Weekday Homily

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Wednesday, 21 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened about the story of how three devout servants of God, the friends and contemporaries of the prophet Daniel, endured great suffering and difficulty in the land of Babylon, where many of God’s people had been exiled to. The king of Babylon enforced the people living in his dominion to worship a great golden statue he had built in his own image. But the three devout servants of God refused to do so.

As such, they were subjected to great persecution from the king, a fate that befell all those who refused to obey the king’s orders to worship the golden statue. They were thrown into a blazing furnace made so hot, especially because the three of them rebuked the king for his efforts to make them to worship something that is against the commandments given to them by the Lord, their God.

They stood by their faith even though they knew that by doing so, and by saying their testimony of faith, they risked a certain death. But they rather suffer a worldly death, suffering and end, rather than to save themselves in this world by obeying the king’s orders. Had they abandoned the Lord for the obedience of the king’s orders, they would have saved themselves and be happy for the rest of their earthly existence, but then, they would face the consequences of their betrayal and abandonment in hell.

The three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God would be with them, no matter what, either at that moment, or even when they suffer and perish, their faith and commitment to God would certainly not be forgotten or ignored by God. The good and faithful God would reward them with the grace of eternal life, glory and happiness as part of their inheritance, promised to all those who keep their faith in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is exactly what the Lord Jesus had done, before His accusers and all those who disagreed with Him. In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus spoke of the truth to the people who heard Him, and they were incensed and angry at His rebuke for their behaviours, which were not in accordance to God and His ways. They claimed to be counted among the sons and daughters of Abraham, the descendants of Israel, and yet, they did not truly obey the laws and commandments as they should have.

Instead, even though many of them observed the many laws, rules and regulations pertaining to the Jewish customs, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, but the Lord condemned them as hypocrites and self-serving leaders who did all that they had done, not for the right purpose or reasons, that is for the greater glory of God, but for their own desires and selfish wants.

As such, they chose worldly concerns and safety over their obligations to God, unlike what the three courageous men did in the first reading today, against the commands of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord wanted them to know that if they continue to walk in the path of sin, then they will have no part in God’s kingdom, despite being the descendants of Abraham, to whom God had made a Covenant with.

But God made it clear to them, that those who obey the Lord will be the ones to receive God’s promise and not those who disobey the Lord. Even the Gentiles and the ones formerly dismissed by the Jewish people and its leaders as pagans and non-believers were ahead of them in the path towards God’s salvation and grace. And thus, the same will also apply to us all, if we are to be faithful and true in our dedication towards Him.

Are we able to commit ourselves to the Lord in the same manner as the three courageous servants of God in the time of the Old Testament had done? This is a calling for us to be true Christians, to devote ourselves to God’s ways, imitating the examples of our holy predecessors who have done so much in their faith towards their Lord and Master. This is what we should do, as we continue to walk down the path of faith as shown to us by Our Lord.

There will indeed be difficulties and challenges that we will face, should we choose to dedicate ourselves to God. However, it is a choice and a risk that we have to take, and which we have to endure, should we decide to follow God. Let us all carry up our crosses in life, and dedicate ourselves anew to God, our loving Lord, Master and Creator, He Who have saved us all and blessed us, His faithful ones. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scripture readings in which we heard about the sins of Israel from our first reading today, telling us about how God sent fiery serpents to strike at the people because of their disobedience, and those who were bitten, were doomed to die. There was no cure for the serpent bites, no medicine could cure the affliction.

But in the end, as we see in the story, God had mercy on His people as they begged Him for forgiveness and mercy. They regretted all the sins and wicked deeds they had committed, and God gave them rescue from the fiery serpents through His servant Moses, who commissioned a bronze serpent to be built and lifted up high in the midst of the people, so that all who were bitten by the serpents and gazed on the bronze serpent would not die.

Then we heard from our Gospel today, what the Lord Jesus plainly told the people, about His upcoming Passion and death, when He would be betrayed to His enemies and abandoned by His disciples, suffering contempt and rejection by His accusers who levelled false charges and all sorts of lies against Him. What we heard today in the Gospel is in fact a parallel of what we heard in the Old Testament reading.

How is that so? First of all, the Lord Himself in another occasion in the Gospels mentioned to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was interested in His teachings, the comparison between Himself and the bronze serpent which Moses once wielded and raised before the sight of many for their salvation from their troubles. He said that just as the bronze serpent was lifted up high for all to see, so the Son of Man, Jesus Himself would also be lifted up high, high on the cross.

Surely we are all familiar with all the events surrounding the crucifixion, suffering and death of Our Lord Jesus. He was condemned to die on the cross, given over to the Romans who punished Him for mistakes and sins He did not commit. Yet He willingly accepted that suffering and being lifted up on the cross, so that through that act of singular and ultimate sacrifice, He can save us from our fated destruction.

For our sins and our wickedness are what had driven the people of Israel to sin as well. In their greed and desire for things of this world, they grumbled without end when they journeyed through the desert, complaining of hunger and thirst, and not satisfied even though God has given them and provided for them more than sufficient food, manna from heaven and good quality water flowing from the rocks in the middle of a dry desert.

