Weekdays of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 5 August 2024 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Jeremiah 28 : 1-17

Early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah spoke to me.

Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon proclaimed in YHVH’s house in the presence of the priests and the people, “This is what YHVH the God of Hosts and the God of Israel says : I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects that king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from YHVH’s house and carried to Babylon.”

“I will likewise bring back Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all who were taken from Judah and deported to Babylon. For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon – word of YHVH.”

Then Jeremiah replied to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people, “So be it! May YHVH fulfil the words you have spoken and bring back from Babylon to this place the objects taken from the house of YHVH and all the exiles. Yet hear now what I say in your hearing and the hearing of all the people.”

“The prophets who came before you and me continually prophesied war, disaster and plague to many nations and great kingdoms. So the prophet who prophesies peace will not be recognised as truly sent by YHVH, until his predictions are fulfilled.”

Then Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah and broke it. Hananiah proclaimed in the presence of all the people, “YHVH says this : In the same manner, within two years, will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of all the nations.” Then Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

Some time later, a word of YHVH came to Jeremiah, “Go and tell this to Hananiah : This is what YHVH says : You have broken a wooden yoke but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. For this is what YHVH the God of Hosts and the God of Israel says : I am placing a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.”

Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, you have not been sent by YHVH and yet you have deceived these people, giving them false hope with your lies. That is why YHVH says with regard to you : I am removing you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counselled rebellion against YHVH.”

And in the seventh month of that year Hananiah died.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them, and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away.”

The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”

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Sunday, 4 August 2024 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded on one very important aspects of our Christian faith, the very core tenet of our beliefs, namely that of the belief in the Real Presence of the Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist which we partake at every celebrations of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are all reminded that as God’s people we are all cared by Him, and He has always loved us most generously and tenderly without any exception. Each and every one of us are beloved of the Lord, so much so that He has provided for us physically and spiritually in all things most wholesomely just as how He had shown it in the past through what we have heard in our Scripture passages this Sunday. And ultimately, He gave to us all the ultimate and best gift of all, namely that of His only begotten Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the Lord provided His people, the Israelites, with food and provisions during the time of their Exodus and journey from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan through the desert. At that time, the Israelites after having travelled through the desert for some time began complaining about their state of life, as they compared their status to when they were still enslaved back in the land of Egypt. They were saying that it would have been better for them to remain in Egypt as slaves and enjoying whatever bounties and food that they had in Egypt rather than to be free and to wander off in the desert on their way to this land promised to them by God.

This showed that the people of Israel did not have faith and trust in the Lord, and showing just how little confidence they had in God Who up to that time had showed them repeatedly His love and kindness, His compassion and mercy. God has not abandoned His people even when they disobeyed Him and refused to listen to Him. He provided for them and helped them, just as He had done earlier on in Egypt. He showed them His power when He led the people out of Egypt, striking upon the Egyptians with ten great plagues that humbled the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, forcing them to admit that the Lord is truly the one and only God, the Master of all, and that He is the Lord over all the Israelites, whom He brought out of the land of Egypt with great power, even opening the sea itself before them. He kept on doing these even when His people doubted Him and did not fully put their faith and trust in Him.

As we heard in that passage from the Book of Exodus, the Lord sent to the Israelites bread from Heaven itself, the manna, which gave them sustenance and provision for their entire time and journey in the desert, over the whole entire forty years period of that journey. He also gave them flocks of birds in the evening just as the manna came in the morning to make them all have their fill, and despite the desert being mostly inhospitable for life and without any food, but God made His people miraculously not just surviving in their forty years sojourn in the desert, but also thrived during that whole period. He also gave them crystal clear and good water to drink throughout their journey, giving them everything they needed even amidst all their rebellious attitudes and actions.

In our second reading, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the words of the Apostle speaking to the people of the need for all of them to reject and abandon their past lives of sin, their disobedience against God and their wickedness, all of which should be exchanged for a new life filled with God’s grace and light, His truth and love. As Christians, St. Paul reminded all of us that we should no longer allow ourselves to be easily swayed by worldly temptations and all sorts of desires, ambitions, pursuits for fame and glory which many of us often indulged in, all of which can lead us astray from the Lord and His path as many of our predecessors had experienced. Instead, we should embrace the path that the Lord has shown us wholeheartedly, allowing Him to transform our lives to embody what we believe in Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage this Sunday, from the Gospel of St. John, we heard of the discourse of the Bread of Life from the Lord to His disciples and to all those who have come seeking Him. At that time, which was just after the Lord performed the wondrous miracle of the multiplication of the loaves of bread and fishes, feeding many thousands of people, many among the people were astonished at what they had experienced, in receiving the miraculous feeding with bread, that they came seeking for the Lord when He went away with His disciples. They were seeking Him as the Lord Himself mentioned because they were satisfied after being fed with all the food and they were seeking satisfaction and pleasures of the world, but they did not truly have strong and genuine faith in the Lord yet.

