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Sunday, 6 April 2014 : 5th Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 8 : 8-11

So, those walking according to the flesh cannot please God. Yet your experience is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to Him.

But Christ is within you; though the body is branded by death as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life and holiness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Yes, He will do it through His Spirit who dwells within you.

 

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Thursday, 27 March 2014 : 3rd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters, today we learn again another lesson, as Jesus went around to teach the people of God, that we must not be doubtful in our hearts and even more importantly, we should not be quick to cast baseless accusations, especially if they are made out of poor judgment and idea on our side.

It was truly horrifying to see how the people of God, who had been graced with the presence and witnessing the Lord Himself in action, could ever condemn and criticise Him by saying that what great deeds He had done, was done by the power of the evil one and the other spirits.

They saw the miracles performed by Jesus, and all the things He had done, and yet they refused to believe, and all the teachings that Jesus had made, should all have been very clear to them, showing them the true nature of God’s laws and ways. This is because of their hardened heart, which they kept indignantly even against the love God had shown for them.

The same can be compared to how their ancestors behaved in the desert, the same generation of people who saw the Lord doing great deeds in bringing the Ten plagues to crush the Egyptians and liberate them from their slavery. They also witnessed how God split open the sea to let them pass and pour the waters over their enemies. They received even food from heaven and crystal clear, sweet water from the rocks, and yet they complained and complained.

These people were so stubborn because they did not keep the Lord in their heart but Satan! They were so influenced by the things of the world that instead of thanking God for His very obvious guidance and kindness along the way, they dared to say things such as life was better in Egypt, with food and drinks, even though they were in slavery! What they thought are in the realm of human greed and desire, that nothing God gave them is likely to be ever enough.

The same therefore happened to the people at the time of Jesus, as there were many factions, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and many others, including the common people. These people were obsessed with power and the influence they had on the people, and they were loath to give them up or even share them with someone who is technically an outsider, like Jesus.

Jesus showed them that their stubbornness and hard-heartedness ought to be taught a lesson, that they should not be so stone hearted as if to defy the works of the Lord, putting obstacles in His way, and worse still, blaspheming against God through their indignant attitude, calling the work of God as the work of Satan.

Shall we also be like them? Shall we be indignant and refuse to listen to the Lord because of our own human interests, and greed for power? If we do so, then we will have no part in the salvation offered by the Lord. We have to cast out our pride and our greed, especially for power, that we may lower ourselves and understand what God has given us, in Jesus, His Son, the manifestation of His everlasting love.

May the Lord open our hearts, and help us to understand better His love, that we too may love Him the same way. Let us all devote ourselves more to the Lord, and promise Him that we will stay forever loyal and faithful, no matter what. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 March 2014 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Today we heard the well-known parable of the prodigal son, which I am certain that at some point of your life, you have heard it at least once. In this parable, God is compared to a loving and forgiving father, whose younger son had gone wayward and lost, and when that son returned to him, the father rejoiced and welcomed him back with full of love.

And indeed our God is like that, and He is indeed our Father, who loves us and cares for us, whose thoughts are centred ever on us every day and every moment in time. He looks always onto us, and wants us to be once again reunited with Him. And we are the prodigal sons, and also like the elder son of the father.

For we all have sinned before God, and committing what is evil in His eyes, and very often in our lives, we have disobeyed His law and His will, and instead following our own desires and our own forged path, which we built on our desires as well as on the foundations laid down by Satan. We were corrupted by the world and brought away from the way of truth.

It is easy for us to relate with the younger son, for we know that in this world, there are plenty and indeed almost limitless availability for human pleasures and goodness to satisfy our desires and our greed for such things. And that was exactly what happened to the younger son, who squandered the hard-earned wealth of his father, which was his inheritance, on loose living.

I am sure that in one way or another, this also happened to us. We gave in to the increasingly aggressive world, which indeed increases its attacks on us and our faithful living, by multiplying the number of pleasures and goodness that it tries to bring to us, seducing us to a lifestyle that is signified by excessive consumption and blatant disobedience of God’s will.

In this world, it is increasingly difficult for us to live without being bombarded daily by the increasing amount of advertisements and promotions on the good things of this world, the amenities and joys of life, all the components of a materialistic and hedonistic lifestyle. How many of us are not aware of the offers on the latest gadgets and jewelries? How many of us are not aware of the lucrative deals being offered?

