Weekday Homily

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Sunday, 15 October 2017 : Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday through the readings we heard from the Sacred Scriptures we are brought to remember and to keep in mind of the love which God has for each and every one of us, and the generosity which He has shown us by the outpouring of His grace, by the guidance He has shown us, in leading us all on the right path towards Him.

For God is our Shepherd and Lord, He Who created us out of nothingness because of the great love He has for each and every one of us. Each one of us are like the sheep of the Lord, Who cares for us with tender care and love, and His guiding hands lead us on the right path towards Him. He will bless all those who are faithful to Him, and continue to love them forever. But all those who refuse to listen to Him and disregard Him, He will also reject.

For that is what we have heard in the Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus spoke of the parable of the king and his wedding banquet or feast. He has invited people to come to his feast, where the best food and drinks, the finest wines and meat are overflowing, in line with what we also heard in our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah as well as the Good Shepherd psalm. This feast is a representation of God’s love and grace for His people.

Yet, we heard how those guests refused to come to the banquet which the king had prepared for them. They ignored the servants of the king who were sent to them to inform them of the feast. Instead, they continued their daily businesses, doing their works and farms, and other sorts of occupations. Some of them even struck at the servants of the king, insulted them and killed some of them.

This was the behaviour of the people of Israel, to whom God had bestowed His favour and grace, as the people whom He first chose and called to be His own. Yet, they were easily distracted and tempted, and having forgotten about God, they turned into sin and fall into the darkness. They did not put the Lord as the priority in their lives, and instead, other idols became their priority, the idol of money, of worldly fame and glory, as well as many others.

That is why, all of us are called to turn away from our sins, and open wide our minds and hearts, that we may know what it is that the Lord wants us to do in our lives. But, we must also remember that whatever we have received from God, in His instructions and the truths He gave to us, we must make sure that we do not just listen to them superficially. Instead, we have to internalise the words and practice what we have been taught, actively in our respective lives.

Those who are willing to listen to the Lord, and walk in His ways will be granted the favour and grace from God, as God calls on all those who are still willing to follow Him. In the parable, the king sent his servants to call upon people on the streets and in the public places to fill up the banquet place, replacing all those who were originally invited and yet refused to come.

If we reject God, and refuse to obey Him, then even though God loves us, but because of our sins and rejection, it is we ourselves who have consciously rejected God’s love and spurned His offer of mercy and forgiveness. In the end, it was by our own actions that we have fallen into a state of condemnation. It is by our own choice that we have ended up falling into hell. We have to be consciously active in our faith to avoid this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is also what the Lord meant when He mentioned in the parable of the case where a man was present in the wedding banquet without a wedding garment. We should not interpret this literally as if we do so, we will end up missing on the true purpose of this parable, that is to remind us as the people of God in how we should live our lives.

That means, all of us must be properly ‘clothed’ in our entire being, and not just our appearances only. When we come to the Lord, we must have the right reasons and the right predispositions. When we come to the Holy Mass, many of us are complaining about those who are skimpily dressed and not properly attired for the celebration of the Mass in the House of God, and yet, while this is important to ensure the compliance of the faithful to follow the regulations and standards of the Church in this matter, but we cannot overlook the even more important need to ‘clothe’ ourselves in our minds and in our hearts.

Coming for the celebration of the Holy Mass and participating in our faith, which is represented in the parable as the wedding banquet of the king, is important. Yet, attending the celebration is just one part of the entire experience. Let us ask ourselves these questions to reorientate ourselves properly. Have we ever been impatient when we came for the Holy Mass, thinking that it was a waste of time, because either the priest’s homily was too long or boring according to us?

And have we thought that coming for the Holy Mass is a chore, because we have to take time off from our usual activities outside the Church, and we cannot wait to return to continue our daily habits? If we have been doing all these, then we need to evaluate and reflect in our hearts again, whether God is the first priority in our lives, or whether it is instead money, possessions, pleasures of the flesh, prestige, fame and all other sorts of distractions that have kept us from having true and genuine faith in God?

What then, can we do as Christians in order to be appropriately ‘clothed’ for the Lord? It is by deepening our relationship with Him through prayer and devotion, by allowing Him to enter our lives and to take charge of all of our actions and deeds. And when we allow God to take charge of our lives, we will realise and experience a great transformation, as God has promised us His blessings and graces, His rich endowment and gifts. He will transform us from people filled now with sin, to be a people of the light.

Let us all therefore pray, and pray fervently that we may be able, and that we may have the necessary courage to follow the Lord wholeheartedly in all that we say and do. Let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, and follow Him from now on with the full sincerity of our hearts. May the Lord continue to bless us and watch over us, as we continue to live this lives of ours, every single day. Amen.

