Weekdays of Lent

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Saturday, 1 April 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 7 : 2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12

O Lord, my God, in You I take shelter; deliver me and save me from all my pursuers, lest lions tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

O Lord, my righteousness; You see that I am blameless. Bring to an end the power of the wicked, but affirm the just, o righteous God, searcher of mind and heart.

You cover me as a shield. Oh God, for You protect the upright. A righteous judge is God, His anger ever awaiting those who refuse to repent.

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Saturday, 1 April 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Jeremiah 11 : 18-20

YHVH made it known to me and so I know! And You let me see their scheming. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.”

YHVH, God of hosts, You Who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.

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Friday, 31 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are reminded of the fact that all those who follow the Lord, those who are walking in the way of the Lord, all of us who are faithful to God, Christians in name and in deeds, will be the target of those who would seek our downfall. We will be the target of all those who are opposed the Lord and His ways.

That was what happened to the prophets, as reiterated from the Book of Wisdom as per of first reading today. The prophets encountered great resistance from the people, beginning from the time of Moses, when the Israelites often rebelled against his authority and followed their own way, to the days of Samuel and the Judges, when the Israelites again and again disobeyed and sinned against God.

The prophets encountered great troubles in the days of Elijah and Elisha, as the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and the people refused to listen to them. They were persecuted and oppressed, and had to flee even their community in the case of Elijah, who had to flee to desert. The other prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah also suffered ridicule and rejection, particularly Jeremiah, who was hated by others in his community and was ridiculed as a doomsayer.

People plotted against them and did all sorts of nasty things against them, just as much as they acted in this manner against the Lord and His disciples. They harassed them, rejected their message and persecuted them. They littered their path with obstacles and challenges, and made martyrs from many of these faithful servants and disciples of our Lord.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because, it is the very nature of our sins, the sins of mankind. Sin has made us to turn against the ways of the Lord our God, into our own selfish ways, and as sin had permeated the whole race of man, the whole world itself has become filled with wickedness and corruption. People have become morally corrupt and evil in their words and deeds.

But we Christians are beacons of light in the midst of this great darkness. We bring forth into this darkened world, none other than the true Light of Christ, the Light of the world. For those who have closed their hearts against God and His love, who are stubbornly refusing to welcome His mercy and forgiveness, the light brought about by our actions and works in this world is an eyesore to them, and thus, that is why there will be lots of opposition to us and to whatever we are doing in the Name of the Lord.

However, we have to remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that God is always with us, no matter what happens. There may indeed be very difficult times and moments in our lives, but even if we do not realise it, God is always by our side, supporting us and providing us with the necessary help, often in His own mysterious ways. And thus, God is our helper, our strength and our hope.

In this time of Lent, we are all called to draw closer to God, to be closer to Him and to appreciate more of the love and mercy which He had shown to us all these while. Sometimes, in our busy life schedule and activities, we have the tendency to forget about God, to overlook His grace and love for us, and that is when we end up distancing ourselves from Him, and fall into a higher risk of stumbling on the path littered with challenges and obstacles as we proceed with these lives of ours.

And let us also not forget about all those who have hated us and persecuted us. Am I serious when I said this, brothers and sisters? You must be wondering why I said so. Indeed, I am truly serious about it. Remember, the Lord Jesus Himself said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for all those who persecute you.” If the Lord Jesus Himself has forgiven those who have made Him to suffer and die on the cross, and indeed, all of us, because it is by our sins that He had suffered, then why should we not do the same?

Let this season and time of Lent be the beginning of a new chapter of our life, where we will no longer be angry or be filled with hatred at others, especially at those who hate us because we belong to Christ. Instead, let us counter their hatred with love, with forgiveness and mercy. Who knows, that because of the love which we show them, they may be touched in their hearts and be converted to the truth of Christ too.

May the Lord be with us, and may He strengthen our faith, that we may always be faithful to Him in all the things we say and do in this life we have. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 31 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
John 7 : 1-2, 10, 25-30

At that time, Jesus went around Galilee; He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.

But after His brothers had gone to the festival, He also went up, not publicly but in secret. Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man they want to kill? And here He is speaking freely, and they do not say a word to Him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this Man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.”

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where He was teaching, “You say that you know Me and know where I come from! I have not come of Myself; I was sent by the One Who is true, and you do not know Him. I know Him for I come from Him and He sent Me.”

They would have arrested Him, but no one laid hands on Him because His time had not yet come.

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Friday, 31 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 33 : 17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23

But the Lord’s face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth. The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught. Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all.

He keeps all their bones intact, and none of them will be broken. But the Lord will redeem the life of His servants; none of those who trust in Him will be doomed.

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Friday, 31 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Wisdom 2 : 1a, 12-22

Led by mistaken reasons they think, “Let us set a trap for the Righteous, for He annoys us and opposes our way of life; He reproaches us for our breaches of the Law and accuses us of being false to our upbringing. He claims knowledge of God and calls Himself Son of the Lord. He has become a reproach to our way of thinking; even to meet Him is burdensome to us. He does not live like others and behaves strangely.”