But the key message that we ought to know today is that, regardless of all these, we all have hope, because God who is our Father is always waiting for us, like the father of the prodigal son, ever eager to see his long lost son to return to his side. The prodigal and sinful son realised that he had sinned against God and his father, by committing all that he had done. And this is indeed a very important moment that we all have to note.

It is this realisation, and coupled by the desire to return to his father, which propelled the prodigal son on his difficult journey home, to return to the love of his father. But had the son not realised his sinfulness, even in his difficult times, he would just be dead in that foreign land, and his death would not have been mourned by any. He would have died among the animals, without honour and be shamed forever in darkness.

The same therefore will happen to us, if we do not realise the depth and gravity of our sins, and if we continue to walk in the path of the wicked, following our hearts’s desire rather than following the Lord our God. We will suffer for eternity in shame, regret and hopelessness in hell, where there will be no light, no pleasure, and no happiness but only sorrow, regret and darkness.

So it is important for us to realise our sins, know them, and seek God for absolution and forgiveness, humbly asking Him to forgive us and promise to change our ways and sin no more, just as the prodigal son sought the forgiveness of his father, and then be received back into the fullness of love that his father has prepared for him, which God too had prepared for us.

And lastly, we who have been saved by our baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, are also like the elder son. We have been deemed as righteous and we remain in the house of the father, God our Father because of our faith in His Son. But that does not mean that we have the right to condemn all those who are still wayward. Remember that we are all sinners who still need to be saved by the grace of God through our actions.

Instead, let us help one another, especially those who are still in the darkness. Let us bring them to the light of God, by showing it through our own deeds and actions, that they may believe in us, children of the light, that they too will follow our path, to become children of God.

May our Lord who loves us, and who forgives and welcomes His prodigal sons back to His side, continue to love us, watch over us, and guide us that we may always walk righteously and faithfully on His path. Amen.

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(Special) Friday, 31 January 2014 : Chinese New Year Day Mass (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 6 : 31-34

Do not worry and say : “What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? or; What shall we wear?” The pagans busy themselves with such things, but Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart first on the kingdom and justice of God, and all these things will also be given to you.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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Monday, 30 December 2013 : Sixth Day of the Christmas Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 12-17

My dear children, I write this to you : you have already received the forgiveness of your sins through the Name of Jesus.

Fathers, I write this to you : you know Him who is from the beginning.

Young men, I write this to you : you have overcome the Evil One.

My dear children, I write this to you because you already know the Father.

Fathers, I write this to you because you know Him who us from the beginning.

Young men, I write this to you because you are strong and the Word of God lives in you who have indeed overcome the Evil One.

Do not love the world or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superiority – all this belongs to the world, not to the Father.

The world passes away with all its craving but those who do the will of God remain forever.

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Wednesday, 27 November 2013 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 5 : 1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his nobles, a thousand of them attended and he drank wine with them. Under the influence of wine, he ordered that the gold and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines might drink from them.

The gold and silver vessels taken from God’s Temple were brought in, and the king and his nobles, his wives and concubines drank from them. While they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone.

Suddenly a Man’s fingers appeared opposite the lampstand and wrote on the plastered wall of the king’s palace. Watching the hand as it wrote, the king turned pale. So terrified was he that his knees knocked and his legs gave way.

Daniel was brought in and questioned by the king, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father brought from Judah? I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods, that you have insight and extraordinary wisdom. I have heard that you can interpret dreams and solve problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple, wear a gold chain around your neck, and be appointed third in rank in my kingdom.”

Daniel replied, “You may keep your gifts or give them to someone else. Just the same I will read and interpret the writing for you.”

“You have defied the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels from His Temple brought to you, and together with your nobles, your wives and concubines, you drank wine from them. You praised the idols made of silver and gold, of bronze, iron and stones, which neither see, nor hear, nor understand; but you never glorified God who has power over your life and all your fortunes.”

