World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 25 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws light on what will happen in the kingdom of heaven : Ten bridesmaids went out with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were sensible. The careless bridesmaids took their lamps as they were, and did not take extra oil. But those who were sensible, took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom delayed, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.”

“But at midnight, a cry rang out, ‘The bridegroom is here, come on and meet him!’ All the maidens woke up at once, and trimmed their lamps. Then the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.’ The sensible ones answered, ‘There may not be enough for us and for you. You had better go to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.'”

“When the bridegroom came, the foolish maidens were out buying oil, but those who were ready went with him into the wedding feast, and the doors were shut. Later the other bridesmaids arrived and called out, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered, ‘Truly I do not know you.'”

“So stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 96 : 1 and 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Justice and right, are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

You who love YHVH, hate evil, for He preserves the lives of His faithful; He delivers them from their foes.

He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in YHVH, you, who are blameless; and give praise to His holy Name.

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-8

For the rest, brothers, we ask you, in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, and we urge you, to live in a way that pleases God, just as you have learnt from us. This you do, but try to do still more. You know the instructions we gave you on behalf of the Lord Jesus : the will of God for you is to become holy and not to have unlawful sex.

Let each of you behave towards his wife as a holy and respectful husband, rather than being led by lust, as are pagans, who do not know God. In this matter, let no one offend or wrong a brother. The Lord will do justice in all these things, as we have warned and shown you.

God has called us to live, not in impurity but in holiness, and those who do not heed this instruction disobey, not a human, but God, Himself, Who gives you His Holy Spirit.

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Thursday, 1 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to keep in mind that we should trust in the Lord’s wisdom and allow Him to guide us in our path and journey throughout life. We should not do things in the way that the world often told us to do, or to trust in the wisdom of the world because as Christians, many of the things we learnt through the truth and wisdom of God show us that what the world considers as folly and stupid, irrational or strange, is actually the best path, as God knows all things while we mankind, even in our best intellect and wisdom knew only a part of all things.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, continuing from the discourse earlier this week, we heard of the Apostle mentioning how what is wise in the sight of the world is considered as foolish in the eyes of God. This, together with the reference that was made regarding the leaders of the faithful and evangelisers like St. Paul himself, Apollos, a popular Jewish Christian convert and preacher, Cephas, that is St. Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the Vicar of Christ, among others, all these were meant to remind the faithful in Corinth that they must keep their focus in the Lord and not in their own selfishness and divided nature.

For back then, there had been a rather bitter division amongst the members of the Church and the faithful people of God, as some of the faithful sided with St. Paul while others were siding with Apollos, having differences in their thoughts and preferences. While that would have been natural in any organisation and in our Church even today, but from what St. Paul had elaborated and shared in his Epistle to the Corinthians showed us that the divisions that happened among the faithful seemed to be rather bitter, where that led to the break in the unity of the Church of God, the Body of Christ.

That was why St. Paul appealed to the people of God in Corinth, to stay away from the temptations of their pride and ego, and to be willing to listen to God’s wisdom and truth, rather than to follow the whim of human and worldly wisdom and ways. Otherwise, that would have caused the divisions and disunity to continue even further, leading to further fracture in the unity within God’s Holy Church, the Christian community. Through the words of the Lord, God and His servants kept on reminding us the members of His Church to trust in His wisdom and love, His truth and grace, because in Him alone we can find the sure path to true happiness and salvation.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord and His disciples, as He called on His first disciples by the Lake of Galilee or Gennesaret. There He encountered Simon, the future St. Peter, as well as the other fishermen, who had not been able to get any fishes all night long despite their efforts. The Lord told them to lower their nets according to His instruction, and while Simon told Him that they had done work all night and got nothing, but he still obeyed the Lord and did as He asked of him to do. According to conventional and worldly wisdom, this would have been foolish to do, as all the more that Simon Peter and the others must have been experienced fishermen, who must have known that it was pointless to try more.

Yet, as shown by the Lord’s instructions and what happened afterwards, Simon Peter and the other fishermen immediately got a catch so massive, with so many fishes trapped in their nets that their boats almost sank from the great weight of the fishes. This miracle showed us all that what the world considered foolish, is actually the truth and possible in the sight of God. We must not put our faith in the Lord and His truth on the backbench, but instead, put it at the forefront of our lives. We have to prioritise Him and not to forget that His way and truth is the better way forward. We have to learn to trust in Him more the way that Simon, St. Peter, trusted in Him and humbled himself before the Lord, in listening to and obeying the Lord’s words.

In the same way therefore, each and every one of us as Christians ought to be more trusting in God, putting our faith and trust in Him, and not to pride ourselves on our human achievements and greatness, our wisdom and glory. We have to learn to listen to the Lord and allow Him to lead and guide us down the right path. We should listen to the Lord calling us deep within our hearts and minds, and turn towards Him with full of faith and desire to obey Him and to do His will. And as we heard in our Gospel passage today, through the same event of the miraculous catching of fishes, we see how through God’s guidance, as the Church, all of us can gain so much more from our efforts.

