Weeks of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 19 September 2022 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that as Christians we must distance ourselves from all sorts of wickedness and unworthy behaviour that kept us away from the Lord and which can become a scandal for our faith, the Church and to the Holy Name of the Lord Himself. The Lord has told us all to follow His path, and He has taught us all how we should live our lives, in accordance to His Law and precepts. And that is how as Christians we are expected to be the beacons of God’s truth and love, distancing ourselves from the darkness that often corrupted us and prevented us from seeking His light.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Proverbs, we heard of how God reminded His people that they should not do what is wicked and evil in the sight of God and man alike, and they are called to act fairly and justly towards one another. Each one of them are called to be honest in their actions and dealings, and not to cheat or do bad things on others for our own selfish desires and for our own benefits. Each one of us are called to be caring and compassionate, to be concerned and committed to one another, to our fellow brothers and sisters, all those who have shared with us the same gift of God’s graces and blessings.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord reminded us all through His parable to His disciples, in which He used the metaphor of a lighted lamp to show how nothing that is hidden that shall not be uncovered, and how one’s true intentions will come to be known by God and men alike. This is a reminder how each one of us are called to be genuine in our actions, and not be hypocrites, who pretended to care for others and be faithful, but in truth had no place for God in our hearts and minds. As the Lord Himself said, that there is no place by His Presence, for all those who have not been genuine in their faith and love for Him. That is why unless we are genuine in our desire and efforts to follow the Lord, then we can easily end up falling into the wrong paths of damnation and ruin.

Each one of us are therefore called to abandon our wicked ways and our sinful nature, all the attachments we had on the worldly matters and desires, all of which often became great obstacles in our path towards God and His salvation. We are reminded to reject the temptations of worldly things, and to refuse the advances of Satan and his allies, all of whom are always hard at work in trying to subvert us and turn us away from God and His salvation. We have to embrace the Lord wholeheartedly and do what He had commanded us to do, and not merely paying lip service and doing things from appearances. We have to commit ourselves to the Lord and dedicate our actions to Him.

How should we do it, then brothers and sisters? All of us should follow the good examples set by our predecessors, all those who have lived their lives worthily in the path of the Lord. We should not follow the wrong guidance and we should not heed the sweet lies and falsehoods of the evil ones. We have to reject their path that will lead us down to ruin. We have to raise up and remain faithful to the Lord in all of His teachings and truths. We have to be exemplary and inspirational in all of our actions and dealings so that we may be the beacons of God’s light to the people whom we encounter in this world, our fellow brothers and sisters and all those who seek the Lord and His truth.

Today, the Church and all the faithful celebrate the Feast of St. Januarius, one of the most renowned early Church fathers and saints, whose blood’s miraculous liquefaction has always been the subject of great devotion from many especially from the faithful from around the region of Naples and southern regions of Italy, where St. Januarius was once the bishop of. St. Januarius himself was the Bishop of Benevento in southern Italy as mentioned, and he was remembered for his great dedication to his flock, to the faithful people of God, serving the people faithfully when he and his people faced intense persecutions for their faith.

It was told that St. Januarius and his flock suffered during the reign of the infamous Roman Emperor Diocletian who instituted the last of the great persecutions against the Church. He hid some of his fellow Christians and protected them from harm, at the cost of his own safety. He was arrested, persecuted and tortured, and eventually was charged and condemned to death, being beheaded for his faith and dedication to God, remaining faithful to the very end. The miraculous relic of his blood that still performs its miracles every year to this day serve to remind us of the great courage of this great man of God whose life should become our source of inspiration and strength.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord with our renewed faith and courage, inspired by the examples and faith showed by St. Januarius, holy man and servant of God, who dedicated his whole life to bring glory to God and salvation to his fellow brothers and sisters. Are we willing and able to do this, just as the Lord wants it from us? Are we willing to live our lives worthily so that our every words, actions and deeds become testament and witnesses of our Lord’s truth and Good News, of His love and kindness, His compassion and mercy? Let us all do our best to serve the Lord from now on with faith.

May the Lord continue to strengthen and guide us all, and may He empower us and encourage us to walk ever in His path, and bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 19 September 2022 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Luke 8 : 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather, he puts it on a lamp stand, so that people coming in may see the light.”

“In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret, that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces, will be given more; but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

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Monday, 19 September 2022 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4ab, 5

Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words.

Those who do no harm to their neighbours and cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants.

Those who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will soon be shaken.