How about us? Do we realise that we ourselves often have done the same to God? We have often forgotten God and put Him aside in our daily pursuits for worldly material goods, worldly concerns for power, for prestige, for honour, for adoration and human praise, for comfort and pleasures of the flesh, and many more. We often only remember God when we are in trouble, and when we do so, we demand Him to do things for us in accordance with what we want, and when we do not get what we want, we become angry at God.

When God is not the foremost and first in our minds and in our hearts, it is easy for us to turn to sinful ways and to disobey God’s commandments. It is our ego and greed that led us astray, and when we allow those things to distract us from our attention towards God, that is when we fall into sin. And because of sin, we are supposed to perish and die, because of our disobedience that led us to be corrupt and unworthy of God, just as the Israelites were bitten by the serpents and perished.

But God had mercy on us, and He gave us the best source of help and salvation, through none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son, to bear all the burdens of our sins, which He took up willingly on His cross. And as He was lifted up on that cross, all those who saw Him, and even though who did not see Him, but believed in Him and His sacrifice on the cross, would be saved from damnation, and receive a new life from Him.

Then, do we truly believe in His saving grace, which He has offered for us so generously from the cross? When we look at Him Who is on the cross, do we see in Him our salvation and promised Saviour, or do we fail to realise this reality presented before us? Now, I invite all of us to spend some time to reflect before the Lord on the crucifix, looking up towards Him by Whose death we have been reconciled, and through Whose suffering and pain we have been saved from eternal damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we approach the Holy Week of the Passion of Our Lord, let us all look at Him, Our Crucified Messiah, by Whose sacrifice and death we have been saved. Let us all remember His love for us, and all that He had done for our sake. Shall we commit ourselves to love Him more and more, and devote ourselves more wholeheartedly from now on?

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our journey of faith, that we may find our eternal rest and true joy in Him. May He bless us each and every one of us all to live faithfully and with greater commitment to love Him and to love one another, living a true and blessed Christian life with zeal. May God continue to watch over us, His people, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 19 March 2018 : 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 as the whole Church, the great Solemnity of the Protector of the Church, Foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that is St. Joseph, the husband of Mary, Mother of God and Our Lord. The Church places St. Joseph in a very honourable place because of his closeness to Our Lord Jesus, as the foster father who protected and guided Him in His early years of earthly life, and also because of his righteousness and faith in God.

St. Joseph was the crucial link between God and His long awaited promise to Adam, Abraham, David and all those to whom He has made His Covenants with. First of all, St. Joseph was the legal father of Our Lord even though he was not His biological father, as the Lord was incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, His mother and not conceived by earthly means unlike that of any other men. Through that legal fatherhood, Jesus Our Lord and Saviour became a descendant of Adam, Abraham, David and all mentioned earlier.

In our first reading today we heard about the exchange between the prophet Nathan and king David, who spoke about the building of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. If we read through the book of the prophet Samuel and the book of Kings we will realise that David had really wanted to build a House for God, and made lots of preparation for it. But God told him that it was not him who would build a House for him, but his son.

In this, we can see two interpretations of what God told to David through His prophet Nathan. The first one is the literal one, meaning that the son of David, king Solomon would be the one to build a magnificent Temple worthy of God, and which was indeed henceforth remembered after him as Solomon’s Temple. But there is a second, parallel meaning that if we read the entirety of the Old and the New Testament, then we will understand it better.

What is this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the Lord Jesus, Who was born as the legal Son of St. Joseph, who himself was the legal heir and descendant of David. As such, that was why Our Lord Jesus was also known as the Son of David. When a blind man heard that Jesus was approaching in one of the Gospel accounts, he shouted, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ highlighting this relationship that Our Lord has with His ancestor David, the king of Israel.

And if Solomon built the physical Temple of Jerusalem, the first Temple built in the honour of God and known by many as Solomon’s Temple, then the Lord Jesus came into this world as the Temple itself, for He is indeed Man and God, having human and divine natures united in His person. He spoke of this when He told the chief priests and the Pharisees that He would tear down the Temple and in three days, He would rebuild it again, which alluded to His crucifixion, death and resurrection from the dead.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, through St. Joseph, we see there is a clear link between what God had promised to His people in the ages past, and what He has fulfilled through Jesus Christ His Son, Whom He had sent into the world for our salvation, by His death and resurrection from the dead. Through His suffering and death, He fulfilled the promises He made to us from long ago, that He would save us from our sins, and we will enjoy forever the grace of His blessings and love.

And how did St. Joseph fit in all these? St. Joseph, just as Mary is, is a role model for all of us Christians, through his exemplary lifestyle and commitment to the mission he was entrusted with by God. St. Joseph was an upright man and a steadfast believer in God, and he acted with justice and with faith, even treating Mary fairly when she apparently became pregnant before she was married to him. He did not want to disgrace her by divorcing her publicly.

But the Lord revealed to him that Mary’s pregnancy was part of God’s greater plan, the long awaited salvation of all mankind, that St. Joseph would play a big part in. St. Joseph trusted in God and followed whatever he was told to do, protecting Mary and the baby Jesus during the earliest days of His infancy, and bringing them both to Egypt when king Herod wanted to have the Baby Jesus killed.

