wickedness

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Saturday, 6 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 144 : 17-18, 19-20, 21

Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

He fulfills the wish of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. For those who love Him, the Lord has compassion, but the wicked, He will destroy.

Let my mouth speak in praise of the Lord, let every creature bless His holy Name, for ever and ever.

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Thursday, 14 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ezekiel 12 : 1-12

This word of YHVH came to me, “Son of man, you live in the midst of a house of rebels : they have eyes for seeing but do not see; they have ears for hearing but do not hear, for they are a house of rebels. Because of this, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage in their sight as an exile does; and go as an exile to another place in their sight. Would that they may understand, because they are a house of rebels.”

“You will gather your things, an exile’s baggage, by day to be seen by them, and you will leave in the evening as for a departure of deportees. While they look on, dig a hole in the wall and leave from there. As they look on, shoulder your baggage and leave in the dark. Veil your face and do not look at the land for I have made you a sign for Israel.”

I did as I was ordered, gathering my things by day, an exile’s baggage, and in the evening I made a hole in the wall with my hand. I left in the dark, in their presence, shouldering my baggage.

In the morning the word of YHVH came to me : “Son of man, did not the Israelites, these rebels, ask you, ‘What are you doing there?’ Answer them on behalf of YHVH : This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites remaining in the city.”

“Say, ‘I am a sign for you,’ for what I have done will happen to them : They will be deported, exiled. The prince among them shall shoulder his baggage in the dark and depart. They will dig a hole in the wall to let him leave by it. He will cover his face because he must not see the land with his eyes.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Lawrence, Martyr (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 10 August 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how we must cast away from our bodies and our hearts all things that are evil and filled with wickedness. We must make a conscious effort to get rid from ourselves all evil and wicked desires of the flesh, in order for us to be able to fully understand and appreciate what we need to do so that we may attain salvation and eternal life in God.

In the Gospel, Jesus reminded us this fact by first saying that there will be plenty of obstacles, both from the inside of us and from the outside, namely from those who refused to receive God and His ways, and those who collaborated with Satan to undermine mankind like us, that we may be damned and destroyed together with him. Jesus warned us, and St. Paul warned the faithful in Corinth to keep themselves pure and holy in all actions and things to avoid damnation.

Jesus showed this not just by mere words but also through direct action, showing it by casting out those merchants and defilers that had made impure the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Yes, as mentioned, the House of God and House of prayer had been made into a house of impurities, of money and illicit transactions, all designed to bring more wealth and profits to those merchants who cheated the people of God from their possessions.

Those merchants were truly wicked in their actions, using the opportunity presented by the people who were sincerely devoted to God to steal their money from them by inflating the prices of the sacrificial animal victims and through money exchange services, and while the people became poorer, the merchants became richer and richer. The priests and the Pharisees did nothing and in fact supported these merchants because part of the income ended up in their pockets, ensuring their cooperation in sin.

Those merchants and wicked priests of the Lord are truly the representation of the wickedness and evils that exist in us, in many different and various forms, but in which all of them have the same effect, that is the corruption of the House of God, the Temple in which the Holy Spirit resides. Yes, we all should know that all of us are the Temples of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are the Temple in which God resides.

God resides in us and He is in us when we have been accepted into His Church, and through the waters of baptism He purified the interiors of this Temple, making it into a suitable throne and place of residence for Him within us. But this does not guarantee us salvation, as faith alone without works is insufficient and meaningless without good works to ensure our salvation. We can still sin and do bad things in contrary to our baptismal promises.

Satan is never quiet, brothers and sisters in Christ, and he will always be at work to convert us to his cause, to spread his lies to us that we believe in him and his lies rather than the truth that is in the Lord. Even those priests of the Lord and the Pharisees who supposedly knew about the Lord, were the ones who in fact gave themselves in completely to the hands of Satan.

If we are lax in our devotion and in our faith, as well as in how we live our lives, then our bodies which are the Temples of the Holy Spirit will be defiled, and a House of God and House of prayer will no longer be as what they should be. Brothers and sisters, this must not happen, and we should heed both the warnings of our Lord and St. Paul His servant, renewing our pledge that we should live our lives in accordance to the ways of the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all work together and do our best to strengthen our faith within us, and the way is by strengthening our spiritual defenses, firstly through prayers, namely by having a good and healthy prayer life, and then through love and charity, by serving the people of God with sincere and genuine love and dedication.

