white

by

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the words of the Lord contained in the Scripture passages, we are all reminded to be truly faithful to God in all things, in each and every one of our actions and works, in our every words and interactions with one another. All of us as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord are expected and called to follow His path and obey His ways sincerely and genuinely from our hearts. Otherwise, if we call ourselves as Christians and then yet behave in the manner that is not worthy of being called as disciples and followers of Christ, then we are no better than just hypocrites and unbelievers, like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who loved themselves and their prideful ego and ambition more than they loved God and His Law.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Galatia, the Apostle St. Paul exhorted the faithful there in Galatia to adhere to the path that the Lord has shown them and not to fall into the path of worldliness, or to the wrong and mistaken path that the old Law had been guiding them through. This is a reference to the Law as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had preserved it and enforced it to the people of God. That old Law, composed of the many rules, regulations, customs and practices was already outdated and imperfect, flawed by the many additions that it had over the centuries. All of these led to misunderstandings and abuses of the Law meant to benefit those who enforced them, as well as their biases and prejudices.

We have to understand that the Law of God was passed down from generations to generations among the faithful people of God, and this Law had undergone numerous modifications and additions throughout the long history of the people of God. As such, it led to the Law being excessive, tedious and cumbersome, and not only that, as mentioned, it has also frequently been misused and misinterpreted even by the very ones who were entrusted with its upkeep and propagation, like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, who took great pride and ego in how they observed the Law and how they enforced it to the Jewish community. This is especially due to the Pharisees tending to be prejudiced against those group of people they deemed to be unworthy of God, like tax collectors and prostitutes, or those suffering from sickness and demonic possessions.

Unfortunately, that led to difficulties among the faithful in Galatia and elsewhere. As we heard in our Gospel passage today, there were significant frictions and disagreements between the Lord and those who upheld the old ways of doing things, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who desired to enforce the excesses of the old Law to the people of God. There were some of the sympathisers of the Pharisees and the Pharisees themselves who had become believers of the Lord, but they still held on to their old customs and ways. According to their way of doing things, there were as many as six hundred and thirteen customs, precepts, rules and regulations which the people of God had to fulfil, and imposing all these placed unnecessary burden on the people of God.

Not only that the way the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obeyed and observed those rules and customs were wrong, as many of them ended up doing them for their own vanity and pride, showing off their piety and obedience so that others might praise them for their actions and piety. They focused on themselves instead of on God, and they made it difficult for many others to be closer to God, as many were deterred by the tedious and the harsh nature of the laws and customs presented by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. This was especially true for those who needed God and His healing and mercy the most, like those suffering from maladies and diseases, those possessed by evil spirits, the tax collectors and the prostitutes among others as mentioned. Yet, the irony is such that the latter were often the ones who were most fervent in seeking God and His mercy, love and compassion.

That is why St. Paul exhorted and reminded the members of the Christian faithful in Galatia to turn away from their misguided ways, their obsession over the many trivial and unnecessary parts from the old Jewish laws and customs, as well as in their prejudice and elitist attitudes against the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people. This attitude at that time had persisted even against those pagans and Gentiles who had embraced the Christian faith, with some among the Jewish Christian converts arguing and trying to enforce the whole Jewish customs and laws on all the faithful including on the converts from the Gentiles and pagans.

That is not what Christians ought to be doing, and hence, St. Paul told all of them to distance themselves from the worldly excesses of those misguided paths and ways, and instead, embrace the Lord, His truth and ways, in loving Him sincerely and in doing the same to our fellow brothers and sisters, to our fellow men and women, regardless of our status, origins, background and affiliations, and thus, showing genuine and most generous love to each other just as how the Lord Himself has loved us all sinners, even those who were most wicked and seemingly unworthy. Through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, God has come into our midst to redeem us all, even the ones who were furthest away from Him.

This is what each and every one of us as Christians ought to be doing, not to be exclusive and elitist in our attitude, and not to be self-righteous in our actions. Instead, we should always remind ourselves that each and every one of us are part of the same Body of Christ, the Church. We are all called to share in the brotherhood and the unity among us Christians, united through the love of God. We should be filled with God’s love and show that same love to the Lord and to our fellow brothers and sisters. Each and every one of us should inspire one another to continue to do what God has taught and shown us to do, and that is to live our lives as Christians and obey the Law and commandments of God as He had intended for us.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of one of the holy saints, whose faith and devotion to God, and whose commitment and actions should inspire us all in our own lives, in how we ourselves can become good and committed disciples of the Lord, in all of our actions and works. Pope St. Callistus I was the Pope and leader of the Universal Church, as the Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ, successor of St. Peter the Apostle, during a difficult time in the Church’s history, as at that time, persecutions were rampant against the Church and Christians throughout the Roman Empire. Oppression and sufferings were often part of life for many of the Lord’s faithful people, who had to endure those sufferings simply because of their faith in God.