Even though it was not mentioned explicitly in the Gospels, St. Joseph must have had a significant role in the upbringing of the young Jesus, as He grew up to be a fine and healthy adulthood, by teaching Him many crafts of the world. It was indeed possible that Jesus was a carpenter like His foster father, St. Joseph, or at least have learnt the craftsmanship of a carpenter from him.

All of these tell us that as Christians we should devote ourselves and live our lives much as St. Joseph has lived his. We should be upright in our dealings and in our actions, and put God first and foremost in our minds and in our hearts. Unfortunately many of us Christians do not live by this standard, and instead, we take part in selfish attitudes such as gossiping, plotting against one another and being conceited, above all other things. It is even often that we Christians have done all sorts of actions unbecoming of us as those who profess to be faithful to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are called to reflect on our own lives, and on all that we have done in our lives. Have we been faithful to the Lord in our actions and deeds? If we have not done so, then perhaps it is indeed time for us to change ourselves, by turning ourselves from our sins and wicked actions, and by spending more time with God, in prayer and in loving devotion.

And we are also called to do what we can to help our brothers and sisters, by being charitable and caring for those who are suffering and those who have no one to love them and to care for them. This is our calling as Christians, following in the footsteps of God’s saints, particularly that of St. Joseph. After all, God has loved us first, and He loved us so much that He sent us Jesus, His own beloved Son. Why can’t we love Him in the same manner, and why can’t we love one another in the same way?

Let us ask St. Joseph for his intercession, that he will always intercede and pray for us, and for the sake of God’s Church. Just as he had been entrusted with the care of the Lord Jesus in His youth and the Holy Family, let us ask him for his protection and prayers, that each and every one of us Christians may be able to draw ever closer to God, and therefore find our way to His salvation. May the Lord bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 March 2018 : Fifth Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, which is the fifth and the last one in the season of Lent before the beginning of the Holy Week, we listened to the words of the Scripture telling us about the coming of a new Covenant forged between God and His people, which would come to be realised during the events of the Passion of Our Lord that we commemorate in this upcoming Holy Week.

For the past few weeks, we have been discussing about the Covenants that God had made with His people, which then ended up being broken by the same people with whom He had made those Covenants with. Now, what is a Covenant in the first place? A Covenant is not just like any promises or pacts, even though it may sound very similar to a promise or a pact between peoples. A Covenant is a very formal agreement and contract between two parties, where each party is expected to obey to certain rules of the Covenant.

And it is God Who made His Covenants with us, with God as one party of the Covenant, and us mankind as the other party of the Covenant. But while God has always been faithful to His part in the Covenants He made, it has always been us who failed to honour our part of the Covenant. The descendants of Adam, Noah, Abraham, David and all those with whom God made His Covenants had sinned, by disobeying His laws, worshipping pagan idols and committing wicked acts such as murder, adultery and simony and many more.

A prominent part of the Covenant in the past during the time of the Old Testament was the sacrifice of animals such as lambs or bulls or pigeons, which blood was then divided into half, half poured onto the altar while the other half is sprinkled onto the people as a sign of the renewal of the Covenant. They were always conducted in the most formal and solemn circumstances to highlight just how serious God is at establishing a loving relationship with us.

Whenever we disobey God and do what is wicked and against His ways, we sin before Him, and by that sin, we have been disgraced and sundered from God’s love. And therefore we break the Covenant that God had made with us by our sins. When that happened in the past, the people who sinned must come to a priest, who would then sacrifice the animals brought onto the Temple, and sprinkle the blood on the sinner as a sign of God’s forgiveness.

Essentially, this is a very symbolic gesture of God’s forgiveness of our sins, which is then linked to the renewal of the Covenant He had established with us. But as we can see, mankind is a very stubborn race of people, who often failed to resist the temptation to sin, and we continue to do what we prefer to do rather than to obey the ways and the laws of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to realise the extent of the love which God has shown to us all, to each and every one of us, from the least among us to the greatest and the mightiest among us. All of us are equally loved by God, and none of us can say that God does not love us or hate us. He loves each and every one of us for who we are, His beloved children and creation, but it was our sins that He despised. It was our sins which come in between us from our loving relationship with God.

It was never in God’s intention to punish us or to make our lives miserable. If souls fell and ended up in hell, in the state of eternal despair and hopelessness, that was not God’s doing, but the mistakes committed by the fallen beings themselves. God has always offered His love, forgiveness and compassion freely without the need for us to pay for them. But it is us mankind who have willingly refused to accept God’s offer of mercy, love and compassion.

For the love of worldly things, our greed and ambition, our ego and desires, we have chosen to walk in our own path, instead of obeying and following God. We ended up disobeying God and living in sin, and that is why many of us mankind, throughout the ages are truly in a sad state, defiled and corrupted by our sins and wickedness. Had the Lord not done anything to help us, hell would have been full with all of us and our ancestors.

