Weekdays of Ordinary Time

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Friday, 30 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-8

For the rest, brothers, we ask you, in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, and we urge you, to live in a way that pleases God, just as you have learnt from us. This you do, but try to do still more. You know the instructions we gave you on behalf of the Lord Jesus : the will of God for you is to become holy and not to have unlawful sex.

Let each of you behave towards his wife as a holy and respectful husband, rather than being led by lust, as are pagans, who do not know God. In this matter, let no one offend or wrong a brother. The Lord will do justice in all these things, as we have warned and shown you.

God has called us to live, not in impurity but in holiness, and those who do not heed this instruction disobey, not a human, but God, Himself, Who gives you His Holy Spirit.

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Thursday, 29 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Passion of St. John the Baptist, remembering the moment when this very important saint suffered and endured martyrdom for his faith, for his never failing zeal and dedication to God to the very end, even at the cost of his life. And St. John the Baptist is one of the few saints in the Scriptures who have more than one feast day celebrated in his honour.

That is because St. John the Baptist played a very important and crucial role in the history of our salvation, as he is the Herald of the Messiah of God, the one who was prophesied to come just before the coming of God’s Saviour, the Promised One, in order to proclaim His coming to the world. St. John the Baptist himself was also a relative of the Lord, having been born to Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, and therefore St. John the Baptist is also a relative of the Lord Jesus.

And since his birth and youth, St. John the Baptist had been called by God to do His will, as he went on his journey and went into the wilderness, and when he was ready, proclaiming God’s imminent coming to His people, calling them all to repentance and to turn away from their sins. He brought the people to the River Jordan and baptised them with water, as a sign of their commitment to change their way of life and rejection of sin.

Then, St. John the Baptist had to go up against those who were powerful and influential in the community, beginning from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who doubted him and refused to believe in him, and even doubted and questioned the authority by which St. John the Baptist had performed his baptism and works among the people. And then, he also went up against none other than king Herod himself, the ruler of Galilee.

King Herod had led an immoral life as he took the legally married wife of his brother, Philip, who was still alive then and also likely with a daughter with the brother, as his own. Doing so constituted a very serious adultery and sin, and St. John the Baptist fearlessly confronted the king and Herodias, the wife of the king’s brother whom the former had taken as his own. As a result, Herodias in particular held a grudge against the saint and tried very hard to kill the holy man of God. She managed to get the saint imprisoned for what he had courageously spoke up against.

That was exactly how she managed to plot against the saint, by what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, when during a feast, Herodias tricked king Herod into giving in to her demands to have the saint killed and had his head placed on a platter before her, through the means of temptation and through her own beautiful daughter’s seduction before the king’s presence.

And in enduring the suffering, the imprisonment and eventually martyrdom, St. John the Baptist remained true to the mission which God had sent him into this world for, to the very end. He is truly a role model for all of us, God’s faithful people in how we should live out our lives with faith as Christians. All of us have been called by God to look upon the examples of this faithful servant who gave himself totally to God and devoted his life’s effort to glorify God.

Are we able to stand by our faith and our commitment to God in our everyday lives, even at times when the world itself may be against us? That is what St. John the Baptist had done, devoting himself to the cause and the mission God has entrusted to him. He did not give up despite the challenges and oppositions he had, and put his trust completely in the Lord, just as the prophet Jeremiah in our first reading today was reassured by God that He would be with him throughout the entire journey.

Let us all discern carefully and think in what way we can bring ourselves and others closer to God by our own examples and by our dedication to God. The truth is that, the best way to evangelise is through our own examples and our own obedience to God’s will. It is when others see that in our every words, deeds and actions we show our true faith and commitment, and that we mean our every words and actions, then naturally others will follow in our footsteps, just as the courage of St. John the Baptist had inspired many of us in our faith.

May the Lord therefore strengthen us in our faith that we may be courageous in faith and in life just as His faithful servant St. John the Baptist had done, in enduring all sorts of trials and challenges, and even martyrdom for the sake of his faith and dedication to God. Let us all follow his footsteps and be ever more Christian-like in our daily living from now on. May God bless us all and our good works, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 29 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 6 : 17-29

At that time, this is what had happened : Herod had ordered John to be arrested; and had had him bound and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod had married her; and John had told him, “It is not right for you to live with your brother’s wife.”

So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him; but she could not, because Herod respected John. He knew John to be an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And he liked listening to him; although he became very disturbed whenever he heard him.

Herodias had her chance on Herod’s birthday, when he gave a dinner for all the senior government officials, military chiefs, and the leaders of Galilee. On that occasion, the daughter of Herodias came in and danced; and she delighted Herod and his guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you.” And he went so far as to say with many oaths, “I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” The mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”

The girl hurried to the king and made her request, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish.” The king was very displeased, but he would not refuse in front of his guests because of his oaths. So he sent one of the bodyguards, with orders to bring John’s head.

He went and beheaded John in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard of this, they came and took his body and buried it.

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Thursday, 29 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 70 : 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17

In You, o YHVH, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced. In Your justice help me and deliver me; turn Your ear to me and save me!

