Weekday Mass

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Tuesday, 28 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received today, we are all reminded that we are partakers of the same Covenant which our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour has formed and mediated for us, and which He has established and sealed through the breaking of His own Most Precious Body and the outpouring of His own Most Precious Blood, the Body and Blood of the Holy Lamb of God, the One Who takes away the sins of the whole world, of all mankind, past, present and future. And therefore, as we have been given this great gift from God, the outpouring and sharing of the most generous love of God, we should hence appreciate what the Lord has granted us and learn to obey Him wholeheartedly at all times, doing our best to walk in His Holy Presence and living our lives to the best of our abilities as faithful disciples and followers of God.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the discourse we have heard for the past few weeks from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard the author of the Epistle explaining to the intended audience, the Jewish community and people, likely both the believers among them and also those who have not yet believed in Christ, about the nature of the works of the Messiah, Who has offered Himself as a worthy sacrifice and offering to redeem all of us sinners. The context was that the requirement by the Law of God revealed to Moses obliged the people to offer sacrifices to the Lord regularly for the cleansing from their sins and debts, which they had to offer through the priests at the Temple and House of God.

And by the nature of those sacrificial offerings, they had to be offered regularly and periodically, as the offerings were animals and other earthly offerings that cannot be enough to be offered to atone for the multitudes of our innumerable sins. There is one and only one sacrifice and offering that is worthy and good enough for that purpose, and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus had offered for our sake. He has given freely the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the Immaculate, Perfect and Infinitely wonderful Body and Blood of the Paschal Lamb, the Divine Word Incarnate. There can be no greater offering than the offering of God made Man, God Who loves us all so much that He has willingly embraced us all with His most generous love and mercy, giving us all the assurance of hope and eternal life.

And because of this most wonderful and generous love of God, Christ has offered for us the one only necessary sacrifice and offering for the atonement of all of our multitudes of sins. There is no longer any need for us to bear the burden of sin, as long as we put ourselves, our lives and our faith in the Lord, and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, as we all should be doing. That is why the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews mentioned that the sacrifice and offerings which the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world has offered on the Altar of His Cross has nullified the need for the regular sacrifices and offerings at the Temple of God as prescribed by the old Law of God, and instead, everyone has been called to embrace God’s love and put their faith in Him.

In that same occasion, we also heard how the author mentioned that the Lord Jesus has obeyed His Father’s will perfectly, to do what He has been sent to do in this world, to show that if by our disobedience and disregard of God’s Law and will we have fallen into sin and destruction, the path to damnation and downfall, then by listening to God and obeying His will, all of us can be restored to grace and be reconciled with God, our most loving Father and Creator. We have been given the free will and the freedom to choose the path that we want to walk in our lives. If we choose to follow the Lord and obey Him, walking in the path that He has shown us, then He will guide us to the sure path towards everlasting life and eternity of happiness and joy with Him. But, if we choose to walk our own path, and allow the temptations of sin to mislead us into the wrong path, we may end up falling into eternal damnation and regret our choice later on.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the people told the Lord Jesus Who was busy teaching all of them that His mother and other family members were there waiting on Him. Then, the Lord immediately told all of them that all those who obey Him and the words and will of God are His mother, brothers and relatives. If we only read this remark from the face value and interpret it literally, then we may think that the Lord had been very rude towards His mother and relatives. However, what the Lord Jesus truly intended by mentioning those words was that everyone are welcome to come to Him and all are equally beloved to Him. There is no favouritism by the Lord, and it does not mean that one has privilege simply by being related to Him.

This is contrasted to the common attitude and actions of many people at the time, and even up to this day, where we tend to give special favours and treatment, over others who are not related to us. Meanwhile, the Lord gives this opportunity of reconciliation between us and Himself generously and equally regardless of our background and origin, and no one is to be excluded from the generous love of God, no matter what. And as we heard from our first reading today and discussed earlier, it was by the selfless and most loving sacrifice of Christ that we have been saved. That is why we are truly very fortunate to have received such great grace and opportunities from the Lord, and we have been reminded of this fact yet again today so that we will not squander these many opportunities and pathways that the Lord has offered generously, freely and willingly to us. It is now up to us to come to Him and to follow Him, to obey the Lord and His Law, to do what He has commanded us all to do.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, a renowned saint and man of God, a holy priest and theologian whose many works and contributions are still well-known even to this very day. St. Thomas Aquinas was born to a powerful noble and landed family in what is today part of Italy, where he was raised with excellent academic preparations and education, and his family definitely had wanted him to pursue a career in the world as was common for his family at the time. However, the young future St. Thomas Aquinas had a different calling, and he wanted to join religious life as a member of the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers. This was naturally opposed by his family, who attempted to stop him, and St. Thomas Aquinas even had to endure a year being imprisoned at that time, and he had to face seductions and efforts to dissuade him from pursuing religious life and calling.

But none of these eventually succeeded, and in the end, his family, especially his mother, Theodora, relented and allowed him to secretly escape his detention, after which St. Thomas Aquinas eventually went through the preparation and formation to become a member of the Dominicans. And as he went through his religious journey, he began working on many writings and works that would eventually be famous as theological masterpieces and compulsory reading materials for those studying theology centuries in the future, right up to the present day. While St. Thomas Aquinas was known to be relatively quiet as a person, but his understanding, appreciation and efforts in describing and explaining the Divine were truly legendary and amazing, and he dedicated the rest of his life to these theological pursuits and efforts, while ministering to the people of God around him with great love and dedication.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed and spent time discerning earlier on from the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and also from the discussion on the life, ministry and work of St. Thomas Aquinas, let us all therefore do our best in our own respective lives to live a most faithful, committed life to God, putting God at the centre of our lives, and focusing our attention on glorifying Him through our lives. Each and every one of us have been entrusted with the responsibility, mission and calling to carry out all that the Lord has entrusted to us, through the various opportunities He has provided to us. We should not squander these opportunities, and instead strive our best to commit ourselves with faith, and to remember always the great and most generous love that God has given us, and thus, commit ourselves to love Him with the same vigour and purpose.