No, that is not what God wanted to happen, and that is why, He resolved to end the continuing cycle of sin and damnation once and for all, by forging with us a renewed Covenant, the greatest among all the Covenants, one that will never end and will never be broken, because it is sealed not with any animal sacrifices or any forms of animal blood, but by the most precious Blood of all, the Blood of Our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, it was by His ultimate and most loving sacrifice on the cross, that Jesus Christ Our Lord sealed the New Covenant which He made with us all, as the Mediator of that New Covenant, between God and mankind, His beloved ones. Christ’s loving sacrifice and His voluntary shedding of His Blood from the cross, on the perfect altar that is Calvary, marks the beginning of a new era, of reconciliation between God and His people, all of us.

Before Christ, we mankind and Our Lord have been separated because of sin, such that in between us and Him there is an uncrossable chasm and sundering, that prevented us from being able to be with Our God. Our sins should have merited us eternal damnation and suffering in hell, separated forever from God. However, as mentioned, God did not want that to happen to us, because of His love, and thus, He gave us Christ as our Saviour, that all of us who believe in Him will be saved.

Through Christ, Who is both God and Man, all of us find a new hope, by the bridge that Christ Himself had built through His cross, to bring man back to the loving embrace of their Creator. This new and everlasting Covenant will never be broken, for God Himself guaranteed it by His own Most Precious Blood, sealed for all eternity. Now, it is the matter of whether we are willing to be a part of that Covenant or not.

God has always given us the freedom to choose whether we want to obey Him or not. However, the consequences of our choice is ours alone to bear. If we decide to follow the examples of the Israelites of the past, who disobeyed God and preferred to live in sin, enjoying all the good fruits and the desires of this world, then we have to know that we have chosen all these over all that God has offered us.

But if we choose to be faithful to Him and partake in the Covenant He had made with us through Christ, then we can call ourselves as Christians, in body, heart, mind and spirit. Yet, we cannot be half-hearted in our faith and commitment, or else, it is likely that we will be tempted and fall. Being a true Christian requires effort and commitment from us, as the Lord Himself said, that in order for us to follow Him, we must take up our crosses and follow Him.

Therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, reflecting and remembering upon all the good things that God had done for us, His insistent love and compassion for us, and all that He had given us, even to the point of giving us His own beloved Son, to be our Saviour and to die for us on the cross for our salvation, just so that He can bond us all to a new and everlasting Covenant that superseded all previous ones, then we should indeed think of how we can be part of this wonderful Covenant.

As we approach the Holy Week beginning next Sunday with the Palm Sunday, let us recall the Passion of Our Lord Jesus, Who took up that cross and suffered for us, so that by gathering all of our sins to Himself, He might redeem all of us, His beloved people. Let us all shun all of our past sins and wickedness, all the things we have done in disobedience against God, and walk from now on in His ways.

Let us now be an active partner of the Lord in the Covenant He made with us, by devoting ourselves, our time, our effort, our actions and our words for the greater glory of God. And how do we do this? First of all, we need to put God as the priority in our lives, by obeying His laws and commandments, and by doing our actions with our love for God in mind. That means, we should not treat our brothers and sisters with contempt or hatred, or selfishly trying to preserve our own needs and attain our desires over the sufferings of others.

Let us be more charitable in all of our dealings, in our every actions and deeds. Let us all have pity and compassion on those who are not as fortunate as us in our midst, and do whatever we can to help, or to alleviate their sufferings, or to share our joy with them. This is how we show others the same love that God has shown us, a selfless and compassionate love.

Let us also draw closer to God, by deepening our relationship with Him through prayer, that in everything we do, we do it prayerfully, knowing that God is with us, and that we exist to be with God, to love Him and to serve Him with love. Let us all show our commitment to Him by devoting our lives more wholeheartedly to Him. May all of us find our way to reach God’s saving grace, and receive the gift of eternal life and glory, as part of the Covenant He has established with us.

May all of us be more committed to live up to the Covenant God made with us, by proactively seeking to be righteous and just in His presence, by our compassion to the poor and to the needy around us, by listening to the pleas of the hungry and by showing comfort and love for the lonely and for those who were without love. May God be with all of our actions and endeavours, and may He bring us ever closer to Him, and bless us all of our days. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 March 2018 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Patrick, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, again on this day we heard the opposition that arose against the faithful servants of God from the Scriptures, as committed by all those who refused to listen to the words that those servants had brought unto their attention. Instead of listening to the truth and to the call towards repentance, they plotted against God’s servants to destroy them.

That is the essence of what we have just heard from the Scripture passages today as we come closer to the end of the season of Lent and the beginning of the Passion of Christ at the Holy Week in a week’s time. And the reason of such stubborn refusal to believe and to embrace the truth is because of our own inability to restrain ourselves and our desires.

The Lord Jesus spoke plainly and with authority, as the prophets of the earlier days had done so as well. But yet the people of God refused to listen to them, and they refused to listen to the Lord Jesus, because they would not allow the word of God to enter into their hearts and minds, that they may believe in Him. Instead, the words just entered through their ears and nothing more happened after that.