Be my Rock of refuge; a Stronghold, to give me safety; for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o YHVH, have been my hope; my trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

My lips will proclaim Your intervention and tell of Your salvation all day. You have taught me from my youth and, until now, I proclaim Your marvels.

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Thursday, 29 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Jeremiah 1 : 17-19

But you, get ready for action; stand up and say to them all that I command you. Be not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence! See, I will make you a fortified city, a pillar of iron with walls of bronze, against all the nations, against the kings and princes of Judah, against the priests and the people of the land.

They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you – it is YHVH Who speaks.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we continue on from yesterday’s discourse regarding the improper actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law which were the theme of the passages in the past three days from the Scripture. On this day we heard again of the Lord rebuking the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of their hypocrisy, mincing not His words as He struck at them for their empty and meaningless faith.

And He also made mention of how they acted just in the same manner as their ancestors, those people of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah of old who have persecuted the prophets and refused to listen to the words of truth and wisdom which they had brought with them. Those people had hardened their hearts and closed their minds off from the Lord and His words, and that was why they had little faith in Him.

In the first reading today, then, we heard St. Paul exhorting the Church and the faithful in the city of Thessalonica to embrace a good and faithful life, one that is dedicated to the greater glory of God, in serving Him and in proclaiming His truth in everything they do, by their every actions and deeds, by their every words and interactions, through which they become the witnesses of their faith in God.

Essentially, from what we have heard in today’s Scripture readings, we are all reminded of the way we live our lives and how as Christians, all of us must remember that should we act in ways that are not in accordance with what we believe, it will truly scandalise our faith, and how can we expect others to believe if we ourselves acted and lived as if we did not believe in God? In fact, we may even mislead others by our hypocrisy just like what many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done.

Looking at the examples of those people, they all fell into the temptations of their pride, their ambition and worldly desires. They all wanted to be affirmed, to be praised, to be honoured and glorified by their peers, by the people around them. And as they received all those good things, they became even more filled with desires, wanting to gain more of what they thought they deserved.

That was why they acted to preserve their own ego, to satisfy their desire for power, for fame and affluence, for admiration and fame as they showed their public forms of piety and devotions, their observances of the laws and customs of the Mosaic law. Yet, in their hearts, so filled up with ego and pride, with desire and greed, the Lord truly did not have any place to dwell in. They have sidelined the Lord for their own selfish desires and purposes.

And that is a very important lesson for us to take note in how we should live our Christian lives meaningfully. We must not let the desires of our flesh and the many temptations of this world to pull us away from the path of righteousness and salvation in God. If we allow ourselves to be tempted and to be swayed by those temptations and seductions of worldliness made by the devil and all of his wicked allies, we will end up being hypocrites in faith like those whom the Lord had rebuked.

Today, as the whole Universal Church we celebrate together the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the original Four Doctors of the Church and a very important Church father and leader of the Christian faith and Western Christianity in general. St. Augustine of Hippo is celebrated often together with his mother, St. Monica, whose feast we celebrated just yesterday, as their lives were truly intertwined, the love between a mother and her child.

St. Augustine however was not always holy and devout throughout his life as we may have thought otherwise. Born to a pagan father and a Christian mother, St. Augustine was not always righteous, but in fact was wicked early on in his life, living a debauched and wicked lifestyle, adopting the heretical and syncretic Manichaean religion and sought all sorts of worldly pleasures, and he even committed adultery with a married woman.

But St. Augustine was touched by the great efforts that his mother, St. Monica had, in trying to pull her son away from his wicked path and sins. St. Monica ceaselessly prayed for the sake of her son and wished for the conversion of his heart. And her effort eventually caused not just St. Augustine to turn away from his sinful life, but even managed to bring her own husband, St. Augustine’s father into the Christian faith prior to his death.

St. Augustine turned towards God through the means of St. Monica’s prayers, and his own desire for knowledge and satisfaction, which was the reason why he went around seeking all sorts of worldly desires and pleasures, in the pursuit of philosophy and intellectual discourses, in the pursuit of the pleasures of the flesh and glory, all without avail. Eventually, his encounter with the Christian faith made him to discover God, the One Who gave him the answers and the true joy that he had been seeking all those while.

That was how St. Augustine was turned to the Lord and repented from his old, sinful way of life. St. Augustine thereafter dedicated his life to the Lord and devoted himself wholly to His cause. His many writings and inspirational testimonies of his faith became a benchmark for many Christian authors and teachers for many generations after his passing. His treatises and books, including the famous ‘City of God’ brought a great development of Christian theology and faith.

And one of the famous stories linked to St. Augustine of Hippo was one of the moment when St. Augustine was walking by the seashore while reflecting and trying to comprehend the mystery of God’s Holy Trinity and saw a child who tried to pour the entire ocean using a seashell into a small hole in the sand that the child had made. When St. Augustine remarked of the futility of such an effort to the child, then the Child, who was in fact God in disguise told St. Augustine that it is therefore also futile for man to try to comprehend the vastness of God’s truth and mysteries.

