Weekday Homily

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Tuesday, 18 July 2017 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the continuation of yesterday’s passage from the Book of Exodus, in which we heard how Moses, the one whom God had chosen to lead His people out of Egypt, was born and was saved from death due to Pharaoh’s orders that all newborn boys of Israel must be killed. In this, God showed just how He guided His people and never stopped taking care of them, through the many deeds He had performed among His people.

And yet, many of His people continued to refuse to believe in Him, and even having doubts about Him, even when He had done all those amazing deeds for their very own sake. Take for example, how the Israelites responded to the Lord for having brought them out of the land of Egypt through mighty deeds and great plagues, with which He forced the Pharaoh to let His people go free from slavery. When He fed them with manna in the desert and gave them sweet and clear water to drink, they complained of not having enough food and water to be consumed.

They even said that they would rather suffer in slavery in Egypt but having enough food or drinks to be consumed. They would rather live as a slave rather than to die as a free man. But that is precisely because they had no faith in God, and their hearts were closed against God’s love and grace. He had given them so much, and yet, they spurned His love and even abandoned Him for pagan gods and idols, the most well-known one of which was their making of the golden calf just right after God brought them out of Egypt.

Eventually God punished all those who continued to rebel against Him and refused to repent from their unfaithfulness and stubbornness. However, God is ever loving and ever merciful. He would not stop loving us all, for after all, He created us all out of love, and He loved each and every one of us as His own beloved children. He gave them chances after chances, and opportunities after opportunities, and yet they still often doubted Him and rebelled against Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why Jesus our Lord was right to be angry in what we heard in the Gospel passage today, in which He rebuked the cities of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida for their stubbornness and lack of faith. In many occasions throughout the Gospels and surely in many others unrecorded in the Gospels, Jesus had performed many amazing miracles and taught the people living in those cities about God, but they had not turned themselves completely towards Him.

Many of them did not follow Him because they had genuine faith in Him, but instead because they were awed and wishing to benefit personally from what they saw as a Wonder-Maker, and as One Who can fulfil all that they wished and wanted. But this is not what the Lord Jesus wanted from them. He did not come to satisfy all their needs and wishes, but instead, to tell them the truth of what they need to do in order to attain salvation and liberation from their slavery to sin.

This is what each and every one of us must take heed of us well, because all of us are called to a true faith in God, in which we should live our lives filled with sincere and genuine devotion to the Lord. God is calling us to a real faith, and to turn ourselves fully and completely towards Him. If we have sinned and disobeyed Him, God wants us to be wholly converted and changed, that we ought to unbind the shackles of those sins that had burdened us all these while.

He has given us many opportunities and means through which we can accomplish this. God gave us His Son to be our Saviour, to be the Redeemer Who liberated us from our shackles. What we now need to do in our lives therefore, is for us to believe and not just believe superficially, but embody our faith through our actions and deeds. That means, we must strive that in all the things we say, in the things we do, we always make sure that we obey the Lord and walk in His ways.

God loves each and every one of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, but many of us are yet unaware of this fact, primarily because many of us are closing our hearts to Him, and did not allow Him to enter into our lives. We are too busy with our daily preoccupations and works for us to notice just how much God cares for each and every one of us. What we need to do, is for us to spend some time, every day, in quiet communication with God, spending time with Him, asking Him, what it is that He wants us to do in our life today, tomorrow, and hereafter.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all from now on renew our commitment to God, and be ever more sincere and true in our faith in Him, doing whatever it is that we can do in order to be more committed and closer to God. May the Lord help each and every one of us in our endeavours, and may He awaken in each one of us, a strong desire and love for the Lord. Amen.

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Monday, 17 July 2017 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the beginning of the tale of Israel in Egypt as told through the Book of Exodus. After we have completed the discourse from the Book of Genesis, about how God established His covenant with Abraham and his descendants, now we read about how Israel first thrived in Egypt and then they were persecuted by the Pharaoh, King of Egypt, who feared that the Israelites were becoming more powerful and thriving by the day.

Thus, the Pharaoh made them to be slave labours to build his cities and monuments, and he placed heavy works and burdens on their shoulders. He punished them heavily and even ordered for the extermination of all the newborn male children of the Hebrews, the people of Israel, as he hoped that through these means, he would be able to exterminate the entire people of Israel and got rid of the potential trouble they might bring to him and his kingdom.

But God was with His people, and He provided for them in their time of greatest need. Even though they were beset with troubles and the Pharaoh ordering all the newborn sons of the Israelites to be thrown into the Nile River, yet their numbers continued to increase and somehow God’s providence rescued His people. And that was also when He sent to His people, the promised deliverance through His servant, Moses, who was also thrown into the River Nile, and yet saved by the daughter of Pharaoh to become a Prince of Egypt.

This was what God has planned for His people, and nothing could undo His good works no matter how they tried to do so. The Pharaoh tried to destroy Israel and enslave them, but as we all know, God sent Moses to His people and to Pharaoh, and through ten great plagues and His other deeds, including opening the Red Sea and allowing His people in front of them, God saved His people from their slavery in Egypt and from their suffering.

Thus, this is a reminder of God’s love and faithfulness to His Covenant with us. All those who are faithful to God have nothing to fear, for God will reward them justly for their faith and dedication to Him. This is what we also heard in our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord reminded that His coming into this world would not herald immediate peace and harmony as some would otherwise be mistaken, thinking that God came to bring eternal peace and happiness, and no more suffering or sorrow would exist.

