wounds of Jesus Christ

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Friday, 23 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the readings from the Holy Scriptures, speaking to us about how God has made this world and all of us, and through His will, He has made everything to be as it is. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, our first reading today, we heard about how everything in this world has been set in motion by the Lord, and that no matter whatever we mankind have planned, but the time for everything has been set by the Lord to run its course.

No matter what mankind has planned, God’s will shall be done. Indeed, He has given us all free will, the freedom to choose what we want to do with our lives, and how we want to act in them, but there is indeed a limit to how much we can do on our own, separated from the Lord. It is by our ancestors and our own disobedience that we have been separated from the Lord our God, caused us to commit acts of wickedness and sins unworthy of He Who has created and loved us.

But that was why He sent us His own Son, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary His mother, that through Him, taking the very flesh of our own, that He may bring together all of us through His examples, and show us the way forward, in how we ought to live as all those who have walked in His ways and followed Him. And He showed it through great and perfect obedience to the will of God His Father, following the plan He had intended for mankind’s salvation.

And we know how to that extent, He was willing to take up the cross, bearing all of our sufferings to become His own, shouldering the burden of the cross. And that was the gist of what we heard in the Gospel today, that even He, the Son of God, Messiah and Saviour of the whole world had to suffer, be rejected by the very people to whom He had been sent to, and to be crucified and died for the sake of the salvation of everyone He loved.

And today, we celebrate the memory of a great saint who is still in our recent memory, a saint whose piety and faith, obedience and strength in his convictions to the Lord and to His Church has been inspiration for many people up to this day, an example to all of us. St. Pius of Pietrelcina was a great saint, a holy and devoted man, who was better known by his alias of Padre Pio, an Italian Capuchin friar and priest.

St. Pius of Pietrelcina or St. Padre Pio was a humble man who dedicated his life to the Lord from his youth, leading a life of great piety and eventually joining religious life as a member of the Capuchin Franciscans, and devoted the rest of his life serving the people of God and the Church. Since his youth, he has received visions and spiritual experiences from the Lord, one that he would receive throughout his life.

And what made his most renowned was a moment in his life when he experienced a vision of the Lord, and which afterwards, the holy wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ themselves appear on the body of St. Padre Pio, on his hands and feet. The stigmata, which the wounds are called, are signs of great holiness and grace from God, which happened to only a few holy saints, and yet they were also signs of great suffering and challenges.

Many doubted the veracity and the truth about his stigmata wounds and the miracles attributed to him, and some even ridiculed and opposed his works, but St. Padre Pio never gave up, for he continued obediently to serve the Lord and His will, serving the Church, caring for the spiritual needs of the people of God who have been entrusted to his care. And indeed many people flocked to him and listened to his many wonderful teachings and sermons.

In St. Padre Pio all of us can find a great example of a humble and obedient servant of God, much like our Lord Jesus Himself, serving the will and the purpose of God through hard work and ceaseless efforts made to make the will of God a reality. God loves us all and He wants us all to find salvation and liberation in Him, and yet many of us still linger in the darkness of this world and have yet to embrace Him. And that is exactly why He sent us all these holy and faithful ones to help us on our way.

Let us all at the same time also reflect and think about what we ourselves as Christians are capable of doing to contribute to the work of the Lord and to help His Church, as well as our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men in finding our way together to reach out to the Lord. Let us all walk in the footsteps of the holy saints and servants of God, particularly St. Padre Pio, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, whose faith is an example to us all. May God help us in this endeavour. Amen.

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Friday, 23 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 9 : 18-22

At that time, one day, when Jesus was praying alone, not far from His disciples, He asked them, “What do people say about Me?” And they answered, “Some say that You are John the Baptist; others said that You are Elijah, and still others that You are one of the prophets of old, risen from the dead.”

Again Jesus asked them, “But Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Then Jesus spoke to them, giving them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. And He added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

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Friday, 23 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 143 : 1a and 2abc, 3-4

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, my loving God, my Fortress; my Protector and Deliverer, my Shield where I take refuge, Who conquers nations and subjects them to my rule.

O Lord, what are humans that You should be mindful of them, the race of Adam, that You should care for them? They are like a breath, their days pass like a shadow on earth.

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Friday, 23 September 2016 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 3 : 1-11

There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven : A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting. A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.

A time for tears, a time for laughter, a time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for throwing stones, a tome for gathering stones; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for throwing away. A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace.

What profit is there for a man from all his toils? Finally I considered the task God gave to the humans. He made everything fitting in its time, but He also set eternity in their hearts, although they are not able to embrace the work of God from the beginning to the end.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are exhorted yet again, to be faithful and dedicated followers of our Lord, through our real and concrete actions, and not just empty promises and dedications. In the first reading from the Book of Proverbs, we are also reminded of the very fact, that what God desires from us is our love and commitment, and not just mere sacrifice.