That is why we have to distinguish between hearing and listening in this case. We may wonder what is the difference between these two actions, but in reality, they make quite a difference. One can hear without listening, but the one who listens, also hears. Hearing refers to the process of sound entering into our ears, being captured by our ears’ sensing ability, and then we can hear the sound.

But hearing something does not necessarily mean that we appreciate or understand what we have heard. In our world today there are many noises around us, surrounding us all day long. When things become too noisy and the sounds become too loud, we shut ourselves from those noises, and we consciously try to not listen to those noises.

Similarly, if our hearts and minds are closed to God’s words and truth, then we will end up like the Pharisees and all those who were opposed to the good works of the prophets and Our Lord Himself, those who heard the word of God but failed to listen to Him speaking to them through those words. Have we been like this, brothers and sisters in Christ?

It is not easy for us to truly listen to God, as there are, as mentioned a lot of noise being ever present around us, all the time. And these are also the ways how the devil is trying actively to prevent us from listening to God speaking to us in the depths of our hearts and minds. Otherwise, had we all listened to Him and repented, hell would have been empty!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to be able to listen to God, we have to learn to temper ourselves, our desires and resist the many temptations present in our lives. And sometimes, it is important for us to know that being a disciple and follower of the Lord is not something that is so difficult and complicated after all. St. Patrick, the famous saint and bishop whose feast we celebrate today, preached about God and His nature of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit using a three-leaf clover to make the people understand the complex mystery with a simple symbol and approximation.

St. Patrick himself did not have it easy during his ministry to the pagan peoples of Ireland and in all of his missionary works. He often faced rejection and ridicule, much as the Lord Jesus Himself had faced from the Pharisees and from His enemies. Yet, St. Patrick patiently persevered on in his efforts, and many more people believed in God and were saved because of him.

Let us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, renew our efforts to live our lives faithfully, imitating the examples of Our Lord Himself, and all of His holy saints, particularly that of St. Patrick. May we all be able to loosen the stuck doors of our hearts and minds, too long encrusted with pride, greed, desire, ambition, prejudice, hatred, and all other obstacles that had prevented us from being able to listen to God and understand what it is that He wants from each one of us.

May all of us learn to be better and more dedicated servants of Our Lord, by lessening the importance of our selves, and by growing greater in our humility before God, embracing His forgiveness and mercy for our sins, and love Him with all of our efforts. May we listen to His words and be thoroughly converted in heart, mind, body and soul to become His beloved and worthy children. May God bless us all, and may St. Patrick intercede for us sinners. Amen.

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Friday, 16 March 2018 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we approach the coming of the Holy Week, we see more and more signs in the Scripture readings chosen for these days, on the opposition and challenges facing the Lord Jesus, as He was about to embark on the final stage of His earthly ministry, as prophesied by the prophets and written throughout the Old Testament.

In the first reading today, the passage taken from the Book of Wisdom placed exactly the sentiments and thoughts of those who were opposed to Jesus and attempted to bring about His downfall and end. The Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests thought exactly in the manner foreshown by the Book of Wisdom, in their reasoning why they wanted to bring down the Lord.

They were jealous of the Lord and His immense popularity among the people, which He seemed to be able to do because of His very popular and authoritative sermons, and His numerous miracles and healings, which the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and all others opposed to Jesus had not been able to perform. As such they were afraid that all the privileges and power they have enjoyed then would be taken from them should the Lord triumphed in His efforts.

That was why they hardened their hearts and minds, and refused to listen to Him, even if He had brought unto them the words of truth, and even if they have witnessed and should have understood that whatever the Lord Jesus had done, could only be possible if He was indeed the Messiah, the One promised by God to be the salvation for all of the people. And there He was, God Himself made Man, choosing to dwell in the midst of His people and calling them to His saving grace.

The opponents of the Lord doubted Him because they were unable to resist the temptations of this world, the temptation of power, of influence, of prestige, of wealth, of worldly possessions and concerns, and all other things that made them to refuse to believe in God, even though what He was telling them was the truth. They surrounded themselves with self-made lies and illusions, and in the end believing in them, which were ideas planted in their minds by Satan.

Yes, whenever there are those whose works are against the good works of God, ultimately all of them came from Satan and all of his efforts and hard works against us and against God. He is always ever active in his works, trying at every moment to subvert us, to strike at us, and to turn us away from God’s salvation and grace. He does not want us to be redeemed and to be forgiven from our sins.

That is why he is always against God and His good works, and as such, that is why difficulties and challenges were often aplenty for all those who walked in God’s ways and served Him faithfully. For ages, as mentioned in the Scriptures, we witnessed how the many prophets and servants of God had to struggle against the devil and his agents which are ever present around us.

The devil exercised his works around the Lord and His disciples, and he stirred the hearts and minds of those who have been tempted by power and worldly glory, to oppose God and His works as He made it in the person of Jesus Christ. That is why He tempted Jesus to stop doing His good works, by tempting Him in the desert, and when it failed, opposing Him at every opportunity through his various works, and in the end, caused Him to be condemned to death on the cross.

