Weekday of Epiphany

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Friday, 23 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 8 : 6-13

Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises. If all had been perfect in the first covenant, there would have been no need for another one. Yet God sees defects when He says : ‘The days are coming – it is the word of the Lord – when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.’

‘It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not keep My covenant, and so I Myself have forsaken them,’ says the Lord.

‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come : I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people. None of them will have to teach one another or say to each other : Know the Lord, for they will know Me from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and no longer remember their wrongs.’

Here we are being told of a new covenant; which means that the first one had become obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging is soon to disappear.

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Thursday, 22 January 2015 : 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, on this day we hear about Jesus, who healed the people from their sickness, cast out demons from them and teach them about the laws of God, and about what God desires from them. In the first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, as is the theme of the most of that letter which we have repeated yet again and again, is the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ as our High Priest, the One who offered the perfect sacrifice which liberated us from the hands and clutches of sin and Satan.

The Lord had done this out of His love for us, which He showed perfectly through Jesus, by whose action He had made the whole mankind, the entire people of God being justified and made righteous, as long as they profess Him as their Lord and their Saviour. Through His works in the world, by the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons and other works, He had shown us all, what the love of God for us is truly about.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord is worried about us all, as to Him, we are all about to be lost forever, due to our inability to appreciate the love and commitment which He had shown us all. Since the days of the first man, Adam, we have been rebellious and wayward in our ways. And we know that from that moment on, we have sinned and sin separates us from our Lord.

He wants us back, and that was why He gave us and sent us Jesus, His Son, that through Him, we may receive salvation and new life. For Christ is indeed our High Priest, who offers for our sake, the perfect offering of Himself, and through that sacrifice which He Himself made, He made us whole, cleanse us from our afflictions and corruptions, and brought us closer once again to our Lord, our loving God.

And by that action, He also nullified the need for the priests of old, who offered the daily and regular sacrifices of the lambs, goats, turtledoves, wheat and other offerings which they offered as sin and burnt offerings to temporarily resolve and forgive one’s sins through God’s grace. For through Christ, He had once and for all, absolved all the sins of all mankind, and carried with Him the burden of our sins as He went on His passion to the cross at Calvary.

Then, we may be asking, how come then, our priests today celebrate the Holy Mass and the offering of the gifts of bread and wine? Did Jesus not nullify the works of the priests of Israel of old? It was mentioned in the first reading today, that their sacrifices and offerings were just shadows and imitations of the true heavenly sanctuary and its celebrations?

That is because, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Holy Mass is the real, one and only celebration that is indeed the heavenly celebration, and the sanctuary of our churches where we celebrate the Holy Mass are truly transformed to the real heavenly sanctuary, and our celebration is real and concrete celebration.

For the Holy Mass is the one and same sacrifice which our Lord Jesus had made on the cross at Calvary, and the bread and wine which we offer are transformed completely in the matter and spirit to become the same Body and Blood which our Lord shed and poured down upon us to be our redemption. This is our faith, and this is what we fully believe in. Doubt no more and believe with all of our heart!

Today we also celebrate the feast of St. Vincent, a deacon of the Holy Church of God and also a holy martyr of the faith. St. Vincent was also known as St. Vincent of Saragossa, who was martyred during the height of the great persecution of the faithful by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. St. Vincent was a great and dedicated servant of the Lord, who was a faithful deacon that ministered courageously to the people of God despite the difficulties he faced.

And it is in the defense of that Faith he had in the salvation that Christ had given us all, that he stood up and defended his faith, and he spoke up so courageously for his faith, that while the bishop he defended before the governor was only exiled, and St. Vincent was martyred for his faith. Even though we do not have to go to the extent of martyrdom, but it is this kind of faith for the Lord which we need to have, and we should give the Lord the best love we can give.

For I have mentioned that He had done so much for us, offering and sacrificing Himself in our stead, that we all may have eternal life through Him. The world clearly does not like Him, for He brought us the truth that dispels the falsehoods of the world, the myriads of lies of Satan, with which he tried to deceive the people of God. Therefore, let us all be inspired by the example of St. Vincent of Saragossa, holy martyr of the faith, and be exemplary in all of our actions, founded in faith. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Mark 3 : 7-12

At that time, Jesus and His disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that He was doing.

Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him, to prevent the people from crushing Him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing towards Him to touch Him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.”

But He warned them sternly not to tell anyone who He was.

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Thursday, 22 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

As the scroll says of me, to do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your Law is within my heart.

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

But may all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and may all who love Your saving grace continually say, “The Lord is great.”

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Thursday, 22 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hebrews 7 : 25 – Hebrews 8 : 6

Consequently Jesus is able to save for all time those who approach God through Him. He always lives to intercede on their behalf. It was fitting that our High Priest be holy, undefiled, set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens; a Priest who does not first need to offer sacrifice for Himself before offering for the sins of the people, as high priests do. He offered Himself in sacrifice once and for all.

And whereas the Law elected weak men as high priests, now, after the Law, the word of God with an oath appointed the Son, made perfect forever. The main point of what we are saying is that we have a High Priest. He is seated at the right hand of the Divine Majesty in heaven, where He serves as Minister of the true temple and sanctuary, set up not by any mortal but by the Lord.