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Saturday, 14 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callixtus I, Pope and Martyr (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 are given the messages of encouragement through the Scriptures, that as the followers and disciples of Christ, all of us will not be forgotten or be abandoned, but instead will receive the fullness of the fruits of everlasting joy and grace that will be the lot of those who have kept their faith in God.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard the words of God through His prophet giving strength and encouragement to the people of the kingdom of Judah, as it was possible that the prophet lived during the time of the exile, when the people of God were exiled from their homeland in distant Babylonia after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

At that time, it was a time of great humiliation, as the people of God had to endure scorn and shame as a conquered people, having their kingdom, their city and the holy Temple destroyed by the Babylonians under king Nebuchadnezzar. God had allowed their enemies to have power over them because the people of God had not been faithful, and they had been wayward in their lives, worshipping pagan idols and performing all sorts of acts that are wicked in the sight of God.

Therefore, God spoke through the prophet Joel, giving encouragement to His downtrodden and demoralised people, that if they would turn back to Him and to abandon their sinful ways, showing genuine regret and sorrow over their mistakes, then He would succour them and protect them, and He would bless them once again, He would be their God and they would be His people.

God is always faithful to His promises, to the Covenant which He had established with each and every one of us. To that extent, He gave us His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Mediator of the New Covenant, which He sealed by His sacrifice on the cross, through the outpouring of His Most Precious Blood and the offering of His own Most Precious Body as the perfect sacrifice for our reconciliation and as the atonement for our sins.

Yet, many of us failed to recognise this love which God has for us, and we ignored the care and love He has shown for us. We chose to walk on our own path, and disobeyed His laws and commandments, just as much as how the Israelites of the past had done. They had abandoned God and sinned before Him, and therefore, because of their sins and refusal to repent, they have been rejected and condemned.

In the Gospel today, Our Lord Jesus made it very clear to us, that all those who listened to the Word of God, will be blessed by God, and God will be with them. If only that we obey the Lord wholeheartedly, God will grant us all that we need, and provide for us every single moment of our lives. But it is indeed not easy to become a faithful disciple and follower of the Lord, for at every juncture in our lives, there will be temptations, challenges, and even persecution and oppression.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was what Pope St. Callixtus I, the saint whose feast we celebrate today, have experienced in his life. Pope St. Callixtus I lived during the time of the early Church, and became the Pope and leader of the Universal Church at a time when there were great persecutions against Christians and the Church, and when becoming a Christian or being known as Christians would equate a fate of great suffering and even martyrdom.

Pope St. Callixtus I encountered these difficulties throughout his life, having to endure exile, prison and torture from time to time, and as he led the Church as the Pope, he encountered even more troubles and challenges. Yet, he did not give up the fight, and continued to remain faithful to God despite the odds and challenges. He was faithful to God, and obeyed Him in all of His laws and commandments, showing a great example to the people of God entrusted under his care.

Although eventually Pope St. Callixtus I was martyred for his faith, yet, his examples, his courage and bravery, the devotion and faith which he had in the Lord continued to inspire many throughout the ages, who saw his examples and became believers in God. Therefore, all of us should also follow in their footsteps, walking faithfully just as our holy predecessors had done, living righteously and devoutly in God’s presence.

May the Lord through His holy saints and martyrs, their lives and dedications continue to inspire each and every one of us as Christians to live in accordance with God’s ways, and be obedient to Him in everything, despite the challenges and difficulties we are likely to face as part of our faith. May He empower us to live ever more closely related to Him in all the things we say and do. Amen.

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Friday, 13 October 2017 : 27th 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 Christians all of us are called to serve the Lord with our devotion and piety, with commitment to obey and follow the laws and commandments in our every actions and deeds. Otherwise, if we do not, we shall fall into the trap of sin and wickedness, and we will end up being condemned by God.

As the Lord Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today, that all those who are not with Him, are against Him, and all those who have walked away from Him and rejected Him, will be lost from Him and be condemned. That is because He is the One and only One focus which we should have in our lives, as the centre of our lives and the pinnacle of our human existence.

And through what we have heard in the Gospel today, the threat of evil spirits and possession by those spirits are truly very real. The devil is our great enemy, and he and his fellow fallen angels are out there, ready to strike against us mankind, and corrupt us into our downfall. And the devil and his allies find it the easiest for them to strike at those who are weak and defenceless, those whose spiritual defence are lacking.

