works of faith

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Wednesday, 20 November 2024 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 19 : 11-28

At that time, Jesus was then near Jerusalem, and the people with Him thought that God’s reign was about to appear. So as they were listening to Him, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to assume regal authority, after which he planned to return home.”

“Before he left, he summoned ten od his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver. He said, ‘Put this money to work until I get back.’ But his compatriots, who disliked him, sent a delegation after him with this message, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.'”

“He returned, however, appointed as king. At once he sent for the servants, to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made. The first came in, and reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver has earned ten more pounds of silver.’ The master replied, ‘Well done, my good servant! Since you have proved yourself faithful in a small matter, I can trust you to take charge of ten cities.'”

“The second reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver earned five more pounds of silver.’ The master replied, ‘And you, take charge of five cities!’ The third came in, and said, ‘Sir, here is your money, which I hid for safekeeping. I was afraid of you, for you are an exacting person : you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.'”

“The master replied, ‘You worthless servant, I will judge you by your own words! So you knew I was an exacting person, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Why, then, did you not put my money on loan, so that, when I got back, I could have collected it with interest?'”

“Then the master said to those standing by, ‘Take from him that pound, and give it to the one with ten pounds.’ But they objected, ‘Sir, he already has ten pounds!’ The master replied, ‘I tell you, everyone who has will be given more; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for my enemies who did not want me to be their king, bring them in, and execute them right here in front me.'”

So Jesus spoke, and then He passed on ahead of them, on His way to Jerusalem.

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Sunday, 13 November 2022 : Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of the Poor (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 3 : 7-12

You know how you ought to follow our example : we worked while we were with you. Day and night we laboured and toiled so as not to be a burden to any of you. We had the right to act otherwise, but we wanted to give you an example.

Besides, while we were with you, we said clearly : If anyone is not willing to work, neither should that one eat. However we heard that some among you live in idleness – busybodies, doing no work. In the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord we command these people to work and earn their own living.

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Saturday, 18 October 2014 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest.”

“Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know. Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you.”

“Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house. When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

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Saturday, 11 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the message of the Lord, through the Holy Scriptures and the Gospels, on the nature of our faith and salvation, and how we can attain that salvation through what we are doing in this life, not just based on any race or other passive benefits or factors, but through the commitment of actions that make our faith truly alive in God.

In the first reading today, St. Paul in his letter to the faithful and the Church in Galatia showed how while in the past, God revealed His Law to His people to guide them and prevent them from going astray from the path towards salvation, but the coming of Christ, the Messiah and Saviour of all, gave mankind a new focus of their faith and devotion. For God Himself had come down upon us, in our humble form, to save us from our fate that was death and oblivion.

There was also to be no more division and prejudice, or any difference in treatment between those in the society, based on either race or birth, based no longer on either status or wealth or possessions. What matters is truly whether one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and if one believes, and lives according to that faith which they have, then they are guaranteed salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.

That was because, the Jews, who were descendants of Abraham, the faithful servant of God, with whom He had made His covenant with, were proud and prejudiced against their neighbours, thinking that as the heirs and sons of Abraham, they alone deserved salvation, and the others, the Gentiles, namely the Greeks, the Samaritans, Romans, Arabs, Canaanites, and others whom they considered as pagans and barbarians deserved eternal damnation.

Yet, Jesus made it clear in the Gospel, that blessing is upon those who follow the will of God, who walk in His ways, and who practice their faith in the real life, showing that their faith is truly real, concrete and dynamic. Yes, not the dead and stagnant faith shown by lack of action, by mere lip service of faith, and not by prejudicing against others or condemning others or glorifying oneself thinking that one is worthy of salvation, while others do not.

Therefore, today we are all called to reflect on our own lives, whether in all things we do, we have been truly faithful to the Lord, not just by mere faith or words, but also through actions founded in faith, filled with hope, and blessed and graced by love. This is what is necessary for us to attain our salvation, and blessed we are indeed if we listen to Jesus and what He had said, instead of following our own desires and wants.