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Monday, 19 September 2022 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Proverbs 3 : 27-35

Do not hold back from those who ask your help, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbour, “Go away! Come another time; tomorrow I will give it to you!” when you can help him now.

Do not plot evil against your neighbour who lives trustingly beside you, nor fight a man without cause when he has done you no wrong. Do not envy the man of violence or follow his example. For YHVH hates the wicked but guides the honest. He curses the house of the evildoer but blesses the home of the upright.

If there are mockers, He mocks them in turn but He shows His favour to the humble. The wise will possess His glory while the foolish will inherit disgrace.

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Sunday, 18 September 2022 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we heard from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, reminders for us all to be astute in our actions and dealings, keeping in mind that everything we say and do, everything we commit in action and in our every interactions, all of these are things that we will be held accountable for. Each and every one of us have to account for the good things we do as well as for the evil and wicked things we committed. Not only that, but we will also be held accountable even for those things that we fail to do, whatever we did not do whenever we have the opportunities or the capacity to do it. And as Christians, all of us are challenged to live our lives worthily in the manner that our faith can be inspiration for others all around us.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Amos, we heard the Lord speaking through Amos to His people regarding the wickedness committed by some among the people, in tricking and manipulating others for their own personal gains and advantages. He spoke to them regarding just how wicked those who sought profits by cheating on their customers and those who patronised their businesses, by overcharging them for their goods and services, simply because they knew well how to do that, using the means of this world to gain advantages for themselves, building themselves up more material possessions and wealth built upon the sufferings and losses from others.

At that time, the people of God had lapsed away from the path that the Lord showed them, and they were following their own paths and ways in life, refusing to listen to the prophets and messengers whom God had sent to them in order to remind them and help them to turn away from their sinful paths. They persecuted the prophets and rejected them, including that of Amos himself, whom the Israelites and their king ridiculed and the latter told Amos to go back to the land of Judah and not to prophesy anymore in the land of Israel, because Amos always brought them the harsh premonitions and warnings from the Lord, telling them how they would all suffer because of their sins and rejection of God.

But they would then have to account for all of their many sins, having been constantly reminded by the Lord and told to change their ways, and yet they still persisted in their wrong path. The Lord said to Amos and therefore to His people how the wicked would not prosper in the end and would perish, because by their wickedness they would be judged unworthy by God, and will be cast into the eternal darkness and suffering. The Lord has already warned them all many times, but they still hardened their hearts and minds against Him. In the end, because of their rebelliousness and refusal to listen to God, they have only themselves to blame for their predicament and fate.

Those people knew well the ways of the world, and they had wisdom and intellect, knowledge and understanding not only that of the Law but also the prophets and the messengers of God. Yet, they did not do as what they have been told to do, and chose to follow the ways of the world and what was wicked in the eyes of God and man alike. And this is linked well to what we heard in our Gospel passage regarding the parable of the dishonest steward. In that parable we heard the Lord speaking with a story of a dishonest steward who was dismissed from service by his master because of his dishonesty, and who therefore went to do things to ensure his survival by discreetly and unlawfully forgiving the debtors of his master, hoping to gain favour with them after he was dismissed.

And we heard the Lord saying that the master praised the servant for his astuteness and ability to use whatever was in his disposal to help himself, and then afterwards, the Lord also said that this was an example of how those who have immersed themselves in the ways of the world, would always be predisposed and tended to follow the ways of the world, and if one had been dishonest or flawed in their judgment and actions, then they would tend to continue being dishonest and evil in their actions, unless they make the conscious effort to resist the temptations and pressure to do so. And the Lord Himself also said that if we have been dishonest in small things, then who will entrust us with great things, then this is a reminder for us that if we walk in the path of disobedience and sin, then we will have no part in God’s grace and glory.

In our second reading today, in St. Paul’s Epistle to St. Timothy, the Apostle wrote of how everyone are called to be good, to obey God’s will and to live worthily of God, and to discard from themselves the traces of anger, dissension and other things that often prevented us from finding our way towards God. That is an exhortation and reminder from St. Paul for each and every one of us to turn away from worldliness and reject the excesses of worldly desires and greed, as well as resisting the temptations of our pride and ego, which often can become our downfall unless we put our conscious effort and commitment to the Lord wholeheartedly, rejecting the efforts and works of Satan and his allies in trying to subvert us to the wrong path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures today and as we discern and reflect on their meaning and messages, each one of us are reminded that as the Lord Himself said, that we cannot serve both God and Money. Either we will love one more than the other and despise the other one, or vice versa. And that is why we have to moderate our actions and discern carefully our path in life, so that we may not end up rejecting the Lord and living our lives in sin as many of our predecessors had done. If we are not careful then we may end up going down that slippery path out of which escape may be quite difficult. And not only that, but our actions will be held accountable on us if they caused scandal for the Church and our faith, and made others to fall into sin as well.