Those who do not believe in God, doubted Him and worked against Him are those who are under the greatest risk of falling into the temptations of the devil, and the evil spirits came to possess them. And as the Lord mentioned, those who do not keep themselves vigilant against the attacks by the devil are at risk, because the devil shall bring forth even more evil spirits to strike at them, and they become even worse.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, appropriately, on this day we celebrate a very special occasion, that is the hundredth anniversary of the Last Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who had appeared to the three children at Fatima, Jacinta, Francesco and Lucia, every thirteenth day of the month beginning on the thirteenth of May 1917 and lasted until this day, a hundred years ago.

On this day, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the children for the last time, and she performed a great sign which was seen by many, when the sun seemed to dance around the sky, in a dazzling show of God’s miraculous wonders, known also as the Miracle of the Dancing Sun. And in that occasion, Our Lady of Fatima also mentioned how many sinners were still in need of God’s forgiveness, and that they needed to atone for their sins.

She said, “Let them offend the Lord no more, for He is already much offended.” This is a stark reminder of what we have just heard in the Gospel passage today, that those who do not obey the Lord and stand against Him will be rejected by God, because of their sins and disobedience. We may think that God is a loving and benevolent God, and that much is true, however, we often forget that, while God does not despise us the sinners, but He despises all the sins which we commit in our lives.

Through His mother, God has frequently called upon us mankind to return to Him, to repent and turn away from all of our sins and wickedness, to be forgiven and to be reconciled with Him, so that we will not suffer the fate of the devil and all those who rejected God, that is hell and eternal damnation. That is not what God wants for us, and it is not why He had created us, for He wants each and every one of us to be with Him, to be united with Him perfectly in love.

And how do we do this? It is by deepening our relationship with God, spending time with Him and putting Him as the priority in our lives. For many of us, God has been relegated to the second, third and even to the last place, and we have placed many of our worldly matters and concerns ahead of our love for God. That is why we allow the devil to come into our bodies, corrupting our minds and hearts.

Let us therefore strengthen our relationship with God through prayer and devotion, by allowing God to enter into our hearts and dwell within us, so that we may be strengthened in faith, and therefore, we may draw closer to God. Let us all ask also for the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, that she may always pray for us, and intercede for our sake, at all times, that all of us sinners may come to reconciliation with God.

May the Lord be with us always, and may through the loving care and intercession of His Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima, we may find the best and most direct path to Him, and be worthy to receive the eternal glory and life He promised to all of us His faithful ones. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures speaking to us about our relationship with God, and how we ought to proceed forward in that relationship. In the Gospel reading we heard the Lord Jesus telling the people about how our relationships and friendships work. A friend will care for us, if we look for them for help. And what we have in the Lord our God, is more than just a friend.

A friend will help out of his or her friendship and good relationship with us, or at the very least, in order for them to get rid of the annoyance of having us asking them for help. But God is so much more than that, and He is always ready to love us. Then, we go on to the next part of the Gospel passage, in which the Lord Jesus told the people about a father who will love his child, and definitely will not bring harm to the child because he loved the child so much.

And the child just needs to ask the father for anything that he or she needs, and he will happily give it to them. He will not give the child anything that is harmful. It is therefore in this manner that the love of God is described, for God is truly like our father. He is indeed, according to the Lord Jesus, our Father Who is in heaven. He created every single one of us, and being His creations, we are also His beloved children.

If God had not loved us and cared for us, He would not have created us in the first place. The very reason why we live, and why we take in breath every single minute, every single second, is because of God’s love and grace. But many of us often do not realise this, and we forgot about God as we live our lives. Instead, we often remember Him only when we need Him, when we have something we want. And when we do not get what we want, we ended up being angry at God.

But God has always loved us in His own way, and He has blessed us with many things in life. It is often that we desire things that we do not really need, but God knows exactly what it is that we need. Yet, do we thank Him for all that He has given us? Or have we been often like children who became angry at their parents for not giving us what we wanted, and throw tantrums?

Let us reflect on these questions, and think about what we mankind can do, and should be doing in our respective lives. We should draw closer to the Lord, and trust in Him, and obey His commandments and laws. In the first reading today, God reminded us of His love for us, that if we are faithful to Him, our names will be recorded in the Book of Life, and all of us will be considered worthy of the glory which He has prepared for all of His faithful ones.

It will certainly not be easy to do God’s will, particularly as we live in this world filled with temptations and many challenges, for those who keep God’s words and live in His ways. Yet, we must persevere through, as if we fall away from God’s path, the only path forward for us will be towards our downfall. We need just to ask, and God will help us along the way, for we are not alone in this struggle, as God is always with us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, that by our every actions, our every words and deeds, we will always glorify God, and walk righteously in His ways. May the Lord bless us always, and may He continue to protect us and guide us on the way towards His salvation. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, in the first reading, as was for the past two days, we heard the story from the Book of the prophet Jonah, as he was sent to the city and people of Nineveh, capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire. He relayed the Lord’s message to them, that the city and all its inhabitants will be destroyed because of their sins and wickedness.