Today, we celebrate together with the whole Universal Church, the feast of Pope St. John XXIII, the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, and one of the great and holy Popes of the twentieth century after the birth of Christ. Pope St. John XXIII, who was also called the ‘Good Pope’, was chiefly remembered for his role in convoking and gathering the latest Ecumenical Council of the Holy Roman Church, that is the Second Vatican Council, which lasted from 1962 to 1965, but in fact, his holiness stemmed not just from that act, but also from the actions which he had taken for the entire course of his life.

The life and examples of Pope St. John XXIII, the Good Pope, il Papa Buono, can be an inspiration for us all, as ever since he was born of a poor peasant family in the village and commune of Sotto il Monte, in the province of Bergamo in northern Italy as Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, he had led a very faithful and devoted life to God. He was poor, just as his family was poor, but together they as a family lovingly devoted themselves to God.

At a certain moment in his youth, the young Angelo encountered experience in faith, by those whom he met, including his uncle, which encouraged him to consider giving himself to the service of God. As his family was poor, and peasant youths were considered important assets to help out in work, his parents were reluctant to let him to go and join the seminary.

Nevertheless, in the end, God had His way, and Angelo managed to join the seminary, studying intently and eventually was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Bergamo. He eventually became the secretary of the local ordinary, Bishop Radini-Tedeschi, who was a relatively obscure individual compared to his later famous protege, but the one who had great influence on Angelo and his later great works.

Bishop Radini-Tedeschi encountered a great workers and union strike in accordance to the poor living conditions and treatment of workers by the government of that era, in the early twentieth century, and Bishop Radini-Tedeschi faithfully and tenderly exercised his works as the shepherd of his flock, calling for restraint and restoration of order while calling for reforms and great improvement in the treatment of workers. He even donated his own personal wealth to help the poor workers made their ends meet.

All these inspired the young Angelo Roncalli, the later Pope St. John XXIII, as he later was made Archbishop and appointed as the Apostolic Delegate to Bulgaria, and later to Greece and Turkey. During his diplomatic missions in the service of the Church, Archbishop Roncalli did many great works, establishing links and friendship with the separated brethren of faith in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and during his mission in Greece and Turkey, even saved many Jews from the actions of the German NAZI who was bent on annihilating them as a race in the holocaust.

In his later mission as the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Archbishop Roncalli continued to do many good works, establishing links and relationship with the French government, including dealing with the difficult leader of France, Charles de Gaulle, who wanted to reduce the influence of the Church of Rome in the affairs of the Church in France.

And eventually, as the Patriarch of Venice and a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli continued to exercise the good works which he had done earlier in his earlier posts and ministries, and which eventually he continued when he was elected Pope in 1958 to succeed the great Pope Pius XII, the Pastor Angelicus, or the Angelic Pope.

Pope St. John XXIII continued to lead the Church faithfully, and he was particularly concerned with the restoration of relations with the Eastern Church, as he had experienced earlier during his time in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, in the relationships he had made with the prelates and faithful of the Eastern Church at the time. And then he was also concerned about the state of the Church, and the need for a continuation of the unfinished works of the First Vatican Council, which was prematurely ended due to the events at that time.

Thus, Pope St. John XXIII convoked the gathering of the Second Vatican Council, which commenced in 1962, and which sessions was started and opened by the Pope himself, which meeting was to continue until 1965, and concluded by Pope Paul VI, his successor as Pope St. John XXIII passed away in 1963, before the conclusion of the Ecumenical Council which he had initiated.

Pope St. John XXIII also was renowned for his role in helping to reduce tension between the superpowers, namely the United States of America and the Soviet Union, which almost ended up in a major war, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. One of the last major acts of Pope St. John XXIII was the peace which he helped broker between the two sides, and which was the major reason behind the Papal encyclical he released in 1963, the famous Pacem in Terris, or ‘Peace on earth’.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as I have mentioned, that the actions of Pope St. John XXIII are examples to all of us, and through them, we should also be inspired to follow in his footsteps, that our faith may grow stronger and that in our devotion, we may be found justified in our faith by the Lord our God. Remember, brethren, that we have to have a living faith in us, so that our faith will not be just empty, but be real and concrete.

