Weeks of Lent

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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Law which the Lord has presented and given to all of us through the Scriptures and His Church, which has revealed and taught us this Law and the various commandments that we ought to follow and obey in our lives. Each and every one of us as Christians are bound to follow and obey these Law and commandments that God had given to us, as part of the Covenant which He had established and made with all of us. And what we heard today in our Scripture readings are reminders for us to follow these laws and commandments with appreciation and understanding of their importance and significance for us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which Moses, the leader of the Israelites told all the people to be obedient to the Law of God and to follow His commandments, instead of being rebellious and hardened in heart as they had often done during their Exodus from Egypt and the journey through the desert. Moses told the people the reason why God gave His Law and commandments to them, and everything ultimately pointed towards the desire that God had in ensuring that His people would be forgiven from all of their many sins, to be guided in their paths and ways so that they would no longer be lost to Him and be condemned to the eternity of suffering and damnation like what the evil ones will be suffering from.

This is something which we need to be acutely aware of, realising that our sins like those sins of the people of Israel can lead us all into certain destruction, which God wants to prevent us from suffering such a fate. And this was why He gave us His Law and commandments just as He had once revealed it to the Israelites through Moses. They were meant to serve as a guide and assistance to the people of God so that they would live worthily and be strengthened in their desire to follow God wholeheartedly amidst the many temptations and coercions of worldly desires, pleasures and ambitions found all around them. Thus, unless we ourselves also obey the Law and commandments of God wholeheartedly and with true understanding of God’s love and will, then we may find it difficult to remain faithful to Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and all those who were following Him in which He made it clear that He did not mean to change or abolish the Law of God, contrary to the perception and misconception that many among the Israelites, particularly among the religious and intellectual elites, had in Him, His teachings and actions. Those leaders often assumed that Jesus and His works and teachings were contrary to the Law of God revealed through Moses, particularly in their frequent clashes on the matter of the Sabbath Law. To the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the Sabbath Law was sacrosanct in the manner that they observed it, refusing to allow any kinds of activities on that day.

However, the Lord told the people the true intention of the Lord when He instituted the Sabbath Law, and that was to help all of His people to come to Him and to remember the need to focus their lives on Him, and not on their various other pursuits and desires in life, in this world present around us. We may easily be tempted and swayed by our many attachments and desires, in all of our works and activities in this world that we forget our obligation and relationship with God. And that is why God instituted this Day of Rest, the Sabbath Day such that the people of Israel might have the time to take a break from their busy daily activities and works, and dedicate this time to worship the Lord and to strengthen their relationships with Him.

But, unfortunately, by the time of the Lord and His ministry, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had misunderstood the intention and purpose of the Law of God, using them instead to impose unrealistic expectations and observances on the people of God. In the matter of the Sabbath Law, it was so strictly enforced that the people were not allowed to do anything even good and virtuous deeds that may benefit the people around them. And this was what the Lord highlighted to those hypocrites, those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who have misled the people through their wrong teachings and interpretations of the Law, and their elitist attitudes in claiming to be better, more pious and holier than everyone else, and in their judgmental and biased attitudes against those they deemed to be unredeemable sinners like the tax collectors and prostitutes.

And what we are being reminded of today is the love of God manifested through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Himself, Who has renewed the Covenant that God had made with His people, the love which He has shown us all again and again in many occasions, and which He has constantly reminded us through His Son and through the Law that He has taught and shown to us. What He wants us all to know is that He has given us all those Law and commandments to help and guide us in our path so that we may truly come to Him and embrace His great love and compassion without falling into the wrong path or be distracted by the many temptations and coercions found all around us. God, as our most loving Father and Creator wants us all to be reconciled and reunited with Him.

That is why, let us all make the conscious effort during this time and season of Lent so that in everything we do, in all of our Lenten observances, and in how we obey the Law and commandments of God that had been given to us through the Church, we may all continue to obey them with the right understanding and mindset, knowing that we do all them out of the sincere love for God and from the desire to be reconciled and reunited with the Lord, our loving Father and Creator. May He continue to bless and guide us in our journey so that by our examples and obedience, we may be good role models and inspirations to everyone else around us, to lead more and more people towards God and His mercy. Amen.