But the entirety of the city, from the Assyrian king right down to the lowest slaves showed remorse and sincere repentance from their sins, because they feared the wrath of God, and they understood that if they were to turn away from their sins and repent, God might spare them from their fated destruction. They listened to the Lord and had a change of heart, and for that they were vindicated.

Yet, Jonah was angry at God for having forgiven the Assyrians and spared their city from destruction. He could not understand why God would be doing that, while he had gone into all the trouble to come to Nineveh to proclaim God’s wrath on the city. In his anger against God, he shut himself from God, and when a tree that had given him solace and protection died, he was again angry against God.

And this was where God pointed out to Jonah, that if he was so concerned for the life and fate of a single tree, then He as God, the God and Creator of all mankind, could not be not concerned of the fate of so many people under His care. The life of all mankind, all of His creations are important to Him, from the holiest ones to the ones with the greatest sins.

That is why the people of Nineveh were spared from destruction when they showed genuine remorse and repentance from their sins. Ultimately, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have to realise and understand that God does not hate the sinner, but instead He hates the sins that we, who are sinners, have committed. Ultimately, the anger of God is directed at us because of our sins, and not because He has issues with us as a person.

Therefore, all of us should remember that we are all called to a life of holiness, and if we have sinned, we must not be afraid to seek for God’s forgiveness. God is always ready to forgive us our sins and to be reconciled with us. He wants us to return to Him, but the question is, are we willing to be forgiven and do we want to reconcile with Him? It is often that we reject God’s offer of forgiveness and mercy, and decided to continue down our own path.

That is because God often has no place inside our hearts, filled with ego and selfishness, with pride and arrogance, with stubbornness and vanity. We often refuse to admit that we have been wrong, that by sin, we have been made to be imperfect and corrupted. And in our persistence, we continued and doubled down on the path of sin, and many of us therefore became separated from God.

What should we do, then, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is why we need to deepen our relationship with God, through a good and healthy, vibrant and active prayer life. We have to be in constant communication with God, that we may know what it is that He wants us to do, and we may be able to steer through the challenges of this life, even with difficulties and challenges that await us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we should follow the examples of the holy saint, whose feast we celebrate today. Today, we celebrate the feast of the holy Pope, Pope St. John XXIII, whose memory may still be fresh in the mind of some people, as he passed away just over five decades ago, remembered by his epithet, ‘The Good Pope’ and as the one who called, organised and opened the Second Vatican Council in the year 1962.

Pope St. John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in northern Italy, born of a poor farmer’s family. Although he was born poor, but he had a passion for learning, as well as great love for God. Naturally, his family being a poor, farmer family, would want him to continue the family legacy and become a farmer. But God had a different plan for young Angelo, and in his deep spiritual life and relationship with God, he heard God’s call, and eventually with the help and support of many, he became a priest.

And as he continued to rise in the Church hierarchy, becoming the Apostolic Delegate to Bulgaria, and then the Apostolic Delegate to Greece and Turkey, he remained humble and dedicated to the Lord, placing the Lord and His people ahead of everything else. He cared for the weak and for the poor, and worked hard to guide the people of God through difficult times, especially during the Second World War.

As Pope, Pope St. John XXIII remained dedicated as ever to the Lord, and he worked tirelessly to ensure that the faithful benefitted the most from the works of the Church, through evangelisation and reform in the Church. Pope St. John XXIII showed us all, that through a close and healthy relationship with God, all of us can gain plenty, and we can find our true purpose and vocation in life.

Let us all therefore pray, asking for the intercession of holy Pope St. John XXIII and the other holy men and women of God, that we may be strengthened in our faith by the Lord, and by deepening our relationship with Him, we may turn away from our sinful ways, and repenting sincerely from those wickedness we have committed, we may be forgiven from our sins, just as God had spared the people of Nineveh from destruction, and in the end, we may merit the glory of eternal life with God.

May God bless us all, and may He continue to guide us, and to remain with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the continuation of the discourse from the book of the prophet Jonah, in which today we are focused on the actions of prophet Jonah in Nineveh, when he carried out what the Lord had asked him to do, to proclaim the fated destruction of Nineveh because of their wickedness.

Almost immediately however, the entire city of Nineveh, from its king and all the way to its inhabitants, to the lowest among the slaves, all repented from their sins and showed great remorse for their wickedness, dressing up in sackcloth and ashes, the most visible outward sign of a penitent at that time. Knowing very well their sins and wickedness, they turned away from those before they were to face destruction.