May Almighty God, who sees the faith and commitment which Pope St. John XXIII, also see the faith that is in us, and therefore may grant us the inheritance and reward which He promised us through Jesus Christ His Son. May we all come ever closer to His loving embrace, seeking His mercy and be made righteous once again. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 6 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings from the Holy Scripture and the Gospel, we heard about how the Lord through His servant Paul the Apostle wanted to remind us to remain true to our faith, and that we should keep strongly to the faith which we have received through the Church, that is the true and orthodox faith, and reject all forms of heresies and heterodoxies that is present in our society and all around us, the falsehoods and lies which Satan spread to try to divide the Church of God.

For there exists in our society, false prophets and false teachers trying to proclaim the word of God in a twisted manner, to serve their own purposes, and also to serve the purposes of Satan, the evil one, for these false prophets and teachers indeed belong to Satan and his allies, as the ones who tried so desperately to wrench control over us from the Lord and to themselves.

And the sad fact is that many mankind, our own brothers and sisters willingly heard their words and went over to their side, and therefore becoming corrupted and unworthy, many were lost to us and to the Lord, condemned for eternity together with the false prophets, with Satan and his fellow fallen angels, the demons. Some did repent and return to the faith, but the damage had indeed been done to the unity of the Church.

Over the centuries, numerous false prophets and teachers of the faith sprung up, causing various heresies and divisions in the Body of the Church of God, and while some of these were healed and brought back into the truth of the Holy Mother Church, many remained lost to us, and in turn, they led even more people to be lost from the salvation which God had promised through His Church.

And to those who believe in ‘new’ revelations supposedly proclaimed and brought through the means of angels, and in one, even claiming that the Archangel Gabriel himself brought the ‘new’ revelation, they have to all beware, that unless it affirms the faith in the Lord, and in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has died for us, and who has risen in glory and majesty, then it is no angel, but Satan and his evil spirits that came to deceive mankind with their lies.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should rebuke Satan and reject all of his empty and false promises. We should also ignore and not heed the false teachings and the lies of the false prophets who taught falsehood instead of the truth of the Lord. Instead, we should follow the true way of the Lord, as Jesus His own Son, who came into the world, had revealed to us.

If the false prophets often appealed to our sense of self-preservation and satisfaction of our self, and our needs and wants, then the Lord showed that the true way to the Lord is through love, and this is none other than through loving God and loving one another, to think less of the self and the ego, and grow deeper and stronger in the love that is in our heart.

We cannot truly love God without having love for our brethren and all those around us who are always in need of our love. Similarly, we cannot truly love one another with full sincerity and genuine nature, without love for God. Love without either or both of the love we ought to have for God and others is imperfect love, and it may lead to harm rather than good.

And Jesus showed that it is important for us to take heed on how to love. He showed it through the story we all know, on the actions of the Good Samaritan, who went all the way to tend to the robbed and wounded man, taking care of him with genuine love and care, as an example of what love is, and what love should be. The Good Samaritan, as compared to the supposedly pious and respected Levite and the priest, is the one who had gotten the essence of love.

Samaritans as we all know, were highly discriminated against at the time of Jesus, in the territory of Judea in particular, where the robbing incident took place between Jerusalem and Jericho. They were seen as pagans and barbarians who did not follow the way of the Jews and did not worship and believe in the one true God. Yet, when Jesus came into the world, they were among the first to believe Him while the Jews doubted and rejected Him.

The actions and the deeds of the Jews did not represent what they professed to believe in. Their actions, as represented by the priests and the Levites were not representative of what they said they have faith in. All said, it is not all of the Jews that were in the wrong, as there were also many among them who followed Christ, such as His family and His disciples, but the problem truly lay with the prejudice with which the Jews in general held against the Samaritans.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, all of us should learn from the readings of the Holy Scripture and the Gospel today, from the actions of the Good Samaritan, who went the extra mile to help the unfortunate man. We should also therefore do the same, not just to those whom we loved, but also to everybody, including to those who are even against us and those who are not among those who we normally care for.

And we do not have to accomplish big and extensive things in order to do this. Even in simple things, like helping anyone, even strangers around us who are in need of even simple help, will do it just nicely. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves to a new life filled with love, both for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters, in real action, that in everything we do, we may show love, and through that love we may find justification for our faith.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Bruno, a priest and a contemporary of many other saints of the tenth and eleventh century Middle Ages Europe. He was the founder of the Carthusian religious order, and he was a great intellectual and a great educator. Many of those whom he had educated and influenced in life eventually became great saints themselves, as well as great and influential leaders of the Church, including even Pope Urban II, who initiated the First holy Crusade against the infidels.

