Weekdays of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 21 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 105 : 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44

They dared not destroy the pagans, as YHVH commanded; they mingled with these nations and learnt to do as they did.

In serving the idols of the pagans, they were trapped into sacrificing children to demons.

They defiled themselves by what they did, playing the harlot in their worship. The anger of YHVH grew intense and He abhorred His inheritance.

He delivered them many a time, but they went on defying Him and sinking deeper into their sin. But He heard their cry of affliction and looked on them with compassion.

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Monday, 21 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pius X, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Judges 2 : 11-19

The Israelites treated YHVH badly for they served the Baals instead. They abandoned YHVH, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt, and served other gods, the gods of the neighbouring peoples. They bowed before those gods and offended YHVH.

When YHVH saw that they had abandoned Him to serve Baal and Ashtaroth, He became angry with His people and gave them into the hands of plunderers who left them in misery. He Himself sold them to their enemies who completely surrounded the Israelites, so that these Israelites could no longer withstand them. Whenever they felt strong for an offensive, YHVH would turn against them and send evil upon them, as He had warned them and sworn to do. And this caused much distress and anguish for the Israelites.

YHVH raised up “judges” (or liberators) who saved the Israelites from their exploiters. But neither did they obey those “judges” for they still prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. They soon left the way of their fathers who obeyed the commandments of YHVH; they did not follow the way of their fathers.

When YHVH made a judge appear among His people, YHVH was with him and saved them from their enemies. That lasted as long as the judge lived, for YHVH was moved to pity by the lament of His people who were oppressed and persecuted. But when the judge died, they again became worse than their ancestors – worshipping and serving other gods. They would not renounce their pagan practices and stubborn ways.

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Sunday, 20 August 2023 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded that God’s love for us is truly beautiful, enduring and universal, and all of us are equally beloved by God, regardless of our background or origin, our race or beliefs, our cultures or customs, and regardless of any other parameters by which we tend to divide and separate ourselves in this world. All of us are God’s precious ones, and He has always looked upon us with love and kindness, ever since He created us from nothingness. That is why all of us are reminded of His love and kindness today, so that we do not take them for granted, and we do not forget all the great things that He had done for us all these while, as often we do not realise and recognise what God has always blessed us with.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people through His prophet Isaiah, in which He reminded all of them to stay true to the Covenant that He has established with them, and how He showed them that He would also call all the other people of all the nations to be His disciples and followers, to be His people. It revealed to all of us that while God did call the Israelites first among others, but it was never God’s intention to exclude all others who did not belong to the race of Israel from His salvation and grace. All of us are equally the same children of mankind, descendants of Adam and Eve, all those whom God had created equally with love, and therefore share in His love and kindness. Therefore, God’s love are also extended to every one of us, who belong to Him and are part of His one, united flock and people.

In fact, as shown by our Gospel passage today, even the so-called pagans are even more committed, faithful and dedicated than the ones who called themselves God’s chosen people. In that passage, we heard of the interactions between the Lord Jesus, His disciples and a Canaanite woman who pleaded with the Lord to heal her daughter that had been tormented by a demon. The same woman was also identified similarly as a Syro-Phoenician woman in the Gospel of St. Mark, with similar request and pleading for the Lord to help her troubled daughter. Despite the Lord clearly having pointed out that He was only sent to the lost sheep of the chosen people of God, the Israelites, but the woman persisted in her pleading and trust in the Lord, that despite the harsh words and replies which she had received, she still trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly and persisted in asking Him to heal her daughter.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord did not do this on the woman on purpose, as it was not His intention to humiliate or make things difficult for her. And He did not despise or hate the woman either, as on the contrary, in fact, what the Lord was doing, was to highlight the unfortunate and terrible prejudices, biases and other things which the descendants of the Israelites, the Jewish people, by the time of the Lord and His ministry, liked to have against those whom they deemed as pagans and inferior to them. At that time, those who did not belong or were not counted among the Jewish people were often looked down by those who took pride in their inheritance and status, as those descended directly from the chosen people of God, the Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to the point that the pagans or the Gentiles as they were often called, were perhaps even deemed as being sinners and unworthy of God.

That was why the Lord purposefully brought out the ugly and uncharitable nature of such biases and prejudices which the Jewish people had against their neighbours, and He used that example to show all of His disciples and followers, that they cannot show this kind of attitude in life, and that they must not treat others with contempt or disdain simply because they deemed themselves as better or superior in any way. And as mentioned, the Lord also wanted to highlight that there is innate good and grace in all of us, and the capabilities to embrace God and His love. As the Canaanite woman showed, that her faith in the Lord remained firm and strong despite the apparent rejections and harsh words from the Lord Himself. The Canaanite woman did not even hesitate to humble herself and to assume the position of a slave, a penitent and as one who sought for God’s mercy, before everyone who were present.