And thus God spared the city of Nineveh, by not carrying out the destruction He had planned out for the city. The people of Nineveh could have ignored the Lord’s words and continued on with their daily business as usual, and they would end up being destroyed. Yet, as we heard, they sided with the Lord and placed themselves on His side.

In the Gospel today, we heard the Lord Jesus Who came to the house of Mary and Martha, the close friends and disciples of Jesus, who were also the sisters of Lazarus that the Lord resurrected from the dead. Mary and Martha welcomed the Lord, but each of them then acted differently. Mary listened attentively to the Lord while Martha was busy preparing the kitchen and ensuring a hospitable welcome for the Lord.

But in her busy activities, Martha forgot the one most important thing that she should have done, and that is to listen to the Lord, to His truths and teachings. She was too preoccupied and busy with her other concerns that she forgot about the Lord, while Mary placed her focus in the right place and time. Martha’s intention might be good, that she wanted to serve the Lord well, but in her hurry and business, she forgot the purpose of her intention.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us reflect on ourselves and our own lives, as we heard these readings from the Scriptures. Many of us Christians in fact have acted in the same way as Martha had done. We are often too preoccupied and too busy with our schedules that we ended up forgetting about God and our obligations to Him. We are distracted by all these worldly concerns that we end up distancing ourselves from Him.

Let us all no longer be hesitant, but clear our minds and put our priorities right. Let us not be distracted by all the sorts of temptations and pressures which are pulling us away from God. Let us remember that the devil and his fallen angels are always active and on the prowl, waiting for us to fall into their clutches, tempting us, pulling at us to abandon the Lord, by the loss of our faith.

May God empower each and everyone of us with faith, that our commitment and devotion to Him will be ever stronger day by day. May the Lord bless us all and remain with us, so that we will draw ever closer to Him, and become as dedicated as Mary, listening intently to the word of God, that we may know what is God’s will for us. Amen.

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Monday, 9 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the Sacred Scriptures in which we are challenged as Christians to be ever more ready and willing to devote our effort and works for the sake of those who are in need of our help. For ultimately our faith cannot be kept within us alone, but instead we must share this faith which we have, and make use of whatever blessings God had given us, for the good of each other.

In the first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah, of the time when God called Jonah to be the instrument of His will, to deliver the message to the people of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, that their city together with the entire inhabitants would be destroyed because of the great sins which the Assyrians had committed. But Jonah refused to obey God, and instead he tried to flee the Lord to a faraway land.

Jonah ran away because he was hesitant, and he was unwilling to do what the Lord had wanted him to do. Instead, he tried to do his own will, and fled to the faraway land on a ship. Yet, God reminded him in His own way, that no matter what he tried to do, if the Lord had willed something, His will shall be done. Thus, when the storm came upon the ship carrying Jonah, the shipmen had no choice but to throw him into the water, and a great whale took him in its belly for three days and nights before releasing him on the shore.

Eventually, Jonah continued on and did what the Lord had asked him to do, and as a result, through his warning of the doom awaiting the city and people of Nineveh, the whole city repented from their sins, from the king to the least among the slaves and inhabitants, and showed true and sincere remorse before God. And God stayed His hand, sparing the population of Nineveh and the city the destruction He had planned for them.

Had Jonah continued to refuse to obey the Lord, the city would not have turned away from its sins, and God’s punishment would still be carried out even though it might have gone unannounced. And many more people would have been damned because of the failure of one man to do what he could have done to avoid the catastrophic outcome. And it is a similar case which the Gospel passage today also presented us.

In the Gospel passage, we heard the familiar story of the Good Samaritan, a parable which the Lord Jesus spoke to the people, including the Pharisees, to show them that it was in doing what was pleasing to God, that a man is considered to be righteous, as exemplified in the person of the Good Samaritan. It will also be good if we can understand the nuances and the context of the story as told by Jesus, as we can then truly understand why the Lord Jesus came up with such a parable.

The Jewish people, especially the priests and the Pharisees often looked down on the Samaritans and criticised them as pagans. On the other hand, they looked on themselves as pious and holy, as those whom God had chosen out from the many nations to be His people, and they were fiercely proud about that fact. However, their pride and their stubbornness ended up becoming the sources of their downfall.

In the story that Jesus told the people, three people passed by the man on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was attacked by bandits and left to die on the road. The priest and the Levite passed by without stopping to help the poor man, who without any help would surely end up dead. Instead, it was a Samaritan passing by, who stopped and showed compassion on the man.