“According to Him we have low standards, so He keeps aloof from us as if we were unclean. He emphasises the happy end of the righteous and boasts of having God as Father. Let us see the truth of what He says and find out what His end will be. If the Righteous is a Son of God, God will defend Him and deliver Him from His adversaries.”

“Let us humble and torture Him to prove His self-control and test His patience. When we have condemned Him to a shameful death, we may test His words.” This is the way they reason, but they are mistaken, blinded by their malice. They do not know the mysteries of God nor do they hope for the reward of a holy life; they do not believe that the blameless will be recompensed.

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Book of Exodus, of the well known event when God was very angry against His people, the Israelites, because they have sinned against Him and disobeyed Him in the worst way possible. They carved for themselves a golden calf and chose this golden calf, the creation of the hands of man, to be their god and worshipped it.

Let us understand why God was very angry against the Israelites. Remember that God had just rescued all of His people from the hands of the Egyptians and the Pharaoh by His mighty deeds, the ten plagues that He had brought upon these people who enslaved His beloved ones. He did so many good things for them, opened the sea before them and allowed them to escape from the pursuit of their enemies and oppressors.

He fed them with manna, the bread from heaven and also with clear and sweet water, providing them with all that they needed. He made their enemies to run away in fear away from them, defeating all those who sought for the destruction of Israel. He also made a covenant with them at His holy mountain, through Moses His servant, who led all of Israel to the foot of the mountain to receive His laws and commandments.

But they were quick to disobey the Lord and be wayward. When Moses left them behind to go up the mountain and receive the Law of God, they quickly assumed that they had no God with them, and had it on themselves to make a golden calf to be god over them, following the customs of their neighbours. It is therefore no surprise that God was angry at them, because they have not appreciated the love with which God had cared for them, and betrayed Him for the pagan idols and gods.

How does all these relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? How are they relevant to us? All of us are sinners, brothers and sisters, and all of us have been disobedient to God in one way or another, and we have been enslaved to sin. Sin has corrupted us and crushed us under its power and influence. It was just like how the Israelites suffered under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

But God loves each and every one of us, and He wants all of us to be saved and liberated from all those sins. And therefore, just as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt by the mighty hands of God, God also endeavoured to bring all of us, His beloved people, to freedom and liberation from our sins. And He had done that, by the sacrifice of His own Son, the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, just as the Israelites ate the sacrifice of the Passover lambs on the night of their liberation from Egypt.

And thus, by the waters of our baptism, all of us who have received the Sacrament of Baptism have received the salvation from God, the liberation from our sins that we are all looking out for. And we have all been made the people of God, as the members of His Church. However, as a reminder to us, through the past example of the Israelites, if we are not careful, we may also fall into the same trap of sin as the Israelites had experienced.

That means, all of us must be vigilant and be careful lest we fall into the temptations and the obstacles which Satan and his allies had prepared before us. We have to be careful of the temptation of our human pride, thinking that it is by our own achievements and power that we have attained all the glories we have received. That is what the Israelites had done, thinking that they had no need for the Lord and instead made upon themselves and glorified the statues made of their own hands as their god.

We have to be vigilant against all the works and the temptations that the devil is placing on our path, that we do not fall into sin. Let us make use this time of Lent to reflect on our lives, and think carefully how we should proceed with our lives, judging well what we all should do, that we may turn away from our past sinfulness and embrace wholeheartedly God’s forgiveness and mercy.

God may indeed be angry at our sins and our disobedience, for He hates all forms of sin that is disobedience and wickedness in His sight. However, at the same time, He also loves each and every one of us, all those whom He had created with love, and to whom He had granted life and grace. He wants to forgive us our sins, but are we responding to His merciful love? Are we open to God’s mercy working its power in our hearts, bodies and minds?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all recommit ourselves to God and to His ways from now on if we have not done so. Let us all appreciate the love that God has for each one of us, and let us no longer disobey Him, but learn to put our complete trust in Him and help one another to remain true and faithful to our God. May God bless us all, and help us to draw closer to Him, especially during this penitential season of Lent. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
John 5 : 31-47

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.”

“John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness : The Father has sent Me. Thus He Who bears witness to Me is the Father Who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore, as long as you do not believe His messenger, His word is not in you.”

“You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe?”

“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 105 : 19-20, 21-22, 23

They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Exodus 32 : 7-14

Then YHVH said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said : ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.'”

And YHVH said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked people. Now just leave Me that My anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses calmed the anger of YHVH, his God, and said, “Why, o YHVH, should Your anger burst against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand?”

“Let not the Egyptians say : ‘YHVH brought them out with evil intent, for He wanted to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from the heat of Your anger and do not bring disaster on Your people. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise You Yourself swore : I will multiply Your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”

YHVH then changed His mind and would not yet harm His people.