That is why each and every one of us are reminded this Sunday to live our lives from now on with genuine faith in God if we have not done so yet, and to be truly committed to Him and not just merely paying lip service to Him. Unless we truly believe in the Lord through our every words, actions and deeds, and unless we embody our faith in our every living moments, in our every interactions with one another, then we are no more than hypocrites and those whose lukewarm faith are not what is expected of us as Christians, and worse still, as I just mentioned, may even bring about scandal to the Lord’s Holy Name and His Church. Do we want to gather for ourselves the favour of the world at the expense of our souls? Or do we rather seek the Lord and His salvation despite having to endure suffering and rejection in this world?

Let us always keep in mind, brothers and sisters in Christ, that whatever we gather, gain and accumulate in this world do not and will not last forever. They can be tempting and alluring to gain for ourselves, but at what cost? Do we want to gain the world and its joys, only to lose our souls, that we enjoy a temporary period of joy only to suffer an eternity of regret and damnation in hell? We are all reminded to make our choice and stand today, and not to delay any longer. For the more we allow the temptations of the world, the allure of desires and evils to distract us from the path towards salvation, the deeper we will end up being dragged into the wrong path, and in the end, we may find ourselves being unable to escape.

Let us now therefore discern carefully our path forward in life, and do whatever we can in our everyday living that even in the smallest things we do, we will always glorify the Lord by our lives and be good examples and inspirations for one another. Let us all draw ever closer to God and continue to be faithful to Him, and not be swayed by worldly temptations or any pressures and coercion to move away from Him. May God be with us always, and may He strengthen each and every one of us, that we may always live ever more worthily in His presence, at all times, and be good role models and inspirations for one another. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 September 2022 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 16 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him because of fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.'”

“The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do : I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be people will welcome me into their homes.'”

“So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The reply was, ‘A hundred jars of oil.’ The steward said, ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’ To the second debtor he put the same question, ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then the steward said, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.'”

“The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness : for the people of this world are more astute, in dealing with their own kind, than are the people of light. And so I tell you : use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones.”

“So if you have been dishonest in handling filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”

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Sunday, 18 September 2022 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Timothy 2 : 1-8

First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for rulers of states, and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life, in godliness and respect. This is good and pleases God. For He wants all to be saved, and come to the knowledge of truth.

As there is one God, there is one Mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, Himself human, Who gave His life for the redemption of all. This is the testimony, given in its proper time, and of this, God has made me Apostle and herald. I am not lying, I am telling the truth : He made me teacher of the nations regarding faith and truth.

I want men, in every place, to lift pure hands, in prayer, to heaven, without anger and dissension.

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Sunday, 18 September 2022 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 112 : 1-2, 4-6, 7-8

Alleluia! Praise, o servants of YHVH, praise the Name of YHVH! Blessed be the Name of YHVH now and forever!

YHVH is exalted over the nations; His glory above the heavens. Who is like YHVH our God, Who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?

He lifts up the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. He makes them sit with princes, with rulers of His people.

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Sunday, 18 September 2022 : Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Amos 8 : 4-7

Hear this, you, who trample on the needy, to do away with the weak of the land. You who say, “When will the new moon or the Sabbath feast be over that we may open the store and sell our grain? Let us lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the scaled, and even sell the refuse with the whole grain. We will buy up the poor for money and the needy for a pair of sandals.”

YHVH, the Pride of Jacob, has sworn by Himself, “I shall never forget their deeds.”

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Saturday, 17 September 2022 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops or Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are reminded yet again on our faith in the Lord and our beliefs in Him, in how we should have faith in us, which He has sown in us, and we should bear rich fruits of faith, through our exemplary lives and actions. Each and every one of us should do our best to love and serve the Lord at every moments throughout life, so that we may truly live our lives as good and dedicated Christians, worthy of being the ones who have been made and created in the image of God Himself, and Whom God had called and willingly made to be His own beloved children and people.

In our first reading today taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth we heard the Apostle St. Paul spoke to the people there regarding the matter of the resurrection from the dead and the resurrection of the body as there were still members of the faithful who did not understand or appreciate what the resurrection truly meant and how it would affect all of them. There were then still members of the Christian faithful, probably those who once belonged to the caste of the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead who had doubts about the resurrection and did not understand how it works.