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, the reality is that, indeed God will do all that, but in time to come, at the time of His own choosing. As He came into this world bearing His truth, dispelling the lies and the falsehoods of the devil, it immediately and definitively attracting a serious reaction from the devil, the author of all those lies and falsehoods, with which he has seduced and tempted many in the world for long ages. Surely he will not just sit still allowing those whom he had seduced and tempted to be freed from his clutches.

No, indeed, the devil and all of his forces will be busy at work trying to prevent this from happening. And that is why as Jesus our Lord mentioned, there will be discord and trouble brewing all around us, if we choose to remain faithful to the Lord and walk in His ways. There will be temptation, opposition and challenges from even our loved ones and those whom we trusted, our friends, families and relatives. And there will be times when we really rather give up and surrender to whatever it is that the devil wants us to do, that is to sin and to disobey God.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, what we have heard from the Scriptures today, about God Who loves all of His people, and Who gave His tender mercy and compassion to them when they were in trouble and when they were suffering from persecution. He liberated them from their enslavement in Egypt and fulfilled His promises to them in His due time. This is what all of us need to think about and understand, how God loves us and how He will always be with us, no matter what happens.

Let us therefore spend some time to reflect and to think what are the things that we can do in our lives to be more devoted and committed to the Lord. Let us find a way for us to continue to devote our lives to God’s cause and to remain faithful to Him. Let us all help one another, especially if we see our brethren suffering for his faith, and do whatever we can do to help, so that eventually together, all of us may continue to walk in the path of God and receive salvation together as one faithful people. May God be with us always, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 16 July 2017 : Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, all of us gather together listening to the words of the Scriptures, which are indeed the Word of God, which in accordance with what we heard from the first reading taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. The Word of God has come into the world, and the Word had been sent from God to dwell among us, He Who is none other than Christ, Son of God and Word of God incarnate in flesh of Man.

The entire theme of this Sunday’s readings is about the growth of seeds and plants, in which the Word of God is likened to seeds that God planted in each and every one of us. In the Psalm, we sing to the glory of God, remembering how He nurtures the earth and cares for it. In the same manner, He nurtured us all and allow us to flourish in this world. But how about that seed, the Word of God which He planted inside each one of us?

In the Gospel passage today, we heard the well-known parable of the sower, in which Jesus our Lord spoke to His disciples about how the sower of the seeds sowed his seeds in various places, only for the seeds to end up in various end results. Some of the seeds ended up on the roadside, eaten up by the birds, while some others fell on a rocky soil, unable to grow because they were unable to establish their roots, and while some others fell among thistles and brambles, which choke the life out of the newly grown plants, and last of all, some fell on rich soil, where the seeds grew and bore in multiples of what had been planted.

The Lord Himself has explained the meaning of each of the segments of this parable, explaining to His disciples what they all need to do in order to blossom in their faith, allowing the Word of God to grow in them and to encompass them completely. However, it is also important for us all that we must heed its message, so that each and every one of us know how we ourselves should live in accordance with God’s will, and be able to flourish best in our faith.

First of all, we heard of the case where the seeds fell on the roadside and were eaten up by the birds of the sky. The Lord Jesus explained that this is the case when the devil came by and took the Word away from the people, who therefore did not believe because of that. It is a clear reminder for every one of us that we have a great adversary in the devil, the one who is always active, prowling about seeking to drag our souls into damnation. He is always active and continue to plot for the downfall of all mankind, God’s beloved creation.

We must be careful lest the devil comes to us and snatches from us the Word of God, because of all his lies and all the things that he tempted us with, pulling us away from the path to salvation and leading us into the path of ruin. He is always ever active seeking for those whose faith in the Lord are weak, and all those who do not have a good relationship with God, whose faith is superficial and lacking in strength.

How should we strengthen our faith in God then? It is by deepening our relationship with Him, through prayer and time which we spend with Him. We should not be too busy with ourselves and whatever it is that we are doing in life. It is often that we leave the Lord to the last priority in our lives, and as a result, we open ourselves to the devil to come into our hearts and snatch whatever it is that God had placed in us. We end up falling into sin and evil, because of our inability to strengthen that relationship we ought to have with God, and God is not at the centre of our lives.

This is related with what we then heard about the seeds that fell on the rocky ground, where they were able to grow quickly and yet, they were unable to form proper roots due to the rocky soil, and they ended up being scorched and destroyed from the lack of water and the intense heat. This is what happened when all of us are closing up ourselves to the Lord, because of what I had just mentioned, when we ended up being so busy with ourselves and our daily business, that we end up shoving God away from the centre of our lives.

Let us ask ourselves, how many of us find going to the Holy Mass to be tedious and as a chore? How many of us are always looking at our watches, wondering when the celebrant of the Mass will finish his long homily or when we will be able to leave the Mass to continue with our daily proceedings and business? How many of us grumble because we have to go to the church on Sundays and on certain Holy Days of Obligation?