That was why when the people mentioned how their ancestors were fed by the heavenly bread, the manna, the Lord told them all that it was indeed God Who had provided and given them the bread to eat, to sustain and nourish them throughout the journey, a feat which the Lord Himself also replicated and repeated again before their own eyes, as they saw and witnessed how the Lord gave them multitudes of food from merely five loaves of bread and two fishes. Through this act and event, God showed them all His loving Presence being manifested through His Son in this world, showing them how He had been truly present in their midst, loving them and caring for them as He has always done. And not only that, but He was giving them even more than just merely physical bread, as He gave Himself to be the Living Bread, broken and shared for them, something that far surpasses even the manna.

For through His loving sacrifice made and offered on the Cross, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has given us all His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood to share and partake, so that all of us may truly gain the perfect fulfilment and satisfaction, giving us the ultimate gift and nourishment that no physical sustenance can provide us. Through the Most Holy Eucharist, Our Lord’s own Presence in the flesh, in His Body and Blood, all of us have become the Temple of God’s Holy Presence, as He dwells within us, and the Holy Spirit He has imparted upon us blessing and sanctifying us all with His grace. But even more importantly, we must realise just how fortunate we are for us having been loved in such a way by our loving God and Creator, and we are therefore called to do our part in the Covenant that He has established with us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us as part of His one united Body, through this sharing of the Most Holy and Sacred Communion, of all the believers in Christ, we are all called to sanctify our lives and existence by doing our very best in each and every circumstances in our respective lives that our whole lives, our every actions and deeds may be truly filled with God’s light and truth, His grace and love. We should be thankful for everything that God has given us, and make best use of the many opportunities and the talents and abilities which He has blessed us with, so that in everything we say and do, in our every interactions with one another, we will continue to be good examples and role models, inspirations and strength for one another to continue living our lives as genuine Christians at all times.

May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey, and may He continue to strengthen and nourish us all with His Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist that we continue to partake in. Let us all continue to focus and put the emphasis of our lives upon the Lord in all the things that we say and do, in all of our every moments in life. May we all as Christians also continue to live ever more worthily in all circumstances, doing our best so that we may continue to grow ever stronger in our love and faith in the Lord, and that our lives may continue to bring glory to the Lord, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 4 August 2024 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 24-35

At that time, when the people saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, “Master, when did You come here?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, you look for Me, not because of the signs which you have seen, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for He is the One on Whom the Father has put His mark.”

Then the Jews asked Him, “What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?” And Jesus answered them, “The work God wants is this : that you believe in the One Whom God has sent.” They then said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the True Bread from heaven. The Bread God gives is the One Who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this Bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty.”

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Sunday, 4 August 2024 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 17, 20-24

I say to you, then, and with insistence I advise you, in the Lord : do not imitate the pagans, who live an aimless kind of life. But it is not for this, that you have followed Christ. For, I suppose, that you have heard of Him, and received His teaching, which is seen in Jesus Himself. You must give up your former way of living, the old self, whose deceitful desires bring self-destruction.

Renew yourselves, spiritually, from inside, and put on the new self, or self, according to God, that is created in true righteousness and holiness.

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Sunday, 4 August 2024 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 77 : 3 and 4bc, 23-24, 25 and 54

Mysteries which we have heard and known, which our ancestors have told us. We will announce them to the coming generation : the glorious deeds of the Lord, His might and the wonders He has done.

Yet, He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; He rained down manna upon them, and fed them with the heavenly grain.

They ate and had more than their fill of the bread of Angels. He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had won.

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Sunday, 4 August 2024 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 16 : 2-4, 12-15

In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHVH in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

YHVH then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow My teaching or not.”

“I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say : Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am YHVH, your God!”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that YHVH has given you to eat.”

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Saturday, 3 August 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard from our Scripture passages today all of us are reminded as we have always been of the reality of our vocation, mission and calling as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen to be His own. Each and every one of us have been given the various gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities for us to do our part in the missions of the Church, to proclaim the Lord worthily through our own respective exemplary lives and actions through which we can inspire many others around us to live their lives in the way that is also pleasing to God. Amidst all these, we must be prepared to face all sorts of challenges that we may encounter in this path we take as disciples and followers of Christ.

In our first reading today, we heard from the passage in the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the aftermath of the moment when Jeremiah proclaimed the words of the Lord and His judgment to the people and the kingdom of Judah at the Temple of God in Jerusalem is presented to us. At that time, as we heard, many of the people and the priests called out for Jeremiah’s punishment and death, primarily because he had spoken ill about the people and the kingdom, and also prophesied that the city and its Temple, the very Temple and House of God would be destroyed and torn down. This happened shortly before everything that God had told them through Jeremiah would come true, and everything would indeed happen just as Jeremiah had prophesied it.