Yet, Satan did not foresee that his moment of supposedly greatest triumph, at being able to condemn the Son of God and the Messiah Himself to a humiliating death, was in fact the moment of his greatest and ultimate defeat. By the power of the cross and His death on it, God has saved us all, those who were destined to perish because of our sins, as His salvation has been given to us by the outpouring of His Blood in an act of perfect love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do we realise just how much God loved us all that He was willing to go through all of that in order that we may be saved? It is important that we spend this time of Lent meaningfully so that we may reflect on the loving passion of Our Lord, Who died for us on the cross. Let us all renew our faith and commitment in Him, resolve to sin no more and devote our whole lives to Him. Do not harden our hearts and minds like that of the Pharisees and the chief priests.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen us, that each and every one of us may draw ever closer to Him and receive from Him the reward of eternal life. Let us allow God to enter into our lives and transform us from creatures of darkness that we were, into creatures of light, worthy to be called His children. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 March 2018 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we witnessed through the Scripture passages, the righteous anger of God at the sins of His people Israel, as we heard in our first reading today from the Book of Exodus. The people of Israel had not obeyed the Lord and committed a grave sin when they betrayed God and built for themselves an idol made from gold, a golden calf, even as God gave them His laws and commandments through Moses.

In His anger, He wanted to destroy them all just as He had done before with the wicked and sinful sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, who sinned before God greatly, and the Great Flood came over them all, with only Noah and his descendants surviving the great catastrophe. But God had made a Covenant with Noah and his descendants, that He would no longer destroy man with a flood as He had done. And then, He made a renewed Covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

The Covenant God made with Abraham spoke of the blessings He would give to Abraham and his descendants. They would be innumerable and great beyond everything else. And in His anger at their sins, God wanted to destroy them as it was just for them, but God stayed His anger, because His servant Moses reminded Him and prevented Him from doing such a deed.

Ultimately, even though God was furious at the sins and wickedness of His people, but in truth, He loved each and every one of them, those of whom He had created out of love. God has no need for our love, as He Himself had been perfect in love, but He wanted to share that love, and that was why He created us all, to be the recipients of His wonderful love.

Yet, unfortunately, it was our stubbornness, our refusal to obey the Lord and our preference for our own sinful and mistaken ways that had led to the waywardness we have committed in life, just as the Israelites had done in their own, from the establishment of the golden calf, to their many other disobediences and refusal to follow the commands of the Lord through Moses and the other servants of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord has given us so many good things, numerous blessings and love, as He had shown us through many generations, and through many opportunities He had granted us. However, it is we mankind who often refused His offer of love and mercy. We stubbornly clung to our ways of sin and our attachment to worldly matters and goods, which prevented us from truly being able to obey Him.

That is why Jesus Our Lord was also furious and angry at the indignation shown by many of His people, when He came into this world, shown by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those who stubbornly rejected His truth just because of their arrogance, ego and all the things that were afraid to lose out to Jesus, Whom they saw as a rival to their power and authority.

Let us all not walk in their path, but instead, chart a new path in our life, if we have fallen into sin and disobedience as our predecessors had done. Let us look upon the examples of our holy saints and martyrs, those who dared and were courageous to change their way of life, changing their sinful past into a renewed life filled with faith in God. Many of them endured sufferings and difficulties for those, but they gained a greater reward in God.

May all of us be reunited and reconciled with God, as we draw ever closer to Him. May all of us seek to be righteous and faithful in all things. May all of us be blessed and may we draw closer to Him, day after day, all the days of our life. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 March 2018 : 4th 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 Scripture telling us about our obedience to the will of God, as we heard how Jesus Our Lord obeyed the will of His Father, and delivered to us the words of truth, and the revelation of God’s love and desire for us all, that each one of us may be reconciled with Him in perfect love.

In the first reading, God promised His people that He would send them His salvation, because He would have pity and show mercy to His people, and He would not abandon them to their fated destruction because of their sins. He may hate and despise their sins and wickedness, but ultimately all of them, each and every one of His people, are His beloved ones. God loves us all His children, for if He had not loved us, He would not have created us.

Unfortunately, it was our sins caused by our refusal to obey His laws and commandments that have caused our separation from Him. We were meant and destined to be with God forever, and yet our sins sundered us from Him, and our ancestors were cast out of God’s presence at Eden because of their sins and their surrender to the temptations of the devil in eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Sin is caused by the disobedience of our ancestors, and also our own refusal to listen to God’s will, as He had made it clear to us through His laws, His prophets and messengers, and which He had delivered to us Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and then passed on to us through His Apostles and disciples in the Church He established, which we are part of. We sin because we think that it is better to follow our own path, to follow our own thoughts and ways, our preferences and desires rather than to walk in the path that God had set before us.

That is why, in assuming the flesh and form of Man, by being Incarnate and born of His mother, Mary, to be the Son of Man just as He is the Son of God, to be the perfect Man and the role model of obedience for all of us, who have sinned because of our disobedience. As we have disobeyed God and subsequently fell into sin, Jesus showed us how we can be obedient to God, and therefore receive forgiveness for our sins, and be reconciled with God.