“So He sent the hand that wrote the inscription, which read MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. And these words mean : MENE, God has numbered the days of your reign and put an end to it; TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PARSIN, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”

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Tuesday, 26 November 2013 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the end of our liturgical year cycle, we listen to a lot of readings regarding the forecast for the future. In the first reading, we heard the prophecy in the book of the prophet Daniel, when the Lord revealed His plan for mankind, to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar in a dream. This dream was also told to Daniel, who gave all who heard these words of revelation, in the court of the Babylonian king, showing to them the signs of the things to come, which many of them yet refused to believe.

The kingdom of God, that is the eternal and glorious kingdom that will last forever, is coming, and Jesus Himself has foretold it to the people as we heard in the Gospel reading today. And it is important that we take heed of what has been revealed to us in truth. Let us not be ignorant as the Babylonians and the people of Israel at the time of Jesus, who listened but did not believe.

First, it was revealed to us, that the coming of the kingdom is imminent. Indeed, in the timing of God, the kingdom of God may come anytime soon. And we have entirely no idea when this will happen. Only God Himself knows when He will come again, that is at the end of time, to bring all those faithful to Him, into the eternal glories prepared for them. If we are not prepared for the coming of God’s kingdom, when it truly comes, we will have no share in it.

Then, linked to the first one, it was revealed to us too, that there will be false prophets and false messiah, proclaiming that the kingdom has come, and that they are the Christ, the One who is to come. It is indeed hard to discern which one is truth and which one is lies, and many seeds of lies have been planted by the evil one, in order to deceive us from the reality and the truth.

Yes, especially in the recent years, there had been people exclaiming that the kingdom of God has come or will come through them, if the people would follow them and obey their teaching, which are not the teachings of the Lord. They brought about portents of doom and destruction, and foretold of doom to come, which in the end did not come true. Worse still, some of them established cults, and managed to convince people to commit mass suicides, as some of them had reached worldwide fame in the 1990s.

This is our weakness, brothers and sisters. Not because we are not faithful or anything, but most importantly because we are too concerned about ourselves, our well-being, and being too self-centred, that we tend to forget what is more important in our lives, and what we are called to do in this life. We worry so much about the future and about what will happen, because we simply cannot tear ourselves, even for a moment, away from our concerns and possessions in this world.

Too often a times that we are fixated at the ties that keep us connected to this world. Well, it is not that it is wrong to do so, but we have often fixed our eyes too much towards the world, that we end up forgetting everything else. And Jesus said things in the Gospel today, precisely so that we will not repeat this same mistakes, again and again.

He reminded us on the greatness of love that the Lord has for us, and the promise He had granted us through none other than Jesus Himself, who came to fulfill God’s great plan for salvation. We also should not be deceived by the lies of the devil, and then became overly worried for ourselves. Worry not, brothers and sisters! That is why we are reminded of the love God has for us. The Lord will take care of us, and give us all that we need. Note, what we need, and not what we want.

We often want things that we do not need, and this results in hunger, great hunger not easily satiable. And it is often that the more we want, the even more we grow to want in time. This created that irresistible tie with the world, which caused us to worry so much in the first place. But what does worry bring us? It brings us nothing! That is because worry paralyzes us, and make us idle, doing nothing, even if these things that we ought to do will have saved us instead.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us renew our resolve and our dedication to the Lord in our faith, that we will put in Him all our trust and love, without seeking alternatives or easy way outs. Do not trust in false prophets or false prophecies, and instead put our trust completely in God. The Lord did tell us that calamities and suffering would happen before His coming, but they do not determine the time of His coming.

Hence, let us put aside our fear, our worries, and our uncertainties, and open ourselves to the love and care that God pours out for us. May the Lord who cares for us, and loves us unto giving Himself to us, continue to watch over us, guide us, and provide for us, as we walk this path, and may that when He comes again, we will be found worthy, having fulfilled His will and commandments, obeying the instructions that Jesus had given us. May the Lord bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 October 2013 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

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

The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, 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 the Lord? 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 the Lord, 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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Sunday, 13 October 2013 : 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Thanksgiving, especially giving thanks on what is due for us to give thanks for, is what is truly lacking in many of us. We do not give thanks to those who had done good things for us. Worse still, we often seek glory for ourselves, even for things that we do not do on our own, claiming honour and glory for ourselves, even of it is not rightful for us to do so.