If we do not prioritise God in our lives, and if we find serving and worshipping the Lord as a chore, that is exactly when we have the seeds spread by God landing on a rocky soil, on our souls, hearts and minds that are filled with so many distractions and other preoccupations that we do not allow the Word of God to take roots and grow deep inside each one of us. That is when we start to wander off, away from God’s salvation and into damnation, since the Word of God has no place in us and thus we also will have no place in God’s kingdom

Then, for the case when the seeds fell among the thistles and brambles, as the Lord Jesus explained to His disciples, were those who have accepted the word of God, and yet when challenges and troubles come, when the concerns of this world come, they ended up losing the faith and the Word of God was cast out from them, as they abandon God when they were unable to commit to Him wholeheartedly as they should have.

This is quite clear cut for us, as it is often that as Christians, we will encounter difficulties and challenges, when those who are around us, even from our friends and families, who do not agree with us and with what we believe in our faith in God. There will be difficulties, obstacles and even rejection, and there will be moments when we will stumble and be tempted to give up, to compromise our faith and to appease those who demand that we change our ways and abandon our faith.

It is our human nature for us all to think about ourselves first, and to preserve ourselves. And it is also our human nature for us to want to feel accepted by others, and that is why, many of us will be tempted to make compromises and to abandon tenets of our faith. That is when we falter, and when we fail in our faith. If we do not have the courage to stand up for our faith and continue to walk righteously before God, how then will God find us worthy of Him, if we are not capable of committing ourselves to Him?

There will be plenty of temptations awaiting us the faithful people of God, from the temptation of physical goods such as money, wealth and possession, that had indeed kept many of us occupied, in how we spent so much time in our career, trying to accumulate for ourselves all these worldly goods, or in order to achieve acclaim and worldly fame and glory. These are some of the common temptations that had caused so many among us to stumble in our way.

Rather, all of us as Christians are called to be like the case where the seeds fell onto rich soil, grew healthily and produce tremendous amounts of returns in the form of products, in many multiples, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold or even more than these. This is when all of us do not just receive the Word of God and remain passive, ignorant or lukewarm in our faith, but instead, we must embody what we believe in and be genuine with our faith.

This is how we provide a good soil for the Word of God to grow and blossom, by providing an environment filled with faith, hope and love. All of us are called to be true and living disciples of the Lord, filled with compassion and love for others, with mercy and forgiveness for our brethren who have caused us pain and suffering, those who have hurt us or hated us, and then also for us to be truly just and righteous in all of our ways and actions.

Just as farmers need to toil the soil, to provide ample amount of air in the soil, and as they also need to place animal droppings or chemical fertilisers on the soil in order to keep the plant healthy, in the same manner, our faith and the Word of God within us, the seeds of faith God has planted in us require us to commit ourselves to action that accentuates our faith and make what we believe no longer just mere words but also a reality.

That is how we make ourselves to be fruitful in the sight of the Lord, by devoting ourselves to do what He wants us to do, to walk in His path and to do what His will is for us. It is how we take what God had given to us, and then make it into a rich harvest, which the Lord will reap at the end, and seeing our great and bountiful faith, He shall bless us all with everlasting life and eternal glory.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower us all to live in accordance with His will, filled with joy knowing that because all that we have done, all the hard work and toiling we have given for the sake of the Lord, all of these are meant for the glorification of God, as what St. Paul in his Epistle in our second reading today mentioned. We await for the coming of the Lord, Who will come in His glory and reward all those who are faithful to Him. May He look favourably on our faith in Him, and bless all of our works. Amen.

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Saturday, 15 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, all of us are reminded yet again that we should not worry about our worldly affairs and about our personal concerns. In the first reading today, Jacob was about to die and join his ancestors, and he was buried in the land of Canaan. The sons of Jacob were worried that Joseph, whom they once had betrayed to the slavers and cast out to Egypt, would seek revenge upon them now that Jacob, their father was dead.

But Joseph dissuaded them from their fears and reaffirmed his forgiveness and mercy, which he had shown them, even though they had caused him much misery and sufferings. Joseph did not seek for vengeance, but instead, he trusted in the Lord, Who had helped him in his time of need and delivered him from the hand of his enemies and dangers. He forgave his brothers just as the Lord our God has also forgiven us all our sins.

In the Gospel today, we heard about how the Lord Jesus told His disciples that the truth will always be unveiled and revealed in its fullness, no matter how one sought to hide it from being uncovered or known. For we have to know, brethren, that the Lord our God knows everything that is inside our hearts and our minds. There is no way we can hide any thoughts or deeds from Him, no matter how well it is that we try to do so.

But at the same time, He also mentioned again that we all should not worry for what could destroy the body but could not harm the soul, and instead, we should fear the One Who is capable of destroying us body and soul. What does the Lord mean with this? He meant that all of us must not fear persecution and challenges, or be worried when even the whole world rose up against us. We should instead be worried if we are to leave behind the Lord for the safety of the world because we are concerned that we will lose everything if we are to go against the world.

No matter how powerful or fearsome the devil may appear to us, and how capable he is in harming us physically through his rule over the world, he has no power over us. All of us who have given ourselves to the Lord and who have been cleansed from our sins are no longer under the dominion of Satan, but God. God our Creator and Master has all the power over us, over our bodies, minds, hearts, and over all of our souls. He is the One Whom we have to fear, should we commit sin that taint our soul and make ourselves unworthy of Him.