May the Lord be with us all and may He empower each one of us to be the faithful bearers of His love, His truth and hope amongst our brethren in this world today. May each and every one of us continue to be strong and courageous in standing up for our faith, doing our best each day and at every moments to be good examplesand inspirations to everyone around us, much as St. Thomas Aquinas and many other saints had inspired us all through their exemplary lives and faith. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory, and may He continue to guide us in our journey in life towards Him, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 27 January 2025 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of an important core tenet of our Christian faith, that is we all believe in the salvation that has been given and reassured to us through Christ, the Son of God, Who has manifested the perfect love and compassion of God in the flesh, having been made incarnate in the flesh, through the means of His Mother, the Blessed, ever Virgin, Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Saviour of the whole world. And we are reminded through those passages from the Sacred Scriptures of the nature of the Sacrifice and Offering which Christ our Lord, our High Priest had offered on our behalf from the Altar of His Cross, as He willingly laid down His life in exchange for our own lives, so that by His suffering and death, He might bring us all into the assurance of eternal life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle to the Hebrews in which the author of this Epistle, widely considered to be St. Luke the Evangelist, spoke about the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour has offered at the moment of His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, the one and only singular offering and sacrifice needed for the salvation of the whole entire world, for the past, present and the future. And this is something that all of us as Christians believe in, that the Lord has suffered and died, offering His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood as the Lamb of God to atone for our many, innumerable sins and faults, and this perfect sacrifice is the only one that can redeem all of us, once and for all.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews directed these words to the Jewish people, both those who have believed in Christ and likely also those who have not believed in Him and were still unconvinced that Jesus was truly the Messiah sent by God. That was why the author spent a lot of time and effort explaining the actions that the Lord Jesus had done, in why He had to suffer and face persecutions, which were actually the fulfilment of everything that the prophets like Isaiah and many others had spoken about Him. At that time, many among the people of God held the popular belief that the Messiah would come to liberate all of them from the hands and dominion by their enemies, like the Romans and others such as the Herodian rulers. Thus, some Jewish people rejected the Lord because of how He has died and was crucified by the Romans.

Then, in addressing the role that the Lord Jesus has taken as the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of Sacrifice and at the same time also as the High Priest offering that perfect offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, by comparing to the practice according to the Law of God which required the people to constantly, repeatedly and regularly offering their sacrifices through the priests to God, the offering of animals and other forms of offerings and sacrifices, it was mentioned that Christ’s sacrifice is the one and only sacrifice that is necessary for all of us, for time immemorial, from the past, to the present and the future, right up to the end of time. It means that the sacrifices and offerings of the blood of animals and other forms of sacrifices at the Temple according to the old Law were no longer necessary.

At the same time, as this has been mentioned, I would also like to address the matter of how some who did not believe in our Christian faith and had been misguided by heretical and false beliefs in the past few centuries right up to this day had accused us Christians in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of offering the sacrifice of Christ again and again in the Holy Mass, which is also better known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is because it is a core tenet of our faith from the beginning of the Church, from the time of the Lord and His Apostles that the Mass as we all know it today, the Eucharist, the pinnacle of our worship of the Divine, is truly the same sacrifice that Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour, has offered at Calvary at the moment of His Passion, His suffering and death.

However, unlike the false accusations of those who had received the wrong idea and failed to understand the true purpose, significance and meaning of the Holy Mass, the Eucharist and the Lord’s one everlasting sacrifice, offering and Covenant sealed by His Blood and by the breaking of His Body on the Altar of the Cross, all of us as Christians must know and realise that our Christian faith is founded upon this belief that Christ has indeed died once and for all for us, but it is wrong to say that He is being offered again and again, or that the sacrifice is being repeated at every time the Holy Mass is celebrated. That is the result of false ideas, understanding and also even poor catechesis for some among us in the Church who may have believed in the same manner.

This is because just as the Lord’s sacrifice transcends time and space, redeems us all mankind, past, present and future all at once, therefore, just as the Lord Himself has commanded to His disciples ‘Do this in the memory of Me’, and by the authority that He has given to His Church and His Apostles, each and every time we celebrate the Eucharist in the Holy Mass, we are all brought into the mystery of the Lord’s same sacrifice two millennia ago at Calvary, and not a new sacrifice and offering that He makes again for us. It is this same ultimate sacrifice and gift of love that the Lord has presented to all of us through His Son, so that all of us may be saved through Him and everything that He has done out of love for us.

All these disagreements, accusations and disbeliefs, all were caused by none other than the devil himself, who is more than happy to see us all divided and attacking each other, in his constant efforts to lead us astray and to divide us all in the Church of God. This was exactly what the Lord said to the people and to those Pharisees who falsely accused Him of colluding with the evil ones to perform His ministry, works and miracles as we heard in our Gospel passage today. The accusations that He was facing was precisely the works and the efforts of the evil ones, who were no less united in their desire and efforts to see our downfall and destruction, while the people of God bickered and disagreed with one another because of their unbridled ego and pride.

This is a reminder for all of us not to give in to the temptations of pride and other temptations present around us, so that we do not end up falling into the wrong path in life, as those Pharisees and elders of the people had experienced, in their stubbornness to uphold their flawed and mistaken views and ideas thinking that they could not have been wrong in them. They shut the Lord out of their minds and hearts, and hardened them against Him. That is why we need to grow more in our humility and in our ability to trust in the Lord, focusing ourselves on Him and doing everything with the desire to glorify the Lord and not to satisfy our own desires and personal ambitions. As long as we keep this in mind and make the conscious effort to do so, we should be able to remain strong in out faith and commitment to God despite the many trials and challenges we may be facing in our journey.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Angela Merici, a renowned woman and holy servant of God who lived during the Renaissance era Europe, in the region of northern Italy today, where she was orphaned at a young age, and later on she went to commit herself to the Lord, rejecting the pursuits and offers from those men who were mesmerised by her great beauty. She even went to the extent of placing dirt on her face in order to discourage those suitors and all others who came to her seeking her beauty. She henceforth devoted herself to a life of prayer and contemplation, gathering together like-minded women committed to the upbringing, training and education of young women, many of whom at that time did not have proper guidance, upbringing and education, which made them to be often at the mercy of the society and the situation around them.

This was the beginning of what would become known as the Company of Saint Ursula, also more commonly and well known as the Ursuline sisters, which until today are well-known for their dedication to the educatiion of young girls and the proper upbringing of those whom had been placed under their care. All these became possible thanks to the dedication, the great efforts and works that St. Angela Merici had shown throughout her life, which inspired many other women in their desire to follow the Lord and to show the path to many others towards God and His salvation. Therefore, each and every one of us as Christians should also follow in the great examples of this great woman and saint, doing our best at each and every moments in our lives to reject the false glory and pleasures of the world, and instead seek the true joy and glory that can be found in Christ our Lord alone.