However, many among the people, especially among the priests and the elites, many of whom had not been truly obedient to God and not been observing His Law and commandments, they saw Jeremiah’s words as insults to them, and they took them negatively, as many among them plotted actively against him and even tried to cause harm to the man of God on more than one occasion. However, God was with Jeremiah, His servant and faithful prophet, and He did not let harm befall him, although Jeremiah did have to endure sufferings, difficulties and challenges throughout his entire ministry. As we heard in the passage today, many of the people were moved by what Jeremiah said to them, in how he humbled himself before them and told them that everything that he did and said, all were brought to their midst by God’s will, and not by his own volition or accord.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story from the Gospel of St. Matthew of the moment when St. John the Baptist, the one whom God had sent before Himself to be His herald and the one to prepare His way, was to meet his end in martyrdom at the hands of King Herod and his unlawful wife, Herodias. At that time, Herodias was the wife of King Herod’s brother Philip, who in the Scriptures and history were clearly described as being alive. Not only that, but the mention that Herodias had a daughter, who was known as the daughter of Herodias also strongly indicated that this daughter was born out of the union between Herodias and her former husband, Philip. While the Jewish laws and customs did allow a brother to take his own brother’s wife as his own wife, this had strict conditions that the aforementioned brother must be deceased and without a child of his own.

Therefore, what King Herod had done at that time constituted an adultery, and adultery is a great sin before God, which was why St. John the Baptist criticised and rebuked the king for his behaviour and immoral attitude as someone who was supposed to be righteous and just as a ruler of the people of God. This was not taken kindly by Herodias who held a deep grudge against St. John the Baptist, seeking for opportunities to kill him whenever she had the chance. But King Herod held the man of God in high esteem and tried to protect him even when he arrested and put St. John the Baptist in the prison. It was therefore at this feast mentioned in the Gospel passage today where King Herod was probably intoxicated and mesmerised by the daughter of Herodias that he finally let it slip, giving Herodias a chance to exact her plans to kill the man of God. Thus was how St. John the Baptist was martyred.

From what we have heard from our Scripture passages today, we can see that being a faithful disciple and follower of the Lord often lead us into the path of challenges, trials and sufferings. All these happened because of the opposition from all those who have not believed in God, and also from our enemies, the forces of the fallen, the devil and all of his fellow demons and fallen angels, all of whom desire our destruction and damnation with them. That is why they all tried to dissuade us through these challenges, obstacles and trials that they placed before us so that hopefully we may end up being persuaded to follow the path of their rebellion and evil instead. This is what we must always be vigilant against at each and every moments of our lives.

We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by fear and all the doubts and uncertainties that the devil and his other evil ones may be sowing in us, in trying to lead us astray from the path of God and His righteousness. Instead, we must be strengthened and encouraged by the examples of our holy and faithful predecessors, reminding ourselves that while we may suffer and endure persecutions in this world, but our deeds, actions and efforts will yield great and bountiful fruits of our faith, and hence we, like our holy predecessors before us, the prophets, servants of God, the Holy Apostles, the many saints and martyrs of the Church, all of us shall bring about so many great and wonderful things, performing the great works of our Lord in the midst of our own respective communities and leading so many more people ever closer towards God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, our Creator and Master continue to help and strengthen us all in our journey so that throughout all the trials and challenges that we may encounter in our path and faith, we may always be strong, courageous and capable of facing those trials with faith, that we may continue to live our lives worthily of the Lord, doing whatever we can so that our lives may truly be exemplary and inspirational to everyone around us. May each and every one of us all be ever more committed and faithful as Christians in our respective lives from now on, answering God’s call and doing our best to serve Him, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 August 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, “This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John.”

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to have her as your wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John’s disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

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Saturday, 3 August 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 68 : 15-16, 30-31, 33-34

Rescue me, lest I sink in the mire; deliver me from the storm and the deep waters. Let not the flood engulf me, nor the deep suck me in, let not the pit close its mouth upon me.

But I myself, am humbled and wounded; Your salvation, o God, will lift me up. I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving.

Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For YHVH hears the needy; and does not despise those in captivity.

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Saturday, 3 August 2024 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Jeremiah 26 : 11-16, 24

Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders of the people : “This man must die for he has spoken against the city as you have heard with your own ears!”

Jeremiah replied, “I have been sent by YHVH to prophesy against this House and this city all that you have heard. Hence, reform your ways and your deeds and obey YHVH your God that He may change His mind and not bring upon you the destruction He had intended.”

“As for me I am in your hands; do with me whatever you consider just and right. But know that I am innocent; and if you take my life you commit a crime that is a curse on yourselves, on the city and the people. In truth it was YHVH Who sent me to say all that I said in your hearing.”

Then the leaders, backed by the people, said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve death; he spoke to us in the Name of YHVH.” As for Jeremiah, he was befriended by Ahikam, son of Shaphan, and was not handed over to those who wanted him put to death.