St. Bruno, even though he was influential and well-respected, he remained humble and dedicated to his works, to advance the cause of the Faith in the world and to save souls. He refused the opportunity to be appointed and made a bishop, and he rather renounced himself from all worldliness, that he might focus much more of his abilities and time to help those who need his help, just as the Good Samaritan had once done.

May Almighty God put in us the spirit of love, that we may be more like the Good Samaritan, who devoted himself in love to his suffering brethren in need, and that we may also follow in the footsteps of St. Bruno of Cologne. May we grow less dependent and free from our ego, our desire and our selfishness, that we may truly be found righteous and just in the sight of our Lord and our God. God be with us always, and may His blessings and graces always be abundant in our lives. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 21 September 2014 : Epistle

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Galatians

Galatians 5 : 25-26 and Galatians 6 : 1-10

Fratres : Si spiritu vivimus, spiritu et ambulemus. Non efficiamur inanis gloriae cupidi, invicem provocantes, invicem invidentes. Fratres, et si praeoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos, qui spiritales estis, hujusmodi instruite in spiritu lenitatis, considerans teipsum, ne et tu tenteris.

Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Nam si quis existimat se aliquid esse, cum nihil sit, ipse se seducit. Opus autem suum probet unusquisque, et sic in semetipso tantum gloriam habebit, et non in altero. Unusquisque enim onus suum portabit.

Communicet autem is, qui catechizatur verbo, ei, qui se catechizat, in omnibus bonis. Nolite errare : Deus non irridetur. Quae enim seminaverit homo, haec et metet. Quoniam qui seminat in carne sua, de carne et metet corruptionem : qui autem seminat in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam aeternam.

Bonum autem facientes, non deficiamus : tempore enim suo metemus, non deficientes. Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos Fidei.

English translation

Brethren, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

May you bear one another’s burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ. For if any man think of himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceived himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden.

And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to he who instructed him, in all good things. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for what things a man shall sow, those also he shall reap. For he who sowed in his flesh, of the flesh he shall also reap corruption. But he who sowed in the spirit, of the spirit he shall reap life everlasting.

And in doing good, let us not fail, for in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, while we still have time, let us work good things to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the Faith.

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Wednesday, 17 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how the world ridiculed and doubted Christ, our Lord and Saviour, having their own set of prejudices and judgments that they applied to the actions of Jesus Christ and His disciples, as we obviously can see throughout the Gospels, where the world, represented by the Pharisees and the elders of Israel, who were always opposed to the actions of our Lord.

And in the first reading today, in the letter written by St. Paul to the faithful and the Church in Corinth, St. Paul reminded the people of the three greatest virtues and fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is faith, hope and love, and that the people of God should uphold all these values in their lives and stick closely to the precepts of the Lord, abandoning all pretexts of falsehoods and evil in their hearts.

We often lack sight of what is truly important in our lives. We are often distracted by many things in our lives, to the point that we end up focusing on the things that are less important and in fact which may disrupt and distract our attention from the true treasures of our lives. These treasures are indeed faith, hope and love as mentioned, which are the greatest gifts from God to mankind.

It was mentioned by St. Paul that acts without love, faith without love, acts without faith and hope are meaningless, as shown through the example of even the possessions of the gifts and talents of the Holy Spirit are meaningless without love, and without the other virtues mentioned. This means, whatever other talents and abilities we have, if we do not use them in tandem with the virtues we ought to have, then our actions do not bring justification and benefit for ourselves.

Compare this to the popular practice in many ‘evangelical’ and ‘charismatic’ movements and ‘churches’ around the world, of which not few are in fact within our own Church, that is the practice of speaking in tongues, as if the whole congregation is suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit as per the day of the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles.

The conduct of such activity is meaningless, although many in the world today are in awe of such an occurrence. I would say that, when they do such actions, what is first in their mind is not God or His praise, but rather themselves, as they glorified themselves by doing so, and they revel in the satisfaction of such action. But without faith and love, those actions and others are truly empty and nothing before God.