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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 17-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to annul them but to fulfil them. I tell you this : as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change until all is fulfilled.”

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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 15-16, 19-20

Exalt the Lord, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word. He spreads snow like wool; He scatters frost like ashes.

It is He Who tells Jacob His words, His laws and decrees to Israel. This He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

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Wednesday, 26 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 4 : 1, 5-9

And now, Israel, listen to the norms and laws which I teach that you may put them into practice. And you will live and enter and take possession of the land which YHVH, the God of your fathers, gives you.

See, as YHVH, my God, ordered me, I am teaching you the norms and the laws that you may put them into practice in the land you are going to enter and have as your own. If you observe and practice them, other peoples will regard you as wise and intelligent. When they come to know of all these laws, they will say, ‘There is no people as wise and as intelligent as this great nation.’

For in truth, is there a nation as great as ours, whose gods are as near to it as YHVH, our God, is to us whenever we call upon Him? And is there a nation as great as ours whose norms and laws are as just as this Law which I give you today?

But be careful and be on your guard. Do not forget these things which your own eyes have seen or let them depart from your heart as long as you live. But on the contrary, teach them to your children and to your children’s children.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the great occasion of the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the moment when we celebrate the time that the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and King, Our God and Lord of all the Universe, was incarnate in the flesh, and was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, His mother. This must not be confused with the moment of the Lord’s birth into this world, His Nativity, which we celebrate at Christmas, exactly nine months from today. And it is precisely because today is nine months away from Christmas and it marks the beginning of the Lord’s nine months period spent in the womb of His mother Mary, that we celebrate this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.

On this day, the Lord sent one of His great Archangels, the Archangel Gabriel to proclaim the Good News long awaited by His people, who have long awaited the fulfilment of God’s promise of salvation, the sending of the deliverance and Saviour, which had been given to us through this Incarnation of the Son of God, Who embraced our human nature and existence, becoming Man and therefore manifesting perfectly the love of God, which had thus been made tangible, real and approachable to us. No longer God is merely a concept or myth, or a Being far removed from us by His Almighty transcendence. Yes, God remains all-powerful and transcendent, far beyond us in might and glory, infinite in majesty and power, but at the same time, by the mystery of His Incarnation, God has made Himself close to us, approachable and real.

The Annunciation of the Lord marks this moment when the long awaited Hope and Salvation of the world has finally come into a reality, and the Light of Hope is restored to the world, long slumbering in darkness, and what is significant is that the Lord chose not to come in glory and majesty, or as a conquering and mighty King, but instead, He chose to be incarnate and born of a humble, unknown Virgin, Mary, who was merely a peasant girl in the totally unimportant and small town or even village of Nazareth, at the fringe of the Jewish world at that time. Yet, from what we have heard in the accounts of the Annunciation today, we are reminded of exactly why the Lord chose to do this, to bring about our salvation.

The Lord chose to become one of us because it is by this action that He can undo the harm and damage which our ancestors had done in disobeying God, in embracing the falsehoods and lies of Satan. By His coming into this world, He would unite us all mankind through His own humanity, and show to us the ultimate love and compassion through His Son, Who would lay down His life for our sake, freeing us from the domination and tyranny of sin. By His perfect obedience, Christ as the Son of Man would bear the many burdens of our sins, our trespasses and mistakes, which He bore on His Cross, and through this perfect obedience and ultimate sacrifice of love, He made for us a New and Eternal Covenant between God and us, giving us the sure path to eternal life through Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to journey through this time and season of Lent, we are all reminded of why we observe this penitential season of Lent in the first place. We are preparing ourselves to celebrate the most important events in the story of our salvation, which the Lord had made possible through the Incarnation of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour, into this world. Therefore today, as we all remember the moment of His Incarnation at this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, we should remember the great love and compassion which God has manifested before us all in His Son, and be filled with the same love towards Him just as He has shown us all first. We should be grateful that the Lord has been so patient in loving us all despite all of our faults and transgressions so far.

