Weeks of Lent

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Friday, 22 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 10 : 31-42

At that time, the Jews then picked up stones to throw at Jesus; so He said, “I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave Me to do. For which of these do you stone Me?”

The Jews answered, “We are not stoning You for doing a good work, but for insulting God; You are only a Man, and You make Yourself God.” Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law : I said, you are gods? So those who received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true.”

“What then should be said of the One anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God?’ If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in Me, believe because of the works I do; and know that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Again they tried to arrest Him, but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptised, and there He stayed. Many people came to Jesus, and said, “John worked no miracles, but he spoke about You, and everything he said was true.” And many became believers in that place.

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Friday, 22 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

I love You, o Lord, my Strength, the Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on the Lord, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

A deadly flood surrounded me, devillish torrents rushed at me; caught by the cords of the grave, I was brought to the snares of death.

But I called upon the Lord in my distress, I cried to my God for help; and from His Temple He heard my voice, my cry of grief reached His ears.

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Friday, 22 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 20 : 10-13

I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”

But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind.

Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause. Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of God’s great love by which He has established and renewed His Covenant with us, again and again, from the beginning of time, and which He has constantly remembered, and last of all, He renewed it for all of us through none other than His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, all of us have received the assurance of God’s love and grace, the promise of eternal life and true joy with Him, and all these have been shown to us through the New and Eternal Covenant which He has established through His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and ultimately through His glorious Resurrection.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of the moment when God established His Covenant with Abram, His faithful servant. Abram was called from the land of Ur to follow the Lord to the land of Canaan, which the Lord had promised to give to Abram and his descendants. Abram at that time while he was a really wealthy man, and yet he had no legitimate descendant to be his heir and successor, and yet such a promise from God might seem to be rather far-fetched, surreal and unrealistic. Yet, Abram trusted in the Lord and obeyed His call, leaving everything behind in his homeland and journeyed to wherever God wanted him to go. Thus, with the righteousness, obedience and virtues that Abram had shown, God blessed him and chose him to be the one with whom He would establish His Covenant with.

Thus, God reassured Abram of everything that He has promised, and as was common, He changed Abram’s name to that of Abraham, the name that we are all surely more familiar with. Abraham was the progenitor of many nations, the father of numerous peoples, and was especially the father of the nation of the Israelites, whom God would choose and call to be His first beloved nation and people. God was always faithful to His Covenant, guiding and leading those whom He had called and chosen, and as we all know, God kept faithfully guiding those same people despite their stubbornness and disobedience. He led them all out of the land of their misery and sufferings in Egypt, bringing them all the way to the land of Canaan, just as He has promised Abraham.

God remained faithful to His Covenant even when His people continued to disobey Him as just mentioned. If we read through the Old Testament and are familiar with the history of the Israelites, then surely we are all familiar with how those people of God had constantly rebelled against Him, turned their backs against His Law and His ways, and chose to follow instead the path of the pagan gods and idols, betraying the Covenant which the Lord had established and renewed with them again and again. God did chastise and punish those who have disobeyed against Him, but He did so out of love and compassion, as a loving Father Who truly cares for His wayward children, wanting to discipline and help them so that they all may grow ever better in their attitudes and righteousness in life.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the example of one such disobedient and stubborn attitude that God’s people has shown, in how the Jewish people treated the Lord Jesus, the One Who had been sent into our midst, Son of God Himself, incarnate in the flesh, so that by His revelation and truth, He might lead us all towards God and His salvation. Yet, those people, the Jewish people, descendants of the remnants of the Israelites, whom the Lord first ministered to, refused to believe in the words that God’s Saviour and Son has spoken to them. The Lord Himself has spoken such truth and wisdom that no one who heard them could have not believed in Him, and performed such miracles and wonders just as the prophets and messengers of God had spoken in the past, and yet, some of the people accused Him of colluding even with the prince of demons in doing so.

They refused to believe in the Lord and as we heard in today’s Gospel, they even accused Him of having a demon in Him just because they refused to believe in what He had presented to them. They refused to believe that the Lord was greater even than Abraham, their forefather, and claimed that just because they were the children and descendants of Abraham, then they knew it better than the Lord Himself and His truth. Why is that so? That is because of their ego and pride, which was a common attitude at the time, especially among the Jewish elites, namely the Pharisees and the Sadducees among them, who considered themselves better and superior to all those who have not believed in the same way as they have believed.

Yet, God still cared for them and patiently reached out to them nonetheless. And as a sign of things to come, as we are now about to enter into the most solemn celebrations of the Holy Week of the Lord’s Passion, suffering and death, therefore we heard how these confrontations and disagreements made it such that even the Lord had to hide Himself and not to show Himself in public places. Symbolically during this period of time this week and next week, also known as the Passiontide, the images and statues in the churches are covered and veiled, so that not only we can focus more on the important events of the Lord’s Passion during the Holy Week, but this also symbolically represented the Lord being in hiding during this period.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do whatever we can so that we may grow ever closer to the Lord this time, and make best use of whatever opportunities and help that we have been given, so that we may grow ever stronger in our faith and commitment to God. As we approach ever closer to the momentous events we are going to commemorate during the upcoming Holy Week, let us all come ever closer to the Lord, doing whatever we can so that by our actions, words and contributions in life, we can continue to glorify the Lord by our lives. Let us all continue our Lenten journey faithfully, and remind ourselves ever of God’s love and His commitment to the Covenant which He has made with us. Let us all seek God’s mercy and love, and renew our desire to love Him once more with all of our heart and might. May God bless us always, in all of what we do, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 51-59

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”

Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He Who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word. As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.”