And also for the heretics who believed and indeed still believe today, that salvation can be achieved through faith alone, and that the faith constitutes what had been written in the Bible and the Scriptures alone are wrong. They failed to realise that first, faith alone is insufficient to attain salvation for our souls. Faith is nothing without hope and without love, and so neither is hope anything without faith and love, and lastly, love without hope and faith is also meaningless.

We ought to have all these three virtues working together in tandem within us, that our actions may be truly blessed and be gracious, and we ourselves justified in the eyes of the Lord. We cannot separate the three virtues of faith, hope and love without making each of them meaningless and useless, and in fact may even bring harm to ourselves and others around us.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why mankind even have so much trouble so that St. Paul had to remind even the faithful through his letter? That is because, mankind are bound and prone to their own self-glorification and self-praise, and this is also the reason for the various doubts that the people of God, and the various standards they employed against the prophets and the Lord Himself as we heard in the Gospel today.

Mankind are very difficult to please and satisfy, and even after their needs and wants have been satisfied, it is very common for us to demand even more and want even more. That is why, as Jesus mentioned, that mankind are never satisfied and they will always complained against whatever is around them, just as they had complained against Jesus our Lord Himself.

Thus, all of us should and indeed must anchor ourselves on the three great virtues of the Lord, that is faith, hope and love, which seeds have been placed in our hearts and our souls. But as mentioned, that these are just seeds. If we do nothing to cultivate the faith, hope and love in us, then we are nothing more than just an empty shell, even with all of our talents and virtues.

Why faith? That is because faith is what anchored us in the Lord, in His laws and precepts. We have faith because we believe in the Lord, and we adhere closely to Him and His ways, so that we can live according to His will, and from there gain righteousness and justification. But faith without hope and without love is meaningless, as it means a selfish faith, that is nonsense. Our faith must be complemented by care for our brethren, both through our genuine concern and love for them, practicing what we have been taught by the Lord, and also through our efforts at evangelisation to them.

And why hope? That is because hope is what keeps us going even amidst despair and darkness. And hope itself is intertwined with faith, as faith without hope is also nonsense. We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has died for us on the cross and who has risen from the dead in glory, and through that resurrection, He brought us new hope in Himself, that is a hope of liberation from sin and the promise of eternal life. This is an integral part of our faith, and it cannot be said that we have faith if we do not believe in this hope.

And lastly, why love? That is because love is the most important of all these virtues, and ultimately is the one that makes all things good and possible. Love allows us to care for one another, and also for us to seek our God who had first shown us the example of what love truly is. Love helps us to have that focus and application for the faith and hope within us. We believe in the Lord, who is love Himself, and through whose love He had brought us to Himself. And then through hope, we have hope in Christ and His love, that He is willing to save us from death and grant us a new, eternal life.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, whose life and works clearly indicated the adherence to this teaching of Christ, in having his life and works founded on strong foundation of faith, of hope and of love. St. Robert Bellarmine was a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and one of the pillars of the defense of the Church through his active role and participation in the application of the decrees of the Ecumenical Council of Trent, in what is known as the Counter-Reformation, in the efforts against the Protestant heresy.

St. Robert Bellarmine was an intelligent and devout follower and servant of Christ, who dedicated his life in a faithful and loving service of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Robert Bellarmine wrote numerous writings and other works on the matter of the faith, and he was renowned for his great works in the defense of the true faith, condemning falsehoods and heresies and reestablished many aspects of the faith in the Church through his various works.

He rose quickly through the Church hierarchy, and eventually was made a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. Nevertheless, he remained humble and devoted to his works, if not even more devoted and zealous in delivering the salvation of God to countless souls. Through his dedication, works and even through the power of his mind and pen, he had brought many of the faithful to be reawakened to the true faith in them, one that is not tainted by human pride and emotions as that of the heretics, and one that is lived out well through loving acts and filled with hope in the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, following the examples of St. Robert Bellarmine and many other holy saints, today let us all reflect on these words of the Scriptures and the Holy Gospels, that we may grow stronger in our faith, grow deeper in our hope, and grow more gentle and dedicated in our love. Let us all dedicate ourselves more to the works of charity in our world and society. That we may indeed live out our faith, that our faith will not be just merely imaginary and a formality, but a real and living faith for the benefit of ourselves and all those around us. God bless us all. Amen.