May the Lord our most loving God and Father continue to guide us all towards His Presence, and may He continue to strengthen and empower each and every one of us in our everyday living and journey that we may truly be the worthy disciples and followers of God, proclaiming His light and salvation to all the peoples of the whole world, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 January 2025 : Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday of the Word of God (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded through what we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures that we are all recipients of God’s great and wonderful love which He has manifested to us again and again throughout history, in how He has shown us all His faithfulness and commitment to the Covenant that He had made with each and every one of us, who are His beloved people and children. All of us are parts of the same Body of Christ, the Church of God, the people and flock that God had gathered together to be His one united flock and people, to be the ones to share in the glorious inheritance that He has promised to us, revealing to us all His most wonderful compassion and kindness, His ever enduring love that He has made evident through Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading this Sunday, we have heard from the Book of the prophet Nehemiah in which the account of the moment when the assembly of the Israelites gathered together in the ruins of Jerusalem, led by the prophet and priest Ezra, who was the contemporary of Nehemiah, at the time when the Israelites were allowed to return back to their homeland after many decades in exile in distant lands. The context of the event was that the disobedience of the Israelites, the sins of the predecessors and ancestors of those who were mentioned in today’s first reading passage, had led to the destruction of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the kingdoms of the people of God by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The people of Israel were scattered in distant lands away from their lands, while foreigners were settled in those lands that God had given to them and their ancestors.

But God has never abandoned or forgotten about His people, as He still loved them all and wanted to restore all of them to grace, despite their many sins, wickedness and disobedience. He did this through the Great King of Persia, Cyrus, who conquered Babylonia and issued an edict of emancipation and liberation to all the Israelites, freeing them from their bondage and allowing them to return once again back to their homeland. Not only that, but he also even authorised the rebuilding of the destroyed cities and towns and especially the Temple of God in Jerusalem, in a great show of compassion and tolerance to the people under his rule. Thus, the Israelites came back to Jerusalem and their homeland, led by the priest Ezra and the king’s scribe, Nehemiah.

It was therefore at that occasion Ezra proclaimed the Law of God and the words of the Scriptures to the assembly of the people of God who had finally returned to their homeland. The people were sorrowful and sad because of the many sins which they and their ancestors had committed against the Lord, which had caused their predicament in the first place, but as we heard, Ezra told them not to be sorrowful or mourn on that day, but instead to rejoice greatly because it was truly a joyful day and moment that the Lord had made, in continuing to provide for His people despite their sins and faults, their disobedience and wickedness, showing them His constant love and compassion, kindness and grace, restoring them to their lands and allowing them to rebuild their lives and cities.

Then, from our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians we heard of the words of the Apostle telling the people of God that they all belong to the same Body of Christ, the Church, and each and every one of them truly matters and are important. He exhorted them all using the analogy of the body and its many parts, and how each parts require one another to function properly and well, and therefore each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s people, are truly important in each and every one of our lives, efforts and for who we are, regardless of our status, background or wealth, our position, clout or any other things that we often differentiate ourselves with from each other. We must not think that we are better or more worthy than others, and let that bring about division and disunity among us.

Instead, what St. Paul the Apostle wanted to remind us all is that we have to strive to seek for unity amongst all of us Christians, and to do our best to work with one another, to support each other and the efforts of the Church in its many missions and works for the salvation of souls and for the benefit of everyone around us. We cannot and should not remain idle in our lives, and we have to do our best to work for the greater good of everyone, doing our part so that we may contribute our part to the mission and efforts of the Church. All of us share this mission which the Lord has entrusted to us His Church, and the responsibility is ours to do our part in reaching out to the world and living our lives worthily as Christians, at all times.

We must realise that the works of the Church are not limited just to those who are ordained, or members of the clergy and the religious orders. In fact, many of those who are laypeople have to contribute and be active part in the mission of the Church, as the Lord has given various, diverse gifts and talents, abilities and opportunities to each one of us, and we are entrusted with these different responsibilities, and we have to adapt as best as we can, to do our best in living our lives and carrying out our duties and responsibilities faithfully, be it as a member of the ordained, or those who have given themselves to consecrated and religious life, or those laypeople living in the world in their various capacities.

All of us are called to continue the Lord’s work of love and mercy among His people, which He has repeatedly shown us all as He had done with the Israelites in the past as we heard from the Book of the prophet Nehemiah earlier on. And He has reaffirmed that love in the greatest and ultimate way through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who is the fulfilment of everything that the prophets and the messengers of God had spoken to us, His people, as we heard in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist. The Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed that He was indeed the Messiah or the Saviour long awaited by the people of God, and through Him God would do great things to show His love for all of them.

This Sunday, the Church celebrates together the occasion of the Sunday of the Word of God, reminding ourselves that God Himself, His Divine Word, has become incarnate in the flesh and dwelled among us all, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. It is a reminder for all of us that God did not just make empty words or promises, but manifested His love, His kindness and compassion towards all of us through His incarnation, the sending of His Son into this world, to be born of His Mother, the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, to show us all the perfect love that He has always had for each and every one of us, and which we should appreciate and realise as we all carry on living our lives as Christians in our world today.

We are all called as Christians to be the faithful and worthy bearers of our faith in the Lord, to be truly missionary, evangelising and active in how we proclaim the truth and Good News of God to everyone around us. We cannot and should not be ignorant of this calling which we have received from the Lord, and we should always be ready and prepared to go forth, revealing the Word of God that we have received and shared to the whole world. It is what we are called to do on this Sunday of the Word of God, to proclaim the salvation of God to all the nations, and to be the shining beacons of His light and truth, helping many of our fellow brothers and sisters in their journey towards the Lord.

Let us all commit ourselves anew from now on, with a new commitment and spirit, to follow the Lord ever more wholeheartedly in all things. Let us show the ever enduring love and mercy, compassion and kindness which God has for us all, His beloved ones, even to the greatest of sinners among us. No one is truly excluded or barred from the love and mercy of God, and we should be the ones to bear witness to His love and kindness. May God be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 January 2025 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church marks the occasion of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, marking the moment when the once hostile and fervent anti-Christian young Jew and Pharisee named Saul turned over a new leaf completely in his life, becoming then the courageous defender of the Christian faith, changing his name into Paul as the sign of this conversion and embarking into a new life and mission blessed by God. And this day all of us are reminded not to give up hope in the Lord because in Him alone lies our salvation and hope, and He has generously showed us all His love and grace, His persistent care and compassion towards all of us, and His desire to be reunited with us. God has always called us all to holiness, and He provided us with the sure path through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading today, we heard the story of the conversion of St. Paul himself, highlighting to us the moment when as mentioned, Saul the Pharisee encountered the Lord and was converted to the true faith. Up to that moment Saul had always been a very energetic and fanatical Pharisee who had been very active in persecuting the early Christians, arresting many of them throughout Jerusalem, Judea and other regions, and he was also present at the time of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the very first martyr of the Church. Essentially he was a great enemy of the Church and the early Christian believers. And that mistaken zeal was what drove the young Saul to seek permission from the Jewish leaders to go to Damascus to continue rooting out the early Christians and persecuting them for their faith in the Lord.