A high priest is appointed to offer to God gifts and sacrifices, and Jesus also has to offer some sacrifice. Had He remained on earth, He would not be a Priest, since others offer the gifts according to the Law. In fact, the ritual celebrated by those priests is only an imitation and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. We know the word of God to Moses with regard to the construction of the holy tent. He said : “You are to make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.”

Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises.

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 : 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, the tone and the meaning of the readings of today are not that different from the readings of yesterday, as they all talked about the understanding of the Law, and what is the true meaning of the Law, that is truly about the love of God. For the Law was meant not to oppress us mankind or to purposely make our lives difficult, but it was meant to lead the people of God and to help them to find their ways to Him.

And in the first reading we read about the Man named Melchizedek, who was written in the Book of Genesis as the King of Salem, or also known as the King of Peace, as the King of justice, which are indeed curiously, the titles which our Lord Jesus also holds, namely the King of Peace, and the Lord God of all, the Great Judge of all creation, who would judge all of creation.

This is to show once again, as often reiterated throughout the entire Epistle to the Hebrews, of the nature of Jesus Christ our Lord as the High Priest of all creation, of us all mankind, just as Melchizedek was the High Priest of God of old, at the time of Abraham. We do not have much info on who exactly Melchizedek was, based on what we know from the Book of Genesis, but in the Epistle to the Hebrews, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it was made clearer, that Melchizedek was probably another manifestation of God in the world, just like Jesus.

But Jesus was beyond even Melchizedek in deeds, for He did not just offer an offering of the tenth of the wealth of the world, as Abraham had given to Melchizedek, but He offered none other than Himself, the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, the one and only perfect sacrifice who through that sacrifice justified the entire human race.

And indeed, as I have mentioned at the beginning of today’s discourse, that the Lord had done this out of a single and clear purpose, that is out of His great and everlasting love for us all, that He does not want even a single one of us to be lost to Him. The Lamb of God offered Himself as the perfect and sweet sacrifice for our liberation, the liberation from the clutches of sin. Because of what He has done, all of us have been offered the freedom from the hands of Satan.

He is the High Priest who gathers all of us to Himself, and by His offering cleanses all of us from all of our sins with the singular act of His death on the cross. And this is our faith, what we believe in fully in our hearts. He died for us so that we may have life in us, and this is what the entire revelations God had made through the prophets, and all His laws are truly about, that is about the love of God made real by His sacrifice on the cross for us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Agnes, the holy martyr of the Faith and one of the holy virgins, who maintained the purity of their bodies in defense of their faith and courageously defending the Faith against the corruption of the world. St. Agnes, also known as St. Agnes of Rome, lived during the most difficult years for the Church and the faithful, that is during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocleatian, infamous for his great persecution of the Church and the faithful, where St. Agnes also met her end in a holy martyrdom in the defense of her faith.

St. Agnes was a young Christian maiden born to a noble family, who died at a very young age in her early teenager years during the aforementioned persecution by Emperor Diocletian, as she openly declared that she was a Christian to the authorities. St. Agnes went through many sufferings and different forms of torture meant to force her and persuade her to abandon her faith, none of which succeeded to do so.

Miracles happened even while she was tortured, and her persecutors grew ever more desperate and grew even more vicious in their persecution of her as the miracles continued to happen. Eventually she was martyred for her faith as such a young age, a defiant symbol to the Emperor who had persecuted the faithful so much, that whatever he had done to harm their bodies, they did not fear at all, for they put their trust in the Lord in whom they received great rewards for their faith.

One of the symbol often used on St. Agnes is the lamb, for her name very closely resembled the word lamb in Latin, that is ‘Agnus’, and this should be a reminder to all of us, of the suffering that St. Agnes had undergone in defending her faith, and even more importantly, the sacrifice which our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, had done to save us from the hands of death and bring us into life, as I have mentioned earlier in today’s discourse.

Let us all therefore renew our commitments to the Lord, so that all of us will grow ever closer to our Lord. Reject and resist all forms of temptations by Satan and let us strive to keep ourselves holy and pure, that when the Lord comes again, or when we see Him in heaven, He will praise us for our way of following Him, just as St. Agnes had done. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 3 : 1-6

At that time, again Jesus entered the synagogue. A man, who had a paralysed hand, was there and some people watched Jesus : would He heal the man on the sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

Jesus said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stand here in the centre.” Then He asked them, “What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness, because they had closed their minds. And He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was healed. As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Hebrews 7 : 1-3, 15-17

Scripture says that Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, came out to meet Abraham who returned from defeating the kings. He blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.

Let us note that the name Melchizedek means King of Justice, and that king of Salem means king of Peace. There is no mention of father, mother or genealogy; nothing is said about the beginning or the end of his life. In this he is the figure of the Son of God, the Priest who remains forever.

All this, however, becomes clear if this Priest after the likeness of Melchizedek has in fact received His mission, not on the basis of any human law, but by the power of an immortal life. Because Scripture says : ‘You are a Priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.’