That is the essence of the readings that we listened to today, brethren in Christ. A thanksgiving for the Lord who had shown us His care and love, and His dedication, one which we often overlook or simply forget, in the joy of the moment, after we had received the goodness of God.

The readings highlighted one of our major shortcomings throughout life, that is to forget the role of God in our lives, and to overlook Him and His role in favour of our own achievements and glory. That is what happened to the lepers who were healed from their afflictions, which out of ten, only one returned to the Lord to give Him thanks for His mercy and love.

We contrast this to the behaviour of Naaman, the Syrian, and one of the leper who is a Samaritan, who showed their affection to those who had done good unto them, thanking them sincerely on the love shown to them. They have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and therefore were made righteous.

Why use the example of a Syrian and a Samaritan? Firstly, I want to highlight the importance of understanding the true desire of the Lord in promoting the right attitude and mindset to His people. He did not intend the examples to highlight the differences between the people of Israel and the ‘pagan’ peoples around them.

Why so? That is because, the people of Israel, having been chosen as the people of God through the covenant God had renewed with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, they have always thought of themselves to be special. That they are always the good ones, the upright, and the ones ensured salvation as their birthright.

They have always looked at the pagans in disgust and contempt, considering them damned and evil, while in fact, as we all know, as written throughout the Old Testament and even the New, as they had rebelled against God, tested Him, doubted Him, and even abandoned Him for other gods, the golden calf, and the false gods of the people of Canaan who lived around them. They had done what is wicked in the eyes of God and did not repent, but grew to be ever worse and deeper in their wickedness

Thus, in line with their stubbornness and God’s love for all mankind, without exception, He had sent Jesus His Son, to reveal the true nature of His love for all. He wanted to show Israel their wickedness and the need for them to repent, as well as for them to realise that being the first chosen people of God does not give them an excuse for their sinfulness, and that they in fact, should welcome all mankind as fellow brothers and sisters in God.

It is important for us to be warm and welcoming, as well as open to others around us, not to be quick to judge and condemn us, but instead seek on what is good within us, and embrace one another with love. That, is what the Lord truly desires from us, not our length prayers of the mouth, nor our empty obedience, but the love and commitment from our heart, for the sake of one another, and for God Himself.

Jesus our Lord, the Son of God had been sent into this world that through Him we may gain healing and new life, that we abandon the darkness of evil and this world, for the light of Jesus who is the light of the world, healing us from our afflictions that are sins and wickedness of the evil one. He had been sent to heal us from the sickness that engulf us, be it physically or spiritually, just as He healed the ten lepers who came to Him for healing and mercy.

That is why, I have to reiterate again of the importance of thanksgiving and gratitude, for there is no greater thing that we have ever observed in the history of creation, other than the ultimate sacrifice Christ had went through for us, for our sake, that we will not die an eternal death but live a life eternal, and live through not an eternal punishment but an eternal joy with God.

We have to beware of this leprosy, the true leprosy of the soul, that is our pride, arrogance and lack of gratitude for the Lord and His love and instead trusting our own feeble human power. We tend to think good of ourselves and do not give thanks and glory to God. We are often ignorant of the love that God has shown to all of us, not least of which, in the giving of Himself through Jesus Christ His Son, He had made us all whole and worthy once again, rescued from hell and given the promise of eternal life, as long as we remain faithful and true to His ways.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us commit ourselves to cast far, far away this leprosy, the sickness of our soul, away from us, that we cast away the evils and sins from ourselves, purifying our heart, body, and soul in the light of Christ, the light that cast away all the illusions of Satan, the impurities and corruptions of this world, and made ourselves whole and pure again in God.

Today, Pope Francis, the Vicar of Christ on this world, will consecrate this world, the entire world, to the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in our Lady of Fatima, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Mother of God, through whom Jesus Christ our Lord is born into this world. And therefore, just as she had cared and loved her Son Jesus with all of her heart and all of her love, she too will from now on take care and love our world and all those who live in it, that is all of us, brothers and sisters, all mankind as one.

This world, brothers and sisters, is in great darkness, under the power of evil and Satan, where brothers hurt brothers, where sisters slander sisters, and where mankind slay one another in hatred. It is where violence and injustice are the common order of the day. It is where mankind dwells in their pride, and disobeys God’s commandments and spurns His love on daily basis. It is the perfect example of leprosy of the soul that I have mentioned earlier on.