But as we all know, God had a very different plan for Saul. As we heard from the account from the Acts of the Apostles, Saul had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself Who appeared to Him on the way to Damascus, and Who revealed Himself and His truth to the misguided and overzealous young man. It was thus the beginning of the conversion journey of Saul, who met Ananias, one of the Lord’s disciples who was in Damascus, and it was Ananias who baptised Saul and gave him the first teachings and truth of the Christian beliefs, opening the eyes of Saul to what the truth about Jesus Christ, the Saviour has brought into this world, which he and many other Pharisees, clouded by pride, greed and ego, and by falsehoods, refused to believe and ended up persecuting.

Saul therefore completely changed his ways, so much so that many people were astonished by the change, both those Pharisees who once persecuted Christians with him and also the persecuted Christians themselves. But Saul continued to grow in wisdom and power of the Lord through the Holy Spirit, and he took upon the new name of Paul to signify this conversion and change, much as how in the Scriptures, people had their names change to indicate significant events in their lives. From a great enemy and persecutor of Christians, St. Paul became the great champion of the Christian faith, dedicating and committing himself to the cause of the Lord, proclaiming the truth of God faithfully wherever he went, labouring hard for the Lord’s sake and enduring a lot of hardships and persecutions that he himself once inflicted upon the Christians.

The story of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle is truly a very amazing story of hope and change which all of us should be inspired by. The great examples shown by St. Paul the Apostle and his dedication to the Lord after having committed great mistakes and harm to the Church earlier in his life is one of the story of hope reminding us that there is no one excluded by the Lord and that each and every one of have the same opportunity and chance which God Himself has provided most generously to us because He wants us all to be saved and redeemed through Him, and no longer be lost because of our sins and disobedience against Him. If even a great sinner and someone who had once committed grievous sins and acts that endangered many of the early Christians like St. Paul could become a great servant of God and exemplary follower of the Lord, then who we are to say that we cannot do the same as well?

In our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in which He commanded all of them to go forth and spread throughout the world, proclaiming His Good News and salvation, all of which He has promised to us through the same Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. This commissioning took place after the Lord has suffered and died on His Cross, and then risen gloriously from death. It is the mission which the Lord has entrusted to all of us as His disciples, to be the bearers of the Good News of His triumphant victory over sin and death, over the chains of evil and the dominion of Satan, all those things that had prevented us from coming towards the Lord and His salvation, His grace and love.

Each and every one of us have been given such great grace from God and we should indeed be thankful for everything that He had done for us. He has loved us so dearly and patiently even when we have often rebelled against Him and disobeyed Him, resolving to forgive us all and continuing to open the path of redemption to all of us. That was what St. Paul had accepted, the generous offer of mercy and forgiveness, and he showed us all that all saints were sinners just like us too, but what matters is that they all changed their ways and abandoned their past sins, corruptions and all the things which had kept them from truly being able to live their lives faithfully as God’s holy servants and people. They cast aside the temptations and false pleasures of the world, putting their faith and trust fully in God, becoming great role models and inspirations for us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to commit ourselves henceforth to the Lord like how St. Paul and many other saints had done? Are we willing and able to reject the temptations of the evil one, all the pleasures and allures of worldly glory, ambition, corruptions and all the things that often distract us from the right path towards the Lord? God has given us all the freedom to choose our path in life, and we need to make the conscious effort to firmly reject all those that can bring us away into the path towards our downfall and destruction. This is why we should always put the Lord at the centre of everything that we believe in, and make Him to be the reason and the focus of everything that we say and do. We should not allow anything to keep us away from God and His truth, His love and Presence. Every one of us as sinners still have path path forward, and that is through God’s love, compassion and mercy.

Let us all continue to live our lives to the fullest in faith, committing ourselves each and every moments to walk ever down this path that God has shown us, and be the good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, the shining beacons of His truth, His Good News and love in this world. May the Lord be with us all and may He continue to help and guide us so that we may continue to be led towards Him and that we will not lose our paths and bearings in life, continuing to trust in God’s love and mercy, now and always, ever proclaiming that love and mercy to the whole world. Amen.

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Friday, 24 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the calling that each and every one of us have as Christians, that is as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord, Saviour and King, that we must always proclaim Him in all of our words, actions and deeds, in every interactions that we have with our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Each and every one of us as the members of the Church of God are partakers of the Covenant which God has made with us all through His Son, and we are the ones to be His witnesses and missionaries to the people of every nations, to all those whom we encounter in our lives each day. We are all called to be the role models and inspirations for one another in faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we continue to hear again the focus and emphasis by the author of this Epistle on the role that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and mankind had taken in the fulfilment of everything that God has promised to us. The author emphasised in the parts of the Epistle that we heard today on the New and Eternal Covenant which God has made with His people, mediated by none other than His own Beloved Son, sent into the world to be the Mediator of this New Covenant. Through Christ, our Lord and Saviour, God sealed and established this firm and everlasting promise, and guaranteed for all those who have faithfully committed themselves to His path, the fullness of His grace, love and blessings.

This Covenant is one that surpasses all the other prior covenants and contracts between God and His people. While the previous covenants had been broken and had to be constantly renewed because of the disobedience of God’s people, symbolised and shown by the frequent regular offerings of sin offerings and sacrifices at the Temple of God, the One, True and Eternal Covenant which the Lord has brought upon us and sealed with none other than His own Precious Blood, through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, by which He has established and made firm this Covenant, which is not just merely an empty promise or assurance without fulfilment. God Himself showed His faithfulness through action, and the Cross of Christ, with our Lord shown hanging on it, is a constant reminder of the price that our Lord has paid for us.

This is something which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wanted to highlight to the Jewish community, many of whom have not yet believed in the Lord and refused to listen to His truth, or doubt the authenticity of His teachings and works, as through Christ, there is no more need for anymore sacrifices and offerings, all which have been replaced by the one sacrifice that Christ has made on our behalf, to atone for all the multitudes of our many and innumerable sins and faults, once and for all. This was also an explanation of the sufferings which the Lord had endured on His Cross, which to those who did not understand the significance, might seem like a defeat or humiliation. On the contrary, it was through this suffering and death that the Lord has established His New and Eternal Covenant.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the account of the Lord calling His disciples, those twelve principal followers He had chosen, was highlighted to us. Through these disciples, the Lord extended His works and ministry, sending them all out on missions to proclaim His Good News, to heal the sick and to carry out the works that He Himself wanted to do among us. And this is also a reminder for all of us that as Christians, we are all also expected to be the ones to deliver this truth and Good News to everyone around us. Through us and our faithful witnesses, our testimony of faith we may lead more and more people into this Covenant that God has made with us all, and which He has offered freely and generously by His love.