May Almighty God help us on our endeavours, and continue to watch over us day by day, as we continue in our daily spiritual battle against the forces of Satan and the darkness in this world. Let us trust always in the light and the love of our God. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 9 : 22-23, 24-25, 28-29, 35 (1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14)

Why, o Lord, do You stand afar? Why hide from us in times of distress? The wicked are in power; the weak suffer harassment; the poor become victims of evil schemes.

Exploiters boast in their power and greed; the covetous blasphemes and defies God. In their pride the wicked say, “There is no God.” They see no further.

Their mouths are filled with cursing, deceit and threats; spite and mischief are under their tongues. They lie in ambush near the villages, murdering the innocent and the unfortunate, spying upon their next victim.

But You see those in misery, o God, and You take it in hand. The unfortunate commits Himself to You; the orphan turns to You for help.

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Saturday, 19 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Micah 2 : 1-5

Woe to those who plot wickedness and plan evil even on their beds! When morning comes they do it, as soon as it is within their reach. If they covet fields, they seize them. Do they like houses? They take them. They seize the owner and his household, both the man and his property.

This is why YHVH speaks, “I am plotting evil against this whole brood, from which your necks cannot escape. No more shall you walk with head held high for it will be an evil time.”

On that day they will sing a taunting song against You and a bitter lamentation will be heard, “We have been stripped of our property in our homeland. Who will free us from the wicked who allots our fields.”

Truly, no one will be found in the assembly of YHVH to keep a field for you.

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Monday, 14 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 1 : 10-17

Hear the warning of YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah.

“What do I care,” says YHVH “for your endless sacrifices? I am fed up with your burnt offerings, and the fat of your bulls. The blood of fatlings, and lambs and he-goats I abhor. When you come before Me and trample on My courts, who asked you to visit Me?”

“I am fed up with your oblations. I grow sick with your incense. Your New Moons, Sabbaths and meetings, evil with holy assemblies, I can no longer bear. I hate your New Moons and appointed feasts they burden Me. When you stretch out your hands I will close My eyes; the more you pray, the more I refuse to listen, for your hands are bloody.”

“Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good. Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.”

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Tuesday, 8 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hosea 8 : 4-7, 11-13

Without My approval they set up kings and without My blessing appointed leaders. With their silver and gold they fashioned idols to their own ruin.

To Me, Samaria, your calf is loathsome and My anger blazes against you. How long will you remain defiled? The calf is yours, Israel, a craftsman has made it; it is not God and will be broken into pieces.

As they sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind. Like the erect ear of corn they will bear no grain and produce no flour, or if they do, foreigners will devour it.

Ephraim built many altars but his altars made him more guilty. I wrote out for him the numerous precepts of My Law, but they look on them as coming from foreigners. They offer sacrifices to Me because they are those who eat the meat, but YHVH does not accept their sacrifices for He is mindful of their sin and remembers their wickedness. They will return to Egypt.

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Friday, 4 July 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Amos 8 : 4-6, 9-12

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 scales, 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 says, “On that day I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your singing into wailing. Everyone will mourn, covered with sackcloth and every head will be shaved. I will make them mourn as for an only son and bring their day to a bitter end.”

YHVH says, “Days are coming when I will send famine upon the land, not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of YHVH. Men will stagger from sea to sea, wander to and fro, from north to east, searching for the word of YHVH, but they will not find it.”

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Saturday, 28 June 2014 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady or Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 73 : 1-2, 3-5a, 5b-7, 20-21

O God, have You rejected us forever? Why vent Your anger on the sheep of Your own fold? Remember the people You have formed of old, the tribe You have redeemed as Your inheritance. Remember Mount Zion where You once lived.

Climb and visit these hopeless ruins, the enemy has ravaged everything in the sanctuary. Your foes have roared triumphantly in the holy place, and set up their banner of victory.

Like lumbermen felling trees, they smashed the carved panelling with hatchets, hammers and axes. They defiled Your sanctuary and set aflame the dwelling place of Your Name.

See how they keep Your covenant in the dark caves of the land. Do not let the oppressed be put to shame; may the poor and needy praise Your Name.

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Friday, 27 June 2014 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 4 : 7-16

My dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love have not known God, for God is Love.

How did the love of God appear among us? God sent His only Son into this world that we might have life through Him. This is love; not that we loved God but that He first loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love comes to its perfection in us.

How may we know that we live in God and He in us? Because God has given us His Spirit. We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent His Son to save the world. Those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God.

We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is Love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.