Amidst all of these, Pope St. Callistus I, who was a deacon and assistant to the Pope St. Zephyrinus, in managing the catacombs of the city of Rome, serving the needs of the people of God in the Diocese of Rome, and then eventually becoming the successor of the same Pope St. Zephyrinus, he had involved himself with many of the works and the service for the sake of God’s people, caring for both of their physical and spiritual needs. The Lord has called Pope St. Callistus I to be His Vicar, and he carried out his duties most diligently, in embracing all of the people of God, including those who have lapsed from the faith and fallen into sin. At that time, this matter of welcoming and allowing lapsed Christians who have given in to the pressure to worship pagan gods and idols, either by choice or not, had caused great divisions and disagreements in the Church.

This division and disagreement had led to one of the first schisms in the Church, as St. Hippolytus, a popular priest and preacher who disagreed with the practice of readmitting lapsed Christians without proper penance and consequences, was elected as a rival Pope to Pope St. Callistus I, becoming the first antipope. Pope St. Callistus I was determined to bridge the differences and worked hard to lead the people of God amidst the turbulent times, beset from all directions, both from outside and within, in the many persecutions and challenges that the faithful people of God were facing daily, and in the disagreements that turned fellow Christians against each other. Pope St. Callistus I patiently led the Church throughout all of that, and remained firm in his faith and conviction in dedicating himself and the Church to God. In the end, he was martyred for his faith, during one of those persecutions, but his efforts helped the Church to remain strong throughout the challenging years.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the good examples and in the inspiring actions of Pope St. Callistus I, and let us walk ever more faithfully in the path which God has set before us, in all that He has shown and taught us to do. Pope St. Callistus I has shown all of us what it truly means for us to be good and devout Christians, as God’s followers and disciples. We must always do whatever we can, in all the opportunities given to us so that our every words, actions and deeds truly show this commitment and faith in the Lord. It is through our lives and how we practice our faith in God in this world, in our daily living that we can truly show others the path towards the Lord.

May God continue to guide us all and strengthen each one of us in our courage and resolve to live our lives faithfully in Him, and to embrace once again the fullness of His love and mercy. Let us stay away from the path of sin and evil, and instead, strive to live our lives fully and worthily as good Christians from now on. Let us all truly embrace the love of God and His Law wholeheartedly with genuine faith, and not be merely superficial and hypocritical in our faith, as some of our predecessors had done. May all of us be truly faithful and worthy beacons of God’s light and truth, at all times. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Luke 11 : 42-46

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “A curse is on you, Pharisees! To the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other obligations.”

“A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you, for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people do not notice them, and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”

Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when You speak like this, You insult us, too.” And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not move a finger to help them.”

by

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

by

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Galatians 5 : 18-25

But when you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law. You know what comes from the flesh : fornication, impurity and shamelessness, idol worship and sorcery, hatred, jealousy and violence, anger, ambition, division, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I again say to you what I have already said : those who do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy and peace, patience, understanding of others, kindness and fidelity, gentleness and self-control. For such things there is no Law or punishment. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us live in a spiritual way.

by

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all presented with the reminders for each and every one of us to be firmly faithful to God and to believe in Him wholeheartedly, that we do not just pay a lip service to Him or observe the commandments and laws of God for the sake of doing them, or if we do them for the sake of being popular or to get fame and attention to ourselves. That is not how we should be living our faith, and that is not what Christians like us should be doing, or else, we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers who have no true faith in God. We are reminded yet again that we need to be truly faithful and committed to God in words, in actions and in deeds alike.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Galatia. In that passage, St. Paul reminded the faithful in Galatia, many of whom were Jewish converts to the Christian faith, and there were also being a rather sizeable Jewish diaspora there, to no longer be ‘enslaved’ to the old Law, which was not actually really referring to the Law of God, but rather to the customs, traditions, practices and all those which the people of God in the past had gradually grown to ingrain themselves into, and not only that, but even becoming more and more obsessed on, as they became too engrossed and focused on obeying even the smallest details of those rules and regulations.