Now, this kind of faith was great, especially when compared to the lukewarmness of the faith found among the Jewish people of that time, who doubted the Lord and refused to believe in Him, even after He has performed so many wonderful miracles and works before them throughout all those times. In particular, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the ones who were the most knowledgeable and those who were supposedly the wisest among all the people of God, all these were entrusted with the knowledge of the Scriptures and the teachings and words of the prophets, which all pointed out to the Lord Jesus being the Messiah or Saviour that the people had long awaited for, and yet, they all failed to believe in Him, and on the contrary, they persecuted Him and His disciples instead.

If we are wondering as of why this was the case, then we do not have to look further beyond what I have just mentioned earlier regarding the problem of elitism and exclusivism amongst many of the Jewish people at that time, as they tend to see themselves as God’s chosen ones, and were therefore better, superior, more righteous and more worthy than all the others around them. Even among the Jews themselves, the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the religious elites tend to look down on those whom they deemed to be unworthy and sinners, like the tax collectors and the prostitutes, or those who were suffering from sickness and demonic possessions. All those people were often ostracised and blamed for their lack of faith, while the others mentioned earlier were lauded for their exemplary piety and faith.

Unfortunately, such an attitude led to the stagnation in the faith and the loss of focus in many among those that I mentioned, as their pride and ego got the better of them, which likely made them to think that they could never go wrong or be mistaken in their thoughts and ways of living their lives. This is why many of them became egoistic and proud, and unbending, rigid and elitist in their behaviour, imposing on others their ideals and thoughts, without truly understanding the importance and significance of their faith and the related practices, and in the end, it distracted them so much that they lost sight on what truly matters, that is their need to believe in God and to listen to His words, obeying His will and commandments wholeheartedly.

Not only that, but they were all, as God’s own chosen people, expected to lead lives that inspired others to come to know and recognise the Lord more. Instead, they chose to revel in fame and worldly glory, and closed themselves off from the Lord and His love, while excluding and ignoring all those whom they could have helped and guided towards God. All these had prevented many of those whom God could have saved through those that He had entrusted the care over His people, and hence that was why the Lord was often critical at their actions. This is why we should not follow their examples, and instead remind ourselves that God treats everyone, all of His beloved people equally, regardless of their background or origin, and regardless of whatever they were like, as what truly matters is how all of us follow God, and obey His Law and commandments.

What the Lord truly wants from us is our love and dedication, and not merely just lip service and outward expressions of faith and piety. We should indeed be inspired by the examples of the Canaanite woman, whose faith and determination to believe in the Lord were unwavering and true, undeterred even by opposition and prejudices, differences or discomfort. Like that of the many other examples of our holy predecessors, the holy saints of God, whose lives have been truly exemplary and worthy, and whose faith had been true and genuine, let us all therefore be the great beacons of God’s light and truth to the nations, while constantly reminding ourselves of God’s most generous love and kindness to everyone, that no one is truly out of His love and kindness, mercy and compassion. Let us all be the inspiration and strength for countless others who may come to know the Lord through us and our actions.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to be with us and bless our ways, our works and good efforts, in everything that we say and do, so that hopefully more and more may come to realise the most generous and impartial love of God, ever poured generously upon us, and therefore many more may come to be saved and share in the joy of everlasting life that we shall experience and enjoy in the end with God. Let us all be the reflections of God’s hope and light, truth and love in our darkened world today. Amen.

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Sunday, 20 August 2023 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 15 : 21-28

At that time, leaving that area, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So His disciples approached Him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.” Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.”

The woman replied, “That is true, Sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

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Sunday, 20 August 2023 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 11 : 13-15, 29-32

Listen to me, you who are not Jews : I am spending myself, as an Apostle to the pagan nations, but I hope my ministry will be successful enough to awaken the jealousy of those of my race, and, finally, to save some of them. If the world made peace with God, when they remained apart, what will it be, when they are welcomed? Nothing less than, a passing from death to life.

Because the call of God, and His gifts, cannot be nullified. Through the disobedience of the Jews, the mercy of God came to you who did not obey God. They, in turn, will receive mercy, in due time, after this disobedience, that brought God’s mercy to you. So, God has submitted all to disobedience, in order to show His mercy to all.

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Sunday, 20 August 2023 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 6 and 8

May God be gracious and bless us, may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

May the peoples praise You, o God, may all the peoples praise You! May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Sunday, 20 August 2023 : Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 56 : 1, 6-7

This is what YHVH says : Maintain what is right and do what is just, for My salvation is close at hand, My justice is soon to come. YHVH says to the foreigners who join Him, serving Him and loving His Name, keeping His Sabbath unprofaned and remaining faithful to His Covenant.