And therefore remember this, brothers and sisters in Christ, that if we ignore the Lord, and commit what is wicked in our lives, in order to appease the world and to safeguard ourselves, what we will gain for ourselves will just be a temporary respite from our troubles, and whatever benefits we will receive, will just be temporary, as what they can give us is not true happiness or joy.

The devil is always working very hard in order to persuade us that the way of the Lord is more difficult and challenging, and that his path is an easier and better one, one that is able to satisfy us and fulfil what we need. Yet, let us remember that while the path shown by the devil seems to be easier, but it is in fact leading us to greater sorrow and suffering in the end. And the path of the Lord, while it may seem to be challenging and tough at first, but this path leads to eternal life and true happiness.

As the Lord had said, that what is the point for us to gain the whole world if it causes us to lose our souls to condemnation? And how much better it is indeed for us, even if we do not gain the approval of the world but we are able to gain the salvation for our souls and enjoy forever true happiness and joy which can be found in God alone? This is what all of us really need to think about and reflect on in our lives.

We should also heed the inspiring examples of St. Bonaventure, a renowned holy man and saint, who was a Franciscan religious, eventually becoming a bishop and a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church for his many contributions to the faithful and to the Church as a whole. St. Bonaventure was known well for his great devotion and faith in God, in his dedication to the Franciscans and his numerous works and publications that brought about great intellectual revolution in the Church.

St. Bonaventure did not have it easy though, as he faced opposition for his efforts and works both from within the Franciscans as well as from various other sources. Yet, despite all of these obstacles and challenges, he continued to strive through those difficulties and influenced many others who would also end up being known for their great theology and philosophical works, following the example of St. Bonaventure.

Through this example, all of us Christians should follow the footsteps of St. Bonaventure in his faithful dedication to the Lord despite all the challenges he encountered through his life and his works. Let us all remain strong in our commitment to God even if there may be great temptations for us to do otherwise. Let us never forget that God is ever faithful to His promises, and if we continue to cling on to Him despite the temptations to do otherwise, He will bless us and grant us His grace.

May the Lord awaken in our hearts a strong desire to love Him and to serve Him faithfully in all the things we say and do. May all of our actions bring glory to the Lord, and may our faith in Him continue to flourish despite the challenges we face in life. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 14 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard two reassurances, from two different accounts in the Sacred Scriptures, which God gave to His people, to His faithful ones, telling them not to worry for He would take care of everything, and all would be well since they were under His guidance. In the first reading, from the Book of Genesis we heard how God spoke to Jacob, the father of the nation of Israel, and then in the Gospel we heard about the moment when Jesus sent out His disciples ahead of Him to prepare His way.

In the first reading, Jacob was reassured by God to go to the land of Egypt, bringing his entire family and possessions from the land of Canaan to Egypt. At that time, he was surprised to hear the news that Joseph, one of his beloved sons was actually still alive in the land of Egypt, and not perished as he thought. His elder sons plotted against Joseph and sent him into slavery in Egypt, only for Joseph to be rescued by God and made Regent over all Egypt.

It must have been difficult for Jacob to leave behind his ancestral homeland, the land where Isaac, his father, Rebecca, his mother, and Abraham and Sarah, his grandparents had lived in for many years. But God was telling him not to worry, or be concerned, since He would guide him and his descendants, as He was always faithful to the covenant which He had established with Abraham, His servant, and which He renewed with Isaac, Jacob’s father, and then reaffirmed to Jacob himself.

And thus was Jacob reunited with his long-lost son, Joseph, by God’s love and providence. God reassured that He would be with them, and indeed, that was what the Lord had done. In the same manner, He also reassured His disciples in what we heard in our Gospel passage today. He reassured them that He would be with them no matter what happened, and if they would remain faithful, they would receive the fullness of God’s grace.
Yet, at the same time, we also heard that the Lord reminded His people of what they ought to expect should they choose to follow Him and walk in His ways. There would be strife, rejection, ridicule and even persecution, but we as those who believe in the Lord should not be disheartened or give up our faith in God. As we have just heard, God Himself will guide us on what we ought to do, and He will help us and protect us. He will show us the way to go forward.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, all of us should reflect on this, and ask ourselves honestly, whether we have completely placed our trust in God and walked faithfully in His path. Have we instead been burdened with worries and concerns, so much so that we ended up being blind to the love and care with which God had provided us?

It is often that we worry about our personal well-being, that we ended up turning to other means in order to preserve ourselves, and this often lead us astray from the Lord. But perhaps, we need to learn to trust in the Lord, and to remain strong in our faith, for let us all remember, that while the path of the Lord may seem to be difficult and challenging, but at the end of that path, is the eternal glory and joy which God promised to all of His faithful people.

Let us all also learn from the example of the holy saint, whose feast we celebrate on this day, namely St. Camillus de Lellis, a holy priest of God, who was renowned for his great piety and trust in the Lord. He was especially remembered for his many good works caring for the sick and for all those who suffered from difficulties and challenges in life.

St. Camillus de Lellis was renowned for his many charitable works and works of mercy in caring for all those who are in need of his assistance. He reached out to the sick and gave his care to them, and he even continued his work in a greater scale by gathering together people who were called to the same calling as his, establishing a religious order committed to the service of the poor and the sick.