The Law of God historically and traditionally was revealed by God Himself to His servant, Moses, in the desert, during the time when the people of Israel had just been liberated from their enslavement by the Egyptians. The Lord Who brought them all out of the land of Egypt also showed them His guidance and wisdom, and especially after they had repeatedly shown their stubborn attitudes and disobedience, such as their building of the golden calf idol and its worship, their constant complaints regarding the matter of food and convenience as they journeyed through the desert, all of these led to them going wayward and out of their paths in following God. That was why God, out of His continued and constant love for His people, showed them His Law and commandments to guide and help them.

However, in time, those laws and commandments which had been modified and altered throughout the many centuries of them being passed from generations to generations, led to them being misunderstood and misused by those who failed to truly understand their meaning, purpose and significance. That was what we have also heard throughout the other parts of the New Testament and the Gospels, where there were frequent disagreements and clashes between the Lord Himself and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law as the two latter groups were adamant on keeping, preserving and enforcing their way of obeying and observing the Law of God. As a matter of fact, after many centuries since the Law of God was passed down to the people through Moses, it had gone through very extensive changes and additions, such that the Law as was known and observed by those same Pharisees and teachers of the Law had become very cumbersome and oppressive.

Not only that, but those rules, regulations, practices and customs had become something that made it really difficult for many people to follow and to observe, and in fact became a distraction and barrier for many in their journey towards God. For the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, the Law became a tool for them to achieve fame and glory. Many of them became trapped in the desire to achieve greatness and praise through those laws, by showing off their piety and activities, and in the end, causing them to be focusing upon themselves and their ego rather than on God. While for others, the Law made it difficult for many to approach God, and made them to shun Him and turn away from Him instead.

That is why St. Paul exhorted and reminded the faithful in Galatia not to continue in the way and the path that their ancestors and predecessors had kept, which was erroneous and the Lord Himself had pointed out as He came to reveal the truth about the Law of God and all that He had told us all about Himself and how each one of us ought to live our lives in accordance with God’s will. Those who believe in the Lord and follow Him should heed the words that He has spoken and which He then reminded us again through His Apostles like St. Paul. They are all exhorted and reminded to embrace the path of God’s love, in loving God and one another, and in focusing their lives on Him and following His commandments in its true meaning and purpose. We should not be selfish or self-centred in our ways and actions, unlike those among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were openly prejudiced against those whom they disliked and condemned.

It is also a very important reminder that as Christians, all of us must not allow ourselves to be  swayed by ambition, selfish desires and all the things that can distract us from our paths towards God. As those among the Pharisees and the elders have shown us, that whenever we deem and think of ourselves as superior than others, we end up causing hurt, discrimination, injustice and all sorts of irresponsible behaviours that are not in accordance to God’s teachings and truths. It is easy for us to fall prey to these temptations especially if we are not truly firmly rooted in our faith in God and in our understanding of what we truly profess to believe. And we are also called to live with the ultimate focus in the Lord, and not on ourselves.

May the Lord, our ever loving and compassionate God continue to shower us all with His love, show us His wisdom and guidance, through the examples which He Himself has shown us, the example of pure love and compassion towards the marginalised and those who were oppressed and hated. May through His inspiration and love, all of us as God’s beloved people be the beacons of His light and hope, and the bearers of His great love and grace in our world today, inspiring many more to follow Him wholeheartedly rather than merely paying lip service or understanding His Law and commandments superficially as some of our predecessors had done. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 11 : 37-41

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to have a meal with him. So He went and sat at table. The Pharisee then wondered why Jesus did not wash His hands before the dinner.

But the Lord said to him, “So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil. Fools! He Who made the outside, also made the inside. But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean.”

by

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 118 : 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48

Give me Your unfailing love, o YHVH; Your salvation, as You have promised.

Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for I would also lose my hope in Your word.

May I always keep Your word, for ever and ever.

I shall walk in freedom, having sought out Your laws.

For I delight in Your word, which I fear.

I will lift up my hands to You, and meditate on Your commandments.

by

Tuesday, 13 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 5 : 1-6

Christ freed us, to make us really free. So remain firm, and do not submit, again, to the yoke of slavery. I, Paul, say this to you : if you receive circumcision, Christ can no longer help you. Once more, I say, to whoever receives circumcision : you are now bound to keep the whole Law. All you, who pretend to become righteous through the observance of the Law, have separated yourselves from Christ, and have fallen away from grace.