All power, authority, glory and honour has been given to Christ, as the Saviour and Liberator of all man, to free them from all bonds of sin and from our fated punishment because of those sins. He alone has the power and authority to deliver us from our sins and from all those punishment, and that is the essence of what we have heard from our Gospel passage today. And yet, God chose to show all these not through mighty deeds and wonders, but through the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ.

He wanted to show all of us that while disobedience has caused us to sin and therefore, to be sundered from God and deserving eternal damnation, but obedience to God following the examples of Christ will bring about a new life, filled with a new grace, grace from God and forgiveness for all the trespasses and faults that we have committed thus far. He chose to show us true obedience, and also His love for each one of us, by willingly taking up all of our intended punishments, our sins and everything we should have suffered from, on His cross and bearing it up to Calvary, where He died for us, so that we who believe in Him may be forgiven and live.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, all of us are supposed to prepare ourselves for the coming celebration of Holy Week and Easter, all of which are centred on the saving mission of Christ which He performed through His suffering, death on the cross, and ultimately His resurrection from the dead. Through this act of perfect and selfless love, God showed us that out of all the darkness of sin and all the wickedness, by obeying His laws and commandments, we can be redeemed and enter into the eternal glory of heaven.

And what is it that we must do in order to obey the Law? First of all, we must put God first and foremost in our minds, in all the things we do, and we must love Him with all of our hearts. Then secondly, we must show love, care and concern for our brethren, for our neighbours and all of our fellow men, by our actions and deeds. In fact, when we sin, we put our own ego, our own desires, and our very selves ahead of God, and ahead of others.

There have been many occasions in the history of man, when we have acted selfishly and wickedly, putting our own interests ahead of our obligation to God and to our fellow men. Wars and conflicts have been fought and much destruction wrought just so that some individuals can get whatever it is that they desired and wanted. And when man gained something, as we should be aware of, we cannot be easily satisfied by what we already have, and we end up desiring for more.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during this season and time of Lent, we are all called to reevaluate and reorientate our lives so that when we were once slaves to sin, and to our desires and greed, we may be able to turn our disobedience and refusal to believe in God and walk in His ways, into obedience like that shown by Christ Our Lord Himself. As Christians, all of us are called so because we believe in Christ. But can we call ourselves Christians if we do not follow the examples Christ had set before us, and do not do what He Himself had done?

The Lord showed compassion and love for the weak and the downtrodden. He cared for the well-being of His people, feeding five thousand men and more women and children in one occasion, and four thousand in another, when He saw them hungry and without sustenance after following Him for days. And when He saw them lost without a guidance, He spent many hours teaching them about God’s truth.

We can see from these examples how Christ put His people ahead of Himself. He ministered to them, obeying the will of His Father with all of His heart and commitment, even if His human existence might be tired, exhausted or hungry. Are we able to do the same as well in our own lives and in our interactions with others? Are we able to act selflessly for the benefit of others and obey God’s commandments like Christ had done?

These are the questions that we need to keep in mind as we continue to journey through the time of Lent. Let us all devote ourselves anew to God, and change our way of life, that from disobedience we turn towards a new obedience and faith to God. Let us be ever more devoted and good servants of God. May the Lord be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 13 March 2018 : 4th Week of Lent, Fifth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings, we heard interesting stories which relate to us about water, firstly the vision of the prophet Ezekiel of the heavenly Temple, out of which flowed out great quantity of water that flooded the courtyards, and which overflowed its banks and gave life to all the plants and living things it passes by. Then in the Gospel today we heard about how the Lord Jesus healed a man who had been waiting for many years for miraculous healing to come from the water at Bethzatha pool.

In these two readings, we see the clear parallel and similarity, in water depicted as life-giving and nourishing, as the source of healing and life. And this is very symbolic, if we understand better the meaning and the nuances behind the two readings today. The Temple in heaven as seen in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel represent none other than the Holy Presence of God Himself, and the water that gushed forth from the Temple represents God giving life to the world.

In the Gospel passage, as we heard the story of the man who was paralysed for thirty-eight years and had no one to help him to get into the water, we saw that the source of all healing came not from the water, as God sent His Angel to touch the water of the spring, and the people who touched the water were therefore healed by God’s grace. The man who had none to help him for so many years, was truly hoping that he could get healed from his illness, but the Lord heard him and had pity on him.

Jesus touched the paralytic man and almost immediately the man was healed, showing that God once again exercised His power and authority to heal His beloved people, who were sick, both in body and also in soul. Why is this so? That is because Jesus came into this world, ultimately to reconcile all the people of God who have been separated from God because of their sins.

Sin is a terrible affliction upon all of us, caused by our refusal to listen to God and to obey Him, and by our disobedience, sin entered into our hearts, our minds and corrupted everything, eating away on our souls. We may think that we are physically healthy and perfectly in good physical condition. We may think that there is nothing wrong with us, because superficially we look perfectly fine.

However, due to sin, in our beings and existences, we have been spoiled and corrupted, and we have been sickened by these sins which afflicted us. Worse still, many of us are not aware that sin is a great danger on our souls, and that we really need to do something about it, or else, we may end up being punished with eternal damnation because of our sins.