Each and every one of us as Christians must always be active in proclaiming the Good News of God, not only through words but also through actions. It means that in each and every moments of our lives, even in the smallest of things that we say and do, and even in the seemingly least significant things, we should always strive to live worthily as those who believe in the Lord, to be exemplary in all of our actions and interactions with one another. God has indeed made His everlasting Covenant with us, but many still remain unaware of this Covenant and the love that God has for us all. And it is truly up to us all as Christians, as the disciples and followers of the Lord to be the ones to proclaim this truth and salvation to all.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, one of the renowned saints of the Church, a great and holy bishop who was dedicated in his mission and service to God and to the people of God. He was someone who was truly missionary in his life, works and ministry, approaching others with gentleness and love, and not with coercion and force. He was involved deeply in the efforts of Counter-Reformation where his efforts and hard work brought back many thousands, tens of thousands and more back to the true faith in God. He did not do so by being forceful or haughty and assertive, but rather through genuine discussion, journeying with one another and engaging in dialogue. And even with these, he still faced a lot of struggles and opposition from those who refused to listen to him and the truth of God.

St. Francis de Sales ministered to the people of God throughout the areas affected by the Protestant reformation, and eventually became the Bishop of Geneva in what is today Switzerland, which at that time was greatly affected by the reformation. He continued to minister to the faithful and also to everyone who refused to believe in the Catholic truth and faith. At the same time he continued to inspire many through his preaching and great personal holiness and piety. He was well-known for his words, ‘Those who preached with love, preached effectively’, showing great love and care for everyone whom he encountered throughout his missions and works, all the way to the end of his life after many years being spent in ministry to the people of God and glorifying God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best to follow the good examples showed to us by St. Francis de Sales and ultimately, by the Lord Himself. Through their love and compassionate care, they have become great inspiration and role model for all of us as Christians, in how we all should devote ourselves to the Lord and in how we should act in doing God’s will at all times. Let us all as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, be filled with the courage and strong desire to love the Lord and to commit ourselves to Him, to be the shining beacons of God’s love, truth and Good News to everyone around us. May God bless each one of us, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from our Scripture passages today, today as we all heard again from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures and we continue on the discourse about the identity of Jesus Christ as the High Priest of all and the Son of God, all the miracles and wonders that He has performed among the people, we are all reminded about Who it is that we believe in, in our faith and belief as Christians so that we all may know how we may share about Him to all others whom we encounter in our respective daily lives. If we do not even know the Lord, or understand His role and mission in what He had done for our sake, then how can we be effective and good missionaries and evangelisers in our world today?

In our first reading today, we continue to hear from the Epistle to the Hebrews the discourse about the truth and identity of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world and the Messiah which the Jewish people had long awaited for. If yesterday we heard the author speaking about Melchizedek and his connections and associations to Christ, then today we again explore the role of Jesus Christ our Lord as our One, True and Eternal High Priest, as the One through Whom all of us have received the assurance of salvation because He has broken the chains and dominion of sin and death that once had control over all of us. This was particularly directed to the Jewish people in order to explain to them why there was no more need for them to offer sacrifices anymore as they had been mandated by the Law.

The author explained that all the sacrifices which the people had offered up to that time were all temporary and reflections of the one true Sacrifice and Offering which the Lord Jesus, as the High Priest offered once and for all for everyone. It was also highlighted how the High Priest and the other priests had to offer sacrifices in atonement for their own sins first before offering the sacrifice for the people, and they also offered the sacrifices and blood of lambs, goats and others that could not atone for the multitudes of sins of so many. And in contrast, Jesus Christ, the One, True and Eternal High Priest had no need to offer sacrifices for Himself because He Himself is without any sin or blemish, perfect in all things beyond comparison.

More importantly, what He offered was none other than His own Self, His own Most Precious Body and Blood as the Son of God and Son of Man, as well as the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, offered as the only worthy offering worth all of the multitudes of the innumerable sins, faults and mistakes of all mankind from the very beginning of time, from the time of Adam and Eve right up to the very end of time. His incarnation into this world made possible the perfection of God and His Divinity to transcend our human nature and make Himself that perfect offering and sacrifice on our behalf. And the Lord Jesus truly did suffer most grievously for our sake, as He willingly bore the great and unimaginable weight of the Cross upon His shoulder, and as the scourges were brought upon Him, nails piercing through His Body, broken and His Blood outpoured for us.

As the perfect and most unblemished sacrifice, Our Lord as the Lamb of God offered for us all His own Most Precious Body and Blood for our salvation, and He did it once and for all on Calvary, on His Cross, which is the Altar of His Sacrifice. And by His great grace, He has also extended this same Sacrifice to each and every one of us through the authority and power that He has given to His Church through His disciples. It is one of the core tenets of our Christian faith that we believe in the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, the dogma on Transubstantiation. What we all believe is that during each and every celebrations of the Holy Mass, more appropriately known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the same Sacrifice of Our Lord at Calvary, our One, True and Eternal High Priest has been brought to us, transcending time and space.

Each and every one of our priests have all received this same power and authority, that at the moment of the Consecration of the bread and wine, those are turned completely and utterly into the substance and essence of the Lord, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world. That is what we all believe in, and we truly believe in the Lord our God Who has manifested Himself in the flesh, so that He could be with us, making Himself approachable and reachable by us, no longer separated by the veil and chasm of sin and death. This is what we have heard in our Gospel passage today as well, as we heard how the Lord has gone among His people, ministering to them, healing their sick and casting out evil spirits from those who have been afflicted, among other things that He had done.

All these showed us once again of the most generous and wonderful love of God made clear and tangible for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. As Christians, it is therefore very important that we must always be grateful of everything that God has done for us, in all the sufferings and the sacrifices He had made for our sake. It is sad to know that quite a few Christians do not truly recognise and appreciate the Lord for what He had done for us, when as our Gospel passage today mentioned, that even evil spirits proclaimed Him as the Holy One of God. Have we made the Lord to be the very centre and focus of our lives? Or have we instead allowed the many temptations around us, our many pursuits for power and glory to distract us away from God and His salvation?

Let us all remind ourselves of these things as we continue to move forward in life, making good use of the time and opportunities which have been presented to us. Let us no longer take God’s love for granted, but do our best from now on to do His will wholeheartedly, to love Him with all of our might and strength from now on, as we all should do. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bestow His blessings and love on us, so that we may also be truly loving in all of our words, actions and deeds. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to put our faith and trust in the Lord, to open ourselves, our mind and heart to His truth and love, and not to allow our pride, ego and stubbornness to prevent ourselves from following Him wholeheartedly. The Lord has shown us all His most generous love which He has manifested through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and each and every one of us should therefore strive to live lives that are truly worthy of Him, giving Him thanks for all that He has done for us, in blessing and forgiving us, ever enduring in His love for us despite us having often disobeyed Him and refusing to follow Him or listen to Him. He has blessed us all through His Son, and we ought to live our lives then as the worthy bearers of the truth and love that Our Lord Himself has revealed to us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle to the Hebrews the account of the author of this Epistle, which many biblical scholars and historians attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist, directed to the Jewish community and population, especially to those who have accepted and embraced Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. For at that time, there were many different opinions and beliefs among the Jewish people on Who this Jesus Christ was. On one extreme, there were those Jewish people who rejected the Lord completely, like many among the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests who viewed the Lord as a False Messiah and even a dangerous blasphemer and sinner because of His teachings and works, and for Him claiming to be the Son of God, some of which were shown in our Gospel passage today about the Lord healing a paralysed man.