As for us, through the Spirit and faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. In Christ Jesus, it is irrelevant, whether we be circumcised or not; what matters is, faith, working through love.

by

Monday, 12 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded today through what we have heard in our Scripture passages of the need for us all to remember that we are the people of God, as Christians, as all those who have believed in the truth espoused and revealed to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and how we have received the assurance of eternal life and salvation through Him. All of us have to put our faith and trust in Him, and not be easily swayed by worldly temptations and other things which may often end up as obstacles and barriers preventing us from truly being faithful to God, as we should be doing in our lives, even amidst the greatest of challenges and hardships. We need to continue having faith in God.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words of St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Galatia, as he spoke to them regarding how the people of God having received the freedom from slavery through Christ, have been freed from the slavery of sin. He made the comparison with the case of the two sons of Abraham, in which he used this metaphor to highlight the difference between the past lives of the people of God, chained by sin and their past evils, and the new way of Christ and His saving grace, the salvation and new life which God offers to all those who believe in Him, and the path that He has called on everyone to follow, the path towards righteousness and eternal life.

The two sons of Abraham mentioned, Ishmael and Isaac, were born to two different mothers. Ishmael was born as the son between Abraham and Hagar, the slave of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, and he was conceived because Abraham and Sarah was kind of faltering in their faith in God, when they probably thought that it was impossible for them to have any son in their old age, as Sarah was then already way past childbearing age. Hence, as how the tradition went at that time, the wife could legally become the mother of a child born to her slave and her husband. Hence, Sarah gave Hagar as a means for her husband Abraham to have a son. But this was not what the Lord intended to happen, as He has always planned for Abraham to have a child between himself and his wife Sarah.

And the Lord proved that He would be true to His words, and that He would gave a son to Abraham and Sarah, not through any other intermediary, but through Sarah herself. What man might consider to be impossible, is possible for God. That was how God fulfilled His promises to Abraham, giving him a son, the one He had promised, in Isaac, the son between Abraham and Sarah. Sarah gave birth to Isaac in her old age, and through that, God reminded us all of His love and providence, and how His path is superior and better to whatever plans and ideas we may have in mind. Abraham and Sarah thought that by utilising the slave Hagar and her son Ishmael, that could provide an heir to Abraham, but that was not what God intended.

That is why, St. Paul used this as a comparison and metaphor to make it clear to the Galatians, especially to the Jewish converts to the Christian faith, who at that time were still following their old customs and ways, which were man’s constructs, and which was a corrupted and deviant version of the original Law of God. If we have been following the discourse of St. Paul to the Galatians in the past few days last week, we can clearly see how the Galatian faithful were divided, especially among racial and religious lines, between the Jews and Gentiles, and also between those who were slaves and those who were free, and even those who were rich and poor. These divisions should not happen in the Church of God.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and to the people, many of whom still doubted Him and refused to believe in Him, telling them all that those who have seen His miracles and wonders, heard His wisdom and truth, and yet failed to believe or refused to have faith in Him were truly stubborn. That even the Queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba, came to believe in King Solomon of Israel for his wisdom and greatness, and there was One greater than Solomon there before the people, the very Son of God Himself, appearing in the flesh before the assembled people, showing His truth and wisdom before all, the Word and Wisdom of God in the flesh incarnate.

When the Lord said this, He meant that salvation is intended for everyone, that even people from afar will come to believe in Him and in His message of truth, and everyone who believe in Him will be saved, not just the exclusive right of the Jewish people only. Even the Jews themselves would not be saved if they refused to believe in Christ and His truth. What matters is not their birth or race anymore, but their faith. The Lord has brought His New Covenant and established it anew with all of us, by the suffering and death that Christ Himself suffered on the Cross. Through that, God has gathered us all to Himself, and led us all the assurance of eternal joy and glory with Him, and through Him, all would gain true satisfaction and joy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what all these reminded us is that, each and every one of us as Christians, members of God’s Church all ought to put our faith and trust in Him, as well as changing our ways and manners of life. Each one of us are expected to turn away from wickedness and evil, to sin no more and to live our lives virtuously and free from the taints of evil and wickedness from now on. We are all called to embrace the Lord wholeheartedly, and to love Him unreservedly, dedicating ourselves to His cause, believing wholly in His message of truth and love, now and always. This is what we have been called to do as Christians, as those whom God had shown His love and grace, and those whom He has called to be His own beloved people, and that we have responded to His call.

May the Lord our most loving God and Father continue to bless us and guide us in our lives so that in everything we say and do, we will always obey His will and do whatever is right and just that we may truly be worthy of Him. May God strengthen each one of us in our resolve to serve Him in each and every moments of our lives and at every opportunities possible. Amen.

by

Monday, 12 October 2026 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 11 : 29-32

At that time, as the crowd increased, Jesus spoke the following words : “People of the present time are troubled people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.”

“The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins, and here, there is greater than Jonah.”