let us endeavour to lead a holier and more worthy life, worthy of God, by turning ourselves from sin and embracing what God has shown us and taught us.

Let us all be exemplary in our actions, that by our faith and our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has given us His own Body and Blood, for the sake of our salvation, we may be saved from certain destruction, because of our sins. Let us all draw closer to the Lord, and remember that, because we have receive the Lord Himself, physically and really present in the bread and wine, transformed into the substance and reality of His Body and Blood, we have become the Temple of God’s Holy Presence.

And ultimately, each and every one of us as Christians are part of the Church of God, which He Himself has said to be His Body. The Church is the Body of Christ, made from all of us, who are in Communion with one another. The meaning of Holy Communion itself, therefore stemmed from the fact that all of us who worthily receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, are in Communion with each other and are part of the one Body of Christ.

May God therefore be with us all, and may He give us the strength to live worthily of Him, that we may always keep in mind that we have the Lord Himself dwelling in us, in our bodies, in our whole being. May all of us be ever more faithful, day after day, and indeed, united together as one people, in God’s one Church, become one Body, one Spirit in Christ. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 June 2018 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings from the Scripture speaking to us about the forgiveness and mercy that came from God, and which has indeed appeared in our midst as the Lord Jesus, Saviour of the world, Who have come to deliver us from our certain death and destruction because of our sins.

However, many of us do not truly believe in what the Lord has done for us, and we have doubted the Lord’s good works and intentions. This is just as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law doubted the Lord, by questioning Him on Whose authority He has delivered all the teachings He gave to the people, and they in fact, even doubted the works and teachings of St. John the Baptist, who came before the Lord to prepare His way.

However, they could not answer Him when He asked them whether the works of St. John the Baptist came from God or from merely human invention. That is because in fact, they knew, deep in their hearts and minds, that the works of St. John the Baptist, as well as the works of the Lord Jesus were in fact divine in origin, and is the truth surpassing any human knowledge.

But why were they unable to admit that openly before the people, that what the Lord Jesus said is true? That is because they were unable to resist the temptation of their ego and pride, their arrogance and ambition. They were those who were entrusted with the guardianship of the laws and the customs of the people, but they ended up being overly possessive and jealous of any threats or challenges to their authority and power.

They were swayed by the temptations of power, by the allure of fame and glory, and therefore, they ended up falling into sin. They do not truly have faith in them, because they were so full of themselves that they did not leave a place for God in their hearts and minds. That is why God’s words and truth had no effect on them. Yet, God forgave them all that they had done, at the very end in Calvary, when He forgave all those who rejected and persecuted Him from the cross.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let this be a reminder for each and every one of us, that as Christians, our lives must be centred on God, and we must always keep in mind, everything that God has done for our sake. As long as we put the Lord at the centre of our lives, then our actions, words and everything we do will be filled with faith, and we will draw closer to Him, and we will be able to find our way to His salvation.

On this day, we celebrate the feast of the two saints, St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, who were holy martyrs of the faith. They were martyred at the time of the great persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, when many of the faithful people of God were arrested, tortured, and forced to choose between abandoning their faith in God and live, or to remain faithful and die.

Yet, despite the attempts and persuasions given to them, of riches, wealth, fame, security and well-being under guarantee from the Emperor and the state, St. Marcellinus, St. Peter and many of the other martyrs and saints of their time refused to abandon and betray the Lord to serve their own selfish desires and purposes. They rather chose death in faith than to live in sin and darkness.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us? Are we also going to follow the examples of the holy saints of God? Are we able to give the same commitment to the Lord as they had done before us? Or do we rather choose the path of the Pharisees, all those who place themselves and their selfish desires, ego and pride before the Lord? The choice is in our hands, and we need to make the choice.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek to be ever more faithful to God, and turn towards Him wholeheartedly. Let us all be ever more committed through our actions, and show just how much we love the Lord, by obeying Him and doing what He has commanded us to do, that is to love Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strength. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 1 June 2018 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding us that as Christians, all of us are called to love one another, and all of us must have a living faith that bears fruit, the fruits of our faith and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise our faith is empty, dead and meaningless. We have to then look at the Gospel passage today in order to understand this better.

In the Gospel, we heard of how the Lord Jesus and His disciples travelled and encountered a fig tree, that was found to be without any fruits at all. The Lord cursed the barren and fruitless tree, and went on His way. Eventually, when they all returned to the same place a few days later and saw the fig tree, it had withered and died, the entire tree, showing us what will happen to us should we be found empty and fruitless in our faith.