I will bring them to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. I will accept on My altar their burnt offerings and sacrifices, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded again to remain true to our faith in God at all times, and each one of us are called to deepen our faith and knowledge of God and His ways, so that in all and every thing that we do, we will always do what He has taught and commanded us all to do in our daily lives. We should have faith that is strong and pure, unbridled by the many temptations of worldly glory and fame, and faith that is truly vibrant and alive, that can inspire many others to continue to be faithful and dedicated to God. This is what we have been called to do as Christians, and we are constantly being reminded so that we will always be exemplary in our every actions and deeds throughout life.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the Book of Joshua in which Joshua, the leader of the Israelites that succeeded Moses, continued to remind the Israelites of what they had to do in obeying God’s Law and commandments, in doing God’s will and in living their lives truly worthily of His cause. Each and every one of us ought to heed these reminders as well, because we are all have been called and chosen by God as His people too. Joshua told all the people of Israel that they all should not forget about the Lord, their God, and they must not establish or erect any altars or worship any pagan idols or gods in their midst, aside from the Lord only. This is because the Lord alone is the one true God Who is worthy of worship, and the people of God must not be easily swayed by the allures of their neighbours or other worldly temptations all around them.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord telling off His disciples for keeping young children from coming to Him, when many of them came to be with Him and to greet Him with joy. The Lord’s disciples tried to keep those children away from Him and scolded those who brought the children to the Lord, and this immediately brought about a stern rebuke from the Lord for all those disciples, because the Lord truly wanted all those children to come to Him, and presented of how faithful those children truly were, with faith that were really living and vibrant, true and pure, unadulterated and uncorrupted by the temptations and other forms of worldly vices and allures, and which all of us as Christians, all of God’s disciples and followers, should truly aspire to have in our own respective lives and faith.

What is the faith of a child, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is a pure faith where the child seeks the Lord and focuses their attention on Him alone, just as we can notice how innocent children really are. If they believe in something, or were told about something, they will really believe in it without any skepticism or doubt, and this kind of pure faith is what the Lord truly seeks from all of us, His beloved people and children. However, the reality is such that many of us did not truly have this kind of pure, unadulterated and uncorrupted life, faith and commitment to God, as many of us have been swayed and corrupted by the temptations of worldly glory and desires, all the things which had kept us away from truly being able to serve and follow the Lord wholeheartedly in all of our lives, as we all should have done.

Take for example the people of Israel themselves, whom God had rescued and led out of the land of Egypt, and whom He had loved and taken care of throughout that journey and beyond. There were many times and instances throughout that journey when the Lord were repeatedly angered and saddened by their stubborn refusal to listen to Him or to obey His ways, because all of them sought worldly satisfaction and pleasures, rather than to obey Him and His Law and commandments. Whenever the Israelites rebelled against God and disobeyed Him, or established pagan idols and false gods over them, it was because they were swayed by those temptations, of wickedness and evil, pride, ambition, ego, greed, pleasures of the world, and more, and all those things led them down the slippery path towards their downfall.

The same will likely happen to us as well, brothers and sisters in Christ, unless we take due precaution to avoid suffering the same fate by being ever vigilant in our lives and in how we live them. Unless we watch ourselves and our actions in life, we may all easily end up falling into the trap of sin and evil, and as a result, we may end up losing sight and focus on the Lord and His saving grace, His light and path. When we allow the corruptions and the temptations of this world to sway us, it will likely lead us astray, away from the Lord and His truth, and in the end, we may regret when it is already too late, and when we have to suffer the consequences for our sins and faults. But the Lord is forever always gracious and kind, and He has always given us many opportunities to turn away from the wicked paths and to embrace the path of His light and righteousness.

That is why, all of us should seek inspiration from the good examples of our holy predecessors, like that of St. John Eudes whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John Eudes was a French priest and the founder of the religious congregation, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. He had been devout and pious throughout his whole life, even from an early age, and developed an intense devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout his formative and priestly years and vocation. He dedicated much of his time and efforts to help those who were suffering and sick, and spent the time to evangelise and to let the Lord and His truth known amongst more and more of God’s people. St. John Eudes also cared for some prostitutes and others who had been ostracised by the community for their sinful way of life, developing what came to be known as the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge.

There were numerous other good deeds and actions which St. John Eudes had done for the greater glory of God and for the benefits of his fellow brothers and sisters, particularly those who had been abandoned and ostracised, and had none to welcome or care for them. Through his efforts in preaching and ministry, and by his establishments of institutions to help the people of God and to gather those who desire to serve the Lord more faithfully, St. John Eudes had touched countless people, and brought so many souls, much closer to God and to His salvation. His strong devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary helped many others to come to love the Lord and to know Him more through His blessed Mother as well, and also by the inspiration set by St. John Eudes himself in all of his works.

Let us all therefore do the same in our lives, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired and strengthened by the good examples and inspiration from St. John Eudes, so that we may also lead lives that are truly worthy of the Lord, free from sin and evil, and full of virtue and righteousness in God. Each and every one of us are expected and called to do God’s will, and to follow Him wholeheartedly, just as how Joshua had reminded the Israelites to be always ever faithful to God in all things. May all of us draw ever closer to God and His salvation, and do our best to remain truly faithful to Him, at all times. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 19 : 13-15

At that time, little children were brought to Jesus, that He might lay His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. Jesus then said, “Let the children be! Do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are humble, like these children.”

Jesus laid His hands on them and went away.

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Saturday, 19 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to YHVH, “O YHVH, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I praise YHVH Who counsels me; even at night, my inmost self instructs me. I keep YHVH always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence, the fullness of joy, at Your right hand, happiness forever.