The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Thursday, 21 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 17 : 3-9

Abram fell face down and God said to him, “This is My covenant with you : you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants.”

“And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between Myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land you are living in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession and I will be the God of your race.”

God said to Abraham, “For your part, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.”

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Wednesday, 20 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we have to be truly and genuinely faithful to God in all things, in our dedication and commitment to Him, so that by our every words, actions and deeds, we may truly be the source of inspiration, strength and hope for everyone all around us. All of us who have received God’s grace and love, we have been blessed with His guidance and strength, and He reminds us today through the readings from the Scriptures that He will always be by our side, providing for us and journeying with us even through the most difficult and challenging moments in life. God had never abandoned those who are faithful to Him, and He will always be by our side, even in our greatest sufferings.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel about the moment when the three friends of Daniel were punished by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon when they refused to worship the great golden statue built by the King in his own image in Babylon. At that time, Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, also known as Azariah, Hananiah and Mishael were among the many descendants of the Israelites who had been brought by force to the land of Babylon after the Babylonians had destroyed and conquered both Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. They were exiled in Babylon and had to endure humiliations and many challenges, which included how to remain faithful to the Lord in the land of those who did not believe in Him.

It was in one such occasion therefore, the three friends of Daniel stood their ground and refused to worship the great golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had built. All the other people from the many nations conquered by the Babylonians obeyed the King’s orders, bowed down and worshipped the golden statue, but the three friends of Daniel refused to betray and abandon the Lord, and obey the King’s order in this matter. That was when we also heard the testimony of faith that the three men spoke before the King and all the others who were there with them, showing their trust and faith in God, that He would be with them and safeguard them from harm, and even if He did not do so, they would still not disobey God and they would remain firm in their faith in Him.

They did not fear the King’s anger and retribution, the threat of being burnt alive in the great fiery furnace, and even when the King ordered that the furnace be made much hotter than before, the three men trusted fully and completely in God. That was why the Lord sent them His Angel to safeguard them from harm, and the three men were completely unharmed by the flames and the heat, protected by God’s providence, love and grace, to the astonishment of everyone who were present. The three men were rescued from the fire and even earned great praise from the King who was amazed and astonished at the faith that they all had in their Lord and God, in facing up and refusing even his own direct orders in staying true and faithful to their God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a reminder for each and every one of us that as God’s holy people, His followers and disciples, we must always be ready to stand up for our faith, that there will be challenges and hardships in our path if we decide to follow Him faithfully and genuinely. The Lord has shown us that throughout history it has been proven how becoming followers and disciples of His would often mean that one may have to face the disapproval, rejection, and even persecution as well as trials in this world, from all those around us who disagree with our beliefs and ways. We must always keep in mind that just like those friends of Daniel, there are likely many times in our respective lives when we may have to make a choice between following and obeying God, and doing what the world is expecting us to do and what the world commonly accepts. The choice is really ours to make on which path we are to follow.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the interactions between the Lord Jesus and the Jewish people to whom He had been sent to at first, bringing with Him the truth and the message of God’s salvation, to fulfil everything that God had promised to all of His people, His beloved ones. Yet, just as we had heard from that same passage, we heard how the people were stubborn and refused to believe in the truth of God which the Lord Jesus had spoken clearly and courageously among all of them. They had listened to the words of the Lord’s Wisdom through His Son, witnessed His power and miraculous deeds, in all the healing miracles and works that the Lord Himself had done, and yet, they all hardened their hearts against Him and refused to believe in Him. And from what they themselves had said, they had revealed why this was the case.

It was because they were all too proud and haughty, arrogant in thinking that just because they were descended from Abraham, that they were God’s chosen people, His favoured ones and therefore merited great honour, and were superior and better than everyone else. Yet, the reality could not be further than this, as they continued to persist in refusing to listen to God and His words, His revelations and truth spoken through His Son. This is why each and every one of us are reminded of this today, so that we may live our own lives worthily and full of faith in God. We must always be humble in realising that we are sinful, full of faults and mistakes, imperfections and all the things which have kept us away from attaining the fullness of God’s grace and love. We must not think that we know better than others, or that we are more worthy somehow, and that we are without fault.

For it was through pride that many among us and our predecessors have fallen into sin, just like the hubris of King Nebuchadnezzar who built that golden statue in his own image, and the hubris and ego of the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees among them who thought that their ways were right and that they had nothing to gain by listening to the words of the Lord. In this time and season of Lent, we are all reminded to turn away from this prideful and haughty ways, and return once again towards the Lord our God, with renewed hearts and minds, full of regret and sorrow for our many sins and wickedness. We are reminded that the Lord has always loved us generously, and He has always wanted to provide us with the opportunities to return to Him, to be forgiven from our sins and to be reconciled with Him. Let us all therefore commit ourselves to this path of repentance and renewal, and be inspired by the faith of our holy predecessors, like the three friends of Daniel who had stood up courageously and faithful for their faith in God.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless and empower us so that we may continue to live ever more worthily from now on, in His Presence, be filled always ever with His grace and love, now and at all times. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, in all things, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

At that time, Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying : You will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One Who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself Who sent Me.”

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Wednesday, 20 March 2024 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever. Blessed is Your holy and glorious Name, celebrated and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.