By offering Himself willingly and selflessly for us, just as the second reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews had highlighted, the Lord by His enduring love for us has fashioned for us the means of our salvation, to purify and sanctify us all by His grace, cleansing us all from the corruptions of our innumerable sins. And by this most wonderful and generous love of God, we have been healed and made whole once again, shown the compassionate and most loving Heart of God, full of love for us as always. Therefore, we too should be filled with love and devotion towards Him, and do our very best during this time and season of Lent to seek His forgiveness and mercy, and strive to distance ourselves from all sorts of corruptions, evils and sins that can lead us all further away from God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we should also look upon the great example of faith and obedience which Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour, the Mother of God, has shown each and every one of us. Despite her uncertainties and her inexperience, Mary chose to entrust herself to the Lord and His plans, devoting herself thoroughly to the mission which has been entrusted to her through the words of the Archangel Gabriel. Mary is our perfect role model and example, and just as Christ her Son is the New Adam that led us all by His perfect obedience to His heavenly Father, thus Mary, as the New Eve also directs us all towards her Son, towards the salvation that He has generously offered to each and every one of us. We should follow Mary’s examples in our own lives, in each and every moments.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord this Lent, and strive to do our best in living our daily lives as good and faithful Christians in all the things we say and do. Through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, let us all continue to draw closer to the Lord and devote our time and attention to Him, so that by each and every moments of our lives, by our every actions, ever devoted to Him, we may draw ever closer to Him and His grace, and be truly worthy to receive the pardon and forgiveness for our many mistakes and faults. Through our humility and obedience, which we should deepen ever more during this time and season of Lent, we should follow the examples of Christ Himself and His blessed Mother Mary, our own beloved Mother so that we may continue to humble ourselves before God, sinners in need of God’s mercy and healing.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to show us all His love, and help us in this journey of life, as we come ever closer to His Presence this Lent. May He welcome us back through His generous mercy and compassion, forgiving us our sins when we come to Him with truly humble and contrite hearts. May God bless us all, and bless our Lenten journey and observances. Amen.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hebrews 10 : 4-10

And never will the blood of bulls and goats take away these sins. This is why on entering the world, Christ says : You did not desire sacrifice and offering; You were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said : “Here I am. It was written of Me in the scroll. I will do Your will, o God.”

First He says : “Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire nor were You pleased with them – although they were required by the Law. Then He says : Here I am to do Your will. This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified once and for all by the sacrifice of the Body of Christ Jesus.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

“As the scroll says of me. To do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your law is within my heart.”

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

I have not locked up in my heart Your saving help, but have spoken about it – Your deliverance and Your faithfulness; I have made no secret of Your truth and of Your kindness in the great assembly.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 7 : 10-14 and Isaiah 8 : 10

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : The Virgin is with Child and bears a Son and calls His Name Immanuel.”

“Devise a plan and it will be thwarted, make a resolve and it will not stand, for God-is-with-us.”

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Monday, 24 March 2025 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the power of God’s healing and mercy, as He forgives us all our sins and faults, our trespasses and mistakes. And we are also reminded of the importance of humility in our lives and actions so that we will not allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by pride, which is one of the greatest obstacles that may lead us to our downfall and destruction. We are reminded that we are all sinners in need of God’s mercy, and if we come towards Him with contrite hearts, with genuine intention and desire to be forgiven from our many sins, and to be reconciled to Him, God will surely show us His love and kindness, granting us all the pardon and reconciliation that we seek from Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah in which the story of Naaman, the famous general of the Kingdom of Aram, the neighbour of the northern kingdom of Israel, went to seek healing and resolution for his issue of leprosy, which had affected him greatly due to it being seen as a sign of curse and Divine displeasure. That was why Naaman came to the land of Israel, seeking the king of Israel to ask for the favour from the famous prophet Elisha, whose miracles were well known even to Naaman’s own homeland. And we heard how Naaman came to Elisha seeking this healing, in which the prophet told him to immerse seven times in the River Jordan in order to be healed from his leprosy.