What St. Camillus de Lellis had done in his life should be an inspiration to all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all called to do the same with our lives as well. For instance, rather than worrying and being overly concerned about our well-being in life, we should instead open our eyes and look at all those who are around us. It is often that as we worry about ourselves, we end up turning a blind eye towards all our brethren who are even less fortunate than us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be trusting in our relationship with God, and knowing that He will provide us all that we need, let us instead turn our efforts in order to assist all those who are indeed not so fortunate as us, all those suffering from illnesses and diseases, all those who are sorrowful in heart, and all those who are persecuted because of their faith in God.

Let us all give them our companionship, and let us comfort them with our presence, so that God may make His good and loving works evident through us, His people. May the Lord help us so that we will always grow stronger in our faith and devotion to Him, and may He continue to empower us all, so that we may grow ever closer to Him and be ever more worthy to receive His grace. Amen.

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Thursday, 13 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Henry (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how Joseph, the son of Jacob, then the Regent of all Egypt, was reunited with his brothers, who came to Egypt in order to buy grains and food for their family. They have once plotted against Joseph due to their jealousy and anger, and threw him into a well, before selling him off to the slavers who brought him to Egypt.

However, Joseph did not feel angry or resentful towards his brothers. Neither did he seek vengeance against them for what they had done. Instead, he returned their actions with love, revealing himself to them as their long lost brother, to their utter disbelief and shock. Thus was God’s will done, and the whole family of Jacob, the people of Israel were brought to Egypt and lived there in prosperity for a while, while Joseph was Regent over Egypt.

How is this related and relevant to what we heard in the Gospel passage today? We heard about how Jesus our Lord commissioned His disciples, sending them all to many places ahead of Him, to preach the Good News and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. They were reminded not to bring anything in excess of what they actually needed, which was truly basic needs such as clothing and sandals.

The disciples of the Lord were called to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, fulfilling what He had promised His people, their redemption, liberation and forgiveness from all the faults and mistakes which they have committed in the past, beginning with the first mankind, Adam and Eve, right down through the ages, through their descendants to all of us living in this world today.

This is what we have heard, which was in common between our Gospel and first reading passages today. The forgiveness and mercy which was shown to those who have committed mistakes and faults. Joseph showed his mercy, forgiveness, love and compassion on those who have wronged him, and similarly, our Lord has also shown His mercy and forgiveness to all of us who have disobeyed Him and desire to be reconciled with Him.

This is the message which He has sent His disciples out there for, sending them from towns to towns and from villages to villages in order to preach the Good News of God’s salvation, to invoke His mercy and compassion among His people. He called them all to be His representatives and workers, to bring many more souls to be saved in God. This is what the Lord has endeavoured to do, and what we all need to take note of.

Why is that so? That is because all of us are called to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles, to be the ones who continue the good works begun by the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, who have toiled and laboured to bring the Gospel to the people and calling them to repentance. And in our world today, there are still many souls who are in need of salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we should be inspired by the good examples of the holy saint, St. Henry, also known as Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor and a mighty ruler of Christendom who was however also known for his great magnanimity, compassion and care for the poor, the weak and the sick throughout his realms and domains.

St. Henry worked hard as a just and upright ruler, who placed his duties to his people ahead of his own personal desires and needs. And he was also a very active contributor to the Church by his many contributions to strengthening the Church throughout his realms. St. Henry established many churches and parishes, helping to build up a stable and strong foundation of the Church.

Now, let us ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ. If someone like Henry II, holy Emperor and Saint can do such good deeds with what God had blessed them with, despite what must have been tempting for him to use the power and glory for his own personal purposes, but he instead used them to glorify God and for the benefit of his fellow men, those who have been placed under his care.

Are we able to make the same commitment? Are we able to walk in the footsteps of our holy predecessors? This we can do for the good of ourselves and our fellow brethren, all those who are still wandering in the darkness and separated from God’s love and mercy. This is the time for us to ask ourselves, what it is that we can do as Christians to be part of God’s plan for our salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, focusing our efforts to help out in God’s mission of love and mercy, calling mankind to a new life, blessed by God and worthy of Him. May the Lord bless us all and our endeavours, and may He remain with us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard the story in the first reading which was taken from the Book of Genesis. In that passage, we heard about the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob known also as Israel, and Joseph was one of the twelve sons he had. The twelve sons of Israel would eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of God, whom later on He would call out of Egypt and bring to His Promised Land.

But today, we heard about the time long before all those events occurred, at the time when Joseph incurred the wrath and jealousy of his brothers because of his dreams and the preference shown unto him by his father, who lavished many gifts on him and his brother Benjamin, because they were born from his favourite and beloved wife in his old age. Thus, they plotted against him, threw him into a well, and sold him off to the Midianites who brought him to Egypt.

Joseph ended up in the land of Egypt as a slave, and he was wrongfully accused of sexual impropriety when the daughter of his master seduced him and Joseph refused her advances. But God did not forget about Joseph, the son of Israel, and instead, all of these has been in His plans and as part of His will all along. Joseph was sent before his brothers and his family to Egypt, because a great famine was coming into the world, and he was sent there to prepare the way for them and to ensure their survival and well-being in the years to come.

And thus, we came to what we heard in today’s passage, when the brothers of Joseph came to Egypt in order to buy food for themselves and their family, meeting Joseph whom God had made to be the great Regent of the entire Egypt, the second in command after the Pharaoh or King of Egypt himself. They did not recognise him at first and gave him homage in the manner as Joseph’s dreams had foretold it.