There are still so many opportunities that we as the Church can and should do in our works of evangelisation, as well as in the matter of the caretaking of our world, particularly remembering that today is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. We are reminded that each and every one of us ought to be good and responsible stewards of creation, and in order to do so, we should be willing to allow God to guide us in our actions through His wisdom and grace. May the Lord continue to show us His wisdom, His truth and strengthen us with great faith, dedication and energy that we may always strive to do our best to glorify God in all things by our lives, now and always, evermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 1 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 5 : 1-11

At that time, one day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat, and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.

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Thursday, 1 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Thursday, 1 September 2022 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 3 : 18-23

Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you considers himself wise in the ways of the world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s eyes. To this, Scripture says : God catches the wise in their own wisdom. It also says : The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is useless.

Because of this, let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you; Paul, Apollos, Cephas – life, death, the present and the future. Everything is yours, and you, you belong to Christ, and Christ is of God.

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Wednesday, 1 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to follow the examples set by the Lord in His ministry, in answering to the Lord’s call for us to follow Him, to respond to the vocation and mission that He has entrusted to each and every one of us. As Christians we cannot be idle in our lives, and instead, we have to be active in doing God’s will.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the story of the Lord’s ministry from the Gospel of St. Luke, in which He went to heal the mother-in-law of St. Peter who was very sick, and having gotten her healed, He ministered to all the people who came to hear of the miraculous healing and then brought many sick ones and those who troubles to the Lord that He might heal all of them. The Lord healed their sick and revealed God’s love and ceaseless dedication to His Covenant through all of that.

Then, we heard how the Lord then told His disciples to move on from that place, even though there were still many who wanted Him to stay on and heal their sick there. When the disciples questioned Him, the Lord very clearly said that He was still needed in many other parts of the country, and that He had been sent to the entire people of Israel, the people of God, and not just a small segment of people. He could not stay on there and be comfortable of being the centre of attention, and ministering only to them.

Any other people would have been greatly tempted by the temptations of power and glory, of fame and influence, as the Lord Himself must have also been tempted. But He has resisted the advances of the devil, whom we know had tested Him not just once but thrice with great temptations. The Lord showed all of us that first of all, we have to do the will of God, to be exemplary in our faith and to do whatever we can to be faithful witnesses of His truth and to show care and concern for our fellow brethren.

And then at the same time, we must not forget that everything we do, we do it for the love of God and for the genuine love and concern for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must be vigilant lest we may be tempted to do things for our own personal desires and satisfaction, for our own achievements and sense of pride. If we fall into these temptations, then we must know that even those with noble intentions in the beginning may end up falling into path filled with sin, when one began indulging in their desires and the temptation to be selfish.

As St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Colossians in our first reading passage today, the Lord has given us all the gifts of faith, and has shown us the path that we all ought to follow, and what we all now need to do is to bear fruit and to make good use of those gifts that the Lord has given to us, and which He has planted in us. We have to allow the Lord to show us the way, to lead us down the right path, and guide us the right path, as He certainly will do for us. The question is, are we willing to do so, brothers and sisters in Christ?

It is often a lot of easier to profess our faith by our mouth and by words alone, and yet we do nothing in order to prove that our faith is more than just merely words or formality. We often spend too much time worrying about our worldly concerns and matters, and we are often afraid to venture forth out from our comfort zone, and as a result, many among us did nothing to grow spiritually or to bear rich fruits of our faith, even though the Lord has clearly given us so many gifts and blessings all these while, and all the opportunities He has given to us.

Today, we all also celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which was instituted by our current Pope and Vicar of Christ, Pope Francis, as a reminder for all of us that as we live in this world, we all have the responsibility to take good care of this world as its stewards. Through this commemoration, let us all therefore discern carefully the actions that we can take in order to be faithful Christians, to be men and women for others, to be caring for those who are suffering, for the poor and the sick, and for those who are unloved, and at the same time, also acting and living responsibly in this world. When the world suffers from exploitation and human greed, ultimately it will lead to many more suffering among us mankind, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable among us.

Let us all do whatever we can, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us, the entire members of the Lord’s Church, that all of us, even in the smallest things, may contribute to the great efforts of the Church, in spreading the truth of God and His Good News, and as faithful and good stewards of all creation, for the benefit of all alike. For without care for the creation and the world, then many more of us will come to suffer in the years to come, and this is not what we should be expecting to see.

Let us all do whatever we can to prevent more harm from coming to this beautiful world that God has created for us. May God bless us all, and remain with us always, now and forevermore.

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Wednesday, 1 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 4 : 38-44

At that time, leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked Him to do something for her. Bending over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.

At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew He was the Messiah.

Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of Him, and finding Him, they tried to dissuade Him from leaving. But He said, “I have to go to other towns, to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

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Wednesday, 1 September 2021 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 51 : 10, 11

But I am as a green olive tree that thrives in the house of God : I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.

I will praise You forever, for all You have done; and proclaim Your good Name before the faithful ones.