That is why, through entrusting this world to the care and intercession of Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus, we hope that this world can become a better world, and be healed of this sickness, the leprosy of sin and evil that had infected us all for way too long. It is time for us all, with the help and assistance of Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through her, with the power and might of God Himself, to break free entirely from the chains of slavery that had bound us for all these times.

May the Lord our loving and merciful God look away from the sins we had committed, and as we approach His throne of love and mercy, may He welcome us back into His embrace, and bless us with His eternal love and grace. May Mary, His Mother also continue to pray for us and care for us in the same way that she had shown Jesus her love, while He was on earth. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 7 October 2013 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate an important Marian feast, a day dedicated to the Mother of God, Mary, the lady and our mother. Today, in particular, we celebrate an aspect of her that we often find to be ubiquitous in our faith and devotions, that is the holy rosary, the linked beads in chain, that we use to guide us in our prayer.

What is the rosary and what is its significance in our faith, and how does it affect us in our journey of faith in this world and beyond? The rosary is a weapon, a spiritual weapon in a spiritual warfare between the forces of evil led by the devil, against us, the children of the light, the beloved ones of God. This devotion was introduced by Mary herself, when she appeared to St. Dominic, who was then the first to recommend the devotion of the rosary to the people of God.

We often take the rosary for granted, and instead of taking the devotion seriously, we said the prayers without meaning and said the words faster than even the bullet trains! That is exactly what happened if we do not truly understand the usefulness and the purpose of the holy rosary, which is a potent weapon, a spiritual weapon, in the spiritual warfare constantly fought between us and the devil and his servants.

Then how did this feast of our Lady of the Rosary come about? This feast originated in the late sixteenth century, after the great victory of the forces of the faithful, fighting against the forces of the devil, represented by the Muslim forces of the expansionist Ottoman Turk Empire. This battle is the Battle of Lepanto, which happened on this date, today, in the year 1571.

This great victory marked a great turning point in the history of Christendom, where the faithful are no longer on the defensive, after the enemy was dealt a massive defeat by the power of God. Pope St. Pius V, the Pope at the time, decided to commemorate the great victory by dedicating it to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that the victory over the enemy was made possible.

In the same way therefore, today, through the rosary as our weapon, the spiritual weapon, we would like to celebrate our victory and triumph against the evil one and his forces of darkness, as we, the children of the light, had triumphed against the darkness, much like the victorious Christian vanguards at the Battle of Lepanto more than four centuries ago.

Nevertheless, brethren, even though we have been victorious, as through Mary and her Son Jesus, whose sacrifice on the cross dealt the evil one a complete and thorough defeat, but the devil still has plenty of tools under his sleeves. He continues to marshall his forces of darkness to harass us, especially those who are most vulnerable, those whose faith are wavering and weakened.

The devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus our Lord and God, through the holy rosary is a potent tool to prevent this from happening, that is to prevent our brethren to fall into the temptation of Satan and his angels, the fallen ones. The rosary, as I mentioned, is a powerful weapon in this constant spiritual warfare raging daily around us, where angels and devils fight for the sake of our soul, for its salvation or damnation.

Through meaningful and devoted praying of the holy rosary, we invoke the protection of the angels sent by Jesus our Lord, through the intercession of His blessed mother Mary, hearing the prayer we have made through the rosary in complete devotion and love. The Lord will certainly not abandon us to the forces of the enemy. He will smite them and cast them away from us, His beloved children.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, the rosary, in which we pray the prayers dedicated to the Lord and His mother Mary, emulate the Marian virtues of obedience and love, which we ought to follow and emulate ourselves. Through her obedience and love, we have Jesus who came into this world, and we have a hope, hope of salvation and eternal life in Him.

This rosary is our spiritual weapon and also our spiritual defender, a breastplate of faith and devotion, protecting us from the threats of the evil one and his forces. Let us therefore, spread the habit of praying the rosary meaningfully and devoutly, to all around us, especially to those among us whose faith is wavering. May the Lord continue to watch over us, and may His blessed mother Mary continue to intercede for us, for our salvation, as we continue to offer her and her Son, our love and devotion through the rose of the holy rosary. Amen.