But Joseph did not return the malice and the evil deeds shown unto him during his youth by his brothers with vengeance and wrath. Instead, he still loved them and deeply cared for them all, even though it must indeed have been painful for him to suffer separation from his family and to endure the sufferings in slavery. He took good care of them and treated them well, even though he feigned to test them at the start, so that he might be able to see his brother Benjamin.

Eventually, the whole family of Joseph would be reunited, and Joseph would reunite with his father Jacob or Israel. The entire people of God would relocate to Egypt, until the time when the Lord rescued them and brought them out of slavery into the Promised Land. This is what we have heard in the passage today, and what we believed had happened with our forefathers in faith.

Then, in today’s Gospel, we heard about how Jesus our Lord called His twelve Apostles, the principal disciples whom He called to be those upon whom He entrusted His missions and good works among His people. The choosing of the number twelve among the disciples was symbolic, as the number twelve also represents the number of the sons of Israel, the tribes of Israel of which there are also twelve in number.

Through the Apostles, God showed His love and mercy for us all mankind, just as He had shown His mercy to His people, through the rejected son, Joseph, whom his brothers had betrayed and sold off to the slavers. Joseph had been ill-treated, and he has been rejected, and yet, through him, God made his people prosper in Egypt, and they were saved from their predicaments.

In the similar manner, Jesus the Son of God and Son of Man, has also been rejected by mankind, His brothers and sisters, as God made it so when He assumed the flesh of man and chose to be born of the Virgin, Blessed Mary His mother. He has become the rejected cornerstone, or keystone, cast away by the builders, as the Scriptures said. Yet, it was through Him that God had saved us all mankind, by the outpouring of His love through the cross.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what we have heard through all the readings, are the stories of how God brought salvation to His people, through His everlasting love for us. What all of us Christians need to do, is first for us to realise that we are the successors of the Apostles and to all that God had commanded them to do. Let us all therefore, now, do our best as Christians, in order to fulfil that obligation, that is for us to bring the Good News of God, the truth of His salvation and love to our brethren.

Let us all rededicate ourselves to the Lord, and renew our faith in Him with ever greater fervour and commitment, filled with zeal and hope, that in all we do, in all that we say and act, we will always bring glory to God and His Name. May the Lord, Who have shown us His love through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and by His loving sacrifice on the cross, bless us always with His love. Amen.

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Tuesday, 11 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard about the story of how Jacob struggled with God on his journey back towards the land of Canaan, after he had ended his exile in the land of his ancestors in Mesopotamia. And as he approached the land of Canaan, he heard how his brother Esau came towards him with many men and other people, and he was scared. That was why he sent his family and his servants in a separate group, fearing that his brother Esau was going to seek retribution against him.

What we heard in today’s story from the Book of Genesis is a continuation of what we have heard in the past few days on the story of Jacob and his family, the descendants of Abraham, the faithful servant of God. Jacob tricked Esau his elder brother, into surrendering his inheritance and seized his blessings from him. And thus, he was driven into a self-imposed exile, fleeing from the wrath of Esau for a while. God was with Jacob, and He guided him along the way.

But Jacob doubted, and in his fear, he fell into his own human frailties. That was when God came unto him, and struggled with him. Through that struggle, God reminded Jacob that with Him, nothing can go wrong, and with Him as his source of strength, he would have no need to fear. He is the source of all our hope and our strength. And still, we often doubted Him and did not believe Him.

This was shown in the Gospel passage which we heard today. The Gospel spoke of how Jesus our Lord was slandered by the Pharisees who accused Him of wrongdoing, spreading lies and untruths, charging that He cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. And yet, despite all of these charges and lies they had made about Jesus, all of them did not deter Him from continuing His work and ministry among the people, caring for the sick and healing them, and bringing joy to God’s people.

The Pharisees did all that they had done because they were jealous of the Lord’s popularity and ability to teach with true authority. They refused to believe in Him because they were too confident and proud to acknowledge that their ways and thoughts had been mistaken, and that the Lord Jesus was right and delivering the truth to them. They have enjoyed many privileges due to their position in the society, and they saw Jesus as a threat to all that they had enjoyed thus while.

Thus they hardened their hearts, and trusted in their own human intellect and strength, refusing to listen to the word of God speaking to them, through what they have heard and witnessed. Even though they had seen all the miracles that Jesus had done in their midst, they still did not believe and continued to resist Him and working against Him and His disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what can happen to us all as well. When we are in the moments of difficulty, it is often that we fear, just as Jacob had had fear in his heart and mind. And when we fear, because our faith and commitment to the Lord is not strong, we end up turning to alternative sources of comfort, that is putting our trust instead in our own human abilities and strengths, preferring to trust our own plans, desires and thoughts instead of discerning what it is that God wants from us.

Yet, we have to realise that God is always with us, no matter how difficult the situation can be. He is always ever faithful and He will not abandon us, for He is always guiding us through various means, even when we do not realise it. We need to learn to put our trust in God, no matter what happens. We should not be quick to abandon the Lord when we are so concerned about ourselves and our own safety, for if it is He Who created us, it is also therefore He Who reigns over us and no lasting harm will come to us.