And unlike any physical and worldly illnesses, diseases and infections, which can be cured through various means, or had their effects reduced or halted or postponed, the consequences of sin is not curable by any worldly and human means, no matter how hard we try, because sin is only curable by God, through His forgiveness and mercy, which in fact, He generously offered to all of us, calling us to a renewed existence and new life, no longer living in a state of sin, but filled instead with resolve and commitment to repent and turn away from those sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our own lives, surely many of us have been tempted to live our lives in accordance with what we want and what our desires tell us to do. However, if we take a step back and think carefully about it, we will realise that if we are to trust in our own strength, intellect and assumptions, we will not be able to survive as we put our trust in human strength and power that can fail anytime.

And our desires, our ego and pride will only lead us to slide down ever further into the trap of sin, which the devil springs against us all, every single time he could do so, so that we fall from our path towards God’s salvation. Satan does this by feeding our ego, our sense of self-importance and edging on our selfish nature. But certainly God did not remain quiet or ignorant of these vicious attacks constantly targeting us, His people.

That is why through Jesus Christ, His Son, Whom He sent into the world in order to save all of us, God has shown His salvation and healing grace to all mankind. Now, it is up to us whether we are willing to accept this generous and rich offer of mercy and forgiveness, healing and reconciliation. God extends His forgiveness freely to us, but He also requires each one of us to be committed to be forgiven, that is by active repentance and genuine regret for all the sins and faults we have made.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are sinners, but do we want to remain living in sin? If we are willing to commit to change ourselves, even the greatest of sinners can become great saints, as what had exactly happened before. All saints were once sinners too, some with small sins, some with great ones. But all of them share the same conviction and resolve to follow through with their repentance, and as a result, they receive forgiveness for their sins.

Let us all spend the rest of this season of Lent wisely, making use of the opportunity given to us by God to turn ourselves wholeheartedly towards Him. Let us no longer be stubborn in refusing His generous offer of mercy, but instead renew our commitment to live in accordance with His will. May God be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in the path He is leading us through, towards His salvation and the promise of eternal life. Amen.

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Monday, 12 March 2018 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture passages we heard about God’s love and kindness, which He showed to His people with the promise of the upcoming joy and happiness for eternity, in a new heaven and a new earth as seen by the prophet Isaiah. God promised His people that if they remain faithful to Him, they would no longer suffer and endure the trials of this world, for God will bless them forevermore with His grace.

Many of us are too easy to give up on God, because we were not able to follow in His ways, and when troubles and difficulties come on our way, we easily give up the struggle and give in to the demands of the world, the temptations to sin and to do what is not according to God’s will. We often think of God as some kind of wonder and miracle worker, Who can grant us anything that we want. But when things do not go according to our wishes, we become angry, disillusioned, and we abandon God.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord healed the son of an official and prevented him from dying. The man believed that the Lord could heal his son, and he believed the Lord’s words to him, saying that his son would live. It is this faith which many of us are lacking, that is a genuine and living faith in God. The Lord Himself rebuked those many others who were stubborn in their doubts, and refusing to believe unless they see and witness wonders and miracles.

We are basically by our human tendencies, a superficial people, those who tend to be awed and affected by appearances and by exterior finesse, and yet, inside we have nothing or little of value. We tend to focus on what we can see and what we can experience directly, and we do not value what is hidden from our senses. Yet, this is the exact recipe for our lack of faith, as faith requires more than just appearances and wonders.

We tend to look up for things that can satisfy us in the short run, in terms of the pleasures, or money, or fame, or prestige, or other things that we always seek to accumulate in life. When we do not have them, we crave for these things, and when we already have them, we desire to have even more. It is hard for us to satisfy ourselves, especially when we live in a world filled with materialism and selfishness.

That is why we often seek to preserve our lives, trying to make ourselves looking as good and as youthful as possible, and we always tend to fear getting old, or losing money, or suffering from an illness, and of course, death itself. All these are caused by our unhealthy attachment to the many tempting matters of this world, which prevented us from seeing beyond the short-term fulfilment of our desires, towards the true fulfilment, that God alone can give us.

Ultimately, do we realise that it does not matter how much wealth we have accumulated and attained, and it does not matter how much power, glory and prestige we have gained, all these will not avail us on the day of our judgment? None of these will be with us, and they will not go along with us at the time when we leave our earthly existence. In the end, if we are too fixated on these, in expense of our faith, we will be left with nothing but regret.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why during this season of Lent, all of us are called to reflect on our lives and the choices we have made thus far, in how we have acted and lived our lives. Have we been spending too much focus and attention on attaining worldly and temporary satisfactions for ourselves? Do remember that none of these can give us true and lasting happiness, as only God alone can do that.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, during the remainder of this season of Lent, let us practice more of our charity and generosity towards our brothers and sisters in need. We are called to be more loving towards one another, to refocus our attention from ourselves and from our greed and worldly desires, towards the more noble goal of glorifying and loving God with all of our hearts.

May the Lord continue to be with us in our journey of faith. May He guide us along the right path that we will not fall into temptations and into sin. May we remain true and faithful to Him and devote ourselves ever more, day after day. May God bless us all. Amen.