Jesus was not glorifying the Samaritan or chastising the Jewish priest or the Levite by the fact of their background and race. Rather, through the story, He chastised the inaction of the people who were supposed to be holy and pious, in their mind. Those people were perfectly capable of helping the man, and yet, they ignored him and walked past by. The Samaritan was praised because of his action, and the fact that he ignored the prejudices existing between the two peoples, that a Jew ought to have no interaction whatsoever with a Samaritan and vice versa.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these that we have heard today are reminders for us that as Christians we should not be idle or be lukewarm in our faith. We cannot be passive as Christians, or thinking selfishly only about our own salvation and not be concerned about others. Instead, we have to actively reach out to others, just as our Lord Jesus taught us to love our brethren, and commanded us just as He had commanded His disciples to preach the Good News to all the peoples.

Perhaps we should follow the examples of the holy saints whose feast we celebrate today. St. Denis and his companions were the holy martyrs of the Roman Empire’s persecution of Christians during the time of the Emperor Decius. He was the Bishop of Paris, and together with his companions in martyrdom, were arrested because of their Christian faith. As they refused to recant their faith and abandon the Lord, they were persecuted and tortured.

In the end, they were martyred by beheading. But miraculously, it was told that St. Denis continued to preach to the people around him after his head had been separated from his body. Many people were inspired by this action, a miracle of God that strengthened the hearts of the faithful and stirred the faith in many others who witnessed the miraculous spectacle. St. Denis preached for several more miles before he died.

Meanwhile, St. John Leonardi was a renowned priest and hardworking servant of God, who went out of his way to help educate the youths in his areas of work about the faith and spread the devotion to the Lord, through the dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the popular Forty Hours devotion to the Lord. Through the works of St. John Leonardi, many people were turned from their sins, and became righteous and worthy of God.

As we can see, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the servants of God must be active in their faith, and must be ready to stand up for the Lord whenever it is necessary. And as we heard today from the Scriptures, there are truly many opportunities around us in which we are able to do our part to contribute as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and walk in His ways.

Let us all therefore, heed the call of the Lord, and do our best in order to devote our time, effort and attention to those who need us. Let us all renew our commitment in faith to God, so that we will always be ever faithful to Him, and be zealous in how we live our lives just as the holy saints, St. Denis and his companions, and St. John Leonardi had lived theirs. May God bless us always. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 October 2017 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard the words of the Sacred Scriptures this Sunday, each and every one of us who gather together to give glory to God are reminded to lead a holy and good life, in accordance with what the Lord had taught us to do. We are called to be fruitful vines and bear rich and bountiful fruits for the Lord, and these fruits are the fruits of our faith.

In the first reading today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people through His prophet Isaiah. The Lord spoke of how His people were His beautiful and precious vine, grown in His own vineyard. The Lord blessed the vineyard and took good care of it, but it only resulted in barren vines and bad quality grapes. And the Lord unleashed His wrath on the useless and unproductive vineyard, destroying it.

In what we have heard from this passage, we see that the aim for all of us as Christians is to be bountiful and fruitful. This is also the same recurring theme which the Lord Jesus often used in His teachings and parables. If we do not bear fruits, it is because we are lukewarm in how we have lived our faith, and we have not been truly faithful in our ways. We have also perhaps been compromising in many aspects of our faith, to the point that it leads us to sin.

As the Lord Jesus mentioned in another of His parables, that good trees and vines should produce good fruits and seeds, while bad and rotten fruits come only from bad and rotten trees, those that were poorly taken care of and were riddled with diseases. Therefore if we do not make the effort to keep ourselves spiritually well, we will end up becoming corrupted and wicked.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus showed us how many of us ended up falling for this same problem, as He spoke to the people, using the parable of the evil vineyard tenants as a method to show them, the dangers of the worldly temptations of power, greed and human desires.

The tenants of the vineyard had been entrusted with the care of the vines and the grapes, tending the vineyard in the absence of the master. Yet, when the master of the vineyard sent his servants to claim the master’s due from the tenants, the tenants refused to obey and even persecuted and killed the servants.

And when the master of the vineyard sent his son to collect the due from the tenants, similarly they also refused to obey him, and instead, hatching wicked plots in their minds, they struck at him and killed him. This was what Jesus had told the people, which was in fact a premonition of His own suffering and death, as the son mentioned in the parable refers to none other than Jesus Himself, the Son of God.

In that parable, we can see how God performs His loving mercy towards His people. Even though the evil and wicked tenants have repeatedly refused to listen and to obey to the master’s wish, that is to fulfil their obligations to pay him what was due for him, but the master still continued to send more and more servants, until ultimately he sent them his own beloved son.

Similarly, even though we have sinned and not obeyed His laws and commandments, but God is always willing to bring us back to obedience and faith. That is why the Lord sent us many of His prophets and messengers, and last of all, His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who like the master’s son in the parable, was persecuted and put to death by those who rejected Him.