On the other extreme, of course there were also those who have fully accepted and embraced the fullness of truth about this person of Jesus Christ, how He is not just a mere Man or Prophet sent by God, but that He is indeed the Son of God, the Divine Word of God made manifested and incarnate in the flesh before us all, conceived and born into this world through His mother Mary. And there were those Jewish people who were receptive to the teachings of Christ but they were still ambivalent, indecisive and unsure about how much or what they would believe in Him. Therefore, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews went on through these series of discourses, discussions and teachings to help them to understand the truth of this Saviour Whom God had sent into their midst, as we all have heard in the past two weeks or so in our weekday readings.

In today’s discourse, the mention of Melchizedek, the King of Salem was a significant one because the person of Melchizedek himself in the Scriptures and in history was a mystery and is still debated till this day on who this Melchizedek truly was. It is precisely just like how the Lord Jesus Himself and His truth and identity were widely debated and discussed among the Jewish people both during and after the period of His ministry and works in their midst. For Melchizedek, him being the King of Salem highlighted his place as the High Priest of God offering the sacrifices and offerings to God at Salem, which name suggests connection to Jerusalem, which is the place that the Lord Himself would offer the ultimate sacrifice and offering through His suffering and death on the Cross.

Therefore, this mention of Melchizedek served to highlight the important role that Jesus Christ, as the Saviour had to do in order to save all mankind, just as the prophets had also predicted and prophesied about it. Some among the Jewish people then likely did not understand why the Messiah had to suffer and in fact even die in such a humiliating and painful way, betrayed and rejected by many of the leaders of His own people. Melchizedek here was seen as an archetype and even as a possible manifestation of Christ before the time that was appointed for Him to come into this world, to reveal part of what God intended to do with us, in saving all of us His beloved ones from certain destruction. The mention that Melchizedek was one without a parent, was also yet another reference to Christ, Who was conceived without any human intervention and by the power of God alone.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Vincent the Deacon, a holy man of God and a renowned martyr whose life and examples, dedication to God and martyrdom can inspire us all in how we ought to live our lives as Christians. St. Vincent the Deacon was born in the region of Zaragoza in what is today Spain, also then known by its original name of Caesaraugusta, which made this saint to be also known as St. Vincent of Zaragoza. He was eventually ordained as a deacon by his local bishop, Bishop Valerius who needed St. Vincent’s help as a spokesperson due to his speech impediment issue. And during that time, Christians and the Church was being heavily persecuted by the Roman state under the Emperor Diocletian.

When St. Vincent and his bishop were both arrested and brought before the Roman magistrate, and offered release and safety, comfort and good life if they were to abandon their faith in God and consign their Holy Scriptures to the fire, St. Vincent and his bishop courageously refused this offer and mentioned bravely that nothing that could be done to change their mind or to persuade, coerce or force them to do otherwise, as they would remain firmly attached to the Lord and their faith in Him. This remarked angered the Roman magistrate so much that he inflicted all sorts of torture and pain on the man of God until St. Vincent was eventually martyred, but remaining firm in his faith in God to the very end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard earlier on from the discourses and discussions from the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Gospel about the healing of the paralysed man, and from the courageous faith and life of St. Vincent the Deacon, all of us are reminded that as Christians we may often have to face a lot of disagreements, hardships, and even persecutions and oppressions for our faith in God. But we should not allow these to discourage us from being faithful to the Lord and to follow Him. After all, we must first remember what the Lord Himself has done for us, and the sufferings and hardships He Himself had suffered and endured for us in His Passion and death. When we suffer, we all suffer together with Christ, and we are all united to His death and ultimately to His glorious Resurrection.

If we continue to have strong and enduring faith in God, we will surely not be disappointed and we will receive the fullness of God’s blessings and grace, and be truly worthy of the salvation which He has promised and reassured us all. Let us all therefore renew our faith and commitment to live our lives worthily of the Lord from now on, doing our very best to be the good examples and inspiration to everyone around us, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Scriptures, we are all reminded and reassured of the constant and ever enduring love of God which He has always shown us throughout time and history, and which He has again and again renewed through His many promises made to us through His own words and through the prophets. And all these promises were not just mere empty words, as they all had been formalised and made complete, fulfilled and accomplished through none other than Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world, Who has come into our midst to reveal to us the fullness of God’s love and grace, His mercy and kindness made tangible and real, approachable to us all.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews we heard of the reminders from the author directed to the Jewish community and people of everything that the Lord their God has promised and reassured to them again and again throughout history, referring to the promises of the Covenant He had made with Abraham and others among His servants and people, and how it was the perseverance shown by Abraham and those who are faithful to the Lord which has earned them all their inheritance and blessings from God. Through God and His love, and their constant and enduring obedience and faith in Him, all of those faithful people of God have been truly blessed and become reminders for us all that God has given us all so wonderful a blessing.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist the arguments between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees who argued that the Lord and His disciples had violated the Law of God on the matter of the Sabbath day because the disciples had plucked on the grains of wheat from the field when they were all very hungry. The Lord rebuked those Pharisees by quoting the example from the Scripture, how the venerated and well-respected King David of Israel and his companions were allowed to eat from the bread reserved only for the priests at the House of God. Neither David nor his companions were members of the priestly order, but they were allowed to eat when they were very hungry.

Those Pharisees belonged to those who very strictly and rigidly interpreted the Law of God, taking the meaning of the Law such as the Law on the Sabbath, to the point that they misunderstood the true purpose, meaning and intention of the Law of God, which were not meant to restrict, restrain or make their lives difficult. Instead, the Law had always been meant to help show and teach the people of God the true meaning of love and how they all can truly love Him wholeheartedly and to be filled fully with faith and trust in this love, because it is by His ever great, wonderful and enduring love that we all have been saved and provided with rich and sure assurance of eternal life and inheritance beyond measure or comparison.