And today, we commemorate the feast of a great and renowned saint, one who lived just less than a hundred years ago, and in fact he passed away just less than five decades ago. His deeds were still renowned throughout the world and the Church, as a holy man and servant of God, thoroughly dedicated in the service of God and the love he possessed both for God and for his fellow men.

That holy servant of God was St. Pius of Pietrelcina, more commonly known by his name of ‘Padre Pio’, a Franciscan monk and priest who was renowned for his great piety and devotion to God, and for his gift of the stigmata, or the wounds of Jesus Christ that appeared on his feet and his hands, which became for him a source of both great inspiration and strength, as well as of pain and suffering.

St. Padre Pio was a simple man and a simple priest, humble and unassuming, noted for his great piety since early in his youth. He joined the Franciscans and dedicated his whole life to the Lord. He was noted for his dedication to his calling and his work as the servant of God Most High. His charitable acts were numerous and his zeal unquestionable. He would have been perfectly satisfied in his condition and life at the time, if not for God having another plan for him.

Through St. Padre Pio, God wanted to reawaken the spirit of faith that have long been laid dormant in the hearts and minds of men, and through His servant, He revealed His glory and majesty, as He revealed them through the actions and deeds of St. Padre Pio, who worked faithfully and zealously, even though he faced many difficulties, challenges, oppositions, and even ridicule and doubts by the people around him.

St. Padre Pio was therefore like the ones who had obeyed and followed the Lord in His laws and precepts, and as such, he was honoured and glorified through the miracles which He performed through the person of Padre Pio. Through this example, we know that the Lord loves and cares for His people, and all who place their trust in Him will not be disappointed.

This is just exactly like what Jesus said to the people, when He referred to those who do the will of God as His brothers and sisters, and as His relatives. This was said when His mother Mary and His relatives came to visit Him and wanted to meet with Him in the midst of His teachings. Indeed, if one were to just look at the words Jesus said literally, this would be quite an insult to His own mother and also to His relatives, by apparently snubbing at them and rejecting them in the public.

However, if we look at it closely, there is no greater honour that Jesus could do, other than what He had done. As a matter of fact, Jesus had praised and honoured Mary in public, for the very devotion and actions that she had done, the most faithful and devoted of all the servants of God. In the same way, God had also honoured St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio for his piety and great service, and obedience to the Faith. The same therefore, will also be our due if we honour our part in the covenant with Christ and follow His ways in all of our deeds and actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we have heard today, and from what we had reflected in the life of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, and in the faith and devotion which the Blessed Virgin Mary had shown in her life, as the mother of God and the most faithful servant of all the servants of God, we are therefore also urged to follow their examples, which means for us to reject all forms of evil and impiety in all of our actions, words and deeds.

In this way also, our faith will be real, concrete and living, so that we can avoid committing sins in our lives which will corrupt our hearts, minds and soul and therefore end up subverting our true goodness and undermining our effort to seek out the Lord. We must intensify our own efforts to walk in the footsteps those who have walked before us in the path of the Lord, namely the holy saints, and model our own lives after theirs.

May Almighty God guide us on our way, so that all of us may turn ever closer and more convincingly towards Him, that we may find our way towards Him, and together with those who are still lost, receive justification and salvation through our dedicated actions, which are based on the laws and ways of the Lord. God bless us and guide us, and may the prayers of St. Pius of Pietrelcina be upon us always. St. Padre Pio, pray for us! Amen.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 8 : 19-21

Then the mother of Jesus and His relatives came to Him, but they could not get to Him because of the crowd. Someone told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet You.”

Then Jesus answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 118 : 1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the law of the Lord.

Explain to me all Your ordinances, and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds.

I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart upon Your laws.

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law with all my heart.

Guide me in obeying Your instructions, for my pleasure lies in them.

May I always keep Your word forever and ever.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Proverbs 21 : 1-6, 10-13

In the hands of YHVH, the heart of the king is like running water; he directs it wherever he wishes. To the eyes of man all his ways are honest but it is YHVH who weighs the heart. To do what is upright and just pleases YHVH more than sacrifice.

Haughty looks, proud heart, the light of the wicked is sin. The plans of a hardworking man result in earnings; poverty is for those who act too hastily. To make a fortune by means of deceit is like running after the wind; the end is death.

The soul of the wicked desires nothing but evil; not even his friend is treated with compassion. When the mocker is punished the ignorant man grows wise; when the wise man is instructed he grows in knowledge.

The Just One watches the house of the evildoer and hurls the wicked into misfortune. He who is deaf to the poor man’s cry will not be heard when he himself calls out.