Weekdays of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 12 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)
1 Corinthians 11 : 17-26, 33

To continue with my advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse. First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be different groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine.

Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, for each one eats at once his own food and while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.

This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.”

In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This cup is the new Covenant in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until He comes.

So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)
Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God. And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! that is, Father!

You yourself are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)
Ephesians 1 : 3-6

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing. God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons and daughters through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness which He granted us in His Beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

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Sunday, 11 September 2016 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this holy day of our Lord we heard the very compelling message and reminder from the Scripture passages we have listened to, that is about mercy, forgiveness and God’s everlasting grace and love for all of us, His most beloved ones. That we all should really come to appreciate the vastness of God’s great and boundless mercy, and understand His desire to bring us all into His loving embrace.

In the first reading, this is shown by the exchange that happened between Moses and God, Who was angry at the people of Israel for their sins and disobedience. To put it into context, we have to understand what had transpired and occurred before this event. At that time, the people of Israel had just left the land of their slavery, Egypt after God has freed them with His mighty hand, delivering them from the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh.

They have been delivered with great miracles and wonders. God Himself showed pity on His beloved people who have been made to suffer and labour in great pain for many years, bringing them out and leading them through the desert, even opening up the sea in front of them and destroying the forces of their oppressors, casting the sea itself upon them. And yet, despite all these, the people of God disobeyed Him and spurned His love.

We all know what happened, brethren, how the Israelites rejected God and abandoned Him for the golden calf which they forced Aaron, the brother of Moses to make for them. They worshipped that golden calf as their god, even though God had done so much for them, showing His miraculous deeds in liberating them from their oppressors and casting out their chains.

Is it not thus just for God to be angry at His people? He has given them so much, and that was what He got back in return. Well, if God thinks as we humans do, then probably He would be angry at us, showed His wrath and destroyed us. But no, for God loves us all just as He hates our sins. It is a reminder to us all that, first, God is not happy with our sins, just as He showed His anger to His people through Moses, but it does not mean that He is also considering our destruction without reason either.

Rather, it is we ourselves who have chosen to bring the destruction and the troubles upon ourselves. God gave His people His love unconditionally and yet they refused to obey Him and listen to Him, much like what we also heard in the Gospel passage today, the well-known parable of the lost sheep, the lost silver coin, and finally that of the prodigal son.

Through those parables and stories Jesus our Lord wanted to make it clear to all those who listened to Him, and indeed, to all mankind, how great is God’s love that He is willing to forgive our sins and disobedience, and willing to welcome us back into His loving embrace once again, that is His great and boundless mercy. That great love is shown by the joy that comes about when a shepherd discovered a lost sheep, and when someone found the lost coin, and when someone beloved was thought to be lost, but found again.

It is all too easy for us to think that God is all merciful and ever forgiving, that He will always overlook our sins and wickedness in these lives we are living now in this world. We should not forget that He is our Father and Lord, Who is responsible for us and Who truly cares for us from His heart. Which father will want his children to grow up wrongly or to become a bad and wicked person? A good father will want to guide his children to become good people, and God is no exception to this.

We as God’s children have often become wayward and lost our way. Just as sheep that became distracted by its surroundings, went its own way and became lost, or like that younger son, the prodigal son, who followed his own desires and the wishes of the world, and therefore became lost to his father. And when these are separated, they are in danger, the danger of death and destruction.

Wolves and danger are always around, threatening to strike at the lost sheep, which is without protection and guidance from the shepherd. Alone and separated from the herd, wolves and other predators have an easy time to pick on the lost sheep. Similarly, the prodigal son suffered in the foreign land, having squandered off all of his money on worldly pleasures and desires, and had to even wanting to eat the waste food and scraps that were fed to the pigs.

Let us all think and internalise all of these as we remember the passages which we have just heard. Let us look at our own actions, our own words and how we have interacted with others around us. Have we been acting like that of the prodigal son ourselves? Let us remember all the times when we turned our backs to the Lord and chose to follow our own desires and wants. Let us all remember all the times and moments when we have stumbled in our faith, in our lack of faith and commitment to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Gospel is a reminder for us all that God is merciful, is kind, loving and compassionate, especially towards each and every one of us. However, if we do not act on His offer of mercy, forgiveness and love, then there is no way forward for us, as God’s mercy and love is a two-way thing, that is between us and Him. After all, let us ask ourselves, if someone loves another and yet another person do not return the same love, then is there real love there?

And accepting God’s mercy and forgiveness require us to make a profound change upon ourselves, on our way of life, on our attitude and interactions with one another, that we are like the prodigal son, who truly did not remain prodigal and lost but instead he chose to return to his father, despite fully knowing the great extent of his unworthiness as he had sinned and committed wickedness against his own father.

Let us all think carefully about this, and think of what we can do from now on if we have not started yet on our path to seek God’s merciful heart. First of all, we must not be afraid to seek out the Lord, for fear and doubt are often what prevented many people from being able to discover that path upon which they ought to walk on in order to attain the salvation in God.

Then, we must be able and we must be ready to commit ourselves a hundred percent into a thorough and complete change of ourselves, our lifestyle and our way of interacting with one another. If we are ready to do all these, then we are on our way to receive the Lord and His mercy. Otherwise, we are still far away, and the danger is there that we will not reach the Lord’s mercy at all, because we ourselves are barring our own path to that salvation.

Mercy without repentance does not exist, as God’s mercy is offered freely to all, but only those who respond to it positively, and with genuine and sincere intention from the heart will receive the grace and the forgiveness from God, and returned to be one in His embrace. Let us all consider these even as we embark on this journey to reach out to the Lord and His mercy.