What does it mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that if our faith is limited to just a formality or merely a religious certificate, and even if we attend the Sunday Masses but merely to fulfil the Sunday obligations without appreciating, understanding and embracing the importance of the Holy Mass, then I am afraid that our faith is still mostly empty, meaningless and dead.

St. James said in his Epistle that faith without good works is dead. This is exactly what I meant by saying that we should not have an empty, fruitless and meaningless faith. Faith that exists just by itself, and not made alive and real through concrete actions and devotions, especially love, is useless and empty. And this is an important matter that all of us as Christians must realise, or otherwise, we will end up leading an empty and fruitless Christian life.

Perhaps, we should follow the examples of St. Justin the Martyr, whose memory we commemorate today. St. Justin the Martyr was a shining example of Christian discipleship and he showed all of us what it truly means to be fruitful in our faith. He was a brilliant man who lived in the era of the pagan Roman Empire, and was a renowned and intellectual pagan philosopher, who was searching for the true meaning of life and wisdom.

However, it ended up that no matter how much knowledge and wisdom he gained, he was unable to satisfy his desire and the emptiness he felt in his mind and heart. Instead, that led him to encounter the Lord through the Christian faith, and after having discussed and debated about the faith, he ended up being persuaded of the truth and the wisdom of the Christian faith, found only in the Lord’s teachings, and became a convert.

Henceforth, St. Justin ministered to many of the faithful, through his great intellect, wisdom and knowledge, spreading the faith to many parts of the Empire. Many souls were saved because of his works and teachings, and he tirelessly spent his effort trying to bring the truth to more and more people. However, he encountered many challenges and difficulties, to the point of being arrested after one of the pagan philosophers who debated with him reported him to the authorities because of his Christian faith.

Despite all efforts spent on trying to make him to abandon his faith in the Lord, and even when his intellect impressed many of his torturers and jailers, including even the Roman Emperor, St. Justin remained strongly and firmly attached to his faith, and remained dedicated fully to the Lord, choosing martyrdom over abandoning his Lord and Master. This, brothers and sisters in Christ, is the kind of faith and dedication that each and every one of us must have, a fruitful and living faith.

Let us all therefore, devote ourselves anew to the Lord, not just through exterior observances of the faith, but also through our love and care for one another, showing true Christian charity, even to those who are suffering around us. It is through this that all of us lead a genuine Christian life, and by loving one another we also love the Lord our God. He Himself showed us a vision of the Last Judgment and said, that whatever we have done to the least of our brethren, we are doing it for the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore turn to the Lord with all of our hearts, and focus our attention on Him from now on. Let us all make the Lord as the centre and heart of our lives. May the Lord be with us all in this journey of life, and may He continue to empower us to live faithfully day after day. Amen.

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Thursday, 31 May 2018 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. On this day, we celebrate the very important aspect of our Christian faith, and especially the faith as preserved in our One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, as we believe that the Lord Jesus, Our God and Saviour, has given us His own Body and His own Blood, for the sake of our salvation.

The roots of this exist in the Old Testament, from the time of the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt, when the Lord had mercy on His people, stranded and suffering in Egypt under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians who enslaved them and attempted to exterminate them at occasions. At that time, God sent them Moses, to be their deliverer, through whom He performed ten great plagues that struck at the Egyptians.

The last of the ten plagues was the greatest of all of them. The Lord decreed that all firstborn child of the Egyptians shall be destroyed, because of their Pharaoh’s stubbornness and his refusal to let the people of Israel go free. The Lord sent His Angels of death to scour the whole land of Egypt, and many of the children of the Egyptians, right down to their animals perished on that night.

However, the children of the Israelites were saved and spared from death, as the Lord instructed Moses to tell them to prepare an unblemished lamb for each household, and slaughter it, to prepare and celebrate a Passover worthy of Him, the very first Passover celebrated by the people of God. The lamb’s blood was applied on the doorposts and the lintels of the doors, marking the household as those belonging to God’s people.

Seeing the blood of the lamb splashed across the doorposts, the Angels of death bypassed over their houses, and spared them from death. Ever since, the offering and sacrifice of blood of animals became associated with the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God. In fact, since the very beginning, from the time of Cain and Abel, and from the time of Abraham, the people of God have offered animal sacrifices to God. But it was then in the Book of Leviticus that God prescribed the rules regarding sacrifices, that the priests belonging to the tribe of Levi would offer regular sacrifices for the people of God.