St. Paul highlighted how through Christ, the Saviour of the world, Who came into this world, bearing the truth and salvation from God, has shown us a new life through Him, a new existence that goes beyond our earthly life. He mentioned how the first Adam, our ancestor was given life when he was created by God, and how the New Adam, that is Christ Himself, has brought upon us true and everlasting life, that we shall transcend beyond our mortal bodies and existence, and through Him we shall be reunited and reconciled with God. That new life, which God brought upon us through His Son, shows us that our mortality and death do not mark the end of our existence, and instead there is eternity beyond that of death.

In our Christian faith and beliefs, all of us believe that there is life beyond death, and while all of us have to experience suffering and death as consequences for our sins, but the same sins and death do not have the final say over us. To those who are righteous and worthy, God has shown us through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Saviour, that we shall be reunited with Him and shall once again enjoy the fullness of His grace and blessings as He has always intended for us. The Lord has always been so reassuring towards us, and He did not just love us despite our many rebellions and disobedience against Him, but He even sent us His Son to bring His salvation and deliverance upon us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the well-known parable of the sower by the Lord, in which the Lord Himself told His disciples of what happened to the seeds sown in four different places, by the roadside, on rocky and dry ground, amongst the thistles and brambles, and finally on rich and fertile soil. The Lord went through the meaning of each part of the parable and told them what each of them represented, and how the seeds were truly a reference to the Word of God, the Wisdom and truth which God has bestowed on all of His people. How and where the seeds landed represented how we mankind responded to the Lord, to His truth and love, to His Good News and grace in our midst.

We have to realise that as long as we continue to resist the Lord in the manner of how some among the faithful in Corinth continued to have doubts and reservations on their beliefs, and in their inability to comprehend the resurrection, then it is just like how we mankind tend to shut the Lord out of our lives as we prefer to live them in the manner that we want to live them, following the ways of the world and the paths that may not conform to the path that God has shown and taught us. More often than not we prefer to trust in our own judgments and ideals, and not listening to God speaking to us in the depth of our hearts and minds. And our preoccupation with our own desires prevent us from being able to listen to Him.

That is why today, as we also celebrate the feast of two great saints whose examples and faith can become our inspiration in how we ought to live our own lives, we should give some time to heed their examples and their actions in life. St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Hildegard of Bingen are these two great servants of God who should become our role models in life, that we may grow ever stronger in faith and ever closer to God. Both of them had served the Church and the people of God in various ways, and in their personal holiness and dedication, they have done much to bring the people of God ever closer to their Lord and Saviour.

St. Robert Bellarmine was a Jesuit Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, who was credited for his intense effort in supporting and applying the reforms of the Ecumenical Council of Trent in the midst of great changes in the Church and the community during the Counter-Reformation period. He was very much involved in the renewal of Catholic theology and education, as he was involved over many years in the teaching of theology at the Roman College, now known as the Pontifical Gregorian University, influencing many seminarians who would become future priests and leaders of the Church, impressing many people with his deep intellectual understanding of theology and the Scriptures, as well as his great wisdom.

St. Robert Bellarmine was made as the Rector of the aforementioned Roman College, and then as a Bishop and finally a Cardinal of the Church. He was entrusted by the Pope with the task to assist in the reforms of the Church, and he also wrote extensively on many works and books related to theology and Christian teachings. He also defended the true faith against the many heresies, falsehoods and the other forces arrayed against the Church at that time. Through his ceaseless efforts and commitment to God, St. Robert Bellarmine showed us what it truly means to be truly dedicated as Christians.

Meanwhile, St. Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess who was renowned as a great mystic and writer, and whose contributions to the Church both in her local community and the larger Universal Church were immense. St. Hildegard of Bingen was credited with many writings in various topics and aspects, both regarding Church teachings and even beyond, and devoted her life to the Lord and her community. She wrote extensively on the matters of theology, as well as botany and medicine, and was also credited with the development of monophony in the Church music of her time. For all these efforts and hard work, and for all the contributions that she had done, she was recently therefore canonised ten years ago by Pope Benedict XVI, and then elevated to the position of the Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis, our current Pope.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the examples shown by St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Hildegard of Bingen, that we ourselves may also be good role models and examples for others all around us, in our faith and in how we live our lives. Let us all be true witnesses of the Lord and proclaim His truth and love, His Good News and all His grace to all the nations through our own lives and actions each day. May God bless us always and may He continue to guide us in all of our actions, in our every efforts and deeds. Amen.