Perhaps all of us should heed the example of the holy and renowned saint, whose feast day we celebrate on this day. St. Benedict the Abbot, also known as St. Benedict of Nursia is also known better as the founder of the Benedictine Order, one of the largest religious congregations in the world today, and also as the one who came up with the strict regulations of the Rule of St. Benedict, a standard by which many of the religious brothers and sisters lived their lives.

St. Benedict of Nursia was renowned for his deep devotion and piety to the Lord, by his many good works among the people of God, calling them to serve the Lord and to devote themselves with sincere dedication and commitment. St. Benedict of Nursia through his Rule of St. Benedict encouraged all, especially those who have chosen to dedicate themselves in a religious life, on how to live their lives in accordance with the will of God.

St. Benedict of Nursia emphasised before anything else, the importance of obedience and humility in one’s actions, and indeed it is these two virtues which are often lacking among us mankind these days. He emphasised the importance of doing good works and prayer in tandem with each other, in one of his golden rules, Ora et Labora, prayer and work hand in hand, as what all the faithful people of God should do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Benedict of Nursia and today’s Scripture readings reminded us that all of us as Christians are called to be faithful to the Lord, to put our trust in the Lord our God. And we can do this by deepening our relationship with Him, through constant prayer and communication with God, remembering Him in everything we do, in every moment we have in life and indeed, in every breath that we take.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us seek to serve the Lord with ever greater zeal and love. May the Lord bless us with an ever greater faith and devotion, so that we will draw ever closer to Him and thus be worthy to receive His everlasting grace and love. St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us all. Amen.

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Monday, 10 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the story of the Lord Jesus and how He healed the woman who had suffered from continuous bleeding for the past twelve years of her life. The Lord healed her because she believed in Him and in the power of healing which came from Him, and she went to great length in order to seek out that healing.

Then in the first reading today, God showed Himself to Jacob in a dream, showing him a vision of a great stairway to heaven, revealing His glory to him. He introduced Himself as the God of his fathers and forefathers, as the One Who had established a covenant with Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather. He reiterated the covenant which He had established with His servant Abraham, that He would bless him and his descendants forever, and would grant them the promise of the land in which he and his descendants were living in.

In this story, God showed His faithfulness and adherence to His covenant and promise which He had made with His faithful servant. In return, He wants us to also be faithful to the covenant, for all of us are the descendants of Abraham by faith. Jacob was touched by God’s love and kindness, and he promised that if God would bring him back to the land, he and his descendants will serve Him forever. Jacob was then fleeing the land because he has tricked Esau his brother, and stole his inheritance and blessing.

And if we read on the next part of the Book of Genesis, we can see how God guided Jacob through those difficult times, giving him not just many wealth and cattle, livestock and property, but also giving him a family and his many children, eventually guiding him back to the land of his forefathers and reuniting him with his father Isaac as well as his brother Esau.

Through these stories, all of us ought to realise just how much God loves each and every one of us. He is always ever faithful to us, even though we have often betrayed Him, wronged Him and left Him behind for other gods, idols and all the other distractions which kept us away from being able to be faithful to God. From time to time, He always seek to reconcile Himself with His people, calling them to repentance and to be forgiven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to realise that every one of us are afflicted with disease, the disease of our souls, and this is the disease of our sins. Even though all of us may be perfectly healthy in our physical beings, flesh and bodies, but sin has corrupted us, in our souls, hearts and minds, essentially our whole being. Sin is caused by our disobedience against God, and by our refusal to be faithful to His covenant with us.

And thus, that is why we suffer, brothers and sisters in Christ. We suffer as how the woman had suffered from her physical bleeding, filled with pain and sorrow. For us, it is a spiritual bleeding, the spiritual suffering caused by our sins, which led to a separation from God’s love and grace. But God is willing to welcome us back, and He did nothing less than giving Himself to us, making Himself available to us, through Jesus Christ, His Son.

He has touched many people, healing them from their afflictions, including that of the woman with bleeding problems. He has saved Jacob from his troubles and helped him to go through the difficult years of his life, and brought him back to his homeland with joy. In the same manner therefore, He has also endeavoured to heal us from the afflictions of our sins.

How did He do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? He has come into this world in order to save us, by nothing else than His sacrifice on the cross. He bore with Himself all of our afflictions, all of our sins and faults, and took them all up to the cross. As He hung from the cross, He showed us all the ultimate love and commitment which God had for us all, establishing a new Covenant of love with us.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, if our God has loved us so much, and has done so much for us mankind, then should we not indeed seek Him with all of our efforts and strength? Should we not spend our lives and effort to be reconciled with Him and to be forgiven for all of our sins which have caused us to be separated from Him? Let us be inspired by the example of the woman with the bleeding problem, whose faith in the Lord was so great that she tried her best to look for Him for healing, and indeed, she was healed because of her great faith.

Let us all go towards the Lord, our ever loving and merciful God, with a contrite heart and a sincere desire to be forgiven and to be healed from our sins and wickedness before it is too late for us. Let us not wait until the time of our death, which we will never ever know, before seeking God’s mercy, and then realising that it is already too late for us, and hellfire is our only future. May God continue to remind us of this fact, and may He forgive us our sins when we seek Him with genuine, contrite hearts. Amen.

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Sunday, 9 July 2017 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Bible Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we are reminded through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures of the great love which our God has for us, that He gave us the means to our salvation, that is none other than through our Lord Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son, through Whom He had brought salvation upon all of us mankind.

By His own will He has willingly sent us His own Son, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have received the perfect revelation of God’s truth and teachings, calling us to turn ourselves completely, body, heart, mind and soul towards Him and turning our back from the burdens and chains of our old selves, which had been enslaved to sin and wickedness, to disobedience and aberrations from the path of God. He wants to free us from our current state of suffering and sin.

In the second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome mentioned how all of the faithful ought to leave behind their existence in the flesh and embrace their new existence in the spirit. This is what all of us Christians are called to do, that is for us to abandon our past sinfulness and all the temptations and obstacles that had prevented us from truly being able to commit ourselves to God.

But what is the existence in the flesh? What does it mean and what is its significance for us? Existence of the flesh means that we mankind live in accordance to the desires of our flesh, succumbing to the demands of our human desires and wishes, by listening to the temptations of Satan instead of listening to the word of God calling us to righteousness.

It means that we succumb to the desires to sin, to covet what others have but we do not have, satisfying our greed for worldly goods and material wealth. To lust for others and to have improper sexual conduct outside of marriage, among many other things. It also means that we strive to gain the satisfaction of the flesh, amassing for ourselves the treasures of this world, often at the expense of our own souls.

We often bicker and become angry with one another, when we are engulfed and overcome by greed, and thus hatred become part of us. This is how many of our unfortunate human conflicts have sprung up in this world. We are never satisfied because what we seek are merely temporary happiness that can only satisfy us for a while, but then after that, cause us to be even more hungry and desiring for what we want.

This is the existence in the flesh, which all of us mankind are surely quite familiar with, as that is what we all grew up with. And this has become our burden, the burden which bears down upon us, the burden of sin. Yet, this is where the Lord comes, offering to us a different existence, that is existence in the Spirit, where we no longer obey the desires of our flesh and of worldly demands, but instead, we obey only the Lord, Who leads us and guides us to the true path.

That is what the Lord offered to us, a new path that leads not to ruin but instead to salvation and liberation, eternal joy and happiness, where all of us will be reconciled with God and receive forever the grace of His love. This is the new path that God pointed to us and showed us through Jesus, Who taught us of this truth. Yet, many of us mankind still refused to follow Him and obey Him, and many of us still closed our hearts against Him.

Why is that so? That is because we often prefer the easier path, and one that appears easier to us, is the path that is not the path shown by the Lord. It is the status quo, our existence in the flesh, which brings us temporary happiness, a ‘quick fix’ for us, a fleeting moment of joy and pleasure, but one which unfortunately do not last. Satan is always at work out there, trying to keep us in this state, tempting us to sin against God, offering us his false promises and showering us with worldly pleasures.

That is not, however, what the Lord told us. He clearly told His disciples, and therefore all of us, that His way is the true way, the way that leads to true joy and happiness. He said, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Indeed, this is the truth that Satan wants to keep away from us, by tempting us without ceasing and persecuting us, that we end up turning away from God and fall into sin.

Through this, all of us Christians must know that if we follow the Lord, walk in His path and obey Him, we will indeed not have an instant gratification and eternal joy right away, for there is indeed a burden which He imposed on us, none other than the burden of our crosses in life. All of us, Christians, who believe in the Lord Jesus and His salvation, are called to carry our crosses with us in our lives, and to follow the Lord with faith and obedience.

What is this cross we have, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the cross of love, the challenge for us all to love one another, and to show generosity and mercy to our fellow brethren, even towards all those who hate us and all who have brought upon us ridicule, persecution and suffering. It is easy for us to hate those who have hated us, but it is far more difficult for us to love those who hate us and persecute us. Yet, that is what the Lord called us to do and wanted us to do in our lives.

And we will indeed be rejected and ridiculed by others because of how we lived our lives in accordance with the will of God. For instance, while others desire to serve their own needs first and be selfish, all of us Christians are called to be selfless and to show our love to our brethren as much as we love ourselves. We are called to this way of life, this existence in the Spirit, just as the Lord had shown us how to do so.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we all able to devote ourselves to the Lord in this manner? Are we all able to walk in the path which He had shown us? Let us all no longer doubt or be hesitant, but instead, let us all seek the Lord with joy, just as the prophet Zechariah in our first reading urged the people to rejoice and to be filled with jubilation, at the coming of the Lord, Who will save His people and bring glory to His Name.

Let us all henceforth, from now on, put our complete trust in the Lord, and become His true disciples and followers. Let us all exorcise and cast away from ourselves all that is wicked, impure and unworthy of God. We do not have to do great things in order to do this, but we can begin from ourselves, from every small and little deeds we do in our daily lives, one at a time.

Let us all show love and compassion to each other, caring for those who are in need, showing forgiveness and tenderness to those who have wronged us, and praying for all those who hate us and who have persecuted us and caused us pain. Let us all be like the Lord, Who have shown us all how to love, and how to be more like Him, so that in the end, we may be found worthy of the Lord, and He will grant us His eternal rest, that we will be forever joyful in His presence.

May God bless us all, remain with us and strengthen our faith in us always. May all of us grow ever stronger in our devotion to Him, and grow ever more generous with our love and compassion. Amen.