Moses slaughtered and offered the blood of animals when he sealed the Covenant which God made with His people, and the blood was sprinkled onto the Israelites, as a sign of the Covenant sealed by the blood of the lamb and the animals. But that Covenant was broken many times by the people, who were unfaithful, and did not remain true to the Covenant which God had made with them. Instead, they worshipped pagan gods and idols, such as the golden calf, and committed what were wicked in God’s eyes.

Thus, they should have deserved death and destruction, as the punishment for sin is death. Ever since the beginning, when mankind first sinned against God, we should have deserved to be annihilated, for Adam and Eve, our ancestors, have disobeyed God and refused to listen to Him. Instead, they chose to follow and listen to the words of Satan, tempting them to sin. However, the truth is that God loves each and every one of us so much that He was willing to give us a second chance.

That is why, He had mercy on the Israelites when they sinned and disobeyed Him. If we read through the Book of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, as well as the subsequent history of the Israelites in the Book of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and the Prophets, we can see just how frequent that the people of God disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him. Yet, God Who punished them also showed them mercy and forgiveness.

The priests of the Lord offered daily and regular sacrifices for the sake of the people, with the animal sacrifices and the blood as prescribed in the Book of the Leviticus, and the same laws and regulations, the practices and the sacrifices were passed down for many years and centuries throughout the history of Israel, right down to the time of the New Testament, that is the time when the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, finally came into the world.

And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, our second reading today, mentioned how the Lord Jesus is the new and the true High Priest, Who came into the world as the perfect fulfilment of God’s long promised salvation, as the Messiah of the whole race of man. And why did St. Paul refer to the Lord Jesus as the one and true High Priest? That is because the Lord did just exactly as what the priests of old had done, offering sacrifices to God for our sake.

But the Lord Jesus did not just act like any other priests, offering the blood of lambs and other animals. Instead, He offered Himself, as the perfect sacrifice, as the One, the only One through Whom the whole race of man could be saved. He alone is worthy, and His Blood alone is good enough to redeem all of us mankind, something that no blood of animals or lambs could have done.

Unfortunately, there are many of those among us who have doubted the Lord, and they doubted that the Lord gave us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink. There are those among us, who think and argue that the Lord was merely giving us a representation or a symbol of His Body and Blood, instead of the Real and true Body and the true Blood. But Jesus Himself had made it clear in the Gospel of St. John, that unless someone eats of the Body and drinks the Blood of the Son of Man, that is Jesus, they would not have eternal life.

And again, He added that, His Body is real food, and His Blood is real drink. This means that, in the Eucharist, the central focus of our faith, is found the Real Presence of Our Lord Himself, in the bread and wine, transformed in essence and reality into the essence and reality of the Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, respectively. They are not just mere symbols or representations. This is the Lamb of God Himself, the One through Whom God had saved the world.

Through the giving of Himself, Christ has given us all a new hope, one that nothing else in this world can give to us. By dying on the cross and by the outpouring of His Blood, spilled at His crucifixion, He has marked for Himself a people, those who have been called and set aside for God’s purpose, all those who believe in Him and are therefore called as Christians. We believe in Christ Who died on the cross for us, offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to God, on the Altar of Calvary.

Then, if we look deeper into it, this is why all of us believe that when the priests celebrate the Holy Mass, they are in fact reenacting the same sacrifice performed by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The same sacrifice happens on the Altar, that is exactly the very same sacrifice on the cross of Christ at Calvary. It is not a repeat, or a mere memorial, or merely a celebration, but in fact, by the authority and power that Christ gave to His priests, through their consecrated hands, He has made them ‘Alter Christus’, that is representation of Christ Himself.

At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass therefore, the same singular event of the crucifixion, when the Lamb of God was slaughtered and offered for the sake of our salvation, happened, at every single celebrations of the Mass, and through that, the Body and Blood of the Lord are given to us, a new Covenant which He made with us and sealed with His Blood, and a new Hope that He has granted to us.

Thus, what we see at the Holy Mass, is that the bread and the wine which are brought up and offered by the priests, are transformed, just as the Lord at the Last Supper spoke to His disciples as He passed the bread and wine to them, “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood”. The Body and the Blood of Christ has come unto us, and we receive Christ into ourselves, by the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist, that is Christ’s Body and Blood.

However, let us all now ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us ask ourselves, just how much we truly believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. How many of us lack the proper respect and honour due to the Eucharist, knowing that God Himself is truly present? How many of us receive the Eucharist unworthily while in the state of sin, or receiving Him in the way that we are merely going through the motion?

There are accounts of how people who did not believe in the Real Presence, said that they refused or failed to believe simply because, they saw many of us Christians, who did not believe in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Our words may show that we believe, but our actions show otherwise. How can we then expect others to believe when we ourselves do not truly believe and genuinely believe in the Lord’s Real Presence, in His Most Holy Body and Blood?