In the same manner therefore, it is also futile for us mankind to try to seek for the glory of this world, for the satisfaction of the flesh and for worldly fame, influence, power and all sorts of things that we are often preoccupied about in our lives. We are called therefore to put more trust in God and to put Him at the very centre of our lives, and as the focus of all of our attention and efforts from now on.

Let us all be truly faithful to God and be exemplary in how we live our lives from now on, in our every words, deeds and actions so that by them all we may become witnesses to our faith and will be examples for others to follow in their own lives, that many more will come to believe in God through us. May God bless us all and may He empower us all to live faithfully in His presence always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 23 : 27-32

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful in appearance; but, inside, there are only dead bones and uncleanness. In the same way, you appear religious to others, but you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness within.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and decorate the monuments of the righteous. You say : Had we lived in the time of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So, you, yourselves, confess to be the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.”

“And now, finish off what your ancestors began!”

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 138 : 7-8, 9-10, 11-12ab

Where else could I go from Your Spirit? Where could I flee from Your presence? You are there, if I ascend the heavens; You are there, if I descend to the depths.

If I ride on the wings of the dawn, and settle on the far side of the sea, even there, Your hand shall guide me, and Your right hand shall hold me safely.

Shall I say, “Let darkness hide me, I prefer the night as my light?” But darkness, for You, is not dark.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Thessalonians 2 : 9-13

Remember our labour and toil; when we preached the Gospel, we worked day and night, so as not to be a burden to you. You are witnesses, with God, that we are holy, just and blameless toward all of you who now believe. We warned each of you, as a father warns his children; we encouraged you, and urged you to adopt a way of life worthy of God, Who calls you to share His own glory and kingdom.

This is why we never cease giving thanks to God for, on receiving our message, you accepted it, not as human teaching, but as the word of God. That is what it really is, and, as such, it is at work in you who believe.

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Tuesday, 27 August 2019 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture which continues to remind us of the dangers of having this faith in God and not understanding what our faith is truly about. In the Gospel passage, we heard therefore the continuation of yesterday’s rebuke made by the Lord Jesus against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who had persistently opposed His good works among the people and misled the people with the way they observed and enforced the Law of God.

For the context, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often focused on the external appearances and external applications of rules, laws, customs and rituals pertaining to the customs of the people of Israel as handed down from Moses and through many generations, being modified and adjusted, and changed to the point that the laws and customs as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law practiced them were no longer reflecting the true intention and purpose of the original and true Law of God.

They practiced the Law and observed the precepts and customs with the intention of being honoured and praised for their piety and devotion, and the Lord rebuked them for being superficial and shallow, because they focused on appearances and external applications of the Law, which means that they took on the literal meaning and understanding of the Law rather than the true spirit and meaning of the Law of God.

They focused on the wrong things and instead of leading the people to become ever closer to God and to turn away from their sinful ways and love God more, they ended up turning inwards into their own worst enemies, their own pride and ego, their ambitions and worldly desires, wanting to be glorified and honoured for their obedience to the Law and for their exemplary faith, and their faith became one for show rather than genuine faith.

This is what the Lord rebuked them for, to remind them and also all of us not to follow that same path towards sin, and deeper into sin still. Rather, He has called us to break away from these wrong paths and to resist the temptations of worldly glory, from the pull and allure of our ego and pride, from our greed and the desires of our body and the flesh, for worldly pleasure, for acclaim, fame and adulation, for honour and glory.

Today, we celebrate the feast day of one renowned servant of God, whose story and life together with that of her son can encourage us all to be more courageous in living our lives with faith. St. Monica is a Roman Christian woman who was married to a pagan, and together they had a son, named Augustine, later to be known as St. Augustine of Hippo. Tomorrow we shall celebrate the feast of this saint, the son of St. Monica.

The two saints were celebrated side by side during two days because through the dedication which St. Monica had for her son, it was what made her son turn away from the path of sin and into the glory of heaven as a saint. For St. Augustine once led a debauched and sinful life, following pagan gods of Manichaeism and even had an adulterous relationship with a woman, before eventually, through the ceaseless prayers made by St. Monica, his mother, not only that St. Augustine was converted, but even her husband also turned to the faith before he passed on.

St. Monica lived her whole life virtuously and she dedicated herself just to two, first and foremost to God, of course, and then to her son, St. Augustine of Hippo. She showed us all what it truly means to be faithful to God, to show love first and foremost to God and then to her fellow men. She was known as a charitable and generous person in life, and her examples should inspire us to do the same in our own lives.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to live our lives in the same manner as St. Monica has lived hers? Are we able to live our lives with genuine faith and not just for appearances or for formality as what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done? We are challenged to rethink the way we have lived our lives thus far, and realign them with God’s way. He is showing us the way forward and we should trust Him to lead us on this journey of faith.

May the Lord through the intercession of His faithful servant, St. Monica help us all to turn away from our many temptations in life, and be more faithful to Him from now on. May He strengthen us all to live in faith more courageously, and be genuine in our love that in our every words, deeds and actions, we will glorify God and do everything out of love for Him and not for our own selfish gains and personal desires. May God bless us all and our every good works in His Name. Amen.