Naaman was initially angered at the instruction, proudly declaring how he expected the prophet ought to have come out and heal him in the manner that he wanted it, and how he could have done it as well in the rivers of his own homeland. Naaman was unhappy because of the expectations that he had in his mind on how he ought to be healed, being a person of high status and well-respected, and hence likely he was unused to being told what to do, and instead of being healed by the service of the prophet as he had expected it, he was told to do a menial task, at least in his perception, to get himself healed. But Naaman’s servant shook Naaman out of his pride and arrogance, and told him that what the prophet Elisha asked of him was not something unreasonable or difficult to do, and hence, Naaman obeyed, and was healed of his leprosy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this healing of Naaman is a reminder for all of us of our own ‘leprosy’, that is sin, the leprosy of the soul. Our own souls, and hence, our whole bodies, hearts, minds and indeed our whole beings have been corrupted by sin, and hence tainted, we have been made unworthy of God and His grace, and sundered therefore from His love and grace, we have been forced to wander off in the darkness of the world, to suffer the consequences of our disobedience and sins. But God loves each and every one of us as well, and He does not want us to be lost or separated from Him, and that is why He gave us all the means to reach out to Him and to return to Him, by giving us all the promise and assurance of salvation through none other than His own only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Like Naaman who came seeking the prophet Elisha, all of us especially during this time of Lent are reminded to seek God’s healing and forgiveness for our sins, to be healed of our ‘leprosy’ of sin, which can be done through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which the Lord has readily made available for all of us. The Lord has given His Church and disciples the power and authority to forgive sins, which they then passed on to us today through their successors, the Popes, the bishops and priests who tirelessly minister to us the faithful and holy people of God. The problem is that, many of us are unaware of the need for all of us to seek this healing from our corruption by sin, and as a result, we continue to live in the state of sin, and are in danger of falling into the path towards eternal damnation and destruction.

Many of us are perhaps also too proud to admit that we are wrong, and we, like Naaman before us, expect that we are forgiven without effort or contrition. But as Naaman had been kindly reminded by his servant to be humble and obedient, therefore, we too should be obedient and humble in allowing ourselves to be forgiven by God by showing a contrite and truly sorrowful heart to the Lord. Pride is one of the greatest vices that led so many people to their downfall, including Satan himself, and in a similar manner pride is also a crucial reason why so many people failed to come and seek God’s healing and mercy, which He has offered us all so generously and lovingly. Unless we humble ourselves and be willing to rid ourselves of our sins, we may find it difficult to come back towards God.

Then, in our Gospel passage today we all heard of the story of the time when the Lord Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth, as He came there bearing the Good News of God’s salvation, which had come to fruition and its perfect fulfilment with the arrival of Jesus Himself, the One Who was born into this world, the Divine Word Incarnate, Son of God born into our midst as the Son of Man, showing unto us the love of God manifested in the flesh. However, when the people of Nazareth listened to the words of the Lord and His proclamation of the fulfilment of the prophets, they were all filled with amazement and disbelief, because to them, Jesus was merely the Son of the town or village carpenter, St. Joseph. And at that time, carpenters were not highly regarded by the people as a profession.

Therefore, when the Lord claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah, many among them likely thought that He was being preposterous in doing so, and this was when the Lord them that unfortunately the reality is such that the prophets, messengers and servants of God are treated badly in their own homeland and countries, those places where they had hailed from. This is again because the people’s pride and arrogance, thinking that they know it better, and that they could not be wrong or no one whom they knew all ought to tell them what to do. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of the greatest challenges that we face in seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy, in our attempts to be reconciled to God, our loving Father and Master.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore resist the temptations of pride and desire in our daily lives, especially during this time and season of Lent when God has renewed His assurance and promises to us, His assurance that His mercy and compassion have been extended most generously to us. Like Naaman, let us all be humble and be willing to rid ourselves of our pride, ego, arrogance and ambitions, and instead be willing to walk down the path of repentance and reconciliation with God. Are we willing to make this commitment, brothers and sisters? Let our Lenten observance and journey be truly fruitful and blessed, and may God empower each one of us to walk ever more courageously in His path, now and always. Amen.