What do I mean by all these? Many of us casually went up to receive the Eucharist, without proper honour for the Lord, Who has made Himself so small so as to be present in the bread transformed into His Body. By that action, God wanted us to be saved, through the worthy reception of the Eucharist. However, many of us receive the Lord in a state of sin and as unrepentant sinners.

And thus, there are also many of us who blatantly do not believe that God can be present in the bread and wine transformed into His Body and Blood. Our ignorance and apathy is no different from those who did not believe in the Real Presence. Liturgical abuses and the many abuses of the reception of the Most Holy Eucharist happened, and it scandalised our faith and our belief.

Many of those whose account I mentioned earlier refused to believe in the Real Presence, because they said that if that is truly the Lord present in the bread and wine, they would have prostrated themselves and trembled in fear before the Lord’s presence. That is why our apathy and lack of faith caused many others to lose faith too. And what then, can be done in order to resolve this matter?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, let us all make a new resolution and commit ourselves to a much greater reverence to the Lord truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist. Let us endeavour to lead a holier and more worthy life, worthy of God, by turning ourselves from sin and embracing what God has shown us and taught us.

Let us all be exemplary in our actions, that by our faith and our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has given us His own Body and Blood, for the sake of our salvation, we may be saved from certain destruction, because of our sins. Let us all draw closer to the Lord, and remember that, because we have receive the Lord Himself, physically and really present in the bread and wine, transformed into the substance and reality of His Body and Blood, we have become the Temple of God’s Holy Presence.

And ultimately, each and every one of us as Christians are part of the Church of God, which He Himself has said to be His Body. The Church is the Body of Christ, made from all of us, who are in Communion with one another. The meaning of Holy Communion itself, therefore stemmed from the fact that all of us who worthily receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, are in Communion with each other and are part of the one Body of Christ.

May God therefore be with us all, and may He give us the strength to live worthily of Him, that we may always keep in mind that we have the Lord Himself dwelling in us, in our bodies, in our whole being. May all of us be ever more faithful, day after day, and indeed, united together as one people, in God’s one Church, become one Body, one Spirit in Christ. Amen.

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Thursday, 31 May 2018 : Feast of the Visitation 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 feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth, in the mountainous region of Judea, a few months after the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her with the Good News that she would become the mother of the Saviour of the world and the Son of God, hence becoming the great Mother of God.

And today, we celebrate that moment when Mary visited Elizabeth and in that meeting, she recognised her as the Mother of God, as her own son, St. John the Baptist in her womb, leapt and kicked with great joy when Mary came to her house. Through this event, we see the very first time when the coming of the Lord was revealed to the people, as prior to this, only Mary herself was told this truth by the Archangel.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we are called to remember the great joy of Mary, who sang the famous hymn ‘Magnificat’, praising God for all the good things that He has done for His people, especially to Mary, whom God had chosen to be His vessel and His instrument for the salvation of the world. Through Mary, God has made Himself incarnate into the flesh, and became Man.

Through Mary, we have seen the great work of God, and the culmination of the long promised salvation that He has promised to all of us. Mary has also herself showed the example of how we ought to be, as a model Christian. She showed us all how to be obedient to God, and how we should walk in the way of the Lord. She entrusted herself completely to the Lord and gave herself completely to God’s will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we are called to follow in the example of Mary, the mother of Our Lord. Mary showed all of us the way forward in our lives, and she showed us the importance of prayer and of listening to God. In the Magnificat, the hymn that Mary sang, was contained in essence a prayer to God, praising and thanking Him, and remembering all that He had done.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Have we led a good and prayerful life? Have we walked faithfully in God’s ways? Have we devoted our time, effort and attention to the Lord and put Him as the focus and the centre of our lives? If we have not done all these, then perhaps we should really spend some time to reflect and reevaluate our actions and lives.

Shall we turn ourselves towards God, and shall we learn to focus more on Him? Shall we spend more time in prayer, contemplation and focus on the Lord, that we, in the midst of our busy schedules and activities, will not lose our focus and our way? All of us are called to a holier and more prayerful life. All of us need to be holy just as the Lord is holy, in everything we say and do in our lives.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower us all to live worthily and filled with faith, every single days of our life. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 May 2018 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scriptures speaking to us about our obligation as Christians, to be true to our faith in God, by showing just how much we have understood the faith we have been called to, through our actions and deeds. Faith is as what the Lord Jesus made it clear in our Gospel passage today, what it means to be a follower of Christ.