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Tuesday, 20 January 2015 : 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 we heard about the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees as well as with the teachers of the Law, who confronted Him on His apparent disregard and disobedience against the Law of God, which to them, the law of the sabbath was one of the most important of them all. But in that, they have entirely misread and misunderstood the true meaning and purpose of the Law.

The Pharisees were very particular about the observation of the many laws of the Lord as revealed to the world through Moses, of which according the elders there were six hundred and thirteen laws and customs in all the people should follow and obey to the last word, and not to disobey them in any way. And the law of the sabbath was the most important of all, just as the people of Israel today still observe it with full severity.

The sabbath day is the seventh and last day of the week, which is the day when the Lord rested from His work in creating the universe, as written in the Book of Genesis. As such, the seventh day is a day to be dedicated to the Lord, as a Holy Day consecrated to God, where everyone ought to also rest from their work and commitments and focus their attention solely on the Lord.

Then, one may just ask, did God not give the law of the sabbath and spell it out clearly in the Law itself, that no one ought to do or commit anything on the sabbath day? Then why did our Lord Jesus disregard the Law by allowing His disciples to pick from the grains of the field and heal the sick on the sabbath day? There must surely be a good reason for that, and indeed, the reason is nothing less than, because our Lord loves us all with all of His heart.

The Sabbath and its laws was never meant to put an obstacle to the people of God or to make their lives difficult. Sabbath is meant for the people to rediscover the Lord and find His love for them by shutting themselves out of the distractions of the world and refocus their attention on the Lord. This was done because by nature the people of God was always so stubborn to the point that God had to be hard on them so that they would not go astray.

But the people misunderstood the Lord’s intentions, and they thought of Him as a tough and strict God who only cared about obedience and devotion, who punishes those who disobeys Him and brings His wrath upon them and their children. But in truth, our God loves us all, and if He was not compelled to do as He had done, He would likely not have done what He had done.

God is concerned about all of us, about our wellbeing and our safety, and that is why He imposes such a rule on His people, Israel, who had disobeyed Him many, many times, abandoning the Lord for pagan gods and idols, and therefore, they were meant to be destroyed, but God instead gave them another chance, which He gave through Jesus His Son.

What He is concerned about, is not whether the people obeys His Law and commandments or not, but He is primarily concerned about whether the people would receive the word of God and act accordingly according to the word which has been revealed to them through Jesus His Son. Thus, what our Lord Jesus had told us this day is the revelation of God’s truth, the simple truth that God loves us all mankind.

Thus, Jesus said that sabbath was made for men, and not men for the sabbath. It was always meant for men from the beginning, that they might avoid temptations and resist against it, by the dedication of a holy day to be spared for the Lord within a week. There are too many distractions in this world, and it is not easy for us all to resist those temptations. By the dedication of such a day, it is the attempt to help us to refocus our attention on the Lord.

However, it should not be an excuse to stifle us from doing good deeds according to the will of God. What the Sabbath is meant is to restrain us from committing the same evil that had permeated our entire lives. But Sabbath should not stop us from doing the works of God, or otherwise, it would be defeating its own purpose. Whe we do the will of God, it is essentially the same as praising and glorifying the Name of God, and hence, what Jesus rebuked the Pharisees with hit them right at the spot.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Fabian, Pope of the Church and martyr of the Faith, and St. Sebastian, another holy martyr of the faith. These two holy and great men were important pillars of the Church and the Faith, whose lives can truly be inspiration to all of us. St. Fabian was a great worker of the faith whose works had helped the Church greatly in the midst of opposition by the world, that is the persecution by the Roman Empire.

Pope St. Fabian worked to maintain the unity of the Church amidst persecution and led the Church in an era of difficulty. He also strived to spread the Gospels to the areas where the people have yet to hear of the Good News of the Lord. But eventually, he too was martyred for the faith when the persecution against the Church intensified under the Emperor Decius. He led the faithful in the firm refusal of the demands of the Emperor to worship the pagan idols and the Emperor himself.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian was a soldier in the Roman army, who was a covert Christian under the Emperor Diocletian, who was famous for his stubborn opposition against the Faith and for the great persecution he launched against the Church and the faithful. St. Sebastian was tasked to bring punishment to saint brothers who refused to give offerings to the pagan gods and to the Emperor, but instead, he freed them, and from his works, he also converted many others including his own peers whom he persuaded to abandon the falsehoods of the pagan gods and embrace the true Faith.

St. Sebastian was eventually punished by the Emperor for his betrayal and he was sentenced to death by being shot with arrows while being tied to a tree, which is the depiction we now often see of St. Sebastian. He was also a defender of the Faith and a faithful servant of the Lord, who did not fear of the rejection and the oppression of the world in spreading the true faith in God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, may the example of St. Sebastian and Pope St. Fabian be an encouragement to all of us the faithful, that we will always strive to reject the approaches of Satan and the dark forces in this world, and instead to remain faithful to our Lord, by following what He had taught us, and share the love He had given us through Jesus, His Son, by loving one another and caring for our fellow brethren. God bless us all. Amen.