The Lord has always been willing to give us new chances, one after another. Yet, many of us continue to be stubborn and refused to listen to Him. We cling strongly to our greed, to our pride, our haughtiness and arrogance, to the point that we are unable to control ourselves and we spiral down the path of sin. Pride prevents us from recognising our defects and unworthiness before God, and thus the need for us to repent from our sins.

We have to remember that sin is the great disease of our souls. Even though we may seem to be healthy and without any problems from the outside, but sin corrupts and makes our entire being rotten and wicked. Sin is the cause of our downfall, which is our disobedience against God, and instead following the path that we prefer for ourselves, for our own selfish desires and wishes.

If we continue to sin, and walk down this path of rebellion, then that is when we become barren and unworthy in our faith lives. The fruits of our faith is love, compassion, hope, zeal, devotion and charity, and more, and all these are snuffed away by sin. Sin becomes a veil that prevents us from loving one another, and from showing genuine care and concern for our fellow brethren. And at the same time, it also dulls our senses, that we are no longer capable of distinguishing between deeds that are good from those that are bad.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us ask ourselves, do we want to be fruitful or barren vine? When the Lord comes, to claim all those who have been faithful to Him, thus bearing rich fruits, do we want to be counted among those whom He rejects because we have been found unworthy due to our rotten selves, through our sins and refusal to repent from our sinful ways?

Just as it is not an easy task to ensure that a grapevine or indeed any other crop to grow healthily from a mere seed or shoot, needing constant and long periods of care and attention, it will not be easy for us as Christians to live faithfully and to bear good quality of the fruits of our faith. Yet, if we choose the easier path out, offered by the devil who is constantly tempting us with worldly glories and temptations, then the outcome will be dire for us.

We need to learn to step out from our comfort zone, and nurture that seed of faith which the Lord had planted in each and every one of us. We need to do this by practicing our faith actively, through deeds and actions, and not just by words or formality alone. And that means, whenever we see anyone around us who are unloved, or even persecuted and in suffering, we should do our very best to help them, and to show compassion to them.

Let us all therefore, from now on, devote ourselves anew to God, and renew the commitment to live faithfully every single day of our lives, that we may grow ever more fruitful in our actions, based on our sincere and genuine faith in God. There will indeed be challenges, temptations and even opposition, but we cannot give up, for what is at stake is nothing less than the fate and salvation of our souls.

May the Lord continue to guide us on the path to His salvation and grace. May He empower each and every one of us to live as how the Lord wants us to be, and be ever more fruitful in this life, so that we will not follow the path of the wicked tenants, but instead, be loyal and good servants of our God. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 October 2017 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, part of our celebration of the Marian month of October, when the daily recitation of the rosary is highly encouraged as part of our devotion to God through His mother, Mary. And we remember today, this loving mother, whom the Lord had entrusted to us as our own mother, through the rosary which she had granted us and revealed to us, as the means to help to achieve our salvation.

The origins of this feast came about from the historical moment of a great battle that raged over four centuries ago, at the time of great danger to the Christian world and the faithful, when the forces of the enemies of the Church and the unbelievers were arrayed against it, attacking the Church both from within and without. The Church was divided and assailed by the heresies and divisions that threatened to destroy the faithful.

But the greatest threat then came from the forces of the mighty Ottoman Empire, which armies and ships had risen up against Christian nations and states, overpowering them one by one. Christendom at that time came under very great threat, the threat of destruction and martyrdom. Yet, at the same time, salvation came as the Christian forces gathered together and met the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Lepanto in the year 1571.

While the Ottoman fleet outnumbered the Christian fleet, but through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who apparently according to some eyewitnesses, made her apparition among the clouds with many other saints of God, the Ottoman forces were driven back and vanquished. And in thanksgiving for the great battle, which occurred on the seventh day of the month of October that year, the Pope then, Pope St. Pius V declared that day as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.

Before the battle, the Pope called for all of Christendom to pray the rosary, and led a rosary procession through the city of Rome himself. The great victory and triumph of the forces of the faithful at Lepanto was therefore commemorated on this day, also as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, in remembrance of the power of the holy rosary in calling upon the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary.

Now, back to our present day, there is still a great reason to celebrate this Feast of the Holy Rosary, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary herself. For there is always a great challenge and opposition facing the Church and all of us the faithful, by Satan our great enemy, and all of his forces of fallen angels and demons, arrayed against us. The devil is always active at work, trying to persuade, cajole, force and pressurise us to abandon our faith and commit sin instead, disobeying God’s laws and commandments.

Through the praying of the holy rosary, we reorientate ourselves to the Lord through the intercession of His Blessed Mother. The rosary is a great tool through which Mary desired to help all of us, whom God had entrusted to her as her own children. Surely, a mother who loves her children will not want any of them to be lost from her. For the price of sin is death and damnation in hell, as we are sundered forever from God’s grace and love.