In the first reading passage, taken from the first Epistle of St. Peter, we heard of how as Christians we have been transformed from our old ways and paths, from the path of desire, greed, pride and worldliness, into the path of love. We have been called to follow the Lord’s own examples in His most generous love, and to abandon behind our old ways of greed, of ambition, and of desire for all sorts of worldly temptations and glory.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord showed us yet again by His interaction with the disciples, beginning with St. James and St. John, who went to Him with their mother, asking Him to grant them special privileges and advantage over the other disciples of the Lord. They were asking for favouritism and jockeying for power in conflict with the other disciples. But the Lord would have none of that.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard how the Lord rebuked His two disciples for their wrong perception and understanding of the faith, and what it means to be His disciples. At that time, they were still thinking and misunderstanding the Lord Jesus as just another one of the worldly rulers, and compounded by the general misconception of the Jewish people of what the Messiah would do, and Who He would be, when He came to His people.

They all thought that the Messiah would come as a great King, much like king David and king Solomon in ancient times. They thought that the salvation of Israel would mean the destruction of all of their enemies and the reestablishment of the kingdom of Israel, which had physically existed hundreds of years before Christ, but was destroyed by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

Therefore, they thought that by following the Lord, Who would be King, then they could amass for themselves power, glory, fame, influence, and many more things. Certainly some of them had this misconception, and they misunderstood what it means to be the disciples of the Lord. Hence, when the Lord saw them bickering over the matter and became angry at St. James and St. John, He rebuked all of them.

The Lord rebuked them for their pride and desire for worldly power, and He showed them that as His followers, as Christians, they must be humbler yet, and they must be ever be ready to serve one another, just as the Lord Himself had shown them. The Lord showed that even He has come into this world in order to love His people and to care for them, and not to be a tyrant over them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to realise that each one of us face the same temptation as the Apostles and disciples of the Lord had faced, however, are we allowing all those wickedness to influence us and to lure us away from God’s path and saving grace? Let us all therefore seek to be ever more committed to the Lord, resisting the temptations to sin, for worldly power, glory, fame and all the things that are obstacles in our way to the Lord.

Let us instead turn ourselves towards the Lord, and place Him at the very centre and focus of our lives. Let us all be genuine Christians in each and every actions we take, and learn to be truly faithful in all things. May God be with us all, and may He bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 May 2018 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded that as God’s faithful ones, as Christians, we have decided to follow the Lord, in the footsteps of the Apostles and the disciples, and we are all called to a transformed and holy life, transcending our past existences and leaving behind all traces of our past unworthiness and sinful lives.

‘Be holy as I am holy’, is what God wants from each and every one of us as Christians. What does this mean? Is it about praying everyday and showcasing our faith before others? Is it about showing off just how holy and devout we are in front of those who do not believe in God or even by chastising those whose faith and dedication are not as great as ours? No, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not like that.

All the devotion, prayers and all those that we normally consider as holy, are indeed necessary, because these are what helps us in our journey of faith towards God. However, it becomes a problem when we end up just doing all of them, but without the correct focus and intention. This becomes a piety instead of true faith and genuine devotion to God. And instead of a life focused on God, we end up with a self-centred and selfish life.

That was how many of the Pharisees ended up becoming, as they became fixated on the strict enforcement and adherence to the Jewish customs and laws, but failing to recognise God’s truth and works in Christ, when He came into this world and bringing those truth to them. They closed their ears, their minds and their hearts from the Lord, and opposed God’s works and goodness at every possible opportunities.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel passage we heard today, we can find God’s advice on how we ought to live our lives with true and genuine faith. Through the words of the Apostles, we are reminded that as Christians, we often need to make sacrifices and to learn to let go of our worldly attachments. Indeed, it does not mean that we let go of everything, but we must not become attached or obsessed with things in this world that can cause us to lose our way.

For example, many people who have been obsessed with money and material possessions end up losing everything in their pursuit for money, or even fame and glory. They end up causing hurt, pain and sorrow to their loved ones, as people may often even set aside those who are close and precious to them in their pursuit of all these worldly and material goods.

But as Christians, this is not what we should do with our lives. Instead, the Lord Himself has shown us, that the greater we are and the greater we become, we should be ever humbler, following His own examples, that we serve one another, the greater one serving those who are under him or her. And we must centre our lives on the Lord, obeying Him and following Him in all things, so that ultimately, it is His will that shall be done and not ours.

Let us all turn ourselves to God, and let us all devote ourselves more wholeheartedly to Him. May all of us be filled with renewed faith for God, and be true in our faith to Him, every single days of our lives. Amen.