Then, let us all each and every one of us, members of the Church, through our Christian faith, help one another and devote ourselves to help each other to find our way to the Lord, by showing in our own actions, how we can love instead of hate, how we can forgive instead of keeping grudges and seeking vengeance, and how to bring peace and harmony instead of conflict and war. God is always ready for us, but are we ready for Him? Do our actions show that we are ready?

Today, let us all also spare some thoughts to all those who are victims of violence and conflict. The tragedy of the terrorist attack fifteen years ago today, followed by many other related miseries and sufferings for many should show us all how important it is for us to truly bring ourselves closer to God, seek to bring peace and harmony in all things. Let us all not be swayed by the temptations of the world, but instead renew that special relationship we have with our God.

May God help us and keep us in His love, that His mercy will be extended to us and that we may be ready to welcome that same mercy, willing to be forgiven and to repent from all of our faults and sins. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 September 2016 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 15 : 1-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :”

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said, ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

Alternative reading (shorter version)


Luke 15 : 1-10

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :”

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

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Sunday, 11 September 2016 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Timothy 1 : 12-17

I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, Who is my strength, Who has considered me trustworthy and appointed me to His service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a rabid enemy. However He took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

This saying is true and worthy of belief : Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Because of that I was forgiven; Christ Jesus wanted to display His utmost patience so that I might be an example for all who are to believe and obtain eternal life. To the King of ages, the only God Who lives beyond every perishable and visible creation – to Him be honour and glory forever. Amen!

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Sunday, 11 September 2016 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 50 : 3-4, 12-13, 17 and 19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt, cleanse me of evil.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart You will not despise.

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Sunday, 11 September 2016 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Exodus 32 : 7-11, 13-14

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?”

“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.

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Saturday, 10 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it may be a bit difficult for us to understand the message and the meaning from the various readings and passages we heard today from the Sacred Scriptures, but they all really spoke to us, just as the Church had selected those particular passages for today, that we all as Christians ought to be true to our faith, and to be completely and thoroughly committed to our Lord without aberration.

In the first reading, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and to the faithful in Corinth spoke about being in Communion with God and what was the significance of such a privilege which had been accorded to all those who have accepted the Lord through holy baptism, and as members of God’s one and only Church, the vessel through which all those who profess their faith in God would be saved.

But at that time, pressure that existed against the faithful and the Church was truly great, as especially those who held public offices and wanted to continue their lives and careers as per normal found it difficult to balance and cooperate between their secular and worldly life as well as career with their Faith and belief in God. Many of them therefore compromised with their faith and belief in God in order to achieve what they wanted.

One of the examples mentioned by St. Paul was the sharing of the faithful of the offerings and food which had been made as sacrifices and offerings to demons and the pagan idols and gods. It was profane for members of the Church to participate in such actions, as that showed that they were willing to compromise on their faith, agreeing to worship the false gods and idols in return for acknowledgement and worldly opportunities.

Even considering the difficult conditions they were in, there were many among them who continued to commit wickedness and unworthy actions and deeds even after they have become a member of the Church and were counted among the faithful ones. In doing so, they have committed scandal in front of God and His people, and such actions were contra-productive in bringing about the salvation of God to the world.

These are the same people whom God Himself mentioned in the Gospel passage we heard today, when He rebuked all those with weak or nonexistent faith, those who built their houses on weak foundation that will topple and fall should a powerful wind or wave sweep over them. They did not have a genuine and strong faith and dedication to the Lord, and temptations or pressures from the world could easily take over them.

But the Lord was not asking us to rebel openly against the world and bring troubles upon ourselves. He was not asking us to go out into the open fields and places to proclaim openly our faith for all to see and hear. Indeed our goal is to preach to them the Good News with zeal and sincerity of faith, but it must be done with the patience and the courage which all of us should have in our faith.

We should look at the examples of our holy and devoted predecessors. These are the holy martyrs and saints, all those who often do not desire and indeed did not compromise their faith and the ways of the Lord they followed in order to satisfy or appease the world and its demands and wishes. Let us all seek to be true and devoted disciples and followers of our Lord as they had done, and commit ourselves day after day doing the good works of God. May God help us in our endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Luke 6 : 43-49

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No healthy tree bears bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bears : you do not gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly the good person draws good things from the good stored in his heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in his heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.”

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what the one is like, who comes to Me, and listens to My words, and acts accordingly. That person is like the builder who dug deep, and laid the foundations of his house on rock. The river overflowed, and the stream dashed against the house, but could not carry it off because the house had been well built.”

“But the one who listens and does not act, is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it, and the house fell at once : and what a terrible disaster that was!”

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Saturday, 10 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Psalm 115 : 12-13, 17-18

The Lord remembers us and will bless us; He will bless the family of Israel; He will bless the family of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.

It is not the dead who praise the Lord, for they have gone down to silence; but it is we, the living, who bless the Lord, from now on and forever.

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Saturday, 10 September 2016 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
1 Corinthians 10 : 14-22

Therefore, dear friends, shun the cult of idols. I address you as intelligent persons; judge what I say. The cup of blessings that we bless, is it not a communion with the Blood of Christ? And the bread we break, is it not a communion with the Body of Christ? The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

Consider the Israelites. For them, to eat of the victim is to come into communion with its altar. What does all that mean? That the meat is really consecrated to the idol, or that the idol is a being. However, when the pagans offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice goes to the demons, not to God.

I do not want you to come into fellowship with demons. You cannot drink at the same time from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. You cannot share in the table of the Lord and in the table of the demons. Do we want, perhaps, to provoke the jealousy of the Lord? Could we be stronger than He?