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort once said that Mary is the surest, straightest and easiest path for us to reach out to God. And this cannot be further from the reality and the truth, as it is by imitating Mary that we will come closer to God, by following the examples of Mary, the mother of our God. Mary was faithful and obedient, and it was by the same obedience to God’s will that she accepted her role as the mother of God and Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The rosary when prayed with genuine devotion and faith is a constant reminder of the faith of Mary, through which she had devoted her entire life to the service of God. The rosary is the means through which mankind, fallen into sin, are able to climb their way back up to the light, from the darkness which had enveloped us through sin. And Mary is rightly feared by Satan and his allies, not just because of her great faith and commitment to God, her piety and holiness, but also because of the rosary.

Let us think of how many souls the devil has lost because of the rosary. Let us reflect on how many souls have gone to heaven instead of going to hell with the devil, just because they piously pray and recite the rosary prayers from their hearts, dedicating themselves to God through His mother Mary. Those who pray the rosary daily and with devotion, shall not fall into damnation, but instead go towards eternal life.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, if we do not yet have the habit of praying the rosary daily or at least regularly, let us begin praying it every day, especially during this month of October, the Marian month of the rosary. Let us all pray the rosary, believing that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will be able to find the surest and most straightforward path to our Lord, through her guidance.

May the Lord continue to bless us and guide each one of us, so that we may continue to draw closer and ever more towards His salvation. Let us pray, asking for the continued intercession from our Blessed Mother, that she will continue praying for the sake of us sinners, for the salvation of our souls, and through the rosary, may we find the way towards righteousness in God. Amen.

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Friday, 6 October 2017 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in the Scriptures today, all of us see the importance of faith in our lives. For there will always be the pressures and temptations for us to lose the faith or to resist the faith, falling into sin as the people of Israel had demonstrated in the past.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Baruch, the prophet recalled the sins which the people of Israel had committed in various occasions in the past, in disobeying the Law and commandments of God, worshipping the pagan idols and offering sacrifices to those idols. They have tested the patience of God and even persecuted the Lord’s messengers and prophets.

And all of these happened even though God had performed many miracles and mighty deeds before them, where all of them witnessed the great power of God. Beginning from the time of the Exodus when God freed His people from the slavery in Egypt, when God showed forth His might by sending ten great plagues to strike at the Egyptians, who eventually had no choice but to let the Israelites to go free.

When the Egyptians tried to reassert their control over the Israelites, the Lord delivered His people from their hands, making them walk through the Red Sea on dry land, while crushing the chariots and armies of the Egyptians to the bottom of the sea as He set the sea against them and buried them under the waves. Yet, despite all of these that God had done for His people, they ended up betraying Him, and even setting up a golden calf idol over them.

The people of Israel had seen many wonders and miraculous deeds done by the Lord. Yet, they turned their backs to Him, and acted with impunity in disobeying the laws and commandments God had given to them. They fell because in them, the roots of the faith were not firm or strong, and temptations of the world, the temptations of pleasure and human greed ended up making them to fall into sin.

Their hearts were closed against God’s words and truth, because they were blinded by worldliness, by those same temptations and prejudices I mentioned earlier. That was why even though the people in Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen all the wonders and miracles of the Lord Jesus, but they failed to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and the Lord long awaited by His people.

This is a reminder to all of us as Christians that we all need to be truly faithful in all of our deeds, in our every actions and words, so that in everything we will always declare the glory of God, and walk faithfully in His path. And perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of St. Bruno, the holy man whose feast we celebrate today. He is also known as St. Bruno of Cologne, the founder of the Carthusian religious order.

St. Bruno was a renowned educator of the faithful, as a philosopher and theologian who educated the future leaders of the Church, from Popes to Cardinals, to bishops and abbots. Yet, he remained humble, and refused the promotion to the episcopate as a bishop when the opportunity came, renouncing any ambitions or desires for self-gratification or advancement.

St. Bruno truly had a great and true faith in God, as he was dedicated to the reform in the Church, and in teaching the people of God the truth about Him. And by showing his faith through real action and commitment, he has inspired many others who followed in his footsteps, becoming good Christians in their own stead. This is why it is so important for us all as Christians to be role models in faith, so that we will be beacons of light for others, for our fellow brothers and sisters in faith to follow.

Otherwise, we may end up falling into the temptations of this world, and failing to sin. Let us do our best, following the examples of our holy predecessors in faith, so that in everything we say and do from now on, we will always bring greater glory to God. May God be with us all and may He always bless our endeavours. St. Bruno, holy man of God, pray for us all. Amen.