We are therefore reminded through these Scripture passages today that we must always be truly faithful to the Lord and put our whole trust in Him, be filled with true and genuine love in Him and not merely observing His Law and commandments without truly understanding and appreciating their true importance, purpose and significance. If we want to be truly faithful to the Lord, then we must not be like those Pharisees who placed greater importance in their own selfish desires and personal ambitions in achieving their pious actions and practices so that they might be praised by others and be honoured for doing so. This is why all of us as Christians should always put God first and foremost in our lives, as Abraham and many of our predecessors had done before us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Agnes, a renowned martyr of the faith who perished during one of the most intense persecutions of Christians and the Church. She was also known as St. Agnes of Rome, having been born into a Roman noble family and was raised as a Christian by her family during the difficult years of persecution against Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his fellow rulers in the then Tetrarchy. Eventually, due to her great beauty, St. Agnes had many suitors whom she all rejected as she wanted to devote herself to God, and as such, disgruntled suitors reported St. Agnes’ Christian identity to the authorities who then arrested her and forced her to deny God and abandon her faith, which she courageously refused to do.

When St. Agnes was brought before the Roman prefect, Sempronius, he condemned her to be paraded naked to a brothel for her to be defiled by those people who frequented the brothel in mockery of her holy virginity. According to Church tradition, St. Agnes prayed to God and her hair miraculously grew and covered her whole body, and anyone who wanted to rape her were immediately struck blind, and no one could harm her at all. And this included Sempronius’ own son, who was struck dead, and upon the intercession of St. Agnes, the dead son was revived again. Undoubtedly shaken by what he experienced and what happened to his son, the Roman prefect recused himself from the judgment and let another person to judge St. Agnes, who was thereafter martyred by either being beheaded or stabbed on her throat after even flames would not harm her.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scripture passages today, and from the life and examples of St. Agnes, holy woman and martyr of the Church, let us all therefore learn to commit ourselves ever more, in each and every moments given to us, in every opportunities so that we may ever be courageous and most dedicated servant of God, with our lives and examples be the shining beacons of truth and the guiding light for everyone around us. May everyone knows the Lord and His love by the love He has shown us and which we have reflected in our own lives, in our complete and trust in God and in our love for our fellow brothers and sisters, for those who are less fortunate and in need for our love. May God, our ever loving Master and Creator be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us are called to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the path that God has called us to walk through, following the examples of the Lord Himself, Our Saviour and High Priest Who has obeyed so perfectly the will of His Heavenly Father so that by His perfect obedience, He may show all of us mankind the path towards eternal life and salvation. He has become the perfect Man, the New Adam and the New Man that all of us as Christians are called to follow and embody in our own lives, embracing wholeheartedly our Christian faith in everything that we say and do at all times.

In our first reading today, the continuation from the discourse by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews on the nature and the works of the Messiah, in which the author continued to elaborate on the role which Christ as the Messiah had played in the story of our salvation. As the author was writing to the audience composed of the Jewish people, likely both those who have believed in the Lord and also those who have not yet believed, he explained in detail throughout this Epistle Who the true and real identity of Jesus Christ was, the One Whom the Jewish leaders and authorities had rejected, oppressed and then handed over to the Romans to be crucified. This Epistle to the Hebrews instead presented this crucifixion as part of the plan of the Lord in saving all of His people just as He has promised and prophesied through His prophets like the prophet Isaiah.

The account from this Epistle further highlighted the actions that Christ has done at the pinnacle of His salvific mission, in offering on our behalf the perfect offering for all of our multitudes of sins, in the manner how the priests of the Israelites offered sacrificial offerings for the people of God. Those priests had to first offer sacrifices for themselves first because they themselves were sinners and had to atone for their own sins first, before offering the sacrifices on behalf of the people who came to them seeking their help. But it is different for the case of the Lord Jesus, the One and only True High Priest of all because He is perfect and without any taint of sin, and hence had no need to offer sin offering for Himself.

And most amazingly, while He Himself is blameless and without any fault, He chose willingly to bear the blame and the punishment assigned to Him, imposed on Him by the Jewish leaders and authorities, who blamed on Him the fault of rebellion and blasphemy against God, that He was handed over to the Romans to be crucified. Yet, as those who were familiar with the Scriptures would realise, this persecution and suffering of the Messiah that God had sent to be with His people has been foretold by the prophets, and it was by this willing sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all, offered His own Most Precious Body and Blood on the Altar of His Cross, by which He has purchased all of us, once and for all, the redemption for all of our innumerable sins.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus against those people who questioned Him on why those Pharisees and the disciples of St. John the Baptist carried out fasting and other pious practices but His disciples did not do the same. This was because at that time the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were particularly strict in how they interpreted the Law of God, requiring all the people to follow the Law strictly, and one of them was the requirement for fasting, and how they ought to fast in the right manner. However, they placed so much emphasis and time focusing on how they observed and practiced the Law, that they ended up neglecting to follow the Lord faithfully and with God at the centre of all things.

The Lord also presented to them all the parable of the new wine and wineskin, old wine and wineskin, as well as new cloth and old cloth. This parable is meant to highlight first of all the fact that the Lord’s coming revealed truths about the Lord and His Law, His intentions and desire for His people, all of us, to fulfil them all perfectly and to correct the erroneous ways that His will, His Law and commandments have been received by the people, particularly by those who interpreted the Law and practiced them. Secondly, it is also a reminder for us that if we truly want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and completely, then there is a need for us all to follow His path and reject the old path of worldliness that we may be familiar with. Otherwise, if we do not do so, we are no better than hypocrites.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but two amazing men of God whose faith and dedication to Him should be reminders for all of us to be truly faithful and committed as well in our own lives, in our obedience to God and His cause, and in doing whatever we can so that we may imitate their good and faithful lives, and realise how being good Christians may often require us to make sacrifices and to be ready and prepared to face challenges, trials and even oppressions for our faith in God. Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian both have suffered for their faith in God, being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. However, they remained firmly faithful even despite all those sufferings and becoming for us great inspirations and role models to follow.

Pope St. Fabian was born into a noble Roman family during the third century after the birth of Christ, at a time of great challenges and turmoil for the Church and the faithful as they often encountered harsh persecutions and oppressions from the Romans who treated Christians and their faith as those who deserved to be punished and killed, unless they abandoned their faith. His election as Pope was truly remarkable in the sense that when the previous Pope, his predecessor passed away and the election for the successor took place, the future Pope St. Fabian was actually just visiting, and amidst all the competition between all the influential candidates at that time, no one minded Pope St. Fabian at all until a dove miraculously descended upon him, and the whole assembly acclaimed him as the new Pope. He would go on to carry out many great deeds and works as Pope.

Meanwhile, not much was known about the early life of St. Sebastian, but according to Church tradition and his hagiography, he was a young man who joined the Roman military during the time of the reign of the then Emperor Carinus, and then under his successors, Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Those two Emperors were notorious for their very harsh and terrible persecution against Christians, but St. Sebastian managed to become one of the captains of the Praetorian Guards, the guards of the Emperor himself. In that capacity, he managed to help several of the captive and persecuted Christians, and even managed to convert some of those involved in the arrest and persecution of Christians.

Eventually, after the relatively long reign of about fourteen years for Pope St. Fabian and after the clandestine efforts in helping Christians and converting others for St. Sebastian, both of them were found out in their efforts and faith as Christians, with Pope St. Fabian being persecuted by the new Roman Emperor Decius, who unlike the previous Emperors that had been more tolerant of Christianity, he was a hardliner, arrested Pope St. Fabian and executed him for his faith as an example to all the other Christians. St. Sebastian meanwhile was persecuted by another harsh persecutor, the Emperor Diocletian, who was particularly displeased that one of his own Praetorian captains was a Christian. He was shot with many arrows, but miraculously survived and cared for by a Christian widow, before being martyred after he rebuked the Emperor publicly for his actions against Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of what we have heard in our Scripture passages today and the lives of those saints whose memory we commemorate is that we must appreciate the great love, compassion and kindness which God has given to us so generously through His Son, and therefore, just as He has suffered in doing so, being rejected by the world and all those who dwelled and remained in sin, and how Pope St. Fabian, St. Sebastian and many other saints and holy men and women of God had done, let us all realise the challenges, difficulties and sufferings that we may face amidst our lives as Christians in this world today. Let us also be ready to live lives that are truly worthy of God at all times so that we may be good role models and inspirations ourselves to one another. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, which is the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, we are all reminded of the many great things which God has done for us, in the salvation and assurances of His love which He has made available most generously to each one of us through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. He has revealed to us the love of God made manifest in our midst, making this love approachable, tangible and real for all of us so that by His works and loving grace, we may all be gathered once again into His most loving Presence, healing us all from our hurts and sufferings that had been caused by our sins. Through Christ, all of us have seen this salvation and received the assurance of eternal life through Him, and we are reminded to continue believing in this truth. 

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke of the salvation and the joy which He would bring to His people, the Israelites, freeing them from their sufferings, humiliations and exile, bringing them once again into their homeland, granting them His blessings and wonders, giving them all His strength and grace, empowering each and every one of them with the light of His salvation. He would indeed fulfil everything that He has promised through the sending of His Saviour, the One that the prophet Isaiah had made a lot of prophecies and predictions about, revealing to us all what He has planned for us and what He desires to do with us, through the Saviour that He would send into our midst, in Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son.

During the time of the work and ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the people of Israel had been separated and divided into smaller groups, and many of their separated brethren had been defeated and conquered by the Assyrians who had destroyed the cities of the northern kingdom of Israel, conquered Samaria and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, bringing many of its people, a large proportion of the Israelites to exile in distant lands while bringing foreigners to dwell in their lands. And the people of Judah in the south did not escape harm either, as they were also almost defeated and conquered by the Assyrians if not for God’s providence and protection at the last moments. All of these showed the bleak and sad state of the Israelites during the time when Isaiah carried out his ministry among them.

All of that had happened because the disobedience and sins which the people of God had committed against Him, in their refusal to obey His words and commandments, and that had led them to the consequences of having to endure the difficulties, challenges and obstacles brought about by their own refusal to obey the Lord. Nonetheless, God proved that His love for each and every one of us is truly so great that not even all those obstacles, challenges and trials can truly separate us all from His love and grace, and from the salvation that He has promised to each one of us. But He also gave us the freedom and the free will to choose whether we want to accept and embrace this salvation or not. Many of our predecessors have unfortunately chosen to continue disobeying the Lord and reject His generous offer of mercy and kindness.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth in Greece, we heard the Apostle reminding the faithful of the various gifts that God has given to each and every one of them through the Holy Spirit that He has given and imparted to them through the Church. St. Paul told them this so that they all first might realise the love and generosity that they all have received from the Lord, much as the prophet Isaiah had reassured the people of Israel, and then also the Apostle reminded all of the faithful, including us all listening to this message now on how blessed we all are to have experienced the revelation of God’s love through His Son, the fulfilment of His many promises through Christ.

And we are all reminded of the many gifts which we have received from the Lord through the Holy Spirit, the various unique gifts presented to us so that we may make good use of them in our daily lives, and not be ignorant of what we are all able to do as Christians in living our lives to the best of our abilities and in doing God’s will. Many of us are either ignorant of this calling and mission which God has entrusted to us, or we are easily jealous and envious over what others have received, and which we also desire to have as well for ourselves. This is where we are reminded that God has given us all unique gifts and means suitable to our own situation and the opportunities which we have been provided, and we should not envy others for our own respective gifts. In fact, the greater is the blessings God had provided us, the greater is the responsibility for us to make good use of them. 

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the famous account of the time when the Lord Jesus, our Saviour, performed His very first miracle at Cana, the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding banquet. We heard how the host of the wedding banquet was in trouble because he was running out of wine, and he sought the help from the Lord through His mother Mary, who was also there at the banquet. Mary came to her Son asking Him to help out the host who was in risk of being greatly embarrassed at having run out of wine on such a joyous occasion that they were having at the time.

Initially as we heard, the Lord was reluctant to help them all as it was not yet His time to reveal Himself to the masses. And yet, He listened to the words and request put forth by His Mother, who pleaded with Him to help, and Mary also directed the servants to listen and obey the instructions from her Son. As a result, we heard how the very first miracle performed by the Lord was done, the water in the jugs were transformed miraculously into the finest quality wine for everyone to partake. This Gospel passage is a reminder for us that we have to obey God’s words and His will, and like Christ Himself, Who has made Himself a Man for our salvation, He showed what it means by true and perfect obedience, obeying the will of His heavenly Father to show His love to all of us.

And Mary, the Mother of God is there by our side, helping and guiding us all to her Son, providing us with the sure path towards Him and His salvation so that none of us may be lost to Him. Each and every one of us are reminded today therefore of God’s ever enduring love for each one of us, and how fortunate all of us are for having so beloved and blessed by Him. All of us should not take for granted what the Lord has given to us, and we should make sure that in everything that we do from now on, we should make good use of them for the good and benefit of everyone around us, as we have all been entrusted to do by God. Let us all discern carefully our path in life and pray so that the Lord may show us how we can better use these gifts and blessings that He has given to us all.

May the Lord be with us always and may He empower us with His blessings and grace, so that in everything we do, we will always strive to do our best for the greater glory of His Name, and to touch the lives of others, of everyone around us with the generous love and kindness that God Himself has always shown us. May Mary, the Mother of God continue to help and intercede for each and every one of us, her beloved children, that we may find our way to her Son and